This director lacks vision.

Chapter 417 It still has to be Jiang Yifeng

At 11:8 AM on August 8th, at Shenzhen CR MixC.

Hu Lianxin got out of a car.

Inside the car, her mother instructed, "Just play around here, and don't wander off. I'll come pick you up before 8 p.m.

Be careful with your wallet and phone, don't let anyone steal them! Memorize my phone number again…

"Okay, okay, stop nagging!"

Hu Lianxin, who is about to enter the third year of junior high school, longs for independent and free space and is becoming increasingly impatient with her parents' discipline.

Seeing her daughter's disgusted look, the mother didn't say anything and drove away.

Passersby nearby looked over.

This girl was really very beautiful. Although she looked a bit naive without makeup, her pretty face was so captivating that you couldn't help but want to look at her a few more times.

Hu Lianxin has a striking face with large features: big eyes, a high and straight nose, a large mouth, a smooth facial contour, and plenty of blank space on her face.

These kinds of girls don't need much makeup; they're very beautiful even without it.

They get a lot of attention when they walk down the street.

Hu Lianxin was already used to the stares from passersby.

She took out her phone and made a call. She had only dialed three times when someone called her from the bus stop across the street.

"Little Tiger! We're here! Wait a minute!"

Hu Lianxin has thick eyebrows, big eyes, and a fierce appearance. Since her surname is Hu, her classmates gave her the nickname "Little Tiger".

Today she went out to play with two female classmates, Xiao Chen and Xiao Li.

The three of them reunited.

Xiao Chen joked, "I've asked you out so many times, and I've finally managed to get you to come out!"

You've been so busy this summer.

Hu Lianxin explained, "There's no other way. I have to take exams for piano, dance, and painting."

On top of that, I have to attend tutoring classes, so how can I have time to go out and have fun?

Hu Lianxin's parents are also the type of parents who push their children too hard, and they have filled Hu Lianxin's summer vacation with activities.

She continued, "Oh, let's not talk about such depressing things. Let's go, let's go into the mall first."

By the way, what are your plans for today?

Xiao Li said, "A new Korean restaurant has opened here, let's go eat first!"

How about we catch another movie this afternoon, then go ice skating at Ice & Space Park?

Hu Lianxin doesn't like Korean food, but that didn't spoil the mood.

As the three entered the mall, they saw a crowd gathered in the atrium.

Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a male celebrity named Chen Weiting holding an event there.

Hu Lianxin complained, "What kind of male celebrity is this? He's not good-looking, and he's not popular at all. He only has a few scattered fans. I feel embarrassed."

Chen Weiting gained popularity in mainland China starting this year with his roles in "The Four" and "Swords of Legends".

Both of these are dramas produced by H&R Century Pictures.

Now that Huanrui is in Jiang Yifeng's hands, of course they won't promote Chen Weiting.

So he's somewhat famous on Hong Kong Island now, but once he crosses the Lo Wu border, he disappears from the public eye.

I didn't get much support when I came here for a gig today; it was a bit awkward.

This is the impact of Fengxing Media.

The three women glanced around and then went into a Korean restaurant.

This newly opened restaurant specializes in creative Korean cuisine, catering to girls' photo-taking needs. The fig shaved ice and honey milk foam rice wine are especially popular with young women.

After ordering, Hu Lianxin asked, "What movie are we going to watch later?"

Xiao Li immediately said, "I want to watch Pacific Rim again! This movie is so good, and Jiang Yifeng is so handsome!"

Hearing this, Hu Lianxin was very surprised. She asked, "Aren't you a fan of Wu Qian? How come you became a fan of Jiang Yifeng after just one summer vacation?"

Xiao Li laughed and said, "Wu Qian is all in the past. After watching Pacific Rim, I think Jiang Yifeng is especially handsome."

So I looked up his information.

Once I started investigating, I got completely hooked!
Jiang Yifeng is so versatile, he's practically my superman!
Compared to him, Wu Qian is really no match!

When talking about her new idol, Xiao Li was particularly excited. She even opened QQ and said non-stop, "Look, I joined Jiang Yifeng's fan group. There are so many photos of Jiang Yifeng in there. He's so handsome!"

This is my favorite picture, a still from the drama "Youth With You"!

Have you watched "Youth With You"? After watching it, you'll know what real handsome men are! They completely outshine all the handsome men in Korean dramas.

