Chapter 872

For a celebrity artist to shout the word "shrew" at their own fan in a public setting—regardless of whether this fan was truly a shrew—in a certain sense, this incident was destined to be fermented by major media outlets during their reporting with various "textual expressions." It was also destined that when this reached different people's ears, it would trigger varying degrees of derivative associations based on different people's stereotypes about celebrities, stereotypes about the word "shrew," and even stereotypes about the relationship between celebrities and fans, subsequently sparking all kinds of reactions.

Li Zhibai has never been a person who compromises.

His fans all know that he has lived a life of luxury since childhood, developed smoothly, and never encountered any major setbacks, let alone stumbled. Sometimes, it is unrealistic to expect him to compromise on something, especially under Lin Suyang's Weibo, where one can see Li Zhibai's fans leaving comments from time to time saying that Li Zhibai has a dog's temper and asking others to be more tolerant.

Every time Li Zhibai loses his temper—or perhaps one shouldn't be so absolute, most of the time—his fans actually have a mindset of "that's just the kind of person he is." This is almost a preconceived belief even before they understand the full picture, believing that even if Li Zhibai said the wrong thing, it's just because "that's the kind of person he is," so—let's just be a bit more tolerant.

Fortunately, in most cases, when Li Zhibai scolds people, he does so with a target, and when he loses his temper, he has a basis for it.

However, this time.

Because of the sudden news of being with Jiang Yuqian, Li Zhibai truly hurt the hearts of many core fans. Even the word "shrew" hit many of those core fans who hadn't spoken it aloud but indeed viewed themselves with a girlfriend mentality. In a sense, these two words were like a boomerang, hitting the "that's just the kind of person he is" mindset and shattering the fantasies they hadn't voiced.

At the end of the day, Li Zhibai, he, is in a relationship.

No one would believe that a young, handsome, and wealthy male star like Li Zhibai could remain chaste at such an age.

But it seems that in this era, whether it's male stars or female stars, especially those on the traffic route, because of the pathological paranoia about "purity" among a portion of the fan base, they, along with their management teams, deliberately blur this information. It's like the entertainment industry's version of Catch-22: whether they are single, whether they are virgins, whether they are single—all are in a state of "cannot ask, cannot answer."

Fans may not be unaware, but as long as the other party doesn't say it, they can deceive themselves and reach a tacit consensus.

You build a dream for me, I spend money for you, and together we create a castle in the air.

Li Zhibai has never built such a persona, and his scandals have never stopped, but he has never had a public girlfriend.

This point gave his fans the objective reality for their fantasies.

What if he really has never dated a girl before?

Even if Li Zhibai has expressed in countless interviews that he wouldn't stay single for the sake of his fans and that he isn't some pure-love warrior. But those were just words spoken; maybe he was just being stubborn?

People, after all, only listen to what they want to hear and only see what they want to see.

The media storm surrounding the two of them now seems to have become the focus of attention for gossip-mongers worldwide. The commotion caused by Li Zhibai's fans and Jiang Yuqian's fans domestically made Chen Yin breathe a long sigh of relief—judging from the current situation, the decision to release "Love is Not Blind" early was an absolutely correct choice. Their fans in the country are all too crazy; now there is even a large group of people flooding into rating websites to give this film bad reviews—

Merely because they believe Jiang Yuqian and Li Zhibai got together through this film.

And coincidentally, "Love is Not Blind" is one of those rare films that has many film buffs of its own.

Film buffs saw the fans of the two leads giving low ratings and hurting the film because of matters unrelated to the film itself, so they stood up one after another to defend the film and started a war with the fans of the two leads—of course, a war of words. Such a war of words cannot be elegant or controllable; it is bound to be filled with smoke, and a landmine could explode from anywhere.

"Love is Not Blind" was originally scheduled to be released on domestic video platforms at this time. But under such public opinion pressure, after multi-party discussions, it was decided to wait a bit longer. Let's see how "Love is Not Blind" performs in the overseas market first.

