Who said this top flow is crazy! This top flow is awesome!

Chapter 216, "The Fortress," died tragically, nailed to the pillar of historical shame.
June 25th, early morning.

The preview screening date for "The Fortress of Shanghai".

In fact, in the film industry in recent years, so-called preview screenings are basically no different from premieres, just with a different name, in order to release the film earlier to build up word-of-mouth and earn more box office revenue.

The premiere date for "The Fortress of Shanghai" is the 30th, but it actually started its "premiere" on the 25th.

Wanda Cinema in the capital.

The same cinema and premiere venue as the movie "The Boss".

Just like five days ago, Jinming was dressed impeccably, but her mood was a mix of excitement and shock: "10 billion in 5 days?! She actually made that much?"

He was not optimistic about the movie "Big Boss" even before filming began, because this type of movie had been made countless times in the Hong Kong film industry before, and because this movie cast Ikeno, who was still a nobody at the time.

But after the third day of the release of "The Boss" and the viral promotion of the film on Douyin, Zhao Tai became a sensation on the internet, he realized that he might have misjudged Chi Ye and "The Boss" for the "first time".

"The Boss" was indeed a hit; the word-of-mouth was phenomenal, the characters were phenomenal, and the box office was phenomenal.

But to be honest, he didn't expect "The Boss" to become such a hit.

With 10 billion yuan in 5 days, without "The Fortress of Shanghai" and without his "interception" of the Beijing circle, perhaps... "The Boss" would have had a brighter future.

pity.

All of this will end tonight—the real blockbuster is about to be released, and the fake blockbusters will disappear.

"Sigh, it's really not that I'm targeting you guys on purpose. Actually, I'm starting to admire Ikeno a bit now."

Jinming hung up the phone with his sister, shaking his head and sighing.

At this very moment, just like five days ago, my sister was perhaps in a similar state of excitement, awaiting the release of "The Boss"...

No, back then, the girl probably couldn't have imagined that "The Boss" would become such a hit. She was different from me. I was full of confidence and self-satisfaction, while she was trembling with fear and nervousness.

No, people are different as investors and as entrepreneurs.

As Jinming thought this, a gentle smile appeared on his lips.

"Mr. Ming, the movie is about to start, please take your seats."

Inside, someone was already greeting Jinming. Jinming glanced at the packed, star-studded cast of the premiere... The premiere of "The Fortress of Shanghai" truly boasted a luxurious lineup; almost all the bigwigs from the Beijing entertainment circle had come, along with members from the Northwest and Shanghai circles, and a whole bunch of top-tier celebrities from the drama industry eager to curry favor with them...

For example, Teacher Huang and Arthur, who initially agreed to participate in "The Boss" but later declined.

Compared to the meager lineup of "The Big Boss" five days ago, the difference is enormous, they're not even in the same league.

Jinming nodded in satisfaction, feeling even more pleased, and walked into the theater.

……

front row.

The creators of "The Fortress of Shanghai" sat in their seats, their emotions running high.

Director Yang sat in the center, next to producer Arthur's mother and investor Jin Ming. Also present were Yu Yan, Director Feng, Ling Bingbing, and others.

Ling Han was also sitting at the edge of the first row. She yawned, glanced back at the guest group that was already praising the movie as the best in the world even before it started, and felt bored.

"I heard... the investors this time have a lot of backing. After 'The Fortress of Shanghai' is finished, Yu Yan should be able to get the Shanghai city ambassadorship."

Suddenly, the voices of two big shots in the back row reached Ling Han's ears. She pricked up her nose and tried to catch the keywords: Yu Yan, Shanghai spokesperson... Chi Ye?
Isn't Ikeno the spokesperson for Shanghai?

The people in the back row also asked, "Trying to snatch Ikeno's endorsement? That's a bit difficult. Even if 'The Boss' isn't as good as 'The Fortress of Shanghai,' it still feels like it can get 25 billion in box office... Ikeno is very popular right now."

“It’s not a robbery.” The man explained, “City endorsements are usually short-term. Chi Ye’s endorsement is about to expire, and the municipal government has no intention of renewing it. It just so happens that ‘The Magic City Fortress’ was built in Shanghai, a whole ‘sci-fi city’. The movie also has the word ‘Magic City’ in it. It’s China’s first sci-fi blockbuster. It’s only right that Yu Yan took over as the spokesperson.”

"...Doesn't that require connections?"

"I already said, the investors in 'Shanghai Fortress' have pretty strong connections..."

While they were chatting, Ling Han in the front row muttered, "Even if they're pretty tough, they can't 'steal' Chi Ye's endorsement."

"Um?!"

Beside her, Ling Bingbing glanced at her younger sister and whispered a reminder: "Please be mindful of Yu Yan's emotions."

