Entertainment: I am the peak

Chapter 409 Is Brother Fierce?
Sometimes when an artist is targeted, there is a mastermind behind it; other times, there is no mastermind behind it—not a single individual or organization that plays a major role—but rather a tacit agreement among certain individuals and groups.

They wouldn't openly declare, "Let's all criticize him." They might not even know each other's existence, but they would tacitly do the same thing for the same purpose.

Liu Yifei is always criticized whenever she has a new film released; this is a common occurrence in the Chinese entertainment industry.

Even the Red Star House has gotten used to it.

Sure enough, a few days before the release of "Lucy", negative information about Liu Yifei began to appear on various forums.

But there's really not much information about Liu Yifei; it's all the same old stuff over and over again.

There are a few more this year.

"Pacific Rim flopped at the global box office, and such a big-budget production was a disaster. Yet some people still call her an international starlet. I think that's a huge international joke!"

"Don't you know where those resources came from? Li Qiutang is just keeping a canary in a cage. He's dragging his feet and not making it official. Once you've made enough money for Li Qiutang, he'll find someone else to support."

Some entertainment gossip groups have recently been releasing this kind of information:

"Fairy Sister's new movie is about to be released, and she took the opportunity to force the big director to make an official announcement. The big director really dotes on her, but he doesn't make it public. She feels very insecure about this, feeling that if she doesn't solidify her position as the empress, others could kick her out at any time. Fairy Sister's mother also got involved, even suggesting to her daughter that she force the director to take her place while pregnant."

"Legendary launched the 'Pacific Rim 2' project at the beginning of this year, but the project is just an empty shell. It was a project that Legendary and Autumn used to deceive domestic investors. The project also kept Liu Yifei's fans in the dark, making them fantasize that their idol is still an international star. In fact, no one in China or abroad is willing to hire Liu Yifei. Her acting skills are terrible, but she still tries to act like an international star, which is very annoying."

This year's new information mostly focuses on Liu Yifei's resources and her relationship with Li Qiutang.

After so many hints over a long period of time, it's now basically confirmed both inside and outside the entertainment industry that Li Qiutang and Liu Yifei are together; they just haven't officially announced it yet.

The information that has emerged recently is a kind of unspoken, collective understanding without a mastermind.

Which rival is pushing this? It seems like everyone has a piece of the pie, yet it also seems like nobody does.

Which company or media outlet is promoting it? It doesn't seem like any one is putting in a particularly strong effort.

But fans don't care about any of that. Liu Yifei is doing so well now, receiving all sorts of top-tier resources. Except for awards, Liu Yifei has already taken a precipitous lead over all other actresses.

"Does it have to be an official announcement? Does it take a fake photo to post on Weibo to be considered a couple? People have their own lifestyle, what's it to you?"

"The first Pacific Rim film only lost money at the box office. In the revenue structure of Hollywood films, box office revenue accounts for about one-third. Pacific Rim sold very well in the streaming and DVD markets, not to mention that this kind of mecha monster movie can naturally sell toys, which is the biggest source of revenue. Only looking at the box office will make you look ignorant."

"I laughed when they said that Pacific Rim 2 was just an empty shell made by Fall and Legendary. Fall was only the mainland China buyer of Pacific Rim 1 and had no right to participate in the subsequent development of Pacific Rim. The movie that will be released in a few days, Lucy, is Fall's first foreign language film that it was involved in from conception to project approval to filming to global distribution and revenue sharing. Do your homework before you criticize it."

"I won't say who the sour chicken is. She tried to piggyback on Liu Yifei's fame when she debuted, then denied it after becoming famous. Now that she realizes her work isn't strong enough and she can't break into the film industry, she's trying to smear others and bring them down. Saying others rely on their boyfriends or husbands, do you not want to rely on yours?"

Haters have all sorts of opinions, and fans have all sorts of opinions.

But the online arguments among these people actually boosted the popularity of "Lucy".

Liu Yifei's team will not respond to these questions, as always.

"Lucy" will be officially released tomorrow, and Liu Yifei came to Xiamen today to promote it.

