Chapter 332

Since entering December, the entertainment industry has been quite lively.

Yi Nengjing’s “hand-holding scandal” caused a huge uproar; she is also a well-known actress who has developed northward in recent years and wields considerable influence across the Taiwan Strait and Hong Kong.

More importantly, Yi’s previous public image was that of a virtuous wife and devoted mother—this incident not only shattered her persona but also dragged her husband, the popular singer Yu Chengqing, into the controversy.

A female star’s infidelity, coupled with celebrity marital breakdown and mother-in-law/daughter-in-law conflicts, plus rumors of Yi Nengjing’s troubles with Hua Yi’s young boss, made this a topic-laden spectacle and the biggest drama of late 2008.

Another major drama involved Zhou Huimin and her fiancé.

The latter was caught kissing another woman, but Zhou Huimin generously forgave him and declared the wedding date unchanged, sparking outrage and mockery from netizens.

In addition, various related roundups were nonstop.

For instance, Weibo launched an “Entertainment Power Ranking,” directly comparing and pitting all major companies against each other.

The key rivalry focused on Hua Yi and Yi’an.

Although Weibo and Yi’an share the same boss, the commentary was sharply critical—even offering no shortage of criticism and mockery toward Yan Li.

It particularly highlighted the “blog scandal” and “yacht scandal” and their impact on his personal image and company.

It questioned whether Yi’an, after the merger, could overcome its hidden risks and properly streamline its production, distribution, and theater operations instead of merely maintaining an empty shell that might be dragged down by money-sucking theaters.

Honestly, at first glance, outsiders might think Sina had planted a mole in Weibo—how else to explain such biting mockery of its own side? Don’t they want to survive?

In reality, if you read the full article, you’d realize it’s all apparent criticism with hidden praise.

It picked out a few flaws, even daring to target its own boss Yan Li, giving the impression of being objective and authentic.

But then, the tone shifted: it began reviewing Yi’an’s achievements over the past year—in short, Yi’an had a spectacularly successful year.

Then it simplified the earlier criticisms.

It made readers feel that if Yi’an just fixed those mistakes and watched out for risks, it could avoid them entirely and march forward unimpeded, dominating the field.

In contrast, the article on Hua Yi was overt praise with covert criticism.

It first praised Hua Yi’s achievements and momentum this year, then hit with a “but,” pointing out Hua Yi’s various flaws and latent risks.

The impression given was that Hua Yi was like oil poured on fire—impressive on the surface, but one misstep could plunge it into a bottomless abyss.

Journalism isn’t simple; there are many subtle tricks, and soft knives kill just as effectively.

Undeniably, since acquiring Weibo, Yi’an has gained a decisive advantage in public opinion manipulation.

Other entertainment companies try to steer narratives through media or hired trolls.

Yi’an, however, controls a platform with nearly 100 million users centered on information and social interaction—Yan Li can destroy an opponent’s reputation in days, leaving them nearly powerless to retaliate.

Forget cooperating with other platforms; given Weibo’s current speed and immediacy of information dissemination, no ordinary platform can compete.

By the time they react and deploy their own platform mechanisms for effective counterattacks, the water is already thoroughly muddied, and the situation irrecoverable.

However, due to various reasons, Yan Li usually just encourages momentum rather than openly deploying such extreme control tactics.

Aside from gossip and year-end roundups, the most anticipated event was still the New Year’s film lineup.

This year’s New Year’s lineup featured many films.

Among the films released in December, the most watched by industry insiders and the public were Feng Xiaogang’s “If You Are the One” and Chen Da’s “Mei Lanfang.”

Although “The Assembly” was affected last year and pulled from theaters early, its box office was still impressive—Feng Pants’ reputation remains undiminished.

Now returning to his signature Feng-style comedy, with his longtime collaborator Ge Dage supporting him, the industry is highly optimistic—he’ll definitely break 100 million, and a 200 million haul is very likely.

Clearly, the emergence of several films this year—“Red Cliff: Part I,” “The Warlords,” “Painted Skin,” and “Chang Jiang Seven”—each grossing over 200 million, has raised the market’s upper limit.

Breaking 100 million is still a solid achievement, but major hit projects now aim for 200 million+.

Compared to Feng Pants’ steady rise, Chen Da’s situation is less certain.

“The Promise” crashed too hard; Chen Da fell from his pedestal and is still mocked today.

His new film, “Mei Lanfang,” is another biopic, starring Li Tianwang and Zhang Ziyi—big names, but weak box office appeal.

Thus, public expectations for this film are ambiguous, causing Chen Da to complain during promotions.

But as it turned out, the public’s judgment remains sharp.

“Mei Lanfang” lacked sufficient promotional appeal, and Chen Da’s reputation no longer matched his former glory, resulting in disappointing box office performance.

Initially, it earned nearly 30 million in three days—decent momentum—but box office then plummeted; it’s uncertain whether it will even break 100 million.

The reasons? Aside from the film’s own weak appeal, a formidable rival emerged.

“Ip Man” was released!

Both “Mei Lanfang” and “Ip Man” are biopics—one about an artist, one about a martial artist; one literary, one martial; their release dates are close, making them direct competitors.

Before release, almost everyone favored “Mei Lanfang.”

Even if Chen Da is overrated, he’s still more prestigious than director Ye Weixin; Li Tianwang and Zhang Ziyi’s combo is far stronger than Donnie Yen carrying the film alone.

But after release, everyone realized they were wrong.

“Mei Lanfang” tells of an era, art, and love—its style leans artistic.

