Chapter 454: with translation of chapter title

"The story of Zhu Bajie and Zijuan is so moving—why cut it?"

By the pool, Liu Yifei sat on a lounge chair, drying herself with a towel as she asked.

Regarding Jiang Heng's promotion plan, she had just learned of it, briefly heard the love story of Zhu Bajie and Zijuan, thought it was not bad, and so asked casually.

Jiang Heng laughed and said, "Of course it's because of the film's length—we can't just keep making two parts every now and then, or the number of installments would pile up and viewers would develop a rebellious attitude!"

Liu Yifei blinked, "Just, that simple?"

"One aspect, but actually the main reason is that they're not the main characters!"

"Not the main characters?"

"Yes, Black Myth: Wukong! But Zhu Bajie's love scene is too outstanding; adding it would easily steal the spotlight!"

Liu Yifei heard and nodded slightly, obviously agreeing with what Jiang Heng said.

She is also a veteran of the entertainment industry, and she truly feels deeply about such matters as stealing scenes and stealing the spotlight.

Many well-known actors in the industry have their own dedicated screenwriters, which is hard for outsiders to imagine.

Why? To help the big names smooth out the plot, see where they can add scenes, and steal scenes!

So some film and TV dramas have garbage plots—not entirely the fault of directors and production writers; some so-called star big names also bear responsibility.

Turning back to Black Myth: Wukong, the plot of Zhu Bajie and Zijuan in the game poses no problem.

Because gameplay isn't done in one go—you might spend two days fighting the big-headed dolls and still not see the Vanguard Tiger—it's possible! But a film is different; it's just over two hours, and the whole movie's momentum lies in Sun Wukong's "rather be shattered jade than intact tile," "rather die than be a dog," and the destined person's search for the root instrument, which is also done in one go.

Jiang Heng didn't want the audience's attention and empathy to drift midway, so the film turned out this way! For now, audiences still approve, because they don't know about this love story! But after the "risking death to leak" script was exposed, public opinion shifted, and many female viewers posted messages saying they want to see this love story, hoping Jiang Heng will one day film it.

Some haters took the chance to post, claiming Jiang Heng's films unconsciously avoid romance, likely due to his loveless upbringing.

Jiang Heng's fans, seeing this, naturally objected, posting counterarguments that he's handsome, famous, capable, wealthy, high-status, and that girls who like him could line up from the capital to Paris—lack of love, they joked.

The haters replied, "With so many girls liking him, why doesn't he find a girlfriend?"

Fans replied, "No need for you to worry about Director Jiang—he's always had a girlfriend!"

"Who is it? I'm curious!"

"Exactly, why hasn't he made it official?"

"This isn't that simple—think about it, which top-tier female star hasn't shown up lately?"

As soon as that was said, the whole forum was about to explode; netizens spontaneously compiled the schedules of the several golden flowers of Outstanding Rising Film Company, using elimination to deduce Jiang Heng's mysterious girlfriend.

Jiang Heng, far abroad, didn't know netizens were concerned about his love life; after getting bored in the Maldives, he took Liu Yifei to Australia.

He has many villas there, and since few people pay attention to him, his daily outings are very relaxed.

He stayed that way until late August, when Black Myth: Wukong also left theaters in the domestic market.

The total box office settled at 3.61 billion yuan, setting a new record for the domestic film market; meanwhile, in overseas countries, Black Myth: Wukong also achieved decent box office results.

Take Japan, for example—perhaps because their national character itself carries a hint of darkness, the film sold big at the Japanese box office and was very popular.

Not only did it capture the summer box office crown in Japan, it also refreshed the record for foreign films in the Japanese market.

One could say that aside from the miraculous Spirited Away, nothing is a rival to Black Myth.

As for the South Korean market, it's somewhat divided.

The film's box office performance was strong, with many viewers, but its reputation was somewhat hard to describe.

Because many Korean netizens gave low scores on their domestic review sites, the reason is simple: they felt many elements and scenes in the film are Korean cultural heritage.

That's outright nonsense, yet many Korean netizens still agree, which is frankly speechless.

And in the world's largest North American market, Black Myth: Wukong's performance wasn't bad either; the film ultimately grossed $413 million, trailing behind The Dark Knight Rises, and for 2012 it basically ranked third in the North American market.

Speaking of these two films' protagonists, one is the "superhero" in the hearts of Chinese people, the other is the superhero in the hearts of Americans.

Black Myth: Wukong swept the domestic market with 3.61 billion yuan, which converts to about $570 million.

Xianggang and the treasure island together already contributed over $20 million; adding North America's $413 million, Black Myth's total box office in the Chinese and American film markets exceeds $1 billion.

By comparison, The Dark Knight Rises falls a bit short—its domestic box office is only over 300 million yuan, and the combined Chinese‑American market totals just over $600 million, a far cry.

Black Myth: Wukong's true rival this year is The Avengers, which hauled in $623 million in North America and $15.19 billion worldwide.

But that film's domestic box office was only 579 million yuan, and the combined Chinese‑American market total fell short of $700 million—far too little.

Thus, the 2012 global box office champion remains Black Myth: Wukong.

Some media have already published this conclusion, but the film's worldwide box office totals aren't timely yet, so precise figures are lacking for now.

"Director Jiang, the global box office tally is out—$21.9 billion!" Yu Dong called again, excited.

Because this result is truly rare—especially now that 3D films are commonplace, audiences have grown accustomed to many visual spectacles, so yearly global box office over $10 billion is already scarce, let alone $20 billion!

Jiang Heng also felt excited, truly not expecting Black Myth to be so popular; it seems that after audiences got used to stunning visual effects, they now prefer films that reveal human nature—"Really great, I didn't expect everyone to like it this much!"

Yu Dong chuckled, "It's mainly because the plot and characters are so deep—especially after the related plots of 'Pansi Ridge' and 'Flame Mountain' were released, fans' discussions became lively, with several topics hitting the hot search list!"

Daily box office had been dropping fast then, but it crept back up. I have to say, Director Jiang, your idea is truly good!

Jiang Heng chuckled, "Not really—mainly it's the audience's support, and your promotion work wasn't bad either!"

Yu Dong hehed and laughed, basically agreeing with what Jiang Heng said.

He then gave a time, saying the victory banquet was all ready, just waiting for Jiang Heng's "king's return"! (End of chapter)