Huayu 05, our science fiction movie universe

Chapter 658 The National Day Film Season After the Summer Film Season

The two post-credits scenes of "Detective Chinatown 1900" have ended.

Even after the audience left the theater, they were still deeply moved.

The movie is excellent and very realistic. It fully recreates the Chinatown of San Francisco in 1900, and everyone was deeply moved by that period of history and the resilience and fighting spirit shown by the Chinese people in that difficult time.

At the same time, this film also made every viewer feel the deep pain of being forgotten and discriminated against.

【While "Detective Chinatown 1900" uses comedy and suspense as its outer shell, its core focuses on the tragic history of Chinese laborers in 1900. Through a single case, it vividly portrays the resilience of the Chinese in America at that time—"surviving discrimination and resisting amidst laughter"—allowing viewers to deeply understand that history that should not be forgotten amidst laughter and tears.】

This comment posted on Douban basically captures the feelings of most viewers after watching "Detective Chinatown 1900".

On short video platforms like Douyin, Yue Yunpeng's "saving China" scene in "Detective Chinatown 1900" and the final dialogue between Bai Ke and Wei Xiang instantly gained popularity and numerous likes.

Although many patriotic films have been released in China over the years and audiences have seen many of them, some people have even developed a certain aversion to patriotic films as a result.

However, it must be said that telling such grand narratives and patriotism during a period of national rise is indeed the best choice for films to reap box office rewards.

"Detective Chinatown 1900" capitalized on this point, and after grossing 4.4 million RMB on its opening day, it continued to earn over 3 million RMB daily in the following days.

After its first week, "Detective Chinatown 1900" had already grossed over 20 billion RMB at the box office.

The following week, although the daily box office of "Detective Chinatown 1900" declined slightly, the other films released in the same period were still overshadowed by it.

With no major films released in the second week, "Detective Chinatown 1900" still firmly occupies half of the current summer box office, and the film has thus grossed 16.3 billion yuan.

Even in the third week of the film's release, when moviegoers looked at the names of the films to be released during the summer season, they couldn't help but sigh.

After all, what are those movies like "Dance, Elephant!", "Back to the Past to Embrace You", and "The Snow Queen 4: Mirror World"?

So let's stick with "Detective Chinatown 1900" for now. After all, the only problem with this movie is that the online reviews are somewhat polarized.

[The production quality is quite high, but considering the historical background, it's still very heavy. Seeing those artifacts at the end was heartbreaking.]

When will we be able to stop incorporating grand narratives into comedy?

I watched this film in an American movie theater in 2019, and it gave me a very subtle feeling. Actually, it seems not much different from what it was a hundred years ago.

This is the first time in my life I've given a movie a one-star rating on Douban. If I could give it a negative score, I would give it the absolute negative.

At this critical time, to incite such nationalistic sentiments is truly despicable. Doesn't the person know how many people's livelihoods are affected by foreign trade?

Galaxy Group is truly shameless in its pursuit of profit.

[It's much better than I expected. Although there were some awkward moments in the middle, especially Yue Yunpeng's part, it got better and better towards the end.]

[As cunning as ever, not only is the detective work idiotic, but it also incorporates nationalist re-education, making me extremely uncomfortable.]

Is there anything wrong with this premise? There's nothing wrong with it. The historical setting is there, it's meant to be a story about national righteousness. Why can't a detective story be about national righteousness? Are you so ungrateful?
As a film, to be honest, its narrative logic is sound, the pacing is decent, and most importantly, the entire cast delivers effective performances. Apart from the lack of novelty in the core reasoning section, it is absolutely competent.

Moreover, this film fulfilled part of Mr. King Hu's dream, which adds to my appreciation for it.

There are many similar comments, some positive and some negative, some people like them and some people hate them.

However, with no strong competitors in the future, theaters and moviegoers had no choice, which led to the continued popularity of "Detective Chinatown 1900" from the beginning of July to the beginning of August.

It wasn't until the release of "Looking Up," a film co-invested by Galaxy Group and Wanda Pictures, that "Detective Chinatown 1900" relinquished its position as the top-grossing film on a single day.

In the past month, "Detective Chinatown 1900" has accumulated a box office of 43 billion yuan, which can be regarded as a continuation of the series' good box office and quality reputation.

In response, Galaxy Pictures even held a celebration party for "Detective Chinatown 1900".

