The Entertainment Industry in Turmoil: Young Actresses All Want to Rise to the Top

The battle between "Monkey King: Hero Is Back" and "Mr. Six" continues, but the balance of power has already begun to tilt.

On January 28, the last day of the theatrical run of "Monkey King: Hero Is Back," a weekday Thursday, the weather was very cold, with most parts of the country below zero degrees Celsius, but the occupancy rate in cinemas was still over 1%.

The final day ended, and all box office figures were finalized.

The final box office of "Monkey King: Hero Is Back" was 15.4 billion yuan!

The highest-grossing domestic animated film, one of the top 20 domestic films in history, the biggest dark horse of the 2015 Lunar New Year season, and the first animated film in Chinese film history to break 1.5 billion yuan at the box office.

That evening, Shen Mo posted a Weibo post containing a photo of the manuscript for "Monkey King: Hero Is Back".

Sun Wukong stood atop the mountain, his red robe fluttering in the wind, with a radiant glow behind him.

In the blank space of this page of the manuscript, he wrote a line: Great Sage, thank you.

The comments below are all unanimously "The Great Sage is always here" and "See you in the next Great Sage movie".

On the other hand, "Mr. Six" ultimately grossed 9.01 million yuan.

Looking at this figure alone, it would be considered respectable in any year's Lunar New Year film season. Feng Xiaogang's acting skills have been repeatedly praised, and the nostalgia factor of the Beijing film circle has been played quite well. If it weren't for that monkey next door, this should have been a victory worth raising a glass to.

Unfortunately, there is no such thing.

When "Monkey King: Hero Is Back" stood there like a mountain with its box office of 15.4 billion yuan, 9.01 million yuan became an awkward figure. It wasn't bad, but it had nothing to do with "winning".

Ironically, two weeks after the release of "Mr. Six," the biggest source of buzz was not the film itself, but the infighting between Kris Wu and Li Yifeng in the public sphere.

Today you release a press release saying my acting is dragging the film down, tomorrow I'll spread news saying you're acting like a diva and not cooperating with promotion. The two fan groups are fighting fiercely, which has only generated more buzz for "Mr. Six".

However, none of this buzz ultimately translated into box office revenue.

After enjoying the spectacle, the audience turned around and went into the theater showing "Monkey King: Hero Is Back".

After all, a monkey's stick is much tougher than a top celebrity's words.

In the winter of 2015, this monkey stirred up the entire Chinese film market.

With a total box office of 15 billion yuan, "Monkey King: Hero Is Back" carved out a path for itself during the Lunar New Year film season. This number is like a red-hot branding iron, deeply imprinted in the minds of every filmmaker.

Domestic animation can actually fetch so much money.

Before this, the presence of animated films in domestic cinemas was roughly equivalent to that of a claw machine in the corner of the movie theater.

Some people play it, but nobody takes it seriously. When they have kids, they don't mind playing it, but when they don't have kids, they can't be bothered to even glance at it.

"Boonie Bears" and "Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf" barely made a few hundred million yuan; the rest were just Hollywood scraps.

When people in the industry talk about animated films, there's an unspoken sense of disdain in their tone.

That's for kids.

However, "Monkey King: Hero Is Back" put that statement to rest.

It's not just talk; it's proven by box office numbers, by the tears of adults who cried their eyes out in the theater, by the ticket stubs from those who watched it two, three, or even four times, and by the spontaneous word-of-mouth recommendations on social media.

This proves one thing: it's not that Chinese people don't watch animation, it's that they haven't found any animation worth watching.

In February 2016, Mohen added fuel to the fire by releasing an announcement on Mohen Animation's official website, which shocked the entire entertainment industry.

Mohen Animation acquired 100% equity of the well-known animation brand "U17" for 9.04 million yuan. This figure of 9.04 million yuan also declares to the market Mohen's determination to enter the domestic animation industry.

Founded in 2009, U17 has accumulated the copyrights of more than 8000 comic IPs. Among them, the most famous is "100,000 Cold Jokes", a masterpiece of witty banter that made countless people laugh until their abs hurt. In addition, there are a series of works such as "Rakshasa Street" that have been deified in the ACG circle.

For Mohen, these animated works can not only expand the field of animation, but also serve as a source of IP for live-action film and television adaptations.

These 8000 IPs are like 8000 untapped gold mines.

On the day the news was announced, Zhou Jingqi, the founder of U17.com, posted a message on his WeChat Moments: "[Seven years have passed, and U17.com has finally seen the light.]"

