Chapter 589: Competing for Best Actor

The Music God listened to the ending theme of *White Night*, and the more she listened, the more surprised she became.

"The same song, after changing the arrangement and combining it with the drama's plot and lyrics, actually has a completely different effect!"

The Music God became more and more fascinated the more she listened.

She liked both versions of "The Day Doesn't Understand the Night's Darkness" very much.

Most importantly, after listening to the A-section and B-section of this song, she felt there were obvious differences in the expression of emotion and the tone.

"Could it be that it corresponds to the two brothers, Guan Hongyu and Guan Hongfeng, who have very different personalities?" the Music God speculated.

The more she thought about it, the more she felt the possibility was extremely high!

Whether Luo Mo had designed the arrangement this way on purpose, the Music God did not know.

Whether she herself was falling for the so-called "unintentional over-interpretation is the most Deadly," she also did not know.

She only knew: "Writing a music review like this looks good and sounds impressive!"

Besides, could she also pad the word count a bit more?

At the same time, Luo Mo is a well-known 【Musical Genius】.

Everyone thinks he is the weather vane of the current music scene and the most innovative tough guy.

Therefore, no matter how his songs are interpreted, it is never an over-interpretation.

Everyone will only think: "So that's it!"

………

………

On the First Day *White Night* premiered on Penguin Video, its performance exploded.

The volume of discussion across the entire internet was extremely high, and everyone felt this drama was very addictive!

Relying on this web drama, Zhou Tong's acting skills were once again recognized by the entire internet.

His personal popularity was also soaring rapidly, and his traffic was already chasing those traffic stars.

What Luo Mo found most interesting was, isn't it very popular now to pair up characters in film and television works?

For others, it's mostly male-female pairings, but many people also love to pair up males with males, or females with females.

But in *White Night*, many viewers actually started shipping Guan Hongfeng and Guan Hongyu!

"Ah, although the younger brother is glib in front of the older brother, he is actually very obedient; he does whatever the older brother tells him to do!"

"Haha, it's so shippable!"

"Calm down! This is a serious brotherly bond!"

Seeing these comments, Zhou Tong felt like his head was twice its size; he couldn't quite understand the thoughts and logic of these viewers.

What the hell? Can I ship myself with myself?

As for Penguin Music, the male and female versions of "The Day Doesn't Understand the Night's Darkness" occupied the top two spots on all major charts.

In the music scene, Luo Mo was always in a state of killing it.

The days when he didn't release new songs were, in the eyes of singers from other companies, rare peaceful days.

Time passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye, another half month had gone by.

Luo Mo, Wang Rong, and others were far away in Siam, busy filming *Sheep Without a Shepherd*.

And back home, *Dying to Survive* had also reached the day it was to be pulled from theaters.

The two-month screening period ended amidst repeated nationwide shocks, and the final box office for *Dying to Survive* was 4.37 billion!

This film raised Huaxia's box office record by more than 200 million.

Most importantly, the number one spot on Huaxia's total box office chart was finally no longer an imported blockbuster, but a film from our own Huaxia!

After *Dying to Survive* was officially pulled from theaters, not only did domestic media report on it one after another, but overseas media also began to publish various eye-catching articles.

Among them, many foreign media outlets brought up *Dying to Survive* and the world's first 3D blockbuster *Star Domain* to make a point.

After all, *Star Domain* had dominated the top of Huaxia's box office chart for a long time.

This film was also a world-famous blockbuster, revered by countless people as a masterpiece that changed the current film landscape; it was a god-tier film.

This caused some foreign media to heap praise on *Dying to Survive*, while others would be sour or express their Anger.

Regarding the fact that *Star Domain*'s box office was surpassed, many foreign media wanted to interview the production team of *Star Domain*, especially the director.

However, the director and producer of *Star Domain* were busy burning money to film a new movie and ignored the media.

Instead, the special effects company that did the effects for this film started to speak out.

Its general meaning was that *Star Domain* was the world's first 3D film, which ushered in the 3D era, changed the global film market, and set off a craze for 3D films.

Although *Dying to Survive* had great influence in Huaxia and was a film that played a positive role in society, its influence in all aspects was limited to Huaxia.

The former contributed to the world, the latter contributed to one country.

Therefore, the global box office of *Star Domain* was a terrifying figure that made people look up in awe; although *Dying to Survive* won the championship in Huaxia, its global box office certainly couldn't compare.

Once this news was released, it triggered heated discussions in the country.

"Damn! You release this only after it's pulled from theaters? If you had released it earlier, Laozi would have gone to the cinema to watch *Dying to Survive* three or four times to push the box office up!"

"I feel like it makes some sense, but I also feel like something is wrong somewhere."

"The nature of the films is different, and the fields they affect are different; it's as if other countries don't have leukemia patients."

"I have a feeling I can't put into words, anyway, it's so infuriating!"

"They are both good films, why play the game of praising one and stepping on the other?"

"They are the ones who do special effects, it's a special effects company, get it?"

"*Dying to Survive* isn't as impressive as *Star Domain*, it just happens to be able to save more lives in the future, that's all."

Of course, there were also many domestic netizens who directly chose to stand on the side of this special effects company.

