The director starts by learning from the abilities of renowned directors.

Chapter 190 Premiere of "33 Days of Heartbreak"

After the web series "Ghost Blows Out the Light" and "The Lost Tomb" were sold to Tencent Video and iQiyi Video respectively, Youku CEO Gu Yongjiang felt somewhat regretful. Youku should have quickly bought the rights to one of them at a high price when the two companies were colluding on price.

Youku isn't unable to afford it; it's just afraid of overpaying or not getting a good deal. Now that the deal is done, Gu Yong will review the situation later. The price of 500 million per episode is really not high.

You can't fall into the same pit twice, so when he learned that Magical Films was trying to sell its self-produced variety shows to iQiyi, he immediately took the initiative to approach them.

Shenqi Film CEO Dai Ying showed Gu Yongjiang a preview of the first two episodes of "The Masked Singer," and Gu Yongjiang was already captivated before even finishing watching them.

At this point, "Super Girl" has already ended, and "I Am a Singer" hasn't even started airing yet. Currently, besides CCTV's "Avenue of Stars,"...

Besides that, the most popular music variety show is "The Voice of China".

"The Voice of China" features swivel chairs, while "The Masked Singer" features masked singers—the setup of this variety show is very thoughtful and entertaining!

Currently, variety shows are mostly exclusive to TV stations, and video websites rarely even buy them. If they were to acquire "The Masked Singer" now, wouldn't that be setting a precedent?

It hasn't even been broadcast on TV yet, so securing this deal means it's a completely exclusive variety show across all channels.

After several rounds of negotiations, the two sides finally reached an agreement.

Youku has acquired the exclusive online broadcasting rights for "The Masked Singer" in China for 500 million yuan per episode. Shenqi Films and Youku will jointly promote "The Masked Singer", with Youku splitting the revenue equally. The contract will be signed every 12 episodes.

Online variety shows are a pioneering effort in China. Whether brands will recognize them or not is uncertain. By having both companies jointly attract advertisers, Youku has platform influence, while Shenqi Films has brand endorsement. This approach is more successful than if Youku were to attract advertisers alone.

Tencent Video was very interested in Magical Films' self-produced variety show "Ace vs Ace" and quickly acquired it at the same price and under the same conditions as Youku's purchase of "The Masked Singer".

In early November, the drama "Ren Xin" starring Yang Mi and Zhu Yilong officially started filming. "Ren Xin" is a name changed by Shen Qing. It is a copy of the Korean drama "Descendants of the Sun". The filming locations are Greece and China, and the Greek part will be filmed first.

Before leaving, Yang Mi told Shen Qing that she had heard that the scenery at Shipwreck Beach on Zakynthos Island, the filming location in Greece, was very beautiful, but unfortunately, Shen Qing wouldn't be able to see it.

It seems she really wanted Shen Qing to go to the film set in Greece with her, but unfortunately Shen Qing was too busy to have the time. In short, Yang Mi looked very disappointed when she set off.

On November 15th, "The Bourne Legacy" was officially released in China. Shen Qing doesn't know exactly how much money Taobao Movies spent on ticket sales to make up for the shortfall. The film grossed 160 million yuan in its first four days, 1.35 million yuan in its second week, and 6353 million yuan in its third week. As of November 11th, the cumulative box office reached 360 million yuan.

The Maoyan movie platform predicts its final box office will be 4.5 million yuan.

On November 12th, Maoyan Movies officially launched exclusive pre-sales for the film "Love is Not Blind" across the entire network. At the same time, Meituan Movies launched exclusive pre-sales for the film "Life of Pi" across the entire network.

"Love is Not Blind" is Zhao Liying's first film as the female lead, so she attaches great importance to this film and never forgets to check relevant information online when she is promoting it.

Life of Pi officially premiered at the New York Film Festival on September 28th of this year, and news about its performance at the festival has already been relayed back to China through various channels.

This part of the evaluation is what Zhao Liying cares about most.

Overall, Life of Pi performed exceptionally well at the New York Film Festival. As the first 3D opening film in the history of the New York Film Festival, it was unanimously praised by foreign media as a "masterpiece of visual artistry" and a "must-see film of the year".

The New York Post called it "the best movie of the year," and The Hollywood Reporter praised it for creating "amazing spectacle."

Audiences and critics were amazed by its 3D effects, considering it the best 3D movie since Avatar and Gravity, with the fully CG-created tiger character being incredibly lifelike.

Zhao Liying read many comments from netizens, and it was generally not very optimistic about "Love is Not Blind" among Chinese netizens.

"Without a doubt, 'Love is Not Blind' is the victim chosen by Shen Qing. In October, Taobao Movies will exclusively subsidize 'The Bourne Legacy', and in November, Meituan Movies will exclusively subsidize 'Life of Pi' and Gewara will exclusively subsidize 'Back to 1942'. Shen Qing's big weapon, 'The Martian,' will not be released until the end of December."

