Huayu Entertainment: You have been directing for three generations, are you comparing your qualifica

Chapter 232 The Alliance with Huayi!
The Forbidden Kingdom was released ahead of schedule in North America.

Jackie Chan and Jet Li's influence in Hollywood is undeniable.

The movie achieved good box office results as soon as it was released.

James also went to see the film; he's a kung fu fan.

Upon arriving at the villa, they excitedly praised its beauty, gesturing wildly.

Hearing him say that, Tian Xiaole became a little doubtful, wondering if he had misremembered.

I took James to a nearby movie theater.

The posters erected at the entrance of the cinema still feature Jackie Chan and Jet Li on the left and right, respectively, with no space for the other main actors.

And you know what? The occupancy rate is actually quite high.

The movie begins with an American boy traveling from Chinatown to the era of Chinese mythology...

At first, Tian Xiaole watched very attentively, but as the plot progressed...

The entire film is empty and boring, with a vague and chaotic main plot, and the Eastern culture it presents is very stereotypical.

James watched with great interest.

Looking at the other audience members in the theater, they were all staring intently at the big screen, occasionally cheering.

Tian Xiaole understood that this film was designed to appeal to foreign audiences; the thin plot was meant to be understandable to foreigners.

After leaving the movie theater, James mimicked the martial arts moves from the film and asked with a serious expression:
"Boss, how well did I imitate the Mantis Fist move?"

"No, it doesn't look like that. A mantis isn't that fat."

Tian Xiaole smiled and changed the subject: "What do you think of the plot of this movie?"

"Very good, a wonderful adventure movie, but there are too few action scenes between Chan and Li."

James thought for a moment and then said seriously.

Before its release, the film was hyped up by Huayi Brothers, but after watching it, I realized it was just a purely commercial film with absolutely nothing to do with cultural export.

When Tian Xiaole returned to the villa, she saw Tang Yan sitting in the garden, the sunlight shining on her face, making her round face glow.

Walking over to block the sunlight, Tang Yan opened her eyes and saw Tian Xiaole standing in front of her.

"I felt so warm from the sun that I almost fell asleep."

"Then let's go back to our room and sleep; it's windy outside."

Tian Xiaole helped Tang Yan stand up by holding her hand.

"Brother Le, I've noticed you're quite patient. Is it because I'm pregnant?" Tang Yan asked.

"If you listen to me, I'll be patient."

The two returned indoors, helped her sit down, and Tian Xiaole found a sofa cushion and placed it behind Tang Yan's back.

"I gave birth to your child without any status or recognition, so why shouldn't I obey?"

Tang Yan pouted, and her eyes reddened again as she thought about the hardships she had endured during this time.

"If you're going to listen, then don't cry."

Tang Yan, who had already gotten into the mood, suddenly choked up and angrily tried to throw a cushion at him.

···
The Forbidden Kingdom will be showing in the country in just one more day.

The screenings of "Painted Skin" were cut, resulting in a decline in daily box office revenue.

Ye Ning called Tian Xiaole and told him that Wanda would schedule screenings according to market rules and wouldn't cut too many at once.

He also revealed that major cinema chains in China are very optimistic about "The Forbidden Kingdom".

A cinema chain in the capital spent 2300 million yuan to buy out all the box office revenue of a movie within its chain.

Tian Xiaole expressed his gratitude, saying that it was already very kind of them to maintain stable screenings for "Painted Skin" when major cinemas were giving "The Forbidden Kingdom" enough screen time.

Tian Xiaole took Wanda's overtures to heart and stood firmly by their side several times, proving they were indeed a good partner.

The Forbidden Kingdom has been released and grossed 16 million yuan on its first day.

As a result, the daily box office of "Painted Skin" dropped to just over ten million.

On its second day of release, The Forbidden Kingdom's daily box office rose to 18 million, further squeezing the box office of Painted Skin.

The simultaneous screening of the two films drained 90% of the market.

Hua Yi is hoarding profits, while Tian Xiaole is unruly and rebellious. This competitive situation is something that people in the industry are happy to see!
The domestic film market is only so big; it can't accommodate two blockbusters being released at the same time.

On the third day of its release, the film grossed over 20 million yuan in a single day, while the daily box office for "Painted Skin" dropped to 10 million yuan.

The box office performance of "The Forbidden Kingdom" is unstoppable.

Good news also came from North America: the film grossed $20 million in its opening weekend, an extremely impressive figure for a film starring Chinese actors.

Just as Huayi Brothers and the production company were about to celebrate, a large number of negative reviews, boos, and insults began to appear online.

"A story about a foreigner saving Chinese mythology is a very typical Hollywood plot."

"Jackie Chan and Jet Li are like two old men in their sixties or seventies. Their fight scenes are weak and powerless, and they stop short of hitting the mark."

