After the devastating blows to the film market in 2020 and 2022, the aftereffects will take time to heal.
Even by 2025, movie theaters will still be far from their peak popularity.
Therefore, even during traditional peak film seasons like the National Day and May Day holidays, while Hollywood films were allowed to enter the market, they were never allowed to compete head-on with domestic films.
The market needs to recover its popularity, so the protection of domestic films should be put on hold for now. Warner Bros.' "Merlin" has a huge promotional campaign and is already making a strong impact overseas.
Many domestic films that were originally scheduled to be released during the May Day holiday have even chosen to withdraw from the schedule to make way.
In reality, overseas reviews are mixed.
Some white audience members cheered:
"Finally, a movie that's exhilarating from beginning to end, where Merlin's abilities surpass everyone else's."
"Most importantly, there's finally no more of that damn political 'political' stuff. I'm about to be driven crazy by Disney's actions over the past few years. You know, I used to be a huge Disney fan."
"It's really cool magic. It even pays homage to Merlin's classic scene in Stockholm a couple of years ago. The protagonist's crow storm is basically a pixel-perfect recreation."
Of course, some people are satisfied, while others are dissatisfied.
Nothing in the world can be liked by everyone, not even money. Some people claim that they don't like money at all.
"A pure popcorn movie, with no deep thinking and no changes brought about by the collision of magic and human society."
"Why are there no Black people? This is a resurgence of whiteracism!"
For Chinese audiences, enjoyment is the most important thing.
Chinese viewers, whose tastes have become more discerning due to various online articles and short videos, are delighted with the hack-and-slash action of Dynasty Warriors.
The comments from overseas viewers have only increased the anticipation among Chinese viewers.
The era of reflecting on the strange is long gone; Chinese audiences no longer enjoy watching so-called thought-provoking and profound films.
After listening, Zheng Li became interested and was curious about how the character of Merlin was filmed.
Seeing that Zheng Li didn't speak, Li Miaomiao continued:
"You can use the perspective of a professional sorcerer to see the differences between sorcerers in movies and sorcerers in real life."
Li Miaomiao was unaware of the high level of skill required for the flowing water spell Zheng Li had demonstrated to her. Currently, among all the mages on Blue Star, only Zheng Li could control the spell to such a refined degree.
If Li Miaomiao tells anyone else, Zheng Li's suspicion will rise sharply, and the Chinese authorities will come looking for him the day after they find out.
"You've stayed in Suzhou for so long, but you've only been active in a very small area. You haven't experienced the local customs and culture at all."
"I'll take you around tomorrow after we finish watching the movie."
"There are still many places to visit in Suzhou. It's a completely different feeling compared to Singapore."
It is said that the city Zheng Li knows best is Kuala Lumpur.
Whether in Suzhou or Singapore, he mostly stayed in the research and development center and rarely went to entertainment venues, let alone strolled around to experience the city.
However, as a security guard in Kuala Lumpur, he would occasionally wander around the streets and alleys.
Zheng Li nodded and said, "Okay."
As expected of Warner Bros.' ambitious work, the theaters were packed with audiences during the May Day holiday.
Although Zheng Li, with his status, could easily have booked the entire movie theater and wouldn't need to squeeze in with the audience.
However, Li Miaomiao said that if you want to experience the atmosphere, there's no point in renting out the entire theater to watch a movie.
"The most important thing about watching a movie is the atmosphere, it's about spending two hours with a group of strangers in the same place, traveling to another world."
If it's just the two of us watching a movie in the theater, with security personnel sitting around us, we won't be able to experience the real feeling.
"I didn't encounter any danger at Universal Studios in Singapore, so I have even less to worry about at the cinema in Suzhou."
That's what they said, but the security personnel sent by the Chinese government still didn't dare let the two of them go to the movies alone.
They simply hid in the surrounding area in a concealed manner.
The first book of The Wizard of Oz mainly tells the story of Merlin's childhood with magical creatures, as well as the difficulties he encountered during his growth.
In the movie, Merlin's magical skills were already so advanced during his youth that he could defeat dark sorcerers much older than him and command magical creatures to fight for him.
The movie portrays his enemies as incredibly powerful, but Merlin easily defeats them, only to find himself facing the next adversary.
Merlin in the first movie was completely in "Invincible" mode, giving the audience a strong visual effect and a sense of exhilaration.
After the movie ended, not a single audience member stood up, clearly demonstrating how engaged everyone was.
Everyone's waiting for the Easter egg.
When the credits rolled, no Easter eggs appeared.
"No wonder I checked Douban before coming here today, and there was a comment saying that Warner Bros.' script this time was written by a Chinese online writer."
"It builds up suspense to the max, and then resolves it cleanly and efficiently, even more decisive and sharp than the traditional Hollywood assembly line style."
"The magic segment is much cooler than the previous Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. The magic battles in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them were just laser beams."
"It was definitely worth the ticket price; Warner Bros. will absolutely make a killing this time."
If it were the old Li Miaomiao, she would only care about whether the movie was good or not, and could talk about it at length from the plot to the characters to the special effects.
Now her biggest concern is the box office and how much revenue Warner Bros. can make from this film.
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