In other words, throughout October and November, when ticket subsidies were rampant, Maoyan, as the industry leader, was conspicuously absent, which is why its release was temporarily moved to November. So, I say "Love is Not Blind" is just a snack before the main course at Magic Films; expecting it to go toe-to-toe with director Li An's $120 million blockbuster? I dare say even Shen Qing himself wouldn't dare to dream that!

"The big investment in 'Life of Pi' is indeed a big investment, but big-budget movies don't necessarily have high box office returns, right? 'The Bourne Legacy,' which received subsidies from Taobao Movies, also had a high investment, but its predicted box office is only 450 million."

"Life of Pi is different, and director Li An is different too. Moreover, it is said that Life of Pi caused a sensation at the film festival. The 3D effects were the first sensation, and the plot was the second. It is said that the plot is very impressive, with many details that can make your scalp tingle once you understand it."

"Is 'Love is Not Blind' Zhao Liying's first leading role in a film? Is it going to be a flop?"

"Isn't it normal for a project to fail? The investment was only 1000 million, it was just a trial project to begin with."

"Zhao Liying's fans are just so loving. They praised Shen Qing for valuing Zhao Liying so much just because she won the Golden Eagle Goddess award. If she really valued her, would she only get her first leading role in a movie now? Look at how many leading roles Fan Bingbing, Yang Mi, and Liu Yifei have played. Even Wan Qian has played so many leading roles. Zhao Liying isn't unknown; she's much more famous than Wan Qian. But it's useless. She'll still be used as cannon fodder."

Zhao Liying read the comments for a while longer and then asked her assistant, "Do you think what the netizens are saying makes sense?"

At this moment, a group of people surrounded the hotel room, all serving Zhao Liying. Although she had not starred in any movies before, she was definitely a top-tier actress in the television drama field, and a bunch of people around her made a living by serving her.

The assistant quickly replied, "That definitely doesn't make sense."

Zhao Liying pressed further, "Why do you say that?"

The assistant thought for a moment before saying, "I just had a gut feeling that your movie 'Love is Not Blind' would be a huge hit."

Zhao Liying smiled and said, "I've read a lot of reviews about 'Life of Pi' these past few days, and now I'm quite certain that it will indeed be a classic film, which is a good thing for me."

The staff looked at each other, puzzled as to why Zhao Liying would say such a thing, and Zhao Liying did not explain to them.

She wasn't sure if she was right, but she just felt that someone like Shen Qing, who had almost never failed since his debut, must have a strong sense of responsibility. Since he specifically chose "Love is Not Blind" to compete with "Life of Pi," then "Love is Not Blind" couldn't be a completely powerless work.

"Love is Not Blind" may indeed lose to "Life of Pi," but since Shen Qing specifically chose to include "Love is Not Blind" in his film...

The release date of "The Day" was set on the same day as "Growing Pain". Does that mean that in Shen Qing's mind, these two movies are actually of the same level?

If "Love is Not Blind" and "Life of Pi" are movies of the same level, then shouldn't Zhao Liying be the happiest person?

As for what to do if you lose.

Zhao Liying isn't afraid of losing at all. If she does lose, she'll learn from the experience and try again next time.

Besides, we might not necessarily lose.

What's wrong with Hollywood blockbusters again?

How many Hollywood blockbusters did "Lost in Thailand" beat?

Who can guarantee that "Love is Not Blind" isn't a film similar to "Lost in Thailand"?

However, Zhao Liying still took the time to call Shen Qing. On the phone, she complained a little, saying that Shen Qing was heartless to her. He knew that "Love is Not Blind" was her first movie as the female lead, but he still insisted on using "Love is Not Blind" to compete with director Li An's "Life of Pi".

"You're too cruel."

She said this to Shen Qing on the phone.

Shen Qing explained, "Even if 'Love is Not Blind' is not as good as 'Life of Pi,' it won't be much worse. In fact, it's not certain who will win or lose. Besides, we still have large-scale ticket subsidies, right? It's the same ticket subsidy, whether it's Meituan Movies or Gewara Movies, the money from the ticket subsidy is the same money from the ticket subsidy."

However, "Love is Not Blind" is different. Maoyan Movies has over 12 million daily active users. The larger the platform, the more people can be drawn to the cinema through ticket subsidies.

The investment of 5000 million yuan in ticket subsidies could potentially drive 1.5 million yuan in actual box office revenue.

Meituan or Gewara, due to their extremely low market share, can only drive a limited amount of box office revenue. Even if they spend 5000 yuan on ticket subsidies, it might only generate a mere 20-30 million yuan in actual box office growth.

Zhao Liying said, "Actually, I'm not afraid that 'Love is Not Blind' will not perform as well at the box office as its competitors. What I'm afraid of is that I've finally gotten a movie role as the female lead after so many years. If I mess it up this time, you'll be disappointed and I might never have this opportunity again."

