How did this star become more popular after his scandal?

Chapter 322 Explosion

Chu Shaoyang sat on the sofa with his phone, looking at the comments from netizens online, feeling somewhat irritated.

Actually, from the moment he finished watching Jiang Yu's "The Lost Tomb" TV series, Chu Shaoyang had a bad feeling. Now, seeing the comments from netizens after watching both series, saying that their "The Great Wilderness Chronicles" is not as good as Jiang Yu's "The Lost Tomb," Chu Shaoyang's suspicions were confirmed.

Although reluctant to admit it, Chu Shaoyang had to acknowledge that Jiang Yu's adaptation skills as a screenwriter were exceptional, especially considering he was also the original author. Adapting "The Grave Robbers' Chronicles" into a television series was quite successful, faithfully reproducing the original work, and the production quality was indeed excellent.

However, at the beginning, Chu Shaoyang also felt that their "The Legend of the Great Wilderness" was no weaker than Jiang Yu's "The Grave Robbers' Chronicles". He was very confident, both in terms of the original novel and the TV series.

However, now that their TV series "The Great Wilderness" has been broadcast, judging from the online discussions and reviews, it seems to be somewhat inferior to Jiang Yu's "The Grave Robbers' Chronicles".

This moment made Chu Shaoyang feel a sense of loss.

Is their adaptation of "The Great Wilderness" not good enough?

They adapted the series based on past experience. The target audience for this type of drama is primarily female fans and those who ship the main characters (CPs), which is crucial for success, similar to their previous adaptations of female-oriented historical romance novels. The key is to craft a compelling romantic storyline between the male and female leads, incorporating elements of sweetness and heartbreak – these are what truly captivate viewers.

Even in fantasy novels, the main changes in adaptations are based on the romantic relationship between the male and female protagonists. Other aspects, such as cultivation, are considered secondary and are temporarily placed after the romance.

Moreover, Chu Shaoyang saw that netizens on the internet were complaining about their special effects, but Chu Shaoyang felt that they had already put in a lot of effort to import a lot of equipment from abroad, and even hired a foreign special effects team to produce them. He thought that the special effects of their TV series were very good.

However, nowadays, some viewers are not buying it, feeling that their fantasy works are neither quite fantasy nor quite martial arts works.

From the beginning, Chu Shaoyang also thought this adaptation was pretty good. Based on their experience adapting so many successful historical fantasy dramas, focusing on changing the romantic relationship between the male and female leads was their most successful approach.

However, applying this successful experience to this male-oriented fantasy novel seems a bit off.

"Could we really be wrong? Have we gone in the wrong direction? Can't male-oriented novels be adapted like this?"

Chu Shaoyang sat on the sofa, frowning slightly as he pondered the matter. He had assumed that based on their past experience and with such a large-scale production, they could easily achieve a good result, and even if they faced Jiang Yu, they wouldn't be too afraid of him.

Judging from the current online situation, their premiere today seems destined for a major flop. Although it appears to be generating a lot of buzz and achieving decent results, Chu Shaoyang knows in his heart that the premiere performance of their TV series will likely fall short of Jiang Yu's "The Lost Tomb".

This can be felt from the fact that he watched Jiang Yu's "The Lost Tomb" TV series and read the comments from netizens online.

"No, there should still be a chance. It's only the fourth episode now, and the later episodes are the most exciting. Some shows start strong but end weak, while others start weak but end strong; these things happen quite often."

Chu Shaoyang still harbored a sliver of hope. He felt that although his TV adaptation of "The Legend of the Great Wilderness" had shifted the focus of the fantasy novel's romance, with the most exciting plot points saved for later, including the tragic love story between the male and female leads and some of the highlights from the original work, these were all filmed in this season. He believed that while the initial broadcast might not be as good as Jiang Yu's, the later episodes, once the story became more engaging, might surpass them.

As for Jiang Yu's "The Lost Tomb," while the first four episodes were indeed of high quality, if they can't maintain that level of plot quality, a strong start followed by a decline is quite common. This also means they still have a chance, and it doesn't mean they've already lost to Jiang Yu just because it premiered today.

