The Best Director

Chapter 403: 403

April 29-May 5, North America weekly box office champion “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” (★), distributor Flames-Films; May 6-12, “Kingdom of Heaven” (★), 20th Century Fox; May 13-19, “Kung Fu Panda” (★), Flames-Films; May 20-26 and May 27-June 2, “Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith” (★★), 20th Century Fox; June 3-9, “Madagascar” (★), DreamWorks, June 10-16, “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” (★), 20th Century Fox.

June 17-23, June 24-30, July 1-7, July 8-14, “Firefly” (★★★★), Flames-Films; July 15-21, July 22-28, “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” (★★), Warner Bros; July 29-August 4, “Wedding Crashers” (★), New Line Cinema; August 5-11, August 12-18, “Assassin’s Creed” (★★), Flames-Films; August 19-25, August 26-September 1, “The 40-Year-Old Virgin” (★★), Universal Studios.

“Life? Don’t talk to me about life!” On the big screen at the beginning of summer, the melancholy robot Marvin made the audience laugh out loud, yet it remained sullen, “Don’t pretend you want to talk to me, I know you hate me.” A blacksmith fought desperately to defend the city of Jerusalem, while the chubby panda Po found himself: “I’m not a fat panda, I’m the fat panda!” Under the Imperial March, Anakin Skywalker turned into a Dark Knight, and a group of animals ventured to Madagascar Island, “Marty, I know it was you.”

If I’m dying, please take me back to Serenity Valley!” “Attack New Shanxi!” The audience was even less likely to forget the madness of midsummer, not the cool Mr. & Mrs. Smith, but the interesting gang aboard Serenity, a group of space cowboys who had a reckless disregard for their own lives, “I’m a leaf on the wind, watch how I soar.” It was the pure smiles and joyous laughter of children, “Where did you all come from?” So much so that other films from the same period, such as “Batman Begins,” “War of the Worlds,” “Fantastic Four,” and the subsequent Charlie Pride, and others, were all overshadowed…

These summer blockbusters of 2005 each had their own reviews, box office performances, and fates, whether it was the annoying flies or the beloved butterflies, they all became history.

But if the media and film fans were asked to make a correct summer leaderboard ranking again, the most anticipated, the most loved, the top-grossing, the highest-rated, the most unforgettable… it would all inevitably be “Firefly” dominating the list.

Like in 2004, Flames-Films released three films this summer, “Kung Fu Panda,” “Firefly,” and “Assassin’s Creed,” all of which received great reviews and grossed over a hundred million, becoming champion movies! After capturing 4 out of 18 North American weekly champions last year (22.22%), this year they took home 7 gleaming trophies (38.88%), prompting media outlets like Yahoo to exclaim about the super winner!

Flames-Films with ★★★★★★★ weekly champions, followed by 20th Century Fox with ★★★★, Warner Bros with ★★, Universal Studios with ★★, Flames-Films with ★, DreamWorks with ★, and New Line with ★.

This seemed like a major victory for independent film companies, as the three of them accounted for as many as 9 weekly champions combined! Yet, in reality, it was a victory for Flames-Films alone.

There could suddenly appear news of DreamWorks, which had expanded improperly to towering debt levels and found it hard to recover, being acquired by a giant; New Line might well suffer from relentless joy, growing increasingly ambitious after the massive success of “The Lord of the Rings” series, yet declining year after year. So far this year, they have launched 5 new films, “King’s Ransom” flopped, “Monster-in-Law” just broke even, “The Mask 2” with 84 million in production costs / 57.55 million in global box office, “Shadowless Sword” had a lukewarm box office, with only “Wedding Crashers” slightly in the limelight. Each bad investment was causing their headache to intensify. Also, the continual litigation due to “The Lord of the Rings” revenue-sharing issues suggested that if this trend continued for a few more years, the acquisition and merger by a giant of this independent film company established for 38 years would be just a “Windtalkers” away.