Shen Qing on the other end of the phone immediately reassured her, "Don't worry, it won't happen. I'll make another movie for you when I have time."

Zhao Liying smiled after hanging up the phone.

Is her second starring film already tentatively set?

From the 12th to noon on the 21st, "Life of Pi" sold a total of 7000 million yuan in pre-sale tickets.

The results are actually quite good; very few domestic films can currently break 5000 million yuan in pre-sale box office.

If it weren't for "Love is Not Blind", a pre-sale box office of 70 million would be a very impressive achievement. But the problem is precisely that "Love is Not Blind" exists!

In just 10 days, the cumulative pre-sale box office of "Love is Not Blind" exceeded 120 million yuan.

When these data were released, many netizens' first reaction was that they thought they had misread it.

Are you kidding me? "Life of Pi" has over 7000 million yuan in pre-sale tickets, while that film reportedly only had a production cost of—

The movie "Love is Not Blind" had a pre-sale budget of 10 million yuan, but it sold 120 million yuan worth of tickets in just 10 days.

Shouldn't the scores of the two films be switched?

"I'm increasingly confused about the domestic film market. Can 'Love is Not Blind' really be more popular than 'Life of Pi'?"

"Love is Not Blind is almost twice the size of Life of Pi? Are you kidding me?"

"Another 'Lost in Thailand' or 'Breakup Buddies'?"

"Lost in Thailand was directed and starred by Shen Qing, Breakup Buddies had Ning Hao at the helm, so what does Love is all about?"

"Calm down. As far as the pre-sale box office data is concerned, the audience buying tickets now is doing so because of Shen Qing. It doesn't really have much to do with the quality of the movie. Once both movies are officially released tomorrow, everyone will know who's been swimming naked."

"Just as I thought, things will only really get better for 'Life of Pi' once both movies are officially released."

"That makes sense, but doesn't everyone think that saying 'If you do this and that, things will get better' is a bit unlucky?"

"Things will get better as long as XX attacks? That's certainly not a good omen."

"The high pre-sale box office only indicates that Shen Qing's ticket subsidies for 'Love is Not Blind' are indeed extremely high. Its true box office potential is still unknown."

"It's going to be released tomorrow, and everything will become clear by then."

"Actually, it's hard to say for sure what tomorrow will bring. Tomorrow's audience will mainly be drawn by Shen Qing's past achievements, while the day after tomorrow will be more influenced by the film's reputation and quality."

On the day of the premiere, Zhao Liying was initially very excited when she saw the pre-sale data. However, she finally calmed down when someone analyzed that the pre-sale box office only reflected Shen Qing's past performance and had little to do with the quality of the film.

"Even if it could surpass 'Life of Pi,' it would only be slightly better, right? Is it possible for it to be 70% better? Absolutely not!"

On November 21st, "Life of Pi" had a midnight screening. After the midnight screening aired, its reputation gradually exploded.

Praise is everywhere online.

"Just finished watching 'Life of Pi,' and I have to say, everyone should go see it! It's such a great movie!"

"It's no exaggeration to say that if 'Life of Pi' had been released in early 2010, there would have been no 'Gravity' starring Shen Qing."

"What's going on? The 3D effects in this movie are better than Shen Qing's 'Gravity,' much better."

"Life of Pi was born at the wrong time. If this movie had been released during the same period as Gravity, it would have conservatively grossed $20 billion worldwide—at that time, the title of the number one Chinese director would definitely belong to Master Li An."

"Agreed. Gravity is actually quite good, pioneering Chinese-language science fiction films, but objectively speaking, it is indeed not as exciting as Life of Pi."

"Although I haven't seen 'Love is Not Blind' yet, I want to say that the two films are definitely not in the same league. How can 'Love is Not Blind' be compared to 'Life of Pi'?"

"Shen Qing is tough, and Li An is great, but 'Love is Not Blind' is not a film directed and starring Shen Qing, so I voted for 'Growing Pain' this time."

"After watching 'Life of Pi,' I had only one thought: Shen Qing deliberately moved the release date of 'Love is Not Blind' to the same day as 'Life of Pi,' which was undoubtedly a self-humiliating act."

It's ironic that the pre-sale box office of "Love is Not Blind" surpassed that of "Life of Pi," even though I haven't seen "Love is Not Blind" yet.

"I'm absolutely certain that these two films are not even in the same league."

The following day, November 22, 2012, both films were officially released.

"Love is Not Blind" grossed 1.13 million yuan on its opening day, while "Life of Pi" grossed 67.4 million yuan on its opening day.

The news caused an instant uproar in the Chinese-speaking internet community.

"Love is Not Blind - 1.13 Million?"

"Is this really better than 'Life of Pi'?"

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"Word-of-mouth spreads today; the real test will be the day after tomorrow!"

"Word-of-mouth takes time to build up. I predict that tomorrow 'Life of Pi' will definitely surpass 'Love is Not Blind'."

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