[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-intelligence-king-of-chinese-entertainment":3,"chapter-the-intelligence-king-of-chinese-entertainment-the-intelligence-king-of-chinese-entertainment-chapter-377":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","The Intelligence King of Chinese Entertainment",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2260680,4411,"Chapter 377","the-intelligence-king-of-chinese-entertainment-chapter-377",377,"\u003Cp>Late November, the New Year film season officially kicked off, with \"Mulan\" leading the release.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xiao Yanzi is dubbed a box-office poison, yet studios keep casting her because she genuinely has a fanbase—though its strength is debatable, it’s still formidable among female stars.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As always, female stars don’t carry box office.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even the current powerhouse duo of Bing and Bing couldn’t have hit two consecutive blockbusters solely on their own—it took marketing, production teams, and film quality working together.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now that Bing and Bing have split and each is carrying films alone, they might be slightly stronger than other female stars, but a massive breakout is still unlikely.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Take, for example, Zhang Ziyi’s solo lead in \"Perfect Couple\" during this summer’s season—its final box office was barely near a hundred million.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even that result was boosted by the publicized feud between Zhang Ziyi and Li Xiaoran, which generated significant exposure.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As one of the Four Dan and Two Bing, Xiao Yanzi enjoys extremely high popularity and national recognition.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even if her fanbase capable of driving box office is limited, it’s still better than stars with no fans at all—and she brings media exposure and attracts casual viewers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for the male lead, Chen Kun, though his career has hit a bottleneck and he’s overshadowed by the Four Top Male Leads, he’s still been steadily active in the film industry over the past two years.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He has the acclaimed \"A World Without Thieves\" as his signature work, and played a substantial role as Prince Jiang in the anniversary film \"The Founding of a Republic.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In fact, in terms of film, none of the Four Top Male Leads—except Liu Huohua—have truly overshadowed him; some are even inferior to Chen Kun.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though he’s not among the Four Top Male Leads and lacks their resources and backing, this very absence gives him greater flexibility—he can collaborate with anyone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Take, for instance, this time’s \"Mulan\" launched by Star International.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Deng and Huang had their own resources and no time; Liu Huohua was unsuitable; Tong Dawei was dismissed as lacking film appeal—finally, Chen Kun, leveraging his school friendship with Xiao Yanzi, defeated two Hong Kong-Taiwanese young leads and snagged the role.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One of the key promotional angles for \"Mulan\" was heavily emphasizing their school friendship, even hinting they had once dated and so on.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This marketing campaign proved effective; combined with \"Mulan\" being a well-known IP and releasing at the start of the New Year season, the film’s opening box office was decent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But soon, the box office began to plummet rapidly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The most critical reason was quality: the director of \"Mulan,\" Ma Chucheng, entered the industry early and is known for \"Tokyo Raiders,\" \"Hong Kong Raiders,\" and \"Starry Starry Night\"—he specializes in romance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yes, another Hong Kong director.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though somewhat absolute, after films like \"The Promise,\" \"Red Cliff,\" and \"Mo Gong,\" the industry has developed a consensus: most Hong Kong directors can’t handle historical epics.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A Hong Kong director skilled in romance and urban stories tackling a historical epic? Expectations can be lowered considerably.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It’s still the same \"Young and Dangerous\" formula—several nations acting like rival gangs fighting.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mulan is a quiet version of Thirteen Sisters; in the end, she assassinates the enemy leader, sacrifices her lover, and arranges a marriage alliance with the enemy princess, bringing peace to the realm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A film centered on a female warrior dedicates most of its runtime to romance, with its highlights being tragic love and tear-jerking moments.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>More radical audiences outright called it trash; even those using milder language delivered an equally deadly verdict: mediocre.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If a film is labeled “mediocre,” it’s hardly different from trash—especially in a fiercely competitive season.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even trash films can be remembered, generate buzz and discussion, and attract curious viewers wanting to see just how bad they are—but mediocrity means no one cares at all, a pure disposable casualty, destined to flop.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Another deadly factor: this year’s New Year season saw outstanding performances from Hollywood films.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In past New Year seasons, there’d be one or two Hollywood releases, with mixed results—but this year, they clearly hit the jackpot.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Especially \"2012,\" which released almost simultaneously with \"Mulan,\" broke 100 million in three days, 200 million in six, and raced toward 300 million at an astonishing pace.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not only did \"Mulan\" go into shock, but every other big New Year release queued behind it wanted to curse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The pie is this small, competition is already brutal, everyone barely has enough to eat—and now a foreign dragon has jumped in.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With \"2012\"’s momentum, it might even challenge \"The Founding of a Republic\" for this year’s box office crown—who could take that?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The most furious among them was Boss Zhang of New Picture.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The reason is simple: \"Three Musketeers\" premiered in early December and had to directly compete with \"2012.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"October Siege,\" however, fared better—it released in mid-December, with a two-week gap, leaving \"2012\" with virtually no box office threat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This made Boss Zhang, who had previously clashed with Yi’an, extremely irritable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Especially when struggling to secure screening slots, he finally snapped, openly accusing Yan Li and China Film Group of colluding to monopolize, and launched a furious tirade against Yan Li and Han Sanye.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yi’an controls his own theater chain and Weibo—every film seeking screening slots and promotion must pay tribute and advertising fees to Yan Li. What’s the difference between him and a mob boss?