Huayu: The director just wants to save money

Chapter 879 This Film Industry Is a Huge Fan World
Although "Warcraft 2" has been withdrawn from theaters, discussions related to the movie are far from over.

Naturally, many people agree with Zhou Mo's interview.

Judging from the development trend of domestic films in recent years, 60 billion is indeed not the ceiling.

One step further, or even two or three steps further, is entirely possible.

But what kind of movie, or what kind of movie subject, can make this possible?

Many people have the same question as Da Tiantian.

"From the current situation, it still has to be military films or war films. Currently, among the domestic films with a box office of more than 50 billion yuan, military + war films account for more than half."

"But military and war movies haven't had a higher box office record in the past three years."

"That's because Zhou Mo didn't take any photos."

"Then guess why he doesn't make military + war movies anymore?"

"I feel that the box office for military and war movies is still limited, 60 billion is about right. For more, we still have to rely on science fiction and animation. Both "Wandering" and "Nezha" have broken the 50 billion mark. In the future, as long as they encounter a good schedule, it will not be a problem to increase by another 2-30 billion."

"But Zhou Mo himself did not personally participate in the production of such movies. His two current good enough movies can essentially be said to be fan works. 'Arkham' is a fan work of Batman, and 'Warcraft 2' is a fan work of Warcraft. You can't say that the future of movie box office will depend on fan works."

"Why can't we rely on fan fiction to break through? Look for yourself, how many of the top ten highest-grossing movies in the world right now are not fan fiction?
The Avengers is Marvel fan fiction, Titanic is historical fan fiction, Star Wars is comic book fan fiction, Frozen is fairy tale fan fiction… This world is just one giant fan fiction!”

"What super fan universe?"

"What about Fast and Furious? What about Avatar? They can't be the same thing, right?"

"The box office success of Fast and Furious has a lot to do with Paul, but not many people would want this to happen. The special effects of Avatar were undisputedly the best in the world at the time. Isn't it normal to make money?"

"So the situation is, either it's fan fiction, or the special effects technology is maxed out?"

“In fact, you can also use fan fiction + special effects technology to the fullest.”

"So are there any opportunities for fan fiction + special effects in China?"

When the last question was asked, the answer was obvious and no one would be wrong.

"Journey to the West".

Once again, the Monkey King who had broken through the sky was brought up.

Whether from the perspective of fan fiction or special effects technology, "Journey to the West" perfectly matches the results deduced by netizens.

"Come to think of it, Shanhe Company seems to have rarely plagiarized works related to Journey to the West. Currently, they have only plagiarized The Return of the Great Sage."

"It can't be that Zhou Mo doesn't like the adaptation of Journey to the West, right?"

"Actually, there are some. Last year, I heard that Shanhe Company invested in a game company. That game company is currently working on an adaptation of Journey to the West. It's an independent game."

"Independent games? When will China be able to make independent games? It's good enough if we don't make money-making online games."

"Even if we don't talk about games, I heard that Shanhe Company recently launched a new animation project, which should be "Journey to the West", and this time it will be broadcast in segments. At the earliest, the first segment will probably be broadcast this summer."

"Is what the above person said true or false, the uncle party?"

"Really? My senior is now in the animation production team of Shanhe Company. He told me last time that the production of Journey to the West has already started on the seventh episode."

"Any other news? Tell me now, don't force me to kneel down and beg you..."

From "Warcraft 2" to "Journey to the West", it has to be said that online discussions are always immeasurable.

This change was noticed by Da Tiantian one day, because someone asked about the production of the "Journey to the West" animation under her account. She showed her phone to Zhou Mo and asked:

"Do you want to respond positively?"

At this time, Zhou Mo was dealing with the news about "The Three Kingdoms". After understanding the situation, he nodded directly.

"Okay, just tell them the real situation, no need to talk about the specific process."

Da Tiantian was a little surprised.

When Zhou Mo was preparing for the animation "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", he had very high requirements for confidentiality and absolutely did not allow any information to be leaked during the production process.

