The Best Director

Chapter 342: Chapter 342 Annual Champion

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“Ah! Ah! Ah!” A chorus of frenzied screams pierced the skies, and beneath the azure blue, a roller coaster packed with thrill-seekers roared along the serpentine tracks, twisting and turning.

This was the Six Flags Magic Mountain theme park in Los Angeles. It wasn’t Wang Yang and Jessica’s first roller coaster ride, but it was their first time planning to celebrate New Year’s Eve at the amusement park—celebrating not only her recent recovery but the upcoming New Year as well! Jessica had vowed to enjoy all the rides she could before getting pregnant. The clamor of shrieks, the wind rushing by, the clatter of the carriage on the track, and bursts of manic laughter mingled together as she clutched the safety belt tightly, her hair neatly held back by a headband, surrendering to the exhilarating thrill and screaming her voice hoarse, “Ahhh! Ahhhhh!”

“Hahaha!” Wang Yang raised his hands high as if the slightest movement might sever them from his body, plunging downward and then shooting back up. Embracing the fierce wind head-on, he marveled at the expanse of blue sky and white clouds above, the barely discernible cityscape, and trees that flashed by. The sensation was incredible! Glancing at Jessica beside him, who was still screaming, he wondered what it would feel like to kiss mid-ride. Opening his mouth wide, he joined in the surrounding cries of excitement, “Ahh! Ahhhhh!”

The whole world seemed to spin and retreat at high speed! As the roller coaster ascended once again, it was as if to release all the pressures and displeasures accumulated in 2004. Wang Yang screamed until his throat was raw, shouting randomly, “I’m the Captain!!! Ahhh—HELLO, beautiful world!!! I am a leaf in the wind, watch how I soar, soar—” Amid the thunderous noise, even Jessica couldn’t help but let go and bellow with a heart-stopping intensity, “I am a leaf in the wind!!”

“The war is over, the war is over!” It was as though he could hear voices from another world. Wang Yang closed his eyes, then opened them again, feeling as if he was in the midst of the Battle of Serenity Valley, with the sky filled with images and information from every corner. Everyone had surrendered! Why surrender after all the talks of independence and autonomy? He blinked once more. Over the years, he had bought a Firefly-class spaceship, recruited a few crew members, and occasionally pulled robberies—fighting, beautiful women, bouts of drunkenness… Although he led a carefree life, he was always a loser!

Mal, that damned man, had issued an order—the Reavers were the result of a failed experiment, and this presented an opportunity to overturn the Alliance. Many were hesitant, unsure whether to wade into this contentious mess. Attacking New Shanxi was like laying one’s life on the table!

“15 years ago, at Serenity Valley, I already died!” Not sure whether the roller coaster had broken the sound barrier, Wang Yang was beset by illusions—it was the communication control room of a spaceship! Watching Mal’s firm expression and the hesitation of others to take a step, he shouted wildly, “Today, I come back to life!! Mal, if I die again this time—if I die, please take me back to Serenity Valley!!”

Jessica, still screaming, marveled at how Wang Yang could articulate his words so clearly amidst the chaos. Wang Yang, caught in a frenzy, smacked the safety belt and danced erratically, spouting lines from his muddled “script”: “Ah! Ah! Fuck-you, you bastards, fuck! Keep being losers! Keep hiding in your Fireflies, cursing the world! Not me! This time, I’ll fight for myself, but I’ll exterminate you all!!! I swear, if I survive, I will exterminate every last one of you cowards!! I vow, ALL!!! ALL!!!…”

They made a pact, each one finding the courage—or perhaps reclaiming the resolve of years past. They all sprung back to life! For better or worse, they would attack New Shanxi!!

“Mal, we’re coming to save you!!” Wang Yang laughed heartily, gripping the safety belt as if it were the hatch of a spaceship, ready to plunge into battle with the Reavers and Alliance soldiers. This headwind, this speed, allowed him to feel what Top-Captain must have felt, an audaciousness no green screen or fan in a movie shoot could replicate! If only he’d known, he would’ve dragged Robert Downey Jr. and the rest of the crew to the amusement park for a day of roller coaster rides before filming!

