"The 77th Academy Awards ceremony has concluded, with all awards finding their recipients. MGM emerged as the biggest winner."
"MGM secured 11 wins out of 17 nominations, becoming the most brilliant victor of the Oscar night. The roaring lion is reclaiming the glory and prestige of the last century."
"Oscar host Chris Rock's jokes went too far, leading to Sean Penn slapping him on the spot, and Jude Law was reportedly furious."
"Jamie Foxx was crowned Best Actor for 'Ray,' becoming the third Black actor to win the award after Sidney Poitier and Denzel Washington."
"Nicole Kidman surpassed Meryl Streep, achieving her goal of a second Best Actress win first, firmly establishing herself as the top contemporary actress, with her asking price for films exceeding 15 million US dollars."
"Eric Cooper once again made history, continuously breaking various records since his debut, and at 25, he was once again deified!"
"'Inception' became the most anticipated film at the Oscars, achieving success in both box office and awards."
Although some time had passed since the Oscar ceremony, the buzz had not completely died down, and many people were still discussing it.
Such as who was too unfortunate, who should have received this award, Oscar inside stories, MGM bribing judges.
In any case, there were both good and bad opinions, and the public and netizens always managed to interpret various conspiracy theories from all angles.
Eric admitted that he did engage in publicity and public relations, but the question was, which company didn't?
If everyone did it, as long as it wasn't a despicable tactic like Weinstein's blatant bribery, it was considered fair competition.
As for whether MGM became the new industry leader and if the Academy gave it preferential treatment because of that, Eric himself wasn't sure.
In any case, riding on this momentum, "la vie en rose," which was still in limited release, immediately received many screening invitations.
The screening scale suddenly surged to over 3,300 theaters, allowing them to reap another wave of money and make a good profit.
"Rain falls all night."
"My love overflows like rainwater."
"Leaves fall in the courtyard."
"Piled as thick as my longing."
"A few words of gossip."
"Cannot cool my passion."
"You appear on every page of my poem."
On the set of "Dragon Ball," during lunch break, everyone happily watched Jay Chou perform his new song "Qilixiang," which he had just released last year.
Although most people didn't understand Chinese, they were listening for the melody. Since he wasn't a professional singer, no one understood the technical aspects.
Jay Chou's scenes were finished, and he would be flying out that afternoon.
Unless reshoots were needed, they wouldn't see each other again for a while, at least not until the movie was released, perhaps at the end of the year or next year.
Clap, clap, clap, clap!
After the song finished, everyone immediately applauded.
Little Liu nodded continuously: "It sounds really good, but some words I can't quite hear what you're singing."
"Uh…" Jay Chou paused, rubbing his face.
Eric chuckled: "That's Jay Chou's singing style. In the entertainment industry, having your own unique characteristics is very important, allowing the audience to remember you at a glance."
"Hehe! What you said is one reason, but mainly, my memory isn't great, and I often forget lyrics, so mumbling makes it easier to get by."
"Hahaha, I heard your new album sold well?"
When it came to album sales, Jay Chou nodded somewhat proudly: "More or less, it sold 3.5 million copies in the Asia region, barely snagging the championship."
"3.5 million copies! You're quite impressive, young man. The overall record market is getting tougher, so this sales volume is already awesome. Are you interested in trying your hand in the European and American music scene?"
Jay Chou, who had just been proud, immediately shook his head like a rattle drum: "No interest. When I was immature before, I had such thoughts, but not anymore."
"Why?"
"It's a tough road, big brother. To be honest, Chinese singers, let alone in the European and American music scene, even in the entire Asia region, face an uphill battle."
"In 2002, when I had been debuted for two years, I released songs like 'Nunchucks' and 'Ninja,' and had already been crowned the title of 'Little King.'"
"King, eh? Sounds pretty awesome and cool, right?"
"Then I held The One concert, and even brought the concert to the United States, right in Las Vegas."
"In my imagination, I really thought the concert would definitely be packed again, with fans in the audience holding light sticks and glow sticks, shouting 'Jay! Jay!'"
"But reality hit me hard. There was no stadium, no venue for tens of thousands of people, not even a few thousand-person venue."