Thinking of this, Chu Shaoyang felt a little more comforted and gradually saw a glimmer of hope.

Tonight, the most discussed topics online are Jiang Yu's TV series "The Lost Tomb" and Taobao's TV series "The Great Wilderness".

These two TV series are currently very popular, generating a lot of online discussion and remaining so, with netizens engaging in heated debates.

Jiang Yu and his team, on the other hand, paid no attention to any of this, no matter how heated the online discussions were. Everyone was focused on their premiere's performance, both inside and outside the entertainment industry, eager to see who would emerge victorious in tonight's competition between their two major platforms, and between Jiang Yu and Chu Shaoyang's Warner Music team.

While initial broadcast results don't tell the whole story—many dramas start strong but fade quickly, or vice versa—they do offer a glimpse into a drama's potential. Generally, if a drama's initial broadcast is weak, it's unlikely to become a hit.

While there are dramas that start slowly but finish strong, they are few and far between. The same applies to dramas that start strong but finish weak.

However, the public's attention to Jiang Yu and his two dramas has not diminished. In fact, on Tencent Video, President Yang himself watched the premiere of "The Lost Tomb" tonight, and even went to iQiyi to watch his old rival's drama "The Great Wilderness".

After watching both shows and comparing them, President Yang smiled, feeling confident that he had secured his position this time.

He himself could sense it. Their "Tomb Raiders" series was slightly better, which was evident from online discussions and reviews. Netizens preferred their "Tomb Raiders" TV series. As for "The Great Wilderness," Mr. Yang had also watched it, and the most discussed and criticized aspect was the special effects, especially among some fans of the original novel, even though their series was quite faithful to the source material.

However, this is a male-oriented novel, and Warner Bros. focused on the romance between the male and female leads. The lack of scenes depicting the male lead leveling up and fighting monsters significantly weakened the visual effects, which is the biggest problem.

"It seems WarnerMedia wants to replicate their previous success in adapting female-oriented ancient romance and fantasy works. But this approach won't work for male-oriented novels, especially fantasy novels like this."

After watching the first four episodes of "The Legend of the Great Wilderness" released today on iQiyi, Mr. Yang knew that Warner Entertainment's adaptation of this classic male-oriented fantasy novel was an attempt to replicate their past successes in adapting historical romance dramas. However, it's clear that this formula and experience, which works for female-oriented historical romance IP adaptations, is less effective in the realm of male-oriented fantasy novels.

After all, the audience for male-oriented fantasy novels like this is mostly male, and what they read are those enjoyable reads, where the male protagonist fights monsters, levels up, and explores all sorts of strange and wonderful things in the fantasy world.

As a result, WarnerMedia's adaptation of *The Legend of the Great Wilderness* turned a male-centric fantasy novel into a drama focused on the romantic entanglements of the male and female leads. While the romance between the male and female leads is important in the original work, such storylines are secondary in male-oriented novels; the main focus is on the male lead's power-up journey. Clearly, WarnerMedia relied too heavily on their previous experience adapting female-oriented historical fiction, leading to a somewhat skewed adaptation of *The Legend of the Great Wilderness*.

However, judging from the initial broadcast results, their "Tomb Raiders" is likely to do better than "The Great Wilderness Chronicles." But General Manager Yang is not complacent; what if the other one rises in popularity later?

It's not impossible for the show to start slowly and then improve, so the most important thing now is to maintain the quality of their storyline and control the online discourse.

Now, all Mr. Yang needs to do is wait and see the performance data for the 24-hour premiere tomorrow night.

Mr. Yang now has a rough estimate of the results he expects, which will definitely not be low. Judging from the current popularity and buzz, it may even be higher than he anticipated.

Meanwhile, on Jiang Yu's side, after finishing the live stream with the creative team of "The Lost Tomb," everyone went downstairs together and had a meal near Jiang Yu's company. Afterwards, everyone went home. As for Jiang Yu and Yang Xue, having not seen each other for so long, they naturally had to spend some quality time together.

They went straight home, and from the doorway, they embraced and kissed. They continued towards the bedroom, their clothes falling off one by one.

The sound of the bed creaking under the weight of the weight continued for a long time before it finally subsided.