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“He publicly declared on Weibo he wanted to poach Yimou—would any businessman act like this? Oh, because he has money, he thinks he can do whatever he wants.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Many say I’m afraid of him. I’m not afraid—I just held back to avoid harming my film’s prospects. But now I can’t take it anymore.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’d like to ask China Film Group: 'October Siege' involved China Film Group, so you gave it favorable slots; but when we partnered with Huaxia, you gave us no consideration—and you even let two imported films fight it out.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“At the Huabiao Awards, everyone greeted him as ‘Third Boss’—what third boss? I thought Shan Chao had shown up.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“One Shan Chao, one Nan Batian—they’re in cahoots. Anyone not on their side gets crushed. The current filth in the film industry stems directly from them.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“They’re the abscess of the film industry—everyone is angry but dares not speak out. I’m willing to pop it.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“...”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This news article was originally an interview by print media, then went viral on the three major portals, and only afterward spread across Weibo, known for its rapid information flow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In Luozhou, Yimou, leading a promotional tour, angrily knocked on Boss Zhang’s hotel room door.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Are you fucking crazy?!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The feud with Yan Li was already headache enough—now Boss Zhang had turned his fire on China Film Group.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He’d offended both major power blocs in mainland cinema: the state and the private sector.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What’s there to fear? Can they eat me?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Boss Zhang was dismissive—Yan Li’s tactics were nothing new; even if things blew up, his Weibo might be powerful, but it’s not a dictatorship.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for Han Sanye, he truly wasn’t afraid—systems are powerful, but they’re also constrained; if Han dared retaliate, he’d confirm himself as Shan Chao—let’s see how he’d handle that.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yimou stared at Boss Zhang in shock—he couldn’t understand whether he’d lost his mind or become delusional.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yes, even if things blew up now and Han and Yan, wary of backlash, couldn’t retaliate violently, once the storm passed, they’d find a way to crush him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One is the leader of a private company, controlling the hottest online platform; the other is the official heavyweight of cinema, with endless resources—making things difficult for you is effortless, leaving you unable to even complain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And now that Boss Zhang has publicly attacked Han and Yan, who will dare to collaborate with him? He’s cutting off his own escape routes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>More crucially—it’s completely unnecessary!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yimou truly couldn’t fathom it: it was just a scheduling conflict—why tear everything apart?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yan Li, fine—he’d had past grievances, understandable resentment—but Han Sanye had done nothing to him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yimou didn’t understand, and neither did Han Sanye and Yan Li.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Why the hell is he so arrogant?!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Really, Yan Li’s net worth is billions, his empire extends beyond entertainment—he still wouldn’t dare speak so openly against Han Sanye.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Likewise, Han Sanye, commanding respect in the industry, could shake the ground with a single step—even if he disliked Yan Li, he’d never publicly launch a direct attack.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Could this be a publicity stunt? Boss Zhang has pulled similar stunts before.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But even so, why go this far?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yan Li, at least, is a private company—some negative impact, but nothing fatal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In fact, they’d already exchanged insults before—Yan Li mocked him for being stingy, fake in loyalty, and bullying Yimou—these could all be dismissed as industry banter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But calling Han Sanye “Shan Chao” and “Nan Batian”? That’s devastating—pure heart-destroying rhetoric, potentially ruining his future—it’s real, lasting enmity.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But as always, systems have their weaknesses—now that things are so public and widely watched, Han Sanye won’t dare retaliate or even respond, lest he sink deeper.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In fact, Han Sanye not only refrained from retaliation—he urged Yan Li to stay low-key.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yan, for my sake, let’s hold back for now—I’ll give you an explanation later.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Boss Zhang’s words were excessive, but not entirely baseless.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Han Sanye didn’t reach his position by being weak—he’s just lying low now; once the storm passes, he’ll show Boss Zhang what a real Shan Chao looks like.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Third Boss, you’re magnanimous, but I’m not the type to swallow humiliation. I don’t provoke, but I won’t be pushed around. Everyone’s watching—if I back down now, how will I survive?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Don’t worry—I’ll keep the spotlight on me. You slip away quietly. A guy selling bento boxes doesn’t need a beating to learn his place.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yan Li’s earlier threats to poach from New Picture were just empty provocations—purely to annoy, never meant to act.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This time, Boss Zhang came at him head-on—Yan Li realized he’d been too lenient.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Han Sanye tried to persuade him a few more times, but failed; moreover, he himself was seething with anger—finally, he gritted his teeth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Fine. You’re not the only one getting flak—this won’t be your burden alone.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I can’t show my face publicly—you take the front. Whatever you need from me, I’ll assist. Consider it a debt I owe you.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This meant letting Yan Li take the lead while Han hid in the shadows—Yan Li got the glory, and all future risks and backlash fell solely on Yan Li.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Agreed. Then I won’t be polite.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After consulting with Han Sanye, Yan Li’s first move was to officially advance the release date of \"October Siege\" to directly confront \"Three Musketeers.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To crush Boss Zhang, Yan Li’s most direct method would be digging up dirt—but that tactic is low and its effectiveness uncertain, given that Boss Zhang is already infamous.\u003C\u002Fp>",1814,"2026-06-19T16:16:54.562Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","c6f320e9ba6de4b758f00cc06bdc47455fb3e7d0c83e4b8a620c17206aff44c2","the-intelligence-king-of-chinese-entertainment-chapter-378","the-intelligence-king-of-chinese-entertainment-chapter-376",405,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-intelligence-king-of-chinese-entertainment-cover.jpg"]