Chapter 146

In the domestic market, the box office performance of *The Matrix Reloaded* kept soaring, and several mid‑low‑budget films released in the same window all became cannon fodder.

Even Feng Xiaogang, a relatively successful New Year film director, was frightened and warned the Wang Zhongjun and Wang Zhonglei brothers not to think about releasing their films in the same window as Jiang Heng's, otherwise they would be the ones to suffer.

He's aiming for the New Year slot, so we'll go for the Spring Festival.

If he's going for the Spring Festival window, we'll pick the New Year slot—bottom line, we'll never go head‑to‑head.

The Wang brothers naturally agreed, yet they said that, thanks to Feng Xiaogang's joining, Huayi has indeed made a tidy sum over the past two years.

But compared to Jiang Heng, their profit is much smaller.

In 2002, Jiang Heng had two releases: *Saving Mother by Splitting the Mountain* earned a global box office of $575 million, and *The Matrix Reloaded* was projected by the media to gross $7–8 billion.

On January 18, the global premiere of *Hero* took place at the Great Hall of the People, attended by more than 600 domestic and foreign media outlets, with Phoenix TV's star anchor Chen Luyu serving as master of ceremonies.

What's exciting is that the domestic market's single‑film box office has now exceeded the 700‑million mark; if *Hero* could bring in five or six hundred million, that would be a huge windfall.

Then we'll hold advance screenings in major box‑office strongholds; in short, we just need to hype up the publicity.

When reporters asked if he was confident of winning an Oscar, he said he didn't feel any expectations or extravagant hopes.

Some viewers said outright that after watching the film they could only be described as "lost and dispirited," and they had no idea what Zhang Yimou was trying to say.

Other viewers said that watching a movie is just for fun, so there's no need to worry about so much.

Seeing Jiang Heng readily agree, he felt even more pleased, smiling and saying, "Good, with Director Jiang's word, CCTV will surely not let you lose out."

That's why they were willing to spend money on promoting *Hero*.

Some said the film's color and visual composition were excellent, but its story was nowhere near Jiang Heng's works.

A reporter randomly interviewed several viewers on site; most praised the film's visuals and color impact, but questioned its story.

Especially when compared to Jiang Heng's films, the reputation of this *Hero* is likely to collapse.

A female viewer retorted, "Do you think this film has any story at all?"

While the audience could just leave, Jiang Heng, Li Lianjie and the others had to submit to media interviews.

Zhang Weiping on site looked grim, and everyone was uttering gloomy remarks.

Zhang Weiping listened enviously, but didn't dare to jump in; after greeting everyone and having them sit, he then said, "Please ask CCTV to help with more publicity."

Whether the media believed him or not, at that moment he projected an air of full confidence.

He used a bit of "empty‑talk literature," which made his demeanor somewhat different from his usual media appearances.

Someone like Zhao Huayong, hearing such results, felt admiration in his heart and approached any cooperation with the idea of equality and mutual benefit.

Fortunately they didn't schedule the film for the New Year slot; otherwise, given *The Matrix Reloaded*'s box office performance, *Hero* would definitely have been affected.

Although relations have eased over the past few years, who knows if Jiang Heng still bears a grudge? I really fear he might suddenly throw a wrench in the works.

Anyone who can actually get by in the entertainment industry knows how to spout empty talk!

The reporter asked Li Lianjie, "Will foreign audiences understand this film if it's released overseas? Could it win an Oscar?"

Jiang Heng laughed, "An olive branch from CCTV—so many people would die for it, I'm certainly willing!"

Converted to RMB, the annual total box office exceeded ten billion.

Zhao Huayong expressed his admiration to Jiang Heng, then immediately said, "I've heard Director Jiang bought the rights to *The Return of the Condor Heroes* and *Heavenly Sword and Dragon Slaying Saber*; are you interested in cooperating with CCTV?"

On both sides of the stage stood 200 Qin soldiers, making the reporters and audience at the premiere feel quite novel.

Just a short sentence, and it was done.

This time Xin Hua screened the film in full.

For ordinary producers, directors and actors, it gave off an air of lofty superiority.

Given Li Lianjie's film‑industry experience, it's natural to see that this movie's reputation won't be great, and he dare not overly praise how popular it will be; he only says that everyone's joint effort is what matters, box office and awards aren't important, thereby expressing his stance.

In 2003, before Mango TV had risen, CCTV was still the undisputed dominant force.

As a "special guest star," Jiang Heng naturally had to attend the event, sitting with Li Lianjie, Donnie Yen, Maggie Cheung, Zhang Ziyi and others in the guest seats.

After hearing that, Zhao Huayong hesitated a moment and said, "CCTV will definitely support Chinese‑language films; with more and more big productions appearing, we'll certainly help, huh!"

After the premiere, Xin Hua also arranged a banquet to entertain the guests.

Zhang Weiping is still skilled at staging publicity stunts; the press conference venue followed the film's color scheme, mainly using red, blue, white, green and black.

Even at dinner the talk didn't revolve much around *Hero*, since everyone present was a professional who could roughly guess a film's box office and reputation after viewing it.

Moreover, following Jiang Heng's example, they not only had to invite various celebrity guests to walk the red carpet at the premiere, but also arrange advance screenings.

Besides the film's cast and crew, CCTV President Zhao Huayong and Vice President Hu En also attended as guests.

If a film loses money, it will seriously hurt its vitality—who would dare to go head‑to‑head?

Moreover, when Jiang Heng first arrived in Jingcheng, he met the Wang brothers, and their conversation wasn't very pleasant.

As for Xin Hua's Zhang Weiping, he was in a state of relief and excitement.

In 2002, CCTV's annual advertising revenue was 7.04 billion yuan; profit is what remains after expenses.

These people aren't extras playing Qin soldiers in the film; they were specially selected from the students of Beijing Sport University for this press conference, all about 1.8 meters tall, meeting the standard of the honor guard.

But in front of Jiang Heng, they couldn't pull that act.

How to put it? The quality of *Hero* as shown can't be called very good, but it can't be called bad either.

What's awkward is that after the film ended, the audience's reaction was lukewarm, and many people left the theater right after the movie.

In fact, Zhang Yimou himself, seeing the final product, had no confidence in it.

Sure enough, after a few days of official release, large numbers of netizens flooded Douban and gave *Hero* low scores.

There are two reasons: fame and influence, and revenue and profit.

Li Lianjie surely thought, "How could foreigners possibly grasp the concepts of 'all under heaven' and 'unification'? In their history, division is the main theme!"

As for the Oscar, it looks even less likely to be won.

But he couldn't speak the plain truth, so he said, "I'm not a feng‑shui forecaster, so I find it hard to answer your question. My view is that having this opportunity, with so many good friends taking part in this film and devoting all our energy, how things turn out—whether the world accepts it, whether Americans and Westerners accept it—is actually no longer important."

As a special guest star, Jiang Heng was also singled out when questions were asked, which really put him in a difficult spot.

When reporters asked him, he directly said that "Hero" is likely to be nominated for the Oscar Best Foreign Language Film award, and additionally winning awards for costume, cinematography, art direction, and music is also very possible.

Most people say that the film's plot is dragging and repetitive, the visuals are flashy but insubstantial, and the spirit is empty and fawning.

Having seen many fast-paced effects blockbusters like Jiang Heng's, and then looking at Zhang Yimou's blockbusters that blend art and commerce, I'm truly not used to it.

(End of chapter)