The Best Director

Chapter 341: Chapter 341: The Christmas Grinch

“…” The atmosphere in the movie theater during the screening of “Crash” was oppressively heavy, with many audience members’ eyes moistening. It was such an annoying feeling to have such a depressing viewing experience so close to Christmas. Watching the final scene, Clair couldn’t help but wipe away a tear. If anything, the film was supposed to be “formulaic,” but these formulas came together to deliver an emotional shock so profound, no wonder Black Hole Magical Yang was willing to pay 20 million US dollars to acquire it.

“Hahaha!” The theater playing “Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events” was filled with laughter; the audience for “Meet the Fockers” was in stitches; the theater showing “Mr. Hughes 2” was very quiet, and the gloomy cloud from “Crash” showed no signs of dissipating. Why are there so many barriers between people? Watching the rolling credits, Clair felt that it didn’t have the explosive power of “District 9,” that mad, ferocious energy, but it was the most repressive experience she had since “District 9.”

Despite its five Golden Globe nominations and a cast of stars, watching “Crash” at Christmas didn’t seem like a good choice. However, it needed to gross at least 50 million worldwide to preserve the “face” of Flame Movies and Black Hole.

When December 17th-23rd became the past, and people welcomed Christmas Eve, the fate of all the Christmas movies was more or less clear.

Miramax Films released “Finding Neverland,” now in its sixth week, to 985 theaters, adding 3.44 million to its box office (15th place) for a total of 18.39 million. Stars like Johnny Depp and Kate Winslet couldn’t turn this sentimental period drama into a box office hit; United Artists & Lionsgate’s “Hotel Rwanda” had a two-day test screening in 7 theaters, earning only 42,000, showing no potential for big sales; “Million Dollar Baby” had an unassuming 8-theater test screening, uninterested in sharing the Christmas pie with commercial films, whereas “Crash” had completed its glorious mission, astonishing everyone with its achievement alongside Flame.

With an opening week of 18.55 million from 1,855 theaters and a box office of 15.92 million, if one says its 6.5 million production cost was already recovered, an average of 7,506 US dollars per theater for its opening week would be considered a failure for any summer blockbuster, but look at “Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events,” which ranked first with an average of 12,921 and a box office of 46.79 million, and “Ocean’s Twelve” in its second week with an average of 8,449 and 27.79 million—the film managed to rank sixth amidst the onslaught of commercial films!

According to The-Numbers website, getting so many people into theaters to watch such a depressing film during Christmas cannot overlook the effective promotion of Flame Movies; its reputation among young people is also undeniable. It’s no longer “Shall we watch a movie tonight?”, but more like a mission or a tradition, “I heard Flame released a meaningful new movie, let’s go watch it!”

Flame Movies never deceives, when it says meaningful, it is meaningful; when it says it’s good, it is good. This affirmed the confidence of audiences with diverse genre preferences and clarified their viewing goals. “Mr. Hughes 2,” which ranked third with 26.5 million, also partly proved this point, with its North America box office rising to 67.6 million.

“It is a very successful commercial art film.” Analysts at Boxofficemojo predicted that “Mr. Hughes 2” would easily break 100 million in the North American box office, with a mere 36% drop in its second week, there’s no reason it wouldn’t pass the 100-million mark; and with the high audience approval of “Crash,” its box office was boldly predicted to be above 50 million. Should both gain substantial Oscar nominations or even awards, their DVD sales would make Flame Movies laugh heartily, and Black Hole Magical Yang doubtlessly made two successful deals.

Victory after victory! Although Flame wasn’t as domineering as it was in the summer, its impact on the award season with its artistic films also had commendable commercial performance—what more could they ask for?

