novellhall Chapter 260 Warner Bros. Can't Afford to Lose Again [5000]
Chapter 260 Warner Bros. Can't Afford to Lose Again [5000]
Chapter 259 Warner Bros. Can't Afford to Lose Again [5000]
Rob's voice was urgent: "Warner Bros. just released the trailer for Dwayne Johnson's new film 'San Andreas,' and the release time is fifteen minutes after ours."
Chen Xun frowned and clicked on the link sent by Robert.
The trailer for "Collapse" has a completely different style.
Explosions, collapses, close-ups of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson muscularly carrying steel bars to rescue people.
A typical disaster movie formula.
The cut was really cool.
The release was also rolled out across all platforms, with simultaneous push notifications on YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook.
If it's just a normal scheduling conflict, then it's not a big deal.
Hollywood has new movie promotions every week, so it's common for them to clash.
The problem is that the timing was too perfect.
It seems intentional.
Chen Xun scrolled down to the comments section.
Some people have already started stirring up trouble.
An account called Hollywood Insider posted a tweet: "Interesting. Chen Xun, the lead actor in 'Ancient One,' replaced Dwayne Johnson, who left 'Fast & Furious 5,' and now both of their new movies are releasing trailers on the same day."
"Marvel vs. Warner Bros., Chen Xun vs. The Rock, settling old and new scores together?"
Fans from both sides, along with bystanders who loved watching the drama unfold, got into a heated argument.
"When Dwayne Johnson left Fast & Furious 5, Chen Xun took his place, and Fast & Furious 5 became a huge hit. I don't believe Johnson didn't have some grudges about that."
"Warner Bros. and Marvel have always been bitter rivals, this is going to be interesting."
"So this is a personal feud escalating into a corporate war?"
"I bet on Chen Xun to win. Guardians of the Galaxy's 1.4 billion box office is there for all to see, and Johnson's recent films haven't been doing that well either."
"Johnson is more famous globally, okay? Chen Xun only became popular in the last two years."
"But Chen Xun has the Chinese market! 'The Ancient One' was filmed in Qinghai, so Chinese audiences will definitely support it!"
Someone dug up old grievances.
A post from a veteran film forum has been unearthed.
This is a compilation of rumors from the pre-production period of "Fast & Furious 5".
The article mentions that Vin Diesel and Dwayne Johnson had disagreements about their roles and screen time. Johnson's team requested more action scenes and individual highlight moments, but the producers did not fully agree to this in consideration of the overall balance of the series.
In the end, Johnson chose to withdraw, and Chen Xun was urgently brought in to star in the film.
The comments from back then are still there: "The Johnson takes himself too seriously, Van is the core of the series."
"But Johnson's box office appeal is indeed strong, so his departure is a loss."
"Are the new Asian actors any good? Don't ruin this series."
The comments were screenshotted and captioned: "Now this new Asian actor has become Marvel's rising star, while Dwayne Johnson is still making disaster movies, so who made the right choice?"
'
The smell of gunpowder grew stronger.
At 8 p.m., the situation escalated.
The Hollywood Reporter published a news flash:
Trailer Day: Another showdown between Marvel and Warner Bros.
The article outlines the timeline:
The trailer for "Ancient One" will be released at 3 PM, and the trailer for "Collapse" will be released at 3:15 PM.
The two films were released two weeks apart, making them direct competitors, and also had multiple layers of historical grudges:
The conflict between Chen Xun and Warner Bros. over the casting of "Interstellar".
The delicate relationship between Dwayne Johnson and Universal Pictures.
Marvel and DC have been engaged in a decade-long market competition.
The article concludes by quoting an anonymous industry insider: "This is no longer a simple clash of promotional tactics; it's a concentrated eruption of long-simmering conflicts. Both teams know that the outcome of this showdown will affect their industry influence for the next few years."
Rob called again: "Warner has started buying trending topics!"
"The topic of the monolith saving the world in Collapse suddenly surged on Twitter, which is obviously due to the presence of trolls."
Chen Xun clicked to take a look.
really.
A large number of accounts are using the hashtag #TheStoneSalvation to post about the world.
The accompanying images are all highlights of Dwayne Johnson in the trailer.
The copywriting is highly consistent: "A true tough guy doesn't play games; he saves the world with real action."
People started making comparisons: "So the magic hand gestures are just an illusion? That's a pretty obvious indication!"
