Entertainment: I am the peak

Chapter 719 "The Medicine God" is released.

Despite grossing 2.17 million yuan on its opening day and over 7 million yuan in its opening weekend, Jurassic World 2 was still considered by the media to have fallen short of expectations.

Because the FIFA World Cup in Russia started in the same week.

The World Cup has drawn away many moviegoers.

Even so, Jurassic World 2 is still considered to have the potential to break 20 billion yuan in box office revenue in China, which could be a good start for the upcoming summer movie season.

While everyone complained about being broke at the Shanghai International Film Festival, they were anything but ruthless when it came to making money during the summer movie season.

Autumn Films released one film at the beginning and one at the end of July, attempting to dominate the entire two-month release window.

However, to be fair, no one had high hopes for "Dying to Survive" before, because it was another film with no big director, no big stars, and no big special effects.

Wen Muye is a newcomer; this is his first feature film.

Of the remaining actors—Guo Tao, Tan Zhuo, Zhou Yiwei, and Wang Chuanjun—which one is likely to sell tickets?
Other companies were wondering how they dared to release a film by a newly graduated director in the summer season.

The films that theaters and media really favor during the summer season are Jiang Wen's "Hidden Man," the final installment of his Republican-era trilogy; Tsui Hark's "Detective Dee: The Four Heavenly Kings," a special effects blockbuster; Shen Teng's comedy "Hello Mr. Billionaire," for which Shen Teng is now a household name; and the fantasy epic "Asura."

Turning to August, there's also Huang Bo's "The Island" and the "iPartment" movie.

This is what we should be watching during the summer movie season; who's going to watch some medical-themed film?

The "Dying to Survive" production team was prepared that medical themes are indeed not popular, but the preview screenings of "Dying to Survive" at the Shanghai International Film Festival still sold out.

Tickets for the 1,000-person event sold out in 10 seconds.

This is well worth the positive word-of-mouth generated by the production team's previous 12 campus events in 6 cities.

Li Qiutang had no reason not to support Wen Muye; he didn't even come as a guest, but instead went on stage as a producer.

Li Qiutang praised Wen Muye, Han Jianu, and other key members of the production team, and Wen Muye and the others praised Li Qiutang in return.

He is described as a dedicated producer who revises the script for the production team, gathers actors for the production team, and helps solve some problems encountered during filming. Even during the promotion period, Li Qiutang keeps an eye on "Dying to Survive" and makes sure the company does a good job in promotion and distribution.

"Working with Teacher Li is a very easy and pleasant experience. You just need to do your job as director, and he will take care of everything else."

Li Qiutang said that this is what producers should do, and once again emphasized that supporting newcomers means being comprehensive in every aspect.

Returning to the film, Li Qiutang praised "Dying to Survive" to the skies: "I think it's a very glamorous film in terms of its appearance, full of fun and excitement, but at its core it points directly to humanity, making people feel the power of compassion. The pace is fast and it's a seamless experience."

"When the release date was set, some people said that the summer season was too competitive and too risky for a new film by a newcomer. But I think that as long as the quality is good enough, there is no need to worry about the competition. New films by newcomers can definitely carve out a path in the fierce season. I have a lot of confidence in our film."

After saying a few more words, Wen Muye ended the pre-screening Q&A session and began showing the movie to the audience.

While "Dying to Survive" still can't compare to "Dallas Buyers Club," it is more in line with the tastes of Chinese audiences and resonates more with domestic sentiments.

"You should just keep selling your aphrodisiacs, they'll suit you too." As Cheng Yong's brother-in-law Cao Bin picked up the jeep and it disappeared down the road, the end credits song "As Long As We're Ordinary" started playing, and the whole audience erupted in applause, cheers, and whistles.

The end credits hadn't even rolled yet. Just as the applause subsided and the credits started rolling on the big screen, someone started clapping again, and the entire audience burst into applause.

Producer Li asked the main cast and crew to stand up and face the audience to receive applause, and whispered to Wen Muye, "Making movies is fun, isn't it?"

"That's about it for Cannes."

Domestic audiences don't have the habit of standing up and applauding after watching a film, so this spontaneous act moved Wen Muye and others even more.

It must be said that the audience members who came to the film festival for the preview screenings were indeed of a high standard.

They clapped repeatedly up to five times, each time for about a minute.

Wen Muye and the others bowed so many times their backs ached that Li Qiutang finally gestured for the audience to stop.

After the scene quieted down, Li Qiutang was about to say that the audience was too enthusiastic, but before she could finish speaking, a man shouted, "Awesome!"

The whole audience burst into laughter.

Li Qiutang laughed and said, "I also think it's awesome."

He laughed again.

Li Qiutang remained silent this time, handing the stage over to director Wen Muye.

Wen Muye thanked the audience for their enthusiasm and applause: "I originally wanted to hear the audience's opinions, to see if they felt there was anything we could improve on, but now I think that's not important. Thank you all for coming to our screening."

This is, of course, a genuine expression of emotion.

During the post-screening Q&A session, media and audience members eagerly shared their thoughts, and it was safe to say that there were no negative reviews; everyone praised the film.

One audience member's question hit the nail on the head regarding the film's core: "So who was wrong? Was it Cheng Yong? The Public Security Bureau? The pharmaceutical company? It seems like none of them were wrong; they were all just doing their jobs."

This is a part that the "Dying to Survive" production team deliberately left blank. To be honest, Wen Muye, Han Jianu, and Li Qiutang don't know who is wrong in this story.

The original case wasn't about Lu Yong selling counterfeit medicine, but about him stealing credit cards, which shows that the higher-ups knew what he was doing and didn't want to convict him. His arrest is actually more ironic, but we can't film it.

Actually, if you ask Li Qiutang, in terms of the story of "Dying to Survive," the police chief was the one who was wrong.

Cao Bin had already made it very clear on the stairs: "Medicine is the patient's life. Without medicine, the patient is just waiting to die, and something bad will happen."

The implication is: what if a large group of dying patients cause trouble, or even commit serious crimes? Should they be arrested or not? They're just waiting to die, why would they be afraid of being arrested? Whose responsibility would that be?
Arresting Zhang Changlin is enough; he took the blame himself. What more do you want?
Satisfying pharmaceutical companies? Compared to stability, what do the interests of one pharmaceutical company matter!
Since counterfeit drugs can't get into hospitals or pharmacies anyway, what wealthy patient would dare to buy counterfeit drugs? And the patients who would buy these counterfeit drugs are not customers of genuine drugs at all.

There's no competition between the two at all, why are you still harping on this?

That's how it's handled in reality. Lu Yong sold counterfeit drugs for 10 years without being arrested. No one would believe he didn't make a penny, but he did save many people. Did the relevant departments really not know?

Wen Muye picked up the microphone, thought for a moment, and said, "Actually, many things are neither right nor wrong, and there's no need to insist on distinguishing between right and wrong. I think we should wait until the movie is officially released and then discuss it together; maybe we'll reach a conclusion."

(End of this chapter)