Huayu: Starting from intercepting Duan Yu

Chapter 247 Liu Yifei, in a Class of Her Own, Xu Yi Makes His Move! (6000-word long chapter!)

The premiere officially began at 7:30 p.m.

have nothing to say.

It's basically the main creators sitting together, with the host giving them a round of praise.

However, since it's Wayi's home ground today, they naturally won't give Liu Yifei many opportunities to perform.

Most of the time, the host's topics revolved around the three individuals: Li Lianjie (aka Fang Shilong), Li Bingbing, and Fang Shilong.

Fortunately, Liu Yifei didn't seem to mind.

When I first received the audition invitation for the female lead in "The Forbidden Kingdom"...

She was quite excited and really wanted to act in it.

But it wasn't until it was officially confirmed that she would be cast and a contract was signed.

Her mindset has completely changed.

In Xu Yi's words at the time, this movie mainly features Fang Shilong and Li Lianjie.

The other characters, including the female lead, are merely embellishments.

Even if the movie becomes a hit, it won't have much to do with her.

So don't overthink it, just focus on earning your paycheck.

Not to mention now, she already has this movie, which is expected to flop.

Naturally, he wouldn't even think about showing off!
However, her fans were outraged when they saw this!
"That host is awful! He kept asking Li Bingbing questions, but ignored our Qianqian like she wasn't there!"

"This must have been arranged by Huayi!"

"There's nothing we can do. 'The Forbidden Kingdom' was invested in by Wayi, and today's premiere was also arranged by Wayi."

"Fang Shilong is quite good; he's been speaking up for Xixi the whole time."

"Forget it, our Sisi doesn't care about this kind of exposure."

"I was originally thinking of supporting this movie, but now it seems I have to change my mind."

"Sigh, it's so difficult. I want to watch Sissi's movies, but I don't want to support Wayi."

"I really don't know why Sissi took this movie role."

"It's the first time Jackie Chan and Jet Li have worked together, and she's the female lead with a decent salary, so why didn't she accept the role?"

"Don't worry, it's definitely because Brother Xu Yi agreed that Sisi took on this movie."

"It's said that Sissi's salary for this movie was as high as 300 million US dollars!"

"Really? That's incredible! It's equivalent to over 2000 million Chinese yuan!"

"That's right, besides Gong Li, our Sissi is now the highest-paid female star in China!"

"Haha, no wonder Li Bingbing's face has been so pale. It seems her pay must not be high!"

"The Forbidden Kingdom is a Wayi Film, and Li Bingbing is not only the second female lead, but also a star under Wayi's own management. It's no wonder that Wayi would be willing to pay her a high salary!"

Just then, the interviews given by the main cast and crew after walking the red carpet were also reported by major portal websites and media outlets.

[Brother Hendrik Willem Van Loon highly praises Liu Yifei!]

[Jet Li: It's not a good thing for actors to become famous too quickly and too early!]

[Li Bingbing: The whole crew said I was the prettiest!]

[Liu Yifei: No one can piggyback on my "boyfriend's" fame! Not even The Forbidden Kingdom!]

Upon seeing these reports, netizens immediately got excited!

"Damn, another clickbait headline!"

"I thought it was an official announcement!"

"So what if it's clickbait? Surely no one actually thinks they're innocent, right?"

"However, Liu Yifei really didn't give Huayi any face at all, saying at the premiere of 'The Forbidden Kingdom' that it was inferior to other movies..."

"Tch, what did Huayi say when they were bashing Liu Yifei before? If it weren't for this foreign director's insistence, and Liu Yifei's own rise to fame, would they have cast her as the female lead?"

"And what about Li Lianjie and Li Bingbing? Aren't they also playing the victim against Liu Yifei?"

"It's indeed difficult for 'The Forbidden Kingdom' to surpass 'Detective Chinatown' and 'Iron Man' at the domestic box office. Liu Yifei is right."

"As a hater of Xu Yi, I admit that Fang Shilong and Li Lianjie are very famous and have strong box office appeal, but they really can't compete with Xu Yi at all."

"Hahaha, classic hater in disguise!"

"These haters probably hate it even less than the true fans, that someone could surpass Xu Yi!"

"These guys have developed a sense of superiority from criticizing Xu Yi. If Xu Yi weren't so amazing, where would they get such a strong motivation to criticize him!"

As for Liu Yifei's fans, they were all excited!

