Chapter 935 August
At that very moment, Variety magazine suddenly reported:
Liu Bige is currently in talks with Lu Yanhe to star in the film "The Moon Army".
The news sent movie fans around the world into a frenzy.
Is it true or false?
Is it possible?
Domestically, many people also sent messages to Lu Yanhe to confirm the authenticity of the news.
Lu Yanhe was momentarily at a loss for words.
He hesitated for a moment, then made a call to Darren Wilson.
Darren Wilson soon responded to the matter through The New York Times:
Lu Yanhe has indeed received an offer to star in the film and is currently discussing the possibility with Liu Bige. If a suitable direction can be found in the creative process, the possibility of starring in the film cannot be ruled out. However, one thing is certain: Lu Yanhe will not appear in the film as a member of the Lunar Legion.
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"Why don't you want to join the Lunar Legion? Generally speaking, the actors who starred in the movie 'Lunar Legion' all aimed to become members of the Lunar Legion." Li Zhibai asked Lu Yanhe.
Lu Yanhe said, "I don't want to get too involved with it. On the other hand, the Lunar Legion is, to some extent, a mainstream American theme. Many people see it as the embodiment of the US military. I think I'd better not play a role in it."
Li Zhibai looked surprised.
"I've noticed that you have a really strong sense of this. If it were me, I wouldn't even think of this kind of issue. It's just a science fiction movie, isn't it?"
Lu Yanhe: "Actually, I might be overthinking it. As you said, it's a sci-fi film set in the interstellar era. But if you actually spend some time in the US, you'll realize what kind of significance this IP holds for Americans. It's like how works like 'Journey to the West' and 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms' are for us Chinese. To say they're part of our mainstream ideology would be a stretch, but to say they aren't is also a stretch. Honestly, it's only because they were created in ancient times. If they were set in the contemporary era, like 'Lunar Legion,' it's not necessarily true. To put it another way, can you accept a foreigner acting in these kinds of works?"
Li Zhi thought about it for a moment and nodded.
"Understood."
Lu Yanhe added, "Whether I act in 'The Moon Legion' or not, I think you should audition and see if you can get an important role."
"Didn't you just say that you shouldn't play a role in the Lunar Legion?"
“Not all the characters in this movie are from the Lunar Legion. Liu Bige plans to set up a planet with Chinese culture as its background in this movie he is directing. The whole story will take place on this planet, so a lot of Asian actors will be needed, and they will definitely be mainly Chinese actors.”
Li Zhibai understood and nodded.
“Even if I act in this one, I won’t continue to act in the subsequent ‘Lunar Legion’ series. However, some roles can still appear in later sequels,” Lu Yanhe said. “ ‘Lunar Legion’ will definitely help you further increase your popularity in Europe and America. For you at this stage, ‘Lunar Legion’ is a good place to make money.”
“That’s a good idea,” Li Zhibai laughed.
Lu Yanhe: "The auditions for this movie should be held in the country at that time."
"Can't Yuqian play the role?" Li Zhibai suddenly remembered.
"Liu Bige should have already talked to her about her role. Liu Bige is going to write a character who is a tribal princess, and he wants to invite Sister Yuqian to play the role. To be precise, there are two princesses. Sister Yuqian will play the eldest princess, and Liu Bige wants Wang Jing to play the role of a slightly younger princess," Lu Yanhe said. "These two princesses will also be characters in the main storyline."
"Has the script been written yet?"
"Not yet, it's still in the conceptual stage," Lu Yanhe said. "Currently, we're working on various plot development ideas based on the character Liu Bige designed for me."
"Wow, that's awesome! They've even started developing the storyline around your characters."
“Bolayi insisted that I participate in the film before he would support Liu Bige’s idea, so that’s the only way. I can’t possibly play a stereotypical villain.”
“Yes, that’s true.” Li Zhibai said very seriously, “If other people knew that a movie like ‘Lunar Legion’ was tailor-made for you in terms of roles and storylines, they would probably be so jealous that their eyes would turn red.”