In 1967, brave as a young calf, 27-year-old Robert Shaye founded New Line Cinema; in 1998, fearless as a young calf, 18-year-old Wang Yang acquired A-Pix and restructured it into Flames-Films, developing it with an almost mad boldness until this summer, which was utterly terrifying!

“Kung Fu Panda” $100 million production budget/ $229 million North American box office/ $356 million overseas box office/ $585 million global box office; “Firefly” $200 million production budget/ $642 million North American box office/ $1.09 billion overseas box office/ $1.733 billion global box office; “Assassin’s Creed” $100 million production budget/ $114 million North American box office/ not released overseas.

Without factoring in marketing and distribution costs, FF swept up $2.432 billion US Dollars in global earnings within four months, on a total production budget of $400 million! This doesn’t even include the predictable $100-200 million overseas box office for “Assassin’s Creed”. Although the 16.4% production cost to box office ratio may not seem as good as last year’s 10.5%, FF has struck a new vein of gold with another CGI animated series, a new sci-fi cultural phenomenon, and an action comic series – who wouldn’t be envious or green with envy?

Owing to “Firefly”‘s role in promoting ancient Chinese poetry, competing filmmakers have been left crooning “This feeling cannot be dispelled; first leaving my brows, only to settle upon my heart.” More direct expressions would be “Fuck! Are-You-Kidding-Me?”

No one can stop Flame Films! Whoever wants to halt their advance should first ask if NATO (National Association of Theatre Owners) and countless cinema owners agree. Without “Firefly” as the savior of the market, this would undoubtedly have been a difficult summer! FF’s films have become synonymous with surefire profit and market leadership. The newest beacons are Chinese culture/foreign culture, IMAX technology, adaptations of non-superhero comics—and even professional media outlets like The Hollywood Reporter that speculate and predict that perhaps in a few years, any major film that doesn’t say “I am an IMAX film” will be ignored.

In the wake of the “The Hangover” series paving the way, small-budget R-rated comedies like “Wedding Crashers” and “The 40-Year-Old Virgin” have been mass-producing box office miracles. On the other hand, from “Kingdom of Heaven” to “The Brothers Grimm”, the birth of one flop after another has prompted heartbroken studios to launch a new round of introspection: How should the film industry operate in the 21st century? How should superhero blockbusters be made, and how should popcorn summer flicks be crafted… what does it really take to make money!!…

Is Flame Films’ strategy of premium theatrical releases plus merchandise sales truly impeccable?n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

It appears to be the case for now, as their expansive film library gradually sustains the daily expenses of a company with over 600 employees, while a stream of blockbuster new releases brings in significant earnings—and of course, this requires a very precise investment vision, something New Line would have never imagined with the calamity of “The Mask 2”. FF doesn’t need to go public to raise funds; it already has more cash than it can spend. Nonetheless, they continue to move at a steady “step by step” pace without rashly jumping from 10 to over 20 film releases per year, seemingly quite satisfied with their current scale as a mini studio.

Next summer, FF, having already scheduled four films—”Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs”, “Furious Cars 2”, “The Hangover Part III”, and “Mamma Mia!”—how will they fare?

A year ago, a multitude of doubts loomed over Wang Yang’s head: the Oscar Best Director curse, the office building rule, commercialization only, all done for…

Marvelous BABY defended his name with hard facts! The summer box office champion added countless classic scenes to science fiction cinema history, even surpassing “Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith”; during this time, Marvelous BABY spawned a media frenzy, gracing the covers of film and entertainment magazines, including his third appearance on the cover of TIME magazine. As autumn arrived, no one could forget the profound impact of “Firefly” during the summer. On IMDB’s TOP 250 list, it still maintains a high score of 9.4, with Rotten Tomatoes scores of 95%/98%/98%.