From this point of view, overseas is relatively better. Because Li Zhibai's fame and popularity overseas are far from comparable to those in the country, and there aren't so many so-called "girlfriend fans." And Jiang Yuqian's fans—

In fact, regarding such a relationship, most people are actually optimistic. Because Jiang Yuqian is beautiful and fashionable, she is an exotic goddess from the East in many people's minds. She didn't date a wealthy businessman but instead got together with a young, handsome male actor who is also a top superstar in China, which instead highlights her innocent side of "pursuing love"—

Strange to say, in the art world, such traits are often respected. For the general public, this is even more so. If a female star chooses love instead of marrying into a wealthy family, to some extent, people will more likely think you possess an artist's personality rather than being an ordinary, vulgar star.

Green Valley had originally set a very good opening plan for the promotion of "Love is Not Blind." But after the two suddenly exposed their relationship, bringing huge attention and traffic, Green Valley also realized that this film might be able to open up a new situation?

Green Valley's description of this film is: this is not an ordinary, conventional romantic comedy film.

In the end, "Love is Not Blind" secured an opening in 2,300 theaters—setting an opening record for a Chinese-language romance film in North America.

Not only that, other countries and regions in Europe also saw large-scale releases.

This brought a huge surprise to Lu Yan He; originally, this was what he wanted to achieve with "The Fault in Our Stars." A large-scale screening of a Chinese-language romance film in major markets around the world. It's also quite good that "Love is Not Blind" can serve as a pioneer to explore this market.

Li Zhibai and Jiang Yuqian attended local premieres in Los Angeles, New York, London, Paris, Hamburg, and Toronto one after another, doing relevant promotion for the film according to the traditional promotional model. The fact that their relationship exposure encountered boycotts from extreme fans also became a key point of attention during the promotional tour. Thanks to this, both Li Zhibai and Jiang Yuqian had sufficient channels to express their thoughts to their respective fans.

"I was impulsive at the time; I shouldn't have used such insulting language to scold a woman in a public setting," Li Zhibai also frankly admitted his mistake.

Anyway, no matter how much boycotting or anger there was, the exposure of him and Jiang Yuqian did not diminish at all. Domestic media kept transporting news back from overseas media, and under the strong exposure, it unexpectedly created an impression that the two were highly regarded and welcomed overseas.

An actor needs to maintain their own style; you cannot become famous through those sensationalist ways. That might make you very famous, but it's also easy to become a web celebrity who is looked down upon. And this also means that if an actor wants to become truly famous, they must rely on their work if they only depend on traditional paths. A representative work and a representative role are an actor's most iconic business card.

The global large-scale release of "Love is Not Blind" brought the two leads exposure from global first-tier media. Such exposure is orthodox and taken seriously. No matter how destructive the fans' commotion was, it didn't seem to affect their own careers. They were even thriving and doing well overseas. As time passed, the gossip-mongers lost interest, and the fans' energy was mostly vented; whether they quit being fans or stopped paying attention, such noise eventually gradually subsided.

The most critical thing is that the film "Love is Not Blind" was released in North America on Friday in over two thousand theaters, taking in a total of 2.15 million dollars at the box office. Subsequently, over the two days of the weekend, it took in nearly 4 million dollars more, achieving a total box office result of over 6 million dollars for the opening weekend, performing extremely well.

And in overseas markets outside of North America, the performance was even better, especially in the European region. The UK and France each contributed over 3 million dollars in opening weekend box office. For this romance film written by Lu Yan He and starring Jiang Yuqian, its unique style and expression attracted the attention and discussion of the critical community.

Judging from the current data, this film has the hope of reaching over 50 million dollars in box office overseas.

Compared to those blockbusters that easily make hundreds of millions of dollars, this number looks a bit small, however—

However, its existence is an unexpected joy. Before filming this movie, no one thought it could achieve such a box office figure overseas. It certainly wouldn't worry about overseas distribution; whether it's DVD or streaming media, relying on the names of Jiang Yuqian and Lu Yan He, it could sell for a good price. However, theaters, cinemas, audiences buying tickets one by one, reaching 50 million dollars in box office?

