Chapter 335: Ten Things I Hate About Shenjing Yang
“Lionsgate is launching a ‘Paranormal Activity 3’ plan, with the talented Wang Yang set to take control of the horror apartnt once again.”
As the week of November 5-11 passed, ‘Saw II,’ entering its second week in cinemas, failed to retain the top spot at the box office. In 3,345 theaters, it took in $28.94 million, with its North Arican total soaring to $78.20 million, hopeful to surpass one hundred million by the end of its run. The new film ‘The Incredibles,’ with a budget of $92 million, didn’t disappoint Disney; in its first week, it swept $93 million at the box office in 3,933 theaters, with Pixar continuing its streak of delivering hits, scoring a freshness rating of 97%/95% on Rotten Tomatoes, although the audience’s level of appreciation lagged sowhat at 67%.”
It’s worth ntioning that the epoch-making first IMAX-3D feature film ‘The Polar Express,’ ticulously crafted by great director Robert Zeckis with a budget of $165 million, released on November 10th. The producer and distributor Warner Brothers arranged for it to open in 3,650 theaters across North Arica. However, fewer than 50 screens were equipped with 3D and IMAX projectors, aning the vast majority of audiences watched the 35MM film version, experiencing standard visuals. All the talk of motion capture, performance capture, and IMAX-3D effects… seed a bit self-indulgent, a cringe-worthy predicant.”
Perhaps there were many issues with the film itself, or perhaps its ti had not yet co, but in its first Wednesday and the following Thursday (Veterans Day), which is a national holiday, the film garnered an underwhelming $7.3056 million. The average revenue per theater was only $2,002, trailing the sixth week’s $2,115 per theater for ‘Shark Tale,’ despite the latter showing for seven days. Making matters worse for Warner, with a freshness rating of 56%/54% and an audience approval of 65%, if there isn’t a miracle next week, it’s almost ti to declare ‘The Polar Express’ a box-office flop.”
Packed with high hopes, massive promotion, the best pairing of Robert Zeckis and Tom Hanks, and the “guaranteed success” of IMAX-3D… ‘The Polar Express’ was quite a blow, even affecting ‘Firefly,’ which used IMAX film in its climactic scene, to so extent. It looked as if IMAX, IMAX-3D, and 35MM films had no real difference; it was simply a waste of money.
“3D, IMAX-3D will be the trend of the future.” “I will shoot them! I love 3D.”…
Earlier this year, ‘The Hollywood Reporter’ interviewed three major directors—Robert Zeckis, George Lucas, and Wang Yang—at the ShoWest convention, and they all shared their thoughts and expectations about their new works and the future of industry technology. Robert Zeckis, who had been adamant that 3D was the “trend within the trend,” was now facing his Waterloo. Despite his desire to “continue to explore digital and capture technology to create more new works,” it was uncertain if any company would invest in him again; George Lucas, who didn’t quite get 3D, was busy with ‘Star Wars: Episode III’; and Wang Yang, who had tried out IMAX film, had pat his chest and said he wanted to shoot in 3D but, seeing the results for ‘The Polar Express,’ dia and filmmakers probably thought he might retreat from the “black hole.”
“‘No one is real, you get so special effects, but if visual effects lose reality, there’s no fun.'” — Rex Reed, New York Observer, “‘If I were a kid, I saw a nightmare.'” — Geoff Pevere, Toronto Star…
“Robert, anyway, my view of 3D aligns with yours; it’s the trend.” At that mont, Wang Yang was on the phone with Robert Zeckis, discussing why ‘The Polar Express’ was awkward and other such topics. Wang Yang openly confessed his skepticism about the market prospects for live-action animation films but remained 100% committed to 3D and IMAX-3D; Zeckis naturally would not give up so easily, and he was not planning to return to live-action or animated films any ti soon, choosing to further explore and develop motion capture technology.”
