This director lacks vision.

Chapter 294 was suddenly moved up in time.
At 11:12 a.m. on December 8th, Zhou Yiwei walked into a small hot pot restaurant.

This little shop has no name; it's just located in a hutong (alleyway). It's known for being cheap, delicious, and affordable—a typical local eatery.

Upon entering the store, Zhou Yiwei saw Lu Yang sitting at the innermost table.

He walked over and said with a smile, "It's rare for you to treat me to a meal, so I'm going to eat as much as I want today!"

Lu Yang immediately retorted, "You're talking nonsense! I've treated you to countless meals before, and you've never skimped on a meal!"

Zhou Yi chuckled and didn't refute, but simply asked, "Did you invite me out this time to ask me to act in a play?"

Lu Yang's directorial debut, "The Blind Cinema," stars Zhou Yiwei as the male lead.

The two became acquainted through this, and their relationship has always been good.

Zhou Yiwei has gained some recognition for his role in the Dark Glory series.

He has no shortage of acting opportunities within the industry.

But Lu Yang made a phone call, and Zhou Yiwei came over immediately.

Lu Yang called the owner to serve the dishes, and then said, "Do you remember the story of the swordsman I told you before?"

"Of course I remember. The swordsman who was loyal to the Japanese emperor fell in love with a doctor's daughter, but in the end, he could not have her."

You talked about this story a lot when you were on the set of the movie theater for the blind.

You don't want me to play a Japanese swordsman, do you?

Lu Yang glanced at Zhou Yiwei and teased, "You know what, you really do look a bit like a Japanese swordsman, like a Japanese ronin."

Monday's date is: "..."

The white broth in the copper stove boiled, and fresh mutton was served.

While cooking the meat, Lu Yang said, "I changed the previous story to the Ming Dynasty. The swordsmen group became the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and the doctor's daughter became a singer in the Imperial Music Bureau."

I've already written the script; it's called "Brotherhood of Blades."

On Monday, someone asked, "Your previous film, 'RV Adventure,' hasn't been released yet, has it? You're already preparing for a new movie?"

Lu Yang sighed and said, "I didn't make a good film, 'RV Adventure,' and it received all bad reviews when it was screened at the Busan International Film Festival."

This movie was originally scheduled for release on Valentine's Day next year.

However, the film "Yanjing Love Story," produced by Fengxing Media, is also released in the same period.

The producers didn't dare to confront the issue head-on, saying they would wait and even planned to change the movie's name to "Ex-Boyfriend Crisis" to capitalize on the popularity of "Ex-Boyfriend Strategy".

It has to be said, Jiang Yifeng and Fengxing Media are incredibly powerful right now!

The King's Feast was abruptly canceled, and the general public was just watching the show, mocking Lu Chuan as nothing more than a nobody on the sidelines.

But for those inside the entertainment industry, this represents the complete success of Fengxing Media's director matrix plan.

Not only did Fengxing Media's stock price surge, but industry insiders also raised their box office expectations for other films produced by Fengxing Media.

Chen Sicheng's "Yanjing Love Story" will be released on February 14th next year, and Jiang Yifeng will also make a cameo appearance in the film.

Wu Jing's "Wolf Warrior" will be released in April.

These films, which previously received little attention, suddenly became the focus of much attention.

Upon hearing Lu Yang's explanation, Zhou Yiwei joked, "You also have the surname Lu, and Lu Chuan also has the surname Lu. You have a screenwriter father, and Lu Chuan also has a screenwriter father."

Lu Chuan's film was withdrawn from release, and so was yours.

Why don't you seize this opportunity to do some good marketing? Make sure everyone remembers your name.

Lu Yang's father is the director and professor of the Film and Television Department of the Central Academy of Drama.

His path is very similar to Lu Chuan's; both of them went to the directing department of Beijing Film Academy for graduate studies and then went on to direct films.

However, Lu Yang's connections are not as strong as Lu Chuan's, so his development is somewhat worse.

