Entertainment: I am the peak

Chapter 508 Breaking Defense
The official battle report was released the day after the holiday ended.

The National Day holiday saw over 122 million screenings over seven days, attracting more than 50.2 million viewers and generating over 18.5 billion yuan in box office revenue. Last year's National Day holiday only generated slightly over 11 billion yuan in total revenue.

It can be said that this represents a significant increase.

No one expected that "Goodbye Mr. Loser" would take the top spot at the National Day box office with 5.58 million yuan during the seven-day holiday. "Lost in Hong Kong" came in second with 5.47 million yuan, "Chronicles of the Ghostly Tribe" came in third with 4.63 million yuan, and "The Ghostly Swordsman" came in fourth with 1.27 million yuan.

Among them, "Lost in Hong Kong" grossed 14.86 billion yuan, breaking the record for the highest-grossing 2D film in mainland China.

Everyone has a bright future.

But because the holidays are over, these movies need to change their approach.

The box office performance of "Lost in Hong Kong" has shown signs of fatigue with this installment, and Xu Shanzheng and Huanxi Media have stopped large-scale promotion.

But "Chronicles of the Ghostly Tribe" is different. LeTV may have realized a problem: it may not be able to catch up with "Lost in Hong Kong" - if it can't catch up during the holiday season when the box office is most likely to explode, it really can't catch up later - but "Chronicles of the Ghostly Tribe" cannot lose to "Goodbye Mr. Loser".

That was just a brand new comedy with a budget of less than 3000 million!
Therefore, LeEco and Lu Chuan chose to continue their efforts after the holiday!

There will definitely be no shortage of topics to discuss.

In an exclusive interview, Lu Chuan revealed that he had always wanted to make "Chronicles of the Ghostly Tribe" into a series, but he refused to film it as a sequel: "This movie does have a sequel. At the time, we were preparing a trilogy script consisting of one, two, and three parts." He also revealed: "The second part is also in preparation."

In response to criticism of the film being a bad movie, Lu Chuan said, "Some people say that I made a 'disruptive adaptation,' but I feel quite wronged because I think I am quite faithful to the original work. At most, I made a 'constructive adaptation.' I am a very enthusiastic fan of the original work. I have read all eight books twice. We have the copyright to the first four books, and I have practically worn them out. Books have their own logic, and movies have their own logic. My responsibility is to be accountable for the logic of the film."

These are all normal occurrences; Lu Chuan is about to go crazy in the later interviews.

When asked by reporters about replacing Tang Yan in the role and Zhao Liying paying extra to join the cast, Lu Chuan chose to go back on his word and refused to admit that he had said those things before:
“I didn’t choose the role of Cao Weiwei; the producer introduced her to me. I didn’t know her at all before, and I had never seen any of her TV dramas. The producer said she was suitable, so I didn’t think much of it and just cast her. I never ask about money on set. The production team will not deduct from the actors’ salaries, let alone ask the actors to pay out of their own pockets. We don’t want the actors to do that either.”

How can a person be so brave!
In another interview, a reporter, perhaps a bit bold or simply disliking him, asked a provocative question: "Some netizens say they want to watch tomb raiding movies, so they should watch 'Mojin: The Lost Legend' at the end of the year. What's your opinion on this?"

Mentioning "Mojin: The Lost Legend" may have really touched a nerve with him. He reiterated that it wasn't that he didn't want to film tomb raiding, but that the censors wouldn't allow it.

However, the trailer for "Mojin: The Lost Legend" actually showed an ancient tomb and some underground monsters.

Ye Ning took advantage of the holiday to gain attention, stating to the outside world: "The main plot of 'Mojin: The Lost Legend' takes place in the ancient tomb palace, making it a genuine tomb raiding film."

The reporter shared this information with Lu Chuan: "Ye Ning, the producer of 'Mojin: The Lost Legend,' confirmed that their story takes place in an ancient tomb."

Lu Chuan was a little defensive: "Can we not talk about this? Let's move on to the next question."