With his standing and connections in the industry, as long as ‘The Polar Express’ wasn’t a complete disaster, he could still find major companies to invest in him; Zeckis also knew that Fla Films had no intention to invest. Of course, he understood that $150 million or $200 million wasn’t a number a big company, let alone an independent one, could just throw around. Morally, it made sense to “fool” a big company unless this young man was very optimistic about live-action animation and was only interested in motion capture and IMAX-3D.
“Yang, I don’t want to think about it anymore, I’ll keep doing it until nobody wants to invest in , haha!” Robert Zeckis remained very optimistic, unaffected by the poor opening, full of determination and again inquired with interest, “So when will you shoot a 3D movie?”
After years of communication, Wang Yang knew well that Robert Zeckis had beco indifferent, or perhaps obsessed. He was set on motion capture technology and live-action animation. The forr now had successful examples like ‘The Lord of the Rings’ trilogy and ‘District 9,’ and in the future, it seed there would be films like ‘King Kong,’ ‘Avatar,’ and ‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes,’ with their lifelike gorillas and Na’vi solely relying on motion capture. However, the latter was really caught between two stools, with films like ‘Monster House,’ ‘Beowulf,’ ‘A Christmas Carol,’ ‘Mars Needs Moms,’ and ‘The Adventures of Tintin’ not performing as expected.
Technology and story weren’t the main issues; it was the audience’s dislike for this form of performance that was key, perhaps the ti wasn’t right. Knowing that Robert Zeckis could happily imrse himself in that world of live-action animation for years, Wang Yang didn’t try to persuade him much. He thought if he liked live-action animation, he would probably do the sa, but he truly wasn’t very interested. The charm of animated films often doesn’t need live performances to enhance it, as with “Up” and other films. As for 3D movies, Wang Yang thought, “It’s not these past two years, there have been too few 3D theaters.”
“Those theater chains are slower than snails,” Robert Zeckis said with extre dissatisfaction. He had lobbied many theater chains together with Warner to upgrade their projection equipnt and build more 3D theaters, but nobody was willing to cooperate. Otherwise, with 1000 pieces of 3D screens? “The Polar Express” would definitely have presented a different spectacle.
“There’s no way around it, but they will do it in the future,” Wang Yang could only comfort him with a few words, earnestly saying, “Robert, when I shoot my IMAX-3D movies in the future, I hope you can provide so technical help to .” Zeckis laughed enthusiastically, “Of course, absolutely, I’m delighted to! Young man, don’t let those film critics’ reputations constrain you. Make what you want to make, do what you want to do.” Wang Yang nodded, not afraid, not fearful, he smiled, “Yes, I will! Timing is very important though.” Zeckis changed the subject, “How is the editing of ‘Firefly’ going? I saw the trailer, and it’s fantastic.”…
With the release of the “Firefly” trailer stirring up huge anticipation among movie fans, Rotten Tomatoes recently launched a new feature “Comprehensive Review of YOUNG-WANG’s Film Work,” as if Wang Yang was about to retire or as though an era was ending. Nevertheless, many fans browsing this feature were stirred up with many mories. Not counting his unreleased works, the marvelous 24-year-old Yang had already directed 8 films, written 11 movie scripts, and produced 13 films, including serving as executive producer for 9 and involved in supervising and planning for 4.
“Monster doesn’t even begin to describe MY,” user Hannah comnted. With two of the youngest Oscar Awards, a Golden Globe, and nurous nominations, not to ntion an average box office of 475 million per film, it isn’t hard to understand why the wondrous Yang was so popular. How “Firefly,” which was t with much skepticism, would fare was anyone’s guess. Perhaps it would succeed, perhaps fail, but the poll of “Which Wang Yang-directed film is your favorite?” expressed the fans’ sentints.
