Chapter 499

After the news was released, the domestic entertainment industry was shocked.

In just a few years, a box office over three billion has become commonplace.

Even more shocking, Journey to the West: Sun Wukong Three Strikes the White Bone Demon, under the strong suppression of The Heroic Legion series and despite very unfavorable word‑of‑mouth, still garnered 1.13 billion yuan in box office, truly snatching food from the tiger's mouth.

Including overseas copyright and revenue sharing, Three Strikes Against the White Bone Demon is sure to make a profit.

This excited the competitors, showing that after years of development, the domestic film market can now accommodate two blockbusters in a single slot, and everyone can profit! Of course, the earnings from Three Strikes Against the White Bone Demon are still small, because its overseas income is still far less than that of The Heroic Legion series.

In Japan, The Heroic Legion series dominated the weekly box office for four consecutive weeks, with moviegoers coming in an endless stream.

In South Korea, the audience watched while cursing, blaming their domestic filmmakers for lacking strength, wondering when they could produce a similar effects‑heavy blockbuster.

After being invaded by Hollywood blockbusters, South Koreans didn't feel anything wrong. However, when it comes to Chinese blockbusters, their attitude is awkward—they will go watch but are unwilling to say it's good.

The popularity of The Heroic Legion series in Japan, South Korea, and Southeast Asia can only be considered normal; the real explosion came in North America and Europe.

The reason is simple: this film features angels, and they are the kind of super‑perfect angels to behold.

That feeling is like when Chinese audiences first saw Kung Fu Panda—although it's a Hollywood film, the abundant Chinese elements remove any viewing barrier, leading to a huge hit.

The Heroic Legion series is exactly like that; its distributor, Columbia Pictures, even directly translated the film's title into "War of Angels and Demons".

One widely used poster shows Gulnazar playing the angel chasing in the air while holding a sword, and in the lower‑right corner of the poster, Liang Bing portrayed by Zhang Yuqi appears as a demonic angel, her fierce face directed toward the upper left.

At first glance it looks as if the two are fighting, but only after entering the theater and watching the film does one realize they never actually met.

Even so, the audience inside the cinema continued to surge in like a tide.

Jiang Heng, special‑effects blockbusters, The Heroic Legion series, plus the angel‑and‑demon elements—many North American and European viewers simply walked into the theater without much thought, just like in the golden age of Hong Kong cinema, where a film by Cheng Long or Zhou Xingxing would be a no‑brain pick if its premise and story weren't bizarre; everyone would just buy a ticket and go! In North America, The Heroic Legion series' box office astonishingly reached 445 million USD, surpassing last year's North American annual champion The Hunger Games 2: Catching Fire's 424 million, temporarily placing it at the top of this year's North American box‑office yearly ranking.

In fact, it is this year's champion.

The North American film market in 2014 was a minor year; aside from Jiang Heng's works, the best‑performing film, American Sniper, earned only 350 million USD.

Because it is a mainstream American film, the kind that feels awkward to anyone but Americans, it was not introduced for domestic release, and its global box office was only 5.47 hundred million US dollars.

Also among the top ten in North America's yearly box office rankings were Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy and Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier, but their North American box office wasn't particularly high—3.3 hundred million and 2.6 hundred million respectively—yet in the global market each surpassed 700 million US dollars.

Also worth mentioning is Transformers 4, a series once hailed as a masterpiece by countless people, which by its fourth installment had already been hovering on the edge of being a flop.

Perhaps to curry favor with the Chinese market, or perhaps to earn advertising revenue and recoup costs early, the film inserted a large number of advertisements for Chinese products.

But because the Chinese flavor of Jiannan Chun and Pangu Grand View was too strong, no matter how hard the director tried, he could not make them flutter naturally and affectionately on Texan soil.

So, this Transformers went to China, a one-day tour of Beijing and Guangzhou, and also needed to make a splash in Xianggang's tenement buildings. Things like Red Bull, Yibao, and Shuhua milk, and opening the elevator there was even Zou Shiming. Perhaps because there were too many Chinese elements in the film, or perhaps North American audiences had aesthetic fatigue, Transformers 4 only garnered 2.45 hundred million US dollars in North America, but in the global market it achieved a super-high box office of 11 hundred million US dollars.

Of course, although a box office of 11 hundred million US dollars is not bad, it still couldn't secure the yearly championship.

The Heroic Legion Series already secured a super-high box office of over 9 hundred million US dollars in China and North America, the two major film markets.

Including Japan-Korea, Southeast Asia, Europe, Australia, etc., the global total box office is expected to be around sixteen or seven hundred million US dollars.

If not for the fact that 2014 was a slow year for the North American film market, the Heroic Legion Series' performance, if placed in 2015, would definitely lose to North American box office of 9.3 hundred million and global box office of 20 hundred million US dollars of Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Coming in second, Jurassic World also had 16.7 hundred million, and it's really hard to say who is second and who is third.

But in 2014, the Heroic Legion Series truly was invincible worldwide; currently, the one expected to surpass it is the summer-released sci-fi blockbuster Alien Divergent Path.

From the box office of Star Wars, one can see that the audience for sci-fi blockbusters is truly large, and the box office is truly high! So, for the next film, Jiang Heng's idea is to continue shooting sci-fi, the sequel to Three Body; it's time to launch it.

Before the script is finished, we still need to first hold the celebration banquet for the Heroic Legion Series.

March 9th, this day, is a Sunday.

Inside a banquet hall of a five-star hotel not far from the Faction: Outstanding Rising Film Company building, the main creators of the Heroic Legion Series, the executives of the Faction: Outstanding Rising Film Company, and the guests who came to celebrate gathered together, drinking and eating in a lively atmosphere.

Because the celebration banquets have been held too many times, it has become a convention; this gathering no longer invites media reporters, but is a lively affair behind closed doors among our own people.

Jiang Heng first handed out big red envelopes to a group of main creators, then came drinking and eating, interspersed with some song-and-dance performances and the like.

Although the Faction: Outstanding Rising Film Company has not established a dedicated song-and-dance troupe, it is still easy to find people to come perform; the whole scene is joyous and lively.

These people took turns approaching Jiang Heng to toast him, probing his new film plans in conversation.

Moreover, with the precedent of Gulnazar becoming famous overnight from the role of Angel Chase, these people suddenly realized that even if they didn't land the male or female lead, it wouldn't matter.

As long as the role stands out and is performed well, one can still become a hit! Now, with the new film's preparations underway, Jiang Heng didn't hide anything either, chatting casually: "Well, for now, we're preparing to shoot Three Body 2!"

Ah!

Wow!

The venue suddenly fell silent for a second, obviously shocked by this news.

"Three Body" is definitely a hotter IP than Heroic Legion; who knows how many fans in Europe and America are waiting and hoping to see the Three Body sequel!

No need to mention the male and female leads; as long as one can play a role in the film, one will reap enormous benefits! (End of chapter)