Generation Z Artists

Chapter 293 Medal?

With the release of "Young You" basically confirmed for June, Fang Xinghe suddenly had a lot more things to do.

The first thing to do is to reschedule "Hero" to expand its screening scale.

The title of Oscar Best Picture will inspire moviegoers worldwide to watch the film again, while also attracting a large number of new viewers.

Thirty years later, the Oscars no longer possessed that magic, but now, every core award represents enormous economic value, not to mention the core of the core, Best Picture.

Since March 24, the media landscape has been dominated by "Heroes".

Fox News: "Heroes Surprisingly Beats Chicago; Art Loses to Ideology!"

Pravda: "The corrupt Academy, under political pressure, has thrown artistic dignity into the trash can. This year's Oscars are almost a joke, a magnificent farce!"

USA Today: "The American people firmly believe in justice!"

The Washington Post: "SR's intellectual value deserves any praise; remember, he comes from DC!"

Film critic Hinrich: "Chicago is the better film. I am ashamed and saddened by the compromises and corruption of the Academy!"

The situation on American soil is incredibly serious.

At this point, the nascent political correctness could not convince everyone, and the liberal camp launched an angry counterattack. The media and Hollywood figures that Harvey could influence stood up to speak out for Chicago.

In fact, there is always a similar rhythm after the awards are announced every year. Whether it's to sell tickets or to attract attention, there will always be people who feel wronged for the films that didn't win awards.

This year, however, the controversy is particularly intense, with "Chicago" and "The Pianist" clashing with "Hero," and even "Gangs of New York" jumping in to join the fray and ride the wave of popularity.

Amid this public opinion environment, the creators of "Hero" began a second round of promotion.

The group went offline together, and Li Lianjie, Gong Li, and Fang Xinghe appeared on several television programs.

Thanks, Brother Fang, Jiezi is now a true Hollywood superstar.

Regardless of how much of the phenomenal success of "Hero" was due to him, Hollywood simply believes in this—everyone says the domestic entertainment industry is superstitious, but Hollywood is even more superstitious.

When a project succeeds, no one will carefully analyze the true proportion of the creators' contribution to the success; they will just keep praising it.

As the male lead of "Hero", Jiezi got the biggest piece of the pie besides Fang Xinghe and Zhang Yimou.

He appeared as the guest of honor on a solo episode of "The Tonight Show Starring Jay Reynolds," which attracted over 2000 million viewers.

The interactions during that time were particularly interesting.

Jay Reno: "Are you practicing real kung fu?"

Li Lianjie confidently replied, "Of course!"

Jay Reno: "The kind that's really good at fighting?"

Li Lianjie suddenly stood up, looking Renault up and down, seemingly pondering where to start.

Jay Reynolds was terrified and hurriedly waved his hands: "No, no, no, I mean, have you ever fought Star River? Can you beat him?"

Li Lianjie suddenly sat back on the sofa and said in a serious tone, "I'm sorry, let's start over... What did you ask in the first place?"

Jay Reynolds looked completely bewildered: "Uh, what? Oh, are you practicing real kung fu?"

Li Lianjie shook his head vigorously with a straight face: "No."

Then immediately press your right index finger against your left palm to indicate that the topic should be dropped.

"Hahahahaha..."

The audience almost burst out laughing; the atmosphere was incredibly joyful.

Look, even with the Kung Fu Emperor, who has risen to superstar status, as the guest of honor, the most popular topic is still Fang Xinghe.

Actually, for Jiezi at this point, praising the other side and suppressing himself was not a difficult outcome to accept.

Even today, although the two may seem to be on the same track, they have actually already diverged.

Fang Xinghe's core identity is that of an idol, a leader, and a cultural phenomenon integrating writing, directing, and acting, rather than simply a kung fu superstar.

Fang Xinghe didn't even consider the Hollywood projects that Jiezi was trying to negotiate and secure.

Since there is no direct competition, he is naturally willing to keep a low profile and yield in order to win the favor of Mantianxing.

Therefore, in subsequent episodes, he exaggeratedly boasted about Fang Xinghe's combat abilities.

"Those who haven't seen it with their own eyes will never understand the despair-inducing combat power of SR."

When he picked up his spear, I couldn't even see the phantom-like thrusts flying everywhere.

Even if he slows down, my sword bends at the slightest touch, so there's no chance of a fight.

Do you remember that scene in the movie where someone slashes down with a spear?

To support him standing on it, the prop gun had a hollow alloy barrel and a genuine high-carbon steel gun head, weighing more than 10 kilograms in total.

SR actually swung that thing at a speed of 200 kilometers per hour!
I was standing right in front of them at the time. The spearhead, slashing downwards at high speed, parted the air and slammed into my face. Every hair on my body stood on end, and I felt like I was going to die any second…

"Wow!"

