Chapter 947: The Fifth Candidate!

"Actors have a responsibility to bear the audience's evaluation, such as being scolded; this time, I will no longer be 'wicked and arrogant'..."

Near noon, news of the *Nirvana in Fire II: The Wind Blows in Chang Lin* premiere press conference in Shanghai hit the film and entertainment trending topics.

Especially Huang Xiaoming's affirmative confession during an interview, which parachuted to the top of the trending list and occupied the headlines—only to be mocked and roasted by netizens:

"The Sect Leader's attitude is fine and very upright; he always accepts criticism with an open mind, but he just never changes! So, is this promise to no longer be 'wicked and arrogant' serious, or is he playing 'The Boy Who Cried Wolf' again?"

One has to admit that Huang Xiaoming's television reputation over the past two years has indeed been a bit lackluster, especially in his previous work, *A Life Time Love*;

That peak-level "overbearing CEO" acting style deeply hurt countless viewers and fans who liked him. The more he enjoyed it, the more uncomfortable the latter felt, to the point where it has now spilled over and implicated *The Wind Blows in Chang Lin*.

In the afternoon, Lin Nan received a call from Hou Hongliang, because the latter had also noticed the public opinion already brewing online:

"We had considerations and preparations for this aspect before. Xiaoming's performance in this drama is absolutely qualified;

As long as the online public opinion doesn't go off track and turn into deliberate smearing before the broadcast, there's no need to pay too much attention. But if there is such a trend, then we will need Director Lin to step in and help.

We are confident that this *Nirvana in Fire II: The Wind Blows in Chang Lin* will definitely achieve good results, though it is highly probable it won't reach the explosive heights of its predecessor."

"Alright, I understand. There are 5 days left, you all should tighten up the promotion."

"By the way, I heard from Yue Jun earlier that Daylight Entertainment seems to have three dramas to start filming at the beginning of the year. Which one did Lin Nan Film invest in again?"

Lin Nan asked with some embarrassment. After all, as a boss, not knowing what projects his own company invested in is truly a bit unreasonable.

Sure enough, Hou Hongliang couldn't help but chuckle:

"Among the three dramas, *All Is Well* is exclusively produced by us, and *We Are Young* is a co-production with the August First Film Studio; Director Yue selected the third one, the period drama *Like a Flowing River*.

We previously communicated with Director Jiang about casting, and she said Shanhai Media didn't have actors auditioning, so we handled the final casting for *Like a Flowing River* ourselves. We have scheduled the start date for this drama during the Spring Festival..."

After joking for a while, Lin Nan hung up with Hou Hongliang, who was indeed quite busy.

In all fairness, Lin Nan really admired Daylight Entertainment. They set a permanent plan for the company: only follow the boutique route, and never eat alone.

That is, filming only two to three dramas per year, with both exclusive and joint productions, which can ensure output, guarantee quality, and win over industry connections—the layout can be called perfect.

In Hou Hongliang's joking words: this was learned from Lin Nan Film, only one specializes in the TV drama market, and the other focuses on the film market;

Of course, Daylight Entertainment cannot play as big as Lin Nan Film, so it can only be greatly streamlined in all aspects; but as of now, the effect is really very good, and the company's future path is smooth!

Outside, after a morning of public screenings, the first batch of film reviews for Jackie Chan's *Bleeding Steel* had already appeared online.

Sure enough, it was another one-sided negative feedback and countless scoldings telling Jackie Chan to retire and rest—the movie was too rotten.

Stale and clichéd plot settings, a large number of illogical details and scenes...

Although it put on a sci-fi coat, the core was still a traditional action structure... the sci-fi core was extremely weak, imitating Hollywood on a large scale, and imitating the Hollywood of more than a decade or even longer ago.

Many people in the industry had already reached a conclusion: the limited box office that *Bleeding Steel* could eventually achieve would highly likely come entirely from the public's personal nostalgia for Jackie Chan, and had nothing to do with the film itself.

In other words, this film was eliminated from the first tier on its first day of release because it was too rotten, exiting the New Year's slot competition—it could only eat some scraps and would not pose any threat to other films in the same slot!

"Since that incident with his son, his mindset has completely changed. When *Railroad Tigers* was being promoted, he came to my office, and we talked once.

At that time, I could hear what he meant; he wouldn't care about script quality or who the opposing actors were when accepting roles in the future.

As long as the project was slightly passable or the pay was high, he would accept everything... Look, right now his schedule is booked years in advance, with a massive amount of film shooting work..."

"So this is basically saying, he doesn't mind making rotten movies?" Han Jia asked with a smile while drinking juice.

She was originally planning to eat a boxed lunch at Tiangong Color today, but after Ren Zhonglun finished his meeting in the morning, he very generously wanted to host a meal for Old Han, so she was summoned back to eat a big meal.

"That's about what it means. He is only one year younger than me, already 64; having reached this step, if he is willing to cash in his lifelong reputation, let him cash it in." Han Sanping nodded with some regret.

"Then isn't this too... that? My Senior Brother Lin still has an intention to invite him to participate..." The words reached her lips, and Han Jia suddenly reacted and swallowed them back. Then she decisively picked up a piece of food and stuffed it into her mouth, blocking it!

"Hmm? Participate in what? Lin Nan has an intention?"

"Jia, you don't mean that *Mulan*, do you?!"

The two old foxes had an unusually keen sense of smell, instantly grasping the point and locking onto the key keywords.

