Fooling Huayu for Thirty Years

Chapter 581 "Returning to One's Roots": A bittersweet tale! Written by the widow Chung Chu-hung
"This cameo appearance was really well done. Now... Oda, what are you thinking about?"

"Oh, Uncle Lu, it's nothing."

"There's another important resource coming up, so you need to pay close attention to it."

"Uncle Lu, please don't worry, I will definitely work extremely hard! But this resource..."

"It's that super martial arts blockbuster, 'The Forbidden Kingdom'."

"This……"

To be honest, Jing Tian was definitely spacing out.

They managed to adjust quickly, but the resources Uncle Lu mentioned...

Jing Tian knew about this before, but that was before. Now, she's a little...

She's still just a young girl, and her thoughts are easily expressed on her face.

Mr. Lu was a shrewd man and immediately saw through it, but he didn't care at all and laughed, "Are you worried that you can't handle such good resources right now?"

Jing Tian knew he couldn't hide his thoughts from Uncle Lu, so he simply nodded.

Mr. Lu laughed heartily, “You’re still young. Don’t you understand how things become popular these days? To be honest, some people have been smearing the film ‘Getting Home’ this time, and you weren’t even in it… Tsk tsk, that’s rather disappointing.”

"Huh? Uncle Lu, what are you talking about? I don't understand."

"Haha... Haven't you noticed? In the past few years, in our domestic entertainment industry, how can you become popular without being criticized? Now there's even a term for it: black-and-red."

The more they are criticized, the more popular they become. Even many films and television dramas are subject to criticism, and the more severe the criticism, the more popular they become.

"This……"

"There are too many examples like that. Take 'Curse of the Golden Flower,' for instance. How many people criticized Zhang Yimou for making it vulgar? But how was the box office? And what about that certain star? How many people criticized them? But they're getting more and more popular, aren't they?" At this point, Mr. Lu changed the subject. "I know your concern. Aren't you afraid of being criticized by Ms. Liu's fans because of this casting change? Hehe... If you're that afraid..."

Jing Tian interrupted Uncle Lu before he could finish speaking, saying, "I'm not afraid at all!"

That's a very good attitude.

Mr. Lu was not angry at all; on the contrary, he was very happy and said, "Good! That's the kind of spirit we should have! We'll just take this resource from her! What can she do? What can her fans do?"

Moreover, your performance in "Getting Home" was quite good, receiving a lot of positive reviews, which gives you some confidence.

"Mmm." Jing Tian seemed very obedient, but in reality, she was under a lot of pressure.

Of course she knew about the 'black and red' thing, and she was also very clear that if she stole that person's resources, it would definitely not be a small matter.

Of course, it's very likely to become famous, but...

I'm the one who got scolded!

But you can't complain to Uncle Lu about this; after all, he meant well.

"I will definitely withstand the pressure!"

This determination and momentum are indeed impressive, and Mr. Lu is very satisfied.

However, Jing Tian then brought up the matter of the current film, "Getting Home," asking, "Uncle Lu, could you use some methods to help boost the box office of this film?"

Mr. Lu knew, of course, which movie Jing Tian was referring to. He smiled and nodded, “Of course, there’s no problem. After all, this movie can be considered your debut work. The better you do on this first shot, the more positive the impact on your future will be.”

Hearing this, Jing Tian was overjoyed.

In fact, Jing Tian really likes the movie "Getting Home", and whenever he thinks of this movie, he can't help but think of Ma Xun.

That home was given to this movie by Ma Xun.

……

2008 years.

Almost no one could have predicted that the competition in the film market at the beginning of the year would be so fierce.

"The Warlords" had a very good start, but unfortunately it couldn't continue.

The word-of-mouth collapsed first, followed by the box office collapse.

However, even if the box office is a disaster, it has still grossed over 100 million yuan, and it is currently even approaching 200 million yuan.

The biggest problem with this movie is that it was too expensive.

3 billion!

This is something they've been boasting about before.

Of course, one hundred million was given to Jet Li.

The previous publicity spiel was as follows, with Li Lianjie himself saying: "I don't want those odds and ends, let's just make it a total of 100 million."

Yes, just like that, he took one hundred million out of the three hundred million.

To be honest, I originally planned to publicize this salary extensively.

After all, this is indeed very newsworthy.

One hundred million! That's how high the salary is for just one person.

But now, it's clear that this matter shouldn't be publicized, otherwise it will definitely become a point of criticism.

Putting everything else aside, what do Andy Lau's fans think?
What do Jin Chengwu's fans think?
The key issue is that the film isn't doing well in terms of reviews, and judging from the box office...

With a budget of 300 million, it would need at least 1 billion in box office revenue to break even!

It looks like it's going to reach 2 million, which isn't a small amount, but in reality, it's losing a lot of money!

Interestingly, the five brothers had to bear this loss themselves.

Yes, they are still trying to promote the good news about the box office.

Every time a milestone is reached and ten million more are added, a poster is released to celebrate.

In reality, the breakthrough was far too slow, and each celebration felt like a knife being stabbed into the heart of the Long Wu brothers!
But I can't not send it.

The main theme was turning a funeral into a celebration.

In order to earn more money, we have to fight our rivals!

As a result, there are quite a few negative articles criticizing "Returning to One's Roots".

In short, we looked at various angles.

The main targets of the criticism were Uncle Benshan and Sister Dandan, but people like Hu Jun and Wu Ma were also frequently criticized.