The next morning, Jiang Yu got up and left immediately, sending a message to Yang Xue. He went straight to the film set because filming for "Secret" wasn't finished yet. There had been some delays yesterday, and he still had scenes to shoot this morning, so he didn't want to delay the filming schedule.

When Jiang Yu got up, Yang Xue was still asleep. Perhaps because she was too tired last night, she looked somewhat weary. Jiang Yu tiptoed out of the room. He picked up the clothes on the floor, put them on the sofa, and quietly closed the door before sending Yang Xue a message. Then he drove to the film set.

By 8 p.m., Mr. Yang had already seen the data from the premiere of "The Lost Tomb" the previous night, sent to him by his subordinates. The data was a spreadsheet of premiere data over the past 24 hours. When Mr. Yang saw this data, he immediately stood up from his seat while he was having dinner.

Ignoring the surprised expressions on his wife and daughter's faces, Mr. Yang immediately picked up his phone and sent a copy of the data sheet to Jiang Yu and Yang Xue.

He took his phone and walked to the balcony, where he made a call to Jiang Yu.

Jiang Yu had just finished filming for the day and returned to his hotel to rest. Sitting on the sofa, Yang Zihan was taking a shower. Jiang Yu was somewhat surprised to see the call from President Yang, but he roughly guessed her purpose: the premiere's ratings were probably out.

Before Jiang Yu could even speak after the call connected, Yang's excited voice came from the other end.

"Haha, Xiao Jiang, Xiao Jiang, look at the message I sent you! Did you see that? The premiere of Tomb Raider Chronicles broke records!"

"The premiere episode garnered 280 million views, almost breaking 300 million! My goodness, Xiao Jiang, you're amazing!"

Even over the phone, Jiang Yu could imagine President Yang excitedly gesturing and sharing this exciting news with him.

However, what General Manager Yang said made Jiang Yu's heart tremble. He had actually broken the record!
With 280 million views in the first 24 hours, almost breaking 300 million, this is considered a very high number of views among all domestic TV dramas.

Previously, it was considered very good if a TV series could achieve over 100 million views on its premiere. The best-performing series, which held the record, only managed to surpass 200 million views on its premiere, and that was also one of Yang Xue's previous blockbusters. However, this time, "The Lost Tomb," starring Jiang Yu and Yang Xue, has directly broken that record, significantly raising it above the previous record. It almost surpassed Shandong Film Studio's record, which left Jiang Yu feeling both emotional and excited.

"Mr. Yang, Mr. Yang, please calm down. We've seen it all, don't get so worked up."

Although Jiang Yu himself was also very excited, he quickly spoke up when he heard President Yang's almost incoherent voice.

Mr. Yang realized he had gotten a little too excited and quickly smiled.

"Haha, oh my, I'm so excited! This news is absolutely thrilling! 280 million! Xiao Jiang, this is a premiere result I never even dared to dream of. I thought the most I could achieve was 200 million, but it's reached 280 million! This show is a hit, absolutely a hit! It'll be the biggest hit of the year, no, it might be the record for the next few years, and even the next few years!"

Mr. Yang's words are not an exaggeration at all. Judging from the current premiere results, it has already far surpassed all previous film and television dramas. In fact, it remains to be seen whether any film or television drama will be able to break this record in the future.

At this moment, Mr. Yang was filled with excitement.

Previously, they bet on Jiang Yu. Their entire Tencent ecosystem, not just Tencent Video, but also Tencent Music and other Tencent businesses, were deeply tied to Jiang Yu and had a deep cooperative relationship with him. Now it seems that they really made the right bet.

Jiang Yu called President Yang to chat, and the two shared the joyful news with each other. Suddenly, Jiang Yu thought of something and asked President Yang a question.

"Hey, Mr. Yang, do you know the premiere data for their 'Great Wilderness Broadcast'?"

Upon hearing Jiang Yu's question, General Manager Yang suddenly realized something and quickly replied with a smile.

"Now that you mention it, I remember too. Wait a moment, Xiao Jiang, I'll go ask someone. Haha, I feel like they're definitely not as tall as us."

(End of this chapter)