“Don’t be surprised.” Zhou Mo saw what Da Tiantian meant and explained, “After the death of Three Kingdoms, I don’t know what the team is like. What if all they produce is garbage?
Now that the team's strength has been thoroughly proven, there's no need to hide it anymore. It's better to speak out sooner rather than later to accumulate traffic."

Datiantian nodded and immediately started replying to fans' messages on her phone.

"Thank you for your attention. Journey to the West is indeed already in production, and the original crew is still working on Romance of the Three Kingdoms. The first episode is tentatively scheduled to be aired in July..."

A moment later, after Da Tiantian sent the message, she went to Zhou Mo's desk again and found that the content on the computer screen had turned into "Parasite" at some point.

"Yeah, didn't you say that there was a lot going on with Three Kingdoms these days? Why are you watching Parasite again? Let me see... Um, is it about the nominations banquet?"

Five days ago, the Oscars announced the list of nominees for this year's film festival.

Among them, "Parasite" has become a hot favorite for this year's Oscars with multiple nominations including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress, and Best Original Screenplay.

When the news spread back to China, many people congratulated the winner and more people speculated which prize would be won.

Compared to the last time Zhou Mo won an Oscar for "Firefighters", this time, the popularity brought by "Parasite" is much greater.

After all, "Firefighters" is, after all, the actors in the film are from the United States, and filming "Firefighters" is their own business.

And "Parasite" really has a serious oriental background.

Whether in terms of emotion or identification, domestic audiences are more accepting of "Parasite".

Zhou Mo stopped typing on the keyboard, turned around and said to Da Tiantian:

"Did you forget something?"

"what?"

"Three Kingdoms will be released in less than ten days, and the Oscars ceremony will be held half a month after the release of Three Kingdoms.

That is to say, in less than a month, we have to deal with two things in succession.

Things are piling up right now, and Zhang Yimou said he's too busy to handle it all, so I can only spare some time to deal with Parasite."

Da Tiantian was stunned and immediately took out her cell phone to check the date.

It was only then that she reacted.

The Spring Festival in 2020 is earlier than in previous years.

The New Year will officially begin at the end of January.

"No wonder I feel so busy lately. I'm busy filming Three Kingdoms, then Warcraft 2, then Three Kingdoms will be released, and then the Oscars...

The timing this year is just perfect.”

"It's actually pretty good. If this year's Spring Festival is the same as previous years, in early February, and coincides with the Oscars, will you go for the Oscar or stay in China to promote and witness the birth of a new box office?"

When Da Tiantian thought about it, she really couldn’t bear to give up any of them.

Awards, she wanted them.

She wants box office too.

She is such a "greedy" person.

"Then let's do a ten-day road show and then head to America?"

"For now, this is the only way." Zhou Mo nodded, then moved aside to let Da Tiantian see another thing.

On January 27th, less than a week later, the Oscars held a nomination luncheon.

"Well, do you want to go?" "But wasn't Three Kingdoms already released by then?"

"Yes, I will definitely stay in China at that time. It's mainly you who decides whether you want to go to the United States."

Da Tiantian gritted her teeth, feeling a little embarrassed.

As one of the nominees for the Best Supporting Actress Oscar, she certainly wanted to attend the luncheon.

This is a proof of ability.

But if it comes to "Three Kingdoms", she might be able to witness the domestic box office record.

Da Tiantian hesitated for a long time and finally shook her head.

"I'm not going, so I'll stay in China and do the Three Kingdoms roadshow?"

"Have you decided so quickly? No need to think about it anymore?" Zhou Mo asked again.

In fact, he can accept no matter which outcome Da Tiantian chooses. Both situations are experiences and he will not suffer any loss by participating in either one.

Da Tiantian said firmly: "Ten birds in the bush are worth a bird in the hand. The domestic box office is more likely to set records, but forget about the Oscars."

Zhou Mo glanced at Da Tiantian, and suddenly said in an extremely bewitching voice:

"Are you sure? Actually, the probability of Oscar's side is also quite high, right?"

Da Tiantian punched Zhou Mo fiercely, and the punch was very powerful.

"Stop talking, it's all your fault. You're making things difficult for me! We agreed that I will stay in China to promote the event and I won't go anywhere else!"

