The world is in trouble

Chapter 281 A Matter of Life and Death! Kung Fu Panda Released!
For Wu Lingxi, there is a saying that perfectly describes her mindset.

Emotions will only slow down the speed at which I draw my sword.

In this respect, she and Xia Xi are truly of the same ilk, no wonder they are sisters.

So from the time she was old enough to understand, she only cared about interests and not feelings.

Even if she was attracted to him, she was completely passive.

So when Xia Xi impersonated Lin Xiao and flirted with her, he was sexually harassing her every day, pressuring her relentlessly, day after day.

Wu Lingxi mostly curses, only reacting occasionally.

Upon hearing Lin Xiao's words, her first instinct was to run away, but she stopped and stared intently at Lin Xiao.

Lin Xiao stared back at her, their gazes completely confrontational.

"Oh, you keep saying you love me, but you're stingy even when it comes to having a child," Lin Xiao sneered.

Wu Lingxi sneered: "Are you serious? Or are you just playing your old trick of feigning retreat to advance?"

Lin Xiao: "Seriously."

Wu Lingxi slowly said, "Then I'll tell you directly, my romantic feelings are very weak. If left unattended, they can be maintained. But if something really happens, I'm afraid that the little romantic feelings I have left will be completely exhausted."

Is this what they mean by the most touching period of ambiguous relationships?
Once something happens, the veil of mystery is removed, and all anticipation is exhausted.

But aren't these all just men's thoughts?
“Okay!” Wu Lingxi said decisively, “I will start arranging the cycle and conditioning my body. I will send you a text message when the time comes.”

"You come and go through the procedures!"

Lin Xiao: "Okay!"

Wu Lingxi: "Then you can leave now."

Lin Xiao walked out, but stopped abruptly at the door.

"Xi Xi".

"What?" Wu Lingxi asked.

Lin Xiao: "You're not cute at all normally, you're only cute when you're drunk. You'll let me see your chest and your lower body."

Wu Lingxi: "Get lost!"

As Lin Xiao walked out the door, Wu Lingxi began to pant, even needing to open her mouth to breathe.

As a result, Lin Xiao turned back and opened the door, saying, "Xi Xi."

Wu Lingxi: "What now?"

Lin Xiao: "We're fine now, right? We have no conflicting positions anymore, right?"

Wu Lingxi: "Get lost!"

Then, she went straight up and closed the door, locking it from the inside.

Next, he opened a bottle of wine, poured it into a glass, and, as usual, drank it all in one gulp.

result……

Just as she was about to put it in her mouth, she put it down again.

He slammed the glass down on the table and then poured the wine directly into the sink.

For the past two or three years, Lin Xiao and Wu Lingxi have maintained a completely innocent relationship, never crossing any boundaries.

Only that one time.

Wu Lingxi had only recently taken over Facebook and needed tremendous support, costing $1.2 million. At that time, Lin Xiao was in dire need of money and was about to take out an $8 million loan.

However, Lin Xiao still agreed without hesitation, gritting his teeth and squeezing out the money.

Then, it was Wu Lingxi's birthday.

Both were drunk after drinking.

The two were slightly ambiguous; in Lin Xiao's words, this woman with the highest level of beauty showed him a bit of her breasts.

Since then, things have returned to a quiet and aloof state.

Because Wu Lingxi has always tried to maintain her independence and uniqueness.

She didn't want to get too involved in relationships.

A wise person doesn't fall in love.

...................................................

Sony probably really considers Lin Xiao its most important ally.

In the past, they have always been very conservative with their promotional expenses, treating money like their life depends on it.

The publicity cost for "Journey to the End of the World" was only around ten million US dollars, and Lin Xiao even had to pay half of it.

The $60 million for "The Hunger Games" was also paid out through gritted teeth.

When it came to "Kung Fu Panda," the advertising costs skyrocketed to $1.5 million, and Sony covered all of it themselves.

In this day and age, $1.5 million in advertising expenses is an astonishing figure.

This kind of costly promotion actually indicates that the film was prepared not to make money; it's all for the purpose of building an IP, for a second and third installment.

The original production cost of this movie was around $1.3 million. Everyone was satisfied with the finished product except Lin Xiao, who sent it back for a complete remake.

First, they added $5000 million, and then another $2000 million!
The entire production cost soared to $200 million, and with the marketing costs included, the total cost of the film reached $350 million.

In other words, it might inexplicably become the most expensive movie in the world.

With a budget of $1.5 million, the publicity campaign was truly overwhelming.

Lin Xiao could see various Kung Fu Panda posters almost as soon as he looked up.

