China Entertainment's Standout

Chapter 973 Nezha's Bombshell: A Shocking Scandal

"Old Han, why are you getting involved? Let's set up a trap first, and talk about it later."

Zhou Yutang was somewhat helpless. After retiring, Third Master Han's curiosity became excessive.

It's no wonder Han Sanping was curious; Zhou Yutang and Wu Jing are probably the two most bankable actors in China.

If these two appear in the sequel to "Operation Red Sea" at the same time.

That would be the absolute trump card.

Even before Han Sanye, Ren Zhonglun of Shanghai Film Group, Liu Xiaobing of Wanda Group, and Lao Wang of Enlight Media had all called to inquire.

They understand the principle of getting on the bus early.

However, Zhou Yutang, who has just finished filming the Snow Trilogy, is in a sage-like state and has no interest at all.

"Hehe, he used to call me General Manager Han, now he's called Old Han. People forget him when he's gone."

"Not at all. Who doesn't know the enormous contributions President Han has made to Chinese-language films?"

The saying "when people leave, the tea cools" doesn't apply.

Even though Han Sanping has stepped down from his position and only holds an advisory title within the group.

Within the vast system of China Film Group, there are still many mid-level managers who are former subordinates of the Third Master.

His words still carry significant weight.

This is also why La Peikang has always held a grudge.

"Stop it."

Third Master Han laughed and scolded, "When are we going to South Korea?"

"Tomorrow."

After teasing the old man for a while, there was a knock on the door. It was said that Wang Changtian from Guangming had arrived.

What brings Old Wang here?

"Wow, you've dominated both the big and small screens at the start of the year, you've almost made all the money."

Old Wang sounded like he'd drunk Shanxi aged vinegar; his voice had a slightly sour tone.

"Project Gutenberg" ultimately grossed 18.03 billion yuan, while "Never Say Die" completed its extended run before the Spring Festival, bringing its total box office to 25.35 billion yuan, with both films dominating the holiday season.

Given the current market landscape, "Operation Red Sea" is unstoppable and is poised to reach 50 billion yuan in box office revenue.

As for Zhou Yutang, Lao Wang of Guangxian was completely convinced.

So I would go to Jiangdong Building whenever I had nothing to do.

In his words, one can only improve by learning more.

Zhou Yutang took Lao Wang to Vision Media to check on the progress of "Nezha".

Before the Lunar New Year, they recruited another batch of special effects talent to join the team, and with the help of Vision Media, Enlight Media's Lao Wang was moved to tears. The progress of the "Ne Zha" project in Jiaozi's hands has finally been moved forward a bit.

Is there any hope by the end of the year?

"It was a bit difficult. It took more than three months to finally get Shen Gongbao's transformation scene done."

"what?"

"Chairman Wang."

Dumpling frankly said, "Ao Bing's Wanlong Armor is now at its 85th version, but the effect is still not very satisfactory. It may need to be further refined."

The key to making a high-quality animated film is the accumulation of countless details.

"Huh? How much did you say?"

“The 85 version, look here, and here the details are not quite right.”

Ignoring the twitching at the corner of Lao Wang's mouth as he spoke, Dumpling continued on her own.

"The head of the special effects team in Group A is a bit overwhelmed. He just resigned before the Lunar New Year. Fortunately, President Zhou brought in a few more top talents."

Wang Changtian was completely dumbfounded.

How could making an animated film cause people to have a mental breakdown?
Zhou Yutang laughed: "At your pace, slow and steady wins the race. There's no rush."

The results so far are quite encouraging.

As long as you're on the right track, the time and resources invested in the early stages are well worth it.

After looking around, it was lunchtime, and I was just about to grab something at the Jiangdong cafeteria when my secretary came over to report: "President Zhou, Deng Chao is here."

"What is he here for?"

Unlike Huang Jiaozhu, the seafood merchant who regularly refreshes his New Year's goods every year, Deng Chao also sent New Year's goods.