The conflict spread from the film itself to the actors' styles and even their values.
Those who support Johnson say, "What's needed in the face of disaster is muscle that can lift steel bars, not a sorcerer making hand gestures."
Chen Xun's retort: "So you mean wisdom, philosophy, and maintaining balance are less useful than muscles?"
"This level of thinking is truly unparalleled!"
Some rational analysts have also come out to analyze: "Actually, this reflects two different superhero narratives. One is based on external strength, and the other on internal wisdom. There is no superior or inferior one, only different audience preferences."
But someone immediately retorted: "Come on, it's just a clash between the old and new forces!"
"The Rock represents the traditional action superstar formula, while Chen Xun represents the new generation's focus on cultural depth and diversity. Do you think young audiences today still crave just muscle-explosive action?"
These words struck a nerve with some people.
The debate intensified, even escalating into personal attacks and racist remarks.
Although it was quickly deleted by the platform, the screenshots had already circulated in various groups.
At 10 PM, Vin Diesel sent Chen Xun a message: "Things from back then have been brought up again!"
Chen Xun replied, "What do you think?"
"I'm on your side. The production team was responsible for what happened back then, and Johnson also had his choices, but using this to create hype now is low."
Vin Diesel waited a while, then sent another message: "Do I need to speak up?"
"Not for now, let's let the dust settle!"
Chen Xun put down his phone and walked to the window.
On Twitter.
#Ancient One vs. Apocalypse Collapse#
This topic has quietly climbed onto the trending list.
Clicking on it leads to a meme war between the fans of both sides.
On one side is a cool screenshot of the Ancient One forming hand seals, and on the other side is a display of Dwayne Johnson's strength in carrying steel bars.
Accompanied by various humorous captions: "When a magician meets a construction worker —"
"I choose the construction worker who knows hand seals (doge emoji)"
"So who will win? I'm betting on magic, because it doesn't require workers' compensation."
The trailer war between "The Ancient One" and "Collapse" has entered its third day.
Jessica, head of Marvel's marketing department, holds a war game meeting every morning at nine o'clock sharp.
Two huge data charts were posted on the whiteboard in the conference room.
The left side shows the data performance of various aspects of "The Ancient One", and the right side shows that of "The End of the World".
"Yesterday we launched the second phase of the handprint challenge."
Jessica pointed at the screen with a laser pointer: "Users who upload videos of themselves making hand seals, along with the hashtag #AncientOneHandSealChallenge#, will have a chance to win tickets to the movie premiere."
.
"In 24 hours, the topic's readership increased by 40 million, and more than 80,000 videos were created in response."
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她切换下一张图：「这是参与用户的年龄分布，18—25岁占比45%，26—35岁占比38%。关键在这里————」
The laser pointer paused on the data bar for new user percentage: "67% of the participants only followed our official account in the last three days, which means that the content accumulated since the filming period has now become the best entry point."
"Passersby clicked in because of the trending topic, and what they saw wasn't just a trailer, but an entire storyline that started last year."
.
Chen Xun, who was sitting at the conference table, nodded.
This is precisely why he insisted on creating a daily account for the Ancient One film crew.
Short-term marketing can generate buzz, but long-term content builds relationships.
When competition suddenly erupts, those seemingly ordinary daily updates, hand gesture tutorials, and breathing exercises become solid moats.
"What about Warner?"
Someone asked.
Jessica pulled up another set of data: "San Andreas released three behind-the-scenes clips yesterday: Johnson carrying steel bars in front of a green screen, the production process of special effects explosions, and the director explaining the disaster scene design."
She paused for a moment, then said, "The data is good, but not explosive enough. The highest number of views for a single video is eight million, and the interaction rate is only one-third of ours."
Why?
"Because their content is only for viewing, there's no interaction."
Chen Xun spoke up: "What we give our fans is an identity—the Vishanti faction or the Void faction?"
"And there's identity recognition and interaction!"
"Can the handprint be made correctly?"
"Are breathing techniques effective?"
"Warner Bros. focuses more on showcasing how awesome Dwayne Johnson is and how amazing the special effects are. That might have been okay five years ago, but audiences want more now."
"Therefore, our strategy remains unchanged."
Jessica summarized: "We will continue to deepen the community operations of the Wizard Universe. This afternoon, we will release a video analyzing the architecture of Kamar-Taj, with art director Linda explaining the design concept."