"Heh, how can *Dying to Survive* compare to *Star Domain*?"

"Star Domain is the kind of blockbuster worth watching in a theater! It's so stunning!"

"Foreign countries have been making breakthroughs, and then look at these trash special effects in our country."

"Laughing to death, in my heart, Medicine God isn't even fit to tie the shoelaces of Star Domain!"

A war of words was thus on the verge of breaking out, and the whole internet was arguing incessantly.

Many media outlets also wanted to interview Luo Mo, but Luo Mo was far away abroad, and he had no intention of accepting interviews at all.

In Luo Mo's heart, does Star Domain count as a good movie?

That is naturally the case, and it counts as a classic work; even if you watch it many years later, you will still watch it with great interest.

This movie has made a huge contribution to the global film market, and Luo Mo acknowledges this point.

He feels that many people nowadays are just idle; for the sake of heat, for the sake of gimmicks, and for the sake of traffic, they will do all sorts of messy things.

Two movies of different genres should just shine in their own ways.

There is no need to engage in these unnecessary things.

But to say that he has zero ambition regarding movie special effects... that is really not the case.

Although Dying to Survive and the upcoming Sheep Without a Shepherd have nothing to look at in terms of movie special effects, both Monkey King: Hero is Back and Nezha: Birth of the Demon Child require a massive amount of special effects technology.

Luo Mo is accustomed to taking things one step at a time and is accustomed to down-to-earth development.

"Once the animation special effects are done well, then it will be the turn of live-action movie special effects."

Although there is a big difference between the two, based on the current foundation of Luo Mo Studio, the former is temporarily easier to achieve.

Do the simple things first, and then do the ones with greater difficulty.

There are some things that Luo Mo has been quietly laying out and quietly carrying out.

"For example, some viewers have discovered that the story background of Medicine God takes place on a planet called Earth, rather than Blue Star."

"Including the cities where each drama in Mist Theater is set, they are also cities on Earth," Luo Mo said in his heart.

"The story background of the upcoming Sheep Without a Shepherd will also be Earth."

Luo Mo wants to let everyone gradually become familiar with it.

"What Marvel Universe, Detective Chinatown Universe... I don't have such great ambition, and I haven't thought about creating a 'Universe'."

"As for me, I just want to construct a small planet," Luo Mo thought to himself.

Once the Earth Project gradually matures, some special works can emerge as the times require!

Half a month passed, and Director Li Dongliang's flop movie, Kingdom of Ten Thousand Demons, was officially pulled from theaters domestically.

The word-of-mouth for this movie was severely polarized in the country.

A large portion of people said that this movie didn't speak human language and they couldn't understand what it was expressing.

And a portion of people liked this mode of not speaking human language, shouting online that this was a masterpiece and that it was just that you didn't understand!

However, if you really asked these people what exactly they understood... Afraid they wouldn't be able to say anything coherent.

Pretending to be profound, just pretending is enough!

Judging by the box office performance of Kingdom of Ten Thousand Demons in the country, the investors of this movie cannot recoup their costs.

This group of people is now pinning their hopes on the overseas box office, hoping to recoup some losses through it.

But whether they can reach their psychological expectations, they have no bottom line in their hearts either.

After Kingdom of Ten Thousand Demons was officially pulled from theaters, it meant that all 11 works in the Hundred Billion Box Office Plan had their final results.

Adding the 11 movies together, the total box office reached as high as 11.16 billion.

When the box office of Medicine God was around 3.75 billion, the total box office of these movies had already broken 10 billion; at that time, Director Li's Kingdom of Ten Thousand Demons had just premiered.

Now, Medicine God has gained quite a bit more at the box office, and movies like Little Pet Comes Home have also increased their box office successively, making the plan exceed its target by 1.16 billion!

A large number of media outlets began to report on the achievements of the Hundred Billion Box Office Plan, and in this, of course, it was inevitable to heap praise on Dying to Survive.

The next day, the Review Department announced the changes to next year's Hundred Billion Box Office Plan to the public.

There will be another wave of support next year, but this time, it is no longer selecting directors, but selecting films!

That night, Luo Mo made a voice call to Guan Fei.

"Director Guan, how is the preparation for Be Famous going?" he asked.

After finishing the filming of White Night, Guan Fei was preparing a new movie, intending to make a comeback in the film industry.

"It will start filming in a few days," Guan Fei said.

"That's fine then, you film slowly, no need to rush. We aren't in a hurry for this movie; it's fine as long as it can be released next year," Luo Mo said indifferently.

Guan Fei, however, keenly captured the key point—released next year.

"Are you trying to get me to be shortlisted for the Hundred Billion Box Office Plan too?" Guan Fei asked.

"No, no, no, not you, it's our movie Be Famous," Luo Mo corrected his words.

This time, they aren't selecting people, only films.

Holding his phone, Guan Fei's heartbeat began to accelerate gradually, faster and faster.

Originally, he, this so-called Box Office Poison, definitely wouldn't have been qualified.

But now... it's not that there is no chance at all!

Although as of now, everyone doesn't know what the Review Department's selection criteria actually are.