"But even in a thousand-person venue, it still wasn't full. Most of the faces you could see were familiar, all overseas Chinese."
"The few foreigners there, some of them were even dragged along by their Chinese friends."
Eric nodded silently: "So, you've recognized reality?"
"It's accepting reality. There are too many interfering factors. First is the language barrier. Not understanding the lyrics is an insurmountable mountain."
"You can't expect fans to specifically learn a language just to understand, there are too few such people."
Eric recalled his conversations with Michael, Avie, and others: "But I heard professionals explain that lyrics aren't the most important thing; the melody is more important, right?"
"Yes, that's the second reason I want to mention. The Chinese music scene generally doesn't prioritize arrangement, which is the exact opposite of the European and American music scene."
"Arrangements are relatively simple and homogeneous, but they are catchy and highly accepted by fans."
"However, this also leads to singers being immersed in this style. What I sing is already considered unconventional and very avant-garde."
"But even my songs rarely use electronic music and other trendier elements, while the European and American music scene increasingly emphasizes electronic dance music."
"Everyone is not on the same wavelength. How can others accept you? To be precise, you can't integrate into their environment."
Eric sighed with some emotion: "Paths are walked step by step. At the very least, one should have courage. Look at Jackie Chan and Jet Li; after conquering Asia, they embarked on the path of conquering Hollywood."
"And they both did very well, having gained recognition in the mainstream Hollywood market."
Jay Chou, however, continued to shake his head: "It's too difficult. The problem is, who has that courage? No one is willing to sacrifice themselves to blaze a trail for their peers."
"And that's on the premise that even sacrificing might not guarantee success. Isn't it better to comfortably enjoy the present? Anyway, I can't do it."
"But the Chinese music market is too small. If you want to make big money and gain big fame, you still have to go global."
"We Chinese have an old saying: 'Two birds in the bush are not as good as one in hand.' What you hold in your hand is the best, and I'm already earning quite a lot now, more than I can spend in a lifetime."
"Anyway, I don't plan to break out of Asia for now. I hope someone can achieve this goal in the future."
Eric couldn't help but laugh inwardly. Even you, the leader and standard-bearer of the Chinese music scene, have such a pleasure-seeking attitude. How can you expect others?
In the future, it will only get worse and be left further behind by the European and American music scene.
After seeing Jay Chou off in the afternoon, they finished a busy day of work.
It was clear that Little Liu and Daddario both had expressions of eager anticipation, wanting to invite him to sleep.
But the last big battle was too draining, and he had been recuperating quietly these past few days, so he reluctantly declined.
During this time, he also felt that this couldn't go on; he didn't want to die in bed at a young age.
After asking his father, he recommended an Indian yoga master, saying that many people followed this master, and the results should be good.
But Eric had no good feelings for Indians, so he contacted Old Han, asking if he knew any impressive traditional Chinese medicine masters, preferably those with secret aphrodisiac methods.
Old Han was also stunned when he heard that Eric was now cohabiting with six women.
Even being young, one shouldn't overexert oneself like this. Playing like this, even drinking health wine like water wouldn't replenish what was lost.
But it wasn't without a solution. This wine was passed down from an old Chinese medicine doctor, and he asked Eric to come over sometime for a face-to-face consultation.
Coincidentally, the post-production of "the meg" was also nearing completion. He would go over then and also check the results of the factory expansion.
Time flew by, entering late March, and "la vie en rose" concluded its run after two weeks of wide release.
Ultimately, the North American box office took in 85 million US dollars. For an art-house film without intense conflict, this result was quite ideal.
There were still some countries globally where it hadn't debuted, but it sold very well in Europe, especially in France, breaking into the top ten of the French box office.
It was expected to eventually gross nearly 200 million US dollars, which was considered a significant profit.
Aside from that, MGM had no other films on the big screen, dedicating two months of its schedule to its younger brothers.
Due to a backlog of too many films last year, competition was still fierce.
Disney and Warner Bros. didn't participate much in this period either, only releasing a few small-budget films, seemingly holding back, preparing to compete with MGM again.