"Good job, Sissi!"

"Sissi is so awesome!"

"You think you're qualified to try and scam Brother Xu Yi?"

"So what if Jackie Chan and Jet Li are amazing? They still have to listen to a foreign director!"

"Li Bingbing is the prettiest in the whole crew? Are the whole crew blind?!"

"Li Lianjie dares to talk about our Sissi? Our Sissi may have debuted later than you, but her status is no less than yours!"

"Fang Shilong is still the most sensible one; he knows what to say and what not to say!"

Liu Yifei is not yet 21 years old.

Based on her debut in "The Story of a Noble Family", it has been almost exactly 6 years since then.

In terms of star power, within China alone, she is already on par with the "Four Dan and Two Bing" (referring to top actresses and actresses in the entertainment industry).

Including her role as the female lead in "The Forbidden Kingdom" and having Li Bingbing play a supporting role for her.

So, among the four leading actresses, she is no less than any of them.

But if we include overseas, then she is definitely the current one.

She has the highest status among all female celebrities in China.

Moreover, it's in a class of its own.

No female celebrity in China can compare to her!

Unless you bring up her nationality and deny that she is a female celebrity from mainland China...

So, to be honest, Li Lianjie really has no right to criticize her.

In terms of international influence and fame, he may not be able to compare with Liu Yifei.

Not to mention Li Bingbing.

Fang Shilong is barely qualified.

But Fang Shilong was paid to do things, so naturally he wouldn't offend Liu Yifei for the sake of Huayi.

And the director behind Liu Yifei.

However, there are also quite a few true haters of Xu Yi.

Fans of Jackie Chan and Jet Li, as well as online trolls, do not think so.

“I admit that Xu Yi is awesome, but Brother Fang Long is not bad either. Besides, this is the first time Brother Fang Long and Li Lianjie have teamed up.”

"It will be very difficult for 'The Forbidden Kingdom' to surpass 'Iron Man' at the global box office, but it is absolutely very possible for 'Detective Chinatown' to surpass 'Detective Chinatown' and 'Iron Man' at the domestic box office!"

"Xu Yi is amazing! Let me show you how Brother Fang Long and Li Lianjie team up to beat Xu Yi up this time!"

"Brother Henley and Jet Li working together are no match for Xu Yi? Don't be ridiculous!"

"The influence of Brother Heung Lung and Jet Li is far beyond what Xu Yi can match!"

……

Two days passed after the premiere.

The Forbidden Kingdom was first released in the United States, as well as in several other countries and regions.

It's quite difficult for a movie to be released simultaneously worldwide.

Especially in this day and age.

Unless it's a truly high-profile blockbuster.

Or they're willing to spend money on advertising.

However, neither of these two points applies to "The Forbidden Kingdom".

Another day later, the box office figures for "The Forbidden Kingdom" on its first day of release in the United States were tallied.

There were 3500 cinemas showing the film on the first day.

The box office on the first day was 860 million US dollars.

It also won the box office champion of the day.

Not only that, but the box office performance of "The Forbidden Kingdom" was also quite good in the following two days.

The box office reached 2380 million US dollars in its opening weekend.

And it once again took the top spot at the weekly box office.

After all, there's Jackie Chan, Jet Li, and Liu Yifei, the "Asian pop diva."

It still has a certain level of brand recognition and influence.

However, The Forbidden Kingdom only has an IMDb rating of 5.8.

The rotten tomatoes were only 60% fresh.

On major American video websites, the reviews are overwhelmingly negative.

But Hua Yi doesn't care about any of that.

They immediately and selectively launched a large-scale publicity campaign within the country.

[The Forbidden Kingdom grossed $860 million on its opening day, becoming the highest-grossing film of the day in the United States!]

[The Forbidden Kingdom grossed $2380 million in its opening weekend, becoming the number one film at the US box office!]

[A showdown between Hendrik Willem Van Loon and Jet Li: Foreigners are thrilled!]

The Forbidden Kingdom: A kung fu extravaganza where Eastern and Western cultures collide!

Step into "The Forbidden Kingdom" and experience the charm of Eastern Kung Fu!

However, many Chinese netizens have paid attention to the box office performance of "Iron Man" and "Joker".

So nowadays, netizens aren't so easily fooled.

"You dare to boast about 860 million US dollars on the first day?"

"$2380 million in its opening week? That's less than the daily box office of Iron Man and Joker!"

