Chapter 236: Media Praise

Jing Tian felt envious hearing that; she also wanted to go out and play, but had no proper reason.

She glanced at Liu Yifei beside her: "Aren't you also going out?"

Liu Yifei shook her head: "Director Jiang didn't say!"

Jing Tian wondered, "Aren't you the female lead?"

"Maybe he thinks I have no fame internationally, so going would be useless!" Liu Yifei said lightly.

Megan laughed: "Sitting on a long-haul flight is tough; he must think you'll suffer!"

Liu Yifei gave Megan a deep look: "I've never been afraid of hardship!"

Megan smiled warmly: "That's a fine quality, but in the entertainment industry it's useless, because extras work even harder."

Liu Yifei nodded: "That's right, but Director Jiang's heart is in the mainland; going to Hollywood is just for fun, and he'll be back in a few days!"

Hearing that, Megan instantly became a bit unhappy and took a fierce bite of beef.

Liu Yifei also didn't mind, continuing to eat her meal elegantly.

She actually never considered Megan a rival; instead, her close friend Jing Tian and good friend Tang Yan posed a greater threat.

There's also Yang Mi, but she cares more about her career, busy filming everywhere, so her threat is much smaller, yet one still needs to guard against her—just thinking about it is exhausting.

The banquet ended, and all the guests went their separate ways.

Several girls stared at Megan, afraid she would pounce on Jiang Heng at any second.

She, feeling a bit proud, said, "I'm really exhausted today; I'll go back to sleep. When I get to Hollywood, I'll give Director Jiang a proper welcome!" Having said that, she twisted her slender waist and turned to leave.

Several girls watched Megan's retreating back, their faces scornful yet tinged with envy.

As a line goes, "I wish I could be as carefree as you!"

They really couldn't walk with such alluring steps.

"She's so arrogant!" Tang Yan couldn't help saying; Jing Tian and Liu Yifei both nodded instinctively.

Seeing the two women's expressions and movements in sync, Tang Yan couldn't help laughing and said, "How about we go out for another drink?"

"Good, good!" Da Tian Tian exclaimed happily.

The three beauties went to a hot pot restaurant, barely ate a few bites, just drank a little and chatted.

Jing Tian said, "What do you think about us going together and suddenly showing up at Hollywood's premiere?"

Liu Yifei quickly shook her head: "Not really?"

"Why not? It'd be fun—surely we'd scare him silly, haha!"

Tang Yan gave a "caring for children" look: "But if you did that, Second Brother would get angry—unless you don't care whether he gets angry!"

"To travel all that way to see him, and he'd still be angry—how heartless!" Jing Tian pouted slightly.

Liu Yifei said lightly: "Indeed, it's a bit heartless; better out of sight, out of mind!"

"What are you talking about? That sounds weird!" Da Tian Tian wore a puzzled expression.

Tang Yan just smiled without speaking; although she likes playing the "sweet naïve" type, she isn't really that.

One doesn't know whether Da Tian Tian is truly that innocent or just pretending to be foolish!

But the next day, hundreds of domestic media outlets reported the news that Pacific Rim 2's premiere was being held in the capital.

Among them, CCTV-6 Movie Channel even recorded an episode titled "Premiere."

It fully showed the entire process of numerous star guests walking the red carpet at the premiere, plus footage of Jiang Heng and the film's main creators being interviewed, as well as a two-and-a-half-minute ultimate trailer.

In the trailer, "Storm Crimson Red" and the "Explorer" appeared extremely shocking and imposing; the monsters that appeared were all huge in size, full of pressure.

Moreover, it added shocking shots of monsters spraying blue strong acid, mechs being slapped by monsters, multi-story buildings easily toppled, skies full of drones, and the ground covered with robot dogs.

Added to the tense, exciting music, just this ultimate trailer made countless viewers' blood boil, wishing they could rush to the theaters immediately.

The "Premiere" segment went on to praise Pacific Rim 2 for comprehensively surpassing its predecessor, believing it would surely achieve astonishing box-office results.