Of course, this is only in comparison to Lu Chuan.

Lu Yang's father has already done a great job, managing to promote his son to become a director.

"Get the hell out of here! You can't expect anything good to come out of a dog's mouth! If I went to stage an accident to extort Lu Chuan, wouldn't that be like deliberately stepping in dog poop?"

Because of Jiang Yifeng, Lu Chuan's reputation was really bad at this time.

Not only did netizens ridicule them, but people within the industry also looked down on them.

After all, Lu Chuan is truly incompetent.

"Have you ever thought about going to seek refuge with President Jiang?"
President Jiang greatly admires directors who are not formally trained in film or television, and Fengxing Media has consistently signed and supported new directors.

As far as I know, Fengxing Media will be signing a new batch of directors next year; you should definitely give it a try.

Hearing Zhou Yiwei's suggestion, Lu Yang was very tempted. After thinking for a moment, he shook his head and said, "After all, I graduated from Beijing Film Academy with a master's degree, so I can't be considered a non-professional."

On Monday, after eating a bite of mutton, he gave an example: "Isn't Guo Fan also a graduate student at Beijing Film Academy? You did your undergraduate studies at Beijing Institute of Technology, a top student from a 985 university. President Jiang will definitely like that."

"Really?"

"Of course it's true. I've worked with President Jiang before and I know his philosophy."

He likes directors with multiple talents, preferably those who have other skills besides directing.

Look at Da Peng, he used to be a host; Guo Fan majored in law; and Tian Yusheng is a screenwriter.

According to President Jiang, the problem lies with the teaching at Beijing Film Academy, which is inadequate in producing good directors.

Many directors today lack sufficient knowledge.

Lu Yang was persuaded and said, "Then I'll sign up and give it a try."

"Go quickly, I have high hopes for you. If you succeed, don't forget your brother."

The reason why Zhou Yi was so eager to have Lu Yang interview at Fengxing Media was also for her own benefit.

After all, if Lu Yang signs with Fengxing Media, he will definitely be able to film a lot of movies and TV series in the future, and Zhou Yiwei, as a friend, will surely be able to get some good roles.

Lu Yang sighed and said, "There are too many directors who want to join Fengxing Media now, it's not that easy."

Zhou Yiwei nodded and said, "That's true. I feel that Fengxing Media will dominate this year's Lunar New Year film season."

Four movies were released between November and February—that's amazing!

Lu Yang retorted, "Fengxing Media is very powerful, but it's impossible to say that it can dominate."

Life of Pi has grossed 3.2 million yuan so far, and 1942 is also approaching 2 million yuan.

Next up is Jackie Chan's Chinese Zodiac; I've seen the trailer, it's really exciting!

Influenced by "The Ex-Files" and "Bathhouse," Ann Lee's "Life of Pi" grossed 2 million less than its predecessor, while "Back to 1942" grossed more than 1 million less.

This is one of the reasons why Jiang Yifeng is still planning to sign more directors.

Fengxing Media upholds a professional attitude. The more directors it signs, the more films in the Chinese market will respect the audience. While it may not completely change the atmosphere in the industry, it will at least have the effect of good money driving out bad.

"The trailer for the Chinese Zodiac is really exciting," Zhou Yiwei said. "Brother Jackie Chan really went all out, gliding down the mountain road in his rollerblading outfit, which got my blood pumping."

I saw in the behind-the-scenes footage that this part was filmed with real people, that's amazing!

"Not only that, this is also Jackie Chan's last action movie! Just for that reason alone, CZ12's box office performance won't be bad."

The biggest selling point of the Chinese Zodiac series right now is that it's Jackie Chan's last action film.

Although Jackie Chan said that this was his last action movie with intense fighting, that's not true. He's over seventy and still fighting.

Regardless, the current marketing strategy of the film company is to say that Chinese Zodiac is Jackie Chan's last action movie.