The accompanying image is an early screenshot of the U17 website, with an interface so rudimentary it resembled a personal homepage, but that was where his dream began.

Capital reacts faster than wild grass in spring.

The most perceptive group of people had already begun their operation in the third week of "Monkey King: Hero Is Back's" release. Like a group of sharks that had smelled blood, they swam frantically in the long-dormant sea of ​​Chinese animation, searching for their next prey. Wherever there was a huge profit, there they were.

The breakthrough created by "Monkey King: Hero Is Back" allowed investors to see the enormous potential of domestic animated films.

So they flocked in, scrambling to seize animation teams that had persevered through the harsh winter for years, to seize IPs that hadn't yet been discovered, and to seize everything they could.

In the same month, film giant Fiber Optics Media made a more systematic plan.

They spun off their animation business from their parent company and formed Coloroom Pictures. At the same time as Coloroom's establishment, Fiberhome announced a figure that shocked the industry: they had already invested in 13 animation companies and would release 22 animated films in the future.

22 films – this number doesn't represent a test, it represents a declaration of war, it's fiber optics shouting to the entire industry: Animated films, here we come.

The first of these 22 films to be released is "Big Fish & Begonia," which has been eagerly awaited by countless people.

This animated film, which started with a crowdfunding campaign, went through a long delay and countless sighs of "it will never happen in my lifetime" before finally being scheduled for release in the summer of 2016.

The production company is Coloroom Pictures, and the list of co-producers prominently features the name InkSign Animation.

The day the news broke, someone posted a status on Weibo: "Is Mohen going to dominate Chinese animation? 'Monkey King' just finished, and 'Big Fish & Begonia' is coming."

Someone replied below: [It's not about dominating, it's about providing a safety net. Without the ink marks, *Big Fish* might still be delayed.]

The capital market has given a clear response to Fiber Optic Media's strategic move.

At the end of February, fiber optic stocks surged, rising by more than 2%.

Internet giants have also been active. Tencent Pictures announced at the end of February that it would invest 300 million yuan to support animation creators and studios.

3 million is not a large number, but what Tencent holds is not money, but traffic. What they want to do is simple and terrifying: take those niche anime IPs that are only known to the ACG (Anime, Comics, and Games) community, and use Tencent's powerful platform to cultivate them into super IPs with a mass consumer base.

A work with only tens of thousands of clicks on a comic platform can, after being packaged and promoted by Tencent, become an animated series with over 100 million views, and then a movie with hundreds of millions in box office revenue.

Tencent knows better than anyone how to operate in this industry chain, after all, it also controls tens of thousands of novel IPs of Shengda Group, and in terms of animation prospects, it is the company that most wants to make it the biggest.

Suddenly, the domestic animated film market became more lively than ever before.

Money came in, people came in, projects came in. The animation teams that had persevered for years through the harsh winter no longer had to rely on outsourcing to survive, no longer had to struggle for hundreds of thousands of yuan in start-up capital, and could finally sit quietly in front of their computers and create the works they wanted to make.

But behind the excitement, hidden worries are also emerging.

Capital is profit-driven; it invests money not to create art, but to make money.

When the return on investment for an animated film reaches a certain figure, capital will flood in like a tide; when that figure drops, it will also retreat like a tide.

Those teams that have been promoted by capital may face an ice age even colder than winter if they cannot deliver results before the capital's patience runs out.

Finding the balance between independent production and capital control is a challenge that every animation team must face.

"Critically acclaimed and commercially successful" sounds easy, but is incredibly difficult to achieve.

As for the "Journey to the West" IP, it has been developed to its fullest extent.

In the State Administration of Radio and Television's project filing database, within a month of "Monkey King: Hero Is Back" being released, as many as 16 animated films related to "Journey to the West" were approved.

In February alone, a total of 47 animated films were approved for production, eight times the number in the same period of the previous year.

Some people joked, "If Wu Cheng'en could collect royalties, he would have been the richest man in China long ago."

Some people are worried: "Journey to the West is going to be ruined. If it continues to be filmed like this, audiences will feel like vomiting whenever they see Sun Wukong."

However, at the same time, the voices on the Internet claiming that "Mohen Animation saved the domestic animated film industry" are still rampant.

Before *Monkey King: Hero Is Back*, Chinese animation was a graveyard; after *Monkey King: Hero Is Back*, it became a battlefield. Mohen, single-handedly, transformed this graveyard into fertile ground.

