Recently, director Feng Xiaogang gave his first direct response in an interview with "Cold Fir RECORD," under Phoenix Weekly, addressing the box office failure of his new film "Spy Catcher" and the controversy sparked by his earlier comment that "there are many trashy films because there are trashy audiences."
"Spy Catcher" was released in June this year, ultimately accumulating a box office of approximately 119 million yuan. There had been online rumors suggesting the film's investment approached 300 million yuan. In response, Feng Xiaogang admitted that the film's poor box office performance is a fact, expressing deep regret and apologizing to the investors. He believes that fewer investors are now willing to take risks and support directors' creative visions, with many focusing more on "what can make money."
Regarding the reasons for the film's financial loss, Feng Xiaogang believes that "Spy Catcher" suffered from "cyberbullying-style, irrational" interference during its release. He also denied claims that the film's investment was nearly 300 million yuan. According to him, Alibaba initially provided a budget of 200 million yuan for production, and the final settlement between both parties amounted to 165 million yuan, saving over 30 million yuan. Nevertheless, given the current box office performance, the film remains at a loss.
Regarding the controversial remark he previously made that "there are many trashy films because there are trashy audiences," Feng Xiaogang stated that his original words were taken out of context and further amplified, causing strong emotional reactions among many viewers.He explained that, if rephrased, his intended meaning was actually "quality films require quality audiences." He also posed a counter-question: if we follow this logic, how should we explain the high box office earnings of "trashy films"?
Discussing the changes in today's film audiences, Feng Xiaogang believes that current viewers differ from those of the 1980s and 1990s. Audiences in the past were more willing to watch complex content and think about what lay beneath the surface of events, whereas some viewers today seem to have diminished capacity in this regard, viewing issues more simplistically and tending to fall into black-and-white, binary oppositions.