Jay Reno smacked his lips loudly: "So, that action was actually filmed?"

"Absolute fidelity!"

Li Lianjie nodded vigorously, and took the opportunity to promote the DVD.

"The collector's edition of 'Hero' includes an hour and a half of behind-the-scenes footage, allowing you to see a different perspective and unprocessed material. Then you'll understand why I firmly believe he is the strongest cold weapon warrior in modern society."

After the program aired, American media began hyping it up again as "the god of cold weapons" and "the world's number one fight scene".

Is it useful? Of course.

North American weekday box office returns to over $300 million, and nets another $1495 million over the weekend.

It may not sound like much, but what about globally?
Even the newly released collector's edition DVD?

Sony adopted a strategy of completely eliminating the DVD sales of "Hero".

That is: first, a limited collector's edition priced at $168 will be released, launching on April 1st, Fang Xinghe's birthday.

The most precious item in the gift box was a full-armored Prince Yu figurine. To be honest, from Fang Xinghe's perspective from 2030, the workmanship was just so-so. However, this collector's edition had a total of 10 sets, and it sold out in just one and a half days.

Two days later, a non-limited edition collector's version was released, priced at $29.

It contains 4 discs, 1 bonus disc, 1 soundtrack disc, and 2 random, unreleased posters. That's all.

In just three days, 40 copies were sold worldwide.

Finally, there's the ubiquitous standard viewing version, priced at $8.9.

The sales figures for this product can't be calculated in a short time, but based on conventional predictions, a kung fu film like "Hero," which is particularly suitable for collection and repeated viewing, would have no problem selling 2 million.

Of course, don't count on domestic distribution; pirated copies have been on the market for a long time, and domestic cinemas have no plans to expand the screenings.

Japan and South Korea do have them.

Tokyo Shimbun: "The afterglow of the Qin Empire still shines with its best light! Prince Fang Xinghe, the Martial Saint of the Empire, wins Best Supporting Actor!"

Chosun Ilbo: "East Asian Co-prosperity! 'Hero,' starring Fang Xinghe, has won the Oscar for Best Picture without any controversy, a first for Asia!"

Jet Li: Good heavens, I've been stripped of my leading role?!
Okay, go away. The expanded release in Japan and South Korea basically used Fang Xinghe as the absolute selling point. The box office is not comparable to its peak, but it is still more profitable than 90% of new releases.

As for the domestic situation, it was a chaotic and disorganized place.

The city newspaper couldn't help but say: "Congratulations to 'Hero,' but Chinese films can't keep relying on luck forever."

Beijing News: "A huge upset! 'Hero' snatched the Best Picture award from 'Chicago' through rather dishonest means, surprising our allies and causing an uproar in the media!"

Film Weekly: "The whole world has recognized the value of 'Hero,' but a small group of clowns are still kneeling there contentedly, pathetic and laughable!"

Jilin Daily: "QNMD!"

Yun Bao: "Brother is right to scold me!"

Kawakawa:? ? ?
Putting aside the controversy surrounding the unauthorized claim of a senior brother, the debate over the Best Picture award in China raged on from the 24th until early April, finally interrupted by another major event—

On April 1, his birthday, Fang Xinghe released a new book, following his annual tradition.

This year's film is the novel of the same name as "Better Days".

Because it involves spoilers, only the Chinese version was released... Anyway, we can't count on it for domestic box office.

Based on the most reasonable predictions, the domestic box office of "Les Young" should be between 1 million and 1.3 million yuan, with a maximum of 1.5 million yuan.

"Hero" is a blockbuster, naturally suitable for watching in the cinema, while "You Are the One" is a youth film, and it would be a blessing if it could gross 3000 million at the box office.

Given the sheer number of fans and the level of fervor surrounding "Full of Stars," we'll add 7000 million to its box office revenue. It will be fully released in the first two weeks, and the rest will be a feast for pirates.

Therefore, if you want to make big money, you can't rely on the domestic market.

Whether it becomes popular in China or not, the ultimate significance is to promote social concern for school bullying and humanistic care for left-behind children.

The novel could then be disseminated first, and its reach extended to vast areas below the county level at the lowest possible price.

Both designs are different, but Fang Ge's scythe is much gentler.

The hardcover edition costs 12 yuan, and the paperback edition costs 6.8 yuan. He makes almost no profit, but he still can't get away with piracy.

The most crudely made pirated goods can be sold for 1 yuan, sold at stalls for 1.5 yuan, and distributed to rural areas for 2 yuan, which is truly outrageous.

Moreover, this time the piracy appeared on April 3rd, started to spread on the 5th, and was everywhere by the 7th.

Fang Xinghe's deliberately low price still created a miracle—

Two million copies were sold out on the same day. Subsequently, 48 state-owned printing plants across the country ran their machines around the clock to keep up with the demand!
In less than 7 days, Fang Xinghe created a new legend in the domestic book industry, with sales of 10 million yuan in the first week!
The lingering powder from the tide played a huge role in this.

