Chapter 282 Breaking the Record! Back to the Top!
At Zhou Cheng's home, a family of four is having dinner.
At this time, Zhou Cheng's father was no longer the county magistrate, but the secretary.
Zhou Cheng still works in Kecheng and has been promoted to section chief. He got married three years ago. The girl’s father works in the Provincial Department of Science and Technology. When they got married, he was a director and now he is a deputy director.
The girl's name was Zhu Qin. She was pretty with a small face and wore gold-rimmed glasses that took up almost half of her face.
Her voice is a little bit coquettish. She has been spoiled since childhood, a little bit cute and a little bit spoiled.
Even after giving birth, she is still like a child.
Zhou Cheng's mother has retired and is no longer in the union.
"Find some time to go to Daye Village." Secretary Zhou suddenly said.
Zhou Cheng: "Okay, should we go to the nursing home first and then to Daye Village, or go directly to Daye Village?"
Secretary Zhou: "Go directly to Daye Village."
There are some rules to this. You should go to the nursing home first and then to Daye Village. It will look much better. It can only be regarded as an inspection of the work.
Going to Daye Village specifically would give people the impression of currying favor. You are the top leader, but you actually went to the village to curry favor with a farmer? Zhou Cheng: "Okay, tell me when you are going, and I will drive."
Secretary Zhou: “Yes.”
Secretary Zhou then turned to his wife and asked, "Did you play mahjong with Li Fangfang some time ago?"
Mrs. Zhou: "It didn't work. She takes care of her precious granddaughter all day long."
Secretary Zhou said, "Then find another opportunity. Let's talk when we meet on the road, and practice Tai Chi together in the morning."
Mrs. Zhou: “I understand.”
At this point, neither Zhou Cheng nor Mrs. Zhou had any resistance at all.
During the past two or three years, Zhou Cheng and his father have visited Lin Xiao's father and grandfather in Daye Village more than six times in total.
Of course, before that, it was all under the name of inspecting nursing homes.
This time, I just went there directly. Even though I would be criticized, I didn’t care.
Because he will retire in two years, the most important thing now is the future of his son Zhou Cheng. The key is that the Zhou family had conflicts with Lin Xiao before, of course, after so many years, this little conflict has long disappeared.
Besides, the Zhou family was still respectable at that time and had not crossed the line.
However, in Old Zhou's opinion, his son Zhou Cheng's future prospects may face obstacles.
Others cannot see the power of Lin Xiao's faction clearly now, but he sees it too clearly.
Especially this year, the situation has become completely clear.
So the Zhou family has been trying to make up for it by visiting Lin Xiao’s grandfather and father in Daye Village from time to time.
Every time I don’t give expensive gifts, I just go and visit, talk, and play chess.
Even in Zhou Cheng's opinion, there was no one who would swallow their anger or feel resentful.
In his opinion, Lin Xiao was already very magnanimous and had no intention of caring about the previous minor conflict.
"Oh, by the way, there is something that is not a secret and should be able to be told." Zhou Cheng's wife Zhu Qin suddenly said, "Dr. Tsai from TSMC will visit Quantum Technology next, and my father may accompany him."
Secretary Zhou: “Dr. Cai?”
Zhu Qin: "It's the president. They all like to mention their academic qualifications."
Zhou Cheng: "TSMC is such a big company, and its president is going to visit Quantum Technology?"
Zhu Qin: "My father said that TSMC is now actively promoting advanced process chips, and the orders placed by Quantum Technology and Texas Instruments are very large. Although this amount of money may not be much, it is of great significance."
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Kecheng City now has a cinema, but basically all the county towns under it have no cinemas.
Linshan is an exception.
It has a dedicated cinema with very advanced facilities.
The name is Bubble Cinema.
And that place that looked like a Disney castle was finally put on the market.
Bubble Library.
Now these two places have become favorites for children in Linshan.
Because there are many books, toys and amusement facilities in it.
There is even a kindergarten inside, which is of a very high standard.
After dinner, Zhou Cheng and his wife went out happily and walked to the Paopao Cinema.
After going out, she even stuck out her tongue and breathed a sigh of relief.
Because she felt that the atmosphere in Zhou Cheng's home was a bit too serious.
The two people were walking and chatting.
Suddenly, Zhu Qin's eyes lit up and she walked very fast in her high heels.
"Baby……"
"all……"
She walked straight to the stroller and stretched out her hands towards the cute baby inside.
At this time, Li Fangfang and Xiao Momo were taking their baby out for a walk.
At this time, baby Lin Yiyi is already two years old.
