Entertainment Reborn Rhapsody

Chapter 470: Another Slap in the Face of the European and American Cultural Circle

Although the airport interview with the Shanhe couple was short, it was full of topics.

The next day, Shanhe’s self-evaluation appeared in many American media and quickly spread around the world.

"A quasi-first-rate director, a second-rate writer, and a mediocre businessman!" This sentence amused Shanhe fans and onlookers all over the world.

He won all the best films at the three major European film festivals; he was the first person to win the Golden Globe and Oscar for Best Director consecutively; he had four films in the top ten of the global box office rankings; and since Gravity, every one of his films has grossed over 1 billion. Is this “Mr. Billion” just a quasi-first-rate director?
He started writing at the age of thirteen. Almost every one of his works has been a global bestseller, and his works have triggered several global protests. He broke Western conventions and became the first Oriental writer to win both the "Booker Prize" and the "Prize Goncourt". He was named "the most influential writer of the 21st century" by the global media. But he is just a second-rate writer?
The most gratifying thing is that, at the age of just over 30, his wealth has skyrocketed to the top five on the world's rich list, and his fortune is still rising wildly; he has replaced Li Jiacheng, who has dominated the Chinese wealth circle for 16 consecutive years, and become the richest Chinese; the founder of the largest film and television entertainment empire in the East, whose prospect is called "the next richest man in the world" by all professional financial media, is a second-rate businessman?

No super-rich person or cultural celebrity has ever evaluated himself in this way. Shanhe's unique and self-deprecating self-evaluation made people all over the world laugh and cry, but also felt very close to him, thus causing widespread joy and discussion.

"When it comes to pretentiousness, I admire only Shanhe. He always manages to reach new heights!"

"Hua Xia Qiu is the cutest super-rich man. I don't feel the so-called superiority of the elite class at all in him!"

"I like Hua Xia Qiu's style. This is a true genius. I am very good, but I just don't care!"

"Huaxia Qiu puts the world's richest people to shame. Money is nothing to him!"

"I hope Yau becomes the richest man in the world. He is much more interesting than Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg!"

...

Shanhe's casual answer to the reporter caused global discussion and hype, which made Shanhe himself laugh and cry. What he said was really the truth.

Putting aside the cheating of the reborn, after more than ten years of adaptation and effort, Shanhe feels that his real level is just this level, and there may even be some water in it. Being a quasi-first-rate director and a second-rate writer in the world is already pretty awesome, okay? He is already very proud of the results of his hard work in this life. After all, he was just a loser at the bottom of the society in his previous life. As for being a businessman, he has no confidence in his business talent, so it's better not to mention it!

Unlike Shanhe's self-deprecating remarks, Disney and global distributors were extremely happy and impressed with Shanhe's actions. His words were more effective than any amount of publicity investment, and the publicity and distribution of "Operation Mekong" made huge profits.

Qiu Zhen is a perfect collaborator. Not only does he have amazing box office appeal, but he can also create hype every time and always brings huge good news inadvertently.

During the break in the filming of Green Book, everyone was sighing and teasing Shanhe, and Bruckheimer gave him a thumbs up.

"You are really awesome. Your words are worth at least hundreds of millions of dollars. Your words have raised the global box office of Operation Mekong by at least 200 million!"

Shanhe glanced at the old rogue and was too lazy to pay attention to him, but the chatterbox Will Smith beside him would not miss the gossip.

"Qiu, I have learned another trick from you. It turns out that you can hype and attract attention in this way. It's so creative and advanced. I will go to Twitter to make a statement soon!"

"Haha... Will, that statement only applies to Qiu. No one else has his achievements!"

On the other side, Heath Ledger and his wife also joined in the joke with a smile.
"Qiu, your interview made Matilda laugh. She lay on the sofa and laughed for more than ten minutes. She said Uncle Qiu is so funny!"

Michelle Williams covered her mouth and laughed and asked:

"I'm curious, Qiu, how could you say this so naturally? Your expression at that time combined with that self-evaluation was really funny!"

Shanhe rolled his eyes at the people around him and replied casually:
"That's what I really think, believe it or not!"

"Haha... You don't understand. Qiu is inheriting the history and tradition of Chinese literati!"

Bruckheimer explained to everyone in a professional tone of China:

"In the East, truly talented people pursue not money and fame, but a state of mind. They believe that only humility and low-keyness can achieve this state of mind. Many geniuses in Chinese history have abandoned wealth and power and lived in seclusion in the mountains and forests. Qiu, you must not imitate them. Times have changed. You should give full play to your talent!"

"So that's it!"

“So cool!”