“That’s the amazing thing about FF, under the leadership of Magical Yang, they completely defy convention, many high-risk projects seemed like tightrope walking at the time, but looking back, they seem so effortless. Their insight into the market, their grip on it, reached an incredible level, as if they knew it all from the start,” said the analyst James Moore with admiration for the year’s actions of Flame Films. He added, “Of course, a larger number of movie distributions are concentrated under the FF subsidiary FM brand, which obscures some of their investment missteps and mediocre moments. But then again, how many companies can ensure the reputation of their main brand is of mythical proportions? Currently, only Pixar and Flame are able to do this, and with Flame distributing all kinds of films, it’s even more difficult.”

The year 2004 had not yet ended, but some data provided by the theater companies with scheduled screenings had already become clear. A total of 154 film companies released films that year, obviously unequally distributed. In 154th place, Manhattan Company was at the bottom, with their film ‘The Secret Life of a Dentist’ dragging on until January 1st to be fully withdrawn from theaters, earning a mere 36 US dollars on that day in three cinemas; the company ZEE-TV was at 52nd place, marking 1 million US dollars in box office as a watershed with the release of two films.

This year, Warner Brothers had a total distribution and new releases of 28/22 respectively, ranking highest among the box office giants in both categories; Disney’s Buena Vista at 28/20, Sony/Columbia at 24/17, Universal Studios at 20/14, Miramax Films at 20/13, Lionsgate at 20/17, MGM at 19/15, 20th Century Fox at 18/14, Paramount at 17/14, New Line at 14/10, Fox Searchlight at 11/10, DreamWorks at 11/10, Newmarket at 8/7, Flame at 8/6, Focus at 7/5.

These 15 companies currently hold over 96% of the market share of 2004, sharing over 9 billion US dollars in North American box office, all strong contenders in the year-end box office market share race from January 1st to December 31st. Can Flame clinch the annual independent film company box office champion title and affirm its leading position? There are still the last 8 days of competition remaining.

Lionsgate’s number of 20/17 might seem ferocious, but out of those, only 6 films had major releases in over 1000 cinemas, with the remaining 14 films averaging a maximum of 134 cinemas. Aside from the profitable ‘Fahrenheit 9/11’ and the slightly unprofitable ‘Punisher’, the 25 million self-funded ‘Heaven Sent’ only grossed 30 million worldwide, the 25 million ‘Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights’ only 27.68 million worldwide, ‘The Cookout’ at 12.09 million… For Jon Feltheimer, Michael Paseornek and others, times were tough, and now they were pinning their hopes on ‘Paranormal Activity 3’ to create a miracle.

Wang Yang had already submitted the screenplay to Lionsgate, where no one dared to review or revise it. Michael Paseornek and others were unanimously full of praise, not merely out of fear of offending Magical Yang, but genuinely afraid their meddling might botch ‘Paranormal 3’! Despite being confident about the essence-filled script, such a one-man show was not a good thing. Wang Yang still had the production crew discuss and consult in the Hollywood commercial assembly line fashion. Lionsgate & Flame had already picked 39-year-old Kevin Grout to direct ‘Paranormal Activity 3’.

“Hello! This is Wang Yang.” A few days before Christmas Eve, YOUNGNG uploaded another video to YouTube. After sending his best wishes for a Merry Christmas to his fans, he laughed and said, “Now every year, I receive many Christmas cards and gifts from all over the world, thank you so much! I remember when I was just a kid, opening Christmas presents was one of the most thrilling moments of the year. What could it be? What could it be?” While talking, Jessica, who was passing through the living room, playfully smacked the back of his head and walked away with a burst of laughter.

In the video window, Wang Yang glanced back and continued with a smile, “One year my parents gave me something I completely disliked, and it was very expensive too. They actually got me a new television, saying, ‘Son, we know you like movies, it has great picture quality!’ It would have been great if it was in my room, but it was in the living room for everyone to watch, and I was so mad!” He made an exaggerated angry face, “I nearly smashed that TV to pieces, but my dad stopped me. I hated him. So, I’ve been thinking…”

He put on a mischievous smile and leaned his face closer to the camera for a close-up, “Have you ever had such an experience? Receiving a Christmas present from your parents that you really didn’t like! This isn’t a memory contest, but a video contest. If your child had this experience this year…”

What Wang Yang talked about was a Christmas event organized by the YouTube comedy channel this year, where they would gift a terrible Christmas present to a hopeful child, like giving a Hello-Kitty printed pink T-shirt to a son, an American football to a daughter, record their funny reactions, and upload to YouTube for sharing.