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The entire sky was intertwined with the fires of war, as warships and spaceships continuously fell and exploded, people dying. Top-Captain was not afraid at all, without a single concern; dying after one last kiss with his beloved hot girlfriend would have been better, but it didn’t matter! To die was to die, no one in the independence faction that had come to New Shanxi was afraid of death, it was for glory, for freedom, for themselves, and for a better world, a world without the Star Alliance! Kill!!

He landed on the ground, killed many, many plunderers and Star Alliance lackeys, and died trying to save Mal, lying on the ground looking up at the sky where the fireflies of battle drifted. He seemed to return to Serenity Valley, that overgrown, bird-shitless but beautiful Serenity Valley, everything was just as familiar as it was 15 years ago. He believed that the independence faction would win the Battle of New Shanxi, believed that Mal would take him back to Serenity Valley, to forever accompany those weeds and the fireflies of the summer nights.

Just like Captain Mal, Blue Glove, the plunderers, and others, the story of Top-Captain too would hit the big screen next high summer.

“Whew!” The roller coaster came to a stop at the end of the track, eliciting diverse reactions from the many tourists; some were unharmed, others felt nauseous and vomited, but nearly all needed to catch their breath resting on the seats. Stepping off the roller coaster, Wang Yang and Jessica laughed arm in arm as they headed to other attractions, with her saying, “You’re crazy! I was so afraid you’d fall off!” Wang Yang laughed, “Weren’t you? I thought we were making love.” Jessica punched him several times, this guy was getting more and more fond of R-rated jokes, was he hitting a rebellious phase? And she felt a bit wronged, “Since when have I ever been like that?” Wang Yang’s look was suggestive, pretending not to understand, he shook his head, “Every time?”

Jessica didn’t want to continue this subject, since she could never win against him, she asked with a laugh, “Darling! What shall we play next?” Wang Yang already had an idea, “Let’s go on ‘The Riddler’s Revenge’!” The Riddler’s Revenge was a stand-up roller coaster, over 1,300 meters long, very, very thrilling; it had been nearly a year since they last went on it. Jessica yelled excitedly, “Wow, I love it!” With a swing of her arm, she shouted, “GO, GO, GO!”…

The lively amusement park was bustling with visitors, their screams and laughter were ceaseless. The couple truly enjoyed themselves in various theme parks all day long, feeling almost as if they were falling apart, or as Wang Yang’s R-rated words would put it, “more tired than doing it ten times in one night.” As they played, night fell, and the New Year was about to arrive.

“10, 9, 8—” Below the night sky, the Six Flags square was packed with visitors, the countdown to the New Year echoing through the heavens, Wang Yang and Jessica stood hand in hand gazing up at the pitch-black sky, shouting with laughter, “7, 6, 5—”

With each countdown, memorable moments from the soon-to-pass year 2004 flashed before them. That year, “The Devil Wears Prada” achieved over $558 million in global box office amid a barrage of criticism from movie reviewers; they entered the hall and made vows to stay together for life, after an unforgettable honeymoon they began a happy married life; they and the entire production crew had put their utmost effort and heart into “Firefly”, her sudden illness delayed the shooting progress and their pregnancy plans, but he took care of everything with utmost detail, “Firefly” now only awaited the moment for the bud to bloom.

After the bustling high summer came the TV fall season, “The Big Bang Theory” unleashed astonishing comedic energy, brewing a great comeback among geeks worldwide; at the end of the year to coincide with YOUTUBE’s launch, they had a good time pranking each other, kickstarting the spoof of husband/boyfriend VS wife/girlfriend, but even without YOUTUBE, no matter what others did, they were always so sweet and fun every day, right up to these last few seconds of the year, spent in happiness.