Critic Roger Ebert gave the highest rating, unusually praising it again and again, giving two thumbs up repeatedly, writing in his newspaper column that “Wang Yang’s real blockbuster” wasn’t enough; he also blogged, “Marvelous Yang’s lens has captivating power,” “He finally treated his Barbie doll like an adult; the splendid fight scenes are a hundred times more beautiful than designer clothes,” “If ‘Firefly’ receives the traditional sci-fi movie treatment at next year’s Oscars, even the Golden Raspberry Award would have more authority than that golden statue,” “Japanese film critics are probably the most pitiful group of people in the world right now.”

He also sent his blessings while Wang Yang was unconscious, “No passenger on a Boeing 777 has ever died in a flight accident, Wang Yang created many miracles and a lot of firsts, but this time he needs to hold back” and “At the age of 25, Stanley Kubrick’s first feature film ‘Fear and Desire’ hit the screens. It’s Wang Yang’s ninth, and I’m not saying he has any reason to retire, he could make at least 90!” He also mentioned in other film reviews, “Heath Ledger was a smart man but also a fool, he appeared in ‘Firefly’, and he was also in ‘The Brothers Grimm.'” “Lame-brained, outdated wheeze, if ‘Vanguard of Justice’ counts as a comedy, what is ‘Firefly’?”…

Nobody knows what ‘Firefly’ will harvest at next year’s award season, but one thing is for sure, it has the potential to be nominated for every award imaginable, and the forthcoming publicity posters will inevitably be plastered with award names: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Leading Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Original Screenplay, Best Original Score, Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Editing, Best Makeup, Best Original Song, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing, Best Visual Effects…

However, the actions of Marvelous BABY are often beyond the understanding of ordinary people, and despite swiftly dispelling the layers of doubt brought by ‘The Devil Wears Prada’, he inevitably faces a new set of questions.

Wang Yang seems to have a particular fondness for Warner Brothers, not only wanting to buy its failed project ‘I Am Legend’ but also taking over the critically ill ‘Batman’; the world’s attention may be focused on the Katrina hurricane disaster area, but there are still industry insiders and fans who noticed that Lin Wei, the so-called “sinner” who had left Warner Brothers not long ago, joined Flame Film Production as a vice president! FF spokesperson Fiona Hasen excitedly expressed on the official website: “Dan Lin’s joining is thrilling, he is an important piece we’ve been searching for a long time, and he brings new energy to Flame’s production business. We all believe Dan will perform excellently.”

Are-You-Kidding-Me? Dan Lin messed up two major productions in a row, don’t say it’s just bad luck!

This caused more surprise among industry insiders, especially Dan Lin’s former employer, Warner Brothers! There was a lot of talk about it in WB’s production department, and in fact, everyone didn’t think Dan Lin lacked ability, at most just the ability to operate big-budget films. Now that FF took Lin Wei on, WB seemed to suddenly remember his good qualities. But in Hollywood, changes in middle and lower-level personnel are quite normal, and the movement of executives like vice presidents isn’t something out of the ordinary. Dan Lin joining FF can only be interpreted as another act of support from Wang Yang for the Chinese community in Hollywood.

Of course, Universal Studios President Alan F. Horn still called Wang Yang, starting the conversation with “Dan is very enthusiastic about his work” to ask a few questions. Wang Yang openly admitted he knew that Lin Wei was unhappy at WB and had communicated with him; he invited him immediately when he resigned. WB hadn’t mistreated Lin Wei, but he really had bad luck…

“Yang, I heard you’re going to co-produce ‘Iron Man’ with New Line?” Horn didn’t care too much about Lin Wei’s job switch; he was more concerned about the current phase – after all, Dan’s resignation gave them an explanation to the board, and whatever Dan achieved at FF in the future couldn’t be blamed on their current strictness.

Knowing he couldn’t keep it a secret, Wang Yang, basking in the sun at home in his garden, freely admitted over the phone to the WB president: “Oh yes, that’s one of our new plans. Don’t worry, Alan! Stark and Wayne won’t conflict.” He laughed, “If all goes well, we plan to release it in ’07, you know ‘The Dark Knight’ is ’08.”

