The Best Director

Chapter 359: 359: The World is Yours



Chapter 359: Chapter 359: The World is Yours

“Just got back from watching it with my mom and dad, it was so good!!! Po is super cute, the dialogue is light and humorous, and the theater was filled with laughter nonstop! The action scenes are beautiful, with real Chinese Kung Fu effects, especially when seeing the majestic traditional Chinese landscape paintings, I felt very touched. The humanistic and philosophical elements are right on point, too. When Po defeated Tai Lung at the end and embraced his father, I was truly moved! Absolutely recommended!!”

As “Kung Fu Panda” was released across mainland China, audiences from all corners came back from their viewings and began to passionately discuss the film on forums such as Tianya, Baidu Tieba, and various movie subtitle websites.

It turned out that most Chinese viewers were very tolerant, open-minded, and able to think humbly and objectively. They acknowledged problems and called for improvements; whereas some, under the guise of artists, experts, and scholars, and riding on media attention, chose to play the fool and hype themselves with boycotts, adding unnecessary scandal to the otherwise innocent “Kung Fu Panda”.

Tianya user Little Hao praised, “I had high expectations today, and after watching it, I think it’s even better than I imagined!” Ice Dragon said, “To be honest, it’s very good. The funny parts are funny, the fight scenes are engaging, and there’s even some stirring emotion. Though there was a kid in the cinema who laughed from the beginning to the end.” The fierce officer commented, “Just saw the premiere, and it’s quite impressive. Went with my wife and parents, and I haven’t seen a theater so packed in a long time.” Han Chi acclaimed, “Even with Wang Yang aboard, it’s hard to believe ‘Kung Fu Panda’ was produced by Hollywood. It’s not the plethora of Chinese elements in the film that surprises me, but its profound understanding of Chinese culture and philosophy—something many domestic teams have never grasped, yet Hollywood did, and interpreted so deeply.” …

If you think the confession of “Kung Fu Panda” was rejected and no one appreciated the love letter from a blue sky on fire, you’d be wrong!

The ones constantly clamoring to boycott Po and keen on panda conspiracy theories are just a small faction; many people don’t even know about this controversy, and those who do, the majority of the audience, can see clearly. They aren’t that sensitive or shallow! On the contrary, the ability of the Chinese to accept and blend foreign cultures has always been strong, from ancient times to the present. There has never been any major religious war in history, and all kinds of gods can mingle together; whether it’s traditional festivals or foreign holidays, they can all be celebrated like Valentine’s Day, and people can appreciate the history and pop culture from any country without the narrow-minded arrogance and ignorance that typifies Americans who won’t watch movies with subtitles.

In this respect, the Chinese are indeed very magnanimous. Whatever culture comes in is sinicized, incorporated as a part of ourselves; not to mention the traditional culture that is ours. Chinese fans understand and appreciate “Kung Fu Panda” more deeply—the Taoist culture, the Buddhist culture…

Master Shifu said, “Some things we can control. I can control when the fruit will fall, and I can control where to plant the seed.” Master Oogway replied, “That’s true! But no matter what you do, that seed will grow into a peach tree. You might want an apple or an orange, but you’ll get a peach; that seed will grow into a peach tree.” A dialogue that may sound ordinary in North American or European cinemas resonates deeper meaning with Chinese viewers, symbolizing the Taoist concepts of action and inaction, of following nature; Master Oogway’s death may seem like just a beautiful scene, but they can perceive a deeper essence behind it.

Therefore, it’s no surprise that “Kung Fu Panda” is overwhelmingly popular in mainland China. As fans sing praises and recommend it online, more and more people are criticizing the senseless commotion led by Zhao Bendi and the like.

The media showed the rationality that’s expected of them. TIME magazine posed the special issue’s question, “Kung Fu Panda in hot release: Is it the export of Chinese culture, or the invasion of American culture?” Sina Entertainment mentioned, “Kung Fu Panda: This is a love letter written to China” Xinhua dubbed it, “The cultural thinking triggered by the ‘Kung Fu Panda’ craze”, “Exploring traditional Chinese cultural deficiencies through ‘Kung Fu Panda'”, “Instead of envying the fish, better to retreat and weave a net.” …

At present, most people head to the cinema primarily to “see that movie”, with just a few going “to see a movie.” During this time, “to see ‘Kung Fu Panda'” has been the choice of more people than “to see ‘Star Wars: Episode III'”, attracting a broad-ranging audience, including families.