"This kind of trashy plot only works for foreigners. They're trying to scam money in the country with this kind of gimmick..."

The overwhelmingly negative reviews threw Huayi into a panic.

Hoping that "The Forbidden Kingdom" will achieve good results will benefit the company's IPO and allow for the production of sequels.

Seeing the polarized comments online, Wang Zhonglei suspected that Tian Xiaole was behind it all.

After all, he had previously targeted "Painted Skin," so he naturally believed that the film was being slandered.

They didn't realize that the online abuse and ridicule were actually a problem with the film.

"Brother, Tian Xiaole has started to fight back. His movie review website is full of negative reviews for the film. If this continues, it will affect the film's box office and reputation."

"It has nothing to do with him, it's just a problem with the script."

Wang Zhongjun rationally stated, "This film is mainly aimed at overseas audiences, and the external reviews are beneficial to our listing."

As for the domestic market, it's better than nothing.

"But we can't let negative reviews fly everywhere, we still need to film a sequel."

"You just said that Tian Xiaole was behind it, so let's shift the blame."

Wang Zhongjun, holding a cigar, pointed at Wang Zhonglei from a distance and said, "Go and issue a notice, say something like this..."

······
The negative reviews and insults directed at "The Forbidden Kingdom" seem unstoppable.

The film's content was bland and unoriginal for domestic audiences.

Viewers who went to see the film because it was the first collaboration between Jackie Chan and Jet Li only realized they had been misled after watching it.

The anger of movie fans and netizens is being vented online.

Especially on Rotten Egg Movie Review website, dozens or even hundreds of comments are increasing every minute.

Industry insiders are enjoying the spectacle and are eager to see how Huayi responds.

Huayi's official account issued a statement of condemnation:
Here's a brief explanation regarding the sudden appearance of a large number of negative comments about "The Forbidden Kingdom" online.

Huayi will take legal action against anyone who smears, spreads rumors, or slanders the film to protect its own interests.
We urge certain competitors to engage in fair and open competition. Huayi welcomes fair, just, and clean market practices…

Shortly after the announcement was released, a large number of positive and favorable reviews for the film appeared online.

Film critics and some official institutions have started to defend the film, advising viewers not to get too hung up on the plot.

The film is a co-production, and we have tried our best to achieve a balance.

Following this, directors, actors, stars, and hosts under Huayi Brothers all mobilized.

He posted a picture of his ticket stub for "The Forbidden Kingdom" to promote the film and encourage fans to support the first collaboration between the two kung fu masters.

Thanks to Huayi Brothers' three-pronged approach, the film's reputation has been stabilized for the time being, and its box office has also rebounded.

Some netizens who were unaware of the facts believed that Tian Xiaole had hired online trolls to smear the film.

People rushed to his account to advocate for "justice" for the movie, but were quickly driven away by fans who defended him.

Chen Zhixi called Tian Xiaole and mentioned Huayi's announcement, which was clearly an attempt to divert netizens' attention. "I understand, I will handle this matter."

After hanging up the phone, Tian Xiaole glanced at Huayi's announcement and had to admit that these two brothers were really shameless, wanting both.

Why not just say it's about sacrificing the viewing experience of domestic moviegoers and that the film needs to cater to the overseas market?

Those who criticize film industry peers are practically being named directly.

Tian Xiaole certainly wouldn't tolerate them, and quickly updated his blog, determined to expose the true colors of the two brothers.

"In Hollywood movies, Americans save the world. The Forbidden Kingdom, in an attempt to appeal to North American audiences, uses Americans to save a Chinese mythological story. The sinister intentions behind this are self-evident..."

—This utterly pointless film, exposed by moviegoers and audiences, was labeled as a paid advertisement. Does this mean all future bad films are off-limits for evaluation?

···
It's still late at night in China, but Tian Xiaole's blog post has already been reposted by major websites working overtime and pinned to the top of their homepages.

I'd love to see both sides attacking each other, and the reposted articles even subtly incite conflict.

This way, newspapers get sales, websites get traffic, and netizens have something to watch.

"These two brothers deserve it. They didn't promote their good movie, even though everyone knows Tian Xiaole is petty. They still issued a statement and made veiled criticisms. Now let's see how they get out of this mess."

"Tian Xiaole really went all out; there's an implication of cultural appropriation and cultural colonization in his words."

Han Sanping felt a headache coming on after reading Tian Xiaole's blog post and needed to have a cup of tea to calm down.

"What is Huayi up to now? Why provoke them for no reason?"

"President Han, Huayi released a statement yesterday, implying that Director Tian hired online trolls to smear their movie."

The secretary replied.