Don't put too much pressure on them. The ink stains merely prove that this path is viable; what truly broadens this path is the entire industry.

[Salvation? Not quite. But at least they brought a glimmer of light to those who had walked in darkness for so long.]

Meanwhile, the recently concluded film "Monkey King: Hero Is Back" is holding a celebration banquet, with Mohen Animation having booked the entire banquet hall at a hotel in the China World Trade Center.

Apart from a few media outlets, the attendees were all core members of the Mohen Group, including the animation team, theatrical distribution team, and publicity team, as well as several partners closely associated with Mohen.

As the CEO of Mohen Animation, Wang Jing stood at the door to greet guests, wearing a dark blue dress and with her hair down, looking more gentle than the plain-faced animation CEO in the office.

When Shen Mo arrived, there were already seven or eight tables occupied in the banquet hall.

Li Yitong walked in arm in arm with him, her crescent-shaped eyes smiling, greeting this person and nodding to that person, as if she were entertaining guests in her own living room.

As the 2016 Spring Festival approached, Bai Lu, Meng Ziyi, Dilraba Dilmurat, Wang Churan, and Liu Haocun, who didn't have any plans for the time being, also came and sat at a table by the window.

Seeing Shen Mo enter, the group excitedly raised their glasses and swirled them, with Meng Ziyi grinning from ear to ear.

The seat reserved for Tian Xiwei was empty. Shen Mo glanced at the empty table but didn't say anything.

In the very center of the banquet hall, an ice sculpture gleamed coldly under the lights.

It was a huge square ice block, sculpted into the shape of a film reel, with clearly defined gear teeth on both sides.

On the ice in the middle, a long string of numbers is engraved: 1,540,000,000.

Each number is about the size of a palm, reflecting a pale blue light under the illumination.

15.4 million.

This number, engraved in the ice, is a record-breaking number and a testament to the collective effort of everyone present.

Shen Mo and Li Yitong walked over side by side. Wang Jing came up from the other side, still holding a wine glass she hadn't put down yet. Chen Zhixi gently nudged her arm, and she realized what was happening. She handed the wine glass to someone below the stage and took the small hammer from a staff member.

Zhong Lifang, Chen Zhixi, and Tian Xiaopeng, the director of "Monkey King: Hero Is Back," stood on either side of the ice sculpture.

Six people, six small hammers, red ribbons tied to the handles of the hammers, fluttering gently in the air.

Everyone stood up at that moment, even the waiters stopped in their tracks, holding trays and standing in the corner, craning their necks to look at the center of the banquet hall.

"three--"

The entire audience shouted in unison, not in perfect unison, but very loudly, so loudly that the glass in the banquet hall vibrated slightly.

"two--"

Some people raised their phones, while others clenched their fists.

"one!"

Six hammers fell at the same time.

"boom--"

The numbers on the ice sculpture exploded, sending fragments flying that traced transparent arcs under the lights before landing on the ground.

At the same time, fireworks exploded overhead, and ribbons fell from the sky, fine and dense, like a meteor shower falling backwards, landing on the ice sculpture fragments, on the shoulders of the six people, and on everyone's heads.

Li Yitong subconsciously shrank her neck, then smiled, her crescent-shaped eyes looking particularly beautiful amidst the colorful ribbons and flower rain.

She crouched down and picked up a fragment of an ice sculpture, on which half a stroke of the number "5" remained. The icy touch traveled from her palm to her fingertips. She stood up and held up the fragment to the crowd below the stage, which immediately sparked a frenzy of cheers.

Shen Mo glanced at her sideways, a slight smile playing on his lips, before turning his gaze back to the audience.

After the fireworks faded and the applause subsided, he stepped forward again and walked to the center of the stage. The lights followed him, casting a long shadow onto the huge ink-stained logo wall behind him.

He stopped, looked up, and his gaze swept over every face in the audience.

"Monkey King: Hero Is Back, 15.4 billion."

People in the audience applauded, and the sound spread from the front row to the back, making the whole venue excited.

"This number is not a victory for Mohen, but a victory for domestic animation. It is the result of every ticket stub that was used to build up this number by everyone who cried for that monkey in the movie theater."

"Today, we smashed that number."

He paused, and the corners of his mouth curved slightly.

But this is not the end.

"It's time to begin!"

"I didn't call everyone here today just to celebrate."

The atmosphere in the banquet hall changed instantly; almost everyone wore an expression of understanding.