After May 27-29, the box office champion for the weekend was a foregone conclusion! “Kung Fu Panda” raked in 30 million RMB, shattering multiple box office records in mainland cinema history. Just before, “Star Wars: Episode III” held the imported film opening weekend record with over 25 million, and the previous record holder was “Las Vegas” with 28 million, followed by last year’s “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” at 22 million.

Now, “Kung Fu Panda” has been unstoppable, surging to the very top! A new number one! After two weeks (May 27-June 2, June 3-9), its mainland box office soared to 45 million, breaking the 41 million national animation box office record held since 1995 by “The Lion King”.

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The Chinese domestic animation market has always focused on attracting young audiences, and the box office performance has never been that impressive; aside from The Lion King hitting forty million, Pixar’s “Toy Story” series and Blue Sky’s Ice Age series often only make a little over thirty million. But nothing can stem this wave of movie-going excitement, as Kung Fu Panda, a film that appeals to audiences young and old, not only sets a new champion but is also expected to raise the record figure, charging towards fifty million, sixty million, seventy million.

This summer is destined to be a big movie-going wave for mainland audiences. Although Star Wars: Episode III and Kung Fu Panda have been breaking records, the most anticipated Firefly has not yet made its appearance. It will be released globally on June 18.

Not long ago, Firefly began to complete its ratings in various countries one after another, all equivalent to the American PG-13 level. Recently, it also passed the scrutiny of the State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television, much to the delight of fans with no cuts! You know, because of the world background setting of Firefly, many feared that some bureaucrat might decide to censor elements like the dragon-eagle flag of the Stellar Alliance. Fortunately, the relevant authorities told the media, “There is no problem with the content, it will not offend the audience’s feelings.”

With Kung Fu Panda being wildly popular and Firefly being uncut, Flame Film is really ecstatic about the situation in mainland China! Wang Yang has a kind of tut-tut feeling as if Jessica had pranked him with a “divorce”, being so annoyed before over the boycotts and media calls for inquiries. Now it seems he was too overreactive and too full of himself, letting a few boring people make him jump with anger, and feeling hurt by it, is just laughable. But Chinese audiences are so adorable! He loves his fans and moviegoers! And the stir-fry fans too!

“Yay—” Upon hearing that Kung Fu Panda set a new record in the history of mainland China’s animated films, the Blue Sky Headquarters office burst into cheers and jubilation, achieving their original intention of receiving love and sweets from Chinese audiences, and the panda team, which had been working for this for the past three years, was overjoyed and gratified: “This is just fantastic!”

There is another piece of good news for the panda team: the global box office for Kung Fu Panda has already surpassed 300 million US dollars and is expected to break 600 million. Just the box office alone is richly profitable! Fireflame Blue Sky formally announced to the media that Kung Fu Panda 2 is in the planning stage! This sequel will hit global screens three years later; moreover, Fireflame Blue Sky will also turn more unique cultures and charming customs from around the world into animated films, sending letters of affection to movie fans globally.

The North American weekly box office champion from May 27 to June 2 is Star Wars: Episode III retaining the top spot with 82.36 million, although the freshness ratings for two new movies released this week are 55%/39% and 31%/40%, respectively, both tagged by film critics as rotten movies. Yet they still unleash enough competitiveness, with Madagascar opening in 4,131 theaters and taking in 72.26 million for the runner-up spot, and The Longest Yard benefiting from a void for live-action comedies in the market and earning 69.70 million for third place; while Kung Fu Panda collected 33.68 million to rank fourth.

The battle is fierce! Every day from June 3 to 9, North American cinemas witnessed intense competition. Kung Fu Panda, taking another 18.31 million this week, ranked fifth and has completely exited the top three stage (with a total of 182.7 million in North America). Meanwhile, the top spot went to Madagascar with 38.96 million, The Longest Yard with 34.90 million, and Star Wars: Episode III with 34.45 million (with a total of 317.2 million in North America)—a battle that was fought to the last day, thrilling the spectating moviegoers.

Star Wars: Episode III is already in its third week and still able to churn out such a thrilling spectacle with two second-week commercial films. Its strength is truly formidable; even more formidable is that its global box office has reached 641.2 million! A 22-day global sweep!

But however dazzling, every show must come to an end, and the final chapter of the Star Wars saga has entered its final stage. Another work from a great director, Kingdom of Heaven, after adding this week’s 906,500, reached a North American box office of 46.41 million and a simultaneous global release overseas box office of 160 million, with an almost finalized total box office of 210 million, retreating in a dismal fashion.

