Chapter 975 Male Producer and Actress
"Ma Zhiyuan".
Zhou Pingan looked at him quietly and calmly.
"I don't care what you do next, but I advise you that, given the current situation, you'd better calmly think about what you have and what you're facing. Your experiences over the past few years should have taught you that going crazy and giving up will only make your situation worse."
"I'm happy to remain neutral for two reasons. First, I'm your agent, and I won't let my reputation be affected; that's my professional ethics. Second, you're still making money for the company. Even though you've been badly attacked, it doesn't stop you from earning money. For that alone, you should thank me for my leniency."
"Next, if you want to see me, make an appointment with my assistant first. My time is very valuable, and I can't deal with your emotional problems every time. If you're smart, you should obediently stand at attention and take the beating, let everyone criticize you for a few years, and when everyone is tired of criticizing you, if you're still here, maybe the situation can be reversed."
Zhou Ping'an's eyes gradually turned cold.
Ma Zhiyuan's heart sank as well—
He rarely felt that way.
rare.
-
The National Day film season has come to a dramatic close amidst a nationwide online outcry against Ma Zhiyuan.
"Scumbag, Stay Away From Me!" achieved a box office of 314 million yuan, becoming a true dark horse.
Although Li Yuefeng's "Corpse 2" didn't generate as much buzz as "Scumbag," it still managed to gross nearly 200 million yuan at the box office, thanks to the success of its predecessor and positive reviews.
Judging from the box office trend, "The Corpse 2" should have a better long-term performance than "The Scumbag".
However, it's still uncertain which company will ultimately have the highest total box office.
A difference of 100 million is quite significant for the scale of these two films.
However, Li Yuefeng was already satisfied.
His starring film did not flop. As usual, Linghe released a report at the end of the National Day holiday, celebrating the box office success of "Corpse 2". The film made a profit solely based on the box office performance during the National Day holiday.
Li Yuefeng particularly enjoys collaborating with Linghe. Besides Linghe's excellent project quality control, there's another crucial reason: Linghe never inflates costs or exaggerates production figures, and they don't need to conceal false production expenses to deceive investors, thus avoiding the need to admit they've made a profit.
Some actors have starred in films that have grossed over two billion yuan, yet the production companies still claim they're losing money.
In the media's mouth, it became that the actor was no good.
"..."
-
Yu Jiang's company is the same in this respect.
She keeps the cost of each of her films very low.
So, although her movies usually only gross 100 to 200 million yuan, and sometimes only tens of millions when they don't perform well, they still make a profit.
However, Yu Jiang rarely issues reports on the success of his films, nor does he often promote the profits of his movies.
Regarding the film "Scumbag, Stay Away From Me!", Yu Jiang only said in a media interview: "Yes, the box office of this film did exceed our expectations, and we are also considering whether to make a sequel."
Will Ma Zhiyuan return to the lead role? Have you heard about the recent negative comments about Ma Zhiyuan online?
“It’s impossible not to see it, given how popular it is.” Yu Jiang smiled helplessly. “To be honest, I have mixed feelings right now. When I was working on the ‘Scumbag’ project, I did search for a long time among all the male actors before I found Ma Zhiyuan. My collaboration with him was actually quite smooth, and I didn’t encounter any of the problems that are circulating online.”
"So, do you think all the accusations against Ma Zhiyuan circulating online are false?"
“How could that be? Didn’t he apologize on live stream? Don’t try to trap me. I don’t mean to clarify anything for him. I’m just talking about my own experience with Ma Zhiyuan, based on my collaboration with him,” Yu Jiang said. “People exhibit different behaviors at different stages, especially in certain situations where their psychology can become distorted due to various reasons, such as jealousy. I myself have experienced similar situations. So, I can only say that I’m much more tolerant than before.”
Will Ma Zhiyuan return for the second installment?
"We haven't entered the stage of discussing actor selection yet." In other words, we're still observing the situation.
Yu Jiang's statement is also normal.
