This director is vindictive.

Chapter 490 Urgent! What should I do if the director next door says my movie has no soul?
This wave of controversy and buzz exploded instantly.

After all, the hottest topic right now is related to "Ne Zha 2".

Of course, anyone with a discerning eye can see that this is a promotional strategy for "Sunflower".

However, they were happy to watch the spectacle.

Some film critics supported the stance of "Sunflower," believing that the success of "Ne Zha" squeezed out the living space for serious themes; while Ne Zha's fans mocked them for "sour grapes," and the two sides launched a war of words online.

It was quite a lively exchange!
Of course, as mentioned earlier, at this moment, neither Enlight Media nor Shengshi Pictures really cares about these things.

After all, the biggest piece of the pie has already been swallowed up. With such a huge benefit, shouldn't people be allowed to say a few words?
Chen Mo didn't really pay much attention, since others could promote it this way, but he certainly couldn't.

However, Zhao Liying paid close attention to this movie.

"You said there's so much controversy surrounding 'Sunflower,' could you please..."

She put down her phone, turned to look at Chen Mo, and said with a hint of worry in her voice, "Will this affect the promotion of 'The Great Tang Desert'? After all, they're really trying to ride the coattails of 'Ne Zha 2' so hard that public opinion is being swayed."

It's no wonder Zhao Liying had this thought. After all, the two films were released in the same period, and the events of that time naturally led to comparisons between the two films by the audience.

In addition, the other side's propaganda offensive is indeed very strong.

Chen Mo smiled and shook his head, saying, "Don't worry, no matter how much they hype it up, it won't change the performance and reputation of 'Ne Zha 2'. Our 'Da Tang' is a co-creation project with official endorsement, and it's a completely different genre, so there's no need to argue with them."

Zhao Liying frowned: "But now they're steering the conversation towards 'commercial films vs. art films.' What if the audience gets led astray and thinks that watching 'Ne Zha 2' or 'The Great Tang Dynasty' is just following the trend, while watching 'Sunflower' is 'tasteful'? Wouldn't that be terrible?"

It's no wonder Zhao Liying thinks this way; public opinion is really unpredictable.

In particular, the immense popularity of "Ne Zha 2" can lead to aesthetic fatigue and aversion among viewers.

It could indeed affect subsequent film and television works.

However, Chen Mo didn't care at all: "Do you think the audience will believe it?"

Chen Mo said casually, "The 150 billion yuan box office of 'Ne Zha 2' is a real result, a vote with the audience's feet. Although Feng Dagang's move can generate some buzz, it's essentially just a publicity stunt—if we're really talking about quality, does 'Sunflower' dare to compare its ratings with 'Ne Zha 2'? Does it dare to compare its audience's real feedback?"

He shrugged: "Besides, the selling point of our 'Great Tang Dynasty' is its patriotism and visual spectacle, which is completely different from their melodramatic and realistic themes. The audience knows very well what they want to see."

Zhao Liying nodded thoughtfully, but quickly raised an eyebrow: "But what if they continue to incite conflict, or even try to discredit you? After all, you refused to act in 'Sunflower,' and they might bring that up again."

"Then there's even less need to worry about it. Besides, Feng Dagang wouldn't do that; if he did, wouldn't that be tantamount to directly promoting us?"

Chen Mo scoffed and said, "That's why the more they jump around, the more guilty they seem. Truly good movies don't need to prove themselves by belittling others—look at who we criticized when 'Ne Zha 2' was released?"

He patted Zhao Liying on the shoulder: "Calm down, let them make a fuss. Once 'The Great Tang' is released, the box office and word-of-mouth will speak for themselves."

Zhao Liying finally smiled: "Okay, I'll do as you say. But..."

She blinked. "If they make a scene, I wouldn't mind accidentally liking it on Weibo."

Chen Mo laughed loudly: "Suit yourself, we'll just sit back and relax!"

"By the way, Director Chen, what do you think they'll do next?" Zhao Liying asked curiously after putting aside her worries.

Chen Mo shook his head and said, "It's nothing more than a few moves! I guess next we'll have Feng Dagang personally demonstrate, after all, Little Cannon is quite famous!"

Chen Mo wasn't really worried. The script for "Sunflower" itself had huge problems, even though the other party had replaced Zhao Liying with Yao Dazui.

But this doesn't change anything at all.

Moreover, in terms of popularity, Yao Dazui is no match for Zhao Liying.

In fact, it doesn't matter who plays the role in this movie; there's practically no room for them to shine, as the characters are too disjointed.

This is why Chen Mo was certain that no matter how well the other party promoted themselves, it would ultimately be to no avail.

As expected, while the outside world was embroiled in huge controversy over the "anti-Nezha" style of promotion of "Sunflower", director Feng Dagang accepted an exclusive interview with the program "Today's Film Talk".

In an interview, when asked about recent controversial topics, he stated, "A healthy ecosystem for the film industry is one where a hundred flowers bloom. But the current situation is that an animated film occupies 80% of the screenings and public attention, leaving many small and medium-budget films without even the chance to 'bloom'."

He gave an example: "I have a friend who is a director. His realistic film was released during the period when 'Ne Zha 2' dominated the box office. As a result, as a newly released film, it received less than 3% of the screenings! In the end, it was a dismal box office performance and was pulled from theaters. Many people may not even know that such a film was ever released. This is obviously a monopoly, and I personally think it is unfair to other filmmakers."