Such a poll was not entirely fair, as the 8 movies were nearly 8 different genres, even the “Las Vegas Duology” was so different. Yet many fans still participated in multiple voting categories: “The Hangover,” “Juno,” and “High School Musical” were currently leading in “Most Liked,” with “The Devil Wears Prada” at the bottom; the top three “Most Profound” were “District 9,” “The Pursuit of Happyness,” “Juno,” with “Paranormal Activity” bringing up the rear; for “Greatest Social Impact” were “Paranormal Activity,” “Juno,” and “High School Musical,” with “The Devil Wears Prada” again at the bottom, as fans believed that those who couldn’t afford designer brands still couldn’t afford them, those dieting continued dieting, and those who scorned continued to scorn…
“I hate the way you talk on stage, and I hate your movies. I hate the way you tell ghost stories, and your songs and dances too. I hate your drab trench coat, your pants that aren’t cool at all. I hate you so much it makes sick; I hate you so much, it’s foolish. I hate that you’re always right, I hate that you’re always there. I hate that you make laugh, and even more that you make cry. I hate that you got married so soon, without saying goodbye. But what I hate the most is that I can’t hate you, not even a little bit, not at all.”
User Rotten Candy seed to draw inspiration from “Firefly” & Heath Ledger in the comnts, un-rhymingly adapting the sonnet “10 Things I Hate About You.” If this wasn’t just a regular user’s account singing praises, but so female celebrity writing it on her own blog, that fellow and Wang Yang would surely dominate the entertainnt headlines the next day. Of course, that was not going to happen.
Looking at the votes on Rotten Tomatoes, it seed that marvelous Yang was indeed in a slump. The high box office of “The Devil Wears Prada” was relatively unpopular personally; three consecutive comrcial films that weren’t very “profound”; although boosting Las Vegas tourism, beer sales, and causing a temporary dip in casino slot machine revenues, he hadn’t initiated a sensational social phenonon in a long while, even the promotional performance was the sa.
But looking back, indeed many people hated the way magical Yang told ghost stories, the mockuntary style, and those who had experienced that “Supernatural Phenonon” found it hard to forget “Paranormal Activity.” Lionsgate knew this well, as long as magical Yang returned, “Paranormal Activity 3” could work miracles.
“What’s wrong?! Yang? Jessica?” Joshua walked in from the backyard, puzzled. This couple had invited him over for the weekend, with plans to watch a ga that evening. After chatting in the garden for a while, the couple went inside to get so food, and suddenly there were two screams of terror from them, followed by silence. Could soone have broken into the house? But they both knew Kung Fu! Joshua quickened his pace, calling out as he went, “What happened? HELLO? Anyone there?”
Approaching the dining room and seeing no one, he grabbed a wooden chair nervously and pulled a frying pan off the hook, brandishing them defensively as he cautiously moved towards the living room, “HELLO? Oh God, Danny? Where is everyone!”
Wang Yang and Jessica, hiding around the corridor corner, covered their mouths to suppress their laughter. The cara was already set up; all that was left was to see if their prank would work! After filming several funny videos through mutual pranks, the couple decided to target others to avoid escalating conflicts. Even if they didn’t upload the videos online, watching them themselves was a lot of fun.
Cautiously moving forward, Joshua suddenly discovered sothing: a layer of clear tape stretched across the hallway just a few steps ahead of him, clearly ant to trip him up! Joshua imdiately realized what was going on, dropped his defensive tools, shook his head and smirked, then quickly stepped forward to rip off the tape, stomping on the floor a few tis and shouting, “Uh oh—I’ve fallen, I’ve fallen!” Sure enough, laughter from the couple ca from the living room, and Joshua laughed too, thinking to himself, trying to prank ? Do you think I’m a fool! He stepped forward disdainfully, “I’m telling you, you guys are so boring!”
“3, 2, 1…” Wang Yang and Jessica, who were sticking close to the wall, exchanged a glance and silently gestured to each other. Joshua, chuckling under his breath, was about to turn the corner when suddenly his midsection hit a force and a thick layer of tape! Annoyed, he tore it off with force, balled it up and continued on without stopping, “This won’t work on … Oh!!” Before he could finish his sentence, his face was stuck to an extrely thin layer of tape, and he imdiately started tearing at it with both hands, swearing furiously, “Bullshit!”
