Huayu Entertainment 1995 started with hijacking.

Chapter 384 The Release of "Batman"

The plane accelerated along the runway, then lifted off and climbed, the buildings below appearing smaller and smaller as it ascended. Wu Yuchen looked away and sighed. He had already been honest with Jiang Qinqin; the choice was now hers.

Of course, he wasn't completely unprepared; he had an undercover agent by Jiang Qinqin's side!
This time, Wu Yuchen did not fly directly to the United States, but went to Cannes first.

At the hotel where he was staying, Cannes Film Festival President Jacob came to greet Wu Yuchen: "Wu, welcome back to Cannes!"

Wu Yuchen smiled and said to him, "I really like Cannes, and I hope the film will have a successful premiere tomorrow!"

Of course! Cannes won't disappoint you!

Tomorrow is the opening ceremony of the Cannes Film Festival, and the opening film is none other than "The Batman." This is a marketing strategy devised by the production company and Cannes to hold the world premiere of "The Batman" in Cannes, hoping to boost box office revenue in Europe. Cannes, in turn, can leverage this buzz to increase its own visibility, much like last year with "Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Fallen." It's a win-win situation.

As for the United States, with the appeal of "Batman" in America, Wu Yuchen's past reputation, and Warner Bros.' promotional power in the United States, it's already at its maximum.

"Director, you're here!"

Not only did Wu Yuchen come, but the film's male lead Bale and female lead Kate Beckinsale also came. These two are British stars, so Europe is practically their home.

The group also started talking about things in Hollywood:

"Spider-Man 3 is excellent as always, easily surpassing $1.5 million at the North American box office in its opening weekend."

Wu Yuchen wasn't too surprised to hear this: "If nothing unexpected happens, Spider-Man 3 will be the highest-grossing movie this year."

In my previous life, the highest-grossing movie in 2006 was "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales," while "Spider-Man 3," released in 2007, was overtaken by "Pirates of the Caribbean 3" and "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," ranking third.

But the situation is very different now. Wu Yuchen's Pirate King trilogy ended last year, and Spider-Man 3 was released a year earlier because of his influence. There is no Harry Potter movie this year, so in 2006, Spider-Man 3 can be said to have no rivals.

Wu Yuchen thought about how the Spider-Man trilogy had achieved such explosive success in his previous life, yet it had never won the box office champion title. Now that it had finally won the champion title, Little Spider should thank Director Wu properly!

Upon hearing Wu Yuchen's words, Kate couldn't help but ask, "What about us? Do we have any hope of surpassing Spider-Man 3?"

Kate Beckinsale has high expectations for "Batman," and with the cooperation of Sony and Warner Bros., this summer's release has been marketed as a battle of superheroes, namely Spider-Man vs. Batman vs. Superman!

However, Wu Yuchen smiled and shook his head, saying directly:
"Impossible! Spider-Man 3 is the final installment of the trilogy, and its quality hasn't declined. Batman, on the other hand, is just the beginning of my trilogy. How can it compete with Spider-Man, which has three films built up over time? You should know that the first film in the Pirate King trilogy also had the lowest box office. You should understand this very well."

“You directed Batman yourself, Wu!” Kate said upon hearing this.

Wu Yuchen shrugged: "I was also the producer of the Spider-Man trilogy~"

"Oh, okay. I just thought that if it were you, Wu, you could probably pull off a miracle." Kate sighed, resting her chin on her hand. Hearing Wu Yuchen's words, she dispelled her previous illusions.

Wu Yuchen smiled and said, "Don't worry, although 'The Batman' won't be the box office champion this year, its performance won't be bad either. When the second movie comes out, that's when we'll be able to challenge for the box office champion."

The following day, at the Cannes Film Festival opening ceremony, Wu Yuchen walked the red carpet with the male and female leads, completely overshadowing the films competing in the main competition. Meanwhile, as the world premiere of *The Batman*, tickets became incredibly sought-after and were snapped up quickly.