"I just checked the IMDb rating, and it's only 5.8. Iron Man had a 9.5 back then, and Joker even got a 7 despite being maliciously given low scores!"

"The more professional Rotten Tomatoes score is only 60%, and it's full of negative reviews on American websites!"

"Moreover, 'The Forbidden Kingdom' not only stars Jackie Chan and Jet Li, but also has an investment of 7000 million US dollars, so barring any unforeseen circumstances, this movie is definitely going to flop!"

Then, in the blink of an eye, it was April 24th.

The Forbidden Kingdom has been officially released in mainland China and Hong Kong.

The box office figures for the first day were released the following day.

The film grossed 1700 million yuan in mainland China on its opening day.

The Hong Kong box office reached HK$120 million on its opening day.

Without a doubt, they were the box office champions of the day.

Moreover, it is far ahead of the second place.

But this time, Hua Yi dared not boast anymore.

At least they wouldn't dare to try and piggyback on the success of "Detective Chinatown" and "Iron Man" again.

But netizens won't let them off so easily.

Especially those fans of Xu Yi.

And then there are Xu Yi's haters.

"1700 million on the first day? Can anyone tell me how much 'Detective Chinatown' and 'Iron Man' grossed on their opening day?"

"Detective Chinatown earned 2500 million on its opening day, Iron Man earned 2000 million on its opening day, but both took half a day, while The Forbidden Kingdom earned a whole day!"

"Currently, the highest single-day box office record in China is still held by Iron Man at 5000 million RMB, while Detective Chinatown's highest single-day box office has exceeded 4000 million RMB."

"Isn't this gap too big?"

"This 'The Forbidden Kingdom' dares to try and piggyback on 'Detective Chinatown' and 'Iron Man'?"

"Where are Xu Yi's haters and online trolls? Come out and say something!"

“I admit that Jackie Chan and Jet Li are indeed very famous and have box office appeal, but compared to Xu Yi, they are not even in the same league.”

"Most importantly, this movie is terrible!"

"That's right. I originally thought it was the ultimate showdown between two superstars, Jackie Chan and Jet Li, but after watching it, I realized it was two Chinese kung fu superstars playing house with a foreign brat. It's infuriating!"

"Moreover, based on the current box office performance, it's unlikely that 'The Forbidden Kingdom' will break even!"

"Break even? This 'Kung Fu King' is definitely going to lose money, unless a miracle happens!"

"What kind of miracle is this? This plot deserves to lose money!"

"Hahahaha, Jackie Chan and Jet Li teamed up for the first time, but the movie still lost money. It's hilarious!"

……

Before the release of "The Forbidden Kingdom", apart from Xu Yi, absolutely no one could have imagined it.

This movie might flop.

So much so that when the facts were laid bare, many people were stunned.

Hua Yi was completely panicked. The film's budget was a staggering 7000 million US dollars.

This is equivalent to more than 5 million Chinese dollars.

The vast majority of them were produced by Wayi.

If they really lose money, it will have a huge impact on Wayi!

Their hopes of using this to open up overseas markets will be completely dashed!

It could even affect the company's plans to go public!
Fortunately, based on the current box office performance, it's not a complete financial loss.

And absolutely no one can think that it was Wayi's fault that the movie flopped.

Otherwise, the impact would be even greater.

In other words, Wayi now needs a scapegoat.

Fortunately, this movie already had a scapegoat.

Adding to this scapegoat, who dared to speak recklessly even before the movie's release.

Then Huayi, of course, wouldn't be polite!
Soon, the box office figures for "The Forbidden Kingdom" in the United States for its second week were tallied.

After seven days, only 950 million US dollars were made.

It's more than half the value of the first week.

Total box office: 3330 million US dollars.

At this rate, it's questionable whether "The Forbidden Kingdom" can even surpass $5000 million at the US box office.

The box office in China for the first week was only 4400 million yuan.

The final box office is expected to reach a maximum of 200 million RMB.

It can't even compare to Zhang Yimou's "Hero" which grossed 2.5 million RMB at the box office.

Furthermore, due to the absurd plot, it was met with widespread ridicule online.

Their reputation has completely collapsed!

But at this moment, Mr. Wang from Wayi suddenly revealed a lot of inside information about "The Forbidden Kingdom" during an interview.

Many of the inside stories involve Liu Yifei.

