NOVEL WEB Chapter 81: Chapter 83 Secret
Since Disney announced the re-release of "The Lion King," negative news related to it has been pouring in incessantly.
Among them, the most mentioned is naturally the negative news about "The Lion King" plagiarizing Osamu Tezuka's "Jungle Emperor Leo," which even occupied the headlines of several entertainment sections in the media.
Many newspapers even "thoughtfully" attached comparison shots of "The Lion King" and "Jungle Emperor Leo" to serve as evidence.
Faced with accusations of plagiarism, Disney naturally denied it vigorously, even stating that when the film was released, there was no questioning of plagiarism from the Japanese side.
Now that the film is being re-released, this is clearly a deliberate attempt to sabotage; otherwise, why would all the accusations of plagiarism come from media under the Times Group?!
Disney's defense was simply nonsense; "The Lion King" was released in 1994, long after Osamu Tezuka had passed away.
If he could really speak up, that would be the real big news.
Of course, considering Osamu Tezuka's position in the animation industry, perhaps there would be a place for him in the Throne of Heroes.
If that were the case, Shinji thought it would be very interesting to summon him and sue Disney.
Speaking objectively, did "The Lion King" plagiarize "Jungle Emperor Leo"?
From a legal perspective, it definitely doesn't qualify as plagiarism. Disney has studied copyright law for many years and wouldn't make such a basic mistake.
Film and television works aren't like academic papers; defining something as plagiarism on a legal level requires many prerequisites.
After all, just because two works have similar themes, you can't simply claim it's plagiarism, right? If that were the case, the film and television industry wouldn't be able to produce anything properly, and everyone would be in court.
As a creator, Shinji feels that "The Lion King" is right on the line between inspiration and plagiarism when compared to "Jungle Emperor Leo," and it's really hard to say when looking at it objectively.
And if it were to go through legal proceedings, it would definitely end up as a muddy account.
Because Osamu Tezuka himself had also drawn inspiration from Disney's "Bambi" in his creations, if it were to go to court, Disney wouldn't fail to use this point to their advantage.
So from the beginning, Shinji never thought it would escalate to legal proceedings; he just wanted to give Disney a hard time.
Disney was indeed annoyed by Shinji's behavior of causing trouble without biting—annoying, but not biting.
"The Lion King" is a re-release film, and its negative news won't boost its box office due to hype; it will only harm its re-release box office due to declining reputation.
So Disney can only try to reduce the negative effects caused by "The Lion King's" plagiarism controversy while also trying to find negative news on Fate/Zero's side.
By stirring up disgust among the audience through actors' scandals, they can undermine the box office of competing films. This is a commonly used publicity tactic in the entertainment industry.
But the problem is, Disney can't find any scandals involving the main members of Fate/Zero.
In fact, it's not just Disney; apart from rival film companies and groups of film critics, those gossip entertainment reporters are also desperately trying to dig up scandals related to Fate/Zero personnel.
This is also a common problem among entertainment journalists.
Whether in Europe, America, or Japan, to satisfy readers' curiosity, these gossip entertainment reporters have two very annoying habits.
One is to hype up unknown people, trying to make them famous overnight to attract attention.
The other is to relentlessly smear already famous celebrities, not giving up until they ruin their reputation. The most famous example is Michael Jackson.
And these people even have a very grand excuse—The public needs to know the truth, and if you don't let the public know the truth, what are your intentions?
In fact, if the smeared celebrity reacts frantically, those reporters are more than happy because it means that they're really famous now!
Anyway, Shinji never reads anything good from the mouths of these people.
Usually, celebrities targeted by these gossip reporters don't end up well. Even if they don't end up completely ruined, at the very least, they will be embarrassed by the scandals that have been dug up.
However, these invincible gossip reporters ran into a brick wall in front of the Fate crew.
Almost none of the members of the Fate crew have any scandals to report. Compared to those celebrities who misbehave after becoming famous, the daily lives of Fate crew members are like those of saints.
Let's not even mention Medusa and Iskandar, who spend all day at home reading books and playing games. Even the actors who go out have nothing interesting to report.
After all, no one wants to read news about a blue-haired guy fishing (and catching nothing), and they're not interested in hearing about Gilgamesh going to the model shop every day to buy motorcycle models.
As for Arturia, the reporter's prime target, she spends almost all her time outside either eating or eating, and sometimes eating some more.
Apart from knowing that Arturia has a huge appetite, the reporters have almost nothing to gain.
Surely they wouldn't make up a negative news story about Arturia not paying for her meals?
Let alone whether readers would believe it, even if they did, it wouldn't have any substantial impact on Arturia's popularity.
"Are these people really in the entertainment industry? Why don't they even go to nightclubs!"
After trailing several Heroic Spirits actors for half a month, a paparazzi reporter sighed like this.
Actually, if you really wanted to dig up scandals, there are quite a few explosive pieces of news related to Fate/Zero.
