Director of Photography Department of Huayu

Chapter 425 Suppression, The Premiere of "Mars"
Lu Xun, who came from a privileged background, still had some connections, plus the substantial investment and support from Star Media.
After the premiere, the publicity for "Nanjing! Nanjing!" received a small boost, preventing it from being as dismal as before.

Seeing that Wu Chen had been traveling to many places and seemed unable to find time to pay attention to him these days, Lu Xun started to show off again, gradually increasing the number of interviews, trying to gain momentum before the release on the 21st.

After traveling to many places, Wu Chen and Liu Yifei finally returned home, and the fatigue from their days of travel gradually became apparent.

Before I could even settle in, Ming Zhenjiang called.

Wu Chen picked up the phone, gently rubbing his temples, but his voice was full of excitement:
"Director Ming, this trip has been incredibly fruitful, far exceeding my expectations. However, the stories of those elderly gentlemen were so moving that I'm now starting to worry that I won't be able to film them well."

Upon hearing this, Ming Zhenjiang on the other end of the phone smiled and comforted him:

"Director Wu, you're still worried about this? There are only a handful of directors in the industry who can bring these stories to life. If you can't do it well, I'm afraid there won't be many others who can."

As long as you feel you've gained something, that's fine. We've found another group of veterans; just let us know if you need anything.

"Okay, I'll make time to go after the premiere."

Wu Chen nodded. After hanging up the phone, he turned around and saw Liu Yifei bent over her desk, organizing the materials she had recorded over the past few days. She looked focused and serious, her slender fingers slowly turning the pages.

Wu Chen casually turned on his computer, and some news links on the screen prominently displayed the words "Nanjing! Nanjing!" After glancing at them, he slightly pursed his lips.

He's been busy these days, and Lu Xun seems to be much more relaxed.

After a moment's thought, Wu Chen dialed Wang Changtian's number.

The call connected, and Wang Changtian stood by the window looking outside, his voice tinged with amusement: "Director Wu, why did you suddenly think of me?"

"Mr. Wang, The Martian is about to premiere in a few days. At this time, we may need to trouble your media outlets in Beijing to help with the publicity and try to prevent certain films from standing out in the publicity."

Upon hearing this, Wang Changtian glanced at the overwhelming media coverage of "The Martian" alongside a smaller-scale promotion of "Nanjing! Nanjing!", and nodded in agreement.
"OK, no problem."

"Thank you very much, Mr. Wang," Wu Chen replied politely.

After hanging up the phone, he paused briefly and then dialed Cao Guowei's number at Sina: "Mr. Cao, please cooperate with Sina Entertainment a little more these next few days."

"Hahaha!"

Cao Guowei couldn't help but laugh out loud. He knew what Wu Chen meant, and since a few days wouldn't matter much, he agreed.

China Film Group also increased its publicity efforts at this time.

The publicity coverage expanded rapidly, almost surpassing the level of previous blockbusters such as "The Promise" and "Red Cliff".

For a moment, netizens were a little panicked, but more people were looking forward to it.

"Please don't ruin the photos!"

"When I went back to my hometown today, I found that everyone there knew about 'The Martian'. The publicity was amazing."

"Wu Chen, you'd better give it your all! I've been looking forward to this for so long."

"."

Meanwhile, Lu Xun was leading a marathon-like promotional campaign with the main cast, but at this moment, in the hotel lobby, Lu Xun was on the verge of exploding.

Several online media outlets encountered obstacles in their publicity efforts, and he knew without even thinking that it was Wu Chen's doing.

"This person is disgusting, absolutely disgusting."

Lu Xun's face was extremely ugly, and he said angrily.

He gets messed with every now and then, but there's nothing he can do about it. If things escalate, he'll probably be the one who suffers.

Liu Ye, Gao Yuanyuan, and Qin Lan exchanged glances, all seeing the helplessness in each other's eyes.

Finally, on the 21st, "Nanjing! Nanjing!" was released as scheduled.

They quickly split into two factions, with a considerable number of people shouting battle cries.

Some critics of the film's message have sided with Wu Chen, and their voices have become particularly loud.

Film Academy professor Cui Weiping was so angry that she personally went to see Wu Chen again:

"Wu Chen, I had only heard about this movie from friends before, but after seeing it with my own eyes today, I'm furious. I have to write an article to condemn this chaotic theme!"

The following day, Cui Weiping published an article titled "The Absurd and Off-Key 'Nanjing Nanjing'" on her blog, using harsh language:
"The film is incoherent and illogical. Its treatment of the 'powerful (Japanese soldiers) and corrupt officials' is nothing more than giving evil a glamorous makeover and dressing the despicable in a cloak of humanity."

Wenhui Daily quickly followed suit with a commentary, using Wu Chen's question to Lu Xun as the headline: "Who gave you the right to forgive?"

Public criticism came one wave after another.

The next day, the first-day results for "Nanjing! Nanjing!" were released: 950 million views.

Lu Xun's face was extremely grim; the opening weekend box office was far from the expected tens of millions of views.

Lu Tianming's expression also darkened as he pressed, "President Qin, why can't we break the ten million mark?"

"There's nothing we can do. Wu Chen has generated a lot of public discussion. We conducted a survey, and some people chose not to watch 'Nanjing! Nanjing!' because of Wu Chen's remarks. In addition, there were some obstacles to the promotion in the crucial days after the premiere."

