Huayu Entertainment: The Birth of a Succubus Top Star

Concurrently with the grand event, the Shanghai International Film Festival will launch a major forum for dialogue among masters of Chinese genre films, bringing together top domestic directors and talented actors to explore the future path of Chinese cinema.

Gu Zhiyan, as a leading actor of the new generation, was invited to have a dialogue with Zhang Yimou and Yuan Heping, and was the youngest guest in the entire event.

At the forum, he combined his experience in realistic martial arts fiction with the industrial polishing process of domestic science fiction in "The Swordsman" to deeply analyze the dilemmas and opportunities of contemporary martial arts innovation and breakthroughs in domestic science fiction.

His speech was logically sound, insightful, and practical, devoid of empty rhetoric; every sentence reflected genuine reflections from his time on set.

The veteran directors and film critics present nodded in approval, and the entire dialogue went viral in film and television industry communities. It was praised by the industry as a rare benchmark speech among the new generation of actors that combines popularity, strength and industry vision.

As the grand event came to a close, night fell along the Huangpu River, and the starlight slowly faded into silence.

Following its conclusion, this year's Shanghai International Film Festival has garnered widespread acclaim online, being unanimously praised by audiences and industry professionals as the highest-quality, most engaging, and most culturally rich event in recent years.

"This year's Shanghai International Film Festival was so perfect! It had Shen Teng's hilarious moments, Leung Chiu-wai's adorable contrast, Zhang Songwen's dedication to his craft, and Lu Yan's century-long cinematic legacy. It was a mix of laughter and tears, a grand vision and a warm touch."

"Gu Zhiyan is truly solid. He commands attention on the red carpet, delivers insightful presentations at forums, and produces substantial works. He embodies all the qualities a new generation actor should have."

"The reunion of 'My Own Swordsman' after 20 years is so touching. The rise of new directors and the perseverance of veteran artists show that Chinese films are constantly growing."

"No excessive hype, no awkward promotions, just sincerity and passion – that's what a top-tier film festival should be like."

"The 2026 Shanghai International Film Festival perfectly embodied the theme of 'Inheritance and Rebirth.' Veteran filmmakers remained true to their original aspirations, middle-aged actors solidified their foundations, and new generation forces broke through and innovated. A variety of genres, including martial arts, science fiction, art, and spy films, flourished, making it the best testament to the high-quality development of Chinese-language films."

"Gu Zhiyan's growth path is highly representative. She can not only withstand the popularity of top-level events, but also focus on cultivating her works and participating in in-depth industry dialogues. She is an excellent benchmark for the new generation of actors."

Okay, all of the above are just high-sounding words. The reality of the film market is that it is experiencing a winter.

……

As the Golden Goblet Awards ceremony came to a close and the red carpet festivities subsided, a group of familiar filmmakers shed their formal attire and the restraint of being in front of the cameras, and arranged to meet at a private restaurant with a pleasant atmosphere.

Gu Zhiyan arrived at the banquet as promised. In the private room, Huang Bo, Shen Teng, Wang Baoqiang and others were already seated. They had shed their glamorous attire from the grand ceremony and were dressed casually, creating a relaxed and comfortable atmosphere.

Huang Bo spoke first, his tone heavy with helplessness, and every sentence hit the nail on the head regarding the real data: "The market this year is really cold, so cold that it can be seen with the naked eye. The box office in the first half of the year was only 173.54 billion yuan, a direct drop of 40.6% year-on-year."

Even the traditionally lucrative Dragon Boat Festival film season, despite a plethora of new releases, failed to live up to expectations, with total box office revenue reaching only 3.97 million yuan and audience numbers down 9.2% year-on-year.

He paused, then continued to point out the most fatal reality in the industry: "The most terrifying thing is not the shrinking box office, but the complete loss of audiences. The total number of moviegoers in the first half of the year was 4.21 million, a year-on-year drop of 34.2%."

Young audiences, especially those under 24, who are the main moviegoers, have seen their share plummet from 38% in 2019 to just 15% now. The national average occupancy rate in cinemas is only 5.07%, with an average of just six people per screening. More than 6 cinemas have already closed in the first four months.

