Chapter 468 Speechless Fans

The second day of "Rouge" box office reached around 52 million yuan, just shy of breaking 100 million yuan. The data exceeded the predictions of major forecasting agencies and the industry's expectations.

The box office performance of "Road to Glory" remained largely unchanged.

"Happy Hour" also defied the trend, achieving a daily box office of around 19 million.

One media outlet commented: "Looking at the box office decline, the total box office for the two days combined is actually less than the box office performance of a normal commercial film during a holiday period."

Some media outlets commented: "It's been a long time since we've seen art films achieve such outstanding box office results. It seems that these three art films can all break 100 million."

Of course, some media outlets also raised questions: "I don't understand why 'Road to Glory' didn't expand its screenings? If it was conservative on the first day and unwilling to increase the scope of previews, why did it still only have 7% of screenings on the second day? We communicated with managers of major cinema chains, and they said that it wasn't that they didn't want to give it screenings, but that the distributors were only willing to do 'small-scale' previews. 'Road to Glory' really missed a good opportunity to make money at the box office."

The media is buzzing with discussion.

Industry insiders are more concerned about the final box office results of these three art films.

Some people are asking whether the box office performance of these three art films will encourage more film companies to make art films.

Entertainment critic Guan Suchen directly addressed this question: It's not very meaningful. All three art-house films have won awards at film festivals. "Rouge" and "Rouge" both feature top directors or movie stars, their prestige is too great. Even if they perform well at the box office, it won't increase the industry's interest in art-house films. However, it might increase the interest of movie stars in acting in art-house films, which might conversely stimulate the development of new art-house film projects.

On the third day, "Rouge" still maintained a daily box office of just over 50 million yuan. During the three-day holiday, the box office was close to 150 million yuan. According to the results of box office prediction agencies, the film's final box office may reach 400 million yuan.

The box office for "Happy Time" dropped significantly on its third day, only reaching 13 million yuan. However, the cumulative total for the three days was 45 million yuan, which can be described as a "huge profit" for a low-budget film with a production budget of only 800,000 yuan. Moreover, it was director Yu Qin who made a huge profit—she basically funded and produced the film herself.

The only exception was "Road to Glory," which only grossed around 17-18 million yuan per day for three days. This was mainly due to the limited number of screenings. Including the previous previews, the total box office was close to 60 million yuan.

This is a box office victory for three art films.

Almost every media outlet used the slogan "Renaissance".

While art-house film fans are excited and thrilled, industry insiders just treat it as a joke.

Because they all know that such a box office miracle is almost impossible to come by.

The prerequisite is that you first need to go to an international film festival, win an award, and especially if the film receives good reviews and positive word-of-mouth, and then obtain an "exclusive release date" in China where there is no competition from commercial films, in order to replicate such a miracle.

However, no matter what, box office revenue is box office revenue; it's what audiences see when they buy tickets and go to the cinema.

Art films unexpectedly became a small hit in September, a traditionally slow month.

After the Mid-Autumn Festival period, "Road to Glory" once again reduced its screenings, returning to the previous level.

This has once again left many fans who were eager to see the film frustrated because they couldn't buy tickets.

Gradually, a wave of complaints began to emerge online:

—This is the first time I've ever wanted to see a movie but couldn't buy a ticket, not even a seat in the first row or the very last row on the side.

Is "Road to Glory" using scarcity marketing?

—I'm not watching it anymore. It's such a terrible movie, and it's so hard to buy tickets.

...

However, no matter how much outside discussion there was, "Road to Glory" stuck to its strategy, earning around 30,000 yuan in box office revenue every day, steadily and slowly building the aesthetic image of the film.

The strategy of "Road to Glory" has left many people in the industry puzzled and confused.

Why did it hold such a long preview screening?

With such high market enthusiasm, why not expand the scale of screenings?

How much longer do we have to wait?

Are we going to wait until the National Day holiday to let it compete with the big-budget films released during that holiday?

Is he crazy?

Despite these criticisms, "Road to Glory" remains silent and unresponsive.

On September 17th, Lu Yanhe and Zeng Qiao suddenly attended a promotional event for the drama "The Silent River" held by Maxine in Thailand, and officially announced the broadcast date of the drama: October 9th.

Domestic audiences were stunned and asked why the first promotional event for the show was held in Thailand instead of China.

It was only then that it was discovered that the investors in "The Silent River" were not domestic film and television production companies; it was a commissioned drama by Maxine and director Chen Lingling.