This month, Lionheart Network simultaneously released four works: "daredevil," "rick and morty," "Alone," and "Family Feud," all of which received excellent reviews.
"daredevil's" close-quarters combat style, realistic art, and portrayal of the dark atmosphere of Hell's Kitchen left comic fans very satisfied.
Although the depiction of superpowers was somewhat weaker, daredevil was, after all, a street hero, not like the "Smallville" next door.
Do you know how uncomfortable everyone felt watching "Smallville"?
A person everyone knew could fly took a full four years and still hadn't flown. Come on, that's Superman, the Superman who can reverse time when he gets mad.
In comparison, watching daredevil was just one word: awesome!
Also compared was Ben Affleck's movie version, which was heavily criticized at the time. Two years later, it was dragged out for another flogging, with many YouTubers comparing and criticizing it.
At the same time, "daredevil" also featured guest appearances by jessica jones, iron fist, and luke cage, each in one episode.
With such a positive audience response, Marvel and MGM took the opportunity to announce the launch of independent series for the three characters.
Even more popular than "daredevil" was "rick and morty."
The designs of the two protagonists clearly mimicked the male lead and the doctor from "Back to the Future," creating a strong sense of familiarity and closeness.
The stories were even more imaginative, incorporating elements of warmth, perversion, gore, ethics, and passion, all in abundance.
Moreover, it paid extensive homage to classic films: Alien, Sesame Street, Star Wars, a nightmare on elm street, Animal Farm, Jurassic Park, Star Trek, Pokémon, Ghostbusters.
There was no limit to imagination, only more imagination.
The extreme novelty and abundant creativity immediately captivated young audiences upon its release, attracting many viewers who originally didn't watch animated shows.
It had only been online for less than a month, and many already claimed that "rick and morty" was a masterpiece comparable to works like "The Simpsons" and "South Park."
In just one season, a solid fanbase of tens of millions had already been established, and they were clamoring for the production team to quickly work overtime to create the next season.
But what the audience didn't know was that "rick and morty" was actually the most difficult of all Lionheart Network's original productions.
After Eric proposed the conceptual framework, it took over a year. The screenwriting team expanded from 3 to 6, then from 6 to 8, and finally from 8 to 11 people.
The sheer number of screenwriters alone was several times that of other shows, and even then, only 15 episodes were produced.
If this were in China, hundreds of episodes of content would have already been written.
Of course, part of it was due to being new to production, and efficiency would improve significantly in the second season, but the screenwriting team still couldn't be reduced.
Not only could it not be reduced, but it also needed to be carefully nurtured to prevent being poached by interested parties.
In the original timeline, it was poached by Marvel. The highly acclaimed "Loki" came from the screenwriters of "rick and morty."
With such high costs, the economic benefits generated naturally far exceeded those of ordinary dramas. "rick and morty" merchandise sold very well, once again becoming a money-making tool for Dual Star Entertainment and Hasbro.
"Alone" was also very popular due to its novel reality show format, while "Family Feud" was for entertainment and comedy, hosted by Steve Harvey.
He was experienced and often delivered witty remarks, making the audience roar with laughter.
And why did Lionheart Network release so many new works at once?
The answer, of course, was to increase the company's valuation. Paramount, Fox, Sony, and Universal were all pressing, hoping Eric would quickly sell his shares to them.
Before selling, it was natural to increase the value as much as possible, earning at least a few hundred million more US dollars.
And when the time came to mid-April, the entire Hollywood was like a sudden clap of thunder.
Lionheart Network, Paramount, Fox, Sony, and Universal — the five companies issued a joint statement, with the four officially joining the family.
The films, TV series, and variety shows from the four companies, all available works in their libraries, would be uploaded to Lionheart Network, instantly increasing the latter's film and television resources several times over.
To say it was the world's number one was completely justifiable.
The market then understood why the two sides suddenly ceased hostilities and made peace; the reasons were all here.
However, the amount of money the four companies spent was not publicly disclosed.
But rumors were flying around, and one of them had the highest credibility.
Each company spent no less than 800 million US dollars, meaning this deal cost at least 4 billion US dollars.