For a romance film, even in Hollywood, there aren't many films that can achieve such results every year.

Green Valley almost immediately bought the remake rights to "Love is Not Blind."

"This film is already in global distribution; if Green Valley remakes it into an English version, do they really think they can get a good box office?"

"The critical community has a very high opinion of the script for 'Love is Not Blind,' and you know, although it's a global release, it is after all a Chinese-language film. If they invite Hollywood first-tier stars to star in it and remake it into a small romantic piece, there is still profit to be made."

"I don't think anyone can adapt this film well."

"Who knows? It's a remake; they don't necessarily have to use the original material exactly as it is. The most critical thing is that the film 'Love is Not Blind' currently has a very good response in Europe and America, and the viewing advice given by major media is that it is worth watching."

……

The discussion caused by this film in Europe and America didn't even weaken because of the Academy Awards ceremony.

Although Jiang Yuqian and Li Zhibai did not attend the Academy Awards ceremony, they attended the AfterParty held by "Vanity Fair" afterward together.

The appearance of the two, with the added bonus of their relationship, brought huge exposure. No matter what era it is, dating is always eye-catching. The gene for gossip exists in every human being.

And the undiminished heat of the discussion was also reflected in the long-term box office trend of this film.

The box office trend of "Love is Not Blind" exceeded expectations by a lot. So much so that both Linghe and Green Valley were considering whether to have the "Love is Not Blind" crew hold a screening at the upcoming Xitu'er Film Festival. However, after evaluation, they abandoned this idea. The film is no longer unfamiliar to the public; screening it at a film festival at this time would not have much significance for the box office. On the contrary, "My Sassy Girl" was invited by Xitu'er, wanting to have this film make its global premiere at Xitu'er.

Chen Yin, after asking for Lu Yan He's opinion, refused.

The reason is that this film is not suitable for Xitu'er.

It's not just that film festivals have stereotypes about many filmmakers; filmmakers have the same stereotypes about film festivals.

Lu Yan He never thought that works with strong commercial appeal were suitable for premieres at Xitu'er.

Just like the big hits at the Academy Awards, they aren't necessarily favored by the four major international film festivals. Everyone's preferred style is different.

"My Sassy Girl" is a typical representative of such popular classic films. Setting aside the era filter, it became an instant hit at the time, also thanks to its novel subject matter and innovative character design. Now, a sassy-type girlfriend is no longer a rarity, and the focus of this film has also shifted to the daily interactions and romantic details of this couple.

To some extent, it is a warm, fun film that makes people feel warm inside after watching it. Stripped of the era's filter, many of its elements are not even as capable of withstanding the ravages of time as the unrequited love described in "Love Letter" or the exploration of love and gender relationship values in "Love is Not Blind." Only one point remains: the details of how the lovers interact in this film are timeless and touch the audience no matter when they watch it.

However, this requires the audience's word-of-mouth, not the critics' word-of-mouth.

Critics will only think this film is too vulgar.

It is not sharp enough; it can neither satirically pierce through some masks and disguises like "Love is Not Blind," nor can it use a poetic cinematic language to construct a song of unrequited love that can pluck everyone's heartstrings like "Love Letter."

Just look at films like "The Boat," "Tropical Rain," and "Sanshan," and you will know what kind of films Xitu'er really likes.

Highly artistic, but beyond the content of the film, it also has commercial appeal—such as famous directors, big-name stars, and the extreme personalization of subject matter and style, unique in the whole world.

Rarity is also a form of commercial appeal.

Lu Yan He is not going to Xitu'er with Luo Yuzhong, Yu Mengling, and the others.

He is going alone.

Luo Yuzhong, Yu Mengling, and Wen Shengming will meet in Xitu'er two days in advance.

Lu Yan He, however, can only make it for the premiere and participate in the media meeting after the premiere; after these two segments end, he has to rush back.

