Nowadays, saying Duke is the pillar of Warner Bros., not only would all of Hollywood agree, but even people within Warner Bros. would raise both hands in approval. The Warner Bros. editorial department took the story outline that Tina Fey had forwarded very seriously. While Duke was busy continuing filming, they specifically assigned personnel to study it and discuss the feasibility of turning it into a movie.
As for Duke's suggestion to forward it to the China Film Group, Warner Bros. naturally put it aside. If the project could generate significant revenue, they trusted Duke would not object to Warner retaining these files.
It can be said that Warner Bros. treated this seemingly unfamiliar material with great importance. After all, it was sent seriously by a director of Duke's caliber, not some self-proclaimed talent who had never proven themselves in the market producing random nonsense.
However, after weeks of research and discussion, Warner Bros. concluded that while the document had some value, it was not particularly significant to them.
They specifically had Warner Greater China conduct a related investigation. Although the characters mentioned were household names in China, few knew them outside of China. Hollywood follows an internationalized route; producing a film solely for the Chinese market had no real significance.
Given this situation, Warner Bros. forwarded the document to Warner Greater China. The cooperation between Warner and the China Film Group had brought countless benefits, and Warner Bros. hoped this could further strengthen the relationship between both sides.
The document was solemnly handed over by Warner Greater China's general manager Phil to the China Film Group. Hearing that it was a proposal from Duke Rosenberg regarding Chinese films, the China Film Group did not dare neglect it and immediately delivered it to Zuoshandiao.
In his spacious office, Zuoshandiao opened the document and began reading it carefully.
In recent years, with rumors of his impending retirement circulating in the industry, various unfavorable stories about him had appeared online and within the film circle. Zuoshandiao did not care; many of the statements were indeed factual. Yet in this country, if one wants to accomplish anything, how could one act differently?
He had devoted his entire life to Chinese cinema and had vigorously promoted reforms in the industry, believing himself to be worthy of the Chinese film industry.
Although nearing retirement, Zuoshandiao still wanted to contribute something to Chinese cinema.
After reading the document, Zuoshandiao sighed lightly. The characters were well-known in China, and with proper adaptation, the audience would certainly be abundant. Truly gathering all these characters together could attract a huge audience and might even create a blockbuster-level success for Chinese superheroes.
However, as someone who understood the industry thoroughly, Zuoshandiao knew that filming a Chinese superhero movie was not realistic.
In fact, such calls had long existed online. Chinese superheroes were neither fewer nor weaker than American ones and had a wide grassroots following. But in modern society, everyone knew that actually filming such a movie was merely wishful thinking.
Zuoshandiao had also read many relevant posts online, though he did not fully agree with them.
Some argued that superheroes advocate extreme individual heroism and symbolize rebellion against governmental power, which could offend authorities and make leaders uncomfortable.
This reasoning was a bit overblown. If such concerns were valid, the first to be targeted would have been Sun Wukong. The havoc he caused in Heaven was no less than any superhero's exploits.
Others claimed that Chinese films were all knock-offs, lacking imagination or technical ability to produce a blockbuster.
Zuoshandiao considered this reasoning invalid as well. If technical skill is insufficient, one can spend money to hire a Hollywood team. He had worked extensively with Duke Rosenberg and the best special effects companies in Hollywood, including Industrial Light & Magic, and knew they were all profit-driven. As long as the money was there, they did not care where the business came from.
Some even invoked the idea of "mainstream themes," but to Zuoshandiao, that was also not a sufficient argument.
Mainstream themes do not contradict science fiction or superheroes. In fact, American superhero films are essentially mainstream films of the U.S.—they carry both realistic and positive meanings. Sci-fi and superheroes are just forms; any theme can be incorporated, and the two do not exclude each other.
Despite rejecting these arguments internally, Zuoshandiao knew very clearly that such projects had little significance for Chinese cinema at the current stage. He pressed the intercom and instructed his secretary to temporarily archive these materials.
After the secretary left, Zuoshandiao lightly tapped the desk. As a veteran of Chinese cinema, claiming he did not want to see Chinese films soar and dominate globally like Hollywood films would be false.
He even began to mentally add cinematic elements based on the documents he had just read.