“If you don’t have kids but have siblings of the right age, tell your parents about this idea, haha!” Wang Yang said with a schadenfreude grin on the video, excited by the tragedies he directed. He cleared his throat and laughed again, “Warm reminder to all parents, remember to prepare something nice to give your little ones a ‘lost and found’ surprise—it will definitely be an unforgettable Christmas gift! And lastly,” he shushed, “don’t tell them this was Wang Yang’s idea…”

In the living room, filled with the Christmas spirit, and looking at a pile of beautiful Christmas cards, Wang Yang sat on the sofa with a heartfelt, warm smile. These cards were filled with passion and support from fans all over, and—”Jessica! Brianna sent me a card!” Wang Yang exclaimed joyfully, not caring whether Jessica upstairs could hear him. He untied the red card’s bow and began to read it; on the left side was a recent photo. Brianna had just celebrated her 12th birthday, happy and healthy.

“Look at her beautiful smile!” Ever since he had rescued the black girl in New York, she had sent him a Christmas card and photo every year, a testament to her growing up year by year. Seeing her lively smile made Wang Yang very happy and content. The little girl was still as radiant, her braided hair framing her white teeth, and she had grown much taller than last year. After writing some Christmas greetings, Brianna excitedly penned, “Magical Yang, I’ve made a decision this year. I want to become a director like you in the future, to make movies about the stories of how you saved me and many others! Is that too far-fetched?”

Not far-fetched at all, Wang Yang smiled broadly, keep the passion and courage of your 12-year-old vow, little girl! He picked up a pen and a blank, elaborate card from the coffee table, and wrote a few lines: “Brianna, don’t listen to others who say you can’t do it. I support you! Remember, all directors start with far-fetched ideas, so dream big and go for it! Defend your decision this year; you’ll understand how important it will be. Happy New Year!”

Wang Yang placed this card on the pile of written cards, ready to be mailed out by his assistant. After opening a few more, he came across another familiar face, Clair, one of the initiators of the groundbreaking “Juno Action,” who writes after her wishes, “I have become a fairly known online movie critic, and local newspapers have approached me for articles! Magical Yang, I’ve made some progress! I am still grateful for your encouragement back then, but if your ‘Firefly’ flops, I will criticize you too, I don’t want it to fail! ^—^ Seriously though, I look forward to ‘Firefly’ being a huge success!”

“Thank you, Clair,” Wang Yang smiled. If ‘Firefly’ flopped, he would be the first to berate himself! Deciding to reply, he picked up another card, and after penning his Christmas wishes, he wrote, “‘Firefly’ is still in post-production; the special effects shots will be completed soon, and in February of next year, we will head to China for the last shoot. Everything is going smoothly! By the way, I invite you to the premiere to bribe you into giving a good review if it flops, how about that? ^—^ Just kidding about the bribe, but the premiere invitation is real. See you in June next year!”

Soon he saw another familiar face, Evelyn from San Francisco, a fellow townsperson, and naturally, Wang Yang remembered her as the little girl who fainted from watching ‘Paranormal Activity’ and knew she was an alumnus of Lincoln High School. Considering Lincoln High, where nearly half of the students are Chinese and about 10% are white, it was a fateful connection; she probably chose high school influenced by him in some ways. Over the years, he had not attended any high school reunions due to various engagements, and aside from his donations, his contributions to Lincoln High School were minimal, which was quite embarrassing. Evelyn was now a student at the University of San Francisco, and he felt a bit old.