Around noon, Liu Yifei posted a nine-grid photo collage of her daily life on her personal Weibo account as a way of thanking her fans. The third photo showed her reading at home, and attentive fans dug out the book: "Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair" by Nobel laureate Chilean poet Pablo Neruda.

There aren't many readers of modern poetry, and even fewer fans who understand it, but there are still experts out there.

"Neruda is one of the most influential poets of the 20th century, holding a transcendent position in the literary world. The book Sissi is reading is Neruda's most famous work and also his most widely circulated and influential work. I have every reason to believe that Sissi is hinting at something by releasing this photo at this time."

This claim has garnered support from many fans, as Liu Yifei and Li Qiutang have previously hinted at their relationship through various means.

Now that Liu Yifei has released photos of herself reading love poems, who would believe there's no hidden meaning?

Fans tagged Li Qiutang in Liu Yifei's Weibo post and teased Li Qiutang in the comments, urging him to check Liu Yifei's Weibo: "The hints are so obvious, don't you understand?"

But Li Qiutang is currently racing horses with his film crew colleagues and several herdsmen on the Huanghuagou Grassland. The jolting is so bad it feels like his bones are about to break, and he's even being mocked by actors like Jing Tian and Xia Yu who can ride horses.

Li Qiutang even took a picture of himself on horseback and sent it to Liu Yifei, who was thousands of miles away, shamelessly asking her, "Isn't my brother handsome and fierce?"

When Liu Yifei saw the message, she rolled her eyes with amusement, but still replied, "Brother is so handsome and fierce!" She didn't feel disgusted or awkward at all; on the contrary, she enjoyed it.

Then he muttered to himself, "Show-off."

As a sci-fi action film, "Lucy" is not most directly competing with Han Han's "The Continent", but with "The White Haired Witch of Lunar Kingdom", starring Huang Xiaoming and Fan Bingbing, which will be released six days later. Although the latter is an ancient costume action film, its target audience overlaps significantly.

On the contrary, those who watch "The Continent" are generally there for Han Han, and it has little to do with "Lucy".

Of course, the large number of casual viewers is another matter.

However, the fact that "The Continent" grossed 7650 million on its opening day still put a lot of pressure on the "Lucy" production team.

It's important to know that "The Continent" isn't a genre film; it's an art film!
The key point is that the word-of-mouth is actually pretty good. Although it is said to be a collection of witty remarks and the movie has no clear main plot, it is still much better than Guo Jingming's "Tiny Times".

"Lucy" paled in comparison. Liu Yifei achieved her first-day viewership of 4100 million in her hometown of Jiangcheng, which was a very good result.

The third place is surprisingly "The Invisible Guest," which has been in theaters for 16 days. On the 25th alone, it earned more than 8 million yuan, bringing its total box office to 540 million yuan. It seems that its ceiling is around 600 million yuan.

The revenue of over 4000 million yuan on the first day was enough for "Lucy" and exceeded the expectations for a film imported from overseas in the fall.

Liu Yifei performed admirably during the first three days of the film's run, and "Lucy" lived up to expectations, grossing 1.6 million yuan in just three days, effectively silencing all her doubters.

All the highlights of "Lucy" revolve around her alone, so to say she's just an accessory is simply unreasonable.

The key point is that "Lucy" was released simultaneously in China and the United States. It opened with $1710 million in North America, which is not good and is just average. However, it grossed $4390 million in North America in its opening weekend, which makes people take a second look.

This is a movie with a budget of only $4000 million, and the lead actress is a Chinese actress. Europa and Fall really took a big risk.

"The Forbidden Kingdom, with Jackie Chan and Li Lianjie, only grossed $21 million in its opening weekend in North America. Now, Sissi alone has brought in $43 million. Although it's too early to make such a blatant comparison after six years, here's what the haters have to say!!"

"Lucy should gross over $100 million in North America. The last Chinese-starring film to break $100 million at the North American box office was Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon 14 years ago. Although Lucy is a foreign language film, Liu Yifei's contribution is still the greatest. So, haters, speak your minds!!"

(End of this chapter)