Huayu: Starting from joining the mainstream entertainment industry in 96

Chapter 482: Shock (1111 views, requesting monthly votes)

Los Angeles time, March 10, 2003.

The sweltering heat of midsummer swept through the "City of Angels," but inside the temporary office of Sheng Ying in Burbank, the cool air conditioning and even more sober capital operations created a world completely different from the one outside the window.

Over the past ten days, Wang Sheng's plans have not stopped.

His reach extends deep into both the capital and creative landscape of Hollywood, stirring up the seemingly calm waters.

First, it's another covert advance in the field of comic book character copyrights.

After meeting with Avi Arad, Wang Sheng became even more certain of one thing: the future superhero movie market will not be solely Marvel's domain.

Despite holding the futures of several key Marvel characters in his hands, one shouldn't put all their eggs in one basket, especially when it's impossible for him to swallow the entire Marvel universe.

His gaze naturally fell upon Marvel's old rival—DC Comics.

At this time, DC's situation was somewhat similar to Marvel's, yet completely different.

As the parent company, Warner Bros. firmly controls the two top IPs, Batman and Superman.

However, the glory days of Christopher Reeve's Superman are long gone, and new Superman movie projects have been repeatedly shelved; as for Batman, after Joel Schumacher's Batman & Robin (1997) suffered a critical and commercial failure, the IP was almost shelved by Warner Bros., waiting in the dark for a director named Christopher Nolan to save it.

As for the other characters in the DC Universe? In 2003, Warner Bros.' attitude was more like "guarding a gold mine, but not knowing how to mine it."

Aside from Batman and Superman, the value of many other heroes is severely underestimated, or rather, Warner Bros. has not had the time or energy to pay attention to them.

This was Wang Sheng's opportunity.

He once again instructed Robert White to target DC characters who had a certain level of fame and great potential for adaptation, but were currently in a "secondary" or "undeveloped" state in Warner's strategy.

Based on the actual historical context and the copyright status of the characters at the time, Wang Sheng's "Hound" White successfully targeted the following individuals for his client over the course of ten days:
Constantine: The copyright of this character from Hellblazer was not highly valued by Warner Bros. at this time.

Although the film starring Keanu Reeves is in early development, the copyright deal is not a done deal.

Through complex negotiations, White secured a limited-time film adaptation right for "Constantine" from an independent producer affiliated with Warner Bros. but holding partial adaptation rights for a relatively low price of $200 million (not exclusive, but highly exclusive). Wang Sheng believed that this chain-smoking, anti-hero who teetered between heaven and hell possessed immense potential for the silver screen, given his dark and decadent nature.

Zatanna: As a powerful sorceress in the DC Universe, Zatanna has a unique image and her ability system is similar to that of Marvel's Doctor Strange.

At this time, her independent film value was almost untapped. White contacted Warner's DC Entertainment division and acquired the full film rights to Zatanna for a mere $80. Warner probably considered it an insignificant "magical girl."

The Question: This detective hero, who has no superpowers, believes in objective philosophy, and wears a mask without any distinguishing features, was a "cold favorite" in the DC copyright library in 2003.

Wang Sheng was drawn to its unique noir aesthetic and philosophical depth. White encountered virtually no competition and acquired the film rights for a mere $40.

Blue Beetle: This refers to the third-generation Blue Beetle, Jaime Reyes.

At this time, the character had only recently appeared in the comics and had limited fame, but Wang Sheng felt that his Latino background and alien technology armor were full of futuristic appeal and diverse value.

It cost less than $30 to acquire initial film development options from DC.

In addition, White is also actively contacting second-tier characters with unique styles, such as "Plastic Man" and "Metamorpho," and is trying to acquire them at a package price.

This series of acquisitions of second-tier DC characters cost only about four million dollars in total, comparable to the previous "shopping spree" in Marvel.

Wang Sheng's goal is clear: to occupy a potentially booming sector at the lowest cost and build a "character asset pool" spanning the Marvel and DC universes.

These roles may not be activated in the short term, but their very existence is a strategic reserve and an investment in the future.

Inside the office, Wang Sheng reviewed the DC character acquisition briefing sent by White, nodding slightly. This covert operation was progressing smoothly.

Meanwhile, projects along the Ming Line are also progressing rapidly.

"Spy Kids" completed all post-production work in early July, including fine editing, color grading, sound mixing, and final visual effects compositing. The 114-minute film, fast-paced, action-packed, and emotionally moving, is now quietly sitting on New Line Cinema's servers.

A small-scale screening was held for senior executives within the new production team to mark the occasion.

