China Entertainment King of Science Fiction

Chapter 536 Challenge the King of Animation and Break the Record

"Okay, okay, if you keep talking, I'm afraid "The Matrix III" will win the Oscar."

"Would the Oscars appreciate such a movie? They would rather award the award to "Gravity" than to "The Matrix"...I'm not lying to you, "The Matrix III" is definitely no less than "Inception", the movie-watching experience

I only have three words to describe it - awesome!

You see, the Douban score will never be lower than 9 points."

Zhou Junpeng was having lunch while video chatting on the computer with Zheng Wei, a college classmate in Hangzhou.

The two of them are from the same hometown and are roommates in the same dormitory. They are considered the best buddies during the four years of college.

Of course, it is inevitable to go their separate ways after graduation. Zhou Junpeng, as the first graduate of "Digital Media Art and Design" at Beijing Normal University, happened to catch up with DreamWorks' first campus recruitment. In October last year, shortly after the start of his senior year,

Successfully got an offer from DreamWorks.

Although my friend Zheng Wei failed to get an offer from DreamWorks, he successfully joined another famous animation company, Sun God, in this year’s spring recruitment. This year’s Spring Festival release of “Young Lei Zhenzi” and the summer release of “Westward Journey·Zhu”

"The Legend of Demons" was produced by this company.

"Legend of Thunder" hit the most crowded animation schedule in history, being overwhelmed by "WALL-E" and "Dinosaurs". The box office was less than 300 million, but the cost was almost recovered.

The summer release of "Westward Journey: Demon Killing" did quite well at the box office.

Because Chen Jingxing's positioning of "The Matrix III" is very clear, it is a fan film.

Even "Manslaughter", which was produced by Chen Sicheng and United Cinemas, was moved up due to this, avoiding the edge of "The Matrix III".

It can be said that "The Matrix III" has laid the foundation for the first two parts. As the third and final chapter, it is not much different from Hollywood comic blockbusters.

But although Chen Jingxing is not optimistic that the domestic box office of "Matrix III" can surpass "Spike II", it is not impossible to challenge the 4 billion box office mark.

When talking about fan movies, it is easy to think of domestic movies starring top stars, but in fact the most powerful fan movies in the world are Hollywood comic-book adaptations.

Graduation season is usually also the season of breakups. It is not common for Zhou Junpeng and his girlfriend to both get offers from companies in Beijing. Not everyone can tolerate long-distance relationships. Zheng Wei and his girlfriend broke up because they went their separate ways at work.

Maybe it’s because the relationship between the two is really good, maybe it’s because it’s been less than a year since graduation and they haven’t reached the level of graduation, or maybe it’s because both of them are in top animation companies – Zhou Junpeng is not assigned to the special effects department, but

It's in the animation department.

Let you see why DreamWorks is the king of animation, what good animation is, what imagination is, and what imagination is."

North American movie fans are also quite convinced about this final installment in the series, and the Internet popularity is very high.

After the two childish ghosts complained to each other for a few words, they interrupted the video call.

DreamWorks' stock price soared 8% in three days, with its market value reaching HK$140 billion.

The three-day box office on the first weekend was 1.34 billion!

The momentum is stronger than "The Matrix II" released in the summer last year. The three-day box office is second only to the Spring Festival release of "Tang Detective III". Of course, the later box office trend is better than that of "Tang Detective III". After all, "Tang Detective III" has encountered

The most powerful animated movie in history, "WALL-E", has an astonishing dive.

Moreover, the salary of DreamWorks Animation and Special Effects Department is completely at the level of major Internet companies, which is almost out of the ordinary in the industry. Even though the Internet giant stands behind the Sun God and has abundant capital, the salary is already very generous in the animation industry, but

There is still some distance between it and DreamWorks.

…

If the box office is not as good as ours, don't feel sorry for yourself. When you want to switch jobs to our company in the future, I will be there by the West Lake to take care of you.

With this, Helios Company announced its huge plans for the Journey to the West universe and Fengshen universe. Coupled with the investment background of Internet giants and major film studios, it has become a new animation force that can rival DreamWorks.

The first weekend and first week box office often account for more than one-third or even one-half of the total box office.

On December 20, the first-day box office on Friday was 320 million.

Fortunately, both "The Matrix II" and "The Matrix III" have introduced investment from Universal. Although Universal cannot interfere in the production of the film, it will share the box office and other copyright income.

"Tsk, tsk, when did you hook up? It's been less than half a year since you broke up with Xiaoyun, right? You're good at it."