It's not just Po the panda; there are also characters like the mantis, the tiger, and the crane.

Not just outdoors, but also the internet and television.

Ubiquitous propaganda.

When Lin Xiao wanted to go back to the lab and receive an additional $50 million, it was met with resistance from Sony Columbia executives. It was Amy Pascal who ultimately made the decision despite the opposition.

This time, however, the entire Sony Columbia executive team easily approved the $1.5 million advertising budget.

Amy Pascal laughed, “Because its strategic level has completely changed.”

“In the past, it was just an ordinary project for Sony Columbia, but now it has become the core IP of the entire group and will support the animation development path for the next ten years or so.”

"Originally, Sony Pictures did not have much expectation or urgency to enter the animation market, so the animation studio we collaborated on was named Oriental Fantasy. Sony's senior management did not object much because they did not care."

"But the unprecedented success of The Hunger Games changed everything, giving Sony Columbia a huge IP right from the start."

"Sony Pictures was originally full of expectations for entering the television market, but hesitated to take the plunge because it is a completely different market. To open up a market that has never been opened before, it requires a lot of money and a lot of resources."

"As a result, the success of 'The Squid Game' and 'Breaking Bad' allowed Sony Columbia to easily enter the television market."

"Most importantly, do you know how much Sony Group's stock price has risen recently?"

"DreamVision has become a unicorn, but it resolutely refuses to go public, while Sony Columbia owns nearly 30% of DreamVision's shares, so all of this is reflected in Sony's stock price."

Lin Xiao took the newspaper that was handed to him and was slightly taken aback.

Sony Group's market value has soared to $900 billion?

Lin Xiao doesn't quite remember what Sony's market value was at this time in history, but it seems to be around 70 or 80 billion.
However, the article was soon published in the newspaper, and in just six months, the market value of Sony Group had increased by more than 10 billion US dollars.

In this article, Sony's strategy appears extremely wise and brilliant.

First, Sony Pictures Entertainment has established a strong presence in the Chinese market.

Secondly, Sony Pictures successfully entered the television drama market.

Finally, Sony Pictures successfully pioneered the animation market.

In just one year, Sony Pictures has opened up three entirely new tracks, the first two of which have achieved great success. The third, the animation market, is also the most important piece of the pie for Hollywood.

Once Sony achieves success in animated films, Sony Pictures will have virtually conquered all sectors of the film and television industry, dominating the entire market.

The article states that the entire Sony Group's decision-making team was originally slow and sluggish. Unexpectedly, in the past year or two, they have become so proactive and enterprising.

Therefore, Sony Group's renewed aggressive expansion spirit has filled the market with anticipation for its future.

The article also specifically mentioned the Hunger Games series, and how much revenue and profit it will bring to Sony Columbia in the future.

In addition, Fallout 3 has sold over 1100 million copies, a large portion of which were sold on the PlayStation platform.

The PS2 sold 1.6 million units, but the newly released PS3 seems to have failed to replicate its predecessor's success. Coupled with the strong performance of Microsoft's Xbox 360, this raises the possibility of a direct competition between Microsoft and Sony platforms.

Because Fallout 3 was released on the PlayStation platform instead of the Xbox platform, PS3 sales have seen a huge increase in the past few months. According to Sony Electronic Entertainment's estimates, Fallout 3 alone has contributed more than 150 million units to PS3 sales, and that is a very conservative estimate.

In the article, Sony Electronic Entertainment CEO Kazuo Hirai revealed that another major game title directed by "The Witcher" will also be released on the PS platform, abandoning the Xbox platform.

Therefore, he is very optimistic that in the next year or two, PS3 sales will far surpass XBOX360 sales.

Sony Electronic Entertainment will continue to lead.

There was even one more sentence at the end of the article.

So, who is the cult leader Er Gou who created all these miracles?

Upon seeing this, Lin Xiao was taken aback and looked at Amy Pascal.

Amy: "Some people want to bring you back to China, while others want to bring you to the United States."

"You can keep an eye on American newspapers, television, and especially the internet."

"Who is the leader of the Er Gou Cult? This storm has been brewing for a month or two."

"You can't stop him, young Mr. Lin."

Then, Amy Pascal handed her another newspaper.

The biggest headline is "Ergou Cult Leader and Breaking Bad"!
Breaking Bad Season 2's latest viewership ratings have reached 7.8 million!
The first episode only garnered around five million views, but now it has skyrocketed to 780 million.

AMC is a cable television network, which is different from networks like NBC, CBS, and ABC.

The audience of cable television viewers is far, far more valuable.

