Chapter 434: The Promotional Days
The New Year was just around the corner, and the Spring Festival movies were about to hit the theaters. This time, the lineup could be said to be quite luxurious. There was Soaring, starring Nangong Ying and Tang Yumeng, which was the number one seed for the Spring Festival. There was also Snowball, produced by Happy Fries and starring Shen Wenwen, the number two seed. And there were also movies starring young fresh meat stars, Generations and The Legend of the Fish Ball, all of which were big hits for the Spring Festival. Trailing behind was the action star Hu Qing and the returned overseas Chinese, An Xiayue’s, movie Black Wolf.
This year’s Spring Festival could be said to be a case of each of the eight immortals showing their own special skills. Who could win the championship of the Spring Festival was a matter of concern for people. But what was surprising was that Soaring, as the number one seed for the Spring Festival, had actually not chosen to promote it, nor had it created any momentum for it on public programs. Even the lead actress, Nangong Ying, was silent, as if she had quietly left the entertainment industry. This matter made many people feel strange.
Compared to why Nangong Ying didn’t come out to promote her new movie, the Weibo of the returned overseas Chinese, An Xiayue, was quite lively. She had been promoting her new movie Black Wolf on Weibo early on and had also interacted with her fans for a long time. As the crew was going to have a live stream at the premiere, she had also come to the capital early.
Although An Xiayue was said to be a returned overseas Chinese, she was a Chinese-American after all, which was a stain in the hearts of many black fans. Many people on Weibo said that she had returned to the country to make money and flamed her for her nationality. But they had obviously forgotten that with An Xiayue’s background, she had no need to return to the country to make money at all.
But compared to An Xiayue’s matter, the fact that Shion-sensei was going to be a guest at the premiere of Black Wolf was clearly more likely to attract people’s attention.
Before, Yu Linna had also promised them that she would come back to participate in the movie’s premiere and stand on the platform with them. Although they were not in a cooperative relationship, Hu Qing liked this girl very much and was thinking about whether to find her to cooperate next time.
Yu Linna had also thought of entering the film industry, but she didn’t have many works to show for. The only one was the movie script Ace Gambler, which she was currently working on. Now she was not taking on any more scripts because she was also busy creating her novels. Just the serialization of her novels and the creation of her scripts were enough to give her a headache. And she also had to be responsible for the illustrations. One could imagine how great the pressure was.
But she still went to Beijing to participate in the premiere.
And Ye Zhiyun was also representing her own crew to do promotions. Her new movie The Beat Cop’s Funny Stories had also reached its promotion period. She had to represent the crew and promote it as a director. Although she herself didn’t have much confidence.
Yu Linna went to Beijing, and Ye Zhiyun went to Ehan. The two of them went to different places.
…
“Hey, Nana~ long time no see~ I missed you so much~”
When Yu Xiayue saw this blonde girl again, she was particularly happy and gave her a big hug. And Yu Linna did not refuse and hugged her back.
“Sister Yue, long time no see. You’ve gotten even more beautiful.”
“Your little mouth is even sweeter. Nana, it’s been so long. I’ve missed you so much. Let’s go. Everyone’s waiting for you.”
Yu Xiayue very naturally held her hand and took her to the work site. Yu Linna, on the other hand, had no fluctuations in her heart and just let her hold her. The picture of the two of them standing together was quite heartwarming.
This premiere was quite simple. The layout was ordinary, the venue was not big enough, and there were not that many audience members. This premiere could be said to be an important part of determining the early reputation of this movie. A good movie, if it obtained a good reputation after its premiere and test screening, then after its official release in theaters, it would occupy an early advantage with its reputation and seize the box office.
“Brother Qing, long time no see.”
“Isn’t this Shion-sensei? Long time no see. Come on over.”
Hu Qing was as bold and generous as before. As both the director and the lead actor, he was very carefree and got along well with the staff. During their conversation, he even talked about where to go for a drink after work, not at all like a director.
“Little girl Xiayue, do you want to go for a good drink after this is over? I haven’t opened the wine you brought back from America for me yet.”
“Brother Qing, you’re always drinking so much. Be careful, your wife will hit you.”
“Hey, just a little. I promise just a little, definitely not more.”
It was clearly a very important promotional program, and it was also a live broadcast. To talk about alcohol so openly, was it really okay? Yu Linna thought, Won’t you guys be looked down upon for being like this?
But putting that aside, Hu Qing was a pretty good person. Although he was a straight man, he was bold and cute, the type that was not very annoying. In his early years, he had filmed TV dramas on the mainland, and later he had gone to Hong Kong. After not doing well in Hong Kong, he had returned to the mainland, had been to many places, and had not settled down yet.
The movie Black Wolf tells the story of a retired special forces soldier who comes to an African country, runs into a war, and is trapped in this country, unable to get out. With his experience as a soldier, he overcomes all obstacles, conquers difficulties, and saves the local overseas Chinese.
