Huayu Entertainment 1995 started with hijacking.

Chapter 375 A Bloodbath Caused by a Steamed Bun

The overwhelming publicity for "The Promise" was truly overwhelming. All other films released at the same time were making way for "The Promise," and major cinemas scheduled prime-time screenings for "The Promise" and promised that the following week would be "The Promise Week"!

Look, Chen Kaizi's influence is still there. No matter how well his movies have fared in recent years, people in the industry still give him face.

"The Promise" grossed 2115 million yuan on its opening day, making it the highest-grossing Chinese film on its opening day this year.

Indeed, "The Promise" surpassed "Departures" in opening day box office. After all, "The Promise" is a commercial film with many star-studded casts and numerous eye-catching trailers, naturally attracting a large audience. "Departures," on the other hand, is a more art-house film. Achieving over 1.8 million yuan in box office in the current Chinese market is already a testament to Wu Yuchen's talent and the Cannes Palme d'Or.

However, it can only be considered a Chinese-language film, because if we include the imported "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End," then "The Promise" can't compare in terms of performance. The "Pirates of the Caribbean" series was created by John Woo, and this film also features Leung Ka-fai, a Chinese actor, which is why "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" was quite popular during this year's summer season in mainland China.

Thinking of Wu Yuchen, Chen Kaizi shook his head. These days, everyone basically focuses on Wu Yuchen's films separately, because no one else can compare, especially his Hollywood blockbusters, which rake in box office revenue worldwide—how can anyone compare?
Kai is quite satisfied with the box office of 2115 million on the first day. Even if the opening weekend cannot compare with "Brotherhood of Blades", it should be able to surpass "Hero"!

He, Chen Kaige, is still the same great director, not someone that little Zhang Yimou can compare to!

The fantasy film "The Promise," promoted by director Chen Kaige as an "epic" masterpiece, naturally attracted many viewers. Hu Ge, 31, was one of them, entering the theater with immense respect for Chen Kaige, the director of "Farewell My Concubine."

Like many viewers, after 121 minutes, Hu Ge was so shocked by Director Chen's movie that he cried. He felt very sad. First of all, he felt sorry for his 80 yuan. If he had used it to buy steamed buns, it would have been enough to eat for a month. Wouldn't that have been better?
What's even more tragic is that the idol he once idolized like the Yellow River has turned out to be a rotten bun that's been sitting around for over twenty years, giving him a strong urge to vomit—or rather, a strong urge to rant and rave!
So, feeling sorry for the movie ticket and with a strong urge to complain, Hu Ge locked himself up and spent four days writing a script and five days producing a video. He took on multiple roles, including director, screenwriter, and voice actor, and created a video of less than 20 minutes titled "A Bloodbath Caused by a Steamed Bun".

After finishing the video, Hu Ge simply posted it on the forum he created, satisfying his desire to vent and show off after creating it, and then didn't think much of it.

In fact, many viewers shared the same feeling as Hu Ge. Many people went into the cinema feeling like their eyes had popped out of their sockets. What was this movie about? They couldn't understand it at all!

After leaving the cinema, some people cursed loudly, but the vast majority chose to remain silent. After all, this was Chen Kaige, the renowned director who won the Palme d'Or for "Farewell My Concubine," once considered China's top director. Surely his films couldn't be bad?

That's not Chen Kaige's problem, it's their own problem. All they can do is complain that they don't appreciate it. But saying they don't appreciate it doesn't mean they're without resentment. After all, the tickets for "The Promise" were quite expensive, and they had wasted their high expectations.

However, newspapers and television are still the main means of publicity, but these two are controlled by wealthy individuals who are lavishly praising "The Promise." These days, people still revere authority, and the director's prestige, coupled with press releases from various media outlets, makes most people afraid to say anything negative about "The Promise" in real life, because they'll likely hear comments like, "Do you think you know more than the experts?"

Therefore, unable to criticize the film in real life, many people chose to vent their opinions about "The Promise" online. It was in this context that when "A Bloodbath Caused by a Steamed Bun" was widely shared and spontaneously uploaded to video websites like Tudou, Youku, and 6rooms, the internet exploded!
This video adopts the approach of "China Legal Report" in telling the case, and uses a serious tone to mix and match video footage from the movie "The Promise" and the Shanghai Circus World performance, making a parody of director Chen Kaige's painstaking work.

