Entertainment: I am the peak

Chapter 464 The Entertainment Industry's Toilet

It wouldn't be entirely unfair to say that Li Qiutang orchestrated and acted in this whole affair.

Li Qiutang's original plan was indeed to publicly hand over the project to Xin Yukun, thereby promoting "The Coffin in the Mountain".

But he really didn't expect the outside world to react so strongly to him handing over "Mirage" to someone else.

That's why I had to post an explanation on Weibo.

But even when posting on Weibo, this guy didn't forget to advertise for actors for "Mirage".

Li Qiutang's actions did indeed generate some buzz for "The Coffin in the Mountain".

The fact that "The Coffin in the Mountain" grossed 510 million yuan on its opening day is truly remarkable.

As a film with no production value, no marketing budget, and no backing, "The Coffin in the Mountain" will not receive much promotional resources from the audience in the fall. After it grossed 1300 million yuan in its opening weekend, Xin Yukun stopped participating in roadshows and meet-and-greets. Few cinemas invited him to hold meet-and-greets.

I only accept light interviews now, and most of my work is devoted to the preparation of "Mirage".

"I was wrong, 'The Coffin in the Mountain' is really good!" A netizen apologized to Li Qiutang on Weibo after watching "The Coffin in the Mountain".

"The Coffin in the Mountain is just as good as The Invisible Guest, and now I'm even more looking forward to Mirage."

"After watching 'The Coffin in the Mountain,' I finally understand why Li Qiutang entrusted 'Mirage' to Xin Yukun."

"Our small county cinema doesn't show 'The Coffin in the Mountain'! Is it really that good? I'm planning to go to the city to see it!"

The film "The Coffin in the Mountain" has received rave reviews, but its reach has been limited due to its budget and cast.

Li Qiutang's outburst effectively brought "Mirage" to the forefront.

Industry insiders view this project differently than the audience. If Li Qiutang is still the director of "Mirage," then even if its investment is only 30 million, it is still an excellent resource worth fighting for and paying attention to in the industry. Maybe a year later, it can still make 600 to 700 million at the box office with 30 million.

Unfortunately, it wasn't. Xin Yukun's takeover caused the industry's rating for "Mirage" to drop significantly.

But this still doesn't diminish the interest of actresses over 30 in this film.

So what if they're new directors? Do they even have the right to choose their own directors?

This is a harsh statement, but it is the truth. Even the "Four Dan and Two Bing" actresses, plus Liu Yifei, these seven top actresses, are not qualified to choose directors.

Of course, they don't care whether the script or the role is a new director, as long as it catches their eye.

Li Qiutang bringing Li Bingbing to the premiere of "The Coffin in the Mountain" was seen as a signal that Li Qiutang had decided to cast Li Bingbing in "Mirage".

But there are still actors who want to try.

Fan Bingbing and Zhou Xun both want to play roles, so they're unlikely to fight over it; "Mirage" doesn't have that much appeal yet.

Both of them took the initiative to ask Li Qiutang about the progress of the preparation for "Mirage".

Li Qiutang truthfully replied, "Filming is scheduled to begin in May."

As for the female lead, Li Qiutang truthfully confirmed: "It's definitely Li Bingbing."

He also politely told both of them that they would have the opportunity to work together again.

Fan Bingbing scolded him, "You haven't contacted me since 'Arrogant,' it's been almost 10 years."

After apologizing, Li Qiutang promised Fan Bingbing a dream: "Wait until I finish filming what I'm doing, and I'll personally write a script for you."

Li Qiutang's words were better left unsaid, as they gave Fan Bingbing an opening, since Fan Bingbing knew that Li Qiutang also had a period romance film called "The Butterfly Lovers," which had just been approved at the beginning of the year.

Fan Bingbing joked in the voice message, "Don't wait until later, just give me 'The Butterfly Lovers,' my period costume should be able to pull off Zhu Yingtai." But how could Li Qiutang agree to that? He already had someone in mind for Zhu Yingtai. He replied, "I've only just started working on this film. I don't even know how it will turn out. Let's talk about it after it's finished."

