It's reasonable for me, a stuntman, to live a crazy life, right?

Chapter 1360 Alibaba Animation, a Powerful Arrival?
Although the script was finished, Chen Fei did not plan to send it to Liu Yifei immediately.

There's only a little over a month until her birthday, so I can give her this script as a birthday present.

"That's it!"

After discussing it privately, Chen Fei put the script in the safe and then started working on other matters at the company.

Meanwhile, a number of trending topics have emerged.

iQiyi, China Film Group, and Shanghai Film Group jointly issued a notice announcing the official approval of the film "China's Ping Pong: The Last Stand".

"To pay tribute to the spirit of Chinese sports, iQiyi, China Film Group, and Shanghai Film Group have joined hands to launch the major project 'China's Table Tennis: The Last Stand'!"
The film will be based on true history, focusing on the Chinese table tennis team's remarkable comebacks on the international stage, and deeply recreating the passionate journey of the national table tennis team from its low point to its peak in the 1990s.

The news immediately went viral and became a trending topic.

With the Winter Olympics just concluded and the Asian Games just around the corner, the atmosphere of sportsmanship in China is currently very strong and direct.

"China's Table Tennis: A Desperate Counterattack" can be considered to have caught the wave of popularity.

A large number of netizens flooded Weibo and started discussing the topic.
"Could we invite people like Ma Long and Zhang Jike to make a movie?"

"I suggest that Liu Yuliang be appointed as an advisor, after all, he himself is a typical example of a 'comeback from the brink of defeat'."

"I think we could have Fan Zhendong perform a short skit. Watching him play is so enjoyable, it's like he has a special kind of magic."

The first thing Chen Fei saw after finishing his work was the trending topics online.

Memories surged through his mind, and he vaguely seemed to catch a glimpse of the movie, but it felt very unclear.

At this point, the result is already quite obvious.

If nothing unexpected happens, this movie will probably only generate some buzz at the beginning, and after its official release, it probably won't even make a ripple.

Thinking of this, he immediately lost the will to continue paying attention.

June passed quickly and is coming to an end in the blink of an eye.

Apart from "Jurassic World 3", there were no other major films released in the film market, leading to widespread lamentation in the theatrical market.

On July 1st, several cinema chains in China joined forces to re-release the films due to a lack of options.

Films that were once box office hits, such as "The Battle at Lake Changjin", "The Wandering Earth", "Operation Red Sea", "Ne Zha", and "Detective Chinatown 3", have all made it onto the screening schedule, with the bright red words "Classic Returns" on the posters standing out prominently in the theater corridors.

Theaters are hoping that these films, which once created box office miracles, can revitalize the sluggish market. Feiyue Films also released a 4K restored version trailer and had the main creators record short videos to urge the audience to "relive the passion".

However, after the first day's box office figures were released, reality poured cold water on everyone.

The re-release of "The Battle at Lake Changjin" only grossed 800 million yuan on its first day of release, less than a fraction of its original opening day box office.

The attendance rate at the re-release of "The Wandering Earth" was as low as 15%, with only a few coughs echoing in the empty theater.

Netizens are discussing it extensively on social media platforms.

"Please, I've watched these movies countless times. I know the plot and lines better than I do textbooks. Unless there are uncut bonus scenes, I just can't get interested in them."

“Re-releases are not just rehashing old material. We are already very familiar with these special effects and plots, so there is no need to do this.”

"Instead of repeatedly exploiting classics, we should give new films more opportunities."

Faced with these dismal figures, the theater owners who came up with this plan were extremely worried.

The vice president of Wanda Cinemas sighed in an industry group: "I thought we could get through the summer blockbuster season with these blockbusters, but the audience just doesn't buy it."

Chen Fei was also in the group. Hearing his words, he couldn't help but shake his head.

In the ever-changing film market, even former box office legends cannot rely on nostalgia to prolong their lives indefinitely.

He actually disagreed with the re-release plan, but other theater chains were determined to test the waters, so he simply gave them the authorization.

In any case, Feiyue Films can also earn a fee from this.

Now, it has been proven that this behavior was completely undesirable and utterly ineffective.

He turned off his phone, got up, walked to the ticket gate, and boarded the plane to Shenzhen.

The first theme park jointly launched by Feiyue Films and Fantawild is about to open, and he has to go to the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Fantawild Adventure: Leap Over Oriental Mythology Theme Park

Chen Fei quite liked the name.

Meanwhile, just as he was about to depart, the heads of Alibaba Pictures and Light Chaser Pictures gathered again in the conference room to discuss the upcoming release of "New Gods: Yang Jian".

Fan Luyuan has already seen the finished film, and he personally thinks it's very good. He just doesn't know if moviegoers will like it.

