Chapter 739: Copyright Is the Real Big Money

Another new year had begun, just entering 2017; although the aftermath of the Macau Film Festival still lingered, so did the public outcry over the film industry's collapse.

The authorities had just issued documents to regulate artists' private conduct, yet the entertainment circle continued to churn out scandal after scandal.

First, Wang Fei's "Fantasy Concert" ticket sales were scalped to tens of thousands of yuan, then large quantities of tickets hoarded by scalpers couldn't be sold, causing ticket prices to crash.

Wang Fei's personal concerts were also unstable, with off-key singing and insufficient breath control leading to continuous criticism.

Then Guo Tianwang officially announced his relationship with Fang Yuan.

The most explosive news was that Chen Sicheng was exposed for cheating—revealed by Zhuo Wei's team.

His wife Yaya was working abroad, and their son had just been born when this scandal broke, dealing a massive blow to Chen Sicheng's reputation—he was now permanently branded a scumbag.

Yet at the time, the two of them remained extremely calm; Chen Sicheng never responded at all—he had already moved behind the scenes.

How many directors were sleeping with female stars, even selecting concubines—who had actually been punished?

Yaya also stayed calm, posting only a photo with her son and one message: "Starting over! Yaya, keep going!"

And then nothing more—both remained utterly rational, completely unaffected by public opinion.

If dug deeper, this whole affair was all negative; a cold handling was the best approach.

As long as it didn't affect their careers, it was fine—it was fundamentally different from the "small house" incident.

"One after another are exposed for cheating, marriages falling apart—only Fei and the Principal remain as steady as a rock," wrote a Wangyi.

Besides these scandals, the TV drama "Solitary Orchid Doesn't Pity Itself" was deeply embroiled in the "cut-and-paste scandal!"

This was another credibility-shattering event for flow stars, deepening public aversion toward them.

The drama's premiere on Mango TV triggered fierce backlash and criticism due to massive cut-and-paste visuals, heavy reliance on digital compositing, and frequent use of stand-ins.

Unrealistic visuals and disjointed performances made Da Baobei an instant target of public outrage.

This incident caused a total collapse in the credibility of flow stars—so thoroughly bankrupted that people began believing the entertainment circle simply didn't care about them at all.

It was that irresponsible toward their own profession.

Even some stars' efforts to promote diligence and hard work were mocked by Wangyi: "That's your job—you're supposed to do it."

The credibility collapse of these flow stars, however, highlighted the older-generation actors.

When older-generation actors openly condemned industry chaos, accusing them of being unprofessional and lacking work ethics, they gained massive resonance among Wangyi.

This was also why people assumed older-generation actors had better moral character—but in truth, they were the same when young; they'd simply been filtered out by time.

Their early gossip was also abundant.

The entertainment circle still had its share of big scandals, and as time passed, the New Year Slot drew to a close.

Among them, the highest-grossing films were "Your Name" at 713 million yuan; "Some Like It Hot" at 657 million yuan—this film premiered on December 30, later than all others.

Also, "The Ferryman" at 482 million yuan; "Railway Tigers" at 699 million yuan—despite heavy negative publicity, neither film was pulled or edited, only the name "Xiao Fangzi" was removed.

One can only say Fang Long had influence.

But after that document was issued, Xiao Fangzi was completely cut off from the industry and returned to Wa Dao to live with his mother.

Other films performed poorly; "The Wasted Times," produced by Huayi, was a flop.

Huayi's performance during this New Year Slot was poor.

The highest-grossing was "The Great Wall" at 1.173 billion yuan; even amid criticism, it couldn't hide its massive prestige.

This film made many people rich—only Jing Tian seemed to lose, mocked endlessly, yet she became disheartened and would never appear on the big screen again; those big stars and directors had carelessly lost Jing Tian, a creator of resources!

It's not that Jing Tian was a "resource star"—but with her, the behind-the-scenes teams could rally countless people and technical talents.

Because her films, aside from terrible plots, had flawless production quality.

Take "The Great Wall"—its budget was $150 million, exceeding $1 billion; apart from the plot, its visuals and special effects were absolutely top-tier.

Not now, but even ten years from now, no film will match its production standards.

Without Fang Hong, China's film production capability was first demonstrated through this film—it effectively sustained a large group of technicians, visual effects artists, and gave them practical opportunities.

Now that the girl has quit, everyone is just staring helplessly.

Moreover, top-tier actors and directors all got paid and made money—think of Fang Long, Fa Ge, Yuzhou Dan, Liu Tianwang—didn't any of them receive inflated paychecks?

Now it turns out no one can even bother to write a decent screenplay for her, even if the acting is bad—but they've just wasted such a walking blockbuster factory.

Honestly, the film industry needs people like Jing Tian—at least she can afford losses and uphold production standards; now only Guo Fan still insists on making big films, and hardly anyone else remains.

Just like esports needs Xiao Wang—though Fang Hong eliminated him, he doesn't deny his achievements.