Lu Yanhe: "That was also a matter of perfect timing, location, and people. If Liu Bige hadn't directed it, and if 'Godless' hadn't been a box office hit, such a thing wouldn't have happened."
Li Zhi nodded a hundred times.
"Oh right, I haven't told you yet. I'm currently working on a project called '100 Yuan Cafe,' and I'd like you to make a cameo appearance as Lu Yanhe."
"Sure, when?"
“Anytime is fine. You can come visit the set whenever you want and just take a few shots,” Li Zhibai said. “We want to include a reference to the movie ‘Love Letter’ in this drama.”
“Okay.” Lu Yanhe nodded.
Zhang Ruozhi and he appeared together again in "100 Yuan Cafe"?
Is it a reference to "Love Letter"?
Lu Yanhe laughed.
He asked, "So, in this drama, will I appear as Huai Jingshu or Lu Yanhe?"
“Of course it’s Lu Yanhe. Isn’t Huaijingshu already dead?” Li Zhi asked.
Lu Yanhe thought for a moment and said, "It's not impossible to make up for the regrets in 'Love Letter' in a parallel universe like '100 Yuan Coffee Shop'."
"Huh?" Li Zhi asked, "How can we make amends?"
Lu Yanhe said, "For example, I still make my entrance on a motorcycle, and then in the drama '100 Yen Cafe,' the character Zhang Ruozhi reminds me not to ride a motorcycle in dangerous places. It's probably a design like that. In 'Love Letter,' didn't Huai Jing Shu die because of speeding on the mountain?"
Li Zhibai nodded, "I understand, but isn't this too much of a rip-off of 'Love Letter'?"
"What does it matter? We've already appeared together again, so why would I care if it's just a cameo in 'Love Letter'?" Lu Yanhe said with a smile. "It's alright. Actually, it's good to be able to give everyone a shot like this in another drama. If the regrets of 'Love Letter' can bring some comfort to everyone in this way, isn't that a good thing?"
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"100 Yuan Cafe" is a drama series that Li Zhibai produced and controlled again after "Grass on the Grass", and it has attracted much attention.
In order to secure the exclusive broadcasting rights and the exclusive broadcasting window for this drama, Yuehu TV directly offered the same purchase price to Li Zhibai for two other dramas produced by his company.
Of course, the prerequisite is that "100 Yuan Cafe" is sold to them.
There are quite a few TV stations vying for the role in "100 Yen Cafe".
Ever since Lu Yanhe's drama popularized the concept of the television window period, several top-tier satellite TV stations have seemingly found a new way to survive, and advertisers have returned.
Of course, it can't compare to the heyday when TV stations had exclusive distribution channels; such a heyday will never come again.
However, this has given several top-tier television stations room to seek transformation in the cracks.
Besides television stations, video platforms are also fiercely competing for this drama.
Produced and starring Li Zhibai, this is the first TV series starring Zhang Ruozhi, the female lead of "Love Letter".
Judging from the two lead actors, this drama has the potential to be a hit.
Even if it doesn't become a hit, the commercial value of the two actors means that the advertising revenue from this drama will definitely not cause the platform to lose money.
The dramas starring the two of them are so popular that advertisers can send them sacks full of money.
In the end, Aurora Video and Icefield Video won the rights to this series.
These are all standard operating procedures.
Given the appeal of the name "Li Zhibai," it's perfectly normal for the company to achieve such commercial success.
Surprisingly, two overseas streaming services, Maxine and HP, also took notice of the show.
Grasshopper did perform well on HP, but to be fair, it wasn't to the point that they would pre-order it before 100 Dollar Cafe even started filming.
Tom White of HP personally flew to China to discuss the purchase of the show with Li Zhibai.
“We plan to promote this show not only in Asia, but also in Europe and America,” Tom White said. “Currently, Maxine has more users in Asia than we do, but as you know, Maxine releases at least 2-3 similar Korean, Japanese, and Thai dramas every month. I can promise you that we will promote this show according to global broadcast standards, and HP will not release a second romance drama during the week it is released.”
