Chapter 615: Zhang Dongsheng Takes You Hiking

Both "Sheep Without a Shepherd" and "The Bad Kids" finally passed the review successfully.

There was no help for it; Luo Mo filmed a fairy-tale-like ending, and no faults could be picked out.

All the Evil is left for the audience to imagine and fill in the blanks.

Just how dark this ending is depends on how you think about it.

From a certain perspective, this is also a type of artistic restraint.

But one thing is certain.

What is placed on the surface is a fake ending.

There are even many viewers who feel that even the content of the first few episodes is adulterated.

On Earth, there is a segment that believes that when Zhu Chaoyang began writing his Diary early and began laying out plans within the diary, using it as one of the pieces of evidence to be ultimately presented to the Police, perhaps what was filmed subsequently was not the truth.

What was filmed was nothing more than—the fake diary written by Zhu Chaoyang!

……..

……..

"Phew! It passed the review!" After receiving the news, Luo Mo let out a long sigh of relief.

Since there were no issues from the Review Department, the subsequent promotional work could then follow.

Penguin Video was already impatient.

The promotion was spread out comprehensively, which shows how much confidence they have in Luo Mo.

Nowadays, for many dramas, in terms of promotional investment, they will spread out a portion first, and then make adjustments based on the word-of-mouth and data after the broadcast begins.

Such "confident promotion" like that of Penguin Video and Luo Mo Studio is actually quite rare in recent years.

And on the internet, netizens are definitely holding an expectant attitude.

To be honest, the cast of "The Bad Kids" cannot compare to the first few works of the Mist Theater.

"Reset" was starred in by Luo Mo and Ding Xiaoyu; that traffic was terrifying.

The several leads of "Forensic Qin Ming" also had high personal fame and traffic.

"White Night" was starred in by Zhou Tong; he had already become a Top Traffic of the "Uncle Circle" during the "Nirvana in Fire" period, and his popularity is unknown how many times higher than before.

Looking at "The Bad Kids" in contrast, although they are all movie-tier actors, many of them are leads in art-house films. Each one has superb acting skills, but they haven't participated in many commercial films, and their popularity is not high.

As for the three child actors, that goes without saying.

Fortunately, this drama has the word-of-mouth and popularity support of the Mist Theater, and at the same time, the mere fact that Luo Mo is serving as the Screenwriter and Director is enough to draw traffic.

"Looking forward to it! Looking forward to the grand finale of the Mist Theater this year!"

"Honestly, this title doesn't attract me, but since it's personally directed by Luo Mo, I have to watch it!"

"Shocking! A web drama filmed by a movie director with the number one box office in film history—can you not watch this?"

"I'm dying of laughter; it's the first time I've encountered a drama where the biggest selling point is actually the director!"

On the contrary, those expert judges of the Fan Hua Award had quite a few people being snide and sarcastic.

As everyone knows, in the contempt chain of the entertainment industry, movies stand at the high ground, while web dramas are among the bottom.

Luo Mo went to film a web drama, and some even feel it is a disgrace to the film circle.

"Any movie director with even a little bit of achievement would never go off to film a web drama!"

Luo Mo didn't think that much, and wouldn't think about these things at all.

Despising this all day, despising that, everything has to be divided into different ranks.

The film circle even looks down on the music scene, so does that mean I can't even do Singing?

"Where do all these damn things come from!" Luo Mo thought to himself.

And they say I tarnished the art of film?

He pondered, what standing do these judges of the Fan Hua Award have to say this?

What's more, in his Earth Project, it covers multiple fields.

Movies are just one link in it.

Backed by the civilization of an entire planet, he really couldn't manage to take only one scoop from the vast ocean of water.

If you can scoop, why not scoop a bit more?

On the other side, besides conducting the regular promotion for "The Bad Kids", Luo Mo Studio also began promoting "Winners and Sinners", directed by Guan Fei.

For this film, Luo Mo is the investor and screenwriter; he takes the lion's share of the money earned.

Regarding this film being scheduled for New Year's Day, the other directors in the Hundred Billion Box Office Plan are naturally happy to see this happen.

Releasing on January 1st means Guan Fei is leading the charge; "Winners and Sinners" is the first to be released among the 8 films of the Hundred Billion Box Office Plan.

It's just that some people hope it achieves a high box office to get a good start, reduce pressure for everyone, and boost morale along the way.

Others are dying for it to flop, letting Guan Fei continue his reputation as "Box Office Poison".

Therefore, Luo Mo hasn't been idle these past few days, occasionally going out to run promotions, such as going on Run Jie's variety show and the like.