"Wow, you are so beautiful and cute..."
"Can you go home with your aunt for a few days? The baby your aunt gave birth to is getting uglier and uglier. I don't want it anymore."
Xiao Momo asked, "Are you guys out for a walk?"
Zhu Qin: "Watching a movie."
Then, she said to Zhou Cheng, "You can go now. I don't want to watch it with you anymore. It's time for best friends. Get out of here..."
Then, Zhou Cheng smiled awkwardly and said to Li Fangfang: "Aunt Li, I'll go home first."
Next, Li Fangfang took the baby home.
Zhu Qin took Xiao Momo's arm and walked into the cinema.
"Paopao, you're so jealous." Zhu Qin said, "There was no movie theater in Linshan, but because of you, we have the best movie theater, the best library, the best playground, and the best kindergarten."
"We have a deal. When your kindergarten recruits students in the future, you must recruit our Chou Chou."
Xiao Momo: "Don't talk nonsense, what's so ugly about your baby?"
Zhu Qin: "Our daughter is not ugly when she looks at herself alone, but when she is put together with your daughter, she looks ugly."
"Me too. Me too."
Then, she pulled Xiao Momo to the big glass and said, "Look, if I stand next to you, I will become an ugly duckling. I want to stay away from you."
Then, she took Xiao Momo's arm and walked into the cinema.
Bubble didn't know why she became good friends with Zhu Qin for no apparent reason, because the other party was so outgoing, enthusiastic, innocent and romantic, which was really irresistible.
Not only her, but also her mother and her father have become popular now.
How arrogant and superior was Zhou Cheng's mother before?
Now he comes to visit baby Lin Yiyi several times, bringing gifts every time. He also invites Li Fangfang to play mahjong countless times.
This attitude cannot even be described as diligent.
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Just a few hours after its release, reviews of Kung Fu Panda were flying everywhere.
If you just look at the film reviews, there are mixed reviews.
In fact, for most audiences, it is difficult to understand the level of the film industry.
Although they also noticed, why are the hairs so fine and real? Why are the movements so smooth?
But for many people, movies like "Curse of the Golden Flower", "Hero" and "The Last Days" are the real blockbusters.
Of course, the original version of "Kung Fu Panda" did not have any big scenes, but Lin Xiao added a lot of grand scenes to cater to the Chinese market.
Added scenes of a massive army.
Therefore, this movie is much more exciting and powerful than the original version in terms of momentum and emotion.
But in the eyes of professional filmmakers, it is completely different.
As a professional filmmaker, Cheng Qingsong investigated a lot of relevant data in advance.
Finally, I learned that not only the script, but also the character images and background design of this movie were completed in China.
Even about 70% of the entire animation production was completed in the country.
This is really scary.
It really is an animation film system that was built directly from scratch.
No wonder the production cost alone cost $200 million.
And he was worried when he saw the news that the film was completely remade last year. Because this kind of remake can be a news gimmick, but if a film is remade for reasons other than policy, it is not good news at all, and it means it is a bad film to a large extent.
And for the sake of comparison and for a deeper understanding.
Before going to the cinema to watch "Kung Fu Panda", he watched "Shrek the Third" at home, "The Incredibles", "Ratatouille", and "Ice Age 2".
These films represent the highest level of animated films in the world today, and all of them were produced in the past one or two years.
DreamWorks, Pixar Animation Studios, Blue Sky Studios.
This is currently also the world's top animation film studio.
After entering the cinema, he could tell at a glance that "Kung Fu Panda" was in no way inferior to these top productions in terms of technical level alone.
Damn! Awesome! Animation films are the most difficult and the most challenging for the film industry.
The best animated film in Chinese cinema over the years was "The Lotus Lantern" from many years ago. That was many years ago.
In recent years, no one has dared to enter the field of animated films, so we are falling further and further behind.
Even in the eyes of professional filmmakers, they dare not even think about how big the gap is.
Because this is the real film technology industry.
As a result... the gap was instantly bridged.
Although, many of the core members of this animated film were poached from Pixar, Blue Sky Studios, and DreamWorks.
Even the entire assembly line was built in the United States.
However, at least a large part of this assembly line has already flowed into the domestic market and into the Lightning Group.
Because when they were going back to work on the product, Sony Columbia also discovered that the people in China worked very hard and at low prices, and their cost-effectiveness far exceeded that of the United States.
So... there's nothing wrong with transferring a considerable part of the animation industry to China.
Anyway, Sony Pictures Entertainment also holds a large stake in Oriental Fantasy Studios.
He wanted to put aside technical productivity and try to watch the plot and the movie.