In particular, many articles went so far as to dig up Wu Ma's past scandals, such as the movie he made with Amy Yip.

The approach is to highlight a rich and varied approach.

But guess what?

Hey!
The box office growth rate of "Getting Home" is getting faster and faster!

The 100 million mark was surpassed on the fourth day of the film's release.

Actually, this is the calculation of the poster release time. Some netizens have noticed that three nights should have already passed.

But it's okay, it's not a big deal.

After that, it continued its rapid and triumphant progress.

On its tenth day of release, it had already caught up with "The Warlords" by 20 million.

This speed is absolutely phenomenal.

Many netizens, on the other hand, have grown to love this movie even more.

It's not just the box office battles that are exciting; the key is the movies themselves!

Open Douban and check out the popular comments.

"I don't know how many people are like me. I was laughing the whole time during the movie, but when Mr. Benshan lay in that dug pit, that place... I cried my eyes out."

"I cried when I sold my blood because I had done it before!"

"I am at..."

This is simply absurd! It's true that "Getting Home" is a road movie, but it's also a comedy.

After all, the male lead in this movie is currently one of the most famous comedy masters in China.

Moreover, the most famous crosstalk performer of the future will make a guest appearance.

In addition, there are top-notch supporters like Sister Dandan.

This movie is absolutely hilarious, with one laugh after another.

Absolutely a comedy!

However, despite it being a comedy film, many netizens are discussing how the characters cried.

Isn't this outrageous?
but!

This is perfectly normal; in fact, it demonstrates that this film is very down-to-earth!

A film that most moviegoers can understand.

That's wonderful!

Therefore, the quality of this film is inherently unassailable.

But those who pay attention will surely notice something.

"Screening schedules are increasing!"

"It's gone up again!"

"Indeed, good movies should be seen!"

"Now I admit, this is the best Chinese road movie!"

Indeed, the number of screenings for "Getting Home" is steadily increasing.

Conversely, the number of screenings for "The Warlords" has been steadily declining.

Judging from this situation...

The Long Five Brothers suffered a terrible defeat this time!
……

"Boss! This is absolutely fantastic!"

"Brother Ma! We won! We'll be overtaking them right away!"

"No matter what the competitors do, it's useless! The theater chains are on our side!"

In Ma Xun's view, the outcome of this Lunar New Year film season is already decided.

However, in fact, there was no intention to fight from the very beginning.

That's right, this year's Lunar New Year box office battle wasn't part of the plan.

Although, it has indeed created a situation where "Lust, Caution" VS "Sophie's Revenge", and "The Warlords" VS "Getting Home".

But in reality, no one would consider "The Warlords" and "Getting Home" to be on the same level.

That's definitely what everyone thinks.

In other words, there was never any box office battle in the first place.

But now, it's actually quite enjoyable to watch.

In reality... it all comes down to the fact that "The Warlords" itself collapsed.

Ma Xun saw this very clearly.

If "The Warlords" hadn't been so bad, theaters would never have given "Getting Home" so many opportunities.

To put it bluntly, they won't get many screenings from the start.

As the saying goes, "To forge iron, one must be strong oneself," and this "The Warlords" was not strong enough.

Therefore, Ma Xun seized the opportunity and delivered a heavy blow.

Ma Xun no longer needs to think about what kind of state the Long brothers are in now.

These two guys probably won't be able to sleep well for a while.

Now that the situation has stabilized, Ma Xun can go and take care of his own business.

Well, this can be considered an unexpected event.

He went to Hong Kong alone this time.

why?

Actually, he did it for someone.

When the plane landed, Ma Xun drove to the luxury residential area in the south.

But he didn't go back to his own mansion; instead, he went to a mansion with white painted circles and other decorations on the outside.

Clearly, this family is holding a funeral.

When Ma Xun's car arrived, after a short wait, the gate of the mansion opened automatically.

But once inside, they found that the funeral was probably over, but some of the decorations had not yet been removed.

They were scattered there, as if they had been through some great battle.

Ignoring all that, the car simply drove up to the front of the main house.

Ma Xun got out of the car and went straight inside.

Along the way, there were many empty wine bottles, and the once lavish mansion was now in a state of disarray.

Ma Xun didn't care about any of that. Before long, he saw a woman wearing an all-black suit and black stockings.

"Oh, you've come, hehe..."

"You drank too much."

Chung Chor-hung was still holding a bottle of whiskey, drinking it with her eyes glazed over.

Ma Xun wasn't even sure if the woman recognized him.

So, he moved closer.

It definitely smells like alcohol.

But not far away, there was a black and white portrait of a deceased person.

Ma Xun couldn't help but sigh.

But then, Cherie Chung collapsed into his arms, giggling foolishly, "Mike's gone. Just as you predicted, everything is..."

Ma Xun understood what she meant, of course.

Her husband died, and the battle for inheritance in the wealthy family began, even though Chung Chor-hung now has children to rely on.

But Zhu Jiading's older brother clearly has a lot of tricks up his sleeve.

This woman was badly hurt, and she truly deserves our pity.

However, Ma Xun was never one to show mercy to women.

In this situation, he came up with a solution.

Without hesitation, he grabbed Chung Chor-hung from behind, pulled her up by the hair, and made her look at the portrait.

Then, Ma Xun was right behind him... *smack*.

Although there was a dress between them, Ma Xun's grip was quite strong, and he slapped Chung Chu-hung so hard that her egg twitched.

"You...no, don't...stop..."

That's not up to you.

(End of this chapter)