Chinese Entertainment: Starting from Hong Kong 2008

In 2008, Yuan Hua is reborn in Hong Kong, just as the local film industry begins its sharp decline. While mainland Chinese directors still grovel before the Big Three domestic awards, Yuan charges onto the global stage with Get Out, Lucy, and The Martian—racking up over a billion dollars at the box office. The Wall Street Journal runs a headline calling him an "Eastern Tyrant" who treats the North American film market like his personal ATM. As Hong Kong's veteran filmmakers cling to the fading remnants of the cop-and-triad genre, Yuan counters with Squid Game and The Glory, storming Netflix charts and provoking Al Jazeera to decry him as a "cultural thief" who has "ruined" them. Japanese producers watch Unnatural and Your Name demolish ratings and rake in billions of yen at the box office, eventually gritting their teeth and paying top dollar for licensing rights. International fans weep at the premiere of The Wandering Earth, proclaiming it "real cinema." Years later, Yuan Hua looks back on a transformed industry and declares, "I told you—I make the rules for Chinese entertainment." At the end of the red carpet, surrounded by a galaxy of rising stars, a ethereal beauty murmurs that Director Yuan wants to discuss her scenes tonight; a plainer actress flashes a "French-style script"; and the newest flower of the screen whispers eagerly, "Director Yuan, I really want to improve..."