Given the current situation, she cannot give a definite answer.
Yes—that would mean going against the general trend of public opinion.
No—it would make her seem like she's betraying her benefactor, since the box office success of "Scumbag" was largely due to Ma Zhiyuan.
-
The day after Yu Jiang gave this interview happened to be the day of the opening ceremony for "Summer Night Villa Horror 2".
Originally, this movie didn't have a start-up ceremony.
It was added temporarily.
The reason for adding this segment is to leverage the current level of attention to announce to everyone that Xu Qinyin will join "Summer Night Villa Horror 2" as the lead actress in the second installment.
Because negotiations with Chen Jing are still ongoing, the news of his participation will not be announced at this press conference.
When the movie is released, it can be used as an Easter egg to surprise everyone.
Commercial films like "Summer Nights in the Villa 2" need some Easter eggs to generate buzz.
Just like the Spider-Man movie starring Tom Holland, Aunt May's return became a huge topic. In reality, it wasn't that important to the movie's content itself, but it was of great significance to fans of the Spider-Man IP.
-
Lu Yanhe attended the opening ceremony of "Summer Night Villa Horror 2".
He said, "Like Corpse 2, Summer Night Villa Horror is a homegrown film IP. It is also one of the two original films launched by Linghe. I did not write the script or provide the idea. It was entirely selected by Chen Yin from hundreds of silent scripts. Starting from a small budget, Corpse 2 just achieved a good box office result during the National Day holiday. Now Summer Night Villa Horror 2 is about to start filming."
A reporter at the scene asked, "You previously tagged Wang Jing on Weibo, saying that she would be starring in a movie called 'The Hunger Games.' What's the current status of that movie?"
Lu Yanhe replied, "We are currently in preparation. Since 'The Hunger Games' is a Hollywood film to be shown worldwide and is also a four-part series, a lot of work needs to be done in the early stages of preparation. Please help us promote 'Summer Night Villa Horror' in the meantime."
"What are your expectations for 'Summer Night Villa Horror 2'?" a reporter immediately asked.
Lu Yanhe said, "The first 'Summer Night Villa Horror' achieved unexpected box office success. For the second film, I have higher expectations for its reputation than its box office performance. I hope it can win the audience's praise and allow the series to continue. After all, there are so many villas in the world, right?"
"Your films have won Best Actor and Best Actress awards for many actors. Wang Jing has always been considered one of the best actresses among the younger generation. Do you think 'Summer Night Villa Horror 2' can win her a Best Actress award?"
Lu Yanhe turned and glanced at Wang Jing.
Wang Jing gave him a helpless smile.
It seems she encounters this problem frequently.
Lu Yanhe realized what was happening and said, "Winning an award requires the right timing, location, and people. With Wang Jing's acting skills and strength, she doesn't need to rely on me or 'Summer Night Villa Horror' to win an award. She is not an actress who has to rely on a certain film to win an award. As long as the opportunity comes, she can win an award with any work or any role."
Wang Jing showed immediate shock and surprise.
Lu Yanhe's high praise drew gasps of amazement from everyone present.
However, some media outlets stirred up trouble.
"What is your opinion of Xu Qinyin? This time, she co-starred with Wang Jing in this movie, which is also Xu Qinyin's first time starring in a movie in several years. What considerations did Linghe have in mind that made him think she could still attract audiences to the cinema?"
“Of course, it’s about how well she fits the role,” Lu Yanhe said. “Xu Qinyin almost worked with Li Zhibai before, and I started paying attention to her then. She is a remarkable woman and an outstanding actress, without a doubt. So, I don’t think we should always put her in various competitive contexts when discussing her. That’s not fair to her. Unlike me or Wang Jing, she can’t devote herself wholeheartedly to her acting work at this stage. In fact, if we look back at Xu Qinyin’s work over the past few years, who dares to say that they could do better than her in the same situation?”
Xu Qinyin's eyes reddened on the spot.
Wang Jing took her hand.