Ling Han realized what was happening and looked over. Sure enough, Yu Yan was angrily turning her head away, refusing to look at her.

“…small-minded.”

Ling Han muttered something, but she was still quite excited—it seemed that Brother Yan still cared about her.

"Everyone, please be quiet. The movie is about to start. Screen recording is prohibited during the screening..."

It was midnight. After a brief speech, the host on stage bent down and returned to his seat.

The epic film "The Devil's Fortress," which has been anticipated for several years by the industry and is regarded as a groundbreaking work by countless science fiction fans, has been officially released.

……

Today, Liu Xiaoxiao and her boyfriend snagged two preview tickets for "The Fortress of Shanghai" and went to watch the movie at the cinema next to the premiere... the same cinema where Sheng Ning secretly watched "The Boss" before.

This was originally planned by the young couple—the boyfriend accompanied Liu Xiaoxiao to watch Professor Chi's movie, and in return, Liu Xiaoxiao would also accompany her boyfriend to watch a sci-fi blockbuster.

After watching "The Boss" last time, her boyfriend felt that it was worth the ticket price. He didn't even stop Liu Xiaoxiao from watching it again and watched it with her.

Of course, this doesn't stop him from still preferring science fiction films and special effects blockbusters—his long-awaited sci-fi epic, "The Fortress of Shanghai."

"Last time, 'The Big Boss' was a surprise, and I hope this time, 'The Fortress of Shanghai' will be a shock."

The boyfriend said this with a smug look on his face.

"What's so shocking... I don't know what's so interesting about it... Yu Yan is nowhere near as handsome as Chi Ye... His movie is out, and it'll be taking away screenings from 'The Boss,' I wonder if 'Coconut' can even break 25 billion at the box office..."

Liu Xiaoxiao pouted, but her boyfriend, seeing this, wasn't angry and just watched the movie happily.

Ok…

Five minutes later, the boyfriend stopped smiling.

Ten minutes later, the boyfriend frowned slightly.

Twenty minutes later, the boyfriend looked lost.

Thirty minutes later... her boyfriend was sitting on pins and needles, scratching his head and blushing.

A young man's blush speaks louder than any sweet words.

Liu Xiaoxiao had never seen her boyfriend like this before. Because of her personality, the boyfriends she dated were all on the gentler side. But now, seeing the incredulous look on her boyfriend's face, she thought to herself, "He must be so excited!"

Were they shocked?
Ok…

Watching him constantly stand up and sit down, it's as if he has thorns growing under his butt. Is it really necessary to get so agitated?

This movie... is absolutely awful. Cheap special effects, illogical plot, Nokia controlling futuristic weapons, and those unyielding bangs... what's so great about it??
Indeed, it's not even as good as a single hair on a coconut.

"What happened to you?"

Halfway through the movie, Liu Xiaoxiao noticed that not only her boyfriend, but also all the other excited moviegoers around her before the film started, had started to "grow thorns."

Some people have even started to curse loudly, a stark contrast to their previous behavior of frantically "shushing" others before the film's release to avoid ruining this epic cinematic experience.

She finally realized something was wrong.

So she looked at her boyfriend.

The boyfriend finally snapped out of his shock, turned to look at his girlfriend, remained silent for a long time, and then said, "...I'm wondering when the aliens will blow up this pair of scumbags?"

"what?"

Liu Xiaoxiao was dumbfounded.

"reply!!!"

Suddenly, a guy in the back row cursed, "What a piece of trash!!" "You tricked us into coming here to eat shit!! Give us our money back!"

"What kind of sci-fi epic is this? Is Yu Yan's bangs supposed to block alien attacks?"

"Don't make fun of him, aliens can't break through Yu Yan's bangs."

"RNM, refund the money!!"

The audience was already shouting, and the noise was getting louder and louder. Many of the audience members who had initially just been cursing the waste of time were now getting emotional – the sci-fi blockbuster they had been waiting for for so long had turned out to be a mess?!

Who can bear this? !

The situation was out of control.

The cinema manager walked in, utterly astonished: "What's going on? What happened?"

"...Some people are demanding a refund."

"What? A refund?"

The cinema manager was also dumbfounded.

Money back?
Having been a manager for so many years, this was the first time he had ever heard of audiences demanding refunds for watching a movie... let alone a collective refund.

What's the situation?
Was the movie bad?
Well… although he personally thinks that "The Fortress of Shanghai" is a bit overhyped, but… isn't this the kind of thing that young people and sci-fi fans like these days?

Did they make a wrong prediction?

The manager came over and reassured everyone, "Please don't disrupt the viewing experience of other audience members..."