Fortunately, the filming of "The Original Father" is completely unaffected—

If the state is really not right, Huang Tianlin is still capable of making Lu Yan He perform a single scene for three days.

It's very exaggerated. At that time, Lu Yan He was even thinking that even Liu Bige wouldn't make him film a scene for such a long time; it was truly forcing him, pushing his emotions and state to a situation of physiological irritability and annoyance, just to capture that touch of returning to simplicity.

Therefore, Lu Yan He doesn't have to worry that his two-day trip will affect his performance after he returns.

Huang Tianlin's determination not to rush the schedule is indeed a blessing for the actors.

In many plays, actors themselves are not satisfied after finishing a performance and want to do another take. However, there aren't actually that many opportunities for you to redo it. Redoing costs extra money; a director who truly dares to let you redo it over and over is, to some extent, throwing everyone's resources at you, hoping to make a splash.

For films with investments like "Hurricane 2" or "Godless," where would they have the time to accompany you to film a scene for three to five days just because your performance isn't right? If you have the time, you don't have the money to burn with you; exceeding the schedule by one day is one day's worth of wages.

As for what kind of reaction "The Boat" will get at Xitu'er, Lu Yan He doesn't know what's going on this time either; maybe it's a bit of arrogance after succeeding too many times, but he always feels that it's impossible for the film "The Boat" not to get good feedback.

It fits the aesthetic standards of film festivals too well.

And such a film text happens to be overflowing with literary quality. It must be admitted that just as literary works are more likely to be well-received once they are well-integrated with philosophy, films that have a literary sense are often more welcomed and recognized by the critical community.

On the plane to Xitu'er, Lu Yan He even reread the script of "The Boat." He doesn't know what "The Boat" will look like when it is finally presented.

However, Lu Yan He is very clear that if it's about impacting acting awards, "The Boat" should be very difficult. Because it is a film where three actors stand in a tripod formation, and the shooting method Luo Yuzhong used on set is not very conducive to highlighting the actors' overall shaping ability. A large number of fixed-camera shots, even keeping the actors away from the camera, only becoming an element in the screen composition, including the character Lu Yan He played—Lu Yan He feels they are not full or three-dimensional enough.

However, if the film finally presents itself in the way Lu Yan He imagined on set, Lu Yan He feels that although this film is difficult to impact acting awards, it can impact a major film award.

And individual acting awards—

Lu Yan He vaguely feels that if he really wants to have a breakthrough, among the directors he has worked with, only Liu Bige and Huang Tianlin have the ability to force him to give a performance state that even he himself didn't expect. And in the film "The Boat," even though Luo Yuzhong is his teacher and the guide for the play "Golden Age," from the depths of his heart, he doesn't feel he performed with much of a breakthrough.

He just excellently completed the performance he expected he could give.

The Xitu'er Film Festival also seems to attach importance to the film "The Boat."

It was arranged to be screened on the sixth day after the opening.

It is exactly the golden time during a film festival.

When Lu Yan He was taking a car to the hotel, he was surprised to see himself appearing on three different billboards, all of which were very huge billboards.

They were all brands he endorsed.

The last time he came to Xitu'er, this city didn't have so many billboards of him.

Of course, Xitu'er has always been regarded as the beginning of Lu Yan He's international path and is also seen as Lu Yan He's lucky place.

Lu Yan He rose to fame in the international film scene relying on "Sanshan," and later won the Best Actor award at the Xitu'er Film Festival with "Tropical Rain," forcefully breaking into the North American awards season, and finally winning the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in one fell swoop.

Coming here this time, many domestic media outlets are shouting the slogan: let's see if Lu Yan He can win the Xitu'er Best Actor award for the second time after four years.

Lu Yan He silently thought to himself: thinking too much.

He was just curious why the brands he endorsed would invest so much in local advertising in Xitu'er this year.

The key is that this time he came to Xitu'er, he couldn't spare any time for these brand parties.

Of course, regarding this, the PR of each brand had no objections at all.