At the meeting, Chen Sicheng, the director of the film, and the lead actors Liu Haoran and Wang Baoqiang were naturally the focus of everyone's attention. However, what the attendees cared about more was Wang Hao, the chairman of Xinghe Group, who had taken the time to attend.

"Chairman Wang, congratulations!"

In the banquet hall of the Galaxy Hotel, Wang Changtian of Enlight Media walked up to Wang Hao with a wine glass in hand, his face full of smiles.

Beside him was a petite and beautiful young woman.

"This is a new actor we recently signed with our company. Xiao Zhang, why don't you quickly offer Chairman Wang a toast?"

Upon hearing this, the petite girl immediately stepped forward. Although she held her wine glass with a slightly reserved demeanor, her words carried a resilient and energetic quality.

"Chairman Wang, congratulations on the box office success of your film. My name is Zhang Ruonan..."

After introducing herself, Zhang Ruonan tilted her head back and drank the wine in her glass in one gulp.

Wang Hao smiled, politely took a sip of wine, and then chatted with Wang Changtian. As for Zhang Ruonan, he showed no interest whatsoever.

"I heard that Mr. Wang, your Enlight Media has an animated film going to be released during the Lunar New Year season this year."

He looked at Wang Changtian, who was taken aback for a moment upon hearing this, then realized what he meant and nodded.

"I heard it's called 'Jiang Ziya'?"

Wang Hao swirled the red wine in his glass, the deep red liquid gleaming alluringly under the light.

"What a coincidence, Xinghe Pictures also has a film called 'Ne Zha 2' to be released during the Spring Festival next year."

Upon hearing this, Wang Changtian visibly tightened his grip on the wine glass, but his reaction was swift.

"Oh, really? I really didn't know that. What a coincidence!" Wang Changtian chuckled, showing no embarrassment whatsoever, and tried to change the subject.

It's quite obvious that this was most likely his doing, an attempt to ride on the coattails of Xinghe Pictures' "Ne Zha 2" release and promote his own animated film "Jiang Ziya" alongside it.

Of course, Enlight Media wouldn't be so blatant in its promotion, linking "Jiang Ziya" to Galaxy Pictures' "Fengshen Animation" universe.

However, this kind of subject matter was released before "Ne Zha 2: The Demon Child Conquers the Dragon King," so Enlight Media benefited from the film's popularity and promotional resources, saving them a lot of effort.

In response, Galaxy Pictures specifically raised this issue with its superiors in its daily work reports.

In fact, Galaxy Pictures was dissatisfied with Enlight Media's behavior, not because they were stingy, but because it was just a small amount of advertising money. Moreover, Enlight Media was just trying to ride the wave of popularity and traffic.

Galaxy Pictures is unhappy because if Enlight Media's "Jiang Ziya" is of poor quality and is released before "Ne Zha 2", it may negatively impact the reputation and box office of "Ne Zha 2" in its early stages.

Since they both belong to the same "Investiture of the Gods" worldview and are both animated films, many viewers may not be clear about the differences between the two works.

This is why Wang Hao chose the more difficult and less marketable genre of science fiction for his cinematic universe, rather than the more popular "Journey to the West" and "Investiture of the Gods" in China.

Given the already weak awareness of copyright, coupled with the public domain, building a cinematic universe based on these two content themes is truly a case of starting with the easy and then getting more difficult.

In fact, even within the Galaxy Cinematic Universe, there are numerous online films that try to ride on its popularity. Galaxy Group's legal department handles many such infringement cases every year.

As for "Jiang Ziya," Wang Hao sneered inwardly, but remained outwardly calm. He was even impatient to talk to Wang Changtian any longer, and left after saying a few words.

Given Xinghe Group's current status in the domestic film and television industry, trying to take advantage of them? That's just a pipe dream.

Xinghe Pictures had already prepared a contingency plan. Wang Hao only mentioned it casually when he saw Wang Changtian.

If he won't take the opportunity given to him, then don't blame Xinghe Group for being ruthless.

This brief exchange with Wang Changtian was just a small episode at the celebration party for "Detective Chinatown 1900".

Following "Detective Chinatown 1900", the film "Looking Up", co-produced by Galaxy Group and Wanda Pictures and directed and starring Deng Chao, took its place and also achieved good box office results in competition with Hollywood films.