“This year, I watched five movies of the Furious series; I haven’t seen ‘Crash’ yet. My favorite was ‘Ice Age 2’! ‘Furious Cars’ got me so excited while watching, but I forgot everything after leaving the cinema. Popcorn flicks provide two hours of fun, but we all prefer movies with a perfect blend of commerce and art. I believe ‘Firefly’ is one such masterpiece! Wishing you success! Also, I heard you’re producing ‘Paranormal Activity 3’ next year, bad news for me because I fainted watching ‘Paranormal Activity’. I hope I’m still able to send you a card next year…”

Wang Yang let out a sigh, picked up his pen and card, and began to write. Brianna looks forward to ‘Firefly’, Clair looks forward to ‘Firefly’, Evelyn looks forward to ‘Firefly’… almost all cards carried this sentiment. If ‘Firefly’ flopped, it would be an injustice!

Whether “Firefly” would flop was still unknown, but after the joyful Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, Wang Yang learned that Robert Downey Jr.’s proposal had not gone awry. Susan Levin had accepted, and according to Downey Jr.’s description, she was “so surprised that she burst into tears, crying like a little kitten.” However, Wang Yang was more inclined to believe that it was Downey Jr. who had shed tears; Heath Ledger’s proposal also did not go awry, and Michelle Williams had said yes. In Ledger’s description, Michelle was “so surprised that she said YES several times and hugged him tightly,” and Wang Yang was inclined to believe this story.

On Christmas night, Wang Yang and Jessica, as in previous years, went to the Staples Center to watch the NBA Christmas battle: Miami Heat vs. Los Angeles Lakers. Despite Kobe Bryant scoring a game-high 42 points, the visiting Miami Heat, led by Shaquille O’Neal seeking revenge and star Dwyane Wade, beat the Lakers 104-102.

As the week of December 24-30 came to a close, and the New Year’s bells grew nearer, “Meet the Fockers” took the Christmas week crown with a hilarious box office of $96.32 million for Universal Studios, which had a breakout success; Paramount’s “Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events” followed with $33.23 million; In the absence of other contenders, the family comedy “Fat Albert,” with only 23% freshness and 52% approval rating, ranked third, contributing another $23.14 million to the box office for Twentieth Century Fox Company.

Flame Movies’ two films also performed as expected: “Mr. Hughes 2” dropped 24% to earn another $20.14 million at the box office, securing the fourth spot with a North American total rising to $87.74 million, and it was just a matter of time before it joined the $100 million club; “Crash” did not show the potential for Flame’s six new releases in 2004 to all cross $100 million at the box office, but it still collected $12.73 million in its second week, ranking seventh, with a total box office of $28.65 million continuing to steadily head towards fifty million.

By the 31st, the film companies’ annual box office ranking battle only had one day left.

“Hahaha!” Laughing uproariously at the comedy video on their computer screens, YOUTUBE users across America couldn’t stop laughing, it was just too wickedly funny!

Many young parents had answered the call from Black Hole Magical Yang, giving their children or younger siblings an unforgettable Christmas present, capturing the moment on video, and uploading it. The reactions of the kids, various in skin color, were similar: some chuckled carelessly, some were calmly sad, but most were furious. A white girl angrily slammed a boy’s T-shirt on the ground and kicked it; an Asian girl screamed in the face of milk as her gift … crying, cursing, smashing things …

“I hate you guys, you’re all losers!” A little boy, who received a Hello-Kitty shirt, lost control of his emotions, crying and scolding his parents; another boy even burst out with a swear word: “FUCK YOU! Dad! You’re disgusting!” His mother from off-camera said, “It’s not our fault, this was Black Hole Magical Yang’s idea; he said you would like it.” The boy then frantically cursed Wang Yang: “Go die!” Another video showed a blonde girl crying and shouting: “I hate him!!”…

This Christmas, Wang Yang became the enemy of many children, entering the top three on their “forever enemies” list. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to visit Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendation tickets and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)