Hu Lianxin leaned over and took a look, and saw that Xiao Li had joined a QQ group called "Fenglang Mengnv Group". The chat inside was very lively, and the language used was extremely exaggerated and cheesy.

Jiang Yifeng's fans are divided into several groups, one of which is a group of female fans who call themselves "Feng Lang".

This is both an acknowledgment of Jiang Yifeng's wild side and an indication that they want to be wild with their idol.

Just as Hu Lianxin was about to speak, Xiao Chen chimed in, "Are you still watching Pacific Rim? You've already watched it four times!"

"What's wrong with watching it four times! Pacific Rim's global box office is about to reach $17 billion! Jiang Yifeng, let's go!"

"Sigh, I just can't do anything with you. Fine, then let's watch Pacific Rim again."

Xiao Chen seemed to be refuting Xiao Li, but in reality, she also wanted to see Pacific Rim.

The two female classmates, taking turns speaking, decided to book the movie.

But Hu Lianxin didn't want to watch it!

She had finally managed to get out of the city and wanted to see something new; she had already seen Pacific Rim with her parents before.

So she said, "The Great Wall is showing in theaters right now, isn't it very popular? How about we try something different?"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Li shook his head immediately: "Great Wall is rubbish. Haven't you been online? Everyone is cursing Zhang Yimou right now, and many people are demanding refunds."

Hu Lianxin said, "I didn't notice. Didn't they say that The Great Wall's opening day box office was 1.7 million yuan, surpassing Pacific Rim's single-day box office?"

Xiao Li retorted, "That includes the 6000 million yuan box office from the preview screenings, plus the huge promotional campaign for the film. Many people didn't know the details, so they blindly bought tickets to see it."

The Great Wall is not doing well now. Yesterday's box office was only 2800 million yuan, and the average occupancy rate was less than 30%.

With the release of The Witch of Lunar Kingdom today, cinemas will definitely reduce the number of screenings of The Great Wall.

With both critical reception and limited screenings collapsing, box office predictions for "The Great Wall" have fallen below 10 billion yuan.

For low-quality films, the higher the initial box office, the greater the negative public opinion. Just like with "The Promise" back then, "The Great Wall" experienced a rapid collapse in box office performance.

This movie already lost $8000 million in its previous life, and Matt Damon was ridiculed by the host at the Oscars ceremony. Now it's estimated that it will lose even more money.

And they'll get even more flak.

With the magnificent Pacific Rim preceding it, the Great Wall's rubbish seems even more awful.

Because he's a fan of celebrities, Xiao Li pays close attention to movie box office data.

Seeing that Hu Lianxin didn't want to watch Pacific Rim, Xiao Chen stepped in to smooth things over, saying, "How about we go see The Witch? That movie was also directed by Jiang Yifeng."

Jiang Yifeng had warned on Weibo that the movie "The Witch" was quite gory and advised children not to watch it.

Xiao Li smiled and said, "What's there to be afraid of in the blood? I can watch the witch, what about you, Xiao Hu?"

Hu Lianxin said with a smile, "Of course I have no problem with that, it's up to the witch."

Xiao Li opened the Maoyan app and said enthusiastically, "Then I'll buy the tickets first. I have a Maoyan membership and I've linked my dad's credit card. You can just transfer the money to me later."

Watching Xiao Li buy tickets, Hu Lianxin exclaimed in surprise, "9.9 yuan a ticket! Is it that cheap?"

Xiao Li shook his head and said, "The Golden Harvest Cinema in MixC doesn't have the 9.9 yuan promotion; it's 19.9 yuan a ticket."

“That’s still very cheap!” Hu Lianxin said. “I remember watching Transformers before, it was about 55 yuan a ticket.”

The movie "The Witch" will still be doing a ticket subsidy event with Maoyan. This time, it will no longer focus on IMAX, but will instead emphasize a cheap and affordable option.

Of course, you have to be picky about movie tickets that cost fifty or sixty yuan, but what's there to say about movie tickets that cost 9.9 yuan?

As long as it's not too bad, it deserves praise.

After finishing their meal, the three women went to the movie theater.

The movie theater was crowded. Hu Lianxin observed that most people were watching Pacific Rim or The Witch, while some were talking about the band Machine Sewing or The Continent.

Few people visit the Great Wall anymore, and even when they do, it's mostly just complaints.

They waited a while before their tickets were checked and they were allowed to enter.

At 1:20 PM, the show "The Witch" started on time.

The movie begins in a very ordinary middle school.

