Global Film Emperor

Chapter 237 Interview Program
On the evening of May 20th, "To Live" sparked a frenzy online. Viewers who had seen the film began to enthusiastically recommend it to their friends. You can imagine how malicious they must be.

Fourteen films were released this month, making it a prolific month. Among them, two Citibank blockbusters, a Hong Kong comedy, and a domestic action film were released around the same time as "To Live".

If you stand at the entrance of a movie theater and watch the audience come out one after another, you can hardly tell the difference between the audience of other movies, but those audience members who come out looking depressed, with red and swollen eyelids, and even crying as they leave, have definitely just finished watching "To Live".

The number of people making appointments for physical examinations at hospitals in various provinces has increased significantly. Most of them are young people bringing their parents and the whole family for a physical examination. They are really scared by the movie "To Live" and can't sleep well if they don't have a physical examination.

Meanwhile, many people complained and lamented online that "To Live" was too heartbreaking. The movie is not about how difficult it is for a person to live, but about a person who gives up on living. This sense of despair can affect a person so much that they can't be happy for several days in a row.

Now that "To Live" has gained immense popularity, many influential figures and seasoned film enthusiasts have posted comments and videos comparing it to the five currently showing films. The results speak for themselves: "To Live" has significant advantages in terms of depth, meaning, performance, and the inspiration it provides.

Hearing people rave about "To Live," many curious individuals, with a suicidal mentality, bought two movie tickets, only to cry their eyes out and then come out to rave about the film.

In reality, ordinary viewers don't pay attention to things like camera work or set design colors. These aren't their concerns. Ordinary viewers only care about whether a movie resonates with them. If it makes them laugh or cry, they don't care how many points it gets from professionals. They simply consider it a good movie, without a doubt.

But when the box office results came out the next day, "To Live" still disappointed its fans. The film was destined to have a low box office because not many people like self-torture, and no one likes to go to the movies happily only to end up crying all the way home.

Ultimately, "To Live" grossed over 27 million yuan on its opening day, becoming the lowest-grossing film among the five major films. On its second day, it only had 6.3% of screenings, prematurely dropping out of the top five and no longer able to compete with the other four films for box office revenue.

However, recouping the costs shouldn't be a problem, after all, it's a highly acclaimed film, and the cost plus promotion was only 35 million. If the number of viewers this week doesn't plummet, based on normal projections, it should be able to make a small profit.

Tiancheng was actually very satisfied with this result. If they wanted to make money, they would never have started the "To Live" project, because even a fool knows that this movie wouldn't make money. It was destined to win awards, and whether it made money or not wasn't important.

In addition, "To Live" will also be released on Blu-ray discs and sold in China and overseas, entering the home video market. It is believed that many movie fans will choose to collect it, and they can make a profit from it.

Therefore, Tiancheng's senior management was very satisfied with Zhuang Yu. He was a rising director. Although neither of his two films made a lot of money, they didn't lose money either. The key was that he could get honors, which was a valuable asset. Although he wasn't as popular as directors with strong box office appeal, he was still an important asset for the company and would be of great help in attracting high-quality actors.

After attending the premiere, Lu Ze took the cripple home and spent his days feeding the cat, taking walks, enjoying tea, and reading scripts, living like an old man, but finding it fulfilling.

Director Xiao Fengying also called to inform Lu Ze to gather in Hangzhou on June 10th to prepare for filming. Lu Ze had no objection and said that after understanding, he would start enjoying his twenty-day vacation.

"If you have any surviving rose bushes at home, or rose bushes that have already been planted, you can graft directly onto them. The first step is to remove the dull spots on the rose bush."

Lu Ze sat at the dining table, looking down at his phone, fiddling with the rose stems and rose bushes in his hands. He was becoming more and more health-conscious. Last week, he drove to the dog market to buy some catnip for his crippled dog so it could have some "opium." He happened to see some potted plants for sale by the roadside, so he went over to take a look. He also felt that his home lacked some greenery, so he bought two succulents.

But succulents are so easy to grow. Just let them air out, put them on the balcony, and you hardly ever water them. There's really no sense of involvement, and it's so boring to keep them. So Lu Ze went and bought two more white jasmine plants. He got more and more addicted to it and now he's even started grafting them himself.

As the rhinoceros razor blade cut into the rose stem, and I picked up the scissors following the video, my phone screen suddenly switched to caller ID. Helpless, I put down the jumbled mess of text in my hand and answered Shen Jinghan's call.

"Hey? Aze, we've found your lost watch and caught the culprit. You need to go to the police station to claim it. Bring the purchase receipt with you. I'm at the police station now, waiting for you. I have something else to do, we'll talk when we get there."

"Okay, the police station on xxx street, right? I'm coming right now, lame man."

