Huayu Entertainment: The Birth of a Succubus Top Star

The film "Better Days" made Liu Haochun and Zhou Ye famous, turning them into popular new generation actresses.

In particular, their acting skills have been widely recognized by the public and industry professionals.

Several actresses born in the 1980s were once again "whipped".

After more than a decade in the industry, is your acting still not as good as a post-95s newcomer?

Of course, the older sister was already used to being constantly compared to others.

Why is it that with actresses born in the 90s, 95s, and even 00s appearing on stage, a group of actresses born in the 85s are still firmly occupying their niche?

"Better Days" has once again proven Gu Zhiyan's box office appeal, making his "undefeated status" even more solid.

Judging from the current box office momentum, "Better Days" is very likely to be another film that grosses over 3 billion yuan.

To date, only nine domestically produced films have grossed over 9 billion yuan at the box office.

Goodness, I was shocked when I saw it.

Gu Zhiyan has appeared in films such as Wolf Warrior 2, The Wandering Earth, Operation Red Sea, and How Long Will I Love U.

Gu Zhiyan has invested in "Ne Zha".

More than half of them are related to Gu Zhiyan.

Moreover, both "Wolf Warrior 2" and "The Wandering Earth" are films that grossed over six billion yuan.

I'm numb, completely numb, especially those celebrities who are around the same age.

As long as Gu Zhiyan is around, they can only ever be second best!

Mid-generation: Who isn't a perennial runner-up?

This is a devastating blow to the online community; as the saying goes, top influencers come and go, but Gu Zhiyan remains a constant.

Yes, there are signs that the entertainment industry is now producing a large number of top-tier celebrities.

One generation after another, top celebrities will only become less and less valuable.

……

"Brother Jing, I've been selected for this program."

That day, Gu Zhiyan received a phone call from Wu Jing.

The main reason he made the call was because of an important project launched by the Movie Channel during this year's Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival: the "Starry Sea" Young Actor Program.

The program aims to bring together the strongest forces in Chinese cinema to recommend and select rising stars, with 32 young actors ultimately selected.

Behind each selected young actor is a well-known film professional in the industry who serves as a recommender. This "senior mentoring junior" model demonstrates the inheritance of film art.

Many recommenders and recommendees have collaborated before or are artists under each other's management. For example, Zhou Dongyu was recommended by Zhang Yimou, who discovered her, and Liu Haoran was recommended by Chen Sicheng, with whom he has collaborated many times.

Wu Jing called Gu Zhiyan to ask if he needed a recommendation.

To be honest, Gu Zhiyan is qualified enough to be the recommender for the "Starry Sea" Young Actor Program.

His selection as a "rising star" really feels like bullying a "youngster".

However, he had to give face to the Sixth Princess, because she directly approached him and invited him to participate in the plan.

Gu Zhiyan doesn't need to worry about who recommends her; Princess Liu provides a one-stop service.

It's easy to understand why the Sixth Princess sought out Gu Zhiyan.

As the first cohort of young actors, Princess Liu naturally wanted a "successful start".

Those selected for this program are all young people with connections and high aspirations, so the Sixth Princess naturally doesn't want to cause any trouble.

The Sixth Princess was naturally not afraid of these things, but she was worried that some young people would be ignorant and arrogant. It was always better to take precautions beforehand than to clean up the mess after someone actually did something bad.

That would also have a negative impact on the "Starry Sea" project.

To put it another way, Gu Zhiyan is here to keep things in check. With such a powerful figure around, let's see who dares to cause trouble!

There are people who can command respect, but their age is not suitable.

Among all the celebrities in the Chinese entertainment industry, only Gu Zhiyan is the right age and can command respect.

Furthermore, we can leverage Gu Zhiyan's influence to promote this project.

Sure enough, although the plan was still in the planning stage, there were many well-informed people in the entertainment industry.

It was no secret that Gu Zhiyan was going to participate in this project.

