How did this star become more popular after his scandal?

Chapter 336 Release
As the Spring Festival Gala came to an end, everyone ushered in the new year on this lively night.

The first day of the Lunar New Year is also a lively day. Many people, besides staying home to celebrate with their families, also go to the cinema with friends to watch newly released films from the Spring Festival season. Among them, Jiang Yu's "Secret" is one that many will be watching with their fans.

Many of Jiang Yu's fans have been eagerly anticipating his new film, "The Secret That Cannot Be Told." Even though the film is currently controversial online, with many people not optimistic about Jiang Yu's fantasy genre, his fans have still come to support it.

This can be seen from the fact that Jiang Yu's film, with its niche subject matter, was able to achieve 20 million yuan in pre-sale box office revenue. It shows that many of Jiang Yu's fans came to support me, and it also shows that Jiang Yu's fans have strong purchasing power.

These niche films, which have no market appeal, managed to gross 20 million yuan at the box office thanks to Jiang Yu's fan base. This alone puts him ahead of so-called top celebrities; Jiang Yu has transcended that category.

Now it's the time for movies to be released during the Lunar New Year and Spring Festival. In this fiercely competitive Spring Festival film season, Jiang Yu's "Secret" has generated a lot of buzz and discussion, but judging from its current pre-sale box office performance, it's not doing very well.

Even with Jiang Yu's popularity and his fan support, the pre-sale box office reached 20 million, but it only ranked in the top ten, a position that's neither high nor low. It's a bit awkward.

The other films ranked higher were all big-budget productions with substantial investments from major entertainment companies. This was especially true for the top three films, which led the pre-sale box office by a wide margin and were invested in by several major domestic companies.

Now, looking at the pre-sale box office performance of Jiang Yu's "Secret That Cannot Be Told," it's somewhat disappointing, and many people in the industry are laughing.

When the leaked photos of Jiang Yu's movie first surfaced, everyone thought that this kind of niche film with no market was impossible to succeed. Even now, with 2000 million yuan in pre-sale box office thanks to fan support, it's still nothing compared to other films that came before.

However, everyone thinks that with fan support, Jiang Yu's low-budget, niche subject matter should be able to break even. If the fans are supportive, it shouldn't be a problem for Jiang Yu to make some money.

No one doubts Jiang Yu's fans' purchasing power, nor Jiang Yu's popularity and influence.

Even if this movie is terrible, obscure, and has no market, Jiang Yu's fans have already managed to raise 20 million yuan at the box office. If Jiang Yu's fans put in a little more effort, they could push the box office even higher.

However, such box office results are meaningless to many. The data is entirely inflated by fans and has no real market impact. This is something most people simply don't care to look at.

At this moment, all the movies released during this Spring Festival are available online, which is the time to see how a movie performs in the market and in the hearts of the audience.

As for Lin Qianqian, she also bought movie tickets today and is going to see Jiang Yu's movie, "Secret That Cannot Be Told".

She's currently in her hometown, where she doesn't have many friends. Her parents don't like going to the movies either. After lunch, Lin Qianqian bought a movie ticket and went to the mall to see Jiang Yu's film, "Secret."

She had been following Jiang Yu's film since the very first news broke. Although she had some doubts about Jiang Yu's choice of this niche subject matter, she was still very curious about his directorial debut.

Although many netizens and industry insiders are not optimistic about Jiang Yu's niche film, Lin Qianqian doesn't think so. Jiang Yu is a man who is good at creating miracles. What if he can create another miracle with this film?

Even though there might be no market for it, Lin Qianqian had no doubt about Jiang Yu's talent and ability. Even without a market, Jiang Yu's film might not achieve great success. However, she still wanted to see what the film was about.

After all, from Jiang Yu's previously released theme song of the same name, "Secret That Cannot Be Told," she could hear the emotions Jiang Yu wanted to express in the song, and she could glimpse the story told in the movie and the emotions that Jiang Yu wanted to convey in the film.

At this moment, Lin Qianqian was sitting in the movie theater. People were gradually entering. She had observed from outside that there weren't many people watching "Jiang Yu's Unspeakable Secret." Even after the movie had started, only about half the audience had taken their seats; there were probably only about 20 people scattered around.

Compared to the packed Spring Festival films, this one is nowhere near as good. Many of the viewers are young people, mostly couples, probably Jiang Yu's fans or just there to see what his movie is like.

It's fair to say that this occupancy rate is quite low. Furthermore, Lin Qianqian also checked the screening schedule and found that Jiang Yu's film wasn't doing very well. She originally wanted to buy tickets for the evening showing, but the only available slots were in the afternoon, around noon. There were also very few screenings in the early morning hours.

This puzzled Lin Qianqian. Logically, given Jiang Yu's influence and popularity, her debut film shouldn't have so few screenings. This filming schedule was strange. Could it be that the theater owners didn't have high hopes for Jiang Yu's niche film and were reducing its screenings?
Lin Qianqian had always suspected this was the case: the cinema owners didn't have high hopes for Jiang Yu's niche film, which was why they reduced the number of screenings. After all, cinemas only have so much screen time. They were definitely trying to make money, giving more screenings to films with high attendance and popular market appeal.

Films like Jiang Yu's, with niche themes, are often given limited screenings because the producers believe they might not make money. This has happened to many films in the past. Especially for poorly performing films, screenings only decrease. They'd rather make films that are more profitable than those that are more successful.