"The Matrix III" is not a family movie, and it cannot be compared to "Spike II" in terms of audience size.

"So what about the King of Animation? It's just a step ahead, relying on the technology that was fed back by the profits from the movie. We, the Sun God, are here to grab the throne.

Because the North American premiere was two days later than the domestic premiere, after the domestic release, illegal theater recording videos appeared on the Internet. Of course, the duration was very short, only more than one minute, and because "The Matrix III" is 3D

Movie, so the video recording is very blurry and all are ghost images.

But Chen Jingxing and everyone at DreamWorks still maintained caution and rationality.

The domestic box office has been a surprise, and DreamWorks also attaches great importance to overseas markets, especially the North American market.

Of course, this is also closely related to the fact that "The Matrix III" basically has no opponents.

Zhou Junpeng snorted coldly, then left his work station and walked to the canteen downstairs to prepare for the meal.

Unless you can produce another "Wall-E" movie, if your company is as arrogant as you and underestimates the enemy, be careful."

"Rebirth" was produced by our company's ace studio, and everyone stood up and applauded during the internal viewing. I kid you not, both the production level and the completion of the story are no worse than your "Kung Fu Panda".

By the way, while walking, I took out my mobile phone to read the reviews and feedback of "The Matrix III".

Zheng Wei showed a smug smile: "I just went to third base last weekend and confirmed the relationship. Who told us to have a double weekend off? We have plenty of time to date and fall in love. Unlike you, you have to work overtime today and Saturday."

?DreamWorks has also learned about 996? It is indeed a company that lives in Zhongguancun. It has acquired the Internet gene very quickly."

Of course, the domestic Christmas box office is usually not outstanding. Although Christmas is also a Valentine's Day in China, it is far behind compared with February 14th or Chinese Valentine's Day.

It can only be said that Christmas, whether in the past or now, is actually only a foreign festival that a few people in first- and second-tier cities pay attention to, and it just shouts loudly.

Universal and DreamWorks also have high expectations for the North American box office, US$300 million!

Based on the Internet popularity of "The Matrix III" and the movie's announcement, the DVD Blu-ray sales and online on-demand volume of the first two movies have exploded, which means that the movie-watching group has expanded.

Although DreamWorks fans are dismissive of this public opinion, the media and the public are indeed happy to hype the news that DreamWorks, the invincible animation company, has encountered its rivals.

In such a non-popular period, "The Matrix III" is a behemoth, and no company without foresight will insist on squeezing in to compete in the competition.

550 million on Saturday.

Therefore, Universal attaches great importance to this and has basically used all its resources to prepare for a big launch in the Christmas and New Year's Day stalls.

December was regarded as the Lunar New Year period in China's past movie market concept. It lasted from the end of November to the beginning of March of the following year, about eighty or ninety days. In Hong Kong Island, it was a trend started by Cheng Long, and in the mainland it was mainly Feng Xiaogang.

Zheng Wei was just joking before. After all, the eldest brother does not talk about the second brother. The animation company has no shame in blaming the Internet 996. It is just that the project team he is in is not busy now. If it really gets busy, it is not what 996 can describe.

470 million on Sunday.

Zhou Junpeng, however, did not panic at all: "Hey, look at you, you just made a movie called "Westward Journey: Demon Killing" and then you turned up your tail? I really can't bear to offend you. You should be going home during the Spring Festival, right? Let's make an appointment then.

Go to the city to see our "Inside Out" and your Sun God's "Lingzhu Rebirth".

Such high popularity and the full distribution of Universal Pictures directly helped "Matrix III" to open in 3,792 theaters, setting a record for the opening scale of DreamWorks, Chen Jingxing himself and foreign films.

However, Christmas is still a very popular time overseas, especially in Europe and the United States, which is why Universal and DreamWorks have repeatedly considered the final release date in late December.

To say that Christmas is not a legal holiday, neither Valentine's Day nor Chinese Valentine's Day is a legal holiday. Valentine's Day in 2019 was the Thursday after the Spring Festival holiday, and it still generated a box office of nearly 700 million.

Universal believes that "The Matrix III" definitely has the potential to exceed $300 million.

DreamWorks' animated films are extremely popular, and the huge profits they make are naturally eye-catching. Except for DreamWorks fans, everyone is happy to see someone who can compete with DreamWorks.

Because when "Westward Journey: Demon Killer" was released in the summer, his old classmates showed off in front of him.

Zhou Junpeng retorted: "We are dedicating ourselves to art. Who makes the audience watch our DreamWorks animated movies every Spring Festival? In order to make "Inside Out" meet the audience as scheduled, we have to work overtime for a month.

