Chapter 256

Since Wu Yusen returned to China, he has always considered himself the country's top director, but looking now, he's not that great! What the heck did he film Red Cliff as? So petty!

Audiences go to the cinema wanting to see grand war scenes, but he does something like delivering a baby for a horse—completely pointless!

At China Film Digital Base, on the set of Havoc in Heaven, Yu Dong was gesturing animatedly.

The distribution work for the film Slaying Immortals was almost ready; seeing nothing else to do, Yu Dong went to the set to give Jiang Heng a brief report, and incidentally talked about Wu Yusen's predicament.

Many directors in Xianggang, used to making entertainment films, can't help adding some spoof elements to historical epics, even Director Wu can't escape this trend! Jiang Heng sighed.

That point he made is truly a common ailment among Xianggang directors.

But Wu Yusen's favorite work of his own, A Better Tomorrow, is a tragedy from start to finish.

Perhaps because the film's tone was too sorrowful, causing its box-office failure, Jiang Heng also couldn't understand why Wu Yusen made Red Cliff like that.

But one thing can be confirmed: what Wu Yusen excels at creating are still violent shorts that display masculine, heroic, yang vigor, not those more profound humanistic-themed films.

For grandiose subjects requiring huge investment, to express a grand humanistic sentiment, Wu Yusen's creation always feels lacking, as if he has the will but not the strength.

Red Cliff is like that, and later The Crossing is the same.

So Jiang Heng has never considered Wu Yusen a rival, because in the commercial film sector they are not even in the same league.

Wu has been living off his past reputation, consuming his former fame, while Jiang Heng continually opens up new territories.

Slaying Immortals is currently the pinnacle of domestic xianxia films; in netizens' words, domestic xianxia films began with Legend of Shu Mountain and reached their peak with Slaying Immortals.

On July 14, the film had its official premiere.

Because there was no midnight showing, audiences came early to line up, waiting for the first morning screening.

In front of the Wukesong store under China Film Red Red Cinema Line, a male student wearing a vest, shorts, and slippers, with messy hair, stood in the crowd yawning.

His name is Shi Feng, a student at Jingcheng Industrial University; because his family background is decent, as long as he can get his diploma, he'll have a decent job.

So he usually skips class, chases dramas, reads novels, and plays games, living a carefree and contented life.

In the novel, the first book he read was Jiang Heng's Slaying Immortals; at the time he was astonished, reading it all night.

Now there is a film version showing; it's worth skipping class to come see!

Because he stayed up late again last night reading novels, he's still a bit sleepy now, yawning as he chats with his roommate while the line slowly moves forward.

Soon after, they bought tickets and entered the theater.

After sitting down, Shi Feng said, "I've been so looking forward to this; I've been checking Douban reviews every day these past two days—I'm so jealous I didn't manage to snag a premiere ticket!"

His roommate said, "There are scalpers; it's not that easy to snag a ticket!"

Indeed, fortunately we can finally see it; I hope it doesn't disappoint me!

What are you thinking? Jiang Director's film will definitely be fine!

Exactly!

While the two were chatting, the pre-show ads ended and the film officially began.

As it turned out, the opening scene was the battle between Monk Puzhi and Daoist Cangsong, with exciting fights and gorgeous effects that left the audience dazed.

Everyone stared wide-eyed, and Shi Feng even shouted in exhilaration.

Holy shit, holy shit, this is too awesome!

Jiang Director is awesome; I previously thought it was impossible to film the scenes described in the novel, but now I see the movie is ten thousand times more exciting than the book!

Just this opening segment alone is worth the ticket price!

Jiang Director's film is truly great!

While the two watched the film, they occasionally whispered comments.

At the end, when Bi Yao blocked the Zhu Zion sword formation for Zhang Xiaofan, Shi Feng excitedly uttered "ah ah".

He slapped his thigh and said, "Holy shit, Jiang Director is too awesome, this scene is insane!"

His roommate's eyes got wet, he waved his hand and wiped twice, "It's quite moving, I like Bi Yao!"

I like Bi Yao too!

At that moment, over eighty percent of the male students in the theater developed a liking for Bi Yao.

After all, how many men could resist a girl who looks good, has a good family background, and is willing to give everything for you?

In reality, how many men are PUA-ed by women's intangible, unattainable beautiful visions, spending money hand over fist?

But Bi Yao in the film is someone who only gives everything to the male lead.

As a result, after Slaying Immortals premiered, Jing Tian, who played Bi Yao, became overnight the goddess of countless male viewers.

Shi Feng and his roommate liked it so much that after leaving the theater they went to a nearby cultural goods store to ask if they had any Slaying Immortals posters.

"Yes, we have them; which one do you want?"

"Do you have any of Bi Yao?"

"Yes!"

The boss flipped out two copies; Shi Feng paid, each took one with his roommate, and returned to the school dorm to put them on the wall.

As a result, that evening, other dormmates came over to look at the posters, enthusiastically discussing how great Bi Yao in the film was.

"Geez, it's worrisome—my girlfriend watched it once and felt it wasn't enough; she wants me to take her again tomorrow, but where can we still get tickets?"

"Tickets are definitely still available; if not, go to Daxing or Langfang!"

"Holy shit, it's just a movie; I shouldn't have to go that far!"

"Jiang Director's film is irresistible!"

"Exactly, the posters are all sold out—this is simply unimaginable!"

"That said, Slaying Immortals is indeed good, far superior to Legend of Shu Mountain!"

"How so?"

"Just talking about Legend of Shu Mountain—who even is the main character? Zheng Yijian looks like he is, but his screen time is too little! Look at Slaying Immortals—the screen time is all on Zhang Xiaofan!"

"Indeed!"

Really good, let's go to Douban and praise it with a couple of sentences!

Write two sentences, write two sentences!

……

However, that day saw far too many similar situations and remarks occurring all across the country.

And the next day, the opening-day box office for *Zhu Zion* came out at 57 million, leaving domestic filmmakers envious.

Who would have thought that on the 15th, the single-day box office would rise again, surpassing the 60 million mark, closing at 60.83 million.

This figure left the other filmmakers not only shocked but somewhat numb—it was too exaggerated, nearly twice the highest single-day box office of *Red Cliff*.

What's more outrageous, the box office for *Red Cliff* was already falling sharply, and the release of *Zhu Zion* sent it crashing down.

Looking at this trend, exceeding 200 million would be not bad.

And *Zhu Zion*'s box office drop was relatively gentle, so its total box office kept rising, breaking through the 200 million, 300 million, and 500 million marks in succession.

And with the film's hot run, Jing Tian, who played Bi Yao, shot to fame overnight, instantly becoming the hottest female star domestically.

And unlike Zhang Ziyi's fame, Zhang's acting is good, but because the roles she played weren't very likable, her public appeal remained merely average.

Jing Tian, however, was different: the Bi Yao she portrayed was already very likable, and she herself is cute, generous, and unpretentious; after a few media interviews, her fan count kept surging.

(End of chapter)