The Bald-Headed Secret of the Matou Family

Having witnessed countless online video trends, Second Master knew very well that once he started, countless similar videos would follow.

When Uncle Benshan's "The Spring Breeze of Reform Sweeps the Land" became a hit, countless imitation videos followed.

Moreover, these parody videos can help promote movies, so it's a win-win situation.

The fan-made works definitely played a significant role in making Fate/Zero so popular in the previous life of the Second Master.

Even if online video wasn't widespread in 2004, it didn't matter; they could just ask TV stations to help select some excellent parody videos for promotion.

This also helps filter out some unhealthy and absurd videos, improving the reputation of derivative works.

Although Shinji himself often enjoyed watching "philosophical parodies" in his past life, this kind of content is indeed not suitable for minors, as it can easily have a very strong impact on them.

Thanks to various forms of promotion, coupled with the fact that audiences have very few action-packed movies to choose from these days, Fate/Zero's box office lifespan is much longer than that of commercial films from the previous era.

It's important to understand that, apart from distorted film markets like Japan, the box office frenzy for commercial films in most countries lasts only two to four weeks, after which box office figures tend to plummet.

But now, even though May is almost over, Fate/Zero's box office remains quite stable.

So stable was the case that all other films released at the same time were equally stable—only left with scraps by Fate/Zero.

In the North American market alone, besides Fate/Zero, which took in nearly $150 million at the box office this week, the runner-up was a romance film that only took in $33 million.

$33 million seems like a lot, but in the fertile field of North America, it's not even a sprout. More novel resources are available in our group. This group shares novels by Hedgehog Cat and Pineapple Bun. We provide extraction services for Hedgehog Cat and Pineapple Bun to offer a better reading experience. (For subscribed novels, please contact the administrator.) (Dimensional Exchange Group) 6383Ling6497 (Internal Dimensional Group: 37Ling63Ling62). Resources are from the internet and are for learning and exchange purposes only. The copyright of the novel resources belongs to the original author. The text is for personal study and trial reading only. Please delete it within 24 hours of downloading. If you like this resource, please purchase the original. Thank you for your cooperation! If this resource inadvertently infringes on your rights, please notify us so we can delete it promptly. =================================

It's fair to say that the 2004 summer movie season was completely dominated by Fate/Zero.

As May came to a close, several records that had already been set were established: the highest-grossing opening weekend in North America, the highest-grossing May film in North American film history, and the highest-grossing film in North American film history over seven days.

While Fate/Zero has broken similar records in other countries, these figures are far less astonishing than those from the North American fandom.

A record of $1 million will elicit a soft "oh"; a record of $10 million will draw attention; a record of $100 million will elicit astonishment; but a record of $1 billion...

Ahem, Fate/Zero's box office performance isn't quite that exaggerated yet, but judging from the current box office trend, reaching $1 billion worldwide isn't impossible.

[Fate/Zero broke every record it could possibly break! Shinji Matou's new film once again proves his unparalleled box office appeal! Keep in mind this is only the second film Director this 17-year-old; his future is truly promising!!]

Of course, Jidai Group. wouldn't miss the opportunity to generate buzz, with its various media outlets continuing to hype up the film and even taking on private projects for it.

Fans who have seen the film have given Fate/Zero rave reviews. On the popular film rating website IMDb, the film has consistently maintained a 9.5 rating, demonstrating its phenomenal popularity among audiences!

Honestly, IMDB only launched last year.

In less than a year, the website became known in the media as a "famous movie fan rating website".

None of that matters. Fate/Zero is a movie loved by many fans, and with it poised to break the record for the highest-grossing film worldwide, no amount of hype will seem excessive to its fans.

Of course, there are still people who think it's excessive, namely Disney, the producer of "The Lion King," which is currently the highest-grossing film in history with a global box office record of $960 million.

Despite the fact that mainstream cinema in the world is art films and the discourse is controlled by European "artists," the top three highest-grossing films worldwide are all American movies.

This is arguably the only respectable achievement the North American film industry can boast about, and a source of pride for North American filmmakers—although it has also made North America a "harvesting ground" for filmmakers in other parts of the world.

So, seeing Fate/Zero's box office soaring, Da Dizi got anxious and was eager to find a way to retain his box office champion title.

So in June, almost without warning, Disney suddenly announced that the Lion King would be re-released in major countries and regions around the world for its tenth anniversary.

Disney isn't just randomly re-releasing shows; there's a reason behind it.

Officially, June 15, 2004, marked the tenth anniversary of the release of "The Lion King," which can be considered a very significant occasion.

Secondly, this re-release is not a simple re-release; it includes interviews with the main creators and the addition of deleted scenes.

This isn't a rehash; it's a brand new version of the Lion King that nobody has ever seen before!

This kind of self-deceiving argument can only fool the ignorant. Anyone with a discerning eye can see that this re-release of "The Lion King" is aimed at countering "Fate/Zero".