"What a terrible experience! If you cared about our viewing experience, you wouldn't show us this kind of movie!"

The hot-tempered man pointed at the manager and yelled, "You guys will make money off anything! Have you no conscience?!"

manager:"?!"

He was also a little angry: "Speak your mind, but don't make personal attacks!"

"You fired the first shot at us!"

Another audience member stood up and mimicked an awkward scene from the movie: "—Fire at me! My bangs remain perfectly still!"

"You said you'd fire at us, and you really did! Put your hand on your heart and tell me, did you even finish eating this mess yourself?!"

The cinema manager paused, feeling slightly guilty... because he hadn't actually watched the whole movie; he'd only heard from others that it was "okay"...

No, this doesn't seem like it's okay either.

As a film manager, he knew all too well what it meant when a film was in this situation... Moreover, the "real feedback from the scene" of "The Devil's Fortress" seemed to be more intense than he had ever encountered before.

No...nothing serious is going to happen, right?
……

This is a big problem.

Next door, at the premiere.

Director Yang, Director Lu, Director Feng, Yu Yan, and others in the front row noticed something was wrong with the audience behind them when the film was halfway through, but they didn't think much of it at the time—because the premiere was different from other screenings.

There are celebrities, famous directors, and many big names in the entertainment industry here. In addition, most of the people who managed to snag tickets to this premiere are Yu Yan's fans... so everyone's "tolerance" and patience are very high.

However… no matter how tolerant and patient we are, there will always be people with normal aesthetic sense and a portion of ordinary science fiction movie fans.

So, starting from the middle of the show, audience members kept making excuses to go to the restroom, but never came back.

As the movie was nearing its end, Yu Yan turned around again and was startled to find—so many people were missing!
Also, why aren't those fans and viewers saying anything?
He had seen all the promotional videos for the movie "The Boss" when it was released. From the moment Ikeno Tsuyoshi appeared on screen until the very end of the film, the entire theater was filled with gasps, laughter, and gasps of shock...

Why is it so quiet here in "The Fortress of Shanghai"?

He was puzzled, and so was Director Yang.

Seeing this, Director Lu smiled slightly and comforted them, "They're probably all shocked."

"really."

Jinming also laughed: "After all, it's our country's first sci-fi blockbuster, so it's normal."

As he said this, a question arose in his mind... To be honest, he had never seen "The Fortress of Shanghai" in its entirety before... This movie... This movie... seems a bit too ahead of its time!
It's probably because he's getting old and doesn't understand the preferences of young audiences.

Hula la.

suddenly.

As the movie credits rolled, the "torture" that had lasted for several years finally came to an end, and many viewers stood up and left without looking back.

Those who hadn't left looked at each other in bewilderment.

"How about it?"

"Hmm... how about what?"

"A movie? What do you think..."

"Hard to say."

Princess Li Qian of the Northwest Circle shook her head and added, "It feels like... a very bizarre movie."

"..."

"Don't go! Everyone, don't go!"

At this moment, Director Yang's "gentle and refined" voice suddenly rang out. It was because he saw that most of the audience had left and couldn't help himself. He hurriedly stepped forward and grabbed a film critic who had already received money.

"Don't go, Lao Zhang, why are you running away?"

Film critic: "...Director Yang, you can't be like this...at least, you shouldn't betray your friends like this."

Director Yang: "?"

While gesturing for the staff to "lock" the door, he asked, "What are you talking about? How did I cheat you?!"

"You're trying to ruin my livelihood. Tell me, how did you manage to cheat me?"

The film critic shook his head and advised him, "If things really get bad lately, you should go abroad and lay low for a while, avoid the limelight..."

"why?"

"I'm afraid some extreme sci-fi fans might try to kill you."

Director Yang: "?!"

"Yu Yan, do you even respect science fiction movies?!"

An ordinary movie fan, seeing that even the door was "locked," became agitated and pointed at Yu Yan, yelling, "We don't want to eat our thesis defense, and you're forcibly locking us in to eat?!"

Yu Yan: "???"

He was stunned, completely bewildered by the sudden outburst of insults.

"Why are you insulting Shanghai?!"

Another young man from Shanghai stepped forward: "Why does the movie have to include the name 'Shanghai'?"

"Are you foreign spies deliberately here to damage our city's reputation and image?!"

The big names from the "Fortress of Shanghai" and the Beijing entertainment circle were stunned and stood there, their faces flushed, completely bewildered.

Jinming was even more dumbfounded. Seeing that no one reacted, he subconsciously stepped forward and said, "Hey, let's talk this out..."

"Say 'NMB'! ​​You are sinners in the history of Chinese science fiction films! You will be nailed to the pillar of historical shame!"

(End of this chapter)