Qin Hong shrugged, looking quite helpless.

Lu Xun quickly pressed, "President Qin, can it break 100 million? 9.5 million on the first day, theoretically it should break 100 million."

"If it weren't for 'The Martian' coming along, it would definitely have broken 100 million, but now..."

Qin Hong didn't continue. They all knew that the premiere of *The Martian* was coming up soon, and after that, there wouldn't be much room for *Nanjing! Nanjing!* in the publicity. "Mr. Qin, how are the Japanese rights negotiations going?"

"The talks went relatively smoothly."

"."

Upon hearing this, the group breathed a sigh of relief, knowing they could at least recover some losses from other sources.

On April 23, 2009, the early spring in Beijing still carried a chill in the air, but the atmosphere outside the CPPCC Auditorium was as intense and fiery as a summer fire that had been lit ahead of time.

The entire film industry practically turned out.

Scarlett Johansson, Christian Bale, and Chadwick Boseman arrived yesterday, and China Film Group arranged their accommodations.

People from Universal Pictures and Blumhouse Pictures also came.

In the afternoon, Wu Chen was arranged by Liu Yifei.

Wu Chen was standing in front of the full-length mirror, holding the corner of his shirt in his hand. He had just buttoned up his cuffs when Liu Yifei had already circled around him, scrutinizing him intently.
"Hehe, this outfit looks good. Hmm, I'm still missing a watch. I'll go get it."

After saying that, she turned around and went into the dressing room to search.

"Is it really necessary?" Wu Chen smiled wryly.

"As for you and Director Jiang, you two are the main characters today; the rest of us are irrelevant."

A moment later, she poked her head out, a lens cleaning cloth still dangling from the corner of her mouth, a watch in her hand. She fastened the watch strap firmly onto Wu Chen's wrist, then clapped her hands and cheerfully took Wu Chen's arm.

"Alright, let's go!"

At four o'clock in the afternoon.

Outside the CPPCC Auditorium, the red carpet for "The Martian" officially began.

The spring breeze rustled among the flags adorned with the main poster, making the silhouettes of astronauts against a crimson background, streaking across Martian dust, sway gently.

The media areas on both sides of the red carpet were already packed, with flashes of light coming in waves, constantly illuminating excited faces and interview scripts.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the premiere of 'The Martian' is about to begin—"

"Ahead are Mr. David Lyndon, CEO of Universal Pictures, and Mr. Jason Blum, head of Blumhouse Pictures."

"Wang Zhonglei, Feng Xiaogang, Huang Xiaoming, Li Binbin, and their entourage from Huayi have already stepped onto the red carpet!"

As Feng Xiaogang looked up at the banner at the top of the venue and felt the atmosphere on both sides, he couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness.

"This treatment"

Before Feng Xiaogang could even feel jealous, Wang Changtian entered the venue with Liu Yan, Xie Nan, and several others. Reporters nearby also recognized that the "News Broadcast" host had also arrived discreetly.

Following that, delegations from Pegasus Media, Bona Film Group, Forbidden City Film Group, and Wanda Group appeared one after another, exchanging greetings and nods, turning the red carpet into a film festival in an instant.

Of course, the person most moved at this moment was Lu Zheng, who was radiant with starlight. Looking at this scene, he couldn't help but think about the possibilities for Jing Tian's future.

"Uncle Lu, what are you thinking about?" Jing Tian noticed that he was lost in thought and asked softly.

"It's nothing, let's go."

A group of people from the Beijing Film Academy arrived, and Han Sanping accompanied two leaders from the Film Bureau as they made their entrance, inwardly wondering:
"I didn't expect them to actually keep their promise."

Ren Zhonglun had already entered the venue from the other side with several leaders from the space agency and the aerospace science and technology group.

With the launch of the movie channel's live broadcast truck, the red carpet's popularity soared to a new high.

Chen Kaige, Gu Changwei, Mu Deyuan and others also came over, and Zhang Yimou was no exception, except that Zhang Weiping was also with him.

"What's so interesting about this? It's not our movie."

Wouldn't it be better to focus on working on the script?

Zhang Weiping felt a pang of jealousy, and looking at the grand scene, he couldn't help but whisper to Zhang Yimou.

Zhang Yi ignored them, nodded to some theater representatives, and stepped into the room.

Hu Jing, Zeng Li, and Yuan Quan attracted a lot of attention together.

"Director Wu's entourage is no less impressive than that of 'The Promise' back then," Hu Jing exclaimed in a low voice. He had specially asked Wu Chen for a few invitations to join in the fun.

"Shh!" Zeng Li and Yuan Quan raised their hands almost simultaneously to stop her.

"Are you crazy? There are so many people here. What if they hear this and it gets back to Director Chen? Do you even want to keep your job?"

Hu Jing's face turned pale, and she quickly shut her mouth. The three of them quickened their pace and walked towards the inner area.

Shortly afterward, a deafening burst of applause and cheers suddenly erupted outside the auditorium.
Finally, Wu Chen and the others made their appearance.

Liu Yifei, dressed in a white suit, held Wu Chen's arm with her left hand and waved to both sides with her right.

Gong Li, dressed in a red dress, stood side by side with Jiang Wen, both smiling.

Christian Bale, Chadwick Boseman, and Scarlett Johansson waved their hands to both sides.
Suddenly, a barrage of camera flashes came crashing down on me like a thunderstorm.
(End of this chapter)