The teacher said from the podium, "The school has built an underground shelter as required. Today we will conduct an emergency evacuation drill. Although the snipes are currently only attacking cities along the Pacific coast, we cannot let our guard down..."

Despite what the teacher said, everyone was relaxed during the emergency drill. Everyone believed that it was impossible for the Witch to attack the Atlantic city—in order to pass censorship, the world of the witch was fictional.

Tian Qianwei, who plays the female lead Tian Xiaowei, also acts alongside her classmates.

Everyone was chatting and laughing, and campus life was very warm and cozy.

During the rehearsal, the names of the main creators began to appear on the big screen.

About a minute later, the clear blue sky suddenly darkened.

Everyone looked up at the sky in horror.

A snail "floated" over.

Its size was so enormous that it blocked out the sky, casting shadow over the entire campus and even a part of the city.

"Ahhhh!!!"

With a terrified scream, the snail's wings flapped down.

The screams abruptly stopped, and the whole world was plunged into darkness. A line of red words appeared on the screen—"The Witch," a film directed by Jiang Yifeng.

Sad music played, the screen lit up again, and the entire campus was destroyed, reduced to ruins.

Blood and unidentified tissues were mixed in with the mud and bricks.

What was just a warm and cheerful campus has turned into a living hell in the blink of an eye.

The contrast was so stark that it made many viewers feel uncomfortable.

But Hu Lianxin felt very excited.

She was usually very strict with her parents, so seeing these stimulating things gave her a sense of liberation and pleasure.

Actually, the movie "The Witch" is rated R in the United States, and viewers under the age of 17 need to be accompanied by a parent or adult to watch it.

However, since there is no rating system in China, Jiang Yifeng could only offer reminders on Weibo.

The following plot is about the birth of the witch.

From struggling to survive in the chaos of the streets to joining a church for protection, Tian Xiaowei was eventually chosen as a goddess to be sacrificed to the fish god, which was actually a form of human experimentation.

The Winfish was wounded by a nuclear bomb in the city, and many of its flesh and blood fragments were collected by the church.

They used these flesh and blood tissues to conduct human experiments in order to develop various biological agents or new abilities to demonstrate miracles.

Li Yitong plays Tian Xiaotong, the older sister who wants to conduct human experiments on her younger sister to save her life, but neither of the sisters can escape and both become test subjects.

After her sister's sacrifice, Tian Xiaowei's belief in revenge and survival burned brightly, and she eventually survived the experiments and became a "goddess".

She was shown to believers as a miracle.

When the Fish God Cult summoned all its high-ranking members and most loyal followers, intending to perform a great miracle.

The goddess transformed into a witch and went on a killing spree.

The last 40 minutes of the movie are all fighting and hacking.

The witch fought her way through various scenarios and in all sorts of incredible ways, ultimately single-handedly destroying the entire Fish God Cult and killing the villain, Dr. Qin.

In terms of plot, the first half of The Witch shows the chaos of the abandoned city and the process of the birth of the Fish God Cult. It focuses on the methods of religious brainwashing, the suppression and distortion of human nature, and gives the audience a great sense of oppression.
From the very beginning, the audience's emotions are constantly suppressed, only to be unleashed in the revenge and battle of the second half.

When the witch went on a killing spree, Hu Lianxin couldn't help but shout "Good!"
Her "hello" wasn't unexpected, because she wasn't the only one in the movie theater to shout it out.

The witch fought for forty minutes, and Hu Lianxin was excited for forty minutes.

She felt her cerebral cortex being stimulated wildly. The endless fighting scenes with the witches and the various bloody and violent scenes made her feel extremely excited!
When the whole movie ends.

Hu Lianxin came to her senses and realized that she was covered in sweat.

Even in a well-air-conditioned movie theater, Hu Lianxin was sweating while watching The Witch, which shows how thoroughly she enjoyed it!
She looked at Xiao Li and said, "It still has to be Jiang Yifeng! The movie 'The Witch' is so good!"

Unexpectedly, Xiao Li shook his head and said, "It's alright. This movie is indeed not bad, but it can't compare to Pacific Rim, nor can it compare to Jiang Yifeng's other works."

This is due to differences in audiences.

Although Xiao Li admires Jiang Yifeng, she is a girl and prefers teen idol dramas.

She wasn't a big fan of violent movies like those featuring witches and fighting.

On the contrary, Hu Lianxin, because her daily life was too dull and she wanted to vent the pressure of her parents pushing their children to excel, really liked this kind of movie.

(End of this chapter)