I'm just trying to ride the wave of popularity!

Chapter 41 What? Creating our own superhero universe?

"Holy crap, what the hell is Superman 2?!"

"Damn it, where's the Hollywood blockbuster I was promised? I turn on the TV and suddenly you show me some clueless Chinese guy fighting Sun Wukong wearing a hood?"

"What the hell..."

"Is this what they call 'Superman 2' is all hype? I'm so angry! I spent 30 yuan on the premium version, and all I got was a pile of crap!"

"Damn, this is awful! How could Superman 2 be this bad? It's a total rip-off! I was stunned after watching it!"

"Wait a minute, why is the Superman 2 movie I watched different from the one you guys watched? Where did this Monkey King come from?!"

"Are you kidding me?"

"..."

"..."

2003 years.

It was the year of the most vigorous development of the Chinese Internet.

In the first half of the year, to the astonishment of many, China's internet users surpassed 7950 million, officially securing the second position globally, second only to the United States.

In the first half of the year, although there were no real movie rating websites on the Chinese internet, a group of movie lovers gathered in social forums. They spontaneously formed a small group and would write movie reviews every now and then, recommending movies to other users on the forum.

Three months ago, Yang Bo, who had just graduated from Tsinghua University, saw that there were more and more like-minded netizens on the Internet, and that pirated DVDs that were selling counterfeit goods everywhere were harming people. So he gradually had the idea of ​​building a website to help more netizens avoid the pitfalls.

Two months ago, he and a few friends founded a movie recommendation website called "Movie Home". The website quickly attracted a large number of movie lovers. In just about two months, the number of users has exceeded four thousand, and it is increasing at an average rate of dozens of people per day.

But starting from July 11th, the number of users on [Movie House] suddenly surged!
After "Monkey King vs. Superman 2" reached the DVD market, various pirated movies began to proliferate!
In just a few days, the market was flooded with all sorts of blatant rip-offs of "Sun Wukong vs. Superman 2".

These movies all shamelessly piggybacked on the popularity of "Superman II," frantically spreading to small towns and counties, leaving countless users utterly shocked and bewildered.

On the internet, users who had been scammed and had nowhere to vent their anger all flooded the [Movie Home] website, hurling insults at the movie, causing [Movie Home]'s daily traffic to double at one point!
……

Early in the morning of June 7.

After a busy day, Yang Bo logged onto [Movie House].

He found that the [Movie House] was so lively today, with almost everyone discussing the movie called "Superman 2", and the total number of registered users was approaching 8000!

Almost everyone was cursing.

After reading these comments, he felt somewhat confused.

Why do netizens say that there seem to be two versions of "Superman 2"?

Just when he was feeling a bit lost...

There was a knock on the door at home.

An excited figure walked over, carrying a disc titled "Beastman Superman" and sporting a lewd grin.

"I'll show you a really awesome movie!"

He was slightly startled.

Then, insert the CD into the computer.

Immediately afterwards...

His eyes widened!

He suddenly realized why things were so bad!
..............................

morning.

Deng Hairong hurriedly led his lawyer into the crowded Dingjin Electronics City, heading straight for the various audio-visual product stalls.

In just a few days, the sales of nearly 10,000 pirated DVDs in China are already quite astonishing.

When he arrived at the audio-visual store, he was immediately shocked!
Almost every video and audio store has a movie poster for "Superman 2"!

wrong!

It's a blatant lie, "The Longest Day in Chang'an"!
What's even more infuriating is how brazenly these advertisements are placed, right at the store entrance, with the words "[Officially Licensed Films]" prominently displayed!
The lawyer led a group of people forward to argue...

But the shop owners seemed unconvinced.

"Breaking the law? What law? We're using officially licensed content, when have we broken the law?"

"Yes, the movie being shown is called 'Superman 2,' while ours is called 'The Longest Day in Chang'an.' What's wrong with that? Oh, I'm just wondering, what law or regulation says our movie can't be called 'The Longest Day in Chang'an'?"

"What infringement? How did we infringe on your rights?"

"A promotional poster? You're being strange. Oh, Americans can wear red shirts and underwear on the outside, but we can't?"

"Also, look at the brands of the underwear. They're all Chinese brands. Even the clothes don't infringe on any intellectual property rights!"

"Deceiving consumers?"

"How is this deception? At most, our videos are H-discs, but not erotic. How is that deception? We're just trying to let more people watch wholesome movies!"

"Go ahead and sue us!"

"Besides, what does it have to do with us [Superman 2] being criticized? We only sell DVDs for 2 yuan each..."