This kind of story template was clearly Hollywood’s individual heroism, which was very common in Hollywood themes. But in the country, no one had ever filmed it like this before, so it was also a bold attempt. And the genre of this movie was an action film, but it was different from Nangong Ying’s action style. Director Hu Qing was also the lead actor, and his style was a tough guy style, which was destined not to have too many comedic scenes.
When the production of domestic action films began to decrease, many people thought that action films were about to decline, until the appearance of Nangong Ying, which let people see the hope of a new generation of action films. And Hu Qing was an actor of the middle generation. Although he was an action actor, he had never had a representative work, and had been lukewarm these years. Everyone also didn’t have much expectation for him.
On the contrary, the returned overseas Chinese, An Xiayue, this movie was her first work as a lead actress after returning to the country. It was very important to her. Her salary in it was ten million. Such a net worth was already very high. But she had signed a contract at that time. If this movie were to have a sequel or a prequel, besides the movie’s profit sharing, her salary could only be between 10 and 12 million, which was to say, her salary was fixed and would not rise with the movie’s great success.
“It’s about to start. Shion-sensei, you can all go in now.”
The staff had set up the scene, and the cameras were also set up. The premiere was about to begin. Yu Linna and the other crew members went in and sat down, watching the premiere of this movie, and in the best seats.
Originally, when watching a movie, Yu Linna was also just thinking of going to support it. She didn’t have much expectation for Black Wolf. As long as it wasn’t hard to watch, it was fine.
Who would have thought that after watching a two-hour movie, she would actually get more and more excited, and at the end, she would even regret that it was over? This was clearly a domestic movie, but it had actually given her the feeling of a Hollywood blockbuster!
“Is that it?”
“There’s still a post-credits scene. There’s a post-credits scene. Let’s finish watching first.”
“It really is a post-credits scene. Is there going to be a second part…”
Yu Linna finished watching the whole thing, still wanting more. Such a movie, such a style, the special effects scenes were clearly not used much, but how could the action scenes be so good, with every punch and kick landing? And the scenes of the protagonists holding guns and driving tanks, she couldn’t get them out of her head. They were constantly lingering in her mind.
So awesome! Is this a first-class movie!
Such a script, she also wanted to be able to write one someday.
“How was it?”
“Very good. I feel that it’s completely different from the other action themes on the market.”
“Right? I also felt it was pretty good after watching it. I think the box office should be guaranteed. At least eight hundred million!”
Seeing Yu Xiayue so confident in this movie, the other crew members also smiled. If it could really be a big hit, then their hard work would not have been in vain. The reason they had worked so hard for so long was so that the movie could be liked by everyone.
“Welcome to the premiere of Black Wolf. The movie is also finished. Let’s introduce the main creators, the director and lead actor, Hu Qing, Brother Qing.”
“Hello everyone.”
“The super beautiful female lead, the returned overseas Chinese, An Xiayue.”
“Hello everyone~”
“The one who plays the rich young master, Zhang Han.”
“Hello everyone.”
“And our special guest, Shion-sensei.”
“Hello everyone.”
The host introduced the members of the crew one by one and even made a few jokes on the spot. But to be honest, not many of the people present were famous. Besides the male and female leads and one or two supporting actors, the others couldn’t be said to be famous. And the special guest, Shion-sensei’s popularity and heat were currently the highest.
As a guest who had been invited, Shion-sensei didn’t have any tasks. She was just here to stand on the stage and say a few words to the host.
But Yu Linna had said a lot to the microphone in one breath.
“This is a very good movie,” she said.
“Although the theme has borrowed from Hollywood, and the story is relatively simple, the good thing is that basically every part has been talked about, and there has been no collapse. Even if there are flaws, in the overall outstanding situation, the flaws do not obscure the virtues. The whole movie is very good. This movie should have borrowed the simple and crude development routine that is very commonly used in Qidian’s novels. It has to be said that such a popular treatment is very clever. The audience probably likes a simple and easy-to-understand story the most. Compared to an obscure movie with a very strong personal color, a pure commercial movie that is biased towards the public is probably what people want to see now.”
She had not revealed the content, nor had she explained the relationship between the characters in the drama. But as a novelist, she had reviewed this movie. Although it also had a personal subjective color, in general, her evaluation was very on point, and she had also said it very well. Among so many people present, no one was more qualified to evaluate a movie than her.
Hu Qing clearly had not expected Shion-sensei to say so much. He was also a little stunned, but he had still reacted and had laughed very heartily.
“Shion-sensei, you’re praising me too much. My tail is already up in the sky. Let’s talk about the facts. After its box office comes out, then we’ll talk slowly. I’m not in a hurry to say whether this movie is good or bad.”
Hu Qing’s EQ was very high. He had cleverly diverted the attention and had also let the audience watching the live stream put their eyes on him.
Next was to introduce the process of filming this movie, as well as some interesting things in the crew. Yu Linna didn’t have much to say, but she still participated in it.
Compared to the scene at the Black Wolf crew’s promotion, Ye Zhiyun’s The Beat Cop’s Funny Stories was even more deserted, and the popularity was also quite cold.
