How China Entertainment was developed

Chapter 858: Robert Downey Jr., from Agent to Spy

In the original time and space, the July and August schedules of 2021 did not see any box office hits like in previous years.

The reason given by major film and television companies is the resurgence of major global health events.

However, today's mainland film market has basically entered the distribution path of Changgong Film and Television's VR viewing helmet platform. Although global events have revived a small wave, the impact on the movie box office has been minimal.

However, the best performance of this wave of movies released in July and August was "Chinese Doctor", which grossed 6.64 million RMB at half-price box office, equivalent to 13.28 billion RMB in traditional physical theaters.

Moreover, a lot of the box office revenue of "Chinese Doctor" was brought in by riding on the popularity of the film.

All I can say is that sometimes, the box office of a movie is certainly affected by trends, but what ultimately matters is its quality.

……

September.

Marvel Studios, which has been silent for several years, has begun to gain momentum.

The influence of the two major IPs, "Iron Man" and "Captain America", completely disappeared from the subsequent Marvel Cinematic Universe plans, causing the appeal of the Marvel Cinematic Universe to plummet.

Marvel Studios looked left and right among the candidates for the first generation of Avengers, and finally decided to fulfill the promise it had made to Scarlett Johansson a long time ago, so "Black Widow" was launched in North America in August.

Then "Black Widow" also performed very well at the North American box office. When many movies were making tens of millions of dollars, "Black Widow" directly raked in 1.83 million U.S. dollars in the North American film market.

However, although "Black Widow" performed well at the box office, it is destined not to have a sequel.

Without it.

Because it is already 2021, the polar bears will launch a special operation next year, which will give North America a severe stimulus.

At that time, anything related to polar bears will be sensitive.

Unfortunately.

The protagonist of [Black Widow] has a background as a polar bear.

But there is nothing we can do about it, and it’s not just Marvel Studios’ problem.

Since the days when Marvel and DC comics appeared, the first imaginary enemy of people in North America was the polar bear, which led to many villains and protagonists in popular literary works having some connection with polar bears.

After all, sometimes if the enemy is not strong, the protagonist will look like a rubbish.

Of course.

During the past two years of silence, Marvel Studios not only tinkered with "Black Widow", but also created "Shang-Chi" to please the mainland market, and added more oriental elements to "Eternals".

It’s just that maybe European and American artists are used to being arrogant and think that it’s enough for them to just express their opinions, and then they start to frantically add all kinds of other elements to the core story of Shang-Chi.

It can be said that Marvel Studios’ approach is not new, as many Hollywood movies have done this before.

For example, the "Transformers" series, "Mission Impossible" series, and other films in the original time and space all claimed to have mainland elements, but it turned out that the elements were actually plots that discredited the mainland, and in the end, their box office performance in the mainland film market was just okay.

But it is different now.

Therefore, Shang-Chi, who originally intended to flatter, was directly banned in mainland China.

It also involves "Eternals" and "Spider-Man: No Homecoming".

This put Marvel Studios in a difficult position.

Because the North American film market is obviously in a downturn and can't bring much profit, Marvel Studios relies on the fast recovery of the mainland film market to boost its stock. So Marvel Studios immediately used its connections to let "Iron Man" series director Jon Favreau find Robert Downey Jr., and then let Robert Downey Jr. find Zhang Nan to try to save the situation.

The son of his own employee Chenglong is still training under Robert Downey Jr., so it is naturally difficult for Zhang Nan to refuse Robert Downey Jr. as a middleman.

"It's quite difficult! Of course, it can still be salvaged, but I'll have to put in a lot of effort." Zhang Nan explained to Robert Downey Jr.

After hearing Zhang Nan's answer, Robert Downey Jr. naturally understood that it was time for him to ask for the reward.

But he is just a middleman found by Marvel Studios!
As for the specific benefits, he can only convey information at best but cannot make the decision.

So Robert Downey Jr. said, "Zhang, just tell me what you want. I'm just a middleman, responsible for passing on messages. I don't know much else."

After hearing Robert Downey Jr.'s answer, Zhang Nan asked, "If it's just a message, how much commission will Marvel Studios give you?"

Robert Downey Jr. raised a finger and said, "One million dollars."

"A million dollars?"

Zhang Nan was a little surprised and continued, "Can I hire you now with this little money?"

Robert Downey Jr. said helplessly: "It's been a tough few years! Of course, the reason why you can hire me for this million dollars is mainly because we haven't seen each other for a while, and I also want to come and see you."

"I told you."

Zhang Nan patted Robert Downey Jr. on the shoulder and said, "Friendship is priceless." Then he said, "Downey, I'll give you two million dollars. Be a double agent for me and help me find out Marvel Studios' attitude and bottom line on this matter. We'll split all the profits 70% and 30%."

Robert Downey Jr.: "..."

I thought it was a bit unethical for me to use friendship for a million dollars, but I didn't expect you to be even more unethical than me. I just said friendship is priceless, and immediately spent two million dollars to let your friends spy for you. No wonder you can make spy movies like [006], [005] and [004].

What else can I say?

Robert Downey Jr. thought for a while and said, "Who's number three and who's number seven?"

"80-20." Zhang Nan adjusted the distribution ratio without giving Robert Downey Jr. any slack.

"I'm the third one, I'm the third one, this whole villa is full of your mistresses, you don't need a third one." Robert Downey Jr. quickly recognized the situation and understood his position.

"When you go back this time, tell Marvel Studios that as long as they agree to transfer the copyright of "Iron Man" to me, and agree to support the Longbow Film and Television VR viewing helmet platform to screen Marvel Studios' movies in North America, and as long as "Shang-Chi", "Eternals" and "Spider-Man: No Homecoming" can follow my guidance and make modifications, there will be absolutely no problem with their release in mainland China." Zhang Nan instructed Robert Downey Jr.

The reason why "Shang-Chi", "Eternals" and "Spider-Man: No Homecoming" cannot be released in mainland China.

It’s just that some of the scenes and plots are too negative towards the mainland.

It's OK to modify it, it's not a big problem.

It just requires Marvel Studios to shell out some more money.

Zhang Nan believes that Marvel Studios has a clear balance between spending some money to reshoot movie scenes and completely giving up the mainland market.

Moreover, even if Marvel Studios chooses to give up the mainland market, as long as this deal is done, it will only benefit Zhang Nan and not harm him.

After all, Zhang Nan said that if we follow my guidance and make changes, the film can be released.

If you don't listen, what can Zhang Nan do?

This does not affect Zhang Nan at all from getting what he wants through this wave of cooperation.

(End of this chapter)