This director is vindictive.

Chapter 389 Publicity stagnation exposed as a breakup? Chaoyang District residents, come quick to see the fake gossip!

The 2024 Spring Festival film season was, frankly, quite awkward.

"Hot and Spicy" is trending towards becoming the box office champion during the Spring Festival, but its marketing and distribution have been heavily criticized. In addition, the film does have many technical flaws, and it has also sparked controversy over issues such as boxing and gender antagonism.

Therefore, many people subconsciously felt that this movie did not deserve such box office success.

The second-ranked film, "Pegasus 2," is a sequel and has received decent reviews, but it's quite selective in terms of audience appeal.

After all, although it's touted as a domestic version of Fast and Furious, it's still a Han Han-style film.

And then? Nothing more. Surprisingly, the third place went to the animated film "Boonie Bears"!
Of course, from a marketing perspective, although "Hot Hot" was the most controversial, it was precisely because of this that it overshadowed the controversy surrounding other films.

For the promotion of "Hot and Spicy", Jia Ling alone arranged more than 100 roadshows.

Of course, this excessive marketing also backfired, as evidenced by the polarized public opinion.

In a video commentary, renowned film critic Xiao Luo stated: "Weight loss should not be emphasized as an inspirational element. Why don't other movies portray it this way?"

This is not a sensitive topic. The main reason is that because some obesity is an uncontrollable disease, most movies do not encourage people to lose weight, but rather help the audience understand the reasons for their obesity and criticize bullies who discriminate against obese people.

Furthermore, kindness should not be criticized as a human flaw. The idea that Le Ying was bullied in the movie because she was too kind, and that her change in attitude towards those around her after losing weight actually led to a softening of Hao Kun and her sister's attitudes, is a flawed value system.

The adapted ending shows that Yue Ying lacks sportsmanship and is not as eager to win as in the original work.

Frankly speaking, the third point is debatable. After all, only professional athletes should have sportsmanship. For ordinary girls like Le Ying, it is more important to be healthy, optimistic, and to get out of the darkness in their lives.

From a commercial standpoint, the film's marketing and promotion were indeed successful! However, what's puzzling is that Jia Ling's 100-pound weight loss has consistently been the film's biggest promotional gimmick. Even her own music video emphasizes this point by showing her with both her current and previous weights side-by-side. Yet, the producers have repeatedly stressed that it's not a weight-loss film, and that the 100-pound weight loss is merely a minor highlight. Where's the credibility in that?

Subsequently, people from many different fields also began to speak out.

Amidst the uproar surrounding "Hot and Spicy," a blind student suddenly discovered a key point.

The third installment of the Huayun Wedding Costume series, "Space Odyssey," has already been available for pre-sale on ticketing platforms.

However, what is puzzling is that, apart from sporadic publicity, there has been no large-scale publicity as in the past.

Although the wedding promotional video had been released earlier, it's impossible to hold any special screenings or anything like that now that the film is about to be released.

However, the complete silence still surprised many of Chen Mo and Yang Mi's fans.

As a result, something completely unexpected happened to Chen Mo.

He had already planned to simply post a Weibo message, buy some press releases, and ride the wave of popularity.

Of course, Shengshi Pictures has always been doing regular promotion, but it's clear that this is a far cry from the promotion of Chen Mo's movies in the past.

Because of the lack of promotional highlights, coupled with the overly aggressive marketing of "Hot Hot", the promotional resources of other films released in the same period were taken over.

This naturally includes Chen Mo and Yang Mi's "Chinese Wedding Attire, Episode 3: Space Odyssey"!
Then, Yang Mi and Chen Mo's fans started to wonder.

Many bees in Yang Mi's bee colony were puzzled.

Honey Guardian: "Sisters, have you noticed? 'A Space Odyssey' is releasing the day after tomorrow, and the official Weibo account hasn't even posted a trailer! 'The Phoenix' started its massive promotional campaign two weeks in advance, this quietness is so unusual..."

Honey-Glazed Char Siu: "And look at the promotional tour! Jia Ling has been to over a hundred shows for 'Hot and Spicy,' but Honey Sister and Chen Mo haven't even interacted on Weibo! The last time they were together was half a month ago when Liu Yifei revealed that!"

(Screenshot: Yang Mi's Weibo post is still stuck on the first day of the Lunar New Year, featuring a New Year's greeting photo!)

Silent Bee: "Holy crap! I just checked the ticketing platform, and pre-sales are open, but all the screenings are midnight shows! This is clearly being targeted by the theaters, and Shengshi Pictures hasn't even reacted? (Link: Screening schedule for 'Space Odyssey' at a certain theater)"

Holmes fan: "This is terrifying to think about... Could it really be like what Douban said, that the wedding promotional video was halted because the two broke up?"

Rejecting overly sensitive opinions: "Don't speculate! Your screening schedule is unreliable. We have screenings all day long. Maybe they're just avoiding the media frenzy surrounding 'Hot Hot Pot'? But the company playing dead is just too outrageous!"

The topic quickly spread.

After all, both Chen Mo and Yang Mi are top celebrities in the entertainment industry. The highly anticipated third phase of Huayun's wedding had generated a lot of buzz beforehand.

Netizens and fans are very good at filling in the blanks with their own imaginations.

They would work backward from the result, for example, why wasn't the wedding video widely promoted?
Could it be because of a change in feelings? Did they break up?
Then they will look for "evidence" based on this hypothetical possibility!
For example, they haven't "joined forces" for half a month, but Chen Mo and the women often don't even appear together for a whole year!