“Mysterious oriental culture is incredible!”

...

Bruckheimer's profound remarks raised Shanhe's status to the extreme. Shanhe looked at the self-righteous old rogue and felt at a loss whether to laugh or cry. Your understanding is so reasonable that it leaves a Chinese like me speechless!

That night, the loudmouth Will Smith posted Bruckheimer's remarks on his Twitter public account, which once again caused a wave of discussion on the Internet. The old rogue's self-righteousness fooled a large number of Western people, and the profoundness of Eastern culture made many Westerners fall in love with it.

Even the general public in China deeply agrees with this, the so-called great hermits hide in the city, and Chinese literati do have this state of mind and tradition!
Looking at the discussions and exchanges between the public in the East and the West on the Internet, it was Shanhe's turn to be happy. He didn't expect that his casual answer could have the effect of promoting Chinese culture. The old rogue is so damn talented!
Amid the global public discussion, "Operation Mekong" continues its glorious release journey.

"Operation Mekong" is very suitable for the current domestic atmosphere. The audience can experience almost all the exciting points in the film, including emotions, special effects, imaginative large-scale real-life shooting, and the pride of China's rise and regaining its dignity. The film is unrivaled in the domestic market.

To be more awesome, even if another "Avatar" was released at this time, it would be crushed by "Operation Mekong"!

During the first four working days of the second week, the daily box office in China remained at around RMB 200 million. During the three-day weekend, the box office recovered again, with the daily box office on Saturday even exceeding RMB 300 million again, and closing at RMB 800 million the following weekend.

In the next seven days, Operation Mekong earned an astonishing 1.6 billion RMB in box office revenue. In just ten days, Operation Mekong's domestic box office revenue exceeded 2.7 billion RMB, equivalent to 400 million USD. This figure shocked the entire Chinese film market, and the Chinese film market was once again on fire. The entire film and television industry was both excited and eclipsed by Shanhe, this pervert.

What is exciting is that the Chinese film market has such explosive potential, but what is speechless is that at present it seems that only Chuhe Film and Television and Shanhe can realize this potential!
The figure of $400 million in ten days not only shocked China, but also the whole world. The development of the entertainment and cultural industry is one of the important manifestations of a country's strength. Only with the guarantee of a strong national strength and a sufficient wealth index of the people, can a country's cultural and entertainment industry develop vigorously.

It is impossible for a poor and backward country to have a developed entertainment and film and television industry. The global film market ranking is just a replica of the global comprehensive national strength ranking. The consecutive miraculous explosion of the two films "Nezha: The Devil Child Comes into the World" and "Operation Mekong" tells countries around the world a fact: China is really coming back, back to the stage where they have been for more than a thousand years!

In comparison, the second-week box office performance of "Operation Mekong" in Europe and the United States was much weaker. Although Shanhe's unique self-evaluation caused two discussions among the global public, it could not completely change the situation of Chinese-language films in Europe and the United States.

On the first working day of the following week, the box office of "Operation Mekong" fell below 10 million. In the following three days, the box office data hovered around 8 million.

Over the weekend, the box office rebounded, with $17 million on Friday, $18 million on Saturday, and $16 million on Sunday. The three-day box office for the following weekend totaled $51 million, down nearly 40% from the previous weekend!

In the full seven days of the second week, "Operation Mekong" grossed 85 million US dollars in North America, still holding the top spot in the North American weekly box office rankings.

After two weeks and ten days of release, "Operation Mekong" has grossed 166 million U.S. dollars in North America. Hollywood media predicts the total box office of the film to be between 230 million and 250 million.

The situation in European countries was better, but the weekend box office drop was also significant. The cumulative box office in European countries in the next seven days was 93 million US dollars. After two weeks of release, the box office in European countries closed at 178 million US dollars.

This result is already quite good for other directors, but it is a bit thin for Shanhe, the "Billionaire". Next week, Marvel's superhero blockbuster "Avengers 2" will be released, and the box office of "Operation Mekong" is bound to be hit again.

The mainstream media in Europe and the United States seemed to have seen the dawn of the "turn of the hill" and began to collectively report on the box office decline of "Operation Mekong", singing the pessimistic tune of Shanhe's future in order to highlight his wrong choice and avenge the previous trick he played on him.

"Hua Xia Qiu may face a major downturn in his career, and the myth of Mr. Billionaire will be shattered!"

"Arrogance is the fatal flaw of all geniuses. Hua Xia Qiu has brought this upon himself!"

"Hua Xia Qiu made a wrong choice. Serving the powerful and political propaganda will surely become a stumbling block for art!"