Some retreat while others are reborn, and among the three large-scale new films this week, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, although well-received with 77%/94% freshness and 78% liking, only earned 14.27 million in its opening week. This plain result infuriated Joshua: “Everyone should see what the newspapers say! The Washington Post stated, ‘This is a must-see movie. The emotional tale of young girls and quality acting! It’s truly amazing how they can make an adult man cry.’ It’s such a classic, so great! I’m going to watch it ten times!”

Joshua was so agitated for no other reason than the lead actresses in the movie being Blake Lively, Alexis Bledel, and others.

One of the new films, The Lords of Dogtown, originally invited Heath Ledger to star, but he declined because of Firefly. It seems like he made a wise decision, as The Lords of Dogtown only took in 7.53 million this week, with a freshness rating of 55%/61%, a complete mess.

And as Firefly approaches release, with Heath Ledger participating in various promotional interviews, his exposure has significantly increased. Whether with Wang Yang or by himself, he always seemed blissfully happy, chatting with reporters about Firefly, talking about his fiancée and family joys: “Magic Yang has been a huge help! You know, on the set, in life, really thankful for him.” “Michelle is definitely a good mom.” “I’ll teach the baby to say ‘daddy’ first.”…

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The whole world already knew that Michelle Williams was five months pregnant, but only a few close friends were aware that the baby was a girl. Heath Ledger had decided to use the name given by Wang Yang, naming his daughter Matilda Rose Ledger.

Another big director takes the stage! The new film “Iron Man,” with a production budget of 88 million and directed by Oscar winner Ron Howard, premiered despite having the “best duo” Russell Crowe and Renée Zellweger as stars, and possessing great reviews with an 80%/81% freshness rating and 88% audience likeability. It maintained hope for a shot at next year’s Oscars. However, it was a case of all cheer and no cash, with a pitiable opening weekend box office of just 24.91 million, much to the disappointment of Universal Studios! Considering the upcoming blockbusters, it’s almost as if there’s no need to print tickets for “Iron Man.”

Another big director suffers a crash! At least in the commercial sense. As one of the top ten directors in North American box office history, Ron Howard this time failed to showcase his commercial prowess. The summer anticipation list TOP10 from Yahoo Entertainment (with “Iron Man” at 5th place) really miscalculated once again.

Joshua was very angry, so was Wang Yang, and they were both bottling it up, unsure whether to be angry at themselves or her. An alarming incident had just taken place— a few days ago, Wang Yang and Jessica had attended this year’s MTV Movie Awards hand in hand to promote “Firefly.” After the cheerful award ceremony, Jessica, almost three months pregnant, suddenly fell down backstage at Snowland Theatre! Fortunately, she wasn’t hurt badly, feeling no pain or abnormality in her stomach; the family doctor also said it was nothing serious.

At that time, the media were not allowed backstage for shooting, so it didn’t make the news again, but that’s not the point! Wang Yang was incredibly shocked at the time, breaking out in a cold sweat instantly, “Oh my God!!” How could she just fall while walking… But thinking about her usual behavior, it didn’t seem surprising, yet now she is pregnant!

Of course, Wang Yang didn’t get angry or blame anyone. He was just worried and so anxious he couldn’t catch his breath, both for her and the baby. Seeing how Jessica almost cried, how could he not understand her feelings? The reassurance during the incident and the comfort thereafter saw them through the storm together. Before the pregnancy, there were only notions and happiness, with many situations never considered or thought of as “it won’t happen to me.” These difficulties slowly emerge during pregnancy, but he is not afraid, nor is she, the family will be alright.

The process from conception to birth is also the process for the expectant parents to become mom and dad, both them and the baby are growing.

“Yang, Heath, you’re both going to be dads this year, anything you want to say?” Vera Maggi, the interviewer from People, asked with a smile in the bright interview room. The news of Michelle Williams’s pregnancy had already been confirmed; recently, at the MTV Movie Awards, Wang Yang and Jessica went onstage together to present an award, and amidst teasing that induced laughter from the guests and audience, they finally confirmed that she was three months pregnant and would be taking at least a year off from acting.

