Chapter 926 Big Explosion
No one expected that The Notebook would achieve such a devastating box office performance.
All media outlets are using the term "huge success" to describe the box office success of "The Notebook".
The main reason is that this is a completely romantic movie.
There was no layering of comedy, and it wasn't integrated with other elements.
This pure love story, which was considered by major production companies as "unlikely to produce high box office returns," was brought to life again by Lu Yanhe.
According to box office analysis, in North America, 17% of the audience who chose to see "The Notebook" were there because of Claire Taylor and Glenn Rivers, two stars who have been retired from acting for many years, while 34% went to the theater to take "kissing photos" in the cinema.
Of course, box office analysis agencies also pointed out that the data for "kissing photos in cinemas" was higher when sampling because those who chose this option were often two or even four people (couples on a date).
However, whatever the reason, it is inextricably linked to Lu Yanhe.
Whether it's using former superstars who have been retired from the film industry for many years to attract middle-aged and elderly audiences to watch this love story of young people, or the "kissing photos in the cinema," they all come from Lu Yanhe.
Lily Williams and Martin Dylan instantly became Hollywood's most talked-about on-screen couple, and as with all romantic movies, audiences were curious whether the two had sparked a romance during filming.
At this point, neither side's management team will come out to "pour cold water" on the situation.
Everyone understands that this is the best time to attract fans and increase brand awareness.
The box office success of "The Notebook" led Midoriya to announce that "Love is Not Blind" would be re-released on a small scale a week later.
Why?
Both of these films are about love, and both of their screenplays were written by Lu Yanhe.
Indeed, The Notebook brought a lot of attention to Love is Not Blind.
However, the two films are actually quite different in style. The former leans towards timelessness and the past, while "Love is Not Blind" is entirely based on the present and has a lighthearted urban style.
However, this does not prevent some viewers from liking both "The Notebook" and "Love is Not Blind".
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"Lu Yanhe has achieved another box office miracle in Hollywood. No matter the release date, subject matter, lead actor, or director, nothing can stop the god of box office from favoring him."
“People often regard directors as the auteurs of films, but Lu Yanhe has made himself an exception through a series of successes.”
"The top executives at Soren are probably going to pop champagne to celebrate. They secured three projects from Lu Yanhe with a lucrative contract. What seemed like an unbelievable $120 million back then, Lu Yanhe earned back for Soren with just one film, 'The Notebook.'"
"However, based on the contract details we have learned, I'm afraid Soren will regret agreeing that the rights to these three films would revert to Lu Yanhe himself ten years after their release. Judging from the current ratings from the media and audiences, I believe this will be a decision that Soren will deeply regret ten years from now. But they should be satisfied, shouldn't they? For Soren, this is still a huge profit."
...
If it weren't for the fact that it was so difficult to develop a sequel to this movie, Lu Yanhe felt that Soren would probably bombard him with phone calls, trying every possible way to get him to authorize the development of a sequel.
The film "The Notebook" brought him back into the public eye after a period of relative peace.
The Notebook, which no one took seriously, and which everyone thought had the upper limit for the box office of romance movies, shattered everyone's expectations.
Is it the success of the film itself, or the success of its nostalgic positioning and marketing strategies?
For a time, every film company was analyzing the film's success, trying to find a path that could be replicated.
Just like they tried to replicate Home Alone and Get Out in the past.
The film's huge success has even led many to speculate whether it will be on the horizon for the year-end awards season.
To some extent, the film's artistic value isn't particularly high; it's simply a classic, touching love story. However, it achieved phenomenal box office success, creating a sensation. The performances of Lily Williams and Martin Dylan also received unanimous acclaim.
Not long after the discussion, Soren announced that they would do everything they could to promote The Notebook during the awards season at the end of the year.
Soren's move was not surprising.
In fact, it could be said that this was something that could have been predicted long ago.
As a rising star in Hollywood, what Soren urgently needs to do is to make a name for himself in Hollywood.
Now that a blockbuster like "The Notebook" has been released, it's impossible not to try and win an Oscar to further enhance its prestige.
However, it's uncertain how many votes "The Notebook" will receive during awards season.
To date, the film has received lukewarm reviews from critics.
