Huayu: A Commercial Director

Chapter 160: Just Not Going, Three Kingdoms?
I originally wanted to write a song, but after thinking about it, I decided against it.

He couldn't really anger someone to death. Back then, Zhuge Liang could kill someone with a single word like "shameless," and he could do the same. But times have changed, and he didn't want to be embroiled in a murder case.

The matter was quickly resolved with official intervention. Chen Shou was banned from posting for half a month, but many people still checked in on his Weibo account.

"Dead water, it really describes a stagnant pool of water."

"The gold content of stagnant water is constantly increasing."

"What's going on? You can't even tell the truth anymore? How could a father not know what kind of garbage his own son is making?"

"And these two, father and son, are so Japanese in style."

"The trash who tries to whitewash the lives of ordinary people can still make movies. No wonder he has a good father. He's an academic tyrant, isn't he?"

"The son inherits the father's profession; whatever the son is, the father is the same. The two are of the same character."

Nowadays, netizens don't care what you were like in the past or how glorious you were; they'll still curse you.

Many people also tagged Deng Chao, who directed a movie two years ago, and after its release, this famous screenwriter pointed his finger at him and cursed him.

It wasn't about the work itself, but rather a direct personal attack. That made it clear to everyone that the old man was no good, just a lazy old codger who relied on his age.

If a movie is bad, you criticize it, point out its problems, and say it was poorly made—that's perfectly reasonable.

You didn't ask any questions, but instead launched a personal attack. Anyone who didn't know better would think you were some kind of bastard surnamed Liu.

This kind of thing is most common in so-called associations.

Chen Shouzhe had never joined an association, but having grown up around his godfather, he knew very well that these so-called associations and their presidents rarely had real control over them; it was mostly a group of people working within the system who were in charge.

After getting to know more, Chen Shouzhe realized that the so-called president was basically a mascot. Moreover, those who had a big name and good character were actually the ones who managed the association. Those who held power in the shadows were all bad people.

Which celebrity is in meetings every day? Only those nobody has time for that.

A few years ago, some people offered him the opportunity to join certain associations, such as those for directors and screenwriters. Now, none of them do, because they all know that Chen Shou is like Sun Wukong, and he doesn't give those people any face at all.

Everyone sits together, drinks tea, and chats. Today you praise me, tomorrow I praise you. We hold a meeting to discuss things, brag a bit, and talk about the future development of the industry. Isn't that great?

If you come in and start cursing us every day, who can stand it?

However, the association really shouldn't be banned. After all, it's not easy to gather all this garbage together. When you want to bury it, you can just dig a hole and push it all in.

The 15-day ban was on Weibo, but the promotion for "Let the Bullets Fly" continued. After Chen Shouzhe went to the Central Academy of Drama, he also gave other interviews.

When I went to Shanghai, I visited the Shanghai Theatre Academy.

He didn't go to the Beijing Film Academy.

The Beijing Film Academy is keeping quiet. What did they do? Are they going to have another teacher jump out and criticize them?

This is pointless. Let's just pretend it never happened and let it pass.

Unfortunately, netizens still discovered that although Chen Shouzhe is the director and a behind-the-scenes staff member, he is actually the internet mouthpiece for most people.

He insults them to make them feel good, so many people are paying attention to his every move.

"Director Jiang Wen led a group to all three major art schools, while Director Chen Shouzhe did not go to his alma mater, Beijing Film Academy, but went to the Central Academy of Drama and Shanghai Theatre Academy."

"Just a few days ago they were cursing people for being arrogant and diva-like, who would go there now?"

"Are we going to fight again?"

No response.

"Director Jiang Wen said in an interview that Director Chen Shouzhe had other work and couldn't come."

"Hilarious. He doesn't want to go to Beijing Film Academy. How can he slander himself like that?"

"Anyway, they look down on directors of commercial films."

"If Chen Shouzhe is so capable, why don't you win an award?"

There's a lot of discussion online, with everyone busy promoting the film. The premiere is scheduled for the 19th, and the public release will be on Thursday the 24th, which happens to be Christmas Eve.

After promoting the film in several cities, we finally stopped and returned to the capital to prepare for the premiere.

China Film Group has a 10% stake in this project and is also responsible for domestic distribution. Of course, there is more than one distributor, including Wanda Pictures, so the two companies are co-distributing the project.

Although Wanda was not involved this time, Chen Shouzhe still considered their past relationship and entrusted a portion of the distribution to Wanda.

As for Ye Ning leaving next year, when Chen Shou saw him at the premiere, he found that he was in good spirits, and it seemed that he was preparing to make a name for himself at Huayi.

This is Jiang Wen's show, so Chen Shouzhe left it to Jiang Wen to handle. Let's watch the movie first.

"Let the Bullets Fly" has started showing. This movie, which took two years to be released, went through too many twists and turns in the process.

The animated films for Little Dream are all finished, and this one was also produced ahead of schedule, so it's finally being released ahead of schedule.

Imagine watching a horse pulling a train along the tracks, eating hotpot and singing songs, only to be intercepted by bandits halfway through. After watching the movie once, many people applauded, but some didn't understand it. Upon closer examination, however, they found it very interesting, containing many metaphors.