That's how they got rid of Fan Bingbing.

The big flowers won't easily tear each other apart, but the small flowers will!
It wasn't because of "Mirage," but because of "Independence Day 2."

After the Lunar New Year holiday, fans have confirmed that "Independence Day 2" will begin filming this year and plans to invite Chinese actresses to play important roles.

Then, Liu Yifei was attacked online again.

The smear campaign after the New Year was even more intense than the one before the New Year!
The controversy has spread beyond the fan community, and countless bystanders have started to follow the story.

Liu Yifei has a lot of "dirt" on her, but much of it is from years ago. Rehashing old stories is the most common tactic used by her rivals to smear her.

Godfather and coming-of-age banquet are two things that must be mentioned.

Liu Yifei is about to get married, yet they're still bringing up her transgender status again.

There's also the story of Liu Yifei, who at a young age tried to seduce a famous director. During the two years Liu Yifei was blacklisted, Li Qiutang was already a well-known director in China with a promising future. At that time, 21-year-old Liu Yifei took the initiative to offer herself to Li Qiutang for protection.

There are also questions about its box office performance—Pacific Rim did indeed lose a lot of money at the box office, and the smear campaigners blamed Liu Yifei for it.

Of course, there's also the issue of nationality. They say she's an American making money in the US and paying US taxes.

However, this is not the most unbelievable thing. The most incredible thing is that this time someone actually pointed the finger at Autumn Pictures.

They called Autumn Pictures the "toilet of the entertainment industry."

"Autumn Pictures has a strong culture of drinking with employees. At the welcome party for new employees, the superiors will force them to drink. Even if you say you have allergies, are trying to conceive, or are driving, you can't drink. If you don't drink, the leaders will make things difficult for you."

“My best friend applied for a job in the production management department of Autumn Pictures, where she was responsible for the project initiation of new films. On her first day of work, her boss asked her to drink alcohol at noon, which scared her so much that she ran away in the afternoon.”

“One of my roommates joined the public relations department last autumn. That very night, he was dragged by several senior employees to play mahjong. He lost more than two thousand yuan in one night and only later suspected that he had been tricked.”

This wave of negative PR tactics after the Lunar New Year was first noticed by Liu Yifei's fans, and later by Red Star House and Autumn Pictures.

Autumn Film Studio is a large and powerful company, and it simply won't pay any attention to such unfounded accusations.

Huayi has been called a cesspool in the Chinese entertainment industry for years. Have you seen Wang Zhonglei respond to that?

Fans quickly identified their target, and based on the principle that whoever benefits is a suspect, they set their sights on Yang Ying.

If the pre-Lunar New Year counterattack was merely based on vague speculation—that Liu Yifei wanted a promotion at Dior and Yang Ying wanted to secure a Dior ambassadorship—then it's possible that the counterattack was driven by unfounded conjecture.

Now we have concrete evidence! Netizens have spotted you meeting Roland Emmerich in Los Angeles, and almost everyone knows that if Liu Yifei were to audition for "Independence Day 2," Yang Ying would be no match for her.

You have a motive!
It has to be said that the fans have hit the right person again this time.

This wave of negative PR after the Lunar New Year was indeed bought by Yang Ying, and it was all because of "Independence Day 2".

She knew better than anyone that she couldn't compete with Liu Yifei in Hollywood, so she chose to strike first.

This matter doesn't require Li Qiutang's intervention; someone else will handle it.

Huang Xiaoming received a phone call, spoke with the other end for two or three minutes, and then hung up.

After ending the call, Huang Xiaoming's head was spinning, and he cursed inwardly, "How did I end up with such a jerk!"

This further solidified his determination to get rid of the burden. Yang Ying's sudden rise to fame through "Running Man" did bring him considerable profits, but compared to the profits, he cared more about his own development.

She's just a girlfriend, not a wife. You can get a divorce if you have a wife!
(End of this chapter)