Are you still confident of breaking the 12 billion mark?

Lu Chuan picked up the cup on the table, took a sip of water, and said, "Let the audience have it."

"Netizens have been comparing 'Chronicles of the Ghostly Tribe' with 'Mojin: The Lost Legend,' including comparing you and director Qiu Tang. Do you think you can win this comparison?"

Lu Chuan now felt that the reporter was just there to stir up trouble.

He took another sip of water and said, "The 749th Bureau and some plot points in 'Chronicles of the Ghostly Tribe' are all based on my personal experiences, which I think is my strength." But the reporter was far from satisfied with his answer, as if the interview would have been pointless if he hadn't launched into a tirade. So, the last and most pointed question was posed:

"Ten years ago, you and director Qiu Tang were known as the twin stars of young directors in the Chinese film industry by movie fans, but now it seems that the gap between your development is getting bigger and bigger. What do you think is the reason for this?"

Lu Chuan immediately broke down, his face turning visibly red, and said, "He is my junior, my junior. When I entered the industry, he hadn't even received film education yet, so there's no reason for me to be on the same level as him. I don't think there's any difference between us. I have what he has. Does he have an extra arm? 'Mojin: The Lost Legend' hasn't been released yet, so it's hard to say who will win or lose."

After Lu Chuan finished speaking, his assistant stepped forward to stop the interview from continuing.

This interview was posted on Weibo in video format.

Li Qiutang was sitting at home when a trending topic suddenly appeared out of nowhere. He had no idea what had happened, and he was being publicly shamed on Weibo.

After a little understanding, he didn't think it was a big deal. Lu Chuan was upset, but he didn't scold himself.

This reporter, why did she have to ask that kind of question of all? Anyone who didn't know better would think she'd received a gift from Li Qiutang.

However, Wan Da, who is always high-profile and flamboyant, seized this opportunity. Ye Ning posted a meaningful message on Weibo: "Marching towards victory!" The accompanying picture was a promotional poster for "Mojin: The Lost Legend," which prominently featured the tagline "12.18 Authentic Tomb Raider Style."

At the same time, Zhao Liying was publicly harassed by Lu Chuan, which infuriated her.

Before the film's release, they praised me for my grand vision, but now they say they don't want to do it this way.

But Zhao Liying had no choice; she couldn't afford to offend Lu Chuan, so she had to endure it.

Anyway, she didn't have many scenes in "Chronicles of the Ghostly Tribe," and "The Ghostwriter" flopped. She should just stick to making TV dramas; movies are too risky. I heard "Jade Dynasty" is getting a film/TV adaptation; maybe she can try to get the role of Biyao.

She wants to go back to filming dramas in peace, but will Tang Yan's fans let her off the hook?

He just boasted that he was skilled at poaching roles, and now he's just leaving like that?

The feud between Tang Yan's fans and Zhao Liying's fans has been incredibly ugly these past few days.

After Lu Chuan poured the oil, Tang Yan's fans appeared to mock Zhao Liying for being rejected: "She's not buying it at all, who are you trying to impress with those faces?"

But fans remained stubborn, arguing that movie stars are superior to TV drama stars, and claiming that Tang Yan couldn't get roles in movies, especially not in films by renowned directors like Lu Chuan.

"The box office of 'Chronicles of the Ghostly Tribe' is about to break 5 million yuan. Li Ying is the actress with the highest single-film box office among the post-85 actresses. That's an achievement!"

This statement only fueled the ridicule from Tang Yan's fans.

"When did you become the highest-paid? Did you pocket the 8 million yuan domestic box office for Liu Yifei's 'Pacific Rim'? Did you also own the 5 million US dollars global box office for 'Lucy'?"

Zhao Liying's fans really didn't consider Liu Yifei: "How can that be the same! Liu Yifei isn't one of the '85 Flowers'!"

Huh? Is this a compliment to Liu Yifei?

(End of this chapter)