It hasn't even been scheduled for release on any domestic video platform, and it may not even be able to be broadcast in China.

This shocked fans who had been eagerly anticipating the show.

Even if it's a Maxine show, isn't there any video platform in China that would buy it?

At this point, Icefield Video belatedly announced that "The Silent River" would be broadcast simultaneously on Icefield Video.

-

The car stopped in the parking lot of the Icefield Video company building.

At the elevator entrance, two staff members wearing name tags were waiting to pick someone up.

After parking the car, Wang Biao got out first, leaving the door open, and turned to let Lu Yanhe get out.

Lu Yanhe got out of the car wearing a casual suit and sunglasses, looking very stylish.

Today, they're coming to the Icefield Video company, so they're putting on airs.

Zou Dong also got out of the car and came to Lu Yanhe's side.

The staff member who came to greet them quickly stepped forward with a warm smile on his face.

"Teacher Lu, welcome to the Icefield. I am Zhao Yurui, and I will escort you upstairs."

"Hello." Lu Yanhe nodded politely. "Thank you for your help."

Zhao Yurui immediately waved his hand and said, "It's no trouble at all. My colleagues all wanted to take this job away from me, but I held on to it firmly."

Zhao Yurui's words deepened his impression on Lu Yanhe.

"Thank you," Lu Yanhe said.

Today I'm at Icefield Video to record some promotional material for "The Silent River".

Meanwhile, Li Quansen, the person in charge of Icefield Video, also wanted to meet with him.

Zhao Yurui took Lu Yanhe directly to the film studio. Lu Yanhe first cooperated with the director from Bingyuan Video to complete the filming of more than a dozen promotional clips.

The filming lasted for about an hour.

After filming, Zhao Yurui reappeared and took Lu Yanhe to Li Quansen's office.

"Mr. Li is already waiting for you in his office."

Lu Yanhe nodded and followed Li Quansen to his office.

This wasn't the first time Lu Yanhe had met Li Quansen. He had bumped into him on other occasions before, such as at a recent charity event. But Lu Yanhe had never had a private, face-to-face conversation with Li Quansen.

This time, Li Quansen took the initiative to ask to meet with him, and Lu Yanhe readily agreed.

Unlike Lin Desheng of Aurora Video, Li Quansen is an older person with more legends in the industry.

If videos of the Northern Lights are the new darlings, then videos of ice fields are the remnants of the past.

Icefield Video's history dates back twenty years. Initially, it was a film and television production company. Subsequently, after acquiring four or five bankrupt film and television companies, it built a video website—the current Icefield Video—relying on its vast film library and the rapid growth of the internet age. It spent about thirteen or fourteen years in a haphazard, unregulated phase. Until the rise of web dramas, Icefield Video suddenly found its niche.

Both Lin Desheng and Li Quansen were people who caught the wave of the times.

Therefore, after rounds of financing and burning money, and fighting countless battles, it has finally secured its current position in the current video platform matrix.

However, although the two companies currently hold similar market shares on video platforms and have roughly the same industry standing, their reputations within the industry differ significantly. The biggest difference is that Lin Desheng is not very active online; he is generally not a boss who likes to be in the public eye. Li Quansen, on the other hand, is the complete opposite; he is even more active than some celebrities, and can be seen at various events.

"President Li." Lu Yanhe greeted Li Quansen as soon as he entered the office.

Li Quansen immediately stood up and strode over, his face beaming with a warm and bright smile. His friendliness was off the charts, and his smile didn't feel insincere at all.

"Yanhe, congratulations." Li Quansen grasped Lu Yanhe's hands with both of his. He felt like a giant bear to Lu Yanhe—of course, his own physique was also like a bear. "Rouge and Glory have been box office successes and have even won international awards. You are truly a young man full of miracles."

"Mr. Li, you flatter me too much." Lu Yanhe said modestly, "My small achievement is nothing compared to a big platform like Bingyuan Video. You are a role model for me."

Li Quansen laughed heartily, "Sit down."

The two exchanged pleasantries.

Li Quansen said, "Actually, I've wanted to meet you for a long time, but the time just hasn't come together. You see, your connection with our ice field has a long history, starting from the program 'Young Days'."

The program "The Days of Youth" has been broadcast on Icefield Video.

Of course, since this program was produced by Li Zhenzhen's team, and Bingyuan Video was just a broadcasting platform and did not participate in the production, Lu Yanhe and his team did not have much contact with Bingyuan Video.

