Chapter 1013: Firm Stance

Ye Zhining stared at the mobile phone with glowing eyes, while Luo Quan had her back to her, scrolling through her phone.

Playing on the phone for a while before going to bed every night had basically become her habit, but she didn't watch many short videos that everyone likes to watch. Usually, at this time, she would look at hot news at home and abroad.

Entertainment industry, political circles, folk, she would look at all kinds of news.

Accumulate more material so that she can have topics when chatting with fans.

And the recent domestic news basically revolved around the New Year.

Spring Festival Gala, Spring Festival travel rush, Spring Festival movie season; these three topics are the hottest every year.

In fact, these three topics all have symbolic meanings behind them, such as reunion, returning home, leisure, and relaxation, representing the happiest time of the year.

Unfortunately, in terms of the quality of the Spring Festival Gala in recent years, this period might not be that happy, and there might even be some things that are quite torturous.

Regarding the programs of the Spring Festival Gala, Luo Quan had already gone to Beijing to rehearse once. She had also seen several programs for this Spring Festival Gala in advance, and the level could only be described as indescribable.

Although there would be several more rehearsals later, and there might be a situation where programs are added a few days before the Spring Festival Gala.

But if there are no accidents, those dull and even slightly embarrassing programs she saw are very likely to be the programs that the whole country will watch on New Year's Eve.

Thinking about it now, I really feel sorry for the audience at the scene.

They cannot stay at home to eat the reunion dinner on New Year's Eve, and have to arrive at the scene for preparation from after four o'clock in the afternoon, and then stay up until twelve o'clock to go home.

During this period, they also have to listen to the director's command, forcibly applaud and cheer in every place needed, creating a festive and happy atmosphere.

Such a long period of hypocrisy is actually very easy to make people feel exhausted.

Last year, there was a situation where "the audience's expressions were indifferent" and they were mocked by netizens. I don't know if a similar situation will occur this year.

But Luo Quan analyzed from the perspective of an audience member who had been spoiled, the probability of this situation occurring is infinitely close to 100%.

Accusations, sarcasm, and abuse are meaningless, after all, the Spring Festival Gala will not change in any way because of her personal will.

As for the netizens, although they complain that the Spring Festival Gala is getting worse every year, they have grown up watching it, so they have some nostalgia, so they look forward to it bringing them surprises every year.

Complain as they may, they still have to watch it.

As for another hot topic—the Spring Festival movie season, it still looks quite worth looking forward to at the moment.

I remember some time ago she just finished saying that the domestic film market would enter a long period of decline, and also said that the previous prosperity was an abnormal situation, suspected of money laundering and other criminal acts.

Such a violent theory received some support, but also harvested quite a lot of scolding. Many practitioners in the film industry said she was talking nonsense and telling ghost stories.

And the lineup of this Spring Festival movie season also gave them enough courage to refute Luo Quan.

This Spring Festival movie season has three movies worth looking forward to. One is "The Wandering Earth 2," the sequel to the domestic sci-fi box office myth "The Wandering Earth."

While retaining Wu Jin, they also invited Liu Tian to play another protagonist, and there were also a group of veteran actors participating, and the special effects cost a huge amount of money.

According to some sources who did not want to be named, the cost of "The Wandering Earth 2" this time is about 1 billion RMB!

If it is true, then this should be the highest peak of domestic film production costs. As for whether it can become the highest peak of the box office, it is estimated that it depends on the specific performance of the movie.

However, with the first one as a foundation, as long as the plot is not particularly outrageous, it is estimated that the box office will easily exceed 3 billion.

But for a movie to explode, besides the quality itself being excellent, it actually depends more on luck.

Like the movies on the domestic box office list now, to say how good they are, actually it's not necessarily so. They are generally around 7.0 on Douban, belonging to good films above the passing line, not masterpieces.

But because of the follow-up viewing caused by the explosive word-of-mouth during the release period, they have such a high box office.

And the reason why they can cause the public to follow the trend is because these movies have the potential to explode, so a little bit of movement can immediately soar.

And some movies, although filmed very well, are perfect in all aspects, and can even become textbooks for film academies, but they don't have this potential, so the box office is destined not to explode.

The most typical one is the "Farewell My Concubine" she filmed the year before last. At that time, major media spared no effort to praise it, and the Douban score once reached as high as 9.9. No one who had seen the movie didn't say it was good.