Kai Zi spent millions to build the "Begonia Residence," which was jokingly called "Ring Within a Ring Entertainment City." Zhang Baizhi's character, Zhang Qingcheng, was jokingly called "the wife of Manager Wang of Ring Within a Ring Entertainment City," and she was a "fashion model" whose job was to keep putting on and taking off clothes.

Chen Hong plays the role of Chen Manshen, who is portrayed as a negotiation expert who lures children. The line "Manshen brand hair gel, great effect" from the advertisement is used to make people laugh out loud at Chen Hong's indescribable look.

Zhang Kunlun, dubbed "the man who runs like the wind," was criticized for his near-light-speed running, even prompting comparisons to Einstein. Meanwhile, the scene where Jang Dong-gun, whom Kai was so proud of, flew Jang Baek-ji like a kite, which was considered aesthetically pleasing, also became a target of ridicule. How can a living person fly like a kite? Hu Ge challenged Chen Hong to answer: Because the Earth is round!
At the same time, Hu Ge cleverly incorporated hot topics such as migrant workers demanding unpaid wages and violent management into his work, and made fun of Chen Kaige's lines. He once again used the form of absurdity and rap to satirize the trial process. The method was very novel at the time, and the effect was amazing!

In the end, Hu Ge used the story of "a bloody incident caused by a steamed bun" to expose the crime, and also made fun of the plot hole: the steamed bun that Zhang Baizhi ate more than 20 years ago not only did not spoil, but returned to Xie Tingfeng intact 20 years later...

This video has netizens in stitches! Especially those who were already dissatisfied with "The Promise" in the theater but had nowhere to vent their frustration, they watched it with great satisfaction. It turns out it wasn't that I had poor taste, but that this movie was just a "rotten bun"!
The video "A Bloodbath Caused by a Steamed Bun" suddenly appeared, and people not only found joy in this parody video, but also found common ground in wanting to criticize the film "The Promise".

Actually, there were parody videos before, but they were always confined to small circles, with very low discussion and buzz. But this time, based on the resonance with negative reviews of "The Promise," "A Bloodbath Caused by a Steamed Bun" undoubtedly exploded, becoming the most popular video on the Chinese internet!

At first, when Kai heard that there was a parody video of "The Promise" on the Internet, he didn't want to get involved. What was an Internet video anyway? Was it worth his personal attention?
However, after a while, as "A Bloodbath Caused by a Steamed Bun" spread exponentially across the entire internet, causing a frenzy among netizens all over China, Kai couldn't sit still anymore. After all, Chen Hong told him that the number of viewers for this video far exceeded that of "The Promise," and now even some newspapers were reporting on it.

After watching the "blood-soaked bun" video on his computer, Kai Zi was furious. His hair stood on end, his face flushed red, and he slammed his fist on the table, roaring, "People can't be this shameless!"

On the plane, Wu Yuchen was resting well and declined the "thoughtful" service that the flight attendant wanted to offer him.

Although he had a private jet, the long journey inevitably took a toll on his energy. In addition, he had been working day and night in the United States, especially a few days ago on Christmas Eve when several women came to spend Christmas with him, turning into little reindeer so that he, the Santa Claus, could enjoy a good time with his family. Wu Yuchen, who was about to return to China, naturally needed to rest and recuperate.

Things aren't completely over in America yet. Post-production on "The Batman" is finished, and "Spider-Man 3" is done, but there are still "Transformers" and "Fantastic Four" to go. He's not too worried about "Transformers" because Spielberg and Michael Bay are involved, but "Fantastic Four" will start filming in Canada after Christmas. After all, it's Marvel Studios' first independent self-produced film, and he doesn't know if it will encounter any problems.

Wu Yuchen shook his head. There had to be a beginning. During this time in America, he also organized the North American premiere of "Departures" and attended several screenings, mainly to generate buzz for this year's Oscars. Although with his current connections in Hollywood, he didn't need to work so hard anymore, he still needed to make a show of it and express his desire for this year's Oscars.