"What an ingenious design!" Many screenwriters applauded.

There were quite a few directors present, and they understood the film's metaphors even better. Many looked at Chen Shouzhe, no wonder he didn't want to give the film to Jiang Wen. If it were them, they would also want to keep it for themselves to direct.

However, it is indeed Jiang Wen's style. The script suits him very well, and since he is also the lead actor, the combination is wonderful.

You can see that some parts are not very harmonious, which is obviously due to reshoots.

When the reporters began their Q&A session, Jiang Wen selectively answered questions she could.

"May I ask Director Chen a question?" A reporter suddenly looked at Chen Shouzhe, who was sitting in the audience.

"He's still banned from speaking," Jiang Wen teased, picking up the microphone.

As expected, this remark elicited laughter from the audience, since Chen Shouzhe was indeed still under suspension and his Weibo account was still banned.

The problem was solved with a single sentence, avoiding further questions from the reporter through a joke.

Knowing that Chen Shouzhe would not accept questions, the other reporters had no choice but to give up. After all, Chen Shouzhe was too talkative and they could get a lot of sensational news from him. They loved to report on news about him cursing.

Chen Shouzhe's speech at the Central Academy of Drama more than ten days ago has provided sustenance for countless self-media outlets, educating them about who Chen Shouzhe was criticizing, why he criticized them, script revisions, and how to criticize directors, etc.

It was thanks to Chen Shou's leadership that they had so much material, and all sorts of self-media articles, public accounts, short videos, etc., became very popular.

It was only through their explanations that I learned what the entertainment industry is really like: those directors are completely biased, actors act like divas, and they demand exorbitant salaries, etc.

Now that Chen Shou is unable to speak, their lives are very boring.

After the premiere, the film won't be released for several days. Celebrities I know and have good relationships with are recommending the movie online.

On the 24th, three movies were announced for release, including Huayi Brothers' old bastard.

Despite the movie's name, it features a popular young male star. On Christmas Eve, a day filled with the sounds of gunfire, many couples are out and about. What if some of the young male star's female fans are there?

My girlfriend wanted to go see it, but I still disagreed. Otherwise, how would we go to the hotel tonight?

Therefore, in terms of publicity, the focus is not on the lead actor Feng Xiaogang at all, but on the two young actors, especially the electric eel.

It has to be said that Huayi Brothers' marketing in this area is really impressive. The first day's results surprised many people, with a box office of 49 million yuan. Many people predict that the final box office will break 1 billion yuan.

Huayi was thrilled. They were finally seeing some good results, and they could boast about it and try to salvage the stock market, which was caught between two major bears.

And let the bullets fly even more intensely, 6300 million.

Major cinema chains have given it a rating of over 1.2 billion.

The remaining film is directed by Deng Chao, and it grossed 1.5 million on its opening day.

This has drawn widespread criticism and condemnation.

Some people said the box office could break 2 billion, but the next day, amidst a barrage of criticism, Deng Chao, who had built up popularity through variety shows, was attacked mercilessly, and the movie was labeled a bad film.

On the contrary, the bullets continued to rise in power, crushing the old bastard and Deng Chao's villains.

On Christmas Day, with all three films having around 30% of the screenings, The Villain's box office dropped to over 70 million, The Old Scoundrel broke 50 million, and Let the Bullets Fly over 80 million.

Everything changed overnight. The villain's reputation is getting worse and worse. Because of the pre-sale, it broke 100 million on the first day, but now its reputation has collapsed. It was at its peak when it debuted, and many people have already given up on it.

The old bastard is stable, but the bullets have increased the most, by more than 20 million, and the rating is still rising.

"Why do I feel after watching the movie that it was written by Chen Shouzhe just to insult people?"

"The story isn't far-fetched. In ancient times, there were people who killed innocent people to claim credit, and there were also people who killed officials to become officials themselves. Tang Sanzang's father in Journey to the West was one such example; he was a bandit who impersonated a top scholar to become an official."

"Good heavens, they dare to say that? The gentry's money will be returned in full, and the common people's money will be split 50/50. They've been collecting taxes for years. Isn't this just real estate? They just buy land."

Shh, watch out when they check the water meter.

"Liu Zi died so unjustly."

"Old Guo is right. The person who wronged you knows better than you how wronged you are."

"No, I haven't even grasped many of the bloggers' interpretations yet. I need to go through them again; there are just too many details."

"We were eating hotpot and singing songs when we were suddenly ambushed by bandits!!"

Online reviews of "Let the Bullets Fly" are getting better and better, and with the development of social media, many people who make a living from this field have started to comment on the three films.

Previously, professional film critics expressed their opinions through blogs, media, and other channels. Now it's much simpler. They can record videos to rant, post on public accounts, or post on Weibo. And everyone can post and write their own film reviews.

Two days later, word-of-mouth for the films began to spread, and many people who had seen them had already given their general opinions on the three films.

Therefore, there is no need for highly professional film critics. As the audience's appreciation level has improved, they are more discerning about whether a movie is good or not.

(End of this chapter)