Otherwise, Disney wouldn't have boldly proclaimed on the re-release poster, "[Best Actress with a tragic ending, how about watching a movie with a happy ending to relax?]"

Ultimately, Disney's strategy was to surpass the $1 billion box office record for the Lion King before Fate/Zero could do so.

Of course, it would be even better if the Lion King could achieve a box office level that Fate/Zero could never reach.

In that case, the Lion King will remain the highest-grossing film of all time, King that no other film can match.

"Hmph, why don't they advertise that they plagiarized 'Jungle Emperor'?"

Shinji his utter disdain for Disney's shameless behavior and raised his middle finger as a sign of respect.

Chapter 83 The Secret of the Matou Family's Baldness (Bonus Chapter 1/4)

Since Disney announced the re-release of "The Lion King," a constant stream of negative news has emerged.

The most frequently mentioned issue was the negative news that "The Lion King Jungle Emperor" plagiarized Tezuka Osamu's "Kimba the White Lion," which even made headlines on the entertainment pages of several media outlets.

Many newspapers even thoughtfully included similar storyboard images from "The Lion King" and "Jungle Emperor" as evidence.

Faced with accusations of plagiarism, Disney naturally denied them vehemently, even stating that no plagiarism allegations were raised in Japan when the film was released.

Now that this issue has been raised during the film's re-release, it's clearly a setup by someone with ulterior motives. Otherwise, why would they say that all the media outlets under the Jidai Group are plagiarizing?!

Disney's explanation is utter nonsense. When the Lion King was released in 1994, Tezuka Osamu had already been dead for many years.

If he were to actually speak out, that would be the real big news.

Of course, given Tezuka Osamu's status in the animation industry, he might have a place in Hall of Heroes.

If that's the case, Shinji thinks it would be very interesting to summon the other party to sue Disney.

To be fair, did the Lion King plagiarize Jungle Emperor?

From a legal standpoint, it certainly doesn't constitute plagiarism. Disney has studied copyright law for many years and would not make such a basic mistake.

Film and television works are not subject to plagiarism checks like academic papers; many prerequisites are required to legally define them as plagiarism.

After all, you can't just label something as plagiarism simply because it's trendy or based on a similar theme. If that were the case, the film and television industry wouldn't be able to produce any decent works; everyone would be suing.

As a creator, Shinji feels that the Lion King is right on the borderline between borrowing and plagiarism from Jungle Emperor, and it's really hard to say for sure if we're just talking about the facts.

If legal proceedings are taken, it will inevitably end up being a mess.

Since Tezuka Osamu himself drew inspiration from Disney's "Bambi" during his creative process, it's impossible for Tezuka not to take advantage of that if things really came to a legal battle.

So Shinji never intended for this to escalate to legal proceedings; he just wanted to annoy Disney.

Disney is indeed furious about Shinji's behavior—like a toad jumping on someone's foot—it doesn't bite, but it's disgusting.

The Lion King is a re-release film, and its negative news won't boost box office revenue through hype; rather, it will only lead to a decline in critical acclaim and negative box office performance.

Therefore, Disney can only try to mitigate the negative effects of the plagiarism controversy surrounding "The Lion King" while simultaneously seeking out negative news about "Fate/Zero".

Using actors' scandals to generate negative public sentiment and thus damage the box office of competing films is a common publicity tactic in the entertainment industry.

The problem is that Disney simply cannot find any scandals involving the main members of Fate/Zero.

In fact, Disney wasn't the only company looking for negative news about Fate/Zero. Besides rival Film Company and film critic groups, gossip reporters were also frantically trying to dig up scandals involving people related to Fate/Zero.

This is a common problem among entertainment journalists.

Whether in Europe and America or Japan, gossip reporters have two very annoying bad habits in order to satisfy readers' curiosity.

One type enjoys hyping up unknown individuals, attempting to gain attention by making them famous overnight.

Another type is those who enjoy relentlessly smearing established celebrities, determined to ruin their reputations. The most famous example is Michael Jack.

Moreover, these people have a very high-sounding excuse—the public needs to know the truth, so why are you preventing the public from knowing the truth? What are your intentions?

In fact, if a celebrity who has been smeared retaliates desperately, the reporters are overjoyed, because it means he has truly become famous!

Anyway, the Second Master sensed a hint of the Ming Dynasty civil officials' treachery in their tone.

Generally speaking, celebrities who are targeted by these entertainment reporters don't fare well. Even if they don't end up ruined, they'll at least be humiliated by the scandals uncovered.

However, these usually invincible gossip reporters ran into a tough nut to crack when it came to the Fate production team.

The members of the Fate series have almost no scandals to report. Compared to those celebrities who act recklessly after becoming famous, the daily lives of the Fate series stars are like those of saints.

