Chapter 319

July has arrived, and the summer film season has begun.

In fact, the summer film season had already started by late June, with the best-performing film being the animated movie *Kung Fu Panda*.

This is a Hollywood animated film blending China's national treasure, kung fu, and ancient Chinese elements.

Although many aspects are incongruous, the characters are likable, the action is solid, and the production is polished, making it quite popular domestically; in just over a dozen days, its box office neared 150 million yuan, and it also surpassed ten million yuan in Taiwan.

Outside North America, this film's box office in China is likely among the top two overseas earnings.

Yan Li paid attention to this film because Yi'an Cinema Chain made money.

Animated films primarily attract parents with children and trend-following couples, and Yi'an Cinema Chain's community-oriented strategy is beginning to show its power.

Compared to ordinary cinemas, Yi'an Cinema Chain offers more amenities, better service, and greater entertainment variety, no longer limited to just watching movies—it delivers an exceptional experience.

Although Yi'an Cinema Chain still can't match Wanda's foundation of owning integrated entertainment complexes, it can absolutely crush ordinary cinema chains.

If cinemas were located within China Resources' integrated complexes or major commercial districts, Yi'an Cinema Chain could achieve Wanda's results—or even surpass them.

So far, Wanda has mainly pursued market expansion, while Yi'an Cinema Chain, even while expanding, has continuously researched deepening, refining, branding, and community integration of its cinemas.

In short, if you can't compete on scale, compete on service—create a differential advantage.

Ideally, establish a fixed audience impression: Wanda is large and convenient, Yi'an is refined and comfortable, steadily attracting target customers.

Under these circumstances, for specific films like *Kung Fu Panda*, Yi'an Cinema Chain—which already ranks among the top in industry scale—can sometimes deliver an outstanding performance.

Yan Li recently reviewed Yi'an Cinema Chain's half-year data; the chain's cumulative box office now approaches one hundred million yuan.

With two key periods ahead—the summer season and the New Year season—a doubling of revenue should be achievable, though the exact figure depends on execution.

In today's cinema market, Wanda has already begun to rise and is expected this year to challenge China Film Star Beauty for the top spot.

Shanghai United, the perennial number two, has now become number three, yet still maintains stable advantages.

China Film South Trunk Line, centered in the Pearl River Delta, is one of the fastest-improving cinema chains this year, vying with traditional powerhouse Xin Yinglian for fourth and fifth place.

These five cinema chains are unquestionably the absolute first tier, with outstanding scale and box office—Yi'an Cinema Chain currently cannot match them.

Its rival is Guangzhou Jinyi Zhujiang Cinema Chain, a cinema chain based in South China and expanding nationwide, which stands as the clear leader below the first tier.

According to box office data from the first half of 2008, the two are competing for sixth and seventh place; Jinyi Zhujiang, with higher market concentration and more screens, holds the advantage.

As for cinema chains ranked lower—Zhejiang Times, Liaoning North, Sichuan Pacific, etc.

Although all are developing well, they are primarily regional and still lag behind national chains; unless major changes occur, they pose little threat.

After achieving a top-ten cinema chain ranking, Yi'an Cinema Chain's established goal of entering the top ten in box office should no longer be an issue.

But to move up another step—to enter the top five—the difficulty increases sharply.

Even Xin Yinglian, ranked fifth, has a half-year box office nearing 200 million yuan, operates about eighty cinemas of various sizes, and boasts nearly 250 screens—it was firmly in the top three just two years ago.

But every hurdle can be overcome, one step at a time.

At least compared to Xin Yinglian, which is plagued by problems and gradually declining, Yi'an Cinema Chain is advancing rapidly, with broader prospects and stronger momentum.

…

Compared to Hollywood blockbusters, the industry places greater emphasis on the domestic epic *Red Cliff: Part One*.

China Film and Orange Sky pulled out all the stops, even securing a live broadcast from Jingcheng TV—a rarity among major releases.

Considering China Film's prestige and Fan Xiaopang's status, plus the fact that Yi'an is also one of the distributors of *Red Cliff*, Yan Li attended.

The Bloggate incident, while not posing a serious threat to Yan Li, still had some impact; out of certain considerations, Yan Li deliberately avoided the spotlight and made few public appearances.

Only recently, after submitting official news to his superiors proving there was nothing serious, did Yan Li become active again.

This time, Yan Li appeared publicly with Fan Xiaopang, prompting media excitement and rampant photo-taking, with journalists fabricating a series of palace intrigue dramas.

This year's entertainment gossip has been dominated primarily by the X-Zhao Gate figures, followed by Yan Li's Bloggate.

Bloggate originally referred to celebrities humiliated by anonymous comments, but because Yan Li's presence was so dominant, it became his solo drama, evolving into rumors of his messy romantic entanglements and the commercial rivalry between blogs and microblogs.

Because of the last point, Yan Li was somewhat displeased—he felt it merely boosted blog traffic, and he preferred calling it Weibo Gate.

He even considered deleting his blog to avoid being tricked again by Sina.

But blogs didn't have a delete function, nor did microblogs—unlike later versions with fifteen-day cooling-off periods; the feature was too useless and would be gradually improved later.