Meanwhile, many domestic print media outlets used similar headlines like "The world's first Chinese-language film to gross $1 billion is about to be born," half praising and half predicting Pacific Rim 2's market performance after release.

From the influence of the predecessor to upgraded visual effects, from the cast to analysis of same-period rivals, the whole piece conveys one idea: Pacific Rim 2 will create a new box-office legend.

Many media also, starting from Jiang Heng's plan to set up a "director training class" to recruit young directors to learn special-effects filming, believe this move aims to create a Chinese-owned "Hollywood."

Chinese-language cinema is about to rise.

The wave of laudatory publicity left Wang Zhonglei feeling chilled inside.

Because some less-polite media bluntly said that "Crazy Great Sage" is just a "dog's tail tacked on," its quality is surely poor.

Moreover, the article states: "Although I haven't seen this film yet, judging by the crude, slipshod production style of most Xianggang directors, its quality can be imagined."

Furthermore, the Chinese-language film market is no longer what it used to be. We have seen Jiang Heng's director's ultra-high-quality effects blockbusters, as well as finely made Hollywood films; here we advise some Xianggang production teams that the days of sloppily throwing together a film just to cash in on nostalgia are truly gone.

If you guys don't believe it, the market will make you believe!

Putting down the newspaper, Wang Zhonglei suddenly felt a toothache, wondering how he could have believed those people and blindly invested his money!

Moreover, to go up against Jiang Heng in the same release window—even if it truly were the same day—only someone like Zhang Yimou or Zhou Xingxing would have the qualifications!

Wang Zhonglei pondered for a while, then called Wang Zhongjun.

After listening, he remained silent for a moment and said: "Things have come to this; let's wait and see. Fortunately, the investment isn't large, so even if we lose, it won't be much. If we pull out last minute and the media publicize it, that would be too embarrassing."

In the entertainment circle, face sometimes matters more than money!

"All right!"

Wang Zhonglei sighed, "Then let's clash in the same window; after all, we're still the first domestically daring to go head-to-head with Jiang Heng in the same release period!"

Wang Zhongjun laughed, "Such a title doesn't come easily—it might actually cost money!"

That said, when the Wang brothers were pessimistic about "Crazy Great Sage's" box office, Xianggang's boss Yang Shoucheng and renowned director Liu Zhenwei still held optimistic box-office expectations for the film.

How to put it? Many Xianggang film people's thinking is outdated and rigid, they can't keep up with the market, and they show blind confidence in the old formulas that once created box-office miracles.

Liu Zhenwei now spoke very confidently to Yang Shoucheng, saying that "Crazy Great Sage" was entirely tailored to mainland youths' tastes, using the formula of "A Chinese Odyssey" to craft a classic love film with a postmodernist style.

Yang Shoucheng actually believed that, after all, he knew "A Chinese Odyssey" had swept the mainland, and he also knew that "Titanic" won the global box-office crown with its tragic love and stunning effects.

Therefore, in his view, love and special effects—these two selling points—combined are invincible under heaven; even each alone can stand equal.

The love story in Love-crazy Great Sage is classic; its scenes, at least, are no worse than those of A Chinese Odyssey; its box office will surely not be bad.

While they were chatting excitedly, Liu Zhenwei's phone suddenly rang.

He picked it up and saw it was Zhou Xingxing calling.

"Ah Xing, he's calling me; he must be congratulating me in advance!"

Liu Zhenwei answered the phone with a chuckle, and heard the other side say: "Um, I've thought about it half the night, and as a friend I feel I ought to say: Love-crazy Great Sage is no match; it'd be best to withdraw the film."

Upon hearing this, Liu Zhenwei's expression froze instantly, because given Zhou Xingxing's personality, it's hard for him to say such a thing.

To say that, it seems he's really not optimistic about it.

Liu Zhenwei wanted to retort, but didn't know where to begin.

Because as old friends who had shared the experience of the box-office failure of A Chinese Odyssey, he had shown Zhou Xingxing the finished film of Love-crazy Great Sage, so naturally he had compared them.

Liu Zhenwei paused for several seconds, then slowly said: "Okay, I understand!"

(End of chapter)