As a result, all parties have begun to use their own methods to try and get involved.

"You've already been selected, so I suppose that's to be expected," Wu Jing clicked her tongue. "I don't really have anyone to recommend, so let's leave the opportunity to someone else."

Gu Zhiyan: "Wait, I haven't finished speaking yet. Can you recommend someone for me?"

Who is it?

"Sister Meng."

Although Meng Jie from "The Untamed" was heavily criticized, it also greatly increased her popularity.

With Sister Meng by my side and Wu Jing conveniently showing up, I certainly couldn't miss this opportunity.

The "Starry Sea" plan was of little use to Gu Zhiyan; he was simply doing it out of respect for the Sixth Princess. However, it was quite beneficial to Sister Meng.

As for Zhou Ye, Gu Zhiyan doesn't need to worry about him; Li Bingbing has already taken care of it for her.

Besides Zhou Ye, Gu Zhiyan knew that Chen Duling and Da Xizi were also among the girls who had been selected for the program.

Chen Duling was recommended by Su Youpeng, the two of whom collaborated on the film "The Left Ear".

Da Xizi's recommender is Ding Sheng, the director of the movie "SWAT Team" that she is currently filming.

This director is no unknown either; his works include "The Tough Guy," "Little Big Soldier," "Saving Mr. Wu," and "Railroad Tigers."

"Sister Meng, no problem."

Sister Meng, Wu Jingshu, Brother Yan has already spoken, so we must handle it perfectly.

"Thank you very much. By the way, the news that I participated in this project shouldn't be a secret. Many people know about it. How come you didn't know?" Gu Zhiyan asked curiously.

"Ugh, don't even mention it. I've been so overwhelmed lately, I don't even want to worry about anything else," Wu Jing sighed.

Gu Zhiyan: "What's wrong?"

Wu Jing: "What else could it be? It's all because of that movie 'The Climbers,' which has made me lose all my motivation."

The film "The Climbers" boasts a star-studded cast including Wu Jing, Zhang Ziyi, Zhang Yi, Hu Ge, and Jing Boran, and is considered a top contender for the National Day holiday box office.

However, its final box office of 11.04 billion yuan was only about one-third to one-half of the expected value, which greatly disappointed many people.

The film is rumored to have an investment of up to 5 million yuan. According to industry rules, it usually needs 15 billion yuan in box office revenue to break even.

The final result of 11 billion means that the producers may face losses or barely break even, and the commercial returns are far below expectations.

The box office performance was disappointing, and the critical reception was also terrible.

The film is slow-paced, with limited scenes of climbing to the summit, excessive emotional scenes, and a weak climax.

The plot is awkward and forced, lacking foreshadowing and logic, and the forced romance during a critical moment disrupts the main storyline of family and country.

Despite its title, "The Climbers," the film features three love stories (Wu Jing and Zhang Ziyi, Jing Boran and Qu Nici, and Hu Ge and He Lin), earning it the nickname "The Everest Love Story."

In summary, the film boasts a profound subject matter and a top-tier cast, but the script and directing are subpar. It dilutes the themes of national identity and the spirit of climbing with a clichéd romance, wasting the impact of the true historical events.

Gu Zhiyan didn't find it strange at all.

First of all, choosing a Hong Kong director for this kind of subject matter was a huge mistake.

It's not that Hong Kong directors can't handle this kind of subject matter, but those who can are extremely rare.

Another major reason lies with Zhang Ziyi, the award-winning actress, who forcibly added romantic scenes.

"If I were the director, I would have kicked this woman out long ago," Wu Jing said resentfully.

"Let's not dwell on the past. From now on, we should be more careful and not cooperate with her."

Gu Zhiyan was too lazy to expose Wu Jing.

Although he was riding high, he couldn't just kick away a movie queen like Zhang Yingwei.

If he really had that ability, would he have needed to ask Zhang Ziyi to add scenes for him?

He was just bragging afterwards!