Many people acknowledge its success, but believe that it is based on Lu Yanhe's accurate grasp of the market, rather than his accurate grasp of the subject matter.
"Lu Yanhe saw the market's demand for this type of romance film and the nostalgia brought about by the scarcity of this genre in this era. However, to be fair, this was a success in terms of commercial strategy and vision, not in terms of art."
Even before the awards season PR battle has begun, there are already many voices attacking the mediocrity of the love story in "The Notebook".
Lu Yanhe refuses all media interviews.
He also advised Soren to remind all the key members of the creative team not to respond to or retaliate against these voices.
Now whatever Lu Yanhe says is considered an "imperial decree," and everyone in Soren complies with it.
After The Notebook grossed over $300 million worldwide in its first two weeks, everyone realized that the negative reviews had no impact on the film's box office performance—in other words, no impact on the audience who bought tickets.
It wasn't until this point that some of Soren's high-ranking officials belatedly realized what was happening.
This film is positioned as a commercial romance, not an art film aiming for awards. Let critics criticize; it won't affect the overall outcome. Whether it's artistic enough is not something the target audience needs to consider. Few viewers who choose to see this film are there for its artistic merit.
What they want to see has absolutely nothing to do with so-called art.
However, if the creators retaliate or respond, these topics may escalate, and the audience's attention may be diverted.
Let's see what Lily Williams has been mainly saying in her recent promotional campaigns.
She talked about her parents' love story, her childhood dreams of love, the influence of classic Hollywood romance films on her, her feelings while filming this movie, and the various interesting anecdotes that happened while filming scenes with Martin Dylan.
This is the impression the film's creators wanted to convey to the audience.
The impression this film aims to leave on the audience.
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At the end of June, a small incident suddenly occurred, causing a huge uproar—
Yin Xincheng, who had just gotten married, released a statement saying that due to personality clashes discovered during their married life, and after three months of trying to work things out, they finally reached an agreement that they could no longer maintain the marriage and would divorce amicably.
A sudden marriage, and a sudden divorce.
It's like child's play.
For a moment, everyone was stunned and didn't know how to view this matter.
Yin Xincheng did not respond further.
Huang Yunlan, however, went live that very evening.
The entire live chat was filled with comments about why she and Yin Xincheng divorced.
Huang Yunlan couldn't say a word—the agreement she signed with Yin Xincheng stipulated that neither she nor anyone else around her could answer any questions about Yin Xincheng, nor could they disclose anything about the two of them to the outside world.
Huang Yunlan went live, but with red eyes and tears streaming down her face, she kept saying, "Don't ask me anymore, I can't say anything, I signed an agreement."
Huang Yunlan gained 230,000 followers in one night.
When Lu Yanhe saw this news report, he was completely stunned.
ha?
This can actually gain followers?
The next day, Huang Yunlan did the same thing again and started a live broadcast, but this time she finally stopped repeating that she couldn't talk about it.
Ignoring the barrage of questions about Yin Xincheng in the comments section, she earnestly shared her observations about the entertainment industry with everyone.
She talked about the real and fake couples in the entertainment industry that she knew.
They didn't name names.
But the less names are mentioned, the more speculation and discussion it sparks.
The heat was like a pot boiling over.
The attention it garnered skyrocketed.
Lu Yanhe: "..."
In the Friends group chat, Zhan Yun took the initiative to chime in, tagging Yin Xincheng and saying: Your ex-wife doesn't seem like someone to be trifled with.
Yin Xincheng: ...
Bai Jin: I guess many people think that the things Huang Yunlan said were things you told him, right? I've seen many people online making that guess.
Zhan Yun: Otherwise, with Yin Xincheng's ex-wife revealing inside stories of the entertainment industry, who wouldn't connect this to Yin Xincheng?
Yan Liang: @Yin Xincheng, what was the confidentiality agreement you signed with her?
Yin Xincheng: Sigh, don't say anything. If she does this, as long as we don't name names, we won't be able to hold her accountable.
Lu Yanhe: Those who do many evil deeds will surely perish, but what she did is not a bad thing for you. The fact that you two suddenly divorced is strange. If Huang Yunlan hadn't come out to do a live broadcast so quickly, the public's sympathy might have been more inclined towards her. After all, you are a celebrity, and she is just an ordinary person, and a woman. More or less, people would feel that you have let her down. After these two live broadcasts, some doubts have already arisen online about whether she is just trying to make a living by generating traffic.
