Chapter 404: Fervent Promotion

After the lights came on, thunderous applause erupted in the venue.

Although whenever Jiang Heng's new film premiere is held, everyone claps, it feels like just going through the motions.

But deep down, most people feel the film's quality is top-notch, deserving this applause—nothing else, the visual effects are simply too strong.

The primordial wilderness, the monster clan's heavenly court, and the battle scenes—none fail to be novel and shocking, yet they hold up to scrutiny.

As for the plot, it is also full of twists and turns, smooth and easy to understand.

It both has Chang'e "offer sacrifice to heaven," boosting Houyi's power, and points out the method for Chang'e's resurrection, giving everyone something to look forward to.

This makes the audience anticipate the next work even more, wanting to see the plot after Chang'e's resurrection and how she gets to the Vast Cold Palace.

They also want to know just how spectacular the full-scale war between the witches and monsters will be.

In short, a visual feast is inevitable.

For a moment, many guests and audience members felt a sense of anticipation and excitement.

The host then invited Jiang Heng onto the stage to share his thoughts with everyone.

Jiang Heng then spoke at length about the fighting spirit represented by "Houyi Shoots the Suns"; this aspect definitely needs to have the right tone.

Afterwards came the audience Q&A session; because the screening took too long, only three questions were answered.

The first question came from a female viewer: Chang'e in the film is indescribably beautiful yet utterly useless, merely a pretty vase.

Director Jiang, does this setup risk discrimination?

Frankly, hearing this question left Jiang Heng a bit dazed—could this even be? He quickly said, of course not; it's mainly to highlight her beauty.

After all, Chang'e is very likely the most beautiful female figure in Chinese mythology.

In "Investiture of the Gods," the description of Nüwa is no more than "like a fairy from the Palace of Sumer descending to the mortal world, the moon palace's Chang'e coming to earth," saying Nüwa is as beautiful as Chang'e, which shows her beauty.

If Chang'e were given combat power, it would diminish the audience's impression of her beauty.

The audience listened and showed great satisfaction.

The guests and audience present also felt that the film's Chang'e is indescribably beautiful.

As for the actress who played Chang'e, Yan Qiongchen, she seems far from the on-screen image—not even one-tenth of the role! Then a male student wearing glasses asked, "The film's story and picture quality are great; does Director Jiang plan to develop it into a '3A' game?"

Jiang Heng nodded slightly, smiling: "Of course, the vehicle for cultural promotion is not just film; games are also important. Besides the 'Primordial Wilderness Series' and 'Journey to the West,' we are also preparing to develop '3A' games!"

The male student's expression instantly lit up with excitement, asking roughly how many years until launch? "Three years—within three years there will definitely be a release!"

Many male gaming fans in the venue felt both excited and doubtful upon hearing this.

After all, the development time for many overseas "3A" games is long, but thinking back, Jiang Director's promises over the years have mostly been fulfilled, so these people still choose to believe.

The final question: an audience member asked when they would film another "Journey to the West," saying "Houyi Shoots the Suns" is great and they like it too, but it's been a while since they've seen a "Journey to the West"–type film, and they especially enjoy seeing the Monkey King wreak havoc on screen.

Upon hearing this, many audience members in the venue stirred up a commotion.

Jiang Heng laughed and replied that he would consider it, and definitely a "Journey to the West"–type film will appear within one or two years.

With that, the audience Q&A ended, and all segments of the premiere ceremony for "Primordial Wilderness: Houyi Shoots the Suns" were concluded.

Afterwards, the film's distributor prepared a welcome banquet for the attending guests; since it was late and far from Jingcheng, all the guests who had come attended.

The scene was filled with clinking glasses, very lively.

Some film critics, while eating, also pondered the film's content, considering from which angle to elaborate on this movie.

After all, to expand their influence they need a novel, well‑substantiated angle! Returning to the hotel, some wrote, examining the bloody sacrificial culture from Houyi's offering to heaven.

Some drew from the Heavenly Emperor's Enfeoffed Mountain God and the Water God, associating them with the struggle between the imperial court and local tyrants.

Of course, the majority simply started from the plot, special effects, and battle scenes, offering a little praise.

As for the major entertainment media, they simply praised the film from every angle, saying how good it was.

Consequently, the audience's anticipation for the film grew; some calculated the time, planning to go see it right away on its release day.

Others went to look up advance‑screening publicity for "Primordial Wilderness: Houyi Shoots the Suns," preparing to snag an advance ticket online for an early look.

The production team also divided the cast and crew into three groups, heading to several important box‑office cities domestically to launch advance‑screening publicity activities.

As for the film's director, Jiang Heng, he had already flown to Tokyo and begun promotional activities there.

"Houyi Shoots the Suns" belongs to Chinese mythological stories; such films are still relatively popular in Japan, Korea, and Southeast Asia, so promotional efforts here must definitely be strengthened.

Moreover, the film carries a touch of tragedy, making it more likely to win over Japanese audiences, so the first stop of overseas promotion was set in Japan.

After attending the premiere promotion event held in Tokyo, Jiang Heng immediately flew to Korea, then to Luoshanji, and then to the UK.

It can be said that before the film's release, Jiang Heng's promotional efforts were still quite strong.

In Neidi, it was July 15.

Wang Changtian called Li Delai into his office and said, "Want to go out for a stroll?"

The latter laughed, "How so, you want to personally go check out the cinema?"

Wang Changtian said, "The box office results are likely to break records; I just want to go see the scene and find out just how hot it is!"

During the premiere screening, Wang Changtian could be said to have been shocked once again.

Why say "again"? Because he had already been shocked many times before.

Nevertheless, Jiang Heng's film special effects are too outstanding; even with some aesthetic fatigue, in that viewing environment they still cause uncontrollable excitement.

Wang Changtian just wanted to motivate himself—when will he also produce a flashy film like this?

What he said is probably impossible, since he can't find a suitable director.

But people, after all, always need some sort of aspiration.

Wang Changtian and Li Delai brought a film crew to the China Film Crimson Cinema Line Five Pine Trees Store; sure enough, the cinema entrance had a long line of young people coming to watch the film.

The reporters went down to interview, while Wang Changtian and Li Delai watched from afar.

"Director Jiang's dominance of the Chinese‑language film market— in the short term, no one should be able to break it!" Wang Changtian sighed.

Li Delai said, "Don't even think about it; in my view, it's just about carving a new path, finding a way from another genre!"

"What kind do you think is good?"

Comedy, just like Lost in Thailand, such low cost, box office over ten billion, small investment big return.

If we follow Director Jiang's approach to make blockbusters, we're likely to lose money!

Wang Changtian nodded, a somewhat worried expression on his face, "The problem is, there's no suitable director!"

Li Deli laughed, "I've contacted Xu Guangtou; he's very interested in our company's preferential policies!"

(End of chapter)