But, I still couldn't help but look at the details.
I couldn't help but marvel inwardly.
This level is truly world-class.
Is the power of capital so strong? It has directly transformed from lagging behind by N years to the world's leading level? It took a long time for me to fully calm down and watch the plot.
There is no doubt that the plot of Kung Fu Panda is very good.
Douban has a score of 8.3, and even imdb has a score of 7.6.
This version has some extra points in terms of emotions and grand scenes.
In other words, at the most critical moment, emotions exploded.
The original version was a little more restrained, but this version is really loud.
At that time, "Wall-E" had not yet come out, so "Kung Fu Panda" was the world's top-notch series, on the same level as "Shrek the Monsters", "Monsters, Inc.", and the Ice Age series.
It can even be elevated a little higher because of its unique Chinese background.
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After reading it and returning home, Teacher Cheng immediately went home and wrote a blog.
If Kung Fu Panda fails at the box office, it will be a tragedy for the entire film industry! "I heard from Master Ergou that Kung Fu Panda is a love letter from Chinese films to the world. I didn't feel anything at the time, but now after watching the movie, this sentence has become unforgettable."
"I can't even imagine what kind of subject matter, what kind of Chinese story, can completely conquer the world."
“Don’t say that the nation is the world. In most cases, it is not true.”
"Traditional Chinese stories like Investiture of the Gods can only be found in China and cannot be exported. Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Journey to the West can barely make it to Japan."
“Since the decline of Hong Kong films, Chinese stories can’t even go to Southeast Asia.”
“Kung Fu Panda has given a perfect answer to how to make the whole world understand Chinese stories and even Chinese philosophy.”
"The export of culture is a huge theme."
"And in my opinion, the bigger theme is the upgrading of the film industry."
"This year's Transformers brought an unprecedented psychological impact and visual storm to Chinese audiences, allowing everyone to clearly feel the huge gap between the Chinese and American film industries, as if there was a huge gap between them."
"But I can tell you that Kung Fu Panda is more technically difficult than Transformers, and the cost per second of Kung Fu Panda is more than twice that of Transformers."
"You read that right. Kung Fu Panda cost $36,000 per second, while Transformers cost $10,000 per second."
"Now there are more than 300 people in Oriental Fantasy. This film has established an animation film industry system for China from scratch, and it is directly at the world's leading level."
"According to my understanding, Sony invested $150 million in the promotion of this film, and Lightning Entertainment also invested 150 million RMB in the Chinese market."
“So whether in the world market or in the Chinese market, they probably don’t want to make money.”
"It can be said that this movie is a gift from China to movie fans around the world. Whether it makes money or not is not important."
"If you want to say that Master Ergou cannot represent China? Then I admit defeat!"
"Master Ergou, I wish you good luck!"
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On December 14, "Kung Fu Panda" was released in North America.
The Christmas season is the most important and most competitive season in North America.
A few years ago, "The Last Journey" did not dare to rush into this schedule, but postponed it.
This time, "Kung Fu Panda" has entered this period with great momentum.
Competitors at the same time include "His Dark Materials: The Golden Compass" starring Nicole Kidman, "I Am Legend" starring Will Smith, "National Treasure 2" starring Nicholas Cage, and "Sweeney Todd" starring Johnny Depp.
It can be said that there are many strong ones! Sony Pictures has used all its strength this time, both in terms of publicity and scheduling, which is much more fierce than the historical "Kung Fu Panda".
The next day!
The North American first day box office is out.
"I Am Legend" grossed $18 million on its first day, roughly in line with historical records.
"Kung Fu Panda" grossed $29 million on its first day, far exceeding the historical record.
Of course, this first-day result cannot be compared with "The Hunger Games". "The Hunger Games" is at a perverted level and set a record in film history. Moreover, its box office in North America accounts for about 60% of the world's box office, which is also not normal.
Sony Pictures' goal for "Kung Fu Panda" is to gross $250 million in North America and $700 million worldwide.
Of course, even if the box office really reached this level, it would only be enough to break even, without much profit.
But as long as it reaches $700 million worldwide, the IP will be successful, and for Sony Columbia, the map of animated films will be directly opened up.
So after the first day box office revenue of 29 million US dollars came out, Sony Pictures cheered.
However, that day was Saturday, so the stock market was closed, otherwise Sony Group’s stock would probably have risen a little more.
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December 15th.
Dr. Tsai, President of TSMC, officially visited Quantum Technology.
Because the 45-nanometer process is not yet mature, whoever starts with it will have to bear the high costs caused by low yield.