After work, he can even have a few drinks with this drinking buddy.

And by tonight, the Review Department finally threw out a bombshell!

They announced the list for next year's Hundred Billion Box Office Plan.

In an instant, it triggered heated discussions across the entire internet.

"As expected! Luo Mo is definitely in it."

"Isn't that nonsense? Without him, this plan wouldn't even be completed this year!"

"Tian Ou is also there, ho, and it's still 'Car King 3'?"

"There aren't many old faces left; next year is actually all new-generation directors."

"Huh, there isn't a single director from the older generation next year."

"Looking at this setup, they are clearly prioritizing the new generation, though that is understandable."

Once this list was announced, the general audience's interest in these films actually far exceeded this year's.

Many people felt it should have been done this way a long time ago.

Of course, the main point is—there are actually three films related to Luo Mo!

This makes it hard not to be excited!

"Not bad, you've been as highly productive as a sow lately!"

"Alright, I won't urge you to work overtime anymore."

"Good heavens, out of 8 films in total, he takes up 3!"

The general audience doesn't care about the interests and benefits involved.

We just spend money to buy tickets to watch movies, and what we want is two words—good-looking!

Luo Mo's standard is right there; we believe in him, we trust him.

The more films he creates, the more movies there are for us to watch, and the happier we are.

—A large quantity and satisfying!

As for what the industry thinks, what does that have to do with us?

In reality, the industry is indeed in an uproar.

It's just a pity that this is a decision made by the Review Department, so everyone only dares to grumble quietly.

Even those expert judges of the 【Fan Hua Award】 who were jumping around so happily don't dare to discuss or debate these things in public.

But the voices behind the scenes have never stopped.

"What is this? Out of 8 film slots in total, he is the creator of 3 of them; rounding it up, that's almost half!"

"And they call this an official support plan? It feels like the one being supported is Luo Mo, and everyone else is just an afterthought."

"Tsk tsk tsk, being the number one in box office history is truly imposing; this prestige, this spectacle, ha!"

"This matter wasn't handled fairly; who is convinced behind his back? Why should he be able to take 3 film slots? This rule shouldn't have been set this way!"

"If he makes 3 films alone next year, why not just let him do all of them the year after!"

"Why Guan Fei? I could endure the others, but how can I endure this?"

In the film circle, many people have already gotten used to dividing the cake.

When everyone thinks this is the norm, seeing an example like Luo Mo makes them feel particularly eyesore.

Especially since the interests and resources involved here are truly too large, too many!

And at night, when the Review Department announced the teams for each film and the set box office expectations, it was like throwing a bombshell into the water!

The sensation caused this time far exceeded the last time this data was announced.

Last time there were 11 films in total, adding up to only 8 billion.

This time there are only 8 films, and they actually add up to 14 billion!

Looking at the total alone, one feels that this group of people has gotten carried away.

14 billion divided by 8 means each film is allocated 1.75 billion.

Looking at this number alone, you might not feel much, but if you open the total box office ranking to take a look, you will discover that this result can rank in the top 100 of film history.

To be precise, it can enter the top fifty!

You have to know, this is the total box office ranking of film history, not the list announced every year; it's film history!

This is the box office list compiled over so many years.

And then, next year all 8 of your films rush into the top fifty, occupying eight seats in one go?

Is that possible?

But when everyone looked closely at the numbers for each film, for a moment, they didn't know what to say.

—Good heavens, it turns out someone is "driving up prices"!

The term "driving up prices" might not be accurate, but someone is indeed inflating the data!

Damn it! A total of 14 billion, and your three Luo Mo films account for 8 billion!

So it's not that all directors participating in the 【Hundred Billion Box Office Plan】 have entered crazy mode, only he alone—is completely crazy!

If it weren't for him, everything would look quite normal.

"Luo Mo, you really have a way!"

And when everyone saw these specific numbers, the vast majority of people felt it was a bit outrageous.

Even with "Dying to Survive" supporting it from the front, it's still a bit outrageous.

The specific reasons were mentioned earlier, so I won't repeat them.

Most industry insiders have a unified attitude: "This time, I don't have high hopes for Luo Mo."

But this feeling is strangely familiar.

Every time someone didn't have high hopes for him, their faces ended up swollen.

"The current box office record for the Suspense genre won't pass 2 billion."

"The box office record for the Animation genre is held by himself; it's his 'Monkey King: Hero is Back'."

"As for Guan Fei... better not mention him!"

But this is conventional thinking.