780 million is already an incredibly impressive number, but the upward momentum is just too strong.

Everyone knows that breaking the 10 million viewers mark is only a matter of time.

Another TV series in the fantasy world is about to begin production.

The Walking Dead, AMC, and Sony Pictures are also among the producers, with Dreamworld holding more than 60% of the production shares.

At the end of this article, there is also a sentence?
Who is the leader of the Er Gou cult?

It really is a massive, widespread movement to create a god.

Amy Pascal laughed and said, "The Hunger Games has now grossed $7.3 million worldwide, and the group's goal is for Kung Fu Panda to surpass that number."

"Only if Kung Fu Panda succeeds can the Graveyard Book (Coco) series achieve twice the result with half the effort."

"Once we hold two animated film IPs, our animation empire will be invincible."

"Sony Group's market value will rise again."

I understand. For Sony, Kung Fu Panda can only succeed; it cannot fail.

..............................

Next, Lin Xiao suddenly received an invitation from Kazuo Hirai, and this time it was a private invitation.

When Lin Xiao arrived at his house, he found that there was already a guest inside, who was also Japanese.

"Mr. Lin, it is a great honor to introduce you to a new friend, Mr. Hideki Komiyama, who just took the helm at Sony Ericsson this year," said Kazuo Hirai, pointing to the Japanese man.

So it was him? He's one of the most important members of the Sony lineup, but his success or failure is hard to predict.

In a sense, the cause led by Komiyama was a failure.

He could even be described as mediocre.

Lin Xiao stepped forward and extended his hand.

As a result, the other person bent down and stretched out their hands, so Lin Xiao had no choice but to stretch out his hands as well.

The Japanese are truly... hypocritical yet persistent when it comes to etiquette.

In November, Sony Ericsson's president, Marcus Flint, resigned, and Hideki Komiyama took his place.

This year, Sony Ericsson's mobile phone shipments reached an unprecedented peak, breaking through 100 million units!

Nokia ranked first with 4.37 million units shipped.

Motorola ranked second with 1.6 million units shipped.

Samsung came in third with 1.47 million units.

Sony Ericsson and LG ranked fourth and fifth, respectively.

At this time, Nokia could not be described as being at its zenith; it was practically unrivaled, holding 37.8% of the global market share.

Who could have imagined that it would fall so completely in just a few years, and to such a devastating degree?

Even among the top five mobile phone giants, only Samsung has survived; the rest have all gone out of business. Therefore, intelligent technology is a revolution—those who follow it prosper, those who resist perish.

“Mr. Lin, from our perspective, it’s really hard to understand how you could spend over $20 billion developing a single mobile phone,” said Hideki Komiyama. “It’s completely unbelievable to us.”

The $20 billion figure mentioned includes costs in RMB, especially costs paid to the supply chain and contract manufacturers.

The development costs in the era of feature phones and the era of smartphones are completely different.

Lin Xiao: "Because the entire industrial chain is not fully prepared, we need to pay high costs."

Hideki Komiyama: "Lin-san, I know you're a remarkable person, and I want to ask you a question."

Lin Xiao: "Please speak, Mr. Komiyayama."

Hideki Komiyama: "Do you think Sony Ericsson should start developing smartphones?"

Historically, Sony Ericsson didn't start manufacturing smartphones until 2011, which was around the same time as Xiaomi.

This sluggishness is simply indescribable.

Perhaps it won't be obvious this year, but by 2009, everyone will be able to see that feature phones are no longer viable, and the era of smartphones is coming.

So that year, Samsung launched its first Android smartphone, the Galaxy GT-I7500.

Sony has always been more powerful and prestigious than Samsung.

As a result, Sony let itself miss the golden age of smartphone market expansion.

Of course, Ericsson also played a significant role in this. The strategic differences between the two companies led Sony to prepare for a full acquisition of Sony Ericsson, a process that took several years to complete.

The agreement wasn't finalized until 2011, and the deal wasn't finalized until 2012.

Although Sony's later Xperia series phones did cause some market ripples, they were ultimately just ripples.

Ultimately, its mobile phone business completely declined, or even disappeared.

Lin Xiao thought for a while and said, "I think it should be done as soon as possible."

Hideki Komiyama: "Lin-san is truly a gentleman. You know that once Sony Ericsson enters the research and development of smartphones, it will be a behemoth and a huge obstacle to your mobile phone business."

Lin Xiao: "I also hope that your company's smartphones will use my operating system."

That being said, Lin Xiao knew that the other party would not change their strategic direction because of his words.

The giants of the feature phone era all faced the problem of becoming too powerful to control. Now that I'm so successful, why would I destroy my own empire?