He tore off the plastic wrap to cover the rose stem, put the rose in the vase, went into the dressing room to pack up the empty watch box, and then called out to the lame cat while carrying the cat cage. He saw the cat shaking its head and wagging its tail as it ran towards him.

Not all cats are into catnip, but this cat is a real nutcase. He likes to take a few puffs now and then, and he's definitely a seasoned vagrant in the cat world.

Fifteen minutes ago, Lu Ze had just given it two bites, and now it was really getting into it, swaying its head from side to side and bouncing around. It was just that one of its legs was limping, making it look a bit like it had a stroke. Lu Ze suppressed a laugh, opened the cat cage, and once inside, it turned to the side, stuck out its tongue, and stared out with its big eyes.

He got in the car, turned on the navigation, and only knew there was a police station there, but he didn't know how to get there. He put on some light music; the afternoon sun was quite strong. He put on his sunglasses, and twenty minutes later the navigation ended. Carrying the cat carrier, he slowly entered the police station. After asking the officer on duty, Lu Ze went up to the second floor, found the department with the door open, knocked, and went inside. Shen Jinghan was sitting in a chair playing on his phone.

"coming?"

"Okay, Aunt Han, could you please keep an eye on the cat for me? Hello, I'm Lu Ze. I've lost my watch and I'm here to claim it."

After greeting the police officer sitting at the desk, who was very polite, Lu Ze got up and asked him to come with him. Shen Jinghan also followed with the cat cage. The three of them entered the detention room. Lu Ze saw the man who had petted his watch. After the police asked him a question, the dirty-looking man in his forties nodded and readily admitted it.

This made things much easier. After Lu Ze provided proof of purchase, the police took a plastic bag from a cabinet and gently placed it on the table.

"Mr. Lu, please have it checked."

"OK, thanks."

He picked up his watch and looked at it. There was a clear scratch on the dial in the sunlight. Otherwise, there was nothing wrong with it. Lu Ze didn't pursue compensation. He didn't think the person could afford it. Besides, he had drunk too much that night and couldn't be sure if he had dropped it and scratched it. He wouldn't try to extort money from someone when he wasn't sure himself.

In Lu Ze's opinion, this person was quite unlucky. He seemed like an honest guy, but in a moment of impulse, he had a crooked idea and stole a watch worth over 300,000 yuan without even knowing it. If he had known how much the watch cost, he probably wouldn't have dared to touch it.

As for pleading for him because he seemed honest and simple, Lu Ze wasn't that shameless. He had to bear the consequences of breaking the law. Who could he blame for acting without thinking? He only took a watch. If he had taken Lu Ze's ring and melted it down, Lu Ze would have made a scene today.

"I'll take the watch to get it repaired. What's wrong with your cat?"

"He's on drugs, really high. Tell Zixuan to send a banner to the police station, and buy some fruit. Oh, right, didn't you say you had something else to do?"

After leaving the police station, Shen Jinghan got into Lu Ze's car, glanced down at the lame cat lying in the cat cage, its eyes glazed and drooling, put the watch back in its box, and then put it in his bag.

Sending a banner might seem a bit old-fashioned, but this is a police station, so it's really inappropriate to give a farewell gift. They really went through a lot of trouble to find Lu Ze's watch. If it weren't for the security camera at the intersection, they really wouldn't have been able to find it. Losing a hundred yuan and getting it back means you have to buy the person a bottle of water. This item worth over 300,000 yuan definitely deserves some recognition.

"A friend of mine wants you to be on a show, on Shanghai TV, with Liu Huixin. Have you seen her shows?"

Lu Ze thought for a moment and remembered that Liu Huixin was a host on Shanghai TV and had also hosted the Shanghai TV Spring Festival Gala. She was very well-known in Shanghai and should be in her forties now. But Lu Ze only knew that she worked on city news. It was unlikely that she wanted Lu Ze to act as a concerned citizen.

"Isn't she the one who works on 'Evening News Peak'?"

"How long has it been since you last watched Shanghai TV? We switched channels half a year ago. Now they're doing talk shows, but the ratings aren't very good, so I asked you to ask if you're free."

"Since you've already asked, how could I not be available? Let's do it sometime."

"If you're going the day after tomorrow, hurry up and film this episode so it won't interfere with your filming."

"Alright, then you'll come with me."

Shen Jinghan nodded, and Lu Ze didn't mind. Although he wasn't a big fan of social niceties, such things were unavoidable in every circle, and it also depended on who it was. Liu Huixin had used Shen Jinghan's connections, so could Lu Ze say no? He didn't even ask the price; it didn't matter if he didn't pay. It was only half a day anyway, so he might as well sit and chat.

"."

(End of this chapter)