"At 8 PM, Chen Xun will do a half-hour Q&A live stream on Twitter, answering only questions about characters and the philosophy of magic, without mentioning any competition."
The meeting adjourned.
Chen Xun opened his phone and inadvertently saw a conversation on Twitter: "I just got into 'The Ancient One,' where should I start learning? Should I just watch the trailer?"
"Wait! Go check out the @AncientOneFilmCreationDaily account first. Start from the first post, and you'll see how a movie grows from nothing. It's much more interesting than the trailer."
"Wow, they've been updating this since last year! That's so dedicated!"
"Look at those hand gesture tutorials, they really work! I had insomnia yesterday, tried the calming breathing technique, and slept for eight hours. Just for this, I'm definitely buying movie tickets."
Chen Xun smiled.
This is the effect he wanted.
At the same time, in the conference room on the seventh floor of Building B at Warner Bros. headquarters.
Compared to the relaxed and pleasant atmosphere at Marvel meetings, the atmosphere here was exceptionally heavy.
Twelve people sat on either side of the long table.
The department includes executives from the marketing, public relations, and distribution departments, as well as two data analysis consultants brought in from Wall Street.
The projection screen displayed side-by-side a comparison of the online buzz curves for "Collapse" and "The Ancient One" over the past 72 hours.
The blue "Collapse" line spiked three days ago when the trailer was released, and then slowly slid down.
The red "Ancient One" line didn't reach a very high peak, but it has remained stable at a high level ever since, and even saw a slight rebound last night.
That was the result of the handprint challenge.
"Explain."
The speaker was the newly appointed Vice President of Marketing, Michael Carter.
He had just taken office three months ago, after his predecessor resigned due to the box office failure of "Interstellar".
"Our budget is 30% larger than theirs, and our celebrity endorsements are just as good, so why are the sales figures like this?"
Marketing Director Sarah stood up with a stiff upper lip: "From the data model, Marvel's strategy is long-term content reserves + short-term event ignition."
"They started building their fan community during filming, and those seemingly scattered updates—handprint tutorials, architectural analyses,..."
The "breathing method" is actually cultivating users' engagement habits; when competition erupts, these users naturally become their advocates.
She switched to the next slide: "And we are a typical example of event marketing."
"Before the trailer was released, apart from a few stills, there was almost no continuous exposure of content. So when users were attracted by the trending topics, all they saw was the trailer and a few behind-the-scenes clips. The dwell time was short and the conversion rate was low."
"Then we'll finish it now!"
Michael slammed his fist on the table: "Whatever they have, we'll follow!"
"They do the handprint challenge, we'll do the tough guy challenge! Weightlifting videos, physical fitness tests, we'll get Dwayne Johnson himself on the field!"
"It's too late!"
Sarah smiled wryly: "Community building takes time. If we do a challenge now, the users participating can only be Johnson's existing fans, so it's difficult to expand to a wider audience."
"As for Marvel, their content has already penetrated into niche circles like health, meditation, and even architectural aesthetics. Look at this—"
She clicked on a link.
A post from a meditation blogger: "I've been practicing the calming breathing technique shared by the Ancient One crew lately, and it really helps with anxiety. I suddenly realized that if superhero movies can bring this kind of practical value, then their significance goes far beyond entertainment."
In the replies below, many people expressed the same sentiment.
"This is no longer movie marketing."
Sarah said seriously, "They are building a lifestyle identity."
The meeting room was deathly silent.
"So what do we do now?"
The distribution director asked, "There are still six weeks until the release. We can't just stand by and watch them overshadow us."
The data consultant, who had been silent until now, spoke up: "From a competitive strategy perspective, I suggest we proactively cool things down."
Everyone looked at him.
"The current online battle atmosphere may seem to bring us popularity, but in reality, the biggest beneficiary is Marvel."
The consultant adjusted his glasses: "Because they have a richer content library, they can handle this wave of traffic."
"Besides trailers and behind-the-scenes footage, we don't have many other means to continue the fight, which will only amplify their advantages."
He pulled up a sentiment analysis chart.
"In current discussions about the two films, the percentage of anticipation is 68% for 'The Ancient One' and 52% for 'Collapse'. However, the percentage of confrontational sentiment is only 12% for 'The Ancient One' and a high 34% for 'Collapse'."