At this point, establishing some connection and showing that there is some relationship or closeness between them is a very normal practice.

“You’ve collaborated with Aurora on so many projects in one go, and I’m also frustrated. Why didn’t Icefield Video collaborate with you?” Li Quansen sighed, “You can’t just collaborate with Aurora in the future. We have such a deep connection. What they can give you, I can give you too.”

Lu Yanhe nodded with a smile, knowing that such words shouldn't be taken too seriously.

“Great, Mr. Li, we’ll definitely have the opportunity to cooperate in the future,” Lu Yanhe said.

Li Quansen immediately asked, "Do you have any projects planned? Just tell us, and we'll definitely help if Icefield Video can help."

Lu Yanhe smiled, "So far, we haven't encountered any difficulties."

help?

Thank you. Cooperation would be mutually beneficial. Asking for your help? It sounds like I owe you a favor.

Regardless of whether Li Quansen meant it or not, Lu Yanhe was simply not going to take the bait.

Li Quansen: "That's good. The news that you didn't encounter any difficulties is the one I wanted to hear the most."

Lu Yanhe almost couldn't help but take a deep breath on the spot.

Are you not afraid of being cheesy by speaking so directly?

Li Quansen said, "Actually, it's a real pity. I heard before that you had two movie scripts and were looking for collaborations. Our Bingyuan Video film business hasn't taken off yet, so we can't help much. Otherwise, why would I want to hold onto the copyright? I have great respect for creative talents like you. As long as we can reach an agreement on cooperation and Bingyuan always has the priority renewal right, I don't need the copyright to necessarily be in my own hands."

The words sounded nice, but they meant nothing.

The main point of this statement is that "our business in the Icefield Video and Movie sector hasn't taken off yet, and we can't offer any help." No matter how nice the other words are, they are just a kind of "talking without expecting anything in return" statement.

"..."

Lu Yanhe maintained his smile.

Li Quansen suddenly seemed to remember something and asked, "However, I heard that you still hold the copyrights to the movies 'Lost in Thailand' and 'Rouge'?"

"Yes." Lu Yanhe nodded.

Li Quansen: "Are you interested in adapting these two stories into a TV series?"

"Huh?" Lu Yanhe was taken aback.

Li Quansen: "Actually, both of these stories are quite suitable for being adapted into TV series. Movies are smaller in scale, so TV series can showcase more details."

Lu Yanhe immediately shook his head and said, "I'm sorry, Mr. Li, I don't have any plans to adapt them into a TV series for the time being."

Li Quansen asked, "Why?"

Lu Yanhe said, "On the one hand, I already have quite a few projects on my hands, so I simply don't have time to make a TV series version. On the other hand, I also feel that the stories that these two stories are actually about have already been thoroughly explained in the movies. If we change them into TV series versions, there won't be any new stories to expand on."

Li Quansen said, "What if we buy the adaptation rights and find screenwriters to adapt it ourselves?"

"Huh?" Lu Yanhe was taken aback.

Li Quansen said, "I know you're very busy, and it's basically unrealistic to ask you to adapt the script, but both stories are very good. Especially 'Lost in Thailand,' I wanted to use the concept of funny things that happen on the road to create a series of short dramas, each about 80 or 90 episodes long, for comedy. It's not about copying the story from the movie exactly. 'Rouge' expands on the current story. There's a lot to expand on the story of Ru Hua in the brothel, as well as the things in the Twelfth Young Master's family. The focus of the movie is on the two of them, but in fact, there's a lot of content that can be expanded on the two of them."

After Li Quansen said that, Lu Yanhe also realized what was going on.

Li Quansen's sudden mention of adapting the story into a TV series was not a spur-of-the-moment decision, but rather a result of having already planned how to adapt it before bringing it up with him.

In fact, it is not uncommon for TV series to be adapted into movies or movies to be adapted into TV series, and for the original plot to be modified while only the name or worldview concept is used.

This is being done all over the world.

Lu Yanhe did not refuse immediately, but fell into deep thought.

Lu Yanhe would be very happy to see the stories of "Lost in Thailand" and "Rouge" continue, especially the latter.

As Li Quansen said, "Rouge" is a story that focuses heavily on the main plot. In fact, it could have been much richer in detail than the original work. The most attractive aspect of this story is the decadent and eerie atmosphere of the era in which Ru Hua and Twelfth Master lived. The sense of atmosphere of that era presented in this film is something that many films of the same subject have failed to achieve.