But if you couldn't delete, you could empty all posted content, leaving only an empty account—equivalent to deletion.

Yan Li's attitude toward Bloggate was mixed: good because it generated traffic, bad because no one wants their private life constantly scrutinized.

Stirring up scandals was for profit; without profit, Yan Li was unwilling to have his personal affairs endlessly discussed.

Fortunately, entertainment circles always have gossip; Yan Li now has Weibo, and with slight guidance, this wave of attention will pass.

If necessary, he could push forward some typical figures to share the spotlight and maintain Weibo traffic—like the annual "Four Young Lords of Jingcheng."

Wang Dashao has now gone low-key, and after Wang Ke married, he has also become quieter.

Wang Le and Wang Xiaofei, however, are quite active: the former is romantically linked with multiple female stars and constantly embroiled in rumors; the latter has recently been closely seen with Zhang Yuqi, the new female star from *Chang Jiang Seven*, playing out the rich girl-meets-star drama.

Yan Li is too busy to personally stir up rumors every day; the public would grow tired of it; some new faces are friendlier to audiences.

For the production team, Yan Li is a guest—he appears on the red carpet, says a few words, then heads to the venue.

Fan Xiaopang and the main creative team are the real focus and the main opportunity for exposure; for this reason, Fan Xiaopang spent half a day on her makeup and wore specially tailored clothing.

The effect was excellent; with her beauty and fame, she outshone countless cameras.

But Yan Li thought Lin Zhiling was also quite good—though a bit tanned, she was tall and a former model, with excellent stage presence, making her well-suited for such red carpets.

It was tough for Xiao Songjia, who played Lady Li, and the actress portraying Lady Mi—their spotlight was stolen, their presence painfully low.

When the main cast entered the venue, Yan Li strode forward, greeted Director Wu, ignored Fan Xiaopang, and instead looked at Hu Jun with concern.

"What happened to you?"

The guy had been wheeled in today, startling Yan Li.

*The New Three Kingdoms* is about to start filming soon, and the early scenes are all about Liu, Guan, and Zhang—they can't wait for you.

Hu Jun tapped the wheelchair and smiled bitterly: "Don't mention it—I got injured while filming a Tang Dynasty movie."

Yan Li asked further—the injury wasn't severe, but Hu Jun couldn't stand yet; he thought crutches looked bad, so he opted for the wheelchair.

However, Hu Jun's recovery will inevitably delay the filming of "New Three Kingdoms," but the timeline is still barely acceptable.

The key is smooth recovery—if his recovery falters or Hu Jun wants to rest longer, things could get complicated.

Moreover, Guan Yu's shooting schedule is heavy, with plenty of action scenes; whether Hu Jun, freshly recovered, can handle it is questionable.

Yan Li spoke with Hu Jun, soothing him to focus on healing, then promptly reported the news to the "New Three Kingdoms" production team.

From Hu Jun's tone, he still wants to play Guan Yu—it's Guan Yu, after all, a role with unique allure for any actor, and he's optimistic about his recovery.

But the production team can't rely solely on an actor's personal wishes; they must prepare contingency plans—if Hu Jun can't proceed, they must quickly find a replacement, like Yu Rongguang, who previously competed with Hu Jun for the role.

Personally, Yan Li hopes Hu Jun can play Guan Yu.

Leaving aside fame, although Hu Jun's appearance is slightly off, he has one major advantage: his acting skill.

Because of his role as Qiao Feng, many automatically label Hu Jun as an action actor, but in truth, he graduated from the Central Academy of Drama and excels in dramatic roles.

Whether as Qiao Feng, Zhu Yuanzhang, Fu Chai, or in "Infernal Affairs," "Lan Yu," or "Assembly," he has delivered outstanding performances and compelling character portrayals.

Actors like Lu Shuming, who perfectly embody both spirit and form, are extremely rare; the rest either capture the spirit or the appearance.

"New Three Kingdoms" originally chose Hu Jun because, among all candidates, he possessed an absolute acting advantage—he could convey the spirit, portraying Guan Yu's pride, loyalty, righteousness, benevolence, and strategy.

His rival Yu Rongguang, while slightly better in height, has a superficial grasp of the character and weaker acting.

To be blunt, the way that actor played Guan Yu, his eyes were practically on his forehead—he was even more deserving of a beating than Lü Bu.

Actors aren't afraid of poor skill; they're afraid of not thinking, of failing to understand the character—the harder they try, the worse the result.

Yan Li silently wished Hu Jun a smooth recovery—if they had to replace him with Yu Rongguang, he'd have to sweat buckets.

The remaining time, Yan Li was transparent—so transparent that some were genuinely surprised.

Because everyone knew he was filming "New Three Kingdoms"; given the massive buzz of "Red Cliff," it was strange that Yan Li didn't ride the wave, by his nature.

But Yan Li remained calm—he'd considered riding the wave, but after watching the original "Red Cliff," he abandoned the idea.

He feared it would tarnish the reputation of "New Three Kingdoms."