For example, there's a director who has romanced every young woman in the Clock Tower, and there's also an old mercenary who spends his days "stabilizing" the Middle East.
Unfortunately, Shinji only messes around in the world of magecraft, and regular people have no way of knowing. As for Kiritsugu, he's involved in covert operations, so anyone who knows about his time as the King of Mercenaries in the Middle East is either not one of us or is dead.
Of course, there were reporters who wanted to resort to the tactic of "if there's no news, create news," just like how they framed Michael Jackson.
But the problem is, Fuyuki City is the main base of the Tohsaka family, so these reporters would have to ask Tohsaka Zouken if he agrees to it.
After a few of their companions mysteriously disappeared, these reporters didn't dare to overstep their boundaries anymore.
As for Disney, although "The Lion King's" 10th-anniversary re-release globally earned nearly $30 million, making it one of the highest-grossing re-releases, it still didn't break $1 billion, which left Big Disney feeling quite disheartened.
Sure, if they forcefully extended the screening period, they could eventually push the box office to $1 billion, but this would be a losing deal, where they would spend $10 on screening costs to earn $1 in box office revenue.
Disney, whose top priority is making money, would never agree to this.
Unlike the box office results of "The Lion King," which are like an old man on his deathbed, Fate/Zero's box office trend remains stable.
Throughout June, Fate/Zero earned $60 million in North America, which is undoubtedly a stable landing for a fast-paced commercial film.
Including the box office from May, Fate/Zero has accumulated a total of $491 million in North America alone!
"This is a moment worth commemorating. From now on, the North American film market will open a new chapter. At the same time, we should also pay attention to Matou Shinji. Since his name resonated in the North American film market, a series of records have been refreshed by him. He will definitely be the biggest enemy of North American film companies in the future."
Putting down the newspaper, Cloris looked at Shinji and said, "You're too flashy; you've already attracted the attention of others."
"It's only natural to be envied if you're talented," Shinji said lightly, "It's just that the current box office records are being refreshed too easily; breaking them doesn't give me any sense of accomplishment."
Cloris rolled her eyes. "I bet only you would say something like that."
Shinji just smiled and didn't say anything.
In Shinji's eyes, only the box office records of those big movies from his previous life were considered records; the records in this world really don't mean much to him.
After all, even the champion box office record of not even $1 billion, in his previous life, any random 3D movie could easily surpass it.
"Has the promotion for Fate/Zero come to an end?" Cloris asked with concern. "What are your plans for the future?"
Shinji's eyes looked through the window at the sky as he said slowly, "The specific shooting plans haven't been finalized yet; it depends on what new technology Touko-senpai can come up with."
"But it's probably still going to be a story from the Fate series. After all, audiences are very interested in this series, but it might also be one of the stories I mentioned before, like 'Tsukihime' or 'The Garden of Sinners'..."
"I didn't mean that," Cloris's tone contained a hint of complaint, "You're always about movies, what about your personal life?"
"Movies are my work, and also my greatest hobby."
Shinji's words earned him a disdainful look from Cloris.
"That doesn't sound like something the famous playboy of the Clock Tower would say," Cloris quipped, "Thinking about work all the time, be careful you don't become bald before you're old, with your head directly turning into a bald one!"
"No~ No~ No~"
Shinji shook his finger and retorted smugly, "The Matou family's hair tonic is extraordinary; I will definitely not go bald."
"When did your family start producing hair tonic?"
"It was developed by my grandfather. When he started losing hair, he tried to develop a magic potion to resist hair loss, and it was a success."
"A very successful bald potion?" Cloris chuckled coldly.
Although it wasn't very polite to say this to an elder, as flat as Rin Tohsaka's chest was, Zouken Matou's scalp was just as bald.
"Although the potion was developed very successfully, it was too late. By the time the potion was developed, Grandfather's hair follicles had already atrophied, so no matter how much hair tonic he used, it was useless."
"Oh, I see..."
Cloris's mouth twitched.
She couldn't help but feel that the dignified and stable image of Matou Zouken had collapsed.
But Cloris wasn't interested in the smoothness of Zouken Matou's scalp; she shifted the topic back to Shinji.
"Not going bald doesn't mean you won't age," Cloris tentatively asked, "Have you ever thought about doing some leisure activities? Like going out with a girl or something."
"I do want to find a female companion," Shinji glanced at the office door with a hint of regret, "Unfortunately, I haven't had a good opportunity to make a move."
Cloris pursed her lips, realizing that even if Shinji were to face the full force of the entire Round Table Knights to pursue Arturia, he hadn't considered her.
For a while, Shinji and Cloris sat in silence, admiring the blue sky outside.
Until the sun set, turning the sky into a beautiful orange hue. After nearly ten minutes of silence, Cloris suddenly spoke up.
"How about accompanying me for a stroll? Just like an old friend."
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