Leaving aside characters like Medusa and the King of Conquerors who spend all their time at home reading and playing games, there's not much to report on in the few actors who do go out.

After all, nobody wants to see news about a blue-haired fisherman who catches nothing, nor is anyone interested in the news that Gilgamesh spends all his time buying motorcycle models at model shops.

As for Artoria, who was being closely followed by reporters, she was basically eating all the time she spent outside.

Aside from learning that Artoria had a really big appetite, the reporters got almost nothing.

Surely they can't just make up a negative news story about Artoria not paying for her meal?

Regardless of whether readers will believe it, even if they do, it won't have any substantial impact on Artoria's popularity.

"Are these people really in the entertainment industry? Why don't they even go to nightclubs?!"

After following several Heroic Spirit Actor for half a month, a paparazzi reporter uttered this lament.

If we're really looking for scandals, Fate/Zero actually has quite a few juicy stories.

For example, there's Director's slept with every young woman in the Clock Tower, and a mercenary uncle who spends all his time "maintaining stability" in the Middle East.

Unfortunately Shinji only had affairs within the Mage world, which ordinary people had no way of knowing; Kiritsugu participated in covert operations, and those who knew he was a top soldier in the Middle East were either his own people or dead.

Of course, there are also journalists who want to use the tactic of "creating news when there is none," just like when they framed Michael Jack.

The problem is that Fuyuki City is the Matou Family's stronghold, so these reporters would have to ask Matou Zouken's permission before they could get any big news.

After several of their companions mysteriously disappeared, the reporters dared not cross that line again.

As for Disney, although the Lion King's 10th anniversary re-release grossed nearly $30 million worldwide, making it a high-grossing re-release, it still failed to break the $1 billion mark, which was quite disheartening for Disney.

While it's possible to force screenings and extend the run to eventually push a movie's box office to 1 billion, this is a losing proposition—spending 10 yuan on screening costs for every 1 yuan of box office revenue earned.

Disney, whose primary goal is to make money, would absolutely not do that.

Unlike the Lion King, whose box office performance was like that of an old man on his deathbed, Fate/Zero's box office trend remained very stable.

Throughout June, Fate/Zero grossed $60 million in North America, a solid result for a fast-paced commercial film.

Including the box office in May, Fate/Zero has grossed a total of $409.1 million in North America alone!

"This is a momentous occasion, marking the beginning of a new chapter for the North American film market. At the same time, we should also take note of Shinji Matou; since his name resounded throughout the North American film market, he has been breaking a series of records. He will undoubtedly be the biggest enemy of North American Film Company in the future."

Setting down her newspaper, Chloe looked at Shinji: "You're being too conspicuous; you've already aroused the suspicion of others."

"A mediocre person is never envied," Shinji said casually. "It's just that box office records are too easy to break now; there's no sense of accomplishment in breaking them."

Chloe rolled her eyes. "I guess only you would say something like that."

Shinji simply smiled and didn't say anything.

In Second Master's eyes, only the records of those blockbuster movies from his previous life are considered records; the records of this world are really meaningless to him.

After all, its box office record of less than $1 billion could have been easily surpassed by any 3D movie in its previous life.

"The promotion for Fate/Zero should be over by now, right?" Chloe asked with concern. "What are your plans next?"

Shinji looked out the window at the sky and said slowly, "The specific filming plan hasn't been finalized yet. It depends on what new technologies Touko -senpai can offer."

"But it'll most likely be a story from the Fate series. After all, the audience is very interested in that series. However, it could also be one of those stories I've told you about before, like Tsukihime or <Kara no Kyoukai>..."

"That's not what I meant," Chloe said with a hint of complaint. "All you ever talk about is movies, what about your own private life?"

"Filmmaking is my job, but also my greatest passion."

Shinji's words earned him a disdainful look from Chloe.

"That doesn't sound like something a famous playboy from the Clock Tower would say," Chloe retorted. "Thinking about work all the time, be careful you don't age prematurely and go bald!"

"No~No~No~"

Shinji shook his finger, retorting smugly, "The Matou Family's hair growth tonic is top-notch; I will absolutely not go bald."

"When did your house suddenly start producing sore throat?"

"Grandpa developed it. When he started losing his hair, he tried to create a magic potion to combat hair loss, but it was unsuccessful."

"A very successful bald look?" Chloe chuckled coldly.

Although it's impolite to say that to an elder, just as flat-chested as Tohsaka Rin's chest is, Matou Zouken's forehead is just as bald.

"The potion was successfully developed, but it came too late. By the time the potion was being developed, the hair follicles on the old man's head had already shrunk, so no amount of hair growth tonic would help."

"Is that so...?"

Chloe's lips twitched slightly.

I feel like Grandpa Matou's mature and steady image has collapsed.

However, Chloe wasn't interested in how smooth Matou Zouken's scalp was; she shifted the topic to Shinji.