As Wang Sheng had anticipated, the screening garnered widespread praise. Brown called Wang Sheng immediately after the test screening, his excitement practically overflowing from the receiver: "Wang! God, this was fantastic! Matt and Kate's chemistry was even better than I expected! The action scenes were both elegant and explosive, and the family comedy segments were absolutely hilarious!"

This is definitely one of the most competitive films in this year's holiday season! We've already started planning our promotional campaign, targeting the Thanksgiving-Christmas golden period!

Michael Lynn also sent an enthusiastic email, praising Wang Sheng's precise allocation of elements in commercial genre films, believing that "Spy Kids" perfectly blends the spousal spy thriller style of "True Lies" with the warm family feeling lacking in the original "Mr. & Mrs. Smith", making it a work that "defines the new era of action-romance comedy".

New Line Cinema's marketing department is gearing up, having already drafted a global marketing budget of up to $5000 million, determined to make this film a box office bomb at the end of the year.

Based on the extremely positive reviews from the test screenings and strong confidence in the market, New Line Cinema quickly approved the Twilight project, officially launching it into the substantive development phase.

The initial $1000 million in development funding was immediately available to further refine the script, initiate casting, and conduct concept design and site surveys.

However, nothing in this world stays hidden forever.

In particular, the core cooperation condition that "Wang Sheng would strongly promote Chinese actors to play important roles in his Hollywood A-list production 'Twilight'" quickly spread within Hollywood's small circles.

Initially, the rumors circulated only among a small group of producers and agents, but on July 10th, the media, with their keen sense of smell, finally caught wind of it.

The Hollywood Reporter published a short, somewhat tentative article in its "Industry News" section on its website:

[Exclusive News] Chinese director Wang Sheng's new film "Twilight" has been greenlit, and rumors suggest that Chinese actors will be cast in important roles?
The article states: "It is understood that Wang Sheng, the up-and-coming director who has achieved great commercial success with 'Night at the Museum' and 'Saw,' has officially received the green light for his next project with New Line Cinema—the teen fantasy romance film 'Twilight.'"

An unnamed source said that a key condition for the collaboration was that Wang Sheng requested a significant role for a "reputable Chinese actor" in the new film.

This request sparked internal discussion within NewLine Cinema, but ultimately gained support due to trust in Wang Sheng's market judgment. If the news is true, this would be a rare, significant, and substantial involvement for a Chinese actor in a mainstream Hollywood commercial film, going beyond a mere cameo role…

This report, like a pebble thrown into a calm lake, instantly created ripples in Hollywood and the Chinese entertainment industry across the ocean.

Hollywood's reaction was mixed.

Some conservatives with a "white-centrism" view privately scoff at this, believing it to be a destruction of "cinema purity" and a "political donation" to curry favor with the Chinese market.

"An Asian face in a vampire story? That sounds so incongruous!" commented an anonymous production company development director.

However, more pragmatists and companies that have seen the huge potential of the Chinese market have begun to reassess the deeper meaning behind Wang Sheng's decision.

If this can truly become the key to unlocking the Chinese market, then imitators may follow in droves.

Within China, this news was like a torch thrown into a pyre, instantly igniting nationwide attention and discussion.

This topic is being hotly debated on major portal websites, film and television forums, and even the entertainment sections of traditional media.

"Wang Sheng is awesome! He's going to lead his own people into the inner circle of Hollywood!"

"Which actor is so lucky to be chosen by Director Wang?"

"I hope this role isn't just something forced into me, and that I can truly portray a character with flesh and blood!"

"This is cultural export! In the past, we were the ones who went to Hollywood to piggyback on its success; now, Hollywood is rewriting scripts for us!"

The excitement, speculation, and national pride among netizens have propelled the topic of "Wang Sheng's new film featuring Chinese actors" to the forefront of social discussion.

After several months of stagnation, the Chinese film market has seen a strong recovery thanks to this news.

The phone lines at the headquarters of Shengying Media in Jingxin Building were practically ringing off the hook.

Countless talent agencies, artist studios, and even some established actors have extended olive branches through various channels, hoping to contact Wang Sheng or the project manager, inquire about the casting criteria, and strive for that opportunity that could change their fate.

Gao Yuanyuan even wanted to advocate for a student studying at the Beijing Film Academy, intending to use this as leverage to sign the student...

Wang Sheng directly rejected the role, saying it was created for Fan Xiaopang.

If you want to sign that international student, you can give them the opportunity to co-produce films between China and South Korea later.

(End of this chapter)