The people of Mohen know Shen Mo too well. If it were just a simple celebration banquet, Shen Mo would never invite everyone together, and he himself might not even attend.

Shen Mo glanced at Wang Jing, who met his gaze with a smile.

"Inkmark Animation will be launching a project next."

Shen Mo paused for a moment, then spoke slowly and deliberately.

"The 'Chinese Mythology Universe' Project!"

The moment those words were spoken, everyone was stunned, almost all of them trying to process the weight of those words.

"Monkey King: Hero Is Back is the starting point," Shen Mo said, holding up a finger. "It's not the end."

He lowered his hand, his tone shifting from declaring to narrating, and slowly laid out a blueprint.

"Next, Mohen Animation will successively develop 'The White Snake,' 'Nezha,' 'Yang Jian,' 'Jiang Ziya,' as well as many more well-known Chinese mythological stories."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over the eyes of those below the stage—some surprised, some excited.

Total investment: 10 billion; duration: 5 years.

When Shen Mo uttered these two numbers, his tone was very calm, but the reaction from the audience was anything but calm.

It's worth noting that the total cost of "Monkey King: Hero Is Back" and its predecessor, "Ne Zha," was only 6000 million RMB, with marketing and distribution costs totaling around 1 million RMB.

Now, with 4 movies and 10 billion yuan, Shen Mo has doubled that number.

The goal is to work with top-tier teams and use cutting-edge technology to produce the videos, thereby minimizing time costs and truly creating a "Chinese mythology universe".

At the investment team's table, Zhao Feng's chopsticks stopped in mid-air, his eyes fixed on the stage, his lips slightly parted, forgetting to close them.

Chen Jun, who was next to him, had already taken out his phone and started typing.

At the animation team's table, the core creators looked at each other, some with red eyes, some raising their glasses and drinking them down in one gulp, and some bowing their heads and pretending to wipe their mouths while their fingers trembled.

They've waited too long. Those who make animated films in China have always been the ones who are underestimated.

Parents say, "Can drawing that put food on the table?" Industry peers say, "Animation is just for kids." Investors say, "You might as well invest in a bubble tea shop instead of yours."

Now, Shen Mo is willing to take out 10 billion yuan and tell them to keep going for five years and tell the story of the Chinese people to the Chinese people.

At Bai Lu's table, Meng Ziyi was the first to react, and she leaned close to Bai Lu's ear and whispered something.

Is it possible that a real person will appear in it?

Bai Lu's eyes widened, and she turned to look at Meng Ziyi, pouting, "Are you trying to get a peach?"

Dilraba sat there quietly, her fingers slowly twirling on her wine glass, her gaze fixed on Shen Mo on the stage, a radiant smile playing on her lips.

Shen Mo didn't wait for the commotion below the stage to subside before continuing to speak.

"The White Snake is expected to be released in 2017. Nezha is expected in 2018. Yang Jian and Jiang Ziya will be released no later than 2020."

"Each book stands alone, yet they are interconnected. They share the same worldview, the same underlying logic, and the same Chinese mythology system."

He paused, and the corners of his mouth curved slightly.

"We want to tell the world that systematic animated films aren't just something Marvel and DC can do; China's are just as good!"

After he finished speaking, someone in the audience finally couldn't hold back anymore.

A member of the animation team clapped wildly, his face flushed, and shouted, "Bravo!"

An animator next to him stood up abruptly, holding a glass of baijiu (Chinese liquor), his face flushed red. He raised the glass to Shen Mo and downed it in one gulp.

The person next to him patted him on the back but didn't try to comfort him, because he was shaking himself.

Shen Mo looked at the excited animation team below the stage, reached out to calm them down, and continued with a smile.

"First of all, 'White Snake' will be handled by Falling Light Animation Studio."

The entire group at the table to the left of the animation team instantly stood up and applauded wildly. Although they had already completed more than half of the project, they couldn't help but get excited in this setting.

"Secondly, 'Ne Zha' will be handled by Coco Animation Studio."

Everyone at the next table also stood up. The studio manager, Jiaozi, looked at Shen Mo on the stage and couldn't help but recall the scene a few days ago when she approached him to discuss the project "Nezha".

After discussing "Ne Zha," he talked to himself about this plan. He had thought it was just a pipe dream, but now it was being implemented.

Dumpling smiled and clapped, then shook his head. He had to admit that he felt truly proud and satisfied working for a boss like this.

"Then, the project 'Yang Jian' was handed over to Yi Hua Kai Tian Studio for development."

