NOVEL NEXT Chapter 80: Chapter 82 Shameless Disney
Shinji wasn't lying when he said the company was out of money. After the success of Fate/Zero, Type-Moon Film and Television Company and related enterprises urgently needed expansion to consolidate their territory.
But for the production and promotion of Fate/Zero, several companies had poured their cash flow into the film project, so they could only seek external financing.
After all, if they waited for the film dividends to come in, it would probably be too late.
Of course, this round of financing was just pure investment. For those investors who wanted equity, Shinji and the related magus families chose to kick them out directly.
For Shinji, ensuring absolute influence over the Type-Moon Film and Television companies was the prerequisite for everything; otherwise, he might as well sell himself to Cloris.
And those magus families were unwilling to share their power with ordinary people. If they weren't so short of money, they wouldn't even consider financing from ordinary people.
If it weren't for Shinji's insistence, those magus families would definitely not want to share the profits.
The reason for Shinji's urgency was simple: this round of expansion was not only about business expansion but also about technological expansion in filmmaking.
What he learned from Diarmuid told Shinji that magecraft and mystery could be used not only in filmmaking but also in film projection.
Combining magecraft with projection technology could provide audiences with an unparalleled viewing experience.
Why did box office records continue to be broken even after the rise of online video streaming platforms in 2015?
It was because cinemas could provide audiences with better projection quality, an experience that ordinary home viewing devices couldn't match.
To use a vivid metaphor, watching an IMAX 3D movie was like riding a roller coaster at an amusement park; that thrilling experience could only be provided by amusement parks.
Because no one would build a roller coaster at home just to experience the thrill.
Although setting up a home theater system cost far less than a roller coaster, the screen effect of IMAX was not something a simple home theater could match.
If, with the help of magecraft, audiences could have a more realistic viewing experience, then more people would choose to go to the cinema to watch movies.
It might even attract several times more viewers than those watching Fate/Zero now!
In fact, if we were to compare, the viewing frenzy caused by Fate/Zero was definitely not as big as the one caused by the original Titanic in Shinji's original world.
Not to mention, the slightly dark script of Fate/Zero definitely had fewer viewers than the underdog-reversal script of Titanic.
Sometimes being common also has its advantages because there are more people accepting it.
But Fate/Zero also had its own advantages; the core fans of Fate and the loyal fans of the actors would choose to watch repeatedly.
However, watching Fate/Zero too many times would only amplify the depressive power of Nasu's melancholic script.
While direct depression wouldn't happen, feeling sad after watching the movie once was quite common.
This led to the biggest task of Shinji's fan club now becoming psychological counseling, helping those who were saddened by watching the movie to regain their happiness.
Fortunately, Shinji had anticipated this situation before making the film, and he had his own solution.
Since you find Fate/Zero too sad, why not make the movie cheerful?
Do you remember how Lancelot got the nickname "Yangtze River Knight"?
Make it funny and make people laugh!
Although in his previous life, Shinji watched Chinese Fate/Zero parodies like "History's Sky" or Fate/Zero spoof songs.
But there were also funny songs in Japanese and English; just find a couple of cheerful songs with catchy melodies to accompany Fate/Zero, edit them a bit, and upload them to the internet.
As for the rest, talented online video creators would help Shinji complete them.
Having witnessed countless online video trends, Shinji was well aware that once he started something, there would definitely be numerous similar videos following suit.
Just like how Mr. Motoyama's "Reform Spring is Blooming Everywhere" became a hit, there were countless imitative videos that followed.
Moreover, these parody videos could also help promote the movie, making it a win-win situation.
In Shinji's previous life, Fate/Zero was able to gain popularity, and those derivative works undoubtedly played a role in boosting its momentum.
Even though online video streaming wasn't prevalent in 2004, it didn't matter; they could just ask TV stations to select some excellent parody videos to help promote it.
In this way, they could also filter out some unhealthy parody videos, improving the reputation of derivative works.
Although Shinji himself often enjoyed watching "philosophical parodies" in his previous life, he knew that this content wasn't suitable for minors and could easily shock them greatly.
