Entertainment: I am the peak

Chapter 398 Leadership
Li Qiutang even refused to participate in forums this year, and also refused to be a guest at other press conferences.

After the press conference for "Mojin: The Lost Legend", he returned to Yanjing.

"Lucy" is confirmed to enter the mainland market as a batch film, and the importer will naturally be Autumn Pictures.

The Chinese translation is "Superbody," while the original name "Lucy" is really not conducive to its spread.

Autumn Pictures held a press conference at the film festival to announce the release date of "Lucy," but only Luc Besson and Liu Yifei from the main cast attended. Autumn Pictures even bought the rights to "District B13," so Luc Besson has to show respect by attending, right? Do you still want Autumn Pictures to invest in your films?
"Lucy" has officially been scheduled for a summer release, with simultaneous screenings in China and the US on July 25th!
There's a bit of a rift between the production teams of "The Continent" and "The White Haired Witch of Lunar Kingdom".

I managed to avoid Li Qiutang, but I couldn't avoid the combination of Luc Besson and Liu Yifei!
"The Continent" will be released on the 24th, and "The White-Haired Witch of Lunar Kingdom" will be released on the 31st.

However, it's just an annoyance. Among the cast of "Lucy," only Liu Yifei has some appeal. Luc Besson only has nostalgia in China, and basically no one will buy tickets for him.

This is a foreign language film imported through a special program, and even if it sells very well, its potential is limited.

However, Han Han and Li Bingbing still complained to Li Qiutang, but since Li Qiutang didn't participate in the release date scheduling of "Lucy", it really can't be blamed on him.

However, the release date of "Lucy" has caused dissatisfaction among some small and medium-sized companies!

You're a foreign language film, and the synopsis says it's a sci-fi action movie. What makes you think you deserve to be in the summer blockbuster season?
"This is going to kill domestic films!"

"Domestic films are still very fragile and should not be allowed to be impacted by Hollywood blockbusters, as this will seriously damage creative confidence."

However, these feedbacks were destined to receive no positive response from the State Administration of Radio and Television.

However, Director Zhang Hongsen addressed this issue indirectly at an event during the Shanghai International Film Festival, harshly criticizing the dependency mentality of some filmmakers: "They rely excessively on protection mechanisms and are unwilling or even afraid to face competition. With revenue-sharing imports and licensed films, dozens or even hundreds of Hollywood blockbusters are shown on our screens every year. There are foreign language films showing almost every week of the year. Do you still want to hide? How can you hide?"
"I hope our creators can face the crisis head-on, come up with ways to deal with it, and make better movies."

This is certainly one reason, but an important reason why "Lucy" was able to enter the summer blockbuster season is that Liu Yifei has now gained considerable popularity overseas. She is a calling card for Chinese filmmakers abroad. "Lucy" is the first time in a long time that a Chinese actress, especially a Chinese actress, has played the absolute female lead in a film.

Given that "Lucy" doesn't contain any prohibited content, shouldn't we give it a chance to be released simultaneously in China and the US?

Also, "Lucy" is not a Hollywood movie; it's an English-language film produced in France with Chinese investment. Because neither Fall Bloomberg nor EuropaCorp had the global distribution capabilities, they gave the distribution to Universal.

After the release date announcement for "Lucy", Liu Yifei flew directly to the United States to attend several promotional events in North America.

No sooner had Liu Yifei left than news spread in the Shanghai International Film Festival media circles that Li Qiutang and Jing Tian had a special relationship.

Aside from this, there's no other explanation for why Jing Tian was able to star in two of Li Qiutang's movies in a row.

"Li Qiutang has been delaying the official announcement because she is dealing with her relationship with Jing Tian."

According to inside sources from the "Mojin: The Lost Legend" production team, Liu Yifei was strongly opposed to Jing Tian's participation in the film and gave Li Qiutang a lot of attitude for it. However, she only dared to give Li Qiutang attitude; she didn't dare to oppose anything Li Qiutang wanted to do.