Bai Jin: Yan He is right. She rushed out to do live streaming, which is unseemly. The public is not stupid.
Lu Yanhe: Anyway, you've already divorced her. In the short term, people in this industry might have some complaints about you, but... you deserve it, just bear with it.
Zhan Yun: Yan He is right, you deserve it.
Yin Xincheng: I won't become the public enemy of the entertainment industry, will I?
Lu Yanhe: That depends on how much trouble your ex-wife can cause. If you can't control her behavior, it's better to cut ties completely.
Yin Xincheng: I don't want to be associated with her at all. When I think back on everything we did together, I realize I was completely played by her.
Bai Jin: Yin Xincheng, I've discovered that you do have one redeeming quality: you're willing to admit your own stupidity.
Yin Xincheng: Are you going to keep attacking me one by one like this?
Yan Liang: I'm afraid you won't understand if we don't put it so bluntly.
Wen Minglan: You really brought this on yourself.
Yin Xincheng: I was wrong, I really know I was wrong, sigh...
Lu Yanhe: You'd better really know.
-
"This is really interesting." Meng Li shook her head with a smile and put down her phone. "As expected of the entertainment industry, you can see all sorts of strange things, even more dramatic than TV dramas."
Zhou Pingan sat opposite Meng Li.
He knew what Mengli was talking about.
"Just watch this from the sidelines and don't get involved."
"Why should I get involved? I have absolutely no connection with Yin Xincheng." Meng Li rolled her eyes and tapped her finger on the stacks of scripts printed in front of them. "The point is this, this script, you see it? Ning Yao's role is almost as big as mine. Although she is a contracted actress with Chen Pinhe's company, I am the female lead after all. It's in the contract."
Zhou Pingan smiled and said, "This script is only written temporarily; it will be revised later."
"Will it be changed?" Meng Li asked. "How will it be changed?"
“Your screen time will increase,” Zhou Ping’an said bluntly. “Ning Yao’s screen time will also increase, and the two of you will take away some of Chen Pinhe’s screen time.”
Mengli looked surprised.
"What's going on?"
"Zhang Yuezhen and Chen Pinhe seem to have had a falling out. Zhang Yuezhen wants to help Ning Yao get more screen time, but of course I won't agree to let her surpass you. So Zhang Yuezhen and I reached an agreement that Ning Yao's screen time would be equal to yours, but the drama would also change from the first season's Chen Pinhe as the main character to a three-line drama, and it would no longer be a male-centric drama."
Mengli tried hard to keep up with Zhou Ping'an's line of thinking, but couldn't.
"What?"
Zhou Ping'an: "Which part did you not understand?"
"I don't understand any of these parts. Is Zhang Yue really going to kick Chen Pinhe out?" Meng Li asked incredulously.
Zhou Ping'an nodded. "You're right. It doesn't necessarily mean she'll be kicked out, but it's clear that Zhang Yue really wants to show Chen Pinhe something: her influence. Of course, regardless of what conflict happened between them or whether they reconcile later, this is good for us. You already have a base of viewers from the first season, so the dramatic climaxes and character highlights of the second season will be more focused on you. If you seize the opportunity, your character will soar to new heights and become the most popular character in the show. It's not impossible for the series to become centered around you."
Mengli was shocked.
Are you kidding me?
Do you think I would joke about something like this?
“Even if Zhang Yue really wanted to step on Chen Pinhe, how could Chen Pinhe be so easily trampled on?” Meng Li said. “He was indeed the most popular core protagonist in the first season, and besides, would Maxine and Jingtai really bypass Chen Pinhe to buy into Zhang Yue’s true intentions?”
“Why are we worrying about this?” Zhou Ping’an said. “All I know is that if you want to replace Chen Pinhe in the ‘Seventeen Floors: Reboot’ series, Lu Yanhe, the other core creator of ‘Seventeen Floors,’ will definitely choose to support you and stand on your side.”
Meng Li said incredulously, "Don't you know how bad my relationship with Lu Yanhe is?"
Zhou Ping'an smiled slightly, confident and very certain, "That depends on who you're comparing yourself to."
(End of this chapter)
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