“4, 3, 2, 1! Happy New Year—”

2005 had arrived! With a roar—as the countdown ended—the dark sky lit up with fireworks, the booming sounds of the blossoms climbing and exploding deafened the spectators, and streams of dazzling purple fireworks shot up before falling back down, roar—

“Happy New Year!” Cheers and blessings of tourists filled Six Flags Square, friends smiling and congratulating each other, couples embracing and kissing. After sharing a tender, long kiss with Jessica, Wang Yang was about to say something with a smile, looking at her eyes full of love, but Jessica hurriedly sealed his mouth with hers again—this year, she would speak first! With a sizzling sound as their lips parted, she flashed a toothy smile, “I love you!”

He had been beaten to it! Wang Yang couldn’t help but frown slightly; this girl was too cunning! What to do? His eyes darted around, then he immediately said with a laugh, “I love you too! And I like you.” Beaten to ‘like’ as well! Jessica felt a bit annoyed that she hadn’t said it in one go, she glanced at the brilliant fireworks in the sky, and also said with a smile, “I like you too! And I admire you.” Admire? Wow! Wang Yang couldn’t help but wrap his arms around her, lower his head against her forehead, and spin around amidst the crowd, “I admire you too! And I care about you.”

Care—that word was too…! Sweetly considering it, Jessica replied with a smile, “I care about you too! And I accompany you.” Accompany? Okay then! Wang Yang’s grin stretched into a mischievous smile, “I accompany you too, and I-FUCK-YOU!” Jessica was momentarily stunned, then she rolled her eyes with a snort, “Just kill me!” She went from whispering to shouting, “I also FUCK you, and I-HATE-YOU!” Wang Yang burst into laughter, “Doesn’t every kid hate Wang Yang? I don’t hate you, but I-HIT-YOU! Ha ha!” Jessica also laughed raucously, it seemed he was going crazy recently due to being on birth control during the safe period, serves him right! She threw her head back with a laugh, “This isn’t fun, HEY! This isn’t fun!…” Her tone was somewhat reluctant, “OK, I also crash into you, and I KISS you!…”

“What are we waiting for, then?” Beneath the dazzling fireworks, within the lively crowd, the two couldn’t suppress their overflowing affection, and passionately kissed each other.

As a new calendar went up on the wall and the New Year chimes rang out, January 1st, 2005 officially began, and the 2004 film company’s North American box office share battle also came to a conclusion.

Although “The Devil Wears Prada” had a North American box office of $235 million, it only contributed $58.73 million to Flame Film in 2004; another old movie, “Saw,” had $8,843 for one day of screening. Last summer, Flame Film unchallenged seized four weekend champions to become the summer champion. The box office of three movies was frighteningly high, with “Ice Age 2” grossing $230 million in North America and $730 million worldwide; “Furious Cars” grossing $195 million in North America and $557 million worldwide; “The Hangover 2” with $260 million in North America, and $623 million worldwide; “Saw II,” which hadn’t yet opened overseas, finished its North American run with $118 million; “Mr. Hughes 2,” screened for 22 days, contributed $91.49 million at the box office; “Crash,” as the closing film screened for 15 days, also had $31.26 million.

So, over the past 366 days, Flame Film swept a total of $986.13 million in North American box office with eight new and old films, that is, $986 million! The highest was $260 million, averaging $123.2 million per film; an average of $154.5 million per new film.

Astonishing, magical, crazy—these words are not enough to describe this enviable report card. Just looking at “Alexander the Great,” which claimed an investment of $155 million yet only earned a pitiful $28.6 million in North American box office, shows just how unpredictable the market is! Flame Film, bold as brass, treated the market as their own backyard, reaping what they sowed and collecting a staggering $986 million, cornering 10.2% of the market share. This figure solidly placed them in fourth position annually, looking down on all independent film companies and several traditional powerhouses.

Last year’s total North American box office was a fixed $9.68 billion, with Sony/Columbia snatching the annual championship with total box office of $1.237 billion, a 12.8% market share. They released 24/17 films, the highest being “Spider-Man 2” at $373 million, averaging $51.5 million per film; Warner Brothers took runner-up with $1.151 billion, an 11.9% market share, the highest being “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” at $249 million, averaging $41.1 million per film (28/22); Disney’s distribution brand Buena Vista took in $1.109 billion, an 11.5% market share, the highest being Pixar’s “The Incredibles” at $248 million, averaging $39.6 million per film (28/20).