The jury president for this year's Cannes Film Festival was Wong Kar-wai, and the jury also included Zhang Ziyi, a Chinese actress. It's fair to say that the presence of Chinese jury members could directly influence the outcome of this year's festival. However, unfortunately, there wasn't a single Chinese-language film in the main competition, a complete waste of this significant advantage!
Watching Wu Yuchen and his group being interviewed by a group of reporters, Zhang Ziyi couldn't help but feel envious. Although it wasn't one of the films competing in this year's competition, it had stolen the spotlight from the competing films. However, she also knew that this was unavoidable; art films and filmmakers who made art films simply couldn't compare to commercial films in terms of popularity and viewership. Besides, Wu Yuchen was a top-tier figure worldwide, skilled in both commercial and art films!
"The Batman Movie Makes a Dazzling Debut at Cannes!"

"The Batman series is reborn! Wu Yuchen gives Batman a new life!"

"Wu Yuchen fully embodies the origins of Batman, thus beginning a great film series. An undisputed reboot of a classic!"

"Batman is moving towards realism, towards darkness, and towards its own contradictory inner world. Wu Yuchen is pioneering a new direction for superhero movies!"

Following its Cannes premiere, newspapers across the country showered the event with praise. Numerous reporters also interviewed audience members leaving the Cannes premiere.

"Hey sir, how did you enjoy the movie?"

A middle-aged man faces the camera:
"Fantastic! Completely different from the exaggerated and idiotic style of previous Batman comics, Wu adopted a rigorous realism approach. Details such as Batman's early days in the world, his lack of skill as a novice, and the old-fashioned, primitive, and wild nature of his initial vehicle and suit all make the story feel real and believable."

Of course, there were explosions, car chases, and fights—it was very exciting to watch. I think it achieved a balance between commercial appeal and substance! A young man who looked like a huge fan was very excited after watching it.
"This is absolutely the best Batman movie ever made!"
Wu imbued Batman with humanity and depth! This is completely different from previous directors who merely portrayed Batman as Batman; instead, he fully interpreted why Bruce Wayne became Batman: overcoming his inner fears, arming himself, upholding moral principles, and possessing unparalleled self-control. He is the shadow of each of us, which is why he is so captivating!

Another young female viewer also gave it a very high rating:
"I absolutely love the rough, bold, dark, and realistic style that Wu uses, while employing IMAX film shooting mode to depict the operatic grandeur he envisions!"

I can't wait to see Batman 2! I'm sure Wu will elevate superhero movies to unprecedented heights!

The film received many positive reviews, but Wu Yuchen didn't have time to watch it. He only stayed in Cannes for one day before flying to the United States with the male and female leads. The Cannes Film Festival opened on Wednesday, and although the world premiere took place in Cannes, the global release was on Friday. Therefore, he had to rush back to attend the premiere in the United States.

While the influence of "Batman" is global, one thing must be acknowledged: North America is the most important market. Moreover, "Batman" is an American superhero, so attending the American premiere is a must.

Warner Bros. also held a grand premiere for "The Batman" in Los Angeles. Not only were many Hollywood stars invited to attend, but stars who had played Batman in the past were also invited. The event was truly a star-studded affair.

A reporter at the scene asked a similar question to the one Kate had asked before: "Wu, both 'Batman' and 'Spider-Man' are trilogies, and you initiated both of them. So, which one do you prefer? Which one do you think will perform better at the box office?"

This is a question many movie fans are concerned about. After all, the marketing slogan for this summer's superhero summer campaign has already been released, so there will inevitably be fans arguing for their favorite superheroes. As the initiator of both series, Wu Yuchen's preferences are naturally under scrutiny.

Wu Yuchen naturally couldn't give a direct answer to this question, but instead smiled and said:
"Although Batman and Spider-Man are both superheroes, they are actually very different and are two different types of superheroes. Of course, this does not affect my love for them, otherwise I would not have written scripts for them and brought them to the big screen."

As for box office performance, I don't think that's something I can control. I'm only responsible for making the film; the rest is up to the audience.

He was already adept at using these evasive phrases, and then changed the subject. In fact, not only the audience and media, but even Warner executives were concerned about this issue.