Therefore, the subsequent conversation between the two parties only touched upon the topic briefly.

Around 11 p.m., the three parties parted ways, and Kazuo Hirai saw Lin Xiao and Hideki Komiyama off.

However, just over ten minutes later!

Kazuo Hirai then had a private talk with Lin Xiao.

“Mr. Lin, Sony Ericsson is a self-contained system, and the Sony Group does not have 100% say in it,” Kazuo Hirai said. “However, some time ago, Ms. Wu Lingxi from your side contacted me and invited the Sony Group to invest in Quantum Technology.”

"I would like to ask, is this Ms. Wu Lingxi's personal will, or Mr. Lin's will?"

Wu Lingxi actually chose Kazuo Hirai, instead of Howard Stringer, the current big boss of Sony Group.

Lin Xiao: "This is not only Miss Wu Lingxi's idea, but also my idea."

Kazuo Hirai: "Mr. Hayashi believes that Sony Ericsson cannot transform in a short time, so he hopes that the Japanese market will also become your home turf?"

Lin Xiao: "I do have that kind of aspiration."

Kazuo Hirai: "I understand. I will do my best to push this forward."

According to Kazuo Hirai, Amy Pascal was a loyal ally of Lin Xiao. As a result, in just a few years, she rose from President of Columbia Asia to CEO of Columbia Global, and now she has been promoted to President of Sony Pictures Entertainment.

To everyone, Amy Pascal's greatest success was bringing Sony Columbia into the fold of Dreamscape, acquiring about 30% of Dreamscape's shares for less than 20 million US dollars.

Dreamworld owns several major IPs, including The Hunger Games, Breaking Bad, Kung Fu Panda, The Graveyard Book, and The Walking Dead. Who knows how much its market value is now?
Who knew that Amy's deal back then would now be worth dozens of times more?

Therefore, investing in Dream Vision back then is equivalent to investing in Quantum Technology now.

Of course, there is a price to pay.

Sony will now fully support the dominance of quantum phones in the Japanese market.

For high-end mobile phones, the four major global markets are China, the United States, Japan, and Europe.

Is China Lin Xiao's home turf?

Japan is Sony's home turf, while the United States is Texas Instruments' market.

As for Europe, although Wu Lingxi pushed ARM to invest in Quantum Technology, the company has little influence in the consumer market and cannot provide distribution channels.

Therefore, Sony Ericsson may indeed need to provide some channel support at that time.

Of course, this may not work.

Because Sony Ericsson and the Sony Group do not have completely aligned positions, not to mention Ericsson is also involved.

....................................

Is China Lin Xiao's absolute home ground?

Now, things feel a bit uncertain.

This great debate and discussion has been going on for several months.

Both sides are putting in effort, and it's getting increasingly intense.

Has Lin Xiao's reputation been restored?

I don't know, maybe not yet.

Because at this time, public intellectuals had too much influence over public opinion.

Blogs, Renren, and MSN have become the largest platforms for expressing opinions.

Despite having the highest traffic and the most users, Facebook's system seems to be of a higher status, holding the so-called high-end discourse power.

On the Lightning side, everything that needed to be said has been said, and all the points that needed to be made have been made.

Furthermore, there are already plans within the Lightning Group to fully acquire Sina, thereby directly and fundamentally controlling the largest source of viewpoints.

In 2005, Shanda tried its best to acquire Sina, but ultimately failed.

However, at this time, Lightning Group's capital strength far exceeded that of Shanda in 2005.

However, this plan was ultimately rejected.

Almost as soon as this idea emerged, it was met with extremely strong resistance from the other side.

At least on the surface, the other side still appears to be in a stronger position.

However, some within the Lightning Group have suggested that the silent majority should not be ignored.

Only a segment of the group is speaking out, because they hold the power of discourse and public opinion.

Most people have their own stance, but they are unable to express it. However, they will express it through their actions when it matters most.

And Kung Fu Panda may become this trendsetter.

If "The Last Days" can't be considered a Chinese film, then "Kung Fu Panda" should be.

Oriental Dream Studio has several hundred employees, more than two-thirds of whom are Chinese.

Moreover, this film, from its script to its story background to its character settings, is entirely Chinese.

Even the film's director, Mr. Huang Weimin, is a 100% Chinese animation director.

Of course, the film also has another producer, Lee Unkrich, who was poached from Pixar by Sony with a high salary.

However, due to Lin Xiao's absolute insistence, the director of this animation was simply listed as one person.