However, suspicion had already begun to take hold.

One person tells ten, ten tell a hundred, and then those who hear the news will suddenly realize, "Oh, so that's how it is! That makes sense!" A storm brews, but the parties involved, Chen Mo and Yang Mi, are completely unaware of all this.

The person involved played Dou Dizhu (a card game) until late last night and was so tired that they didn't have time to browse Weibo.

As a result, Chen Mo was woken up early in the morning by a phone call from Zhao Ming.

Chen Mo glanced at the time; good heavens, it was only a little past seven.

"Brother Zhao, what's the rush that's disturbing my sleep so early?" Chen Mo answered the phone, still a bit grumpy from being woken up.

"My dear Director Chen! The trending topics are about to explode, how can you still sleep?" Zhao Ming said on the other end of the phone.

"The trending topic 'Hot and Spicy'?" Chen Mo asked, still a little confused.

"What 'Hot and Spicy'? It's you and Yang Mi trending! You should check it yourself! Speaking of you and Yang Mi... never mind, you should check it yourself!" Zhao Ming paused and said.

Chen Mo was a little confused: "Me and Yang Mi trending on social media? What the heck? What kind of trending topic could Yang Mi and me be on?"

Zhao Ming couldn't help but laugh and asked, "About your breakup with Yang Mi?"

"I broke up with Yang Mi?" Chen Mo turned his head and glanced at Yang Mi, who was clinging to him like an octopus, his head full of question marks.

"Let me see!" Chen Mo said, hanging up the phone.

He opened his phone and Weibo, and then he was in a Spartan state!
#Chen Mo and Yang Mi suspected of relationship troubles#
#Publicity and promotion of "Chinese Rhyme Space Odyssey" halted#
#ChenMoYangMiBreakUp#
Goodness, yesterday the trending topics were all about "Hot and Spicy", Jia Ling losing weight, etc.

When I woke up, I found out that I and Yang Mi had broken up.

Chen Mo glanced at the comments section seriously, and then he was both amused and exasperated.

It turns out that the promotion of the wedding trailer for "Space Odyssey" was not carried out on a large scale, which made fans think that it had stopped, and then they automatically imagined that they and Yang Mi had broken up.

But isn't this trending topic a bit too weird?
Chen Mo rubbed his temples, looking at the trending topic #ChenMoYangMiBreakup# on his phone screen with a mix of amusement and exasperation. He gently nudged the still-sleeping Yang Mi awake: "Wake up, something terrible has happened. The whole internet has officially announced our breakup."

Yang Mi mumbled a sleepy "Mmm," her thick eyelashes fluttering a few times before she opened her eyes. When she saw the trending topic, she instantly snapped awake, her signature foxy eyes widening in surprise: "Huh? When did we break up? How come I, the person involved, didn't know?"

She suddenly flipped over and straddled Chen Mo, grabbing his neck with both hands and shaking him as if to shake him, deliberately putting on a stern face and saying, "Tell me the truth! Who are you? How dare you impersonate my Chen Mo!"

Before she could finish speaking, she broke into a laugh and slumped against his chest.

Yang Mi couldn't help but chuckle as she scrolled through her phone: "The netizens' imaginations are just too bizarre!"

She clicked on the comments section, pointed to a piece of "evidence" and read aloud: "'The two haven't been seen together for half a month, and the promotional video suddenly stopped, they must have broken up'—good heavens, don't they know we were playing cards together until 3 a.m. yesterday?"

Suddenly, an idea struck her, and her eyes lit up. She mischievously poked Chen Mo's abs: "How about we put on a show? We'll pretend to break up first, and then officially announce our reconciliation on the day the wedding promotional video is released. That'll definitely generate a lot of buzz!"

As she spoke, she burst into laughter, the great secret swaying gently in the morning light with her laughter.

Chen Mo's eyes widened in amazement! With such a cherished secret, how could he possibly break up with his girlfriend?

Chen Mo struggled to turn the phone screen towards her: "Look how imaginative your fans are. Just because I didn't cooperate with the marketing for 'Hot and Spicy,' they even wrote a breakup essay for us."

Yang Mi was scrolling through the comments section when she suddenly burst out laughing: "This 'Sherlock Holmes' said the last time we teamed up was when Liu Yifei broke the news? Please, we were clearly still together last night." Before she could finish speaking, Chen Mo covered her mouth.

"There's no need to report these details to the fans."

Chen Mo rolled out of bed, put on a T-shirt, and said, "Since they want big news..."

Suddenly, he picked Yang Mi up and carried her to the balcony: "Come on, let's deliver some real stuff to the people of Chaoyang District."

"Are you crazy! I'm not wearing any clothes!" Yang Mi exclaimed in surprise as Chen Mo drew back the curtains. In the winter morning light, their figures were clearly reflected on the French windows.

Chen Mo was certainly not an exhibitionist. The glass was specially treated so that people inside could see out, but people outside couldn't see in.

But this still startled Yang Mi.

The main problem is that the battle last night was fierce, and she fell asleep immediately. She's still...
"What are you all doing so early in the morning? Can't a person get any sleep?" Suddenly, the fairy sister who was sleeping next to her was woken up and yanked off her eye mask, grumbling and complaining.

Chen Mo and Yang Mi both turned their heads away, and then couldn't help but burst out laughing.

Both of them had just forgotten about the other female protagonist in the game of Dou Dizhu.

(End of this chapter)