"Unfair? But this is the choice of the theaters, the choice of the market, and the fact that 'Ne Zha 2' has such a high box office is also the choice of the audience. By the way, Director Feng, do you really think 'Ne Zha 2' has no artistic value?" The host began to ask a rather sharp question.

Feng Dagang spoke candidly about this: "I am not denying the artistic value of 'Ne Zha,' but when a country's film market can only accommodate one type of film, it is itself a kind of sickness. Audiences need mythology, but they also need a mirror."

"Moreover, this cannot be said to be a choice of the market. In fact, the attendance rate of 'Ne Zha 2' is not high now, but in order to sell merchandise, the theaters are still giving this movie, which has been in theaters for more than a month, an unusual number of screenings. Is this right?"

The host certainly couldn't answer that question, but as a program host, he naturally knew how to stir up topics and generate controversy.

Soon, the host smiled and said, "Director Feng, the issue of 'letting a hundred flowers bloom' that you just mentioned is indeed thought-provoking."

However, I noticed that Chen Mo, the director of Shengshi Pictures, one of the producers of "Ne Zha 2", said in an interview that "the market will naturally choose truly good works".

If we follow his logic, does a low number of screenings mean that audiences don't approve of this type of subject matter? How do you respond to this viewpoint?

Feng Dagang frowned and said in a more serious tone, "Market choice? That sounds high-sounding, but it's a complete fallacy!"
"Ne Zha 2" is certainly excellent, but its monopoly on screenings is the result of theaters pursuing profits, not the truth of audiences voting with their feet—many theaters even cut screenings of other movies to fill the slots for "Ne Zha 2".

My newcomer friend's film didn't even have the chance to be 'chosen' by the audience, so what kind of recognition is that?

He then sneered and said, "It's easy for him (Chen Mo) to talk now, but if his 'The Great Tang Desert' were squeezed to only 3% of screenings by 'Ne Zha 2,' would he still be making such sarcastic remarks?"

The host immediately became excited upon hearing this.

Then, he quickly brought up the old topic again: "Director Feng, putting aside the issue of 'Ne Zha 2,' we understand that Director Chen Mo's 'The Great Tang Desert' and 'Sunflower' are being released at the same time."

Upon hearing the host's words, Feng Dagang interrupted directly, saying, "Actually, I prefer to regard films like 'The Great Tang Desert' that emphasize marketing over content as a negative example—it and 'Ne Zha 2' are essentially the same type of film, both being 'visual fast food' built up with special effects and grand scenes."

He paused deliberately, revealing a pained expression: "Some of our directors these days always think about taking shortcuts, spending money on special effects and using traffic to create buzz, but they forget that the most fundamental thing about a movie is to tell a good story."

Why did "Sunflower" dare to be released in the same period as them? Because we filmed real, flesh-and-blood lives!

At the height of his excitement, Feng Dagang even slapped the armrest of the sofa: "I dare to predict that those movies that think they can sell well by relying on marketing and hype will definitely expose their problems after they are released—the audience may be intimidated by the war scenes in the trailer, but after watching them, they will find that these kinds of movies have no soul except for burning money!"

The host was immediately energized.

It would have been difficult to get anyone else fired up, but Little Cannon is Little Cannon, and he certainly didn't disappoint.

He immediately added fuel to the fire, saying, "Are you directly questioning Chen Mo's directing abilities?"

Feng Dagang scoffed, "I don't comment on individual abilities, but the data doesn't lie. You can check it out; which film Chen Mo has been involved in wasn't propped up by marketing and popular celebrities? The success of 'Ne Zha 2' was mostly due to director Jiaozi's efforts, while he—"

He suddenly lowered his voice and gave a meaningful smile: "The movie 'The Great Tang Dynasty in the Northern Desert' is about to be released. Let's wait and see."

In fact, at the very beginning, he really didn't intend to put down Chen Mo.

But that's just his temper. How could he not know that the host was stirring things up? Yet he still launched an attack.

And this time they specifically named names.

The purpose is very simple: to create hype.

The scope of the anti-"Ne Zha 2" marketing campaign is ultimately limited, because no matter what he says, the box office results speak for themselves, and he can't possibly be so foolish as to think that his own film can surpass it.

So he continued talking, and this time, unlike the previous time, his attack was essentially a fairly conventional publicity stunt.

Sure enough, after the interview aired...

#Feng Dagang criticizes Chen Mo# quickly became a trending topic!
The comments section exploded: "They're getting desperate! Their own movie isn't getting any viewers, so they're resorting to belittling their competitors?"

"Director Feng is right! These days it's all popcorn movies, who cares about realistic themes anymore?"

"Hilarious! They used Zhao Liying and Chen Mo to promote themselves back then, and now they're doing it again? This is a classic case of not learning from past mistakes!"

"I'll just laugh it off, I'm just watching the show, but to be honest, there really aren't many movies to watch in theaters these days. 'Ne Zha 2'? I've seen it so many times already, I'm almost sick of it."

"Let's fight! Let's fight! Haha! Little Cannon is still as good as ever! @ChenMo, it's your turn!"

(End of this chapter)