"..."

These shop owners seemed completely unfazed.

Deng Hairong's face turned ashen with anger.

Looking at the bustling crowds at Dingjin Electronics City, his face darkened: "Is there really no way to deal with these people?" The lawyer hesitated for a long time, repeatedly comparing the posters, and finally remained silent for a long time before saying with a complicated expression: "From a legal point of view, are they really legal?"

"Are we just going to let them ruin the reputation of 'Superman 2'?"

"I think they're just making money temporarily, at most deceiving some fooled users. Our top priority is to crack down on piracy and stop pirated copies of 'Superman 2' from flooding China... However..."

"But what?"

"Damn it, this lousy movie is being sold everywhere under false pretenses, which is making it harder for us to combat piracy!"

"..."

The lawyer took a deep breath, staring at the "Beastman 2" DVD he'd bought for two dollars, and finally exclaimed, "Damn it, when we were gathering evidence, we had no idea which parts were just riding the wave and which were pirated!"

A young man next to him frowned as he watched the movie. After hesitating for a moment, he looked at Deng Hairong and said, "Mr. Deng, about Zhou Yang, should we...?"

"Tell all film crews connected to us, everyone involved in this movie, that they are absolutely forbidden from using this film!"

"understand!"

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

On the morning of November 21th.

The morning sunlight streamed into the rented room.

Shen Long looked at the cash in his hand with a complicated expression.

Zhou Yang sent him another "big red envelope" (a large monetary gift).

As of this morning, their total purchases and sales of CDs across the country have reached nearly 12000 copies. Excluding the 0.5 yuan burning cost and the cost of the discs themselves, and adding the theaters' share, their total profit is around 76000 yuan, and he received nearly 12,000 yuan...

Twelve thousand yuan is more than enough for him to improve his life.

but……

"Mr. Zhou, can we please stop making these terrible movies?" Shen Long glanced silently at Zhou Yang beside him, who was looking at a magazine, and sighed softly.

The insults he'd been receiving these past few days had kept Shen Long, who wasn't very resilient, up all night.

Thinking about the upcoming filming of "Lin Daiyu vs. Lu Zhishen," he was instantly filled with a sense of powerlessness.

There's a high probability this movie will also be a flop.

Zhou Yang did not respond, but instead looked at the "Film World" magazine, seemingly pondering something.

Seeing this, Shen Long said nothing more.

About ten minutes later...

There was a knock on the door of the rented room.

Chen Jianfeng walked in, looking travel-worn, carrying a few movie tickets...

Zhou Yang put down the magazine, glanced at the movie ticket, and stood up.

"We can't keep making bad movies anymore; we need to create our own personal blockbuster IPs!"

"A personal blockbuster IP?" Chen Jianfeng and Shen Long were stunned when they heard this.

He looked out the window, his expression turning serious: "Yes, I've thought about it carefully, and I think we can film the 'Lin Daiyu vs. Lu Zhishen' project together with the new movie, which will be called 'The Distant Ones: Reboot'..."

"What! Filming two movies at the same time? We..." Chen Jianfeng and Shen Long were both shocked when they heard this!

How dare they do that?
One movie is outrageous enough!
Filming both movies together?

this is not……

“I’ve thought about it carefully. Before, we didn’t have money, so we could only take unconventional approaches. But… now that we have money, we can do two projects at once… Hmm, aren’t there superhero movies in America? Let’s just make an anti-superhero movie. They make superhero cinematic universes, so we’ll make an anti-superhero cinematic universe! They make movies the way they do, so we’ll make movies the opposite!”

"???"

Shen Long was stunned!
A self-revolutionary superhero universe blockbuster?

What is right now?

What do you mean, reversed!

I grass!

What exactly is President Zhou up to?

Zhou Yang looked at the two people staring blankly, a smile appearing on his face. He narrowed his eyes and said, "We can invest more in this movie. We can use wire work, or we can rent our own location. We can also do some of our own special effects. I'll figure out the funding. As for the plot, let's go to the cinema and watch 'Superman 2' first..."

"And then?" Chen Jianfeng swallowed and asked subconsciously.

“Take a little inspiration from them, and then make a better movie than theirs!” Zhou Yang pushed up his glasses and revealed a strange smile.

"???"

Shen Long's eyes widened.

and many more!

Mr. Zhou, why don't you take a look at what you're saying?
Make a film that's better than theirs?
us?

Better than them?
What about us, these misfits?

Are you sure it's us?

(End of this chapter)