However, letting go and doing it, filming the movie well, and doing his best to the greatest extent, is definitely not wrong!

Guan Fei suddenly thought of one thing and said, "By the way, you're going to return to the country in a couple of days, right?"

"That's for sure!" Luo Mo answered quite cockily.

The reason is very simple: in the film circle, a ceremony known to everyone is about to begin.

It is one of the three major film awards in Mainland Huaxia—the 【Fan Hua Award】.

This award is held every two years, generally at the end of September.

All film works from September of the year before last to September of this year are eligible for selection.

Logically speaking, this kind of top-tier award has little to do with the vast majority of newcomer directors and newcomer film actors.

Yet Luo Mo, this novice in the film industry, has become a peak that no award can bypass, thanks to *Monkey King: Hero is Back* and *Dying to Survive*!

Guan Fei had a hint of envy in his tone as he said, "Sigh, I hope I can have a change of luck next year. I really don't want to be invited to attend the 【Golden Funnel Award】 again."

The 【Golden Funnel Award】 that Guan Fei spoke of is similar to the 【Golden Broom Award】 on Earth.

A broom, after all, is for sweeping up trash.

This award is not an honor; it is presented to terrible films.

The purpose of this award's existence is to select the worst Chinese-language film of the year.

Interestingly, compared to the "clash of the gods" and the tension and excitement of the three major awards, the competition for the 【Golden Funnel Award】 is also incomparably fierce and full of suspense.

There is no worst, only worse!

Every time the various categories of the 【Golden Funnel Award】 are announced, the internet is filled with all sorts of voices of dissent.

The format is roughly: "This award wasn't given to XXXX, I don't accept it!"

Looking at the shortlist and the nominated actors for the 【Golden Funnel Award】, the audience truly feels at a loss as to who this award will "fall to."

It always feels like every film deserves it, and every person deserves it too.

They deserve it! They are worthy!

Guan Fei is quite something; last year he was nominated for 【Most Disappointing Director】, only to lose in the end to a director named Bi Hui.

Upon hearing this, Luo Mo smiled and said, "It will get better. But once you mention the 【Golden Funnel】, I really do admire you. Brother Fei is truly worthy of being Brother Fei!"

Hearing Luo Mo's banter, Guan Fei immediately said, "Get lost!"

Many invited guests do not attend the 【Golden Funnel Award】 ceremony.

Like the 【Golden Broom Award】 on Earth, Wang Baoqiang was the first celebrity with high visibility in the nine years of the award to attend the ceremony and accept the "grand prize."

He won the 【Most Disappointing Director Award】 for *Buddies in India*, which he directed himself.

During his acceptance speech, he was extremely humble, exceptionally sincere, and urged himself to do better.

He is truly a star who was betrayed by the two people closest to him without any dirt being dug up, and who even had the badass feat of borrowing money to pay taxes.

The reason Luo Mo says he admires Guan Fei now is because Guan Fei also went to the scene.

The final winner, Bi Hui, did not go.

Luo Mo knows that Guan Fei went specifically for the sake of being embarrassed.

He went to the scene to ask for scolding and to ask for humiliation.

This damn man wants to improve too much!

At this moment, Guan Fei could not suppress the curiosity in his heart and asked, "Director Luo, tell me, this envious person, which awards do you think have the highest probability of winning for *Dying to Survive* and *Monkey King: Hero is Back* at this 【Fan Hua Award】?"

"Not saying," Luo Mo refused decisively.

"Why?" Guan Fei asked.

As a result, in the voice call, he received an extremely cocky reply from Luo Mo: "It wastes data."

Luo Mo's persona across all the major awards has always been consistent: he is a wholesaler, a guy who brings a sack to the major ceremonies to stock up on goods!

A few days later, Luo Mo and Wang Rong took a plane together to return to the country.

On the plane, Wang Rong's topics would always unconsciously drift toward the 【Fan Hua Award】.

He also detailed some of his inner journey to Luo Mo, expressing that actors who become famous through comedy are actually never valued in many awards, and their acting skills are not recognized.

Actors who can be crowned Best Actor through comedy films are few and far between.

Even if some comedic actors transition, it is difficult to achieve good results because their previous comedy films are too deeply rooted in people's hearts.

Luo Mo could see that Wang Rong was a bit excited at this moment, but even more nervous.

Luo Mo knew clearly in his heart why Wang Rong was nervous.

How does that saying go—when a person has expectations, they also have troubles.

He knew that the expectations, or rather the ambition, in Wang Rong's heart were no less than his own!

Wang Rong has been in the film industry for many years, and among the three major film awards, he has only won Best Actor once, which was the Best Actor award from the 【Fan Hua Award】.

*Dying to Survive* is too popular, its influence is too great, and Wang Rong's acting in it is also ridiculously good.

Therefore, he wants to—be crowned Best Actor for the second time!

"Best Actor?" Luo Mo looked at the sea of clouds outside the window and muttered these two words in his heart.

Soon, he had a decision in his heart.

"After filming *Sheep Without a Shepherd*, it's time to play the male lead myself."

"Then, who should I play?"

(PS: Two-in-one.)

(End of chapter)