Why is this rumor spreading again? Li Qiutang found this kind of news extremely boring.

He is currently in Nanjing promoting the film "The Invisible Guest" on campus. With summer vacation approaching, he wants to make the most of this last bit of time to visit as many universities as possible and spread the word about the film's release.

…………

The crew of "The Third Way of Love" also promoted the film at the Shanghai International Film Festival.

The male lead, Song Seung-heon, was in Shanghai promoting a South Korean film that will not be released in mainland China.

Therefore, Zhao Liying, who wanted to play the female lead in the movie, also came.

She came to meet with the director and producer to try and get a role.

Dou Xia, the Chinese producer of "The Third Way of Love," certainly knew Zhao Liying, and she didn't expect Zhao Liying to try to get the role of Zou Yu. The problem now is that Yang Mi also wants to play Zou Yu.

It doesn't matter to Dou Xia who she chooses; both are popular actresses. Zhao Liying's disadvantage might be her lack of experience in the film industry, while Yang Mi has acted in many movies.

Zhao Liying and He Ru went to see Dou Xia, who wanted to discuss the film with her personally.

This was Dou Xia's first time seeing Zhao Liying in person, and her first impression was that she wasn't pretty enough.

This isn't to say Zhao Liying isn't pretty, but rather that her beauty isn't the kind of beauty required for "The Third Way of Love." Zou Yu is a lawyer, a sophisticated urban woman, and Zhao Liying doesn't possess that kind of urban sophistication.

In other words, Dou Xia felt that the domineering CEO wouldn't want to marry someone like that; he would only treat her as a well-behaved younger sister.

On the contrary, Yang Mi has something that attracts men.

It's not just about looks, it's about presence.

In modern terms, it's a difference in sexual tension. Yang Mi is only one year older than Zhao Liying, but their sexual tension is on completely different levels.

Zhao Liying did her homework and quickly read the original novel of "The Third Kind of Love." To be honest, this novel is really heart-wrenching, a typical female-oriented romance novel.

Zhao Liying spoke at length about her understanding of the love between the male and female protagonists, as well as her understanding of Zou Yu as a person.

Dou Xia really wanted to listen to her, but for some reason, Dou Xia kept drifting into thoughts of Liu Yifei: "I wish Liu Yifei would agree, but she's too expensive."

After Zhao Liying finished speaking, she made an excuse to go to the restroom. He Rucai then took over and said, "President Dou also watched it just now. Our Liying has a good understanding of the character and good acting skills. I believe she can handle the role of Zou Yu."

Dou Xia nodded.

He Ru added, "I know this opportunity is very valuable, and the production team also has to make a choice." She leaned closer and whispered, "We can give the production team a friendly price. It's our first time working together, so let's take it slow and have more opportunities to work together in the future."

Dou Xia hadn't expected He Ru to say that. She nodded and said, "If we can save such a large sum of money, of course I, as the producer, would be willing. After all, Xiao Zhao is so popular."

He Ru felt that the deal was 80% done and smiled even more happily. Zhao Liying returned at this time, and He Ru ended the conversation at the right moment, stood up and said goodbye: "Then we will take our leave first. We will wait for the crew's announcement. We really hope to make this collaboration possible."

“Okay, I’ll let our casting department know.”

That's an agreement!

Zhao Liying was also happy.

Half an hour after the two left, Dou Xia went to a coffee shop at Yang Mi's invitation.

Yang Mi has a stranger by her side; he has never appeared before.

"What do you call this gentleman?"

The man introduced himself: "My surname is Hu, and I work in the propaganda department."

Yang Mi didn't seem inclined to introduce his background, so Dou Xia guessed that this Mr. Hu must hold a high-ranking position.

The propaganda department happens to be the department in charge of film.

It seems Yang Mi has a strong background; she knows such a leader and even has him personally help her negotiate resources.

(End of this chapter)