Most audiences can’t appreciate Peking Opera elements; the romance between opera stars is both realistic and dreamlike, and cramming an entire life into one film feels rushed and disjointed.

“Ip Man” is about martial arts and patriotism—a pure commercial film.

Everyone understands martial arts; the visuals are strong, the plot simple: setup, then fight Japanese invaders, one man takes on ten, almost no dull moments—pure, satisfying entertainment.

Which is better in quality? Subjective. But which is more enjoyable? Most ordinary viewers voted with their feet.

On its first day, "Ip Man" had a steady box office; on the second day, it surpassed "Mei Lanfang"; by the third day, it began seizing screening slots, severely impacting "Mei Lanfang"'s earnings.

Meanwhile, seeing “Ip Man” become a surprise hit of the New Year’s season, Yi’an ramped up promotion and distribution.

Weibo, ground promotions, and distribution all pushed hard, causing “Ip Man”’s box office to climb steadily—though not matching “Painted Skin”’s frenzy, it was clearly on track to break 100 million.

That’s already excellent!

Despite all the noise from Yi’an, the only film they actually co-produced that broke 100 million was “Painted Skin.”

If “Ip Man” breaks 100 million, it will be Yi’an’s second—so even Yan Li was moved to personally attend the Hangzhou promotional tour for “Ip Man,” praising Donnie Yen as a kung fu superstar.

Yeah, anyone who makes money for him is a superstar.

Still, Donnie Yen has always held a solid position in the industry; his fame and influence are undeniable, and in recent years he’s grown rapidly, quietly emerging as the new flagbearer of action stars beneath Cheng and Li.

Times have changed; Donnie Yen’s chances of breaking into Hollywood are slim, perhaps never reaching Cheng and Li’s status.

But if he can hold onto third place and smoothly succeed them when they age, he’ll be the new generation’s kung fu superstar.

Previously, Donnie Yen had solid honors and achievements, but never a breakout solo hit.

“Firestorm” and “Kill Zone” received good reviews and decent returns, but weren’t blockbusters.

If “Ip Man” breaks 100 million, coupled with strong word-of-mouth, it can fully close this gap—he might be overstating “superstar,” but he’ll definitely enter the top tier of movie stars and gain more solo-leading opportunities going forward.

The entertainment industry is always pragmatic and mercenary.

Earlier, Wu Jing gained minor fame from his role as Pang Yong in “Painted Skin” and was seen as a rising kung fu superstar candidate.

But his self-directed, self-starred “Wolf’s Tooth” became a casualty in the New Year’s season, with box office unlikely to reach 5 million—praise from two months ago turned to mockery.

Similarly, after “The King and the Beauty” flopped early this year, Donnie Yen was widely written off; when Wu Jing rose, many mocked him; now that “Ip Man” is a hit, Donnie Yen is being lifted to the heavens.

Even industry heavyweight Yan Li isn’t immune—he personally invited Donnie Yen to the year-end Weibo Night and asked about his next project.

“The Soong Sisters”

This is also a project Yi’an invested in; originally, the producers considered Deng Chao as the lead, and Yi’an supported Deng Chao.

Now that Donnie Yen is red-hot with strong appeal and a temporarily more cost-effective salary than other Hong Kong stars, Boss Yan Li is happy to ride the wave and insists on pushing him to the top.

Besides “The Soong Sisters,” there’s also “Ip Man 2.”

Originally, Donnie Yen’s contract with Oriental Film ended after “Ip Man,” and the film never planned a sequel, so the ending had Ip Man leaving to live in seclusion.

But now that the film is a hit, a sequel is entirely feasible.

Hong Kong can’t fight Japanese invaders, but it can fight triads and British colonists; Master Ip is still in his prime, with plenty of room to shine.

As for the expired contract, it can be renewed, or paid per project.

Yi’an is a mainland giant; Oriental Film has strong influence in Hong Kong—Donnie Yen can’t avoid cooperating.

Besides, making a sequel to “Ip Man” means he earns money and gains fame—why wouldn’t he cooperate?

“Yen, the mainland market is exploding, Yi’an is expanding its territory, and we’re desperate for talent. There will be more opportunities for us to collaborate—you provide talent and effort, we provide money and resources—mutual success.”

Yan Li prefers mainland artists but never rejects Hong Kong and Taiwan talent.

Donnie Yen isn’t a saint—he has plenty of flaws—but how many saints are there in the entertainment industry?

As long as he has no major moral failures, no fundamental issues, some credibility, and can make money, he’s a good partner.

Currently, Hong Kong and Taiwan artists still have strong drawing power.

But most are controlled by Hong Kong capital; using them means sharing profits; only a few big names operate independently, charging exorbitant fees.

Donnie Yen is currently a new major star who has just broken free from his old patron but hasn’t fully gone independent.

His momentum is strong, and in the short term, his salary still lags behind established big names.

Yeah, maybe he could match them—but he won’t ask Yi’an for that high a fee.

Film companies tailor deals to the artist; artists do the same.

Yi’an is big and powerful, with many “favor” accounts built up.

Donnie Yen is now in a rapid growth phase, with some autonomy, but still lacks the resources and connections of established big names.

By cooperating with Yi’an, he accepts a lower salary; Yi’an protects him, provides resources, and helps him through his development phase.

If he wants to cash in while he’s hot, he can cooperate with Yi’an while also partnering with smaller companies or rich fools.

These people have money but no resources; their projects lack appeal, so they can only lure stars with massive paychecks—many so-called “sky-high salaries” come from this.