"In the future, our Linghe projects will not only focus on male-centric or female-centric projects, but also on projects with two male leads, two female leads, and even ensemble casts," said Lu Yanhe. "Although I know everyone enjoys seeing some lead actors fight in a project—the drama is always exciting—please believe me, most of the time, at least in my projects, the actors are excellent. This excellence is reflected in their character and personality. I will not compromise on other aspects of a collaborator just to pursue some viewership or some outstanding acting skills. Whether it's diva behavior or malicious competition, I don't like it. After all these years, everyone knows what I am and what Linghe's projects are like."
-
As expected, the press conference for the start of filming of "Summer Night Villa Horror 2" went very smoothly.
The media response has also been very positive.
The film trended on several hot search lists, and public opinion monitoring shows that interest in the movie is on the rise.
Linghe has already made plans to re-release "Summer Night Villa Horror" on New Year's Eve this year.
The box office revenue from the re-release isn't the main point; the main point is that several of the lead actors from the first film will use this as a pretext to appear on Yuehu TV's New Year's Eve gala to promote the sequel.
Even though two of the most popular young actors from the first film—Zou Xuan and Jiang Ting—did not return for the sequel.
Because apart from the female lead played by Wang Jing, all the other characters in the second part are completely new.
This year, both Zou Xuan and Jiang Ting passed the college entrance examination and were admitted to art colleges.
Both of them are signed with Shi Huo and are Shi Huo's contracted artists.
However, according to Shi Huo's arrangement, they will basically not be given any acting roles during their freshman and sophomore years. Instead, they will have time to study hard at school and build a solid foundation.
Of course, we can't just watch our fame and exposure disappear.
Becoming famous is not easy, and opportunities are fleeting.
Therefore, Shi Huo will arrange quite a few jobs like the New Year's Eve party.
Especially a year later, their reunion as the main creators of "Summer Night Villa Horror" can remind many viewers of them again.
Moreover, who knows if their characters will return for a third installment?
These are all uncertain things.
-
In October, Chen Yin came to find Lu Yanhe.
"Mr. Lu, which movie should we release during the Spring Festival season at the end of the year? Do you have any ideas?"
After the Home Alone series ended, Chen Yin had been hoping for a movie to take its place.
However, Lu Yanhe has not produced a script, and Chen Yin is at a loss.
Linghe also lacked suitable inventory.
Lu Yanhe said, "Forget it. If we really don't have any works in the Spring Festival slot, we won't release any this year. Why do we have to occupy this slot?"
Chen Yin said, "Because this is the most important period of the year."
"What's the status of the films we have?" Lu Yanhe asked. "Any suitable ones?"
"We can't decide the release date of 'Speed' in China; it has to be in line with the global release schedule. 'Summer Nights in the Villa 2' is not bad, but it just started filming, and the start date is so big. Even if we can finish post-production, it will still give people the feeling of being shoddy. This is an inherent disadvantage. 'The Fault in Our Stars' is about to start filming and can be edited, but during the Chinese New Year, who wants to watch a film about terminal illness? 'Scarlet' and 'The Diary of a Teen' are ready for release, but these are both low-budget, small-scale films and can't compete with the Chinese New Year market."
Chen Yin was very depressed.
Logically speaking, Linghe's filming pace has not slowed down at all over the years. However, with the Spring Festival approaching, he has no films to shoot, which is simply a joke.
All of Lu Yanhe's past film projects were aimed at Hollywood.
Although Linghe also participated in the investment and production, it was impossible for them to ignore the overseas market.
"..." Lu Yanhe looked at him speechlessly, "Do you want me to write a script for you right now, a movie that can be filmed and edited within a month?"
Chen Yin nodded immediately.
Do you think this is realistic?
Chen Yin nodded without hesitation.
Don't you think this is a huge pain for me?
Chen Yin said, "For Linghe, the Spring Festival film season is a battleground that all strategists must contend for."
"..."
Lu Yanhe fell into hesitation and deep thought.
(End of this chapter)
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