Of course, this cost is shared by TSMC, Quantum Technology, and Texas Instruments.
Globally, quantum technology is the most radical and is the first batch of large-scale foundry orders. Apple's A4 will come much later.
Up to now, the SOC required for quantum mobile phones has not been mass-produced.
It was originally planned to release the first generation of quantum mobile phone about half a year after the release of the first generation of iPhone.
But now it seems that quantum phones may not be released until after the second-generation IPHONE is released.
Qualcomm's upcoming QSD8250 chip also uses a conservative 65nm process.
Because at that time the competition in this area was not very fierce. It was not until a few years later that everyone started to compete with each other and fight hard to grab the advanced process production lines of the foundries.
Therefore, the price of a high-end mobile phone SOC soared from US$30 to US$180.
It is precisely because of the radical nature of quantum technology that the president of TSMC came to visit in person.
"Mr. Lin, I'm very sorry. It will take some time for the foundry capacity of this chip to increase."
"It may delay the release of your quantum phone once again."
Lin Xiao asked: "HTC's G1 will be released ahead of schedule, right?"
This phone was originally released in September 2008, and it was very popular because it was the first smartphone in the Android camp.
Now, in order to compete for the right to speak on the operating system, Google may ask HTC to release this phone ahead of schedule.
This is also one of the consequences of Lin Xiao’s radical ideas.
If TSMC had used its mature technology to design this chip, the mobile phone would have been out long ago.
Dr. Cai just smiled awkwardly and did not answer.
Moreover, the consequences of betting on TSMC's latest technology may be chip instability, etc.
But the good news is that the 45nm process is almost one of TSMC's best milestones.
Finally, Dr. Cai smiled and said, “Good food is never too late, right?”
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Immediately afterwards, the North American box office figures for December 15 were released.
"I Am Legend" $26 million.
"Kung Fu Panda" $39 million.
This time, Sony Pictures was no longer surprised, but ecstatic.
This Christmas season, "Kung Fu Panda" will undoubtedly become the most powerful movie, and it will be able to achieve a win-win situation together with "I Am Legend".
And the cost-explosive "His Dark Materials: The Golden Compass" has basically been announced to be out.
This movie was also adapted from a well-known children's literature IP, with an investment of more than 180 million US dollars. However, it was a complete flop in North America, and the final box office may have been only around 60 million US dollars.
Sony Pictures was very happy to see this result.
Our investment cost for "The Hunger Games" was only 70 million US dollars, but it grossed 730 million US dollars worldwide.
And you, Warner Bros., are destined to lose a lot of money on the IP of His Dark Materials.
The key point is that the second IP "Kung Fu Panda" is now on the verge of success.
At this rate, Sony Pictures will soon be ahead of the powerful Warner Bros.
On Monday, the North American box office figures for December 16 were released.
"I Am Legend" $23 million.
"Kung Fu Panda" $35.5 million.
At this point, the first weekend box office is out.
"I Am Legend" grossed $67 million in its first weekend, slightly lower than historically.
Kung Fu Panda's first weekend North American box office was $103.5 million! Although it is much lower than the first weekend box office of The Hunger Games, its box office curve is more stable than that of The Hunger Games.
According to box office experts, "Kung Fu Panda" is likely to exceed $300 million at the North American box office.
This is already much higher than in history.
Howard Stringer of Sony Corporation said directly during an interview with the media: "I want to correct one thing. We are not allies with Er Gou Jiaozhu. We are completely interdependent. The cross-shareholdings have reached a staggering number."
"I can tell you that we have signed contracts for three or four series for IPs such as Kung Fu Panda, The Hunger Games, and even Graveyard Book."
"Sony Pictures Entertainment will have a steady stream of powerful IPs to develop in the next decade or so."
"In addition, we will also soon begin negotiations on Sony's acquisition of a stake in Lightning Technology."
"Eastern Fantasy has already started production on its second animated film, which is based on Er Gou's novel The Graveyard Book."
"As for when it will be shown to the public? I don't know. I can only hope that this time, Master Ergou won't come back to do it again."
Then on that day, Sony Group's shares rose again, by more than 5%.
So, it’s no wonder that people look down upon the profits from the box office.
As soon as the first weekend box office figures of "Kung Fu Panda" came out, coupled with the statement made by Sony's chairman, the market value directly increased by billions.
Next, when Kazuo Hirai and Amy Pascal were interviewed, they repeatedly mentioned a word that was sent back for redo.
Moreover, it is in Chinese.
Then, countless people knew this word.
I also learned about the historical story of how the leader Ergou was remade.
