Japanese Entertainment: From special effects actor to action superstar

Chapter 566 The Final Chapter of Nine-Seven Billion

At the end of June, a piece of news suddenly broke out from a television interview.

It originated from an entertainment program produced by TV Tokyo, in which Akira Tani participated.

During the program, when the host brought up the topic of American blockbusters, Gu Ming showed a gloomy expression and indicated that they should not continue talking about this topic.

A few days later, various speculations appeared in the publication.

This collaboration is highly likely to fail!
Where will the problem lie? Without a doubt, it's with the Americans! The entire responsibility lies with the US!

Soon after, various channels confirmed the authenticity of the matter.

A representative from the actor's agency stated that Gu Ming is currently preparing a new film, seemingly intending to use the revenue from Onimusha's rations to produce a big-budget movie.

In other words, it's very likely that he won't go to the United States!
Ryuichi Sakamoto quickly stated that he had discovered this matter beforehand. When he visited Taniguchi, he found that Taniguchi was somewhat evasive about the collaboration.

Universal Pictures, which naturally has a branch in Japan, quickly published a statement claiming that there were no problems with the collaboration, that Gu Ming had been invited to the film, and that Gu Ming had agreed.

On the same day, Gu Ming brought up this matter.

"In the past few days, many people have been speculating about this collaboration. I hereby declare to everyone that the collaboration is over! I will not appear in this film, and I refuse to appear in this film. Furthermore, I urge all conscientious Japanese people to boycott and refuse to appear in this film!"

"When I got involved in the film's production, do you know what I discovered? It was a completely fake film. The so-called war epic didn't exist at all. It was a rip-off! It was supposed to be about two men in a prisoner-of-war camp, and they actually wanted me to play the submissive role!"

"I refuse to act in this film no matter what, no matter how much they offer me, and I will never work with Universal Pictures."

"On set, their attitude towards the Japanese was downright arrogant. They didn't respect the Yamato men at all. Director Oshima even fawned over the American producer like a dog..."

Regardless of the era, cover porn has always been a niche genre, unable to become mainstream. Even in the later LGBT era, it remains a niche market, destined not to be accepted by the general public.

Especially in the 1980s.

On the same day that Gu Ming issued his statement, the matter unsurprisingly caused a huge uproar.

They were all fucking scammed by the Americans!

How could Americans be so mean!

I thought it was a war epic, but it turned out to be a blockbuster?

What do they take us, Japan, for?!

Boycott! We must boycott!

Without boycotting these American movies, what bright future do Japanese films have?

The people most pleased about this are naturally the five major Japanese film production companies. Foreign films do well at the Japanese box office, but there are only a few of those kinds of movies a year.

Aliens is profitable, but there's only one Aliens movie! Filmmakers need to eat too!

With some people fanning the flames and others acting aggressively, this matter achieved exactly the desired effect.

Just as the Japanese were getting extremely annoyed, Tani Akira met Oshima Nagisa, who had arrived in a hurry.

Nagisa Oshima is furious!

"Furuya-kun, what do you mean by this! Weren't we already agreed on a collaboration? Why are you going back on your word and showing no integrity whatsoever? You're even attacking Universal Pictures!"

Gu Ming clicked his tongue: "Weren't you taking care of that old American woman like a servant? Does she need your care? Can't she eat by herself?"

"This is it."

Nagisa Oshima's gaze lingered for a moment, but he quickly regained his composure: "So what? This has nothing to do with this matter, Furuya-kun, don't change the subject!"

"I'm just telling the truth." Gu Ming slammed his hand on the table. "You actually hired me to act in a pornographic film, and you want me to be the bottom?"

Nagisa Oshima was stunned: "Then, so you'll be the top?"

"Damn it! Is this a matter of offense or defense? The problem is, I can't act in this kind of movie! No amount of money can make me!"

After a moment of silence, Nagisa Oshima realized that Taniguchi was being unreasonable and slammed his fist on the table.

"Furuya-kun, if you keep acting like this, you can forget about ever working with Universal Pictures again!"

"Thank goodness!" Gu Ming clasped his hands together. "It's a deal, double happiness!" Oshima Nagisa stormed off, while Gu Ming breathed a sigh of relief.

Yes, Universal Pictures has offended them terribly, but it doesn't matter. As a great man once said, capital has its weaknesses. If it can make money, then even with today's conflict, Universal Pictures will come knocking on its door.

Business dealings are the least concerned with personal feelings.

What's more.

His career path itself does not overlap with Universal Pictures.

Despite being a major Hollywood production company, Universal has declined considerably, almost ranking at the bottom.

Gu Ming crossed his arms and stretched them out.

Now, everything is done, and we're just waiting for the final result.

……

……

July has arrived.

Driven by a desire for revenge and a desire to show off their strength in front of the Americans, the cinemas, which had been quiet, became lively again for a few days. Many people went into the cinemas in anger and bought a ticket for "Onimusha," while some who had never seen it before finally became interested in watching the movie.

The box office saw a slight increase, but then stagnated again a few days later.

People's support is limited!
Of course, no matter how many times you watch it, the exhilarating fight scenes and the time travel concept in the movie are always amazing.

As a fantasy action film, it has been filmed with the stunning spectacle of a sci-fi blockbuster!

The final result was quite encouraging.

9.2 billion yen.

The currently available box office figures are 9.2 billion yen, and it is estimated that the total box office revenue will reach 9.7 to 9.8 billion yen after the screening period ends.

It still couldn't break the 10 billion yen mark, but as a film, it at least surpassed E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, preserving some of the dignity of a domestic film.

Inside the Takakura Club, Shigeru Okada paced back and forth excitedly, a far cry from his previous composure.

"Great, great! That's fantastic! At least this way we've saved face and haven't been utterly humiliated by American films. I plan to extend the run for a while longer, and it's very likely we'll break the 10 billion yen mark!"

Gu Ming shrugged: "Then let's withdraw the film as soon as possible. It would be too shameless to continue to that point."

"That being said, if we could break through this barrier..."

Seeing Okada Shigeru's expression, Gu Ming shrugged.

Why bother!
In his memory, no Japanese film had ever grossed more than 10 billion yen in the past few years. If it didn't work this time, there would be another time.

“Well then, at least announce this news,” Haruki Kadokawa said. “We can now publicly announce to the Japanese people that this film’s box office revenue has surpassed that of foreign films, making it the highest-grossing film in Japanese film history! Without a doubt!”

Although they had to wait until the screening period ended, neither he nor Shigeru Okada could afford to wait any longer.

Announcing this news as soon as possible and receiving positive news quickly would be a good thing for both sides.

Gu Mingjing sat to the side, fully aware of the reason.

share price!

For them, box office revenue is more important than stock price. Compared to stock price, changes in box office revenue are negligible.

Good news can drive up stock prices; it's that simple.

This is also the increasingly sophisticated approach to filmmaking in later generations, and it's also the reason why good films are becoming increasingly rare.

Movies don't need to be very well-made for producers to make a profit. If that's the case, why bother?

"And now, I'm a participant in this game!"

(End of this chapter)