This man knows how to hype

Chapter 419: Comparison can make people angry

If we say that there were already enough celebrity artists attending the premiere of "Infernal Affairs".

The first preview of "The Richest Man in Xihong City" which just ended was even more of a heavyweight.

Just two hours ago, the preview hall of Huaqing Cinema in Beijing was packed with well-known artists from both sides of the Taiwan Strait and Hong Kong. Almost everyone who could come to support the film came. It was a star-studded scene, like an award ceremony.

To be honest, such a scene will not appear again in the short term, because it is difficult to have a preview time as good as "The Richest Man in Xihong City".

You know, this was the end of the release period of "Infernal Affairs", and its box office performance of 30.62 billion was outstanding. It was reasonable for Hong Kong stars to come and support Xu Xiyu's new movie.

At the same time, Taiwanese artists had just experienced a storm, and everyone knew that Xu Xiyu was at the center of the storm. In addition, some people suddenly became one of the investors, so all their friends came to show their goodwill.

Finally, "The Richest Man in Xihong City" has other mainland investors, and they will also arrange people to come and support it.

As a result, there were more stars than ordinary audience members in the preview theater.

Recalling this star-studded scene, Li Shangling, who played the female lead Xia Zhu, felt her heart pounding.

I have been in the industry for many years and have filmed many works. I am also well-known among the new first-line actresses, but this is the first time I have experienced so many colleagues coming to support me.

More importantly, this movie is likely to become a milestone in box office performance in his career.

There are countless female artists in China, but there are only a handful of them who can star in movies with a box office of over 20 billion yuan.

If I can successfully join the ranks of female leading actresses with a box office of 20 billion, it will be a huge boost to my net worth, status, etc.

This is not Li Shangling's self-congratulation. You have to know that in the world, there are only 15 movies in the mainland with a box office of over 57 billion in the entire history, including Hollywood movies and cartoons.

Excluding Hollywood movies and cartoons, there are only 20 films with box office revenue of over 31 billion.

Among these 31 films, quite a few do not have a female protagonist in the proper sense. Either the roles of individual female characters are very small, or the roles are equally shared among a group of female characters.

The situation on Blue Planet is actually similar; even the box office of top movies is far lower than that on Earth.

After all, the highest-grossing film on Earth, The Battle at Lake Changjin, has a box office of 57.7 billion. On the Blue Planet, the mainland box office record is still Xu Xiyu's Dying to Survive, which has a box office of 47.7 billion.

Therefore, if the box office of "The Richest Man in Xihong City" can exceed 20 billion, it will indeed be an extremely important achievement for Li Shangling.

After all, Xia Zhu’s role is definitely that of the heroine.

Thinking of this, Li Shangling, who was in a business car with the roadshow team of "The Richest Man in Xihong City" heading to the second cinema.

She reached out and grabbed her manager, who looked like her twin sister, Li Shangrong, and said, "Sister, I am so glad that I made the decision at that time.

You say, if we were like Song Limin and Chen Jing, who had been thinking about staying in Donghai and following Qi Xiangyang, wouldn’t that be the end?”

Hearing this, Li Shangrong, who was staring out the window in a daze, came to her senses and smiled absentmindedly, "That's true. Donghai is almost falling apart now."

Seeing that she seemed to be troubled, Li Shangling asked in confusion: "Sister, what's wrong with you?"

After hearing this, Li Shangrong thought for a while before whispering, "Lingling, what do you think the box office of "The Richest Man in Xihong City" will be?"

"It should be over 20 billion. Mr. Xu's movie box office has never been less than 20 billion. What's wrong, sister? Don't you have confidence in this movie?" Li Shangling said thoughtfully.

"That's not the case. On the contrary, I am very confident in this movie. I think this movie is a comedy of the same level as "Washington Stew".

The box office of "Huasheng Stewed Meat Shop" was over 33 billion, so I think our movie will have to make at least 25 billion, and even have a chance to hit 30 billion." Li Shangrong shook her head.

"Then what are you worried about?"

"I'm not worried, I just feel it's a pity." Li Shangrong couldn't help but sigh when she said this.

"What a pity? What a pity?" Li Shangling was even more confused.

Hearing this question, Li Shangrong opened her mouth and hesitated for a long time before replying: "It's a pity that you were still suppressed in such a promising movie."

"Impossible. There are only three female characters in this movie. They are Xia Zhu, played by me, Sha Sha, played by Arnahan, and Da Congming, played by Xiaoyu. My role is more than three times theirs. There is no way they can overshadow me."

"I'm not saying that the director suppressed your role, I'm saying that your performance was suppressed." Li Shangrong had a complicated expression when she said this.

Li Shangling was startled, then showed a forced smile and asked, "The performance... the performance was suppressed, by whom?"

"I was overwhelmed by Xiaoyu. Really, you were overwhelmed by her performance in the movie." After all, she is her own sister, so Li Shangrong doesn't need to hide some things.

Of course, she didn't want to hide, because it wasn't just "The Richest Man in Xihong City" that was suppressed, her sister had also been suppressed in other projects before.

Thinking of this, Li Shangrong opened up and said, "Speaking of which, your resources over the years have not been bad. You have been receiving a lot of notices. You have starred in many TV series and participated in many movies.

Your popularity and commercial value are also steadily increasing with the increase in the number of your works. But you have a big problem that limits your development ceiling, do you know? "

Hearing this, Li Shangling took a deep breath and said nothing.

Li Shangrong continued, "Think about it yourself. The heroines you interpret are basically either good or bad.

Although this level of professionalism is considered good in today's industry, there are some female artists of your age and level whose acting skills are so poor that they are unbearable to watch.

But if you encounter a gifted monster like Xiaoyu, or some other female supporting role with high professional skills, your presence as the heroine will be too weak. "

"I..." Li Shangling was choked.