At that moment, as the movie began, Lin Qianqian saw Jiang Yu's character in "The Secret That Cannot Be Told." The story takes place on a school campus, and when Jiang Yu appeared in his school uniform, even Lin Qianqian's eyes lit up, and even the few audience members in the theater let out a gasp of surprise.

"Jiang Yu is so handsome!"

These were the gasps of amazement from Lin Qianqian and the audience in the cinema, especially the female viewers. The moment Jiang Yu appeared in his school uniform, he looked like a male lead from a youth idol drama, stunning everyone. Even some of the guys who came to see the movie with their girlfriends were impressed.

Putting everything else aside, Jiang Yu's movie is visually appealing enough on its own. And as the film progresses, Jiang Yu and the female lead finally meet.

When everyone saw Yang Zihan appear in her school uniform, they were all stunned by her beauty. Back when she participated in the talent show, Yang Zihan gained immense popularity online thanks to her stunning looks, debuting as the champion and signing with Jiang Yu's company. Now, as a newcomer, she's landed the lead role in Jiang Yu's directorial debut. It has to be said, Jiang Yu really knows how well he provides resources for his artists.

Lin Qianqian watched the movie, initially out of curiosity, then becoming engrossed, and now she was completely captivated by Jiang Yu's film. She had started out of curiosity to see what Jiang Yu's movie was like, but after watching it, she gradually found herself drawn in by the story.

Moreover, it incorporates many musical elements, with Jiang Yu combining his forte—music—with film. The story revolves around the male and female leads meeting through music, a detail that surprised and delighted many music fans.

Moreover, Lin Qianqian also felt that this was a rather old-fashioned youth campus movie, but as she watched, Lin Qianqian and many other viewers found that the movie was not at all what they had imagined.

This movie is completely different from the formulaic teen idol movies they're used to. Although it also tells the story of the encounter and romance between the male and female leads on campus, people gradually realized that the character Lu Xiaoyu, played by Yang Zihan, seems a bit different.

Especially at the end, when everyone discovered that the female lead, Lu Xiaoyu, played by Yang Zihan, was a time traveler, everyone was quite shocked.

"So this is what fantasy is. Jiang Yu's idea is really good."

The male and female protagonists communicate across time and space through a piece of music and a musical score. This love story that transcends time and space has left Lin Qianqian and many viewers in awe, and they can't help but admire Jiang Yu's imagination and talent.

Moreover, the romance between the male and female leads is portrayed with exceptional delicacy. Each element is intricately linked to the next, creating a strong sense of fantasy and suspense. Although it's a teen idol film, it feels like a thriller.

Especially at the end of the movie, when Lin Qianqian and the others saw the male lead, played by Jiang Yu, and the female lead separate, and the two didn't even end up together, the sense of regret and sadness was overwhelming.

Most importantly, when Jiang Yu's previous song "The Promise of Growing Up Together" and his newly released song "Secret" played in the movie, the atmosphere was instantly intensified.

Even at the very end, when the male and female leads didn't end up together, a wave of sadness and regret washed over everyone. Many girls secretly shed tears while watching the movie, and even Lin Qianqian felt a lump in her throat by the end.

When the movie ended, Lin Qianqian stared at the end of the film for a very long time.

"Jiang Yu's movie is really good. Although the subject matter is niche, the movie is genuinely wonderful and of high quality."

This was Lin Qianqian's review after watching Jiang Yu's movie. Even when she walked out of the theater, she heard many of the girls and other audience members in the same theater commenting on Jiang Yu's movie.

"Jiang Yu's movie is really good, it looks so exciting. When I first saw the beginning, I didn't expect that the female lead was a time traveler, it's really amazing."

"Yes. Although the male and female leads had a conversation across time and space, and even this love that transcended time and space seemed quite sweet at the beginning, it turned out to be sad later on. It's such a pity."

"I have to say, Jiang Yu is really talented and capable. Looking at this film, 'Secret,' I can't tell it's a work by a new director at all. It's so skillful and brilliant."

"Yes, I feel like I want to watch it again. So many people online don't think highly of Jiang Yu's movie, saying that this fantasy movie is an unpopular genre and has not had much of a market in the past two years. But Jiang Yu's movie is really good. And the reason why it doesn't have a market is simply because those directors can't make good works."

"I can't take it anymore, I have to go back and recommend Jiang Yu's movie to all my friends, I want them to see it, it's just too amazing."

……

Lin Qianqian walked through the theater, listening to the discussions of the other audience members around her, and a slight smile appeared on her lips. At that moment, she felt a sense of pride, as if the film she admired was being recognized by others.

Overall, Jiang Yu's "Secret" is quite good. However, she checked the movie schedule and realized there were far too few screenings—only three a day: one at noon, one in the evening, and then one late at night—all inconvenient times.

She felt that Jiang Yu's movie was underrated, and the cinema owners were probably going to regret it. With such high quality, Lin Qianqian believed that after its first day of release, the movie would definitely spread like wildfire online.

Once word spreads and more and more people learn about Jiang Yu's film and understand its quality, more and more people will definitely come to see it.

However, if the producers of these films don't have time to increase the number of screenings, they will definitely lose a lot of money.

However, Lin Qianqian was unaware that the reason Jiang Yu's movie had so few screenings this time was not because the theater owners didn't have a good impression of Jiang Yu's movie "Secret," but because someone was interfering.

(End of this chapter)