Even if "New Three Kingdoms" doesn't match the CCTV version of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms," its plot is grounded in historical sources and meticulously refined—targeted and deliberate, not destined to be lumped together with such trash like "Meng Meng Stands Up."

How on earth did they come up with that line?!

When Yan Li saw that line, he specifically looked at Han Sanye's face—his mouth visibly twitched twice; he must've been stunned too.

After the screening, a reporter asked a question; Yan Li couldn't ruin the event in public: "The battle scenes are grand and majestic, the costumes and props are exquisitely crafted, rich with traditional Chinese cultural symbols, and the actors are handsome and beautiful—I learned a lot from it."

The sets and costumes were fine, the actors looked good, promoting culture deserves praise—everything else is dogshit.

But Yan Li's final remark wasn't just politeness—he genuinely learned something; learning from failure is still learning.

Later, he planned to organize the entire "New Three Kingdoms" crew to watch "Red Cliff," to see how Director Wu messed up, so they could avoid those pitfalls during filming.

In truth, apart from the viewing experience, Yan Li truly owed Director Wu a thank-you.

Regardless of anything else, "Red Cliff" sparked a Three Kingdoms craze, laying the market groundwork for "New Three Kingdoms."

It also provided a safety net—for "New Three Kingdoms," anything better than "Red Cliff" would be an improvement, and precisely because of "Red Cliff's" contrast, it might even gain some reputation benefits.

Therefore, Yan Li specifically attended the after-party for "Red Cliff's" premiere and toasted Director Wu, thanking him for his help to "New Three Kingdoms."

He also used the occasion to arrange a Weibo exclusive interview—though "Red Cliff" was terrible, its buzz was undeniable; Weibo had to ride its coattails.

Besides Director Wu, Yan Li also spoke with Jin Chengwu.

In July, Weibo's男神 campaign kicked off; besides the previously mentioned names, this man was also a top contender with extremely high popularity.

That's normal—Jin is universally recognized as handsome, not just by women but by many men too; these past two years he's been in a career ascent phase, and though his national recognition is relatively lower, his fanbase and popularity are solid.

Yan Li wanted him to open a Weibo account; Jin Chengwu said he had to listen to his agent.

These days, Hong Kong and Taiwan stars are more commercialized, especially top-tier celebrities—everything must be negotiated for money, and many distrust or simply aren't interested in the internet.

On the mainland, it's better—unless under special circumstances, most people give face, and even find it fun, opening accounts on their own initiative.

Yan Li had experience with this—he suggested the account could be opened not under the artist's personal name, but under the studio, company, or official fan club.

That way, it avoids direct personal commercial involvement, yet still represents them indirectly, serving as a channel for communication and fan interaction.

Yan Li used this indirect strategy to bring in major figures like the Four Heavenly Kings, Stephen Chow, and Zhou Jie, securing their indirect presence on Weibo.

Once these people experienced Weibo's benefits, they'd naturally use it more; the influence of these accounts would grow, and they could even use them to publicly release official artist information—even if not personal accounts, it amounted to partial platform onboarding.

This time, Jin Chengwu didn't refuse further—he could reject on commercial grounds for his personal account, but personal favors and money must be separated.

He had merely stepped back, requesting only an official studio or fan club account—beneficial to both sides, and refusing again would be impolite.

Yi'an now holds substantial power in the industry, and Yan Li controls a sizable cinema chain—he's a genuine film and television tycoon.

If you don't give him face now, when you need something later, Yan Li won't give you face—and then it'll be too late to regret.

…

Halfway through the banquet, Yan Li left, accompanied by Fan Xiaopang.

With "Red Cliff" in theaters, she had to go on promotional tours—she planned to be out for at least one or two weeks, intending to come back and ask for more public funds.

Xinghewan

Yan Li, neither full nor hungry after the banquet, decided to grab some late-night snacks; his maid offered to cook, but he stopped her—he was in a good mood tonight and would cook himself.

Qin Lan and Dong Xuan both hired maids, but for various reasons, the maids didn't live in—they came daily to shop, cook, and manage household chores; Yan Li often came home late and rarely saw them.

Wang Ou simply hired hourly workers only when needed—her place was too chaotic, with constant comings and goings, making it inconvenient for outsiders to visit regularly.

Xinghewan was too large, and Fan Xiaopang was too busy, so they hired a live-in maid to watch the house and handle chores; Yan Li had specifically used his system to vet her—she was a trustworthy person.

Seeing Yan Li cook personally, Fan Xiaopang, who hadn't wanted late-night snacks, suddenly became interested.

"Make me some too."

Yan Li cooked less and less these days—every chance was a bonus; regardless of taste, a billionaire personally cooking satisfied his vanity immensely.

He casually added some ingredients, glanced at Fan Xiaopang, and said: "Watch your weight—you're still filming Diaochan; too fat, and you'll look too much like Dong Zhuo."

"Shut up—I'd still seduce you even if I weighed 200 jin."

Fan Xiaopang resented Yan Li constantly bringing up her weight, brimming with resentment.

Yan Li was speechless; this woman turned the tables—she was the one who nagged whenever she gained weight, blaming him for not stopping her, and now that he was trying to stop her, she complained that he thought she was fat.

Hmph, women!