After the celebration party for "Detective Chinatown 1900" ended, Wang Hao devoted his main energy to the pre-production of his new film "Game Era".

The script for this film has been finalized after more than ten discussions, the costume and prop design has been initially finalized, and the 3D dynamic storyboard is currently in production.

As for the cast, since the movie "Game Era" belongs to the "Galaxy Cinematic Universe" series, the main characters are naturally played by some of the actors from that series.

However, as a new film, there are quite a few new characters. In this film, the less important roles are naturally arranged by the staff, while the important supporting roles are still auditioned by Wang Hao.

In addition, although most of the film's plot takes place in ancient times, some of the plot is set in modern times, so the cinematography and location scouting teams at Galaxy Pictures were also very busy with set design and location scouting.

They have basically confirmed two specific filming locations: the Northern Galaxy Film City in Dunhuang and the Eastern Galaxy Film City in Beijing. In addition, the grasslands around Beijing are also within the candidate range for filming locations.

By the time preparations for "Game Era 1" were almost complete, it was already mid-September, and the summer movie season had ended abruptly.

In the remaining time slot after that, no other film was able to replicate the success of "Detective Chinatown 1900".

Even the total box office revenue for the entire summer of 2019 was less than that of the summer of the previous year.

This alone is enough to show that the film and television industry is indeed facing an unstoppable downturn.

However, industry insiders have not given up, and they are pinning their hopes on the upcoming National Day holiday season.

There are still several blockbuster films scheduled for release during this National Day holiday.

For example, "My People, My Country" is a film directed by Chen Kaige, with Zhang Yibai, Guan Hu, Xue Xiaolu, Xu Zheng, Ning Hao, and Wen Muye as co-directors, and starring Ge You, Huang Bo, Simon Yam, Wang Tianchen, Tong Liya, Zhang Jiayi, Zhang Yi, Wang Qianyuan, Song Jia, and others, as a tribute to the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.

This film not only records the development and changes of the motherland over the past seventy years, but also reflects the living conditions of ordinary people.

The characters played by the main actors witnessed seven "firsts" in China's 70-year history.

In the film "The Condor Heroes," directed by Wen Muye, Song Jia salutes and pilots a fighter jet, transforming into the coolest female pilot and personally experiencing China's first grand military parade themed on the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japan.

In Chen Kaige's film "The Day the Meteor Fell," Liu Haoran and Chen Feiyu play two rural children who welcome the successful landing of the Shenzhou-11 spacecraft's return capsule.

As for director Ning Hao, he ignited the memories of 2008 for Chinese people with "Bridget Jones's Blog," in which Ge You plays a taxi driver who wins a ticket to the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics, allowing him to experience the high-energy moments of the Games right at his doorstep.

Du Jiang also took on the challenge of being a flag raiser, raising the five-star red flag precisely on time in Xue Xiaolu's film "Return," ensuring that Hong Kong's return to China was "not a second off."

Wu Jing and Ma Yili revisited the Chinese women's volleyball team's first Olympic gold medal in Xu Zheng's film "Leap," retracing the legendary peak of the team's first three-peat in a major international competition.

In addition, in Zhang Yibai's "Encounter", Zhang Yi plays a member of the countless national defense science and technology front, who anonymously dedicated his youth to the research and development of China's first atomic bomb.
Finally, in director Guan Hu's film "The Eve," Huang Bo raced against time and overcame numerous difficulties to ensure that the first national flag of the People's Republic of China was successfully raised at the founding ceremony.

The vivid and compelling stories of ordinary people's struggles inevitably evoke indelible memories for the entire nation.

Another film commemorating the Chinese National Day is "The Climbers," adapted from the true story of the Chinese mountaineering team's two ascents of Mount Everest, starring Wu Jing, Zhang Ziyi, Zhang Yi, Hu Ge, and others.

These two big-budget productions alone are enough to demonstrate the intense competition during this year's National Day holiday.

But that's not all. In addition to these two patriotic films, there is also a commercial film, "The Captain," based on a true story, which has also aroused the interest of many movie fans.

Of course, for most moviegoers, what really attracted them during the National Day holiday was not these things, but the trump card played by Galaxy Pictures.

This is a new type of film that is extremely rare in China. It is still a mecha monster movie belonging to the [Galaxy Cinematic Universe] - Operation Red Sea.

(End of this chapter)