...

For a time, the genius Shanhe seemed to be about to fall into the quagmire and lose his glory. Just when the Western mainstream cultural circle was preparing to increase its firepower in an attempt to completely drive Shanhe back to the mortal world, the news that followed immediately slapped them in the face. These Western cultural trolls immediately became embarrassed and stopped.

"Operation Mekong" grossed over 250 million U.S. dollars in its second week in China, and raked in 400 million U.S. dollars in ten days. At the same time, the film's second-week box office performance in various Asian countries remained strong, and it once again raked in nearly 60 million U.S. dollars in the second week in Japan, South Korea, Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

"Operation Mekong" was released worldwide for ten days, and the cumulative box office exceeded 800 million US dollars!

A Chinese-language mainstream film with an investment of less than 100 million US dollars has grossed over 800 million US dollars in just two weeks, and it is a foregone conclusion that the global box office will exceed 1 billion. How can such an achievement be discredited or criticized?
The Western mainstream cultural circle has once again been slapped in the face by Shanhe at a very fast speed, making the Western public laugh and cry. "The Room" not only slapped your left cheek once, but you also extended your right cheek to be slapped by "Operation Mekong". It's really ridiculous!
Even the Western right-wingers are laughing at the performance of these old guys. Please, can you old guys be more reliable? If you want to discredit Hua Xia Qiu, you have to be more technical. You can't keep telling lies with your eyes open!

The strong box office data of China is clearly displayed before us. Hua Xia Qiu's choice is not only correct, but also far-sighted. With such an unfathomable Chinese market behind him, what else can he shoot but Chinese heroes!
The Chinese media’s counterattack soon followed. Imperialism is still determined to destroy us and is trying to deliberately discredit our representative of luck. Isn’t this just a quarrel? When it comes to verbal disputes, China is your ancestor!

"Eight hundred million dollars in ten days, if this is called Waterloo, please give me ten thousand of them!"

"Eastern culture does not advocate unreasonable shouting, we like to speak with facts!"

"Shanhe never has to make a choice, nor does he need to make one, because China is his motherland and his backing!"

"There is an allusion in China called 'covering one's ears to steal the bell', there is an idiom in China called 'being too smart', and there is also a joke in China called 'bringing shame upon oneself'!"

...

After a lot of noise and verbal fuss, Operation Mekong is entering its third week of release.

Although the domestic box office data has declined significantly, it still remains above the level of over 100 million yuan per day on weekdays. In the third week of release, before the weekend even started, the film’s total domestic box office exceeded 3 billion yuan, and it took in another 500 million yuan over the three days of the weekend, bringing the cumulative box office in three weeks to over 3.5 billion yuan!
So far, it has been a foregone conclusion that "Operation Mekong" will become the first domestic film to break 4 billion.

Media across the country are reporting on this milestone breakthrough. As the most powerful weapon among cultural commodities, the influence of movies is not limited to the film and television industry!
The "News Broadcast" spent a full three minutes reporting on the wave that "Operation Mekong" had set off in China. The host's discussion was not limited to the development of the Chinese film market, but extended this milestone to the spiritual level.

"…The record-breaking box office of Operation Mekong in China is the fruit of decades of hard work in the development of Chinese film and television. It also represents the respect and love of the general public for the people's heroes, and is full of the Chinese people's ardent expectations and pride for the country's prosperity..."

The Dazhong Daily also made a special report with a large front-page headline titled "The new era needs a main theme, and the new era calls for new heroes."

Major newspapers and magazines such as the China Youth Daily, Guangming Daily, and the Global Times also reported the record-breaking news of Operation Mekong on their front pages.

The news on the Internet is overwhelming, and interviews and shooting footage of the main creators of "Operation Mekong" can be seen everywhere.

The general public is accustomed to Shanhe breaking records and setting new heights. He is not in the country, so the praise for him is not very enthusiastic. The two main actors, Sun Honglei and Liu Ye, benefit the most.

Especially Liu Ye, his role as the undercover anti-drug police officer Xin Wu touched all the audiences and was the most popular character in the film. Audiences in Europe and the United States were also impressed by this role. His performance was recognized by movie fans. With "Ghost Blows Out the Light" and "Operation Mekong", Liu Ye became the number one actor in China and a bona fide international movie star. He has even received audition invitations from Hollywood crews.

Sun Honglei is equally good. With just one film, he secured his position as a top domestic film actor. His pay and endorsements have increased several times, and he is constantly offered the lead in domestic scripts.

The two have been the hottest figures in the country recently, and their schedules are filled with various interview invitations.

(End of this chapter)