This is similar to the "We all owe Zhou Xinchi a movie ticket" trope in The Mermaid of the Future. Although the formula is cliché and has overdrawn reputation and trust, it is very effective at present.

Moreover, the trailer for the twelve zodiac animals was really exciting and attracted a lot of viewers.

Zhou Yiwei said with a smile, "The release of 'Chinese Zodiac' and 'John Wick' was a week apart. Both sides had an understanding to stagger their release dates to avoid excessive competition."

According to previous news reports, the movie "Chinese Zodiac" will be released on December 22nd, and "The Chase" will be released on December 29th.

As soon as Monday finished speaking, I heard my phone vibrate twice.

Upon picking it up, I saw that it was a Weibo post from Jiang Yifeng. As an actor who was made famous by Jiang Yifeng, Zhou Yiwei was eager to improve and had set up a special follow for Jiang Yifeng's Weibo account, frequently liking and reposting his posts.

Opening Weibo, I saw that Jiang Yifeng had updated his status.

"John Wick will be released in North America on December 25th, directly competing in the most intense Christmas season in North America."

Our film was well-received by the distributors, and it opened in 3358 theaters, second only to The Hobbit, ranking second in its release period.

I am very satisfied with the North American release arrangements.

But I still have a selfish wish: I hope that John Wick will be released in China first.

Therefore, I made a last-minute decision to move the release date of John Wick to December 22, so that domestic audiences can see it first.

Here's the latest trailer; I hope you'll enjoy the movie.

Upon seeing this Weibo post, Zhou Yiwei instinctively exclaimed "Holy crap!" to express his shock.

The sudden upgrade to "Rapid Pursuit" was too unexpected, and Jiang Yifeng's excuse was also quite casual.

The 25th in North America is the 26th in China.

As originally planned, John Wick was released in North America three days earlier than in China, which is not a big deal.

After all, we have to accommodate the Christmas season.

But Jiang Yifeng was promoted because of this.

This inevitably raises suspicions that Jiang Yifeng intends to confront Cheng Long head-on.

Both John Wick and Chinese Zodiac are action movies, released in the same period, of the same genre, and both are self-directed and self-acted.

This match can be described as a clash of titans.

Seeing Zhou Yiwei's surprised expression, Lu Yang became curious as well. He sat down next to Zhou Yiwei and saw Jiang Yifeng's Weibo.

He analyzed, "The Twelve Zodiacs is a film under Huayi Brothers' H Project, and Huayi Brothers is the largest producer of this film."

Fengxing Media is still targeting Huayi, deliberately suppressing this competitor.

But this is really going to be interesting, Jiang Yifeng and Cheng Long are going head-to-head!

Zhou Yiwei nodded and said, "In terms of action movies, Jackie Chan is probably still the best. President Jiang may have been a little careless this time."

Zhou Yiwei's thoughts represent the views of many casual viewers.

Jiang Yifeng's previous blockbuster films were all comedies.

This is his first time making an action movie, and he's going head-to-head with Jackie Chan, which is a bit like showing off his limited skills in front of an expert.

Lu Yang didn't say anything, but simply clicked on the trailer attached to Jiang Yifeng's Weibo post.

The screen lights up, and Jiang Ning, played by Jiang Yifeng, is dressed in a suit and carrying a suitcase as he walks into an ancient and magnificent church.

Inside the church sat a large group of men dressed in black, all tall and imposing, who looked like men you wouldn't want to mess with.

However, their momentum was still overshadowed by Jiang Ning.

Jiang Yifeng was already tall and handsome with an extraordinary aura, and the addition of his signature sunglasses made him even more pretentious.

Those few steps he took were so stylish and cool that they completely stunned the audience.

No one understood what he was there for, so they dared not make any rash moves.

Jiang Ning walked to the podium, opened the box, and found a stereo system inside.

Finally, one of the men in black stood up and asked, "Who are you? What are you doing with the speaker?"

