I'm just trying to ride the wave of popularity!

Chapter 331 Shocking! He actually...

August 8th is a memorable day for the Chinese film industry.

Countless filmmakers stared in shock at the latest box office figures, letting out gasps of astonishment…

"Chrysanthemum Terrace," an epic film directed by Li Zhengtao, China's top director, and costing 3 million RMB, grossed over 4000 million RMB on its opening day, setting a new record for the highest-grossing opening day for a Chinese film.

Although some cinemas played a trick by including the box office revenue from several preview screenings on the evening of August 6 in the opening day figures, this result is still astonishing!

This box office data, once released, instantly ignited the entire Chinese film industry.

The relevant departments have given unprecedented high-level support to "Chrysanthemum Terrace"!

On the day of the film's premiere, CCTV's "News Broadcast" unusually devoted 21 seconds to reporting on the film's grand occasion, praising it for "demonstrating Chinese cultural confidence and promoting the industrialization of film!"
Immediately after the film's premiere and the box office figures were released, the Film Bureau's official website published a special article on its homepage, stating that the film "represents the highest production standard of domestic films."

More than 200 key cinemas across the country simultaneously opened special screenings of "Chrysanthemum Terrace", and local cultural and tourism departments have also launched innovative joint activities combining "movie viewing + intangible cultural heritage exhibitions".

CCTV's movie channel broadcast a special feature featuring interviews with the main creators for three consecutive days, and the Ministry of Culture's official website also launched a large-scale questionnaire survey activity, "10,000 People Evaluate 'Chrysanthemum Terrace'".

This top-down, multi-dimensional, and comprehensive publicity campaign is unprecedented in the history of Chinese cinema!
All these signs demonstrate Li Zhengtao's extraordinary status and artistic achievements as a leading figure in Chinese cinema!
In recent years, under the strong impact of Hollywood blockbusters, the Chinese film industry urgently needs a truly benchmark blockbuster and a leading figure.

Looking back at the development from the millennium to the present, most of the older generation of filmmakers have remained stagnant and rarely made breakthroughs. Even when they produced a few excellent works, they were mostly niche films...

While young filmmakers like Zhou Yang have risen against the trend, their relatively short development time means they still lack a solid foundation in the film industry. Their works are mostly marketing-driven and lack truly large-scale productions with industrial standards.

In today's Chinese film industry, Li Zhengtao is the only director who can withstand both box office pressure and market reputation.

……

With a massive publicity campaign, "Chrysanthemum Terrace" grossed over 4000 million RMB on its opening day, and its box office performance remained strong on the second and third days, both exceeding 3500 million RMB.

The astonishing figure of over 1.1 million RMB in box office revenue in three days instantly swept across the entire Chinese film industry.

August 11, inside the villa.

"Old Li has now truly become the number one figure in Chinese cinema."

When Liang Xiaogang saw this scene, a strange feeling of bitterness welled up in his heart, mixed with a sense of resentment and unwillingness.

The core content of "Chrysanthemum Terrace" is almost identical to that of his "The Last Supper." The only difference is that "Chrysanthemum Terrace" is superior in visual rendering and impact, and the action scenes are also extremely well-made.

However, The Last Supper also has its unique aspects.
This honor should have belonged to Liang Xiaogang!
Liang Xiaogang stared at the box office success of "Chrysanthemum Terrace," his fingers unconsciously touching themselves.

He took a deep breath, suppressing the bitter resentment in his heart.

He lowered his head, then looked at the letter on his desk that indicated his preliminary selection had been approved, and clenched his fist.

That was the notification that I had passed the preliminary selection for the Venice International Film Festival. If I pass the final selection, I will be nominated for the Venice International Film Festival in early September.

“Old Li is indeed amazing…” he muttered to himself, a complicated smile tugging at the corners of his mouth: “But the artistic value of a film can never be measured by box office revenue.”

He has already contacted the Venice International Film Festival organizing committee, and the jury seems very interested in his film…

He got up and walked to the window, his gaze passing over the night sky of Yanjing!
"The failure of 'The Last Supper' is just a temporary aesthetic time lag... The judges at Venice really love this kind of Eastern aesthetics and human struggle." He closed his eyes: "Once we bring home the Golden Lion, let's see who dares to say that Li Zhengtao is the only standard-bearer of the Chinese film industry!"