But the final box office harvest was only less than 2 billion.

Although with the production cost of less than 70 million for "Farewell My Concubine," taking 1.9 billion at the box office is already a model of winning big with small, but there are quite a few fans who are not particularly interested in art films.

These loyal fans actually don't care what Luo Quan is filming, even if it's a bad movie, they will still go to the cinema to watch it. If it were directed by someone else, the box office of "Farewell My Concubine" would probably be several hundred million less.

Of course, a box office of more than 1 billion is already very exaggerated for an art film, but this is based on it being the winner of the Cannes Golden Palm Award.

For a work of this level, a box office of more than 1 billion is really not much.

However, it is precisely because of the lack of potential to explode, so no matter how well "Farewell My Concubine" is filmed and how many people praise it, the box office can only be stuck in that neither high nor low position.

And "The Wandering Earth 2," even if it hasn't been released yet, already has the potential to explode.

After all, its predecessor is still the fourth in the domestic film box office list until now. After the second part upgraded the special effects and actor lineup, it must be aiming to break the record.

However, the competitive pressure of "The Wandering Earth 2" this time is not small. The work "Empty River Blue" filmed by Director Zhang after a year of silence will be its biggest competitor.

In terms of actors, "Empty River Blue" also has film emperors, and they are all powerful actors with great popularity. The box office appeal is not much worse than the combination of Wu Jin and Heavenly King Liu.

In terms of directors, Director Zhang's fame doesn't need to be said. One of the leading figures of Chinese directors, the 2008 Olympics was directed by him. It is said that the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics will also be his responsibility. This status is not generally high.

However, compared to sci-fi special effects like "The Wandering Earth 2," "Empty River Blue" takes the suspense and comedy route.

The latter is definitely more pleasing than the former, because not everyone has enough knowledge reserves to understand those physical concepts, and not everyone is willing to calm down to pay attention to and analyze every detail in the movie.

So it is very likely that "The Wandering Earth 2" will be well-received but not popular, and that is on the premise that its quality cannot be worse than the first one.

Standing still and retreating may lead to the collapse of the word-of-mouth of "The Wandering Earth 2," and then the box office will follow suit.

Luo Quan was scrolling through her phone, seeing fans asking her to make a prediction for the box office of this Spring Festival movie season.

She is not a god, and she hasn't seen the movie, so how could she predict something that hasn't happened?

However, there is one topic she thinks can be mentioned:

"Compared to Director Zhang's 'Empty River Blue,' what I am actually more concerned about is 'The Wandering Earth 2.'

If it is really as rumored, its production cost is 1 billion RMB, then it needs at least 3 billion at the box office to break even.

As an unprecedented sci-fi masterpiece, if its box office explodes, it will inevitably lead to a wave of follow-up sci-fi special effects blockbusters.

By then, everyone who wants to follow the trend will derive a formula from "The Wandering Earth 2," which is powerful actors plus excellent scripts plus top special effects = making big money.

If this virtuous cycle can be established, then we may be able to see many domestic sci-fi masterpieces in the future. This is a super stimulant for the domestic film industry and may have milestone significance.

But if its box office is bleak, or not as expected, then domestic sci-fi can basically be sentenced to death.

Everyone says that "Shanghai Fortress" closed the door to domestic sci-fi. I think this is completely a fallacy.

Because for a bad movie that was already stinking, it deserves to flop at the box office, and naturally it will not affect the entire industry.

But if a movie with excellent quality encounters a cold market, it will give a signal to the capital side that people here don't buy this, and filming the same type of movie is equivalent to losing money.

Without investment, it is very, very difficult to rely solely on generating electricity with love.

So don't look at the high popularity of "The Wandering Earth 2" now. If it really flops, the blow it brings will also be devastating.

Of course, the premise is that its quality must be very good. If it is as bad as "Shanghai Fortress," then it deserves to flop."

As a practitioner, and a practitioner who has won many international awards, Luo Quan certainly won't just focus on the shallow issue of box office.

The ecology and development of the entire industry are the most worth chatting about.

And her analysis of "The Wandering Earth 2" also made many sci-fi fans vigilant.