Jiang Ning said calmly, "No one can defeat me with my background music playing."

After saying that, he pulled out a pistol from behind the speaker and started shooting.

The background music, The Spectre, begins to play.

"Hello, hello, Can you hear me as I scream your name?
Hello, hello, can you hear me calling your name?
Hello, hello, Do you touch me before I fade away?
Hello, hello, can you reach me before I disappear?

The gunshots, like drumbeats, blended with the dynamic electronic music, along with the screams and cries of the crowd, creating a beautiful symphony.

Lu Yangren's eyes lit up; he felt this action scene was very interesting and full of creativity.

But the surprises didn't end there.

When the battle reached its most intense point, the song entered its chorus.

The sound of a suona horn rang out.

The song "The Spectre" performed with the suona (a traditional Chinese wind instrument) has a completely different feel.

The melody soars to its zenith, penetrating your eardrums and reaching straight to your soul!
It will make your blood boil.

Accompanied by this rousing, death-defying melody, blood flowed freely and corpses littered the church.

Red blood, black clothes, a magnificent church—the combination of colors assaults the senses.

It was as if a hellish scene had appeared inside the sacred church, or as if the church had fallen and blood was washing away the sins.

The music and rhythm! The composition and visuals! The action choreography!
When Lu Yang saw it, he felt a chill run down his spine!
Action movies can be filmed like this?

The violence was filmed as art, constantly stimulating the audience's senses.

There is no room for negotiation, just give it to me!

Three minutes later, the singing stopped, and the church was littered with corpses.

Only one leader remained.

He struggled to ask, "Our Brotherhood hasn't offended you, why are you killing us?"

Jiang Yifeng wiped the custom-made pistol, on which were inscribed the eight characters: "May Buddha have mercy and send you to your death."

He said calmly, "You killed my dog."

The man in black stared wide-eyed, his expression one of disbelief.

The screen went black, and the words "John Wick: Chapter 12 – Premiere December 22" appeared before the trailer ended.

Lu Yang took a deep breath, touched the goosebumps on his arm, and said, "If the trailer for the Twelve Zodiacs is a classic dish, then The Chase is a new-style fusion Sichuan dish!"
Not only are there many surprises and creative ideas, but it is also spicy and fragrant enough to strongly stimulate our taste buds, truly bringing the aesthetics of violence to the extreme.

The last time I felt this way was when I watched Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill.

Lu Yang himself loves action movies and is also a big fan of martial arts films, and has put a lot of effort into studying them.

Therefore, he was able to see the value of Jiang Yifeng's trailer.

The camera composition, the rhythm of the music, and the corresponding action design are all near perfect.

I didn't feel that way on Monday.

He said, "How should I put it about this trailer? The fight scenes were fantastic, I really enjoyed watching them, but..."

Lu Yang asked, "But what?"

"But the plot is so cringeworthy. The protagonist carries a speaker to kill people and says that no one can defeat me with my background music playing."

The reason he killed so many people was simply because his dog was killed.

This is absolutely outrageous!
Furthermore, in the final scene, the gun in the protagonist's hand is engraved with the words "May Buddha have mercy and send you to the West," which also exudes a chuunibyou (delusional) vibe and feels very childish.

The fight scenes in this trailer deserve full marks, but the plot feels like child's play and lacks coherence.

Lu Yang nodded and said, "What you said makes sense, but President Jiang has a very accurate market sense. His design must have been intentional."

We should just humbly learn from them.

On Monday, he jokingly remarked, "You haven't even joined Fengxing Media yet, and you're already sucking up to President Jiang. You have a bright future ahead of you, young man!"

"Get the hell out of here! Even hot pot can't shut your stinking mouth! I was going to introduce you to a girlfriend, but now that's all gone!"

"No, Director Lu, I trust your judgment. Who is it?"

"Zhu Dan, the female lead in my last movie, you'll be in Brotherhood of Blades. I'll try to match you up."

(End of this chapter)