At another table, everyone stood up, and several people even jumped up.

They were the latest studios to be acquired by Mohen. Compared to the other studios that had achieved success and produced works, none of them expected that this task would fall to them.

"Finally, the development of 'Jiang Ziya' will be handled by Xingyue Chenshi Studio."

At the next table, a group of people around the same age as the Yihua Kaitian team stood up, waving their hands and bowing to each other from time to time.

Like Yi Hua Kai Tian, ​​they were a studio with few works and achievements, but were fortunate enough to be noticed and acquired by Mo Hen.

Both "White Snake" and "Ne Zha" are produced by experienced and even award-winning mature studio teams, so Shen Mo set a release date for them.

However, although Shen Mo knows that the teams responsible for "Yang Jian" and "Jiang Ziya" are top teams for the future, they are still young. Therefore, Shen Mo will give them time to grow and release the films no later than 2020.

"I wish our four animated films all the best in the future, at which time we will launch a new phase of our mythological universe project on a larger scale."

"Finally, this year's year-end bonuses will all be doubled. I wish everyone a happy Chinese New Year and a wonderful holiday at home."

As soon as Shen Mo finished speaking, the entire venue erupted in cheers.

"President Shen is awesome!"

"I love you, Mr. Shen!"

……

"Brother Mo, I love you!" Liu Haocun followed the crowd and shouted secretly, his eyes looking around like a thief.

Wang Churan heard everything clearly from the side and couldn't resist gently pinching Liu Haocun's slender waist, eliciting a soft cry in response. Satisfied, she withdrew her hand. She made a soft humming sound.

Amidst the cheers and shouts, Shen Mo stepped off the stage. The lights in the banquet hall became a little brighter than before, and everyone's faces shone with a kind of ignited light.

Li Yitong sat at the first table, looking at Shen Mo on the stage, her crescent-shaped eyes filled with pride.

She knew that her man was never content to be just a businessman who was happy with a modest fortune.

What he wants to do is something bigger.

As Shen Mo stepped off the stage and passed by Wang Jing, he paused for a moment. "Now it's up to you guys."

Wang Jing raised her head, looked at him, and slowly smiled. "Please wait and see, Mr. Shen."

Shen Mo nodded, said nothing more, and walked back to sit down next to Li Yitong.

Li Yitong poured him a glass of water. Although it was a celebration banquet tonight, she didn't want him to drink too much.

"10 billion, 5 years."

Li Yitong's voice was very soft, only the two of them could hear it, "The Legend of the White Snake and Nezha are fine, they have the original scripts and teams. But Yang Jian and Jiang Ziya, are you planning to create original works?"

Shen Mo picked up his water glass, took a sip, and smiled slightly. "We can't keep copying forever. Besides, these teams are all very capable. We can just spend time working on it. I trust them."

Li Yitong glanced at him but did not refute him.

Shen Mo gently placed his hand under the table on the back of Li Yitong's hand.

"You can be the lead producer for these animated films. As for the scripts, you can lead the writing team at Mohen Pictures. Since we're going to create a universe, it would be best if there were some Easter eggs and crossovers between them, as well as consistency in the settings."

Li Yitong nodded. She knew that Shen Mo was paving the way for her. Although she had read a lot of scripts, she was not really cut out to be a screenwriter.

However, precisely because he had read and analyzed many scripts, he had a certain reputation in the screenwriting industry, and the screenwriters at Mohen Pictures were willing to listen to his leaders and opinions.

If this cinematic universe is successful, as the head writer or even the main producer of the four series, my status in the industry will rise to a new level.

The day after the celebration banquet, the "Chinese Mythology Universe" project exploded like a bombshell in the entertainment industry.

"Mohen announces the 'Chinese Mythology Universe' plan, betting 10 billion on domestic animation."

When this news went viral, the comment section exploded.

Some people were incredibly excited: "Holy crap! 'The White Snake,' 'Nezha,' 'Yang Jian,' 'Jiang Ziya'! Aren't these all stories I heard when I was a kid? Mohen is going to make our own Marvel!"

One person calmly analyzed: "1 billion yuan, 5 years, 4 animated films. That's an average of 200 million yuan per film. This investment is unprecedented in the history of Chinese animation. It's a Hollywood-level budget. The question is whether we can produce Hollywood-level quality."

Some people directly mocked: "Monkey King: Hero Is Back was just lucky. Did they really think that making a mythological film would make it a hit? They're really overconfident."