"Our fans are more on the defensive and counter-attacking, while their fans are more on recommending and sharing."
Michael stared at the charts, his face grim.
He knew the advisor was right.
But he knew even more that he couldn't afford to lose.
How did the former vice president leave?
Interstellar was crushed by Guardians of the Galaxy, causing its stock price to plummet by 18% in a single day, infuriating the board of directors.
It took him three months to stabilize the situation and convince those bloodsuckers on Wall Street to give Warner another chance.
This is his first major project since taking office, "Collapse".
He personally negotiated with Johnson, approved the budget, and agreed to the publicity strategy.
If we lose to Chen Xun again—
"A temperature drop is impossible!"
Michael's voice was icy: "Now that things have cooled down, what will the media write?"
"Warner Bros. backing down? The Rock avoiding a fight?"
"Our stock price has only stabilized for two months!"
He stood up, walked to the window, and turned his back to the crowd: "What I need are solutions, not suggestions to back down."
Sarah and the others exchanged glances.
Then she said, "Then we can only increase our investment, raise the budget for offline events, hold advance screenings in fifteen key cities, and invite more film critics to special screenings."
"On social media platforms, we may not be able to compete with their content depth, but we can focus on building a strong offline reputation."
"Anything else?"
"The Rock's global fanbase is still bigger than Chen Xun's!"
Sarah continued, "We can launch Johnson's global promotional tour, covering Europe, Asia, and Latin America. As for Chen Xun—I checked their schedule, and their main focus is on North America and China. We can seize the initiative in other areas."
Michael turned around: "Then let's do it!"
"I'm going to increase the budget by another 20%. I want the whole world to know before the movie is released that 'San Andreas' is the most unmissable disaster blockbuster of the year."
He paused, then added, "Keep a close eye on Marvel's every move. Whatever they do, we have to keep up within 24 hours. Even if our content isn't as substantial as theirs, we can't lose in terms of hype."
The meeting ended in a tense atmosphere.
Sarah returned to her office, closed the door, and slowly let out a breath.
The assistant whispered, "Director, can we really win?"
Sarah did not answer.
She turned on her computer, clicked on the "Ancient One Crew Daily Life" account homepage, and scrolled down.
The first tweet was posted eleven months ago: "First day in Qinghai, the sky here is unrealistically blue. #AncientOneFilmingStart#"
The accompanying picture shows Chen Xun standing in front of the Kamar-Taj construction site, his back to the camera.
Who would care about such an account back then?
Eleven months later, this account has posted more than two hundred tweets.
From architectural construction and hand gesture instruction to actor training, philosophical discussions, charitable collaborations, and fan interactions—
It doesn't feel like an official promotional account; rather, it's like a growth diary, perfectly recording the growth of "Ancient One".
Warner Bros.' official account for "Collapse" posted its first tweet three months ago: "The Rock joins the team, disaster escalates! #CollapseFilmingBegins#"
In comparison, it appears somewhat thin.
Sarah closed the page and rubbed her temples.
She knew about Michael's pressure and the company's predicament.
But she also knew that some things couldn't be learned by cramming at the last minute.
The phone rang; it was Michael calling from the internal line.
"Sarah, double-check Johnson's schedule for next week."
"I want him to post at least three tweets a day. Your team should prepare the content in advance, and we should also find a few influential fitness bloggers to collaborate with to make the tough guy challenge a success. Budget is not a problem."
"clear!"
She opened her email and started writing the tweet for Johnson's next week.
But as I wrote, those light and natural sentences from "The Daily Life of the Ancient One Cast" kept popping into my head.
"Today I'll teach you a simple hand gesture that you can do during your lunch break to relieve neck and shoulder pain."
"Why are the pillars of Kamar-Taj octagonal? Because in traditional Chinese culture, the number eight symbolizes completeness and balance."
"Sharing a photo of the starry sky in Qinghai, taken during a break from shooting. Sometimes I feel that protecting this kind of world is worthwhile."
Every piece of copy is full of life.
It feels like it's right next to us.
Sarah deleted the text she had written.
restart.
This time, she tried to use fewer exclamation marks and fewer interjections.
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"Shocking!"
"epic!"
"Don't miss it!"
Discard all these emphatic words!
She tried to learn from the copywriting of "The Ancient One" and write down-to-earth stories.
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