So, is there really a silent majority standing on Lin Xiao's side?
The key is to see how well "Kung Fu Panda" performs at the box office.

依旧和《辐射3》一样，《功夫熊猫》全球上映日期都定为12月14日，唯独中国定在12月13日。

China remains the top priority.

However, even though Fallout 3 was prioritized in China and included a large number of Chinese elements, its sales in China were still mediocre and negligible in terms of global sales.

Will Kung Fu Panda repeat the same mistakes? We'll have to wait and see.

After all, the previous "Hunger Games" film only performed so-so at the Chinese box office, and was seen as the end of the "Two Dogs" myth in China.

The sales figures of Fallout 3 in China seem to confirm this view.

In Lin Xiao's plan, this film will not only improve the Chinese film industry, but also raise the ceiling of Chinese films.

To achieve this goal, the plot was even slightly modified to make Kung Fu Panda more exciting and thrilling, just like Nezha.

But what will the final outcome be?

Lin Xiao doesn't know either, and no one knows now.

..........................................

However, in the global market, especially in the North American market, Sony Pictures has invested unprecedented amounts in advertising, launching a massive advertising campaign months in advance.

The situation is similar in the domestic market.

However, it wasn't Sony that was spending money on advertising; it was Lightning Entertainment and Bona Film Group.

The domestic publicity campaign and costs far exceeded those of "Journey to the End of the World" back then.

In the past few months, this film has become a household name in China.

With a total cost exceeding $3.5 million (including production and promotion), it is the most expensive film in the world.

The production cycle was a full three years and nine months.

The film involved more than a thousand people. The core team at Oriental Fantasy alone comprised over three hundred people.

Thanks to this film, the Chinese film industry built a 3D animation system almost from scratch.

Even though the film was completed last year and the people at Sony Columbia were very satisfied, the CEO of 2G was not. He unilaterally sent it back for a remake, which almost doubled the cost.

And so on, the behind-the-scenes story of this movie has also been fully revealed.

Then, the two sides engaged in a war of words for a month or two because of this movie.

The left side believes this is a milestone for Chinese cinema and the greatest hope for breaking through the ceiling of the film market in recent years.

If successful, the Chinese film market will expand dramatically and quickly become the most important market in the world, rapidly approaching the North American market.

If it fails, there may be no hope of market upgrading for several years.

The right side, however, believes that this is a form of moral blackmail, a form of patriotic blackmail.

Although this movie has a lot of Chinese background, its main production team is still a Hollywood team. Er Gou Jiaozhu is just a wolf in sheep's clothing.

Just like "The Last Days," it's a despicable patriotic marketing ploy from start to finish.

It's as if not watching this movie makes you unpatriotic.

But the people in China today are not the same as they were three years ago. Their perspectives have changed, and they are now capable of independent thinking.

The failures of "The Hunger Games" and "Fallout 3" in the Chinese market demonstrate that this kind of sales tactic of moral blackmail and emotional blackmail is no longer effective.

This is clearly a Hollywood movie, so stop pretending it's a Chinese movie to attract patriotic traffic.

These arguments have spread from newspapers to the internet, from social media to QQ groups, from forums to real-life dinner tables.

Whether this heated debate boosted the box office of "Kung Fu Panda" is unknown.

However, it did indeed draw the attention of the entire nation to the Lunar New Year film season.

This year's Lunar New Year film season is indeed packed with blockbusters.

Chen Kexin's "The Warlords" and Feng Xiaogang's "Assembly".

Last year, Huayi Brothers' "The Banquet" was a critical and commercial flop, but "Assembly" shows that they found the real market code and added Chinese narrative sentiment.

Feng Xiaogang's real box office success began with "Assembly".

"The Warlords" is a true masterpiece from the Hong Kong film industry that has ventured north.

"Assembly," a major work by the Beijing literary circle.

When Feng Xiaogang was interviewed by reporters, he also praised "The Warlords" highly.

"The Warlords is a true Chinese film, and so is Assembly. The Chinese flavor in our two films is the authentic one."

"As for 'Kung Fu Panda,' I would like to offer them some advice."

"Don't be so neither Chinese nor Western. Just admit that it's a Hollywood movie, and that's it. Chinese audiences recognize Hollywood movies now. For example, Transformers did very well at the box office. What we fear most is being neither Chinese nor Western, pleasing neither side."

"Which Chinese film is priced in US dollars? Chinese films don't need a savior!"

Amidst this intense controversy and overwhelming publicity...

December 13th is here!
The highly anticipated film "Kung Fu Panda," which cost a fortune and involved countless hours of hard work, has officially been released in the country.

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(End of this chapter)