At this moment, Wang Wei, chairman of Light Chaser Pictures, was eloquently explaining the selling points of "Yang Jian".

He used a laser pointer to circle the CG image of Yang Jian with silver hair wielding a three-pointed double-edged sword on the big screen and introduced it as follows:

"The biggest difference between 'New Gods: Yang Jian' and its predecessor is that we have completely broken the traditional mythological narrative framework."

He pulled up a storyboard comparison diagram: "The failure of 'New Gods: Nezha Reborn' lies in its over-reliance on the symbolic expression of the characters, while neglecting the complete development of the character arcs, resulting in the dramatic conflicts of the entire film being like a pile of loose sand..."

Below the stage, Fan Luyuan listened while keeping an eye on the direction of the projector's light.

The screen is currently playing a clip of Yang Jian fighting in the Immortal Island Illusion, with ink-wash style clouds and mist colliding fiercely with mecha elements!

Wang Wei clicked pause, and the screen froze on the protagonist's shattered armor: "This time, we've set Yang Jian as a 'former war god who has fallen from grace'."

He is no longer a lofty and supreme judicial deity, but rather someone struggling to survive in the human world, bearing the trauma of the "Chenxiang Saves His Mother Incident." This "tear between divinity and humanity" is the true fulcrum for modern audiences to empathize with.

In terms of special effects, we learned from the previous criticism of the "plastic" look in the modeling. Yang Jian's silver hair uses a dynamic fluid algorithm, so that each strand of hair will generate physical feedback with the airflow.

And when his third eye opens, the pupil reflects key images from the entire story… These micro-level designs are all to give the virtual character a realistic sense of breathing.

After finishing her long speech, Wang Wei grabbed a bottle of mineral water from the table and took a sip.

After clearing his throat, he continued, "In terms of publicity strategy, we will no longer focus on vague slogans like 'the rise of Chinese animation'."

The previous work suffered from over-reliance on the "mixed-cut marketing" of short video platforms, leading to misunderstandings of the core plot among viewers. This time, we will launch the "Yang Jian Archives" documentary series, revealing the behind-the-scenes stories of character design and world-building every week, cultivating a core audience through in-depth content.

The conference room fell into a brief silence.

Fan Luyuan tapped on the table: "What about the release date? I saw in your submitted documents that you suggested next month? Are you planning to capitalize on the summer and National Day holiday seasons at the same time? But do you really think our animated film can break through?"

"Yes!" Wang Wei confidently pulled up the data report. "According to the survey, the acceptance rate of modern deconstruction of traditional myths among viewers aged 18-35 is as high as 78%."

The cyberpunk-style cultivation aesthetics of *Yang Jian* precisely target the aesthetic pain points of this group, and redefining the 'new mythology' with industrial standards is definitely a sure path to success!

Now that things had come to this, even though Fan Luyuan was still somewhat uneasy, she could only follow Wang Wei's advice.

To put it bluntly, he's already on a "pirate ship," and even if he wanted to get off, he couldn't. He can only continue to drift with the wind.

He stared intently at the concept poster for "New Gods: Yang Jian" hanging at the end of the conference table, his eyes unblinking.

The silver-haired man's flamboyant and dangerous posture as he shattered the celestial clouds strangely resonated with his current predicament.

“Now that we’re on board, we have to raise the sails to their maximum.” He let out a long breath and said solemnly, “Alibaba will fully cooperate and increase the publicity budget by 30%, but we have to do something different.”

Wang Wei leaned forward, looking at him curiously.

Want to try something different?

He didn't quite understand what those words meant.
Fan Luyuan opened her phone, brought up a file, and the large screen immediately switched to a park planning map.

"I just spoke with the Cultural Tourism Division and we plan to open a separate 'New God List' themed area in Alibaba Future Parks in Hangzhou and Chengdu."

The training ground for Yang Jian's Nine Revolutions Profound Skill and the VR experience hall on Penglai Immortal Island could even be used to create an immersive murder mystery game, allowing visitors to become celestial soldiers and participate in the story of Chenxiang rescuing his mother.

The atmosphere in the meeting room suddenly heated up!
Everyone could hardly contain their anticipation!

But at this moment, the planning director of Light Chaser Pictures couldn't help but interject: "However, such a collaborative development cycle takes at least six months, and the movie's release date can't wait that long!"

"So we need to create suspense." Fan Luyuan revealed her signature smile when she was trying to fool people. "After the release date announcement is released, we can first release a 30-second amusement park concept trailer, only showing the metallic reflection of Yang Jian's battle suit and the special effects of the three-pointed double-edged sword cutting through the void, with the caption 'Mythology is not limited to the silver screen'."

After the movie is released, we will announce the theme park plan, forming a closed loop of 'watching the movie – checking off attractions – rewatching'.