In April 1990, Universal Studios bought the big screen rights for ‘Iron Man’ from Marvel Comics, but due to potential business and budget issues, the project was shelved until February 1996, when Universal simply sold the rights to 20th Century Fox. In January ’97, Nicolas Cage expressed interest in “Tony Stark”, followed by Tom Cruise in September ’98, and Quentin Tarantino nearing a deal to write the ‘Iron Man’ screenplay in October ’99… All ended in failure, with Fox transferring the filming rights to New Line Cinema in December that year.

Until today, over the years, New Line had sought several screenwriters to draft the screenplay and even had talks with Joss Whedon in June 2001 about the possibility of him directing, which ultimately all ended in failure as well.

If “I Am Legend” was a tantalizing but ultimately fruitless project that kept being canceled right before filming commenced, then “Iron Man” was a pitiful project that no one was willing to attempt. Its production rights changed hands multiple times, finally ending up with an independent film company. With the revival of superhero movies, “Iron Man” gradually became more valuable, despite the success of the “Blade” series. However, the newly prosperous New Line Cinema no longer had the capacity to handle such a risky project. Just consider “The Incredible Hulk,” “Blade: Trinity,” “Dark Angel,” and “Batman Begins.”

Marvel Studios had now proposed to buy back the rights to “Iron Man.” Initially, New Line was inclined to agree, looking to recoup their investment; however, Firefly Films unexpectedly entered the picture, suggesting that New Line sell the production rights to them. Firefly would be the primary investor, with New Line contributing as a secondary investor, naturally including Marvel Studios, which had already signed a shooting contract.

This was almost the only opportunity to secure a popular superhero, and Firefly Films certainly hoped to fully fund the project independently, but that was impossible. Firstly, if Marvel reclaimed the rights, the issue wouldn’t be competing with major studios for the right to shoot the film. If that were the case, it would be manageable; Marvel, with its “magical aura,” would likely triumph. However, Marvel intended to produce the film independently and then find distributors for release. Other than viral marketing, how could Firefly’s distribution system compare to that of major film merchants? The second problem was that as soon as New Line saw Firefly’s interest in Tony Stark, they immediately changed their stance, determined to protect their “Howard Hughes”! Marvel Studios should forget the idea of targeting this genius.

Therefore, only a collaborative arrangement could reach the negotiation table; otherwise, there was no point in discussing it! Negotiations between Firefly and New Line regarding “Iron Man” had been underway for nearly half a month. Firefly naturally wouldn’t reveal a bit of their production plan—it was best to sign a contract first. Although New Line was an independent film company with autonomous management, founder Robert Shaye still held the primary shares. However, it was affiliated with Time Warner, under the same umbrella as Warner Brothers. Although their internal affairs were unrelated, they could communicate about news, especially since rumors about this issue had begun circulating.

“That’s good to hear,” commented Alan F. Horn, unfazed. As the president of Warner Brothers, he was only concerned about “The Dark Knight.” Besides, even the Time Warner group couldn’t prevent New Line’s decision; moreover, no one knew how to shoot “Iron Man.” Universal Studios and 20th Century Fox had given up outright.

With the first weekend of September just past, the news of the Katrina hurricane disaster still dominated public attention. However, movie enthusiasts paying attention to the entertainment industry were suddenly surprised to discover that Firefly Films had taken on another seemingly hopeless project, the long-drifting superhero “Iron Man”! As New Line and Firefly reached an agreement, Warner Brothers also finally signed a contract with Firefly. The contents of the agreement involved the transfer of rights for “I Am Legend,” co-production of “The Dark Knight,” and some distribution matters. In an instant, the three companies confirmed all the corresponding rumors of recent times, leaving people astounded! Had Wang Yang’s brain really not been damaged by the aircraft cabin ceiling?

“Yang, can you now reveal your specific plans? Who do you plan to hire as the director for ‘The Dark Knight’?” Horn asked, his smile broad and bright.

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