, if your "Lingzhu Rebirth" is wise, it should be withdrawn as soon as possible."

In short, Zhou Junpeng and Zheng Wei still maintain relatively close contact through WeChat and phone calls.

This is understandable, because at the time of the school recruitment, DreamWorks was indeed their number one choice for this major. Zheng Wei did not get the offer from DreamWorks and went to Sun Gods, feeling that he lost out to Zhou Junpeng.

And it's not even Christmas yet.

"Okay, don't give me any spoilers. My girlfriend and I have already bought tickets for the evening. If it doesn't look good, I'll ask you to reimburse me."

With the rise of Spring Festival stalls, National Day stalls and summer stalls, the Lunar New Year stalls have been lost to everyone.

It's just that Zhou Junpeng brought up the animated movie war for next year's Spring Festival, Zheng Wei can't admit defeat: "Haha, we still don't know who will win. "Rebirth of the Spirit Pearl" is different from "Young Lei Zhenzi", "Lei Zhenzi" is real

The investment was only 50 million, and it was produced by an outsourced studio.

After all, the current movie market and the number of screens have increased significantly compared to 2017. When "Spike II" was released in the summer of 2017, it had just reached 50,000 yuan. More than two years later, this number has increased to nearly 50,000 yuan.

70,000 yuan.

Zheng Wei saw Zhou Junpeng was so sure, he was a little suspicious and a little dissatisfied.

And the ticket prices have also increased significantly.

The effect of a rising tide lifts all boats is that "The Matrix III" can challenge the 4.3 billion box office record set by "Wolf Fang II" two years ago with a limited audience group.

But in fact, since 2014, the Lunar New Year festival has gradually faded out of the attention of the audience and the media.

After Sun God launches a successful animated movie, he will naturally want to subconsciously prove his choice. His company has a great future and is not inferior to DreamWorks, and he is not inferior to his old classmates.

Of course, the box office result of 1.34 billion in the first weekend was astonishing, and even slightly exceeded Chen Jingxing's expectations. It also made the media and fans exclaim that the domestic box office record monopolized by "Spike II" for more than two years was expected to be broken.

The animation industry is actually not that big, and both parties may be very concerned about maintaining this kind of human resources.

Although it cannot be compared with DreamWorks and is suspected of following the trend, the box office of 1.7 billion is still a huge success for this company.

Of course, this kind of Amway also has a certain element of showing off.

Even so, this recorded video, which was full of ghosts, ignited the Internet topic and directly reached the top of the trending list on Twitter's US list the next day.

Although Zheng Wei is not a fan of Chen Jingxing, he also likes to watch DreamWorks film and television dramas. He has also watched the first two "The Matrix", so in fact, he will watch it regardless of Zhou Junpeng's safety.

The biggest feature of fan movies is that fans, or movie fans, are very enthusiastic about watching movies. Especially in the first three days, the concentrated viewing behavior of movie fans often creates amazing box office results.

Last night, Zhou Junpeng watched "The Matrix III" with his colleagues. Today, during the break, I contacted an old classmate and found out that the other person hadn't watched it yet, so I took a strong amway.

This film tells the story of the disagreement between master and apprentice on the way to seek scriptures, which led to Sun Wukong having a second mind and turning into a six-eared macaque. The five masters and apprentices were entangled and fought with monsters such as snake demons that are difficult to distinguish between good and evil. In the end, master and apprentice regained their original intention and transformed the demons.

, the Journey to the West IP animated film about slaying inner demons and returning to the road has become a dark horse at the box office in the summer due to its excellent production and relatively complete and smooth story.

Without delaying your overtime work, my wife and I went out for dinner..."

And this also marks the rise of China's animation industry. It is not spring to stand alone, but spring is full of flowers blooming.

So far, Chen Jingxing's highest-grossing film in the North American market is "The Matrix II", with a total of US$260 million.

Although in today's North American market, 400.5 billion is very common, 600.700 million is needed to compete for the annual crown, and 800.9 billion is considered a box office miracle. 300 million seems a bit insufficient.

But you must know that usually box office results of 400 million and above are basically monopolized by comic book movies, and only national-level IPs such as "Star Wars" can be superior.

As a non-comic-based movie, "The Matrix" would definitely be considered a miracle if it could achieve such results.

Even for Universal, which does not have the resources to adapt comics, the achievement of US$300 million in the North American market is rare. In recent years, there are very few movies produced by Universal that can achieve this achievement.

(End of chapter)