Who are you calling "little fresh meat"? I'm the king.

Chapter 326 First Day Results… (44)

Almost all film critics first published their work on Weibo:
"I feel sorry for this movie. It's not that it's bad; on the contrary, it's extremely brilliant. Compared to its predecessors, 'One Call' and 'Frequency,' it still has some originality. The former involves the past and the future saving each other, while 'One Call' saves a serial killer who should have died in the past."

What could have been a brilliant battle of wits and courage turned out to be a one-sided affair, with neither side able to gain the upper hand. Even the ending, which was supposed to be sublime and slightly touching, felt contrived! — Zhou Liming

"The story of talking to a serial killer takes the old trope of time travel and gives it a fresh twist, effectively creating a commercially viable horror and suspense atmosphere. While the result is good, closer examination reveals several vague and glossed-over moments. Yang Mi's performance is the most outstanding and stunning highlight of the entire film. The character's ferocity, terror, madness, and tragedy are vividly portrayed." — Guan Yadi

Overall, film critics gave "The Telephone" a favorable review.

Especially recently, there haven't been many noteworthy Chinese-language films released.

While "A Simple Life" is good, it's not a commercial narrative...

Both the distributor and the production company are very satisfied with the box office revenue of 7000 million!
"The Telephone" is different; from the very beginning of its promotion, it mainly featured Yang Mi and Liu Shishi... and it's a thriller...

It's obvious this movie was made with box office appeal in mind!

Under normal circumstances, if you simply pursue box office success, people will look down on you…

This is just a special case – Chinese-language films were utterly defeated.

Many people weren't very optimistic about "The Telephone"...

Especially after seeing that Yang Mi was the lead actress, I subconsciously thought: Mysterious Island 2.0!

That's normal. Yang Mi became famous because of "Palace," and "Mysterious Island" was a terrible movie...

Commonly known as black and red...

Yang Mi's "black and red" doesn't mean her reputation is ruined, but rather that while some people dislike her, others are fervent fans.

Being popular despite being controversial is different from being all haters... If everyone is a hater, then you've really ruined your reputation!

Not every celebrity has a die-hard fan.

In short, many netizens believe that since Yang Mi was cast, the movie must be terrible.

Industry insiders also began to doubt the Yang Mi effect—"Mysterious Island" created a box office miracle, but the market performance of the following films was quite mediocre!

And then... Yang Mi wasn't allowed to show off her figure...

There's even a costume change scene in the movie—perfect for showing off your figure!
They actually skipped the costume change process...

Is this reasonable?

You cast Yang Mi in this movie, and then have her completely covered up...

Do you even understand movies?
Then… news came that cinemas had increased screenings—prime time screenings reached 40%…

That's right, "The Telephone" had a high attendance rate, and the theaters decided to add more screenings...

……

Shanghai, night.

After completing seven promotional tours, the crew of "The Telephone" flew directly to Shanghai...

A group of people were sitting wearily in the hotel, resting.

After the rooms were arranged, the group went upstairs, but Shen Yan... had to stay behind for an interview.

Sohu Entertainment Exclusive Interview.

Speaking of Sohu, it's really... After Zhang Chaoyang's depression, Sohu Weibo was completely overwhelmed by Sina Weibo...

Sohu Video could have easily secured a top-three market position, but Zhang Chaoyang chose to go all-in on American dramas… He even purchased exclusive rights to popular shows like "House of Cards" and "The Big Bang Theory" at high prices. Leveraging the influence of these American dramas, Sohu Video has firmly established itself among the top three video websites in China.

Then came the ban on foreign-themed dramas~
Sohu Video bought a drama at a high price, but it can't be broadcast...

Completely Flop…

That's how the internet industry works; once you miss the boat, you're likely to never recover.

However, Sohu remains one of the four major portal websites, and Sohu Entertainment receives over a million visits daily…

In a Sohu interview, the first question was, "Some people online are saying that 'The Telephone' plagiarized 'Frequency'... What's your opinion on this?"

Shen Yan: "There is a website called TV Tropes. It analyzes and lists the plots of various popular movies, TV series, animations, novels and games, breaks down the details, and then counts, classifies and numbers them to analyze how many plots a work has overlap with other works and how cliché it is."