He paused, his gaze sweeping over Wang Wei: "The Light Chaser team needs to coordinate the production of limited-edition merchandise, such as models of Yang Jian's magical artifacts and building blocks from Penglai Island. It would be best if these could be made into blind boxes."

Wang Wei stroked her chin and nodded slowly.

Although the proposal was risky, it coincided with his vision of a 'new God Ranking Universe'.

“We can use the theme park scene to set up the Penglai Fairy Island setting that wasn’t explored in the movie.” He gestured to his assistant to bring up the art design book and added, “The art team designed a lot of rare and exotic creatures that were cut, so it would be perfect to make them into NPCs in the theme park.”

“Then it’s settled.” Fan Luyuan stood up. “Alibaba’s entire entertainment division will allocate resources, including Taobao Tickets’ splash screen ad, iQiyi’s ad placement, Alipay points for tickets… but Light Chaser must ensure the coordination of the publicity and distribution schedule.”

As he spoke, he suddenly moved closer to Wang Wei and lowered his voice, saying, "Old Wang, if this succeeds, we can redefine 'film-game synergy,' but if we fail..."

His unfinished words echoed in the conference room, causing everyone's hearts to clench.

If they lose, the entire "New Gods Ranking" concept will be ruined, and all the efforts everyone has made in animated films over the years will be in vain.

Wang Wei took a deep breath and said in a deep voice, "Don't worry, Zhuiguang will do its best!"

That same afternoon, after the meeting concluded, Alibaba, in conjunction with Light Chaser Pictures, officially announced the release date for "New Gods: Yang Jian".

The poster features a dark red background with Yang Jian's silver hair flying above him, his three-pointed double-edged sword tearing through the void, and the gilded words "Summer 2022, Myth Reboot" creating a strong visual impact.

The announcement itself reads in a grand style: "Following 'New Gods: Nezha Reborn,' Light Chaser Animation once again deconstructs Eastern mythology!"
This film, five years in the making, blends Dunhuang aesthetics with cyberpunk style to create a brand-new worldview of 'technological immortal arts'.

Even more exciting is that Alibaba Group will simultaneously launch the "New God List" cultural tourism plan, with two major theme parks in Hangzhou and Chengdu soon to unveil their mysteries, inviting you to immerse yourself in the magical charm of Penglai Island!

The announcement also included a 15-second concept trailer at the end.

Yang Jian's cold profile, intense fighting scenes, and fleeting glimpses of the amusement park architecture flashed by alternately, finally settling on the slogan "Mythology is not limited to the silver screen".

The news caused an instant uproar on Weibo!
Alibaba spent a lot of money to get the hashtag #NewGodsYangJianReleasedForSummerScreening# to the top of the trending searches.

Netizens split into several camps and engaged in heated discussions.

"Holy crap, I'm begging for a cosplay of Yang Jian's battle suit, it's so cool!"

"I really hope to experience the VR project of the Awakening of the Sky Eye."

"What? Haven't we learned our lesson from the Nezha fiasco? Stop focusing on creating hype and tell the story properly first, okay?"

Meanwhile, on short video platforms, film and television bloggers are creating prediction videos.

A popular content creator with over a million followers pointed out in their analysis: "Light Chaser Animation has clearly learned from the lessons of its predecessor, focusing on world-building and in-depth character development. The cultural tourism collaboration has also created a new model for the promotion and distribution of Chinese animation. I predict this movie will be a success!"

The related video quickly garnered over a million views, and the comments section was filled with requests for "premiere tickets to the premiere."

The number of people who "want to watch" on the three major platforms, Douban, Maoyan, and Taopiaopiao, is increasing by thousands every hour.

Regardless of any stance, many people hope that this time we can truly see the rebirth of Eastern mythology beyond its original boundaries!
The buzz generated by the release date announcement has made the entire film and television industry feel the overwhelming momentum of "New Gods: Yang Jian".

"Chairman Chen? I remember that Feiyue Pictures and Alibaba are competitors in the animation market, right? Will their movie affect you?"

On Fantawild's side, Chairman Rong Zhigang, looking at the trending topics online, couldn't help but ask Chen Fei a question.

Chen Fei gently put down his teacup and said casually, "Anyone can do marketing hype. The main thing is to look at the results and the work itself."

As for Alibaba Pictures' animated works, frankly speaking, I haven't seen any achievements from them; all I see is them boasting.

"Hahaha."

Laughter immediately filled the office.

Chen Fei stood up and said directly, "Alright, it's getting late, I'll go back to the hotel to rest now. See you at the ribbon-cutting ceremony tomorrow."

"Good!" Rong Zhigang stood up, shook hands with Chen Fei, and solemnly said, "I wish us every success!"

(End of this chapter)