Before "Dying to Survive" appeared out of nowhere, no one thought this kind of realistic subject matter could take over 4 billion in box office either.

But if you ask which one of these three films everyone has the highest hopes for... then it must be "Sheep Without a Shepherd"!

………

………

Time passed, and in the blink of an eye, the day for the official premiere of *The Bad Kids* arrived.

Beijing, Xu Family.

Xu Jinzhu, who was attending university locally in Beijing, returned home for the weekend.

Because there was a family dinner today, his busy superstar sister, Xu Chujing, had come home to eat.

On the way back, Xu Jinzhu was still thinking: "I wonder if Brother Luo Mo is coming?"

But as a young man with thin skin, he didn't feel comfortable asking in the "Loving Family" group chat.

After returning home, Xu Jinzhu only saw his sister Xu Chujing and did not see her boyfriend Luo Mo, so he couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed.

He really wanted to ask his sister why Luo Mo didn't come, but in the end, he hesitated and held back.

During the meal, his mother Zhao Tong would occasionally mention Luo Mo to show concern, for example, asking Xu Chujing: What has he been busy with lately? Do you two see each other often recently?

Whenever Luo Mo was mentioned, Xu Jinzhu would pretend to be focused on eating, while his ears pricked up to listen.

After the meal, Zhao Tong said: "If I remember correctly, doesn't little Luo have a show premiering today?"

"That's right, a web series," Xu Chujing said.

Zhao Tong looked at Xu Chong'an and said: "Old Xu, shall we watch it together in a bit?"

Xu Chong'an said: "You know, I don't like binge-watching shows."

Zhao Tong frowned, her tone rising slightly as she said: "It's rare for Jingjing and Jinzhu to come home; how long has it been since our whole family watched TV together?"

Seeing that the leader had frowned, Xu Chong'an immediately changed his tune and said: "Alright, I'll go cut some fruit for you all myself."

Xu Jinzhu sat on the sofa, not saying a word the whole time, but his hand quickly picked up the remote, and he had to pretend to be indifferent as he said: "Sis, where are we watching it? Penguin?"

In reality, he had already memorized it by heart: "*The Bad Kids*, Penguin Video, updating at 8:00 PM sharp tonight!"

"Mm, yes, Penguin Video," Xu Chujing looked at him with a smile that wasn't quite a smile.

As mentioned before, Xu Jinzhu thought his Weibo account was unknown to the whole family.

But in reality, everyone in the family knew it clearly.

Xu Chujing had seen him repost the poster for *The Bad Kids*, and he had even posted a Weibo this afternoon expressing his anticipation for tonight's premiere.

Pretend, eh! Just keep pretending for me!

At this moment, Xu Chong'an also personally cut a fruit platter and placed it on the coffee table.

Hmm, the knife skills were terrible; the pieces were cut into strange shapes.

Xu Jinzhu shouted in his heart: "Hurry up, it's already 8:07!"

Holding the remote, he said: "Then I'll start it?"

"Go ahead," Zhao Tong said.

The family of four sat on the sofa, watching the first episode of *The Bad Kids*.

The opening sequence first displayed the logos for Penguin Video and Luo Mo Studio.

Then, the logo for 【Mist Theater】 was displayed.

Immediately following that, it used a flashback format, and mountain scenery appeared.

The subtitles displayed: 【Earth, Liu Feng Mountain Scenic Area】.

"Still the same as always, a fictional background set in a world called Earth," Xu Jinzhu thought to himself.

After watching many of Luo Mo's works, many people felt that the world of Earth was becoming more and more concrete in their minds.

"I'm really curious, what kind of subject matter will it be this time, and what kind of story will he write?" Xu Jinzhu thought.

He still held quite a bit of admiration in his heart for his future brother-in-law.

At this moment, on the TV, a refined man with Glasses was taking photos of his father-in-law and mother-in-law on the mountain.

This scene looked quite heartwarming.

"How filial. Look at you, usually when I ask you to take a photo for me, you're just impatient," Zhao Tong began to lecture her son.

After finishing, she said to Xu Chujing: "Jingjing, if you have time, you can invite little Luo to go to our family's newly developed resort and play for a few days."

This meant the whole family going on a trip together.

"Okay," Xu Chujing agreed with a smile, but her smile was playful.

On the TV, Zhang Dongsheng had already begun to walk up and started arranging the poses for the two elders for the photo.

(PS: First update, a small update of 4000 words, asking for monthly tickets.

A little spoiler, I signed a new Contract today~)

(End of this chapter)