I'm not mentally ill, I'm a master of a thousand faces!

Chapter 349, The Desolation Before the Premiere

At this time, in the capital city.

Li Yun could feel a sense of desolation and bleakness.

The desolate feeling was quite obvious; even Jiang Chenggang seemed uninterested.

"What's wrong? You look like a wilted eggplant today."

"What do you call a frostbitten eggplant? What do you call this? It's called strategic retreat. Do you understand?"

Jiang Chenggang then let out a big yawn.

This strategic contraction was used very well.

Upon inquiry, it turned out to be about Hollywood movies. Huaying Mingyao Group, responsible for importing foreign film groups, is currently flexing its muscles.

What does "show off one's power" mean?

It means exactly what it says.

Subways, buses, Coca-Cola bottles—everything is covered with Batman promotional material.

Its power and influence are truly formidable.

Now, Jiang Chenggang understands what Liu Lili meant when she told Liu Qianqian not to experience such a cruel failure.

Hollywood movies hold an extremely high status in China. Besides their budgets, quality, and industrial sophistication, the massive marketing and distribution in China is also a major reason why Hollywood movies are so successful in the country.

No matter how indignant Jiang Chenggang was, there was absolutely nothing wrong with this point.

Those people in the Mingyao Group are living too comfortably.

Importing foreign films is a sure way to make money.

With any amount of money invested in marketing and promotion, you can generally expect a stable 30% profit margin.

Invest in your own movies?

The chances of suffering a huge loss are very high.

So even within Huaying, it's Mingyao and his group who control more resources—original, domestically produced content is treated worse than a dog.

"So during this period, film offers have been very scarce. Extremely scarce."

"Isn't 'Batman' supposed to be released this month? Why are all my film offers so scarce right now?"

Li Yun pondered that the current film contracts wouldn't be released until next year, even after filming was completed.

According to Lao Jiang, the domestic film market is now trembling with fear.

"This is a chain reaction. The more successful Hollywood's film market becomes, the more cautious domestic investors and investors become. They are more meticulous and stingy with details such as budget and cast. It's just that we were unlucky this time to encounter such an opponent."

Jiang Chenggang sighed. He only had a handful of film offers these days, and he didn't even think much of the scripts he was getting.

Let alone showing it to Li Yun, there's no point in doing so.

Li Yun understood Jiang Chenggang's sighs and lamentations to some extent. After all, no businessman wants his project to encounter a box office bloodsucker.

Currently, this Batman movie is a complete box office bloodsucker.

A vampire who drains all the essence from everyone else.

Those who were in the same time slot as him this time were all called "unlucky cannon fodder".

"Not only that, but what's even more outrageous and arrogant is this 'Batman' thing. What if it does well at the box office and gets delayed? Then they won't just be using it for a month, they'll be using it for the next month too."

at this time.

Jiang Chenggang sighed.

"So, we're really unlucky."

Unfortunately, "Silenced" was released at the same time as the highly anticipated "Batman".

The situation in television dramas is quite different from that in the film industry.

The CCTV project is progressing smoothly and has not been affected by Hollywood's influence on television dramas.

Currently, there are only two publicly disclosed CCTV projects.

The first one is a relatively close new Three Kingdoms, which has already been approved and I heard that it will soon start recruiting and filming. The other one is also a historical drama, following the new Three Kingdoms, called The Qin Empire: The Rise of the Qin Dynasty.

Historical dramas like this, with their large investments, can't be created and developed on a whim. Even if you know a project is going to be approved, it usually takes a lot of time to get it moving.

In other words, the project is currently only known to have these two names, and it's still a long way off before it's officially approved and filmed.

Meanwhile, the Shanghai entertainment circle is thriving.

Various plans began to circulate.

In the current TV drama industry, Shanghai-produced dramas are indeed cheesy, but they are also genuinely enjoyable.

There's no way around it, who doesn't like handsome men and beautiful women dating?

Pleasant to the eye.

How wonderful!

Moreover, there are not high requirements for the acting skills of the lead actors.

Basically none.

"I heard that some projects don't even have appearance requirements. As long as you're of average appearance, with good makeup and great lighting, you'll look amazing."

Jiang Chenggang clicked his tongue in amazement.

Here, I also took the opportunity to praise Li Yun, saying that it was fortunate that he chose CCTV and the Beijing entertainment circle as his main development platforms.

In the Shanghai entertainment circle, once your exposure reaches its peak, people might abandon you, leaving you with no room to grow further.

Those in the industry know and can see that the Shanghai entertainment circle is very popular and can promote a large number of young actors and actresses.

But those people stopped there; they really couldn't go any further.

For those who are capable and have high aspirations, it is a trap.

A sweet trap.

The things to do next are quite simple.

That's about the screening of "Silenced".