Many more are taking a wait-and-see approach: "Let's wait until the film comes out; anyone can make empty promises."

The media's reaction was faster and more incisive than that of netizens.

Is it confidence or arrogance?

This is the headline on the entertainment channel of a certain portal website.

The article quotes the views of two industry insiders who wished to remain anonymous.

One person said, "Mohen's only success in the animation field is 'Monkey King: Hero Is Back.' I think it's too reckless for one successful film to give him the courage to create a universe."

Another person put it more bluntly: "10 billion is not a small amount. Isn't Mohen worried that the first 'White Snake' movie will flop? If it flops, the entire subsequent universe plan will collapse."

The last paragraph of the article is particularly scathing: "Shen Mo proved himself to be a genius at the gambling table with his book 'Monkey King,' but the difference between a genius and a madman is often just one defeat."

Can the Ink Trace Animation Universe Recapture the Glory of the Monkey King?

This is another media headline, with milder wording than the former, but the criticism is no less sharp.

The article analyzes the feasibility of a mythological universe from three perspectives: talent reserves, technological accumulation, and market acceptance.

"While the production team behind 'Monkey King: Hero Is Back' is undoubtedly impressive, the question remains: can Inkhen Animation rebuild multiple teams of the same caliber in such a short time to create four animated films of the same caliber within five years?"

"Although 'The White Snake' and 'Nezha' are national-level IPs, precisely because they are so national, the audience's expectations have been raised to the limit. If they are not careful, they will be ridiculed by the entire internet."

"Has the market ceiling for domestic animation really been raised by 'Monkey King: Hero Is Back'? Or is 'Monkey King: Hero Is Back' just an isolated case, and whether the audience's patience for domestic animation has fundamentally changed? That is the question."

The article concludes with an open-ended question: "Perhaps Shen Mo is right, perhaps he is wrong. The answer isn't on the manuscript, but on the screen. Let's wait and see!"

"A Billion-Dollar Bet: Why Did Shen Mo Bets on the Myth Universe?"

This analysis, from a financial media outlet, offers a deeper perspective than that of entertainment media.

Instead of rushing to conclusions, the article traces Mohen's every step from "Love is Not Blind" to "Monkey King: Hero Is Back," attempting to uncover Shen Mo's decision-making logic.

"On the surface, Mohen is making animation. In reality, Shenmo is building up IP assets over a long period of time."

"Live-action movies have actors who are not replicable. Shen Mo is Shen Mo. His character and appearance cannot be replaced in a sequel. But animated characters are eternal. Sun Wukong will not age, and Bai Suzhen will not become outdated."

"Once the IP matrix of the mythological universe is formed, what Mohen holds in his hands is not just the box office of a few movies, but a copyright gold mine that can be continuously developed for decades."

The article concludes: "10 billion, 5 years. Can Shen Mo afford to lose this gamble? Judging from Mohen's current cash flow, he can. But judging from Shen Mo's personality, he never thinks he will lose."

Besides the media's questioning, the reactions within the industry are also quite interesting.

An unnamed executive from a film company said in an interview, "Mohen is trying to follow Disney's path. But the problem is, it took Disney almost a hundred years to succeed on this path. Even with Marvel's cinematic adaptations, from Iron Man to now, they've only just established a preliminary cinematic universe framework. Mohen wants to produce results within 5 years? It's not impossible, it's very difficult."

Besides the media's questioning, the reactions within the industry are also quite interesting.

An unnamed executive from a film company said in an interview, "Mohen is trying to follow Disney's path. But the problem is, it took Disney almost a hundred years to succeed on this path. Even with Marvel's cinematic adaptations, from Iron Man to now, they've only just established a preliminary cinematic universe framework. Mohen wants to produce results within 5 years? It's not impossible, it's very difficult."

When asked by a reporter about his views on the mythological universe, Wang Changtian of Fiber Optic Media smiled and said, "Domestic animation needs more large-scale investment and production. I wish Mohen the best in taking this first step."

When pressed by reporters about whether fiber optics would follow suit with a similar plan, Wang Changtian did not answer directly, only saying, "We are not in a hurry, but we will not be too late either. Coloroom Pictures has its own pace, so please look forward to it."

Sun Zhonghuai of Tencent Pictures posted a status update on his WeChat Moments with only one sentence: "[10 billion, 5 years, as expected of Shen Mo!]"

A comment below asked him what he meant, and he replied with a hands-clasped emoji. No one knows whether it was a blessing or a prayer.

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