Jing Tian now has three films left to be released: two Hollywood films, "Pacific Rim: Uprising" and "Kong: Skull Island," both already completed and waiting for release.

divstyle=「display: lex; justiycontent: center; gap: 30px; alignitems: lexstart; 「

divid=「ppc「dataormat=「audio「datalazy=「alse「

divid=「adsecondslotpc「

The third domestic film, "Qinghe High," is also completed and will be released this year; after that, she has taken no more films and has switched to television dramas.

Television dramas still have endless resources, but no one will ever again see the person who made big films solely for her.

It seems she has no attachment to the film circle—though perhaps she does, but the young lady refuses to play with them, and no one can stop her.

Yutu Production had no film in this New Year Slot, only indirectly benefiting from "The Lover," while the animation "Moana" had been globally released for about a month.

Outside the industry, no one knew this animation was produced by Yutu Production, because Yutu has a branch in Hollywood, operating under the branch's name.

This animated film opened on its first day in 4,348 North American theaters—an enormous scale—and earned $16.3 million on opening day.

Its first-week three-day box office reached $75 million, a very successful start; at the time, Donna called Fang Hong to share the good news.

After over a month, its North American box office reached $270 million, making it the seventh-highest-grossing North American film of 2016.

Other regions: Japan $42 million; United Kingdom $41 million; Germany $37 million; France $30 million; Australia $27 million.

International box office exceeded $609 million!

Hollywood Reporter: "Though the story is formulaic, precise music selection and lavish animated performances make it a delightful pop music spectacle."

The Guardian: "Stunning visuals and a relentless barrage of hit songs are enough to make audiences overlook the narrative shortcomings."

In short, this is just an entertainment-focused animated film, lacking depth or narrative substance—its only purpose is to be pleasant to watch.

And on Rotten Tomatoes, its fresh rating is 73%!

Although this film earned high box office revenue, its profit was low; after deducting production and marketing costs, the profit was only around eighty million U. S. dollars.

Marketing costs reached 120 million U. S. dollars, since global promotion is extremely expensive—it truly was a path paved with money.

Of course, TikTok also received a share of that 120 million U. S. dollars, as the app has a large international audience, though its revenue scale remains small; Google is the largest advertising vendor in the overseas internet market.

It is still very difficult to take market share away from Google.

The box office didn't make much money; this eighty million U. S. dollars had to be split with Universal, twenty percent being about sixteen million U. S. dollars, barely exceeding 110 million.

For the International Market, this counts as an imported film, hard to distribute, so only this much could be allocated.

Although theater profits were slim, the copyright was extremely profitable; animated films earn primarily through copyright—DVDs, digital sales, and more—exceeding 150 million U. S. dollars.

North American TV licensing fees amounted to 70 million U. S. dollars; global streaming licensing fees reached 40 million U. S. dollars.

Merchandise—such as apparel and games—earned 40 million U. S. dollars, plus additional income from soundtrack sales and multiple airings.

After deducting costs, total copyright profit reached 280 million U. S. dollars; the theatrical run merely boosted its visibility.

Copyright revenue was the main source of income; split evenly with Universal, Yutu Investment's total revenue exceeded one billion U. S. dollars.

Of course, this animated film was not released domestically in China; Yutu Investment handled its own release, scheduled for after the New Year, during the off-season of the film market.

No particular reason—it's simply that films not rooted in Chinese culture are kept low-key; it was made for foreign audiences to begin with.

With multiple animated films succeeding internationally, insiders could only sigh that Yutu Investment was no longer reliant solely on films and TV dramas—it had diversified through animation and investments, building multiple moats.

The formation of these moats meant Yutu Investment was no longer merely a content producer; its talent agency business was largely eliminated.

All that's needed are Tu Piaopiao and Chang'e as marketing platforms.

The 2017 Spring Festival fell on January 28th, another annual Spring Festival Slot.

Competition in this Spring Festival Slot remained fierce; its very nature guarantees intense competition, as it spans only seven to fifteen days—from New Year's Day to Lantern Festival.

Major competitors included *Big Trouble in Dzi Bead*, *The Demon Slayers*, *Kung Fu Yoga*, and *Surfing the Wave*.

Fang Long was certainly hardworking—he had just released *Railway Tigers* in the New Year Slot, and now another film arrived for the Spring Festival Slot.

There was no choice—he had to support his son, at least earn enough to cover his grandson's future, supporting three generations was exhausting.

Yutu Investment held half of the Spring Festival Slot: *Surfing the Wave*, directed by Han Han and funded by Yutu Investment; the other half was *The Demon Slayers*, which Fang Hong forcibly seized, making Huayi pay the interest.

Xing Ye was reluctant, but he had to give it up—he thought he could just ignore the Principal.

As long as one remained in this film market, apart from a few state-owned enterprises or those with overwhelming influence, no one could operate independently of the Principal.

*Big Trouble in Dzi Bead* also had a share on Tu Piaopiao!

Fang Long's personal influence was strong enough that Fang Hong could do nothing without taking action—but acting against someone of his stature carried too great an impact, so it wasn't worth it.

Xing Ye had offended too many people; no one paid him much attention anymore.

(End of Chapter)