Lu Yanhe also thought it would be good if it could be presented in a richer way.

However, with such excellent works already presented, whether he could present them in a more rich and diverse way was something that worried Lu Yanhe.

Li Quansen noticed Lu Yanhe's worry.

He said, "Although you don't have time to write the script yourself, I really hope you can serve as the art director for the adaptation and participate in the production of these two dramas. This way, you can personally oversee the quality."

Lu Yanhe paused for two seconds, then said to him, "Mr. Li, thank you for the invitation. I need to go back and think about this."

Li Quansen nodded, indicating his understanding, "No problem."

-

As Lu Yanhe stepped out of the Icefield Video Company building, his phone suddenly rang.

It was Chen Ziyan calling.

"Sister Ziyan?"

Lu Yanhe thought Chen Ziyan was calling to ask about his meeting with Li Quansen, but she didn't expect that what she said was completely different.

“Schmidt Lowry of Green Valley Films contacted me,” Chen Ziyan said. “He was determined to push ‘Road to Glory’ for this year’s awards season. He offered to do public relations for our acting awards as well, but hoped that we could sponsor part of the public relations expenses.”

"Huh?" Lu Yanhe asked in surprise, "What's going on?"

“In the United States, it is permissible for them to conduct public relations for awards,” Chen Ziyan said. “Moreover, every year companies that are in a good chance of winning an award will spend tens of millions of dollars on public relations. This has already become an industry, and there are even public relations companies in Hollywood that specialize in this.”

Lu Yanhe had heard about these things to some extent, but he had never learned about them in such detail.

In his simple understanding, awards should be objective and authoritative, not something that can be manipulated through public relations.

Chen Ziyan said, "The public relations system during the American awards season has very strict rules regarding permitted and prohibited behaviors. Bribery is absolutely forbidden. Don't get the wrong idea; just understand it this way. Every year, there are so many movies. People certainly won't watch every single one, and many movies are unknown to anyone. At this time, professional public relations professionals are needed to promote the film to those who are eligible to vote. This ranges from appearing on TV shows and giving interviews to buying advertisements in major media outlets, and even sending DVDs to judges to explain the film's merits and artistic value to influential people. These are the most common public relations methods. In addition, there are various parties and events that accompany the three or four months of the awards season."

Lu Yanhe nodded and said, "Okay."

Chen Ziyan said, "I communicated with Xingyu Entertainment, and they made it very clear that if you don't renew your contract with them, they definitely won't be willing to pay this public relations fee. Given your current situation, there's no need for you to renew your contract with Xingyu Entertainment. So, I'm here to ask for your opinion."

"Give me a PR performance award, will I be able to win it?"

“It’s almost impossible,” Chen Ziyan said. “Forget about winning awards, you’d even have a hard time getting nominations for a few prestigious awards. But I think since ‘Road to Glory’ is aiming for awards season, we can definitely take advantage of that. First, we can learn about the public relations strategies in advance and build the connections we need this time. Second, we can let some North American filmmakers know about us and recognize us because our performance in ‘Road to Glory’ is truly outstanding. Even if we don’t get any nominations, we can still get some influential media outlets, film critics, and even filmmakers to see our performance, which might help us build some fame.”

Lu Yanhe asked, "Then I think we can give it a try."

Chen Ziyan nodded and said, "Let's cover this public relations expense with our Linghe Film and Television Production Company."

Lu Yanhe said, "No need, just pay from my personal account."

If the payment is made by Linghe Film and Television Production Company, Chen Ziyan, as another major shareholder, will also suffer losses—although Lu Yanhe believes that Chen Ziyan certainly doesn't care about this amount of money, as she is much richer than him.

But Lu Yanhe felt that since it was for his public relations, and his agency relationship was no longer with Linghe, it was better to settle the score.

To avoid any economic disputes or conflicts was a principle that Lu Yanhe had established long ago, even if it meant taking a loss himself.

He already earns more than many people, so when it comes to finances, he'd rather suffer a loss himself than let others suffer a loss—it's not worth it to let two people who were originally on good terms drift apart over a small financial matter.

Chen Ziyan didn't waste any more words arguing with Lu Yanhe about this matter.

Lu Yanhe offered to pay for it himself, saying that he was fine with paying for it himself.

Chen Ziyan didn't plan to give out much at once.

This time, her goal was clear: to test the waters and see just how sophisticated the public relations practices during the American awards season really were.

To prepare for the future.

