Chapter 324

The Spring Festival of 2009 fell on January 26; for the several films in the Spring Festival slot, their premiere times were basically set in mid‑January.

Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame premiered on January 17, while Painted Skin and Warring States premiered on the 18th.

Andy Lau's The Dragon and the Phoenix was scheduled earlier, set for the 11th.

Besides these, several medium‑low budget films would also be released during the Spring Festival holiday, but because their creators lacked box‑office draw and their subjects and stories had no highlights, they were essentially just cannon fodder.

What audiences looked forward to most were still the 3D blockbusters Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame and Painted Skin, as well as the big‑budget historical drama Warring States starring the popular actress Jing Tian.

Wang Zhonglei and Xu Ke had attended the premiere of The Legend of Qin, so they knew the gap in visual effects between the two.

Thus, at the premiere of Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame, no media reporters or audience members were invited to watch the full film; only a selection of exciting clips was shown, lasting about twenty minutes.

The media could naturally tell that the 3D effect seemed not as good as advertised, but in their reports they still focused on praise.

As for the premiere of Warring States, it was also held at an Olympic venue.

Besides the main crew, the guests present were Jiang Heng, Han Sanping, Zhang Yimou, Feng Xiaogang, Jiang Wen, Wu Jing, Liu Yifei, Tang Yan, Yang Mi Ying, and so on, making the event a veritable gathering of stars.

At the event, perhaps out of confidentiality concerns, the Warring States crew did not play the full film, only showing a clip of over thirty minutes.

Jing Tian's look in the film was still beautiful, though her lines were a bit awkward.

Huang Xiaoming's portrayal of Sun Bin was much stronger than Sun Honglei's version, though it's unclear how the overall effect turned out.

"Brother, did I do well?"

At the banquet after the premiere, Jing Tian wore a gown of pink and silver sequins that shimmered against each other; its floor‑length skirt made her look like a fairy descending to the mortal world.

She held a glass of red wine, her smile blooming like a flower.

"Not bad, I feel you've improved again!" Jiang Heng raised his glass slightly in a gesture, saying with a smile.

"Really? I also feel I did well!" Da Tian Tian was overjoyed, her cheeks slightly flushed.

Her current popularity is entirely thanks to Jiang Heng's promotion.

Some netizens said her acting was merely average, attributing it to Jiang Heng's good direction.

Jing Tian naturally accepted this view, but as an actress she also hoped to improve herself.

In her eyes, Warring States was an opportunity to prove her growth.

And the guests present were equally lavish in their praise of Jing Tian.

After all, she is currently the hottest young female star in China; even a big director like Zhang Yimou would want to collaborate with her.

Old Zhang may have started with art films, but after switching to commercial movies he showed no disdain for "traffic stars".

In the original history of 2009, he collaborated with that year's most popular Xiao Shenyang on The Three Guns Case.

As for this time, he really wanted to make a film with Jing Tian.

Feng Xiaogang is also a smooth operator who knows how to hype things up; at the banquet he dropped one golden line after another, showing no airs of a big director.

Amid the praise from many guests, Jing Tian felt a bit carried away, believing Warring States would achieve a good result and that her popularity and stature would rise another level.

The next day, the media gave extensive coverage to the premieres of Warring States and Painted Skin, focusing their promotion of the former on Jing Tian, praising how beautiful and good the role played by the 'miss' was.

As for Painted Skin, they started from its story, effects, etc., and gave it a higher rating.

Moreover, perhaps because they were relatively confident in the film, the Painted Skin premiere featured a full screening, and it was said that the on‑site feedback was very good.

Although it cannot compare with Jiang Heng's works, the film's quality surpasses that of other effects‑heavy blockbusters.

For a while, the 2009 Spring Festival slot was a "three‑kingdom struggle"; the media then added Andy Lau's The Dragon and the Phoenix, calling the slot a "four‑way melee" and "the hottest ever", which indeed attracted more audience attention.

In the blink of an eye it was Spring Festival day, and several films opened on the same day. In the morning, the crowds in the nation's major cinema chains were still not too large.

After noon, the number of moviegoers rose.

Many audiences came in groups, watching movies with family and friends.

"Hello, I'd like two tickets for Warring States."

"I want Warring States!"

"I want the one Jing Tian acts in—what, two tickets!"

……

On the first day of the lunar new year, Warring States won a crushing advantage in screenings and took in 41.95 million yuan at the box office.

Painted Skin earned 28.44 million yuan, placing second.

Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame took in 23.80 million yuan, ranking third.

The Dragon and the Phoenix grossed 17.90 million yuan, coming in fourth.

When the report came out, the industry was exhilarated, because the total box office of the four films released that day reached 112 million yuan, breaking the domestic single‑day box office record.

However, opinions were sharply divided.

When Warring States first opened, its Douban rating was 6.1; it quickly fell to 5.9, and by the afternoon of the next day it had stabilized at 5.3.

Painted Skin opened at 7.3 and has since stabilized at 6.8.

Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame has hovered around 6.5, belonging to the more stable category.

The Dragon and the Phoenix dropped from 6.3 to 6.0, and its reputation is also not great.

Although Warring States originally had the highest box office among the four films, its lowest rating and worst reputation have caused both its attendance and box office to decline.

What's worse, the media that had praised Jing Tian just two days earlier have now switched their tone to criticism.

Domestic entertainment media rarely launch harsh attacks on any current star, since anyone who becomes popular usually has backing and connections, and certainly cannot be easily offended.

Of course, Wen Zhang, who doesn't coddle the media, is an exception.

Thus, the criticism reports from major entertainment media are still relatively mild, but film critics are another matter.

These people usually rely on sharp remarks to attract attention; even Jiang Heng's films have critics picking flaws, let alone Warring States, which obviously has quality problems.

The film critics wrote various long pieces, from Jing Tian's rise to fame to her consistent performance in films other than Jiang Heng's, concluding that the 'miss''s acting has actually been consistently poor all along.

However, the roles Jiang Heng chose for her match her personality fairly well, so they amount to typecasting.

Moreover, thanks to Jiang Heng's various coaching, the roles she played—Bi Yao, the Scorpion Spirit, Lei Na, etc. —turned out very impressive.

Once you leave Jiang Heng, you're just like a bit player in a Stephen Chow film—completely lost in the crowd!

Besides that, many disappointed fans also went to Jing Tian's Weibo to spread rumors, blaming her for making bad movies to cheat money.

Her die-hard fans naturally wouldn't stand for it, arguing with those people all over Weibo, forums, and tieba, causing an uproar across the internet in no time.

As for Jing Tian at this moment, she was completely dazed.

She had always thought her performance in Warring States was pretty good, and the rest of the cast did all right too.

Even if it wasn't as good as Jiang Heng's films, it shouldn't deserve such a scolding! She locked herself at home, first cried for a while, and only when it got dark did she finally dare to call Jiang Heng.

(End of chapter)