To turn this into a film closely connected with modern society, it would be necessary to design a superhero consistent with mainstream values and positivity—for example, someone living in a well-regarded family in Beijing, embodying the qualities of a "Four Haves" young person, loving the city, supporting the government, with a story about defeating terrorist monsters and saving Beijing. To align with current circumstances, this superhero would also embody virtues like integrity, tolerance, patriotism, and innovation.
Yet even thinking this far, Zuoshandiao shook his head and let out a long sigh: "It just can't be filmed!"
With superheroes and terrorist monsters, there must be fights. With fights, they must be spectacular; otherwise, the audience would not be satisfied.
Once the fights reach a spectacular scale, a series of corresponding problems arise.
In American films, they easily destroy their own cities like New York or Los Angeles, including iconic buildings; Japan, even more so, with Tokyo being destroyed more often than Beijing experiences sandstorms.
Thus, such destructive action scenes are utterly unrealistic in China. Forget the censorship and other departments; even the China Film Group alone would never approve.
For example, placing the background of a superhero versus evil forces battle in front of the Imperial Palace square.
Before filming, the director and crew must face the question: is it permissible to topple a hero's monument?
Do you even need to ask? Certainly not. It commemorates martyrs from the revolutionary war. If the crew topples it, what political meaning would the film convey? What about smashing a corner of some assembly hall where officials meet? Also not allowed—that's where the nation's representatives gather. What if a representative stands up to protest that it's disrespectful?
As for a memorial hall, touching even a single finger would be sacrilegious and would lead to indefinite censorship by the authorities.
Thinking of this, Zuoshandiao abandoned the most famous buildings in the city and opted for a less politically sensitive location. For instance, near the China World Trade Center, the superhero and evil forces could battle with the Trade Center tower as the backdrop, restricting the action strictly between Dawang Road in the east and Yong'anli in the west. Smash one of the twin towers, blow up half a flyover, burn the big pants-shaped TV building once—but no more than that.
But after less than five seconds of thought, Zuoshandiao shook his head again.
Doing so still posed many problems. Destroying such an important CBD in Beijing could tarnish the city's achievements. If one claims the movie is fictional, what if someone takes it seriously? Would businesses protest? Moreover, the TV station's annex fire had happened years ago, responsibilities clarified; placing it on screen now—what is the implication? Questioning official investigation conclusions?
What about moving the battle outside the city? The wilderness is definitely no good. Though Zuoshandiao was of retirement age, he understood audience psychology well enough. If the film's background is in an unfamiliar place, the audience's immersion would be weak, so one must choose a well-known location.
How about the Badaling Great Wall? Far from the city, relatively safe, but feasibility is still zero.
The Great Wall represents the nation's image. If the hero or villain punches and breaks it in two, the symbolism looks bad.
Even if the film has no intent to imply anything, audiences with ulterior motives could misinterpret it. Suppose someone just screenshots the scene, posts it online with a comment about the nation—social impact would be severe and hard to undo.
Moreover, if the film portrays the villains as monsters sent by terrorists, where do these terrorists come from? The U.S., Europe, or Russia is no good—it could cause diplomatic disputes. The Middle East is also unsuitable and riskier. Certain independent organizations could be villains, but the state forbids mentioning them; the film would already contain too many sensitive words. What? Invent a terrorist group? Still not enough? Why always create trouble for the country?
Then there's the ending problem for this type of film.
"The monster wreaks havoc across the city, everyone is helpless, and at the critical moment, the superhero appears to save the city."
As soon as he muttered this, Zuoshandiao immediately realized the problem: does "everyone" include police and armed forces? The monster is wreaking havoc on social order, and the police are powerless, leaving it to a superhero to save the day. Wouldn't this degrade the image of certain departments?
Perhaps the script could be modified so that the superhero works with the police to defeat the villain—like Duke Rosenberg did in Transformers, with Autobots fighting alongside the U.S. military.
But Zuoshandiao still shook his head. The feasibility was too low. With such a setup, who obeys whom? The superhero obeys the police, or the police obey the superhero? Does this superhero even have a supervising department? Perhaps the protagonist is actually a police officer, working regular duty, and transforms into a superhero only when needed—but that wouldn't work either. How could such a thing be kept from the organization?
Simulating all this, Zuoshandiao's enthusiasm quickly faded. He stood up, made himself a cup of tea, and no longer cared to think about it.
....
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