"That movie deserved to be criticized. Audiences aren't stupid. What does this have to do with Xiao Le?"

"They're probably trying to divert attention; they still want to make a sequel."

"Then let's ignore them and let the Wang brothers handle it," Han Sanping said impatiently, waving his hand.

Tian Xiaole's blog post caused a great stir last time, and this time it's even more incisive.

If Huayi gets blamed for this, it will be very difficult for them to clear their name.

"How dare he say such things? He's trying to kill someone."

Upon receiving the news immediately, Wang Zhonglei roared again, his face turning red with anger.

“Call Tian Zhuangzhuang and ask him what he means. How can he just make things up without any basis?”

Wang Zhongjun had a gloomy face, his usual calm and collected demeanor gone.

Cultural appropriation is such a ruthless tactic that it cannot be ignored.

"I'll go and call right now."

"Let's fight right here. I want to hear what he has to say."

Wang Zhongjun said in an unquestionable tone.

beep beep...

"No one is answering the phone."

Wang Zhonglei looked at his phone and said.

"Then call Tian Xiaole."

"Still no one is answering."

Wang Zhonglei said irritably.

“We can’t let this continue. You should issue another announcement to explain and shift the focus away from this.”

You’re like this…”

Wang Zhongjun gave the instructions.

······
The online community, which had initially shown signs of calming down, once again raised questions, insults, and boos about the film's content because of Tian Xiaole's blog post.

"If Chinese mythology needs foreigners to save it, then what about us, the descendants of Yan and Huang?"

Netizens have stopped focusing their attacks on the film and Huayi Brothers, but have now extended their reach to the director and creative team.

Minkoff has taken note of the film reviews, as they are related to whether a sequel can be made.

Seeing the flood of negative reviews and insults, the production team rushed back to Hollywood overnight.

As for plans for a sequel, they haven't even mentioned it.

I'm afraid that if I walk too slowly, I'll be torn apart by irrational netizens.

The box office for "The Forbidden Kingdom" has declined due to overwhelmingly negative reviews, and the trend of a rebound has stopped.

Netizens demanded an explanation from Huayi, and a new announcement was released.

"【Beyond Kung Fu】This movie tries to balance the tastes of Eastern and Western audiences. The plot is more geared towards overseas audiences, but the special effects and picture quality are very considerate of domestic movie fans."

The so-called cultural appropriation is utter slander. Huayi Brothers will dedicate itself to promoting Chinese films…

In other words, the viewing experience for domestic audiences is sacrificed, but the special effects and visuals make up for it.

What Chinese moviegoers find intellectually simplistic is quite the opposite for overseas audiences, who find it understandable and to their liking.

Finally, he reiterated his patriotism.

·······
"Don't provoke Tian Xiaole anymore. Let's just finish the movie smoothly first."

After giving his instructions, Wang Zhongjun asked about the matter he was most concerned about: "How's the box office doing now?"

"Daily box office revenue has stabilized at just over 1,000 yuan. Let alone 300 million, even 200 million is now out of reach, but overseas is unaffected."

Wang Zhonglei replied.

"That's good. Just blame the negative publicity on the actresses. Liu Yifei went back on her word, so let's put all the blame on her."

Wang Zhonglei had long wanted to harm the Liu family, mother and daughter.

I've been patiently waiting for the movie to be released, but now that it's not getting good reviews, someone has to take the blame.

···
"Painted Skin," which was released a week earlier, had the same daily box office as "The Forbidden Kingdom."

In terms of total box office, the former grossed 1.4 million yuan in two weeks after its release.

The latter grossed 7400 million yuan in its first week of release.

The Forbidden Kingdom flopped both critically and commercially in China.

The online mockery and insults did not stop after the announcement.

The story of an American boy saving the East: a cultural war.

What started as comments about the film and its creators gradually escalated into attacks on the actors by a group of accounts.

Jackie Chan and Jet Li were unaffected, but Liu Yifei, who had signed with William Morris, became the culprit for the film's failure.

"Liu Yifei's portrayal of Jin Yanzi was vacant, with a monotonous expression, like a person with a blank face. It made me feel very out of place while watching the movie."

"Liu Yifei has no acting skills at all; she's just a 'pretty face'."

"Li Binbin's portrayal of the White-Haired Witch, especially the action of tossing his white hair, is very impressive."

"..."

······
In a manor in the capital.

Liu Yifei scrolled through the online comments, her beautiful brows furrowed tightly, as if she were burdened with an unyielding sorrow.

I had no desire to pet the group of cats surrounding me.

"Was my acting really that bad? Everyone's questioning me!"

Liu Yifei began to doubt herself, wondering if it was really her fault that the film was so bad.

No one would have guessed that this was a group of online trolls plotting something.

(End of this chapter)