The night breeze lifted the curtains. He stubbed out his cigarette, then picked up his phone: "Contact the PR team in Italy immediately—at this film festival, I want the whole world to remember the name 'The Last Supper'!"

A confident response came from the other end of the phone...

....................................

With the box office results of "Chrysanthemum Terrace" coming out, everyone felt that this was Li Zhengtao's January!
Everyone is praising this as the most significant achievement in the history of the Chinese film industry!
Some people are even fantasizing and speculating that the future of China's film industry will be on par with Hollywood films, becoming the world's second largest film industry miracle!

The overwhelming praise propelled "Chrysanthemum Terrace" and Li Zhengtao to new heights...

of course……

On the internet, some negative reviews of "Chrysanthemum Terrace" have appeared on platforms such as [Wandou Film Network] and [Movie Fan Home].

These reviews point out that this palace intrigue film, which has a plot similar to "The Last Supper," suffers from problems such as "melodramatic plot" and "flat characters," with some viewers believing that the film's narrative is too exaggerated and lacks depth.

Some viewers criticized the film's war scenes as being poorly designed: the palace battle scenes were like child's play, with soldiers charging forward without any tactics and then being shot to death by arrows, making the whole thing seem idiotic.

More pointed comments included: "Is every frame Tang Dynasty aesthetics? No, a 3 million yuan investment only resulted in a PPT exhibition."

The most incisive critique came from a professional film critic's lengthy critique: "Golden armor wraps an empty soul—when 'Chrysanthemum Terrace' melted down its budget into a dragon robe, the story had already been strangled in the silk."

However, apart from a few platforms like [Movie House], these negative reviews were quickly drowned out by the overwhelming praise and disappeared without a trace...

Amidst the soaring box office success of "Chrysanthemum Terrace," the impressive figures of 2 million yuan in its opening week and 1 million yuan in its second week have caused a stir in the industry. Its total box office quickly surpassed the 3 million yuan mark, making it the first domestic film to achieve this milestone and even rivaling the box office record of the Hollywood blockbuster "Spider-Man."

Media outlets widely predict that it will break the 4 million yuan mark and become a landmark milestone in the industrialization of Chinese cinema.

However, as the fervent market sentiment gradually cooled, the film's box office performance took a sharp turn for the worse—the daily box office in the third week suddenly dropped below 10 million, and it ultimately only grossed 40 million, a precipitous 60% decrease compared to the previous two weeks.

This unusual plunge surprised countless film critics, who then realized that "Chrysanthemum Terrace" was showing signs of losing momentum!

Over-reliance on hype and visual spectacle, without a solid narrative to retain audiences and generate genuine word-of-mouth...

Although the film's rating on websites such as [Wandou Film Network] and [Movie Fan Home] dropped from 8.9 to 8.3, the comment section is still full of positive reviews.

Meanwhile, at Cinema House and Kuaibo, a series of insightful reviews from film critics emerged. Renowned film critic Liu Jiasheng pointed out sharply that once the glitter of the gilded armor fades, the hollow power struggle plot can no longer justify the ticket price!

Besides the film's lack of staying power, the high price of 68 yuan for IMAX tickets and the majority of regular tickets priced at 48 yuan also severely hampered the enthusiasm of ordinary viewers...

It was as if a "false prosperity" had collapsed! As if to verify the "false prosperity" of this movie, by the end of August, 21 days after its release, the pre-sale data for the fourth week of "Chrysanthemum Terrace" had fallen to a dismal level.

In some remote areas, screenings were even seen with only one or two audience members, the initial excitement gradually fading...

In the fourth week, the daily box office revenue dropped from 4000 million RMB on opening day to 200 million RMB per day...

While everyone was discussing the box office performance of "Chrysanthemum Terrace", another film that had disappeared from the public eye, "Kung Fu Basketball", once again attracted attention.

The film grossed over 1100 million RMB in its first month of release. While this figure may seem unremarkable, its nearly 1.1 million viewers nationwide set a new record for the number of moviegoers in China.

In comparison, the total box office of "Chrysanthemum Terrace" was 3.45 million yuan, which, based on an average ticket price of 50 yuan, translates to approximately 690 million viewers. This is significantly less than the 1100 million viewers of "Kung Fu Basketball".