Shen Teng picked up his teacup, sighed softly, and saw things with remarkable clarity: "The reason why audiences don't go to the cinema has never been a single reason. There are too many entertainment options now. Short videos kill time in fragmented ways, and camping, script murder mystery games, and offline social activities have diverted most of the young population. Movies are no longer a necessity for young people to date or relax."

Moreover, audiences are now extremely rational and discerning. A movie ticket, plus travel expenses and food, makes a movie-going experience quite costly. People no longer buy tickets blindly; they all look at ratings and reviews first. Mediocre, mass-produced bad movies will be voted on with their feet.

Wang Baoqiang picked up the conversation and, in light of the chaos in the cinemas this year, succinctly pointed out the core problem: "Ultimately, it's a complete mismatch between industry content and audience needs. In recent years, capital has been habitually relying on big IPs, piling on traffic, and piling on special effects, resulting in sloppy scripts, homogenized formulas, and unrealistic and hollow stories."

Take this year's Dragon Boat Festival film season as an example. A total of seventeen new films were released at the same time, which seemed lively, but they all failed and the box office was sluggish.

Looking at the Spring Festival film season, the films "Airplane Life" starring Teng Ge and "The Swordsman" starring Yan Ge were both incredibly popular.

This is the most straightforward answer: the market hasn't cooled down; the market for bad movies has. Audiences are willing to pay for sincerity, not for sentimentality, formulaic plots, or gimmicks.

Gu Zhiyan gently raised his glass and clinked it with the others: "Martial arts and science fiction films require huge industrial investment and patience. The success of 'The Swordsman' was not due to traffic packaging, but to solid action design and the core of Eastern chivalry; the long post-production polishing of 'The Wandering Earth 3' was also in the hope of maintaining the reputation of domestic science fiction."

Winter is precisely a window of opportunity for reflection, a time to calmly refine one's work and await the industry's recovery.

The group nodded in thought, and the atmosphere at the table grew increasingly quiet.

It was at this moment that the group casually brought up the recent controversy surrounding the TV series "Catch the Spy," which had gone viral online and sparked heated debate. This perfectly illustrated the current distorted state of industry promotion.

Feng Xiaogang's period spy film "Catch the Spy" was originally intended as a major tribute film, boasting a top-notch creative team, years of preparation, and a star-studded cast, generating extremely high expectations in the early stages.

Han Hong composed all the music for the film, partnering with Feng Xiaogang, a longtime friend. This collaboration was supposed to be a guarantee of quality, but it completely backfired at the premiere, sparking huge controversy online.

At the Beijing premiere, Han Hong, the film's score composer, passionately addressed the online community and Beijing audiences in her authentic Beijing accent: "With over 20 million people in Beijing, my brothers and sisters, men and women, could you please show up? If you do, help boost the initial box office, and we'll have everything we need!"

The casual northern dialect phrase "zou ge mian'er," originally meant as a casual shout to show support or give face, has instantly sparked a huge controversy across the internet.

Huang Bo slowly reviewed the public opinion incident: "Han Hong's support for her old friend and promotion of her new film is a common practice in the industry, but her mistake was that she turned the audience's free consumption into a form of emotional blackmail."

The controversy erupted instantly, with public opinion overwhelmingly against the government.

Viewers stated frankly that watching movies is a voluntary consumption and a choice of content, not a social obligation or a forced obligation.

Good movies spread by word of mouth and don't need to morally coerce the audience into "giving them face".

"Movies are not about human relationships, and box office revenue is not about giving gifts in the business world."

"Outdated slang, when presented to audiences in 2026, only creates a sense of alienation and oppression."

The subsequent public opinion continued to ferment, and the controversy intensified, rising from discussions among moviegoers to reflections within the industry.

Han Hong herself issued a public apology, admitting that her remarks at the event were too rash and casual, and that she had betrayed the public's trust, for which she felt deeply remorseful.

However, the damage to public opinion was already irreversible, and the backlash from public opinion severely impacted the film's audience.