-

Just as it was confirmed that "Road to Glory" was preparing to compete in the North American awards season, "The Silent River" began its grand pre-broadcast promotion.

Although the drama "The Silent River" was described as a dual male lead drama, it actually focused on Zeng Qiao as the main character and Lu Yanhe as the supporting character.

When all the official announcements listed Zeng Qiao as the lead actor and Lu Yanhe as the second lead, Lu Yanhe's fans became dissatisfied. They argued that Lu Yanhe's status had now surpassed Zeng Qiao's, and that since it was a dual-male lead drama, why was the production team always listing Zeng Qiao as the lead?

Lu Yanhe saw some fans making a fuss on the official Weibo account, and he replied directly:

—Stop arguing. The contract clearly states that Brother Qiao is the lead actor, so isn't it normal for me to play the second lead? Let's not argue about this kind of thing, okay? Everyone is having a great time filming, and we get along very well. Let's not let these pointless disputes affect the harmony of our crew.

Lu Yanhe's quick reply and his attitude surprised many people.

In recent years, disputes over billing order have become commonplace, occurring almost every few months. Lu Yanhe is the first to directly and explicitly tell his fans to stop making trouble.

The key point is that Lu Yanhe's attitude was very open and generous, which earned him a lot of goodwill, although some fans were not very satisfied.

They felt they were fighting for Lu Yanhe's rights, so why did Lu Yanhe jump out and criticize them instead?

Even if Lu Yanhe was the second lead when he signed the contract, now, given Lu Yanhe and Zeng Qiao's current status in the industry, does Zeng Qiao still deserve to be the lead?

Lu Yanhe didn't want to pay any attention to this statement.

Immediately, some fans with this idea began to promote the following statement: Lu Yanhe's attitude was due to his personal relationship with Zeng Qiao, which forced Lu Yanhe to speak out. It was Zeng Qiao who used his personal relationship with Lu Yanhe to make things difficult for him.

This claim is unreliable and illogical, but some fans believe it and forward it, stating unequivocally that it must be true.

Lu Yanhe almost couldn't help but retort, "If you have delusions, go to the hospital for treatment," but then he felt that saying that would be a bit too much, so he held back.

At this time, some media outlets suddenly reported that after Zeng Qiao's starring role in "Deviance" was taken down, HP had purchased the exclusive global broadcasting rights for it.

This media outlet also had the remarkable ability to know the role Lu Yanhe played in the matter, saying: According to reliable sources, the collaboration between Deviation and HP this time was facilitated by Lu Yanhe.

Shortly after, HP also announced that Deviation would be released on October 12th.

"This film was indeed recommended to us by Lu Yanhe," HP Asia Pacific head admitted in an interview at a forum. "After our evaluation, we believe that 'Deviation' is a film that can resonate all over the world."

Now, Lu Yanhe's fans, who wanted him to make a name for himself, immediately stood up straight.

—Look, Zeng Qiao's movie "Deviation" even needs Lu Yanhe's help to sell it to HP to recoup its costs!

—How can Zeng Qiao be so shameless? He asked Lu Yanhe to help save the play "Deviation", and he still has the nerve to ask Lu Yanhe to play the second lead role for him.

—Lu Yanhe is so pitiful. He is too kind and always thinks of his friends. But do his so-called "friends" think of him?

...

These remarks infuriated Lu Yanhe.

He and Zeng Qiao were on good terms, with nothing going on, but this kind of sowing discord has turned things upside down.

Just as Lu Yanhe was getting angry, Zeng Qiao sent him a message: Yanhe, don't pay attention to what's being said online, don't take it to heart, the two of us know what's really going on.

Lu Yanhe felt even more guilty.

-

Meanwhile, Maxine's Jong Bon-seok was so angry about the news that his mouth was trembling.

Lu Yanhe also recommended this work to him, and he was also interested in buying it. After all, "The Silent River," starring Zeng Qiao and Lu Yanhe, was broadcast on Maxine. If "The Silent River" did well, then "Deviance" could benefit from the popularity of "The Silent River."

However, Tom White offered a higher price, and HP snatched "Deviance" away. Now, they're deliberately releasing it a few days after "The Silent River"—their attempt to ride on the coattails of "The Silent River" is crystal clear.

Zhong Benshuo was furious.

At this time, it was seen that Zeng Qiao and Lu Yanhe were being slandered and defamed by many fans because of some trivial matters.

Zhong Benshuo quickly came up with an idea.

(End of this chapter)