For example, Liu Yifei initially demanded an exorbitant fee of 500 million US dollars.

They finally managed to negotiate a price of 300 million US dollars.

However, it still had a significant impact on the filming of "The Forbidden Kingdom".

There's also Liu Yifei, who received such a high salary but refused the director's request to film a kissing scene.

They wouldn't even accept slightly intimate scenes, showing a complete lack of professionalism as an actor.

As for Liu Yifei's acting skills, needless to say.

Mr. Wang said that he seriously dragged down the other actors.

It's practically written all over her face that this movie will flop, and it's entirely Liu Yifei's fault!
And after these inside stories were exposed by the media.

Those who criticize Xu Yi and Liu Yifei, as well as a large number of online trolls.

They also started stirring up trouble online!
"500 million yuan for a pair of razor blades? How dare she accept that!"

"Wang Xianlong and Jet Li only received 1000 million US dollars for their films, so how can she be worth 500 million US dollars?"

"If you ask me, Liu Yifei's acting skills are so good that even a salary of 50 yuan for her would be too much!"

"No wonder everyone in the crew disliked Liu Yifei, now I know why!"

"The key issue is that despite receiving such a high salary, they are unwilling to film kissing scenes and intimate scenes!"

"If you're unwilling to film kissing scenes and intimate scenes, what kind of actor are you!"

"Tch, can't you guys figure it out? It's definitely because of Xu Yi!"

"Liu Yifei should just quit the entertainment industry and go home to have Xu Yi's baby. Anyway, that guy Xu Yi is so rich!"

However, many netizens are also defending Liu Yifei.

Especially those fans of Liu Yifei and Xu Yi.

"What's wrong with our Sissi asking for 500 million US dollars as a reward? With Sissi's popularity both domestically and internationally, 500 million US dollars is definitely not an exaggeration!"

"It's fine that Jackie Chan and Jet Li each received 1000 million yuan in 'razor blades' as payment, but our Sissi received 300 million yuan, and that's supposed to affect filming?"

"What does the movie's failure have to do with our Sisi? It's clearly because the movie's plot was terrible!"

"What's wrong with not filming kissing scenes or intimate scenes? Who says actresses have to film those?"

"Our Sisi simply doesn't want to film kissing scenes or intimate scenes. If you don't accept that, then don't ask her to film!"

"Hehe, Li Lianjie and Li Bingbing are your own people, and you can't afford to offend Fang Shilong, so you think our Qianqian is easy to bully, right?"

However, most netizens were just watching the spectacle.

Because whether it's a reward of 500 million or 300 million yuan per razor blade, it far exceeds the imagination of ordinary people.

Resentment towards the rich is a common human tendency.

Most importantly, the organization of fan groups is not yet very high.

Xu Yi never incites his fans.

Most of these fans' actions were spontaneous.

So soon, due to the lack of organization, everyone was fighting their own battles.

These fans of Liu Yifei and Xu Yi were utterly defeated by the trolls and online trolls.

But at that moment, Xu Yi finally made his move.

He had anticipated this situation.

However, in his opinion, it was no big deal.

No matter how Wayi tries to shift the blame.

The failure of "The Forbidden Kingdom" proves that Jackie Chan and Jet Li's appeal has waned.

However, he certainly couldn't stand idly by when it came to Liu Yifei.

So he simply posted a blog entry.

"It seems that Sister Binbin should be glad that 'Detective Chinatown' didn't flop, otherwise she wouldn't be able to bear this responsibility..."

And of course, handsome photos are a must.

However, this time he posted a photo of Liu Yifei, not his own.

These photos are of Liu Yifei in the United States, taken when she attended an offline event.

In the photo, Liu Yifei is singing "TikTok" on stage.

The audience consisted of a huge number of enthusiastic American fans!
Fan Binbin also immediately responded on her blog.

"Yeah, when 'Detective Chinatown' was released, I was terrified. I was afraid it would flop and the boss would make me pay for it..."

Then, upon seeing Xu Yi's blog post, his fans, as well as Liu Yifei's fans, immediately became excited!
"Ahhhhh, Sisi is so cool!"

"So Sisi is so popular abroad!"

"So what if she gets 500 million yuan in razor blades? Look at our Sisi's popularity, she's in no way inferior to Jackie Chan or Jet Li!"

"Huayi should be secretly thrilled that they can hire our Xixi with a fee of 300 million yuan per razor blade!"