After everyone was seated, the Warner Bros. executive next to him took the opportunity to ask, "Wu, what are your expectations for 'Batman'?"

Wu Yuchen smiled and said, "Don't worry, I won't make you lose money."

Upon hearing this, Warner executives sighed, noting that there are different concepts of losing money.

The production cost of this Batman film was a whopping $1.4 million. More importantly, according to the contract between Warner Bros. and Wu Yuchen, Wu Yuchen will receive 25% of the global box office revenue. Therefore, according to Warner Bros.' calculations, Batman needs to gross $5.5 million worldwide to recoup its costs.

Of course, if you include DVD sales, various merchandise revenues, etc., then it only needs to be over $3 million. However, if the first Batman trilogy, which involved such a huge production and a lot of effort to bring in John Woo to reboot, only grosses $3 million, then Warner Bros. can hardly be considered a success.

Public opinion will likely label the Batman project a failure! After all, box office revenue directly reflects market popularity and can predict the sales of copyrights and merchandise. Therefore, whether or not to make two more films is truly debatable.

Therefore, Warner Bros. has a minimum expectation for "The Batman" this time, which is that the global box office of "The Batman" can reach 4.5 million. This is also their bottom line. Only if it exceeds that amount will they continue to carry out the project.

Wu Yuchen could guess some of Warner Bros.' intentions. In his previous life, Nolan's first Batman film only grossed $3.75 million worldwide, a completely different situation from now.

After all, Nolan was just a relatively unknown director at the time, and his director's fee couldn't compare to Wu Yuchen's 2000 million plus 25% commission. Moreover, the public's expectations for Nolan and Wu Yuchen were completely different. Back then, Nolan would consider 3.75 million a success, but for Wu Yuchen now, a box office of less than 5 million would be considered a failure.

Wu Yuchen was well aware of this, after all, he had reached this position. However, he wasn't under that much pressure, as his confidence stemmed from the fame and influence he had accumulated over the years, which could be translated into box office appeal.

For example, did Avatar have any big-name stars? No!

So why did Avatar garner so much attention and anticipation from movie fans even before its release? Because of its director, James Cameron, the truck driver! Because of Titanic!
Similarly, although Wu Yuchen has never had a film that achieved the same box office success as "Titanic," he has made so many movies over the years that his influence is no less than that of the truck driver!
So, even though both are making "Batman," can the boost and box office appeal that Nolan brought to the film in his previous life compare to Wu Yuchen's current work? Absolutely not!

As it turns out, his appeal is far stronger than Nolan's. The box office was 3323 million on Friday, 3712 million on Saturday, and 3051 million on Sunday, with the box office exceeding 3 million in just three days of the opening weekend!

This result is naturally incomparable to the 1.5 million yuan box office of "Spider-Man 3" in its opening weekend, but it is still extremely impressive!

Besides the fact that Spider-Man accumulated fans through three movies, as Wu Yuchen mentioned earlier, Batman is not a pure popcorn movie to begin with.

In reality, Batman's character isn't as satisfying as some people think. He adheres to the principle of not killing, and he always lets bad guys go after he catches them. This puts a limit on himself, and he also has to be given a dark aura, so it's impossible to be as satisfying as when filming Spider-Man and other Marvel movies.

The downside is that it lacks entertainment value and isn't as mindless and exciting, but it also has advantages: the movie will have better word-of-mouth and a smoother box office curve, meaning it will have more staying power!
The reason why Spider-Man failed to win the box office championship in its previous life was that it lacked staying power. It could achieve extremely high opening box office every time, but the box office in the first 10 days accounted for more than 70% of its total box office. Although it was not as exaggerated as a fan movie like Twilight, it did indeed lack staying power every time.

But Batman is different. Its box office in the first ten days was only half or even less than half of the total box office, which is obviously more sustainable than Spider-Man!
So when Wu Yuchen saw that The Batman movie grossed over $100 million in its opening weekend in North America, he knew it was a sure thing, and the global box office would conservatively start at $600 million!
(End of this chapter)