"After watching this, you won't find many commercial films or TV shows that can escape the plot, because in the long history of film, there is enough data on audience preferences to statistically determine a standard plot formula."

"Also, I suggest you buy a set of 'Hitchcock Theater' on Sohu Video. This theater is an American drama series produced by Hitchcock. It has ten seasons and 360 episodes in total. Each episode is a wonderful independent story... Each episode is about 25 minutes long. It's a treasure trove of short films!"

"So I often say that when we make movies and choose subjects, there are two ways: one is to find screenwriters and directors to make the movie ourselves, and the other is to go through Hitchcock's works and rewatch the corresponding movies."

Could you give an example?

"For example, in movies about midlife crises, the basic approach is to go back to the past and start over, only to find that life is already pretty good!"

"What about 'The Telephone'?" "The time-travel element isn't my original idea, but adding horror and thriller elements is definitely my first!"

After chatting about movies for a while, the topic shifted to Zhao Wenzhuo, Donnie Yen...

Sigh, this mess between the two of them has lasted for over a month.

"I feel there might have been some unresolved conflicts... It's actually very difficult to assemble a team. Coordinating various aspects, raising funds, hiring experienced behind-the-scenes workers—any problem can ruin everything..."

I heard that the previous script wasn't good enough, the investors withdrew their funding, and Donnie Yen felt it was a pity, since it wasn't easy to get so many people together... so, the script was changed.

So, it's like he and his team made the show "Special Identity," and when they rewrote the script, they changed it from a dual-protagonist format to one that emphasized the male lead more... There's nothing to say about that, since he's the one who hired them!

"Perhaps during this process, Zhao Wenzhuo felt uncomfortable... and then, after being encouraged by others, he just exploded!"

"So who do you think is right and who is wrong?"

"In this matter, it's not a matter of who's right or wrong... From Donnie Yen's perspective, I was the one who found the money, the director, and the crew, so highlighting the male lead is perfectly fine... From Zhao Wenzhuo's perspective, he feels like he's been bullied..."

"Actually, action actors are all quite upright; they're just turned into adversaries by petty people."

"What would you do if you encountered such a situation?"

Shen Yan smiled and said, "It's unlikely that I'll encounter such a thing..."

“That’s true, you’re only filming the plays you wrote yourself now!” He paused, then asked, “So how do you think this matter will be resolved?”

"I guess both sides calmed down... and then nothing came of it..."

……

Shen Yan was being interviewed downstairs, while upstairs, in his room.

Liu Shishi and Yang Mi sat back and forth on the sofa...

Nobody wants to chat...

too tired.

"Boom boom boom!"

Someone knocked on the door. She struggled to get up and open it…

The staff brought over a late-night snack—four dishes and four bowls, covered with transparent lids, and a bottle of red wine hanging nearby…

"Thanks…"

Shi Shi thanked him and was about to take out money to give him a tip when she realized she had left her wallet in the bedroom. So she called out to Yang Mi, "Sister Mi, give me 100 yuan!"

"Oh…"

Yang Mi got up, took out her wallet, and handed it to her…

The staff member accepted the tip, politely said goodbye, and left.

"eat something?"

"I'm not very hungry..."

"Then let's eat something..."

The two sat down and opened the food containers. Yang Mi suddenly remembered something: "Aren't we waiting for Shen Yan?"

He waved his hand dismissively: "Who knows how long he'll take... Let's eat something first!"

The food was excellent, Huaiyang cuisine, light and delicious…

Unfortunately, neither of them seemed to want to eat.

I just can't eat!
Everyone is quite concerned about the opening day's box office performance.

"you say…"

Before Yang Mi could speak, a crisp notification sound rang out... Shi Shi immediately opened her phone, and there was Yang Siwei's first-day results.

"how is it going?"

Yang Mi also heard her phone ring, but didn't want to look at it, repeatedly urging her to answer.

"... "

Shi Shi didn't say anything, but lit up her phone screen. The next second, Yang Mi asked in surprise, "Wow, 2700 million on the first day, we've broken a record?"

"Probably not..."

(End of this chapter)