Li Zhibai was genuinely surprised that Tom White would make such a promise.
However, this promise is very valuable.
Li Zhibai is not only concerned about the purchase price—under Lu Yanhe's influence, Li Zhibai is now also very concerned about the other benefits he can get from a film or television production.
If "100 Yen Cafe" can achieve good viewership ratings on HP, then Lee Chih-pak will receive a boost beyond his salary.
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The overseas streaming rights for "100 Dollar Cafe" were sold to HP for $600,000 per episode, totaling $9.6 million.
This 16-episode Chinese drama recouped its production costs and began to make a profit before filming even started, thanks to pre-orders from these broadcasting platforms.
Moreover, in China, the drama "100 Yuan Cafe" also boosted the sales of two other dramas produced by Li Zhibai's company, alleviating their "slow sales" predicament.
That evening, Li Zhibai and Lu Yanhe were playing games together in their house near Ziyuan Bridge. Li Zhibai said to Lu Yanhe, "Now I understand how much pressure you usually face."
Lu Yanhe was somewhat surprised, "What's going on?"
“Everyone is optimistic about a project, offering high prices and showering it with attention, but deep down you know that it's all because of your past achievements, your current fame, and your commercial value endorsing the project,” Li Zhibai said. “You've unwittingly embarked on a path where only success is possible, and you can't bear the consequences of failure. People have already spent so much money upfront; if it fails, of course you won't lose money, you'll still profit, but do you know how much loss you've caused others? You also know that people won't trust you as much in your next project, and they might not even dare to buy your films anymore, or at least not at such high prices. But the problem is, you're not just responsible for yourself; you're also responsible for many others, and their interests will suffer because of you.”
Lu Yanhe smiled.
Hearing Li Zhibai's words, Lu Yanhe was deeply moved.
At one time, this was not a problem that Li Zhibaihui would have considered.
Even when making "Flying on the Grass", Li Zhibai was not worried about these things.
Lu Yanhe knew why Li Zhibai had become so worried and burdened with the "100 Yuan Cafe" project.
Because that's his family's company.
The success and failure of "100 Yuan Cafe" both affected his company.
Once the consequences are no longer primarily borne by oneself, the psychological burden immediately skyrockets.
They are all like that.
Lu Yanhe smiled but remained silent.
After finishing his game, Lu Yanhe said, "You're just not used to it, not that you can't handle it."
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As August arrived, Lu Yanhe, in addition to participating in the pre-release promotion of "Cloud 3", finally recorded a video with Li Zhibai and Yan Liang, announcing that they would hold a concert at the end of the month.
The concert will be held at the end of the month. In addition to the audience at the venue, those who did not buy tickets can also watch the live stream online on both Northern Lights Video and Icefield Video.
This concert will be a one-off event, featuring solo performances by each of the three artists, as well as group performances. Furthermore, they will also be performing several new songs during the concert.
All of them are new songs composed by Lu Yanhe.
While these three have already achieved great success as actors, few people actually notice that they also have another identity: singers.
Rumors of this concert had circulated before, but because there had been no updates, everyone forgot about it and assumed it was fake news.
No one expected that a bombshell announcement would suddenly drop—
The concert was actually true.
Only one event has been held so far!
Their fans were stunned—
They then began to rub their hands together, determined to get tickets to the concert.
To Lu Yanhe, Li Zhibai, and Yan Liang's surprise, a large number of people from the entertainment industry around them came to ask for tickets to their concert. Some wanted to come themselves, while others wanted their family members to attend.
The number of tickets reserved for relatives and friends by Lu Yanhe and his group was far from enough.
Tickets sold on ticketing platforms sell out in ten seconds as soon as they go on sale.
Completely destroying everything in its path.
To prevent scalping, tickets sold to the public require real-name registration for purchase and entry, and are non-transferable.
Even under these circumstances, those with money and ability still find it extremely difficult to get a ticket.
Suddenly, tickets for relatives and friends became more valuable than gold itself.
(End of this chapter)
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