Li Shangrong continued, "Think about it yourself. How many dramas have been like this in recent years? I remember three dramas where you, the heroine, had no voice at all, but the supporting actress became an instant hit and became a big hit. I used to always wonder if the heroines we took on were too simple. But later on, I felt more and more that it had something to do with the character setting, but the bigger reason was that you were not good enough in interpreting the role.

Some actors can make a simple character look amazing; some actors can make a complex character look like a retard. Although you didn’t act like a retard, your acting was definitely lacking in character.”

As soon as these words came out, Li Shangling felt as if a pool of anger had stuck in her throat. It was such a good day, and she never expected that her sister would talk to her like this.

But the problem was that for a moment, she didn't know how to refute.

Because what my sister said is true.

Thinking of this, she was about to speak when she heard Li Shangrong speak first: "A person's energy is limited. Although Huaqing invests in many projects every year.

However, the number of self-made projects that Mr. Xu can produce every year is very limited. Seeing that his projects are becoming popular one after another, the competition for future roles will be very fierce.

I am now worried that after seeing your performance in "The Richest Man in Xihong City", he will no longer arrange for you to play the leading female role. If so, we are like begging for food while sitting on a mountain of gold."

The "self-made" that Li Shangrong mentioned refers to the projects created by Xu Xiyu himself.

In contrast, there are projects invested and co-produced by Qiao Shuangshuang, Yang Xueqing or Gong Lingyun, which are called Category II projects in Huaqing.

Therefore, when Li Shangling heard that she might not be able to have a chance to become a master of self-control, she could not help but panic. However, she still consoled herself: "Not really, I think I... I am not that bad, right?"

"Whether it's good or not is relative. Have you seen 'New Paradise: Wangxian'?" Li Shangrong asked back.

When Li Shangling heard this, a hint of impatience appeared on her face: "Who can compare with Lu Qinyao? She seems to have evolved twice. Not to mention me, no one else can compare to her."

That’s right, Lv Qinyao’s performance in “New Paradise·Wangxian” is no longer a matter of whether her acting is explosive or not. You can’t even feel that she is acting. She has become one with the character, which is terrifying.

As for Li Shangling and Li Fangyuan, who also starred in the "New Paradise" series, their performance in "The Truman Show" can only be described as satisfactory.

Thinking of this, Li Shangling continued: "Some things depend on talent, and I can't do anything about it. I studied at the Central Academy of Drama for four years, and Xiaoyu only studied with the acting teacher for four months. How can this be justified?
I have tried very hard. You can't always compare me with people like Lv Qinyao and Xiaoyu. If you want to compare, compare me with Yang Xueqing. We are the same. Her acting is not that good either."

"But Yang Xueqing is now Xuejian's boss, and Xuejian's self-invested second-category projects also make more money than losses, which means she is helping Xu Xiyu make money.

What about us? We are just a studio affiliated with Huaqing, and we have some brokerage business dealings with Huaqing. Huaqing can't make much money from us.

If you can't add color to the work, it's the same with or without you, so what's the reason for choosing you? Do you know how much money he can make by choosing a newcomer and keeping him as a supporter?"

"I..." Li Shangling was speechless. She opened her mouth for a long time before she spoke, "Then what should we do? What do you think we should do?"

"I don't know what to do." Li Shangrong turned her head and looked out the window.

Seeing her looking out the window, Li Shangling also turned her head and looked at the window on her side. The car suddenly became quiet.

Fortunately, this is an RV with a partition between the front seats, and the driver and assistant are all from their team, so there is no need to worry about quarrels.

Time passed in the solemn mood of the two.

Soon the convoy arrived at the cinema for the roadshow. Li Shangling adjusted her expression, put on a T-shirt printed with "The Richest Man in Xihong City" and denim shorts, and got out of the car with a smile.

As soon as she got off the car, she saw Xu Xiyu getting out of another car.

I also saw Yu Yuyu, the little fish that was crushed to pieces by her sister’s mouth, and she was waving at me.

"Sister Lingling, come here..."

"Coming." Li Shangling responded and walked forward quickly.

When I got closer, I saw Yu Yuyu said mysteriously: "This is terrible, this is really terrible."

"Ah?" Li Shangling's face froze. "What do you mean miserable? What happened?"

"He will go with us for the roadshow in the next three key cities. Isn't this terrible?" Yu Yuyu pouted at Xu Xiyu who was not far away.

"Really? Isn't this a good thing?" Li Shangling said with her eyes lighting up.

"Yeah, you actually think working with the boss is a good thing?" Yu Yuyu was a little surprised.

When he told the news to Wang Pengpeng and other leading actors, each and every one of them expressed great pressure and wished that Xu Xiyu would give up this decision.

Yes, everyone wants to be friends with Xu Xiyu and make him pay attention to them.

But this does not mean that everyone is willing to stay with Xu Xiyu for a long time.

This is a very subtle mentality, and anyone who has worked should understand it. After all, no matter how good a boss is, he is still a boss, and it will be very restrained to be with him.

But Yu Yuyu quickly reacted, slapped his head and said: "Oh, I forgot, you are different from Peng Ge and the others, you are not an employee of Hua Qing, you don't have to be afraid of him, hehe."

"..." Li Shangling's mouth twitched, and she thought to herself: You really are talking about things that are not relevant.

"Hey, Xiaoyu, why is President Xu thinking of going on a roadshow with us?" Li Shangrong, who followed over, asked curiously.

"I don't know. Maybe the investors of this movie are too broad and he is worried that something unexpected will affect the box office." Yu Yuyu shook his head.

"Is that so..." Li Shangling became thoughtful after hearing this, and her sister Li Shangrong did the same.

(End of this chapter)