"So cheap? I have to buy a copy. I guess I've supported Fang Xinghe after all."

"Yes, Xiao Fang is bringing honor to Chinese people abroad, so we should support him."

A 20-yuan movie ticket is really painful, but a 6.8-yuan novel is something most people can afford. Plus, Fang Xinghe has a good reputation built up from his previous works, so reading his books is definitely worthwhile.

At this moment, Xinhua followed suit, stating: "Fang Xinghe's act of selling his new book at cost price, benefiting the people, is a huge support for our country's cultural cause. He has demonstrated the demeanor and magnanimity of a cultural leader through his actions, and has written a great chapter in history..."

Making a lot of money abroad and then ceasing to make money from Chinese people has sparked a strong reaction in China.

Therefore, the novel "Less You" naturally continued to sell like hotcakes, becoming a cultural phenomenon in China.

In fact, the proportion of adults who read "Less Than You" is not high. However, there are a total of 1.3 million girls in China from junior high school to university (born between 1981 and 1991). Due to various reasons, "Less Than You" was discounted again and again, and it sold another 800 million copies in the second week.

The fundamental factor limiting new book sales is no longer economic, but rather the printing presses that are starting to emit black smoke...

Flowers bloom both inside and outside the wall.

Selling books inside the Great Firewall and tickets outside, even if you earn less, you still make money, and your reputation and wealth come rolling in.

Of course, more importantly, after this fermentation, the release and promotion of the movie "Young You" is no longer a question of "how to do it", but a question of "when will you release the movie version?"

I know you're all anxious, but don't rush, "Heroes" isn't offline yet.

As of April 15, "Hero" had grossed $7252 million worldwide.

With this, the total box office successfully reached 7.3 million US dollars, and the final box office is expected to reach 7.5 million US dollars, becoming an insurmountable milestone in Chinese film history.

It also surpassed Star Wars: Episode II – Revenge of the Fallen, ranking 9th in the history of world cinema.

The news caused a sensation throughout East Asia.

Various invitations poured in like snowflakes to Fang Xinghe's personal team, which had already expanded to a huge scale.

As the chief agent for his junior apprentice, Wang Chali oversees six major sectors.

Kadokawa Tsutohiko, who is in charge of all Japanese affairs.

Kim Jae-hee is in charge of all South Korean affairs.

Williams, the WMA agent in charge of all U.S. affairs.

Shi Huang was in charge of all domestic affairs.

Shi Zi is fully responsible for the assistant team.

Zhang Yong is in overall charge of the security team.

方星河现在的出行配置是4助理、12安保、1摄影、1发型师、1造型师，国内前所未有的规格。

We have to do it this way; without two people, we can't handle the workload.

Especially when participating in events in the United States, all sorts of strange and eccentric characters can be quite exhausting.

Going back further, the last idol to drive fans this crazy was Leonardo DiCaprio during his "Big Ship" era, and the next one was Justin Bieber during his "Baby" era.

Even during his activities in Japan and South Korea, he didn't cause his security team this much suffering—the United States has its own unique circumstances, and Fang Ge has already received at least 50 bullets for all sorts of bizarre reasons.

So, seeing that the box office trend was slowing down and he no longer needed to worry about it, Fang Xinghe quietly returned to China in mid-April after traveling around Europe with the film crew.

Well, I was so low-key, getting mobbed as soon as I stepped off the plane...

"Should I buy a private jet?"

He asked Wang Charlie this question.

Why would you do this?

He gave a wry smile to the school leaders and film bureau officials who came to pick him up at the airport.

The leader smiled and shook hands with him: "It's only right. You are a great contributor to the country, and I think it's very necessary."

Fang Xinghe looked up and felt a strange unease.

A red carpet was laid out outside the cabin, and a group of elementary school students wearing red scarves, holding flowers, and looking excited were all around.

Behind them, an honor guard, seemingly brought in from who-knows-where, stood in two rows, majestic and solemn.

The news camera was fixed on his face, and the school leaders lifted a red cloth from a tray and placed it around his neck... What was it called again? A sash or a banner?
This is truly outrageous. In both his lives, Fang Xinghe has never seen anything like it in the entertainment industry.

In fact, this kind of thing shouldn't even exist in the entertainment industry.

But then the department head suddenly appeared and whispered in his ear, "You haven't been in China much these past month, so you might not know, but our recent state visits and diplomatic activities almost always involve mentioning 'Hero,' discussing Chinese history, and talking about cultural exchange. Xiao Fang, if nothing unexpected happens, you're going to win a medal!"

Medals? What are those?
The Gen Z online troll leader has finally discovered his blind spot in knowledge...

(End of this chapter)