Actually, his trip back to China was mainly for the second round of the Olympic Games proposal competition, which was scheduled for two weeks later. Although he was somewhat confident, he still needed to prepare further with Zhang Yimou and the team to avoid any unforeseen circumstances. After the competition and celebrating the Chinese New Year in China, he could bring the cast of "Departures" to the Oscars. At the airport, Wu Yuchen was immediately surrounded by a large group of reporters as soon as he got off the plane. It was obvious that someone inside the airport had leaked his travel information.

"Director Wu, will 'Departures' be able to win the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film this year?"

"Director Wu, is your 'Batman' movie going to be released next summer?"

"Director Wu, when will filming begin for your new movie 'Reign of Assassins'?"

As he walked, Wu Yuchen answered the reporter's questions casually, but one question suddenly caught his attention:
"Director Wu, what do you think about the fact that 'The Promise' has been ridiculed as 'A Bloodbath Caused by a Steamed Bun'?"

Huh? Wu Yuchen then realized that the steamed bun had exploded?

"Oh my god, this is hilarious! Hu Ge is such a master of pranks! This video is even more entertaining than a movie."

At this moment, Gao Yuanyuan sat in Wu Yuchen's lap, watching "A Bloodbath Caused by a Steamed Bun" with him. This was not the first time she had watched it, but she still laughed heartily.

After rewatching the parody video, Wu Yuchen simply smiled faintly. On one hand, this wasn't the first time he had seen it, and on the other hand, having been exposed to numerous parody videos in his previous life, "Mantou" seemed rather naive to him.

On the contrary, Wu Yuchen found the video of Chen Kaizi, his face flushed and his hair bristling with anger, uttering the famous line "A person cannot be so shameless!" to the reporter who asked the question even more interesting.

Wu Yuchen, holding Gao Yuanyuan in his arms, laughed and said, "You never miss a good show. This Hu Ge is about to be in trouble."

"Huh? Director Chen is really going to sue Hu Ge? It's just a prank video, isn't it?" Gao Yuanyuan exclaimed in surprise.

“The Promise is Director Chen’s crown jewel. He was sued for saying just one thing in a Hong Kong newspaper before. How much more so is The Steamed Bun?” Wu Yuchen said with a smile.

"Well... although I feel that Director Chen has a reason to sue Hu Ge, it just feels a bit beneath him."

Seeing Chen Kaizi's angry expression in the video, Gao Yuanyuan added, "He's a bit petty."

Upon hearing this, Wu Yuchen shook his head and sighed, "Our Director Chen has put himself on too high a pedestal ever since 'Farewell My Concubine,' and has become detached from the masses. He can't stand the criticism from the people anymore!"

Wu Yuchen then said to Gao Yuanyuan, "Let's not talk about him anymore, Yuanyuan, when will 'Rob-B-Hood' be filmed?"

"Brother Jackie Chan is still filming 'Taken' right now, and 'Rob-B-Hood' shouldn't start filming until after the Lantern Festival."

Jackie Chan's "Rob-B-Hood" was originally in pre-production this year, but because Wu Yuchen organized "Taken," he temporarily put "Rob-B-Hood" on hold and went to film "Taken" with Wu Baige. After Liu Qianqian was selected as the daughter a few months ago, "Taken" started filming not long after, and it's almost finished now.

Wu Yuchen nodded upon hearing this. When he goes to Hollywood again after the New Year, he will have to check on the post-production of "Taken". Although it was handed over to Wu Baige to direct, and he had explained the tone and pace of the film to him beforehand, he still couldn't completely trust him.

On the one hand, he also sent a producer to oversee the filming and maintain the style he wanted. On the other hand, the final editing rights of the film were still in the hands of Miracle Pictures. If he was not satisfied with the editing, he would have to personally step in and become the big scissors!
Wu Yuchen then smiled at Gao Yuanyuan and said, "Yuanyuan, how are you preparing for your role as a nurse?"

In the movie "Rob-B-Hood", Gao Yuanyuan plays a gentle and lovely nurse.

Gao Yuanyuan said confidently, chin held high, "I've been going to the hospital for the past two months to learn from the nurses!"

Upon hearing this, Wu Yuchen's heart stirred, and he whispered in her ear, "Yuanyuan, do you have a nurse's uniform?"

"Yes, I have."

Wu Yuchen felt a surge of excitement and urged, "Quick, put it on and let me see how well you've prepared it!"

(End of this chapter)