Facing the questioning of the two backers, Han Jia's expression was annoyed, and she really wanted to slap herself; but there was no way, she could only nod and answer truthfully:

"Yes, there is an intention to invite Jackie Chan to participate in *Mulan*, because Jackie Chan's international influence is undoubtedly the first among global Chinese actors and stars. But Uncle Ren, you just said that his schedule is booked years in advance. In this situation, cooperation is probably impossible, right?"

"Haha, you are still too young." After getting a clear answer, Ren Zhonglun laughed immediately.

"You are indeed thinking too simply. Don't look at how many movies Jackie Chan has accepted; he is only an actor, but his say is so great that he can completely influence the crew and the producers.

So when the time comes, Lin Nan can rest assured to invite him. I believe Jackie Chan will definitely have no second words and will definitely agree immediately... After all, the two of them haven't collaborated yet, hahaha." Han Sanping also laughed out loud, very confident.

In the eyes of the two old foxes, the first combination of Lin Nan and Jackie Chan... the promotional gimmick of *Mulan* could undoubtedly be raised to another dimension! As for the global box office, tsk tsk, the more they thought about it, the more exciting it was...

The atmosphere of the New Year's slot was becoming increasingly murderous.

The first-day box office of *Bleeding Steel* was like drinking poison to quench thirst, and like a flash in the pan, cutting down 76.08 million amidst the scolding of the entire internet.

Huayi's *The Ex-File 3* undoubtedly encountered its first interception, and it was a serious interception, causing its daily revenue to plummet by more than 10 million.

After all, it had over 41 million on the 12th, but it directly became 28.42 million on the 13th... 15 days of public screening, and the total box office was exactly 1.2 billion!

Meanwhile, *The Thousand Faces of Dunjia* also joined the chaotic battle with a high-profile 15.6% screen share...

At nine o'clock in the morning, Liu Yifei had a "choice difficulty" in the cloakroom.

The Beijing Film Academy was going to release the latest alumni brochure, and for those first-tier famous alumni in the industry, the school issued an invitation for a big-name photoshoot. Of course, this definitely included Lin Nan and Liu Yifei.

Although she knew that this brochure would be used for art exam promotion, no one would refuse; because this was also a kind of inheritance, even Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige would happily nod.

"The school is really cunning now, talking about international film queens and fashion blockbusters, and just like that, they fooled you into a limp. You actually agreed to let them come to the manor to film?! Let me tell you, if they film poorly in a while, I won't help."

Lin Nan leaned on the threshold and said in advance. Over the years, because he was a free top-tier photographer, Liu Yifei's photography skills hadn't improved at all, only her taste had become picky.

"What are you saying, I can't hear you." Liu Yifei stood in front of the full-length mirror matching clothes with a smile, not looking at the person at the door at all.

Before the great Director Lin could counterattack, he heard the voice of the nanny aunt vaguely coming from the living room. Forget it, the school people had arrived.

"Hurry up, they have already entered the manor gate."

After urging, Lin Nan turned and went downstairs immediately.

The moment he stood at the gate of the villa, he was stunned. Because he saw from a distance that among the group of people on the lawn in the distance, there seemed to be Tian Zhuangzhuang and Old Jiang?

Two minutes later, Lin Nan walked up to them, looked at Tian Zhuangzhuang and Old Jiang, and joked with a smile: "The school's formation doesn't need to be this big, right? Sending both of you out? Or am I being specially treated?"

Tian Zhuangzhuang smiled and didn't speak, while Old Jiang was outspoken and joked:

"I heard that this morning is for taking promotional photos for you and Yifei, so I pulled Director Tian to come over together, just to get out and relax, and the people from the photography department are eager for it."

"I heard that when they were taking promotional photos for Director Chen yesterday, they were scolded for a while, criticizing the teaching quality of the photography department for getting worse and worse, and they even gave on-site teaching for a long time, talking about photographic aesthetics, haha... Hey, is that how it was said?"

Old Jiang's last sentence was asked to the few students who were setting up the camera positions nearby.

A group of junior students had awkward expressions, appearing a bit restrained in front of Lin Nan, but they still bit the bullet and nodded with a smile: "Director Jiang, please give our teachers some face."

"Hear that? They just stayed at the school a few years ago. But in front of Director Chen, they were still scolded like grandsons."

"Alright. Yifei has already come over, you guys get ready to take pictures, and there will be a simple interview in a while."

Tian Zhuangzhuang interrupted Old Jiang speechlessly, then looked at Lin Nan, "Let's go, let's go to the side and talk about what you said before."

Hearing this, Lin Nan nodded immediately. He turned and signaled to Liu Yifei who was walking over from a distance, and then took Tian Zhuangzhuang toward the tennis court; the nearest garden was over there.

Five minutes later, Tian Zhuangzhuang and Lin Nan, teacher and student, strolled on the gravel road by the garden.

"It's been so many years since I've been to an outside film festival. I didn't expect that the next time I received an invitation, it would be sent from you." Tian Zhuangzhuang said in a teasing tone.

"So, teacher, what is your meaning?" Lin Nan accompanied with a smile. The fifth invitation object for his main competition jury was Tian Zhuangzhuang, and he was also the only Chinese judge besides him!

Seeing Tian Zhuangzhuang smile and shake his head, then squinting his eyes at the sun that was not too dazzling in the sky, "Then let's go out and walk around, and see?"

"The scenery of the Venice Lido is still very good. After all, it is one of the only two island film festivals among all A-list film festivals in the world."

Lin Nan echoed. At this point, his main competition jury was only missing the last two judges.