Originally, they just wanted to watch a sci-fi blockbuster happily during the New Year to wash their eyes that had been polluted by "Shanghai Fortress" before.

But I didn't expect "The Wandering Earth 2" to shoulder such an important mission.

But thinking about it carefully, it really is. If the quality of the little broken ball is really high, but the box office is not ideal, then domestic sci-fi blockbusters will probably be in trouble.

Originally, these sci-fi fans were prepared to wait for the evaluation of the first day to come out before considering whether to buy tickets. After being told this by Luo Quan, they immediately pre-ordered a movie ticket.

And Luo Quan also knew early on that such a situation might occur, so she immediately posted another dynamic:

"Everyone, don't misunderstand. I am just simply predicting the situation that may happen in the future. It is purely a personal opinion, not a promotion for 'The Wandering Earth 2,' so everyone don't consume impulsively. It is still necessary to look at the word-of-mouth after the release before making a choice."

However, this dynamic should have been posted together with the previous one. Now that it is added, many people have already finished being impulsive.

"I don't care, I've already bought the ticket anyway. If I get pitted, I can spray you then. Dog head. jpg"

The netizens in the comment section were joking, just don't know how many people will take it seriously when the time comes.

And just when Luo Quan was made a bit helpless by these comments, she suddenly noticed a hand groping on her neck behind her.

For the vast majority of people, the neck belongs to a very sensitive part. It's nothing when you touch it yourself, but it's itchy when others touch it.

Luo Quan belongs to this type. After her neck was touched, she subconsciously lowered her head, clamped the hand with her chin, but quickly let go, and then turned around:

"Your Majesty, what are you doing!"

Ye Zhining giggled: "Don't be nervous, my beloved concubine, I'm just doing an experiment."

"What experiment?" Luo Quan looked suspicious. What kind of experiment requires touching her neck?

Ye Zhining explained: "I heard that the Flawless Glazed Body will become incredibly tender and smooth after encountering water. You just took a bath, so I wanted to see if it was true."

"Then Your Majesty, you could have just said it directly." Luo Quan scratched her arm, it seemed that the skin texture felt a bit better than usual.

But it could also be that the skin was dry before, and became more moist after taking a bath.

"It was my abruptness." Ye Zhining apologized, but the smiling appearance had no sincerity at all.

But as an Empress, it was already very rare to be able to apologize, and Luo Quan couldn't care too much.

"By the way, my beloved concubine, where am I sleeping tonight?" Ye Zhining had already reached the position of sleeping in the same bed with Luo Quan without knowing it.

Two pillows, placed on the left and right.

Luo Quan frowned: "Your Majesty is a body of ten thousand gold, how can you spend the night in this bitter cold place of mine? Better find another high-end, atmospheric, and classy residence."

"No matter." Ye Zhining waved her hand, "I can endure this hardship. My beloved concubine just needs to give me a pillow, a quilt, and a little space."

"Your Majesty doesn't really intend to sleep in the same bed with me, right?" Luo Quan didn't think much, directly picked up the pillow and quilt, and prepared to make a floor bed.

"Hey... my beloved concubine, why don't you trust me?" Ye Zhining hurriedly pulled Luo Quan, "I am an Empress who keeps her word. Since I promised, I naturally won't break it.

Besides, I and my beloved concubine are both women, what's wrong with sleeping in the same bed?"

"Seems to make sense indeed." Luo Quan said softly.

With Empress Ye's ability, if she really didn't keep her promise, wouldn't it be whatever she wanted if she fixed herself?

Now that she didn't do that, it was still worth trusting.

So, Luo Quan hugged an extra quilt from the cabinet.

Actually, with the Empress's cultivation, Luo Quan didn't quite understand why she wanted to cover herself with a quilt.

Not to mention that the air conditioning was on in the room, and it wasn't very cold.

Even if she were put in Siberia, the Empress shouldn't have any problems.

However, as the Empress undressed, Luo Quan realized that a quilt was indeed quite important.

When she came, the Empress was wearing a bright yellow fine-sleeved dragon robe. After untying the belt, inside was a golden lining and underpants.

It can be regarded as modern people's thermal underwear. Originally, it was almost the same here, but I didn't expect the Empress to continue taking it off.

After the lining and underpants were also taken off, only a very eye-catching bellyband remained on the Empress's body. ===== CHAPTER 1014 =====