After buying the copyright of "Fallout 3", the game, which was 80% developed, was directly sealed and sent back for rework.
After completing the development of the first version of "Zhu Xian", he was not satisfied and sent it back for redo.
"The Witcher" was even worse. It had already been sent back for remake once, and then the producer went to find Master Ergou for investment. He readily paid the money, but made a request, and sent it back for remake.
A game that was made three times.
"Kung Fu Panda" cost $130 million to make last year, but after he watched it, he sent it back for redoing.
Historically, a typical example of Chinese invading English is ka le.
Now that it has been sent back for rework, there is a vague trend towards this.
Those people at CDPR who were busy working on "The Witcher" suddenly discovered that their game had become popular even before it was released.
It has appeared many times in many media and by countless players.
Even in interviews with Sony Entertainment, this happened no less than five times.
They only have one feeling, that we have hooked up with a wealthy family.
Originally, this game was released in October 2007.
But now...it's too early.
Moreover, he had already asked Lin Xiao for more money twice.
The development cost has soared from the previously claimed several million dollars to more than 20 million dollars.
And now is the final stage of impact.
The entire CDPR suddenly received a lot of external support, including Epic, which provided game engine technical support, and Sony Electronics Entertainment, which provided system platform optimization.
There is also Ergou Studio, which has just completed the development of "Fallout 3".
Obsidian Studios also directly transferred 70% of its staff to work with Ergou Studio to develop "Fallout: New Vegas".
The family that had originally gone their separate ways inexplicably came together again.
The main team of Ergou Studio has temporarily put "Fallout 4" on hold and is developing a new project "The Last of Us".
This time, a very clear goal was set.
In terms of image quality and productivity, we must be the best in the industry.
To achieve this goal, we will mobilize people from all industrial clusters to help.
Even EPIC has to fully upgrade the game engine again for this game.
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The first week box office figures in North America are certainly encouraging.
But for Lightning Group and Lin Xiao, the most important thing is the domestic box office.
Because it is a weather vane.
It seems that Lin Xiao’s reputation has not been restored yet.
Let's see how many silent majority support him? Even within Lightning Group and Quantum Technology, there is a voice that if Ergou can't regain his reputation in China, then the main venue for the release of Quantum Mobile Phone will be considered in the United States.
Then don’t play the ethnic card.
We are committed to building global brand value.
So far, the first-week box office record for Chinese movies is set by "The Last Days", which is a full 139 million yuan.
The total box office has exceeded 400 million yuan, which is still the box office record to date.
But that was three years ago.
The huge success of the movie "The Last Days" increased the capacity of the entire film market by about 15%. Since then, the total box office in the Chinese market has been nearly 20% higher than in history.
Because a blockbuster movie has a very positive effect on the construction of cinemas and the increase of screens, and it is also of great significance in cultivating the audience.
Manager Liu of Pacific is still the authoritative box office publisher.
Everyone is still waiting for her data.
"If the movie fails, it won't be that interesting."
“We don’t know when the next big hit will come, and it will most likely be a Hollywood blockbuster.”
"So those people on the Internet are still cursing and swearing, and I wish I could shut their mouths. What a bunch of idiots. If this movie becomes a hit, all domestic filmmakers will make money in the future."
"Only when the market is big can everyone make money."
She cursed and swore while counting the box office data.
People in the entire film industry, even those in Beijing and Hong Kong, have complicated feelings.
From a personal emotional point of view, they are looking forward to the failure of "Kung Fu Panda", the complete failure of Er Gou, and the failure of Lightning Entertainment.
Competitors are enemies.
However, if this movie really increases the market capacity by a large margin, it will be good for everyone's jobs.
Besides, the only one who can spend so much money to do this is Ergou.
Who can afford such a project that costs hundreds of millions of dollars? Who would do it?
December 18! The debate over Kung Fu Panda continues.
The debate about the leader Ergou is still intensifying.
Then, the domestic box office figures for Kung Fu Panda in its first week were released.
295 million RMB!
It completely broke the box office record of 139 million yuan held by "The Last Days".
And it has doubled directly, which means that Lightning Entertainment has once again returned to the top! After the box office data came out, Lightning Entertainment directly released a message.
Start the new movie "2012", invest 1 billion RMB, let China save the world!
This represents to everyone the determination of Lightning Entertainment, and once again represents Chinese filmmakers in breaking through the market ceiling of Chinese films.
Once again representing Chinese films and conquering the world.
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Note: The last day for double monthly tickets, please don't waste them, sir. I kowtow to express my gratitude! (End of this chapter)
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