Zhou Mo nodded, and then said: "Then congratulations, Miss Tiantian, you will witness a new height in the box office."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

Zhou Mo found some data for Da Tiantian.

"This was sent to me by the company this morning. It's the pre-sale for Three Kingdoms."

Da Tiantian looked at the screen and subconsciously counted the digits.

One, two, three…eight.

“So many people pre-ordered movie tickets?”

"OK!"

"This pre-sale quantity is much more than any other time we've had in the past."

"Yes, and much more."

Zhou Mo closed the page, then picked up his phone and called the company.

"The last promotional video can be played now."

"no problem."

Two promotional videos for "Three Kingdoms: Wei" have been released before.

The content of the first one is that when Cao Cao was young, he was full of ambition and wanted to accomplish something great.

The second content is that Cao Cao lived in the palace in his later years and wanted to get a higher position.

The strong contrast between these two promotional videos has basically set the tone for the entire movie.

It was Cao Cao's life full of contradictions.

The third promotional video took a different angle.

How Cao Cao treated people of other races when he was fighting for supremacy in the world.

Divide and appease, and stir up conflicts.

Then, defeat them one by one.

Historically, when the Han Dynasty entered the last stage of its life, the ethnic minorities that had been suppressed in the past felt that they were strong enough again and started to make trouble.

In the process of fighting for supremacy, Cao Cao inherited the tradition of the Han Dynasty in dealing with foreign races:

Kill people, chop off their heads, and keep them as dogs.

Among them, the most classic battle is the Battle of White Wolf Mountain in history.

After Cao Cao defeated Yuan Shao in the Battle of Guandu, he unified the north and gradually began to have time to deal with foreign tribes such as the Wuhuan.

At the Battle of Bailang Mountain, Cao Cao used a small force to defeat a larger one and sent Zhang Liao as the vanguard to defeat the Wuhuan army.

Yes.

It’s Zhang Liao again.

Zhang Liao, the famous general, has always been excellent as a vanguard and has strong fighting ability. He broke through the blockade of the Wuhuan with a small number of troops, causing them to lose their composure.

The main content of the third promotional video is the Battle of White Wolf Mountain.

Zhang Liao attacked the Wuhuan army. The immortals in Wuhuan tried to deal with Zhang Liao, but before they could do anything, they were caught by Zhao Shan who had been waiting for a long time.

Although Zhao Shan was somewhat laissez-faire about the disputes within the Han Dynasty.

Because she didn't know where the Han ship would go after hundreds of years.

But when fighting against foreigners, she would help no matter what.

As we all know in the "Xian Mortal Series", whenever Zhao Shan starts fighting aliens, the special effects in the movie are at full capacity.

So the selling point of the third promotional video is the special effects.

Da Tiantian watched the trailer for the first time and said to Zhou Mo in surprise: "There are a lot of new things added to the battle scene this time."

In the first few movies of "Xian Mortal", the battle between Zhao Shan and the immortals was more of a one-on-one confrontation.

It’s just that the right “wave” may be in a different form.

For example, long sword, curse, meteorite and so on.

But this time, when Zhao Shan fought against the immortals of foreign races, the immortals' magic skills took on many more forms.

There are grassland animals like wolves and leopards.

Zhou Mo smiled and explained: "Times have changed, special effects technology has improved, so naturally we have to add some new things, otherwise how can we reflect the changes in door technology?"

Da Tiantian looked at Zhou Mo and always felt that this guy didn't make himself clear.

However, she watched the trailer many times and still couldn't find any foreshadowing, so she just kept her intuition in mind and prepared to check the Internet later.

After the third promotional video was released, it quickly became a hot search on major websites.

It has to be said that visual effects are always one of the fastest ways to arouse people's emotions.

Although the first two promotional videos of "Three Kingdoms: Wei" later exceeded tens of millions of views, it took a month to achieve this.

However, the third promotional video exceeded 20 million views in just five days.

Countless viewers cheered for the level of special effects in the third trailer.

It was not until this time that Da Tiantian understood what the animals in the promotional video represented.

(End of this chapter)