With various forms of promotion and the limited selection of entertaining films available nowadays, Fate/Zero's box office longevity far exceeded that of commercial films from previous generations.
In most countries, apart from Japan's distorted film market, the frenzy for commercial films typically lasted 2 to 4 weeks, after which box office numbers would plummet drastically.
However, Fate/Zero's box office remained robust, even though May was coming to an end.
Stable to the point where all the films released around the same time were just as stable — Fate/Zero was overshadowing everything else.
In the North American market alone, aside from Fate/Zero, which grossed nearly $150 million in its first weekend, the second-place film was a romance movie that only made $33 million.
$33 million might seem like a lot, but for the fertile ground of North America, it was barely anything. Fate/Zero was dominating the market.
It could be said that in the summer of 2004, Fate/Zero reigned supreme.
As May came to a close, several records that had long been set in stone were born — the North American first-weekend box office record, the highest-grossing film in May in North American history, and the highest-grossing film in North American history for the first seven days.
Although Fate/Zero had broken similar records in other countries, these figures were nowhere near as astounding as those in North America.
When a record reached $1 million, people would just nod in acknowledgment; at $10 million, people would stop and take notice; at $100 million, people would be surprised, and at $1 billion...
Ahem, Fate/Zero's current box office hadn't reached such an exaggerated level yet, but looking at its current trend, reaching $1 billion worldwide was not impossible.
"Fate/Zero has broken all records it could break, once again proving Shinji Matou's unparalleled box office appeal! Remember, this is only the second film directed by this 17-year-old director. The future is bright!!"
Of course, the Times Group wouldn't miss the opportunity to create hype. Its various media outlets continued to hype up the movie and even brought in some private work for it.
"Fans who have watched the movie have given Fate/Zero rave reviews. On the famous fan rating website IMDb, the film's rating has consistently remained at 9.5, making it incredibly popular among audiences!"
Truth be told, IMDb was only launched last year.
In less than a year, this website had become known as the "famous fan rating website" in the media's eyes.
None of this matters anyway; after all, Fate/Zero is a beloved film among fans, and no amount of hype will make them feel it's excessive as it approaches the global box office record.
Of course, there are always some who find it excessive, and that would be none other than Disney, the current box office champion with a global record of $9.6 billion for "The Lion King."
Despite the mainstream films in this world being considered art films, with the discourse being controlled by European "artists," the top three grossing films globally are all American movies.
This could be considered the only commendable achievement in the North American film circle in this world, and it's also a source of pride for North American filmmakers—though this has also made North America a "cabbage patch" in the eyes of filmmakers from other parts of the world.
So, seeing Fate/Zero's box office continue to rise, Disney got anxious and wanted to find a way to maintain its position as the box office champion.
Therefore, in June, almost out of nowhere, Disney suddenly announced that "The Lion King" would be re-released globally in major countries and regions for its tenth anniversary.
Disney wasn't doing this without a reason.
Officially, June 15, 2004, marked the tenth anniversary of "The Lion King's" release, making it quite commemorative.
Secondly, this re-release wasn't a simple re-release; it included interviews with the main creators and newly added or edited scenes.
It wasn't reheating old dishes; it was a brand-new version of "The Lion King" that no one had seen before!
This kind of misleading statement could only fool the ignorant; anyone with a discerning eye could see that this re-release of "The Lion King" was aimed directly at Fate/Zero.
Otherwise, Disney wouldn't have put on the re-release poster in bold letters: "After watching a movie with a tragic ending, would you like to relax with a movie with a happy ending?"
Ultimately, Disney's move was to surpass the $1 billion box office mark for "The Lion King" before Fate/Zero could reach $1 billion globally.
Of course, if they could elevate "The Lion King's" box office to a level that Fate/Zero couldn't reach, that would be even better.
This way, "The Lion King" would still be the reigning champion of global box office history, a king that other movies couldn't reach.
"Hmph, why don't they publicize that they copied 'Jungle Emperor Leo'?"
Shinji was very disdainful of Disney's shameless behavior and raised his middle finger in a gesture of disrespect.
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