Even more surprisingly, the attendance rate for "Kung Fu Basketball" remained at around 30%...

After all, with a super low ticket price of 10 yuan and a free iced cola, audiences can enjoy the air conditioning in the cinema and have fun in the hot summer. Why not?

December 8th...

A wave of news from overseas has also cast a shadow over the otherwise vibrant Chinese film industry…

After August 20th, "Chrysanthemum Terrace" and "The Last Supper" were successively released in many countries...

Expectations for "The Last Supper" weren't particularly high, given its lackluster performance at the Chinese box office. However, "Chrysanthemum Terrace," which was highly anticipated by filmmakers, was a major disappointment in overseas markets.

The film received a lukewarm reception in overseas markets such as North America, with Western media largely criticizing it as "too flashy and lacking in narrative." Although Li Zhengtao used a Hamlet-like narrative approach, the core fusion of Chinese and Western cultures resulted in a disjointed plot, ultimately leading to a disappointing outcome.

In its first 10 days, the film only grossed $300 million at the North American box office…

Box office revenue in other Asian regions was slightly higher, around $350 million...

Although it was attempted to be screened in Europe and other regions, the box office performance was dismal, and it had to be pulled from theaters quickly.

The total overseas box office was less than one-third of that in the mainland market, a far cry from the $1.2 million box office that "Qin" earned overseas.

As the most anticipated overseas market for "Chrysanthemum Terrace," it should have been the key to recouping the 3 million yuan cost and achieving profitability. However, this highly anticipated benchmark of the Chinese film industry has fallen into the embarrassing situation of not even being able to recoup its costs...

Unwittingly, the DVD market, which was not valued by big directors, became the last hope for the movie "Chrysanthemum Terrace"!

……

August was a dramatic month for the Chinese film industry.

Both exhilarating and despairing...

On August 31st, the last day of the month, news spread throughout the Chinese film industry that the Venice International Film Festival, one of the three major European film festivals, had announced its shortlist.

……

August 8 at noon.

Liang Xiaogang stared intently at the Venice Film Festival's shortlist. When he saw that both "Chrysanthemum Terrace" and "The Last Supper" were selected, he was so excited that his fingers trembled and cigarette ash fell to the ground!
The fact that these two Chinese palace dramas about power struggles were nominated at the same time proves that the judges approve of his aesthetic concepts!
However, the next second, his pupils shrank, and the English name of "Moon Wars 2" was printed at the end of the list!
He was starting to doubt his existence; his face instantly turned ashen, as if he had swallowed a fly: "Is this lousy film festival blind?!"

He stared at the nomination information for "War for the Moon II" and, upon seeing that the film had two nominations, suddenly felt a chill run down his spine: "Could it be... that this piece of junk is going to win an award?"

Just at this time……

His phone rang.

then……

I was stunned!
"What did you say?"

"Is it possible that Zhou Yang himself will not attend this film festival, but only his creative team will?"

"He's crazy?"

………………

On August 31st, the news of being nominated for the Venice International Film Festival excited everyone!

Countless filmmakers were thrilled and cheered as they looked at the shortlisted materials!

This year's Venice International Film Festival broke all previous records, with three Chinese films nominated, among which the nominations of "Chrysanthemum Terrace" and "The Last Supper" were expected.

however!
Surprisingly, the third nominated film, "Lunar Wars II," which performed only moderately in the Chinese market—well, at least for [Xuan Shi Entertainment]—received two nominations: "Best Screenplay" and "Mastroianni Award for Best Newcomer," more than the previous two films!
This marks Zhou Yang's second recognition with an international film award, following his win at the Berlin International Film Festival.

However, just as Chinese filmmakers were overjoyed that three films, *Chrysanthemum Terrace*, *The Last Supper*, and *Moon Wars II*, were simultaneously selected for the Venice International Film Festival, hoping to break the "zero breakthrough" for Chinese films at international film festivals since the millennium…

Some people, however, heard a shocking piece of news, the truth of which they couldn't discern...

During the Berlin International Film Festival, Zhou Yang was absent, and only Shen Long showed up to make his presence felt...

And this time at the Venice International Film Festival...

This guy……

seem!

I'm not going again!

(End of this chapter)