“Hahaha!—” Wang Yang and Jessica high-fived each other joyfully, then burst out laughing hysterically, twisting and waving their arms in a dance to celebrate, “High-speed cara! Joshua, it’s going to capture every detail of your facial transformations!” “It must look really cool! Haha!” Watching the two detestable people almost rolling on the floor with laughter, Joshua charged at them furiously: “I’ll take you on! I’m not scared of you, ah ah—”
The footage uploaded from the high-speed cara to the computer showed the mont Joshua’s face hit the tape and got stuck—like a flattened pig’s head on the screen.
On its third week of screening from November 12-18, “Saw II” raked in $15.68 million from 3,120 theaters, bringing its North Arican total to $93.88 million—a comrcial marvel in movie history. The miracle did not occur with “The Polar Express”, which earned $28.48 million in seven days across 3,650 theaters. Despite being second in rank, it was far from a moneymaker, and its title as “the first full-length IMAX 3D feature” was quite moving; “The Incredibles” retained its top spot with $58.02 million; new releases “After the Sunset” and “Child’s Play 4: Bride of Chucky” perford poorly, while “Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason” t expectations.
In his spare ti from work, Wang Yang was busy accumulating his private collection or videos to upload to YOUTUBE, naturally including those that scared and pranked people. Following Joshua, Eileen, Roland, and others beca the latest victims of the couple’s self-concocted and internet-collected pranks that incited rage. Wang Yang and Jessica were plotting to pull a prank on Mark Albert, but considering the possibly severe consequences, they hadn’t tried yet.
However, what he didn’t expect was that Lionsgate was once again cordially inviting him to reboot “Paranormal Activity 3” and use the big screen to scare people.
“Yang, could you just help out this one ti?” As he listened to Michael Parsons’ pleading tone on the phone, Wang Yang couldn’t refuse outright again without hesitation. It wasn’t the first ti he’d been called. Michael Parsons, Jon Feltheir, and Tom Ortenberg all extended gracious invitations, and although he initially said “no, no,” they didn’t want to give up, their continuous pleas over the days made him start to seriously consider the matter.
Wang Yang knew Lionsgate would definitely produce “Paranormal Activity 3”, and he didn’t an to obstruct them as an ally. However, directing was absolutely out of the question as he wanted to focus on “Firefly”, and he wasn’t interested in filming a sequel for the ti being; he didn’t want to be an executive producer either, as he was already busy enough and didn’t want to juggle too many things at once. Regarding the screenwriting and producing offers Lionsgate proposed, it was genuinely a generous offer that was hard to refuse.
It wasn’t just Jon Feltheir’s emotional appeal and logical persuasion, such as releasing “Paranormal Activity 3” not during the Halloween season but during the secondary peak season for thrillers and horror movies in April. If Wang Yang agreed, the entire project would proceed at full speed. Such low-budget horror movies were easy to produce and could be scheduled to be released in April 2005. All it needed was a solid promotional campaign, but the news of the “Magical Yang returning to ‘Paranormal Activity 3′” was more anticipatory than any marketing tactic.
Nor was it the profit-sharing deal offered by Lionsgate for co-producing with Flas Distribution; nor the promise that it wouldn’t take up much ti, supposedly less than producing “Sweetheart” or being the chief planner for “Furious Cars”, roughly similar to a nominal role like with “Brokeback Mountain.”
In fact, Wang Yang never wanted “Paranormal Activity” to beco a ss. When he handed over the sequel filming rights to Lionsgate, he hoped the series would find a good ho. They, however, didn’t cherish it, and the idea of reviving “Paranormal Activity” enticed him a bit. If he accepted the planning role, he definitely wouldn’t allow “Paranormal Activity 3” to fail comrcially—it had to be loved by audiences; and as for sequels that rehashed old material not getting good reviews, he didn’t care.