Hearing the question and the word “Dad,” Wang Yang laughed heartily with full fatherly pride, as did Heath Ledger. Wang Yang shared his wish, “I hope the baby and the baby’s mom have a healthy and happy journey.” Heath Ledger nodded and said, “That’s also my wish, all I hope for.” Vera Maggi then asked with a laugh, “Do you want the baby to call ‘daddy’ or ‘mommy’ first?” Heath Ledger glanced at Wang Yang and laughed, “Is this some kind of competition? I’ll teach the baby to call ‘daddy’ first.” Wang Yang just shrugged with a smile, “I only hope my baby doesn’t learn ‘bad,’ but ‘dad!'”…

In this special interview, Wang Yang self-reviewed “Firefly” as: “An interesting and mysterious, exhilarating and thrilling interstellar adventure, it will be a bit sad, but most of the time will be spent in laughter and exclamation.” Heath Ledger self-reviewed: “The best performance since my debut, this is what a movie is.”

Both beaming with smiles, the two posed for a tender photo, hands on hips and bellies pushed out imitating a pregnant woman’s stance, which became the cover of People. It was their homage to their wives, “Pregnant women are the most beautiful!” However, Robert Downey Jr. was quite disappointed not to have a “Firefly Three Musketeers” magazine cover memento since his newlywed wife Susan Levin was also pregnant.

The new weekend from June 10–12 saw North American Cinemas welcome four new widely-released films. The horror “High Voltage” and the comedy “Honeymoon Period” didn’t make any surprising impact; Robert Rodriguez’s new work “Dimensional Little Warriors: Sharkboy and Lavagirl 3D,” aiming for 3D, messed it up, “This was terrible 3D, the movie was stuffed with all levels of bad.” With a freshness rating of 20%/16%, likeability of 39%, and an IMDb score of 3.4, Rodriguez, who was just praised for “Sin City,” was suddenly brutalized by the merciless film critics and audiences.

The action blockbuster “Mr. & Mrs. Smith,” with a production cost of 110 million, entered 3424 theaters! The film garnered more attention due to Brad Pitt’s divorce from Jennifer Aniston and his dating Angelina Jolie. Despite a dismal review score of 58%/46% freshness, 63% likeability, and being labeled as a flop, it raked in 50.34 million on the opening weekend, easily taking the box office crown for the week! Yahoo Entertainment’s summer anticipation list TOP10 put “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” at 8th place—commercially successful, but critically panned.

1st place “Star Wars: Episode III” had mixed reviews and strong box office, three and a half stars ★★★☆; 3rd place “Kingdom of Heaven” was a total flop, half a star ☆; 5th place “Iron Man” was well received but not a box office hit, two and a half stars ★★☆; 8th place “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” was a hit at the box office, not critically, two stars ★★.

Isn’t there a movie that’s both a box office success and critically acclaimed? Aren’t there any four-star or five-star movies? On Wednesday, June 15th, ranking 6th, “Batman Begins” made its advance debut in 3,718 North American Cinemas, with a production budget of 150 million US dollars, and a near-global simultaneous release; on Friday, June 17th, 2nd place “Firefly” arrived fashionably late, launching in 3,845 North American Cinemas, with a production budget of 200 million US dollars, and a global simultaneous premiere! Two movies that film fans around the world have been eagerly waiting for went head-to-head!

“Now that I’ve grown up and am about to enter 5th grade, even if I can’t go into the projection room, can I at least be friends with you?” On the large TV screen, Dodo said to Alfredo.

“Sometimes, when you hear a room full of people laughing and cheering, you feel really happy. It feels good, as if you were the one making them laugh, helping them forget their troubles.”

“Her smile makes you feel… I don’t even know how to say it.” Dodo looked troubled. Alfredo said, “That’s love.”…

“Firefly” is premiering tomorrow! In the dimly lit, spacious hall, Wang Yang curled up on the fabric sofa, engrossed in watching “Cinema Paradiso” on the screen. Would this film make him laugh and cry? Listening to his increasingly heavy breathing, Jessica, sitting beside him, leaned against him quietly without a word. Wang Yang wrapped his arm around her waist, gently caressing her stomach, and for some reason, his eyes suddenly became a bit moist. It always happened when he watched “Cinema Paradiso”.

“Leave here, go to Rome! You’re still young, the world is yours, I’m old now. I don’t want to hear from you anymore, I want to hear others talk about you… Love your work, just like you loved the projector as a kid!” Alfredo said to Dodo.

The movie quietly came to an end, and on the TV screen, the black and white film frames kept changing, with scene after scene of forbidden shots, segment after segment of kissing scenes, all while the sound system played a melancholic, longing tune. Wang Yang and Jessica gently kissed each other.

“I don’t want to hear from you anymore, I want to hear others talk about you…”

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PS: Thank you for reluctantly becoming a grandmaster, wow, thank you very much! Continuing to wish everyone a Happy New Year! (


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