DreamWorks ranked fifth, second among independent film studios, with a 9.1% market share, averaging $80 million per film (11/10); 20th Century Fox came in sixth, with a 9.0% market share, averaging $48.4 million per film (18/14); Universal Studios was seventh, with 8.5%, averaging $41.1 million per film (20/14); Paramount ranked eighth, with 5.7%, averaging $32.4 million per film (17/14); New Line Cinema placed ninth, third among independents, with 3.6%, averaging $24.8 million per film (14/10); and Newmarket was tenth, fourth among independents, with 3.5%, averaging $42.3 million per film (8/7).

Miramax Films at 3.4%, Lionsgate at 2.9%, MGM at 2.1%, Fox Searchlight at 1.8%, and Focus Features at 1.0% took the 11th to 15th places respectively; their average revenues were respectively $16.4 million (20/13), $14 million (20/17), $10.6 million (19/15), $15.8 million (11/10), and $13.8 million (7/5).

Therefore, the average box office revenue per film in 2004 once again crowned Flames as the champion, DreamWorks as the runner-up, and Sony/Columbia in third place.

However, compared to DreamWorks’ precarious financial situation with earnings not covering interest payments, the financially mysterious yet healthy Flames Film was so powerful! DreamWorks was like a feeble old man, drained and weak, while Flames was a young, robust, and energetic muscle man with a stunningly high IQ of over 187! This meant that their charm was incredibly astounding.

“Flames Film Company has finally become the king of the independent film kingdom, heralding a new era in Hollywood.” — Yahoo Entertainment; “The rise of Flames Film is hard to replicate, there’s only one Wang Yang in the world.” — The Hollywood Reporter; “The perfect executor of the Pareto principle and the long-tail theory, what will be Flames Film’s next step?” — The Wall Street Journal; “It makes all the other film companies feel ashamed.” — Los Angeles Times…

“Support Flames Film! Looking forward to more amazing movies from you guys in 2005!” As soon as this good news was released, staunch Flames film fans left messages of support on the official website and other places, expressing their expectations and opinions for the new year. John223 wrote, “I won’t watch ‘Brokeback Mountain’ because I don’t support homosexuality, but I’m really looking forward to ‘Kung Fu Panda’ and ‘Firefly’.” Molly wrote, “I’ve been fascinated by the mysterious and charming Chinese culture since I was a child, ‘Kung Fu Panda’ and ‘Firefly’ will be one of the must-see movies for me this year.” Lovelucy1 expressed, “I’m interested in watching all six new films from Flames this year, with ‘Firefly’ being my most anticipated, looking forward to an exciting viewing experience!” Cryssosa excitedly wrote, “Another year of Wang Yang’s movies, there were two each in 2000, 2002, and 2003, will 2005 be the same? What plans does Flames have? P.S. I love Wang Yang!”…

Lorne-L seemed to have stumbled upon the discussion by accident, asking on the message board, “I would like to know when Flames is going to release the new DVD of ‘MIT-21-TEAM’? I heard there are many behind-the-scenes extras that haven’t been released, including Natalie Portman’s debate with Wang Yang, is that so?”

“We are very grateful for the support Flames Film has received over the past year, it’s your energy that has helped us achieve these surprising results.”

Fiona Hasen, the spokesperson for Flames Film, expressed heartfelt thanks to the fans through the media, adding, “Flames Film will continue to strive in 2005, with a strict demand for film quality and satisfying our audience as our goal! We will introduce more outstanding new films and sequels.”

“This year we have already confirmed the large-scale release of six films, including the animated comedy ‘Kung Fu Panda’, carefully produced by Blue Sky Studios for more than three years; the $200 million budget sci-fi adventure film ‘Firefly’ directed and produced by Wang Yang; ‘Assassin’s Creed’, a return to action gun-fighting films by John Woo; sequels ‘Step Up 2: The Streets’ and ‘Saw III’; as well as the drama ‘Brokeback Mountain’ directed by Ang Lee, which is a deeply moving and emotional story. The six films have different styles and themes, and we believe everyone will not be disappointed.” (

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