Chapter 436 - 435: A Pile of Oscar-Contending Films

Chapter 436: Chapter 435: A Pile of Oscar-Contending Films

December 27th.

The "Martial Arts Film" Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, invested in and produced by Page Pictures, officially premiered in North America today, opening in 210 theaters.

210 theaters screening the film?

Don’t think that’s too few!

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is not a first-tier Hollywood A-list Commercial Blockbuster; its target is the Oscar awards ceremony in March 2001. It is an Oscar-Contending Film.

Films of this Oscar-contending type are always released on a small scale initially, never on a large scale.

At the same time, although this movie is clearly a Martial Arts Film, the genre listed on its poster is "Sci-Fi" and "Action."

There’s no helping it!

In the U.S.’s understanding, fighting scenes involving walking on walls and roofs or jumping dozens of meters are considered anti-physical phenomena... To them, anything outside the norm is supernatural.

Naturally, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is categorized as a Sci-Fi film.

"Oh, you mean the movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon?"

"I’ve seen it."

"Yes, I bought a ticket and watched the first showing of the midnight screening yesterday."

Somewhere in Los Angeles.

On a street near a movie theater, a reporter from Kyle’s WB Television Station was conducting street interviews.

"As far as I know, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is an Eastern Film, and its actors are all from China, with the vast majority of the crew also being Easterners. Can you understand it? Oh, excuse me, I mean, did you encounter any viewing difficulties during the screening?" the male reporter asked.

The audience member being interviewed was a man around 30 years old named White Myne, who currently works as a Math Teacher at a Community Middle School.

"I understand what you mean."

The audience member, White Myne, smiled and said, "Looking at foreign films released in America, it’s difficult for them to achieve high box office numbers solely due to language differences. Especially since our audience generally dislikes reading subtitles. However... Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is different; it features entirely English dialogue, which greatly reduces viewing difficulty."

Exactly!

Since the start of filming Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, the crew’s China actors used entirely English dialogue!

In Early July 2000, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was first released in the China Mainland Market, leading many viewers to complain about the dialogue issues.

"The lip sync and the dialogue aren’t on the same channel at all!"

"Tell me about it!"

"Apparently, when it was filmed, the dialogue was entirely in English, and the Chinese dubbing and subtitles were added later, so of course, the lip sync doesn’t match!"

Consequently, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon bombed in both the China Mainland Market and the China Taiwan Market.

The difference between the lip sync and the Chinese dialogue was too great!

Countless moviegoers shook their heads while watching the film.

Of course, the main reason was that the core values of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon align with the mainstream values of the Western World, which differs greatly—almost diametrically—from traditional Eastern martial arts philosophy.

However... there are benefits too!

That is, Western moviegoers found the viewing difficulty greatly reduced when watching Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, this "Sci-Fi film."

Pros and cons coexist~

In the words of Producer James Wong: "The production cost alone for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

reached 15 Million U.S. Dollars. If the target markets were China and Southeast Asia, recovering the cost would be extremely difficult. To win the box office, or rather, to attract more moviegoers, we had no choice but to infuse the film’s core with Western mainstream values to cater to the Western Market, thereby maximizing profit."

It must be said that the goal of the Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon crew was very clear: to break into the mainstream Western Market.

The result... it succeeded!

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, with its core Western mainstream values and entirely English dialogue, greatly reduced the viewing difficulty for "foreigners" and strongly attracted Western audiences to buy tickets.

"If you only ever play within your own circle and can’t step outside your borders, your market will never expand." Kyle strongly agreed.

Think about it.

By 2020, the China film market had many Excellent Domestic Films, but they couldn’t go abroad, partly due to distribution channels, but mostly because of self-importance, sticking to old ways, and being afraid to try different possibilities. Of course, more often, it’s an ideological issue...

Page Pictures.

Today, there are only a few days left until President Mr. Bill officially retires.

Mr. Bill was currently handing over his work to Kevin Feige, the vice president.

"Kevin, I am about to retire. Has the official document from the Headquarters appointing you as the Acting President of Page Pictures been issued?" Mr. Bill asked.

"It hasn’t been sent yet."

Hearing this, Kevin Feige said, "However, Mr. Victor Jones contacted me by phone last night. Hmm, the official document should be issued tomorrow."

"Hoo~"

Mr. Bill let out a long sigh, patted Kevin Feige on the shoulder, and exclaimed, "Do well, Kevin. When I was your age, I was still working odd Jobs on Hollywood sets. You are much luckier than me, after all, Mr. Page is someone who dares to delegate authority. I believe you will achieve great things in the future."

Kevin Feige nodded heavily.

At less than 30 years old, he was about to take control of this Film and Television Entertainment Company, valued at over 2.1 Billion U.S. Dollars, becoming the helmsman of this massive ship. Across the entire scope of Hollywood, this was truly unique.

Many people expressed extreme envy over this.

Kevin Feige’s former classmates and colleagues praised his current achievements during their gatherings.

After the work handover, Mr. Bill and Kevin Feige talked about Oscar-Contending Films again.

"Today, the movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was released in 210 theaters in North America. At the same time, there are as many as 9 films released today, all of which, without exception, are aiming for the Oscar in March 2001," Mr. Bill said.

"I have been following that."

Kevin Feige replied, "Not only today, but tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, and the day after that, a large batch of upcoming films, totaling 15 movies, are also aiming for the Oscar."

traffic, Finding Forrester, Parting Ways Without Bitterness, Almost Famous... Over 20 films, including U.S. Hollywood native films and films from Overseas Countries and Regions like the Czech Republic, Germany, France, and Japan, are all aiming for the Oscar.

The Oscar awards make many people yearn for them.

However... more people value the economic benefits that the Oscar can bring!

According to incomplete statistics, since 1995, the box office growth alone brought about by Oscar awards has exceeded 160 Million U.S. Dollars, and this does not even include the economic impact of merchandise, DVDs, etc.

The enormous profits make all filmmakers flock to it!

For a time, while people were enjoying the Christmas Holiday, many film companies had already set their sights on the upcoming Oscar awards.

But!

Just at this moment, something happened on the U.S. Billboard Pop Music Chart that made many filmmakers look at each other in confusion.

"The song ’That Gril’ reached No. 5 on this week’s Billboard Pop Music Chart, and the singer is Kyle Page? What the hell is going on, are they kidding me?!" Jobs raised his eyebrows.