"Our Sissi only gets 300 million in salary. If she can't even afford that much, what kind of movie is she making!"

"They can't even afford 300 million US dollars, yet they want to make movies in Hollywood? It's utterly shameful!"

Furthermore, before Xu Yi posted this blog, only a small number of fans were defending Liu Yifei.

But after posting this blog, more and more fans started to get involved.

In addition, Xu Yi also purchased a large number of online trolls.

Soon enough, the pressure returned to Wayi...

……

[The film "Assembly" breaks 10 million yuan at the box office on its opening day!]

[The film "Assembly" grossed over 3000 million yuan in its opening week, receiving high praise for its plot and acting!]

[The box office of "Assembly" surpasses that of "The Forbidden Kingdom" in a single day!]

[The final box office of "Assembly" is expected to exceed 200 million yuan!]

[Feng Xiaogang's latest masterpiece is coming!]

Two weeks after its release in China, The Forbidden Kingdom's box office revenue has just exceeded 8000 million yuan.

At this rate, the final domestic box office may only be around 1.5 million RMB.

It was 3000 million yuan less than Xu Yi's domestic box office in his previous life.

This is not only because Liu Yifei's increased salary affected the quality of the film.

Furthermore, mainland audiences now have higher standards.

And a large number of Xu Yi and Liu Yifei's fans boycotted the movie.

However, the overseas box office was slightly higher than in the previous life.

This is clearly due to Liu Yifei's popularity overseas.

However, this increase is quite limited.

In the end, the extra profit was calculated.

It might just be enough to pay Liu Yifei's salary...

At this time, "Assembly," which was pulled from theaters last year due to Xu Yi's antics, was finally released.

With the box office explosion of "Assembly".

Feng Xiaogang was devastated for half a year after being hit by Xu Yi.

He finally regained his high spirits.

The media outlets have all changed their tune.

Netizens are no longer entirely sarcastic.

"I have to say, Gangzi is quite capable!"

"Compared to Xu Yi, Gangzi's skills are definitely not enough, but he can still take on others without any problem!"

"Looking at it this way, Gangzi's decision to withdraw the film was actually the right one!"

"That's what you call a wise man who knows when to yield; Gangzi is indeed flexible and adaptable!"

"To be honest, Gangzi would have been a better director for 'The Forbidden Kingdom'!"

"Don't even mention having Gangzi direct it; no director in China could possibly make a story like that!"

"There's nothing we can do about working with Hollywood. We have no real control. After all, not everyone is Xu Yi."

"You really can't analyze Xu Yi too closely, otherwise the more you analyze him, the more terrifying he becomes!"

"The key issue is ability. Xu Yi has the ability, which is why he dared to do that!"

Meanwhile, Xu Yi's "Iron Man 2" was also filmed for nearly two and a half months.

The remaining scenes will be filmed in a few days at most.

Scarlett Johansson and Zhang Ziyi's scenes were filmed long ago.

Scarlett then left the film crew.

Zhang Ziyi did want to stay.

But he still drove her away.

As a result, during this period, he was unusually free of women.

And by this time, he had already sold off all the Apple stock he had previously bought at the bottom.

A total of 12 billion US dollars was invested.

In the previous life, this rebound saw a direct increase of 66% from the lowest point.

But just to be on the safe side, he started selling continuously after the rebound reached 50%.

Given the sheer number of stocks he bought, it's impossible that he bought them all at the absolute lowest point.

Selling will also affect the stock price.

As a result, the final profit margin was only 51.5%.

With leverage, it becomes 103%.

After deducting leverage costs, they made a profit of exactly 12.3 billion US dollars!

This brings his total cash holdings to 24.3 billion US dollars!

That's more than enough to buy Marvel!
However, after a meeting of Marvel's board of directors, they rejected his $20 billion offer.

Or to be more precise, it wasn't that I rejected him.

Instead, they wanted to gamble on the box office performance of "The Incredible Hulk".

This "Incredible Hulk" is not, it's truly beyond redemption.

Historically, it's not uncommon for movies that weren't expected to succeed before release to become huge hits.

Besides, a huge explosion isn't required.

As long as you can break even, or even make a small profit.

At that time, Marvel's value will increase by at least one or two small goals!
It's still rice!

Xu Yi, of course, didn't care.

Since they're so eager to gamble, then let them gamble.

After that, there was no further contact with Marvel.

(End of this chapter)