“Kung Fu Panda”, “Brokeback Mountain”, and “Assassin’s Creed” were projects Wang Yang was involved in planning, and now with “Brokeback Mountain” completed in post-production and waiting for release, taking on “Paranormal Activity 3” wouldn’t add much to his workload.
This collaboration could eliminate the friction between Lionsgate and Firefla in recent years, and help Lionsgate develop further. Whether it was the future “big plan” of a YouTube online cinema, the cable TV network, or the production and distribution business of independent film companies, including so new low-to-mid-cost films invested by FM Company, Firefla needed a strong ally. If the independent distributors fell one by one and only Firefla remained, it would definitely not be worth cheering for. Thus, Mark – Slont repeatedly persuaded Wang Yang, if possible, to lend a hand this ti and not bear a grudge over past events.
“Hmm…” Wang Yang pondered as he considered. How could he bear a grudge over the past? Especially since when Lionsgate was interviewing him, it was Michael – Parsons who had most supported distributing “Paranormal Activity” and from the beginning, he had given him a lot of encouragent and praise; later, when Lionsgate was developing “Paranormal Activity 2,” Michael – Parsons also advocated forcefully for Jon – Feildtir to continue hiring him for the production. Jon didn’t listen, and Parsons even called to apologize.
“Yang, you know I haven’t had much success lately, and life has been rough,” Michael – Parsons sighed deeply, but not out of seeking pity. If it weren’t for “Fahrenheit 9/11,” he would have been demoted. Considering the new films released this year, Lionsgate’s involvent in 20th Century Fox’s big-budget production “The Day After Tomorrow” was not his credit. The production cost of “The Princess Diaries” co-financed with Paramount was 22 million, with just a 37.66 million global box office; “Punisher” had a production budget of 33 million but only garnered 54.7 million in global box office; the 2002 film “Cube 2: Hypercube” never released, performing diocrely in the DVD market, and the sa year’s “Narc” with a budget of 6.5 million only made 12.63 million globally at box offices…
Looking at these “report cards,” Michael – Parsons felt a great headache. “Paranormal Activity 3” to flop again? Parsons said, “Not to hide from you, the board is very dissatisfied with . Disappoint them one more ti, and I’ll have to pack up and leave imdiately, rather than being escorted out by security, heh.” Without the need for his self-deprecating laughter, Wang Yang knew Parsons wasn’t joking. In a world where Lionsgate never had “Saw,” he frowned and said, “You can co to Firefla Films?”
“No no no, thank you,” Michael – Parsons repeatedly declined and expressed his thanks, then sighed dejectedly: “Yang, I don’t want to leave Lionsgate with my head hanging low.”
“Alright then!” Wang Yang’s voice, with the result of days of consideration, suddenly filled Michael – Parsons with wild joy. He sprang up from his office chair: “You agreed? Wow! You agreed!?” Wang Yang smiled softly. Parsons hadn’t let him leave Lionsgate with his head hanging low all those years ago; how could he now stand idly by? He needed to agree, for both the company and himself! Wang Yang spoke earnestly, “Yes, I’ve agreed, to script and plan. Michael.” He smiled, “You won’t leave Lionsgate with your head hanging low, ‘Paranormal Activity’ is back.”
Michael – Parsons spun around excitedly, the phone line trembling as he pressed his forehead and couldn’t stop laughing and shouting: “Thank God, thank God! Oh my God! This is great! Thank God…”
“Lionsgate & Firefla announce the production of ‘Paranormal Activity 3’, with the wunderkind returning to the haunted apartnt after 6 years.” — Yahoo Entertainnt
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PS: Begging for monthly tickets! Begging for monthly tickets! Wow-power begging for monthly tickets! Thank you, everyone! (
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