Even though Jiang Chenggang always says that the movie "Silenced" was unlucky to encounter a super project like "Batman" this time, he is not ambiguous about the upcoming screening.

We won't tank just because the opponent is too strong; everything is in place.

This film is now in the stage of building momentum.

Sharpening the knife, ready to go.

Li Yun didn't stop for a moment, focusing on preparing for the next task.

After completing the publicity and distribution, it's time to quietly wait for the film's release.

The main promoters were naturally Li Yun and Liu Qianqian.

Liu Qianqian is also making preparations here at this moment.

He has changed his usual innocent image and is now dressed in a professional office suit in the movie "Silenced".

A capable and decisive lawyer.

This is her.

The image that is presented today.

The image that appears on screen today.

In fact, the celebrity effect did emerge when the promotion and marketing campaign began.

The names are Li Yun and Liu Qianqian.

That can attract quite a few fans.

After all, these two names are considered among the best of the new generation.

Of course, when the name of director Li Yun appears.

It still inevitably caused a burst of laughter.

"What does it mean to be ignorant of one's own limitations? This is what it means to be ignorant of one's own limitations. Li Yun, whom we have been eagerly anticipating, has released a movie he spearheaded at this time. Let's see how long this joke can keep us laughing."

At this time, there were also many trolls online.

After all, no matter what a person is like, it's impossible for everyone to like them.

Even Liu Yifei couldn't be as beautiful.

The rise of an actor inevitably involves stepping on many others to reach the top.

The rise of Li Yun and Liu Qianqian inevitably led to competition for other resources, and they have won many idol star spots along the way.

This time, their fans can finally vent their anger.

Because this film, *The Crucible*, seemed destined to flop.

It's destined to fail and has no future.

Putting aside the fact that he's competing with Batman for box office revenue, the subject matter of this movie itself is rather uninteresting.

Marginalized children, ordinary heroes.

Even Batman can save the world.

What are you trying to do, save those brain-damaged children?

Of course, such radical remarks, under the authority of the Hupu moderators, resulted in a permanent ban of fifty years.

"This is utter nonsense. Even if you don't like this movie, you can't use such radical language to call it brainless and blindly following it."

At this moment, helping Wu Hai curse these brainless fans is truly a case of idol worship to the point of losing all humanity.

It's so brain-dead it's disgusting.

It's disgusting!

However, even Wu Hai himself had to admit that...

The subject matter of this movie doesn't seem very appealing, at least judging from the promotional slogans, it's not nearly as captivating as Batman.

They also displayed the slogan "Hero".

He wears a bat suit, drives an awesome Batmobile, and goes to save the world, looking like a hero.

Or is it more like an unemployed old man from a school for the deaf and mute?

The answer is obvious.

Teenagers must all dream of becoming the villain who wears the Batsuit, drives the Batmobile, and races through Gotham City.

Wu Hai would choose to watch The Crucible, but he might prefer Batman.

Batman is the universal hero.

"But I'll always support my idol no matter what."

Even at this media premiere, Wu Hai didn't hesitate to go see the premiere of "Silenced" first, rather than "The Batman."

Perhaps he felt the same way deep down.

Li Yun, maybe... really can pull off an upset?

Perhaps this "Crucible" can actually deliver results?

Actually, the online discussion surrounding "Silenced" was orchestrated by some individuals with ulterior motives and their own funding.

Here you'll find Wang Jinghua from Cheng Tian Jia He, and another unexpected person, Tang Min from the Shanghai entertainment circle.

She got involved too.

If Wang Jinghua's actions were driven by some personal grudges, then Tang Min represented the interests of Tangren.

"I never expected that you guys were so optimistic about Li Yun back then, but this time you're actually cooperating with us to manipulate public opinion."

Wang Jinghua looked at Tang Min with surprise.

"It's just that doing this is in our best interest."

Tang Min said calmly.

This furnace was not considered a promising project by anyone in the industry.

The competition was too strong, and the subject matter itself wasn't attractive enough, especially since they used sensitive promotional terms related to heroes.

Batman is the real hero.

Is this the common outcome seen in the industry?

Like a giant challenging a windmill.

How ridiculous.

"We're stirring up trouble in order to cover up our own scandals."

"So that thing was true after all," Wang Jinghua suddenly realized.

I heard that one of the top male celebrities in Shanghai's entertainment circle is in a relationship.

No wonder Tang Min was so nervous.

Although actors in the Shanghai entertainment circle are called actors, they must follow the logic of idols in terms of form and standards.

They are canaries, without freedom.

Daring to be in a relationship is a capital offense.

If it has little remaining value, it's fine; it can be shelved. But if it's just been promoted, then you have to clean up the mess and squeeze out the remaining value.

(End of this chapter)