While busy with the preparations for The Dark Knight, there was also good news coming from Edgerunners.
From late August through September, Edgerunners was successively acquired by local television stations in countries such as Japan, South Korea, and Singapore.
In mid-September, it was picked up by television networks in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and other countries, while broadcasters in the remaining countries and regions were also actively negotiating, striving to secure the broadcasting rights for Edgerunners.
However, on the China side, CCTV-8 had originally planned to introduce the series and had even arranged Chinese dubbing for localization. In the end, though, it got stuck at the "big scissors," the reason being that the content was considered too violent and bloody, with sexual implications as well.
With no other choice, CCTV-8 had to find people to re-edit it themselves, cutting a ten-episode limited series with an average runtime of one hour per episode into a sixteen-episode television drama with an average length of forty-five minutes per episode.
Of course, because of the excessive cuts, several episodes ended up being less than forty minutes long.
But in order to get it broadcast, there was simply no alternative.
After obtaining the broadcast license, Channel 8 edited a trailer and began rolling it repeatedly on its own channel.
In fact, compared to Hollywood films, American TV series had appeared before Chinese audiences even earlier. In the late 1970s and 1980s, CCTV had already introduced Garrison's Gorillas and Man from Atlantis.
However, American TV series failed to make much of an impact, and Garrison's Gorillas was even banned halfway through its broadcast.
Today, the Chinese market has become far more open and inclusive. Many Hollywood blockbusters are released every year, yet very few American TV series enter the Chinese market.
Instead, Korean dramas and Japanese dramas from neighboring countries occupy the majority of the overseas TV drama market in China. Even Thai dramas perform much better than American TV series, which clearly shows the latter's marginal status.
That said, with the rise of the internet, the growth of China's online population, and the rapid development of video platforms, American TV series have also found new opportunities in the Chinese market.
In 2005, the first season of Prison Break was broadcast and achieved great success. When it crossed the Pacific and arrived in China, it became the first exposure to American TV series for many Chinese viewers.
However, since internet platforms were not truly part of the traditional television market, the popularity of Prison Break Season One was still relatively limited in scope.
It was not until this year, when Edgerunners aired on CCTV-8.
Gilbert's fans in China had long been thrilled. Many fans had heard of Edgerunners. Those with the means had already watched the series and given it very high praise.
But for most fans, they could only satisfy their curiosity through news reports, which was far from enough.
So this time, being able to watch the series on television made fans extremely excited. They even planned to go home and resolutely fight for control of the remote, determined not to watch idol dramas with their sisters, nor "divine dramas" with their parents.
However, many sisters had actually heard of Gilbert as well, and quite a few were his loyal fans. As for many young parents, it went without saying—Gilbert had been their first introduction to Hollywood films.
The advantage of airing on a satellite TV channel was the large and stable viewership. Although China's film market had grown rapidly, only first- and second-tier cities truly had a solid moviegoing culture.
The vast potential audience remained spread across the broader regions, undeveloped. Many people might not go to a cinema even once a year, or for several years, but they would definitely watch television dramas.
Gilbert actually knew that many Chinese fans did not come to know him through cinemas, but through pirated discs. Combined with his frequent visits to China, he gradually became the most familiar Hollywood director to Chinese audiences.
A new work by such a director landing on television naturally attracted considerable attention.
As soon as Edgerunners aired its first and second episodes, it immediately became the highest-rated program in its time slot.
Online, discussions about the series were no less active than among North American audiences, and there were even many unique and insightful perspectives.
With its exquisite visuals, high production quality, tightly structured plot, and the cyberpunk science fiction theme rarely seen in domestic television dramas, the show stunned Chinese TV audiences the moment it aired.
Most Chinese viewers had never encountered this type of American TV series before. It was like everyone riding Phoenix-brand bicycles, only to suddenly see streams of roaring steampunk cars speeding past—it was shocking.
After the initial shock came sharing it with relatives and friends. Out of curiosity, these people would then start watching the series themselves, which in turn brought in even more viewers.
As a result, Edgerunners became increasingly popular, with its ratings climbing higher and higher.
It is worth mentioning that when CCTV-8 aired Edgerunners, Mango TV was broadcasting Ming Dynasty 1566.
However, this historical drama, in which Mango TV had placed great hopes, failed spectacularly, with ratings so poor they were painful to look at.
As a result, Mango TV urgently convened meetings to discuss what direction their future television dramas should take.
After witnessing the ratings frenzy sparked by Edgerunners, Mango TV remained clear-headed and realized that this kind of series was simply not something they were capable of producing.
After weighing their options, Mango TV shifted its focus to idol dramas and never looked back.
As for Ming Dynasty 1566, aside from leaving behind dismal ratings, it seemed unable to stir up much response. On Douban, Edgerunners debuted with a score of 9.7, while Ming Dynasty 1566 did not receive a rating due to an insufficient number of reviews.
Edgerunners also achieved very strong results in other first-run markets. In both Japan and South Korea, Edgerunners topped the charts.
In the European market, it was even more enthusiastically received. Media outlets such as The Times, The Guardian, Le Figaro, and Deutsche Welle all gave it high praise, calling it a great television series.
Meanwhile, cyberpunk culture enthusiasts around the world were drawn to the series, and this cyberpunk masterpiece became highly sought after.
When people learned that Gilbert had follow-up plans, both fans of the series and cyberpunk fans alike were extremely excited about the future projects Gilbert had mentioned.
However, since Gilbert was currently busy with other projects, no one yet knew what the cyberpunk plan would ultimately look like, leaving everyone restless with anticipation.
While busy preparing The Dark Knight, Gilbert also did not forget his Marvel Cinematic Universe plan.
Thor was scheduled to be released in March next year, Iron Man 2 was planned for the summer release window the year after that, and Captain America was currently in production.
According to Marvel's ultimate plan, the time for The Avengers to assemble was not far off.
To be safe, Kevin Feige once again requested that Gilbert personally step in to direct The Avengers.
However, according to Gilbert's schedule, if they were to wait until he had an opening to film The Avengers, it might not be until 2010.
In response, Kevin Feige said that he could wait, but The Avengers needed Gilbert.
After careful consideration, and for the sake of security, Gilbert ultimately agreed to Kevin Feige's request.
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