However, Zhou Yutang couldn't quite remember what exactly he gave her.

Slightly surprised, Old Wang slapped his forehead and said, "Oh, I forgot to mention, Deng Chao has a notebook he'd like you to take a look at."

Deng Chao has now completed his transformation from a top-tier middle-generation male star in the entertainment industry to a capital investor, and started his own Orange Image Film and Television Company.

Enlight Media acquired a significant stake, and the two parties are considered strategic partners.

Zhou Yutang and Lao Wang had just settled into their private room when Deng Chao arrived, his distinctive voice preceded them, "President Zhou, sorry, I'm just here to freeload."

"It's just a matter of adding a pair of chopsticks."

Since they were all acquaintances, there was no need for formalities. After sitting down and having a cup of tea, Deng Chao flattered the phenomenal box office performance of "Operation Red Sea" a few times, then couldn't help but get straight to the point:

"Mr. Zhou, could you please take a look at this notebook?"

Zhou Yutang took the script from his hand and quickly scanned it.

Yes, it's a script that focuses on education, but it lacks depth.

The plot logic is somewhat far-fetched and seems to be deliberately sentimental.

Of course, this is not to say that the book is entirely worthless.

At least the overall story has a smooth pace, and there are very few movies of this genre on the market right now, so it can be considered a unique approach.

Wang Changtian and Deng Chao were watching Zhou Yutang's reaction. After he put down the script, Deng Chao asked, "President Zhou, how was it?"

"With a few minor tweaks, it's still a pretty good notebook."

Zhou Yutang asked with a smile, "Brother Chao, are you acting yourself?"

"I'll go with Lao Yu."

Deng Chao asked with great interest, "Mr. Zhou, would you be interested in doing this together?"

"Go find Shishi."

Zhou Yutang remembered Liu Shishi mentioning it.

This year, Tangren Media is going to start expanding its film business, and I just mentioned it casually.

“Great, my wife is filming in Hengdian right now, I’ll have her visit the set another day.”

Deng Chao was a shrewd man; after a moment's thought, he smiled and said...

This project has Enlight Media as a co-investor, and he also wants Zhou Yutang to endorse it, simply to leverage the publicity resources of the Jiangdong Group.

Holding the trump card of Bilibili and Douyin.

Jiangdong's own cinema chain business ranks among the top seven in the country!
It also has an extraordinary relationship with several cinema giants such as Wanda and New Union.

If Zhou Yutang nodded.

Therefore, the impact of this project can reach another level entirely.

This year's Spring Festival films are severely lacking in competitiveness.

By the sixth day of the Lunar New Year, apart from "Operation Red Sea" dominating the box office, "Monster Hunt 2" suffered a collapse in reputation and its box office plummeted, barely reaching the 13 billion yuan mark.

The highly anticipated film "The Monkey King 3" has only grossed over 500 million yuan, ranking fourth at the box office.

Previously, the production company had boldly declared that the minimum guarantee was 15 billion yuan, and there was hope that it could reach 20 billion yuan.

The dish that was served was so ridiculous that it only made people laugh and was immediately ridiculed by the audience.

Zhao Liying, who had just gained fame with "Princess Agents," also received a lot of criticism because of this movie.

As for the comedy film "The Nineteen Generations of Ancestors" directed by Guo Degang, it was undoubtedly cannon fodder.

Despite his hype featuring a star-studded cast with dozens of celebrity cameos, theaters still refused to support him, allocating less than 3% of screenings, and his total box office revenue has so far barely exceeded 60 million.

On the contrary, "Boonie Bears: The Big Shrink," a regular feature of the Spring Festival film season, benefited from the holiday and its total box office has reached 6.13 million yuan, making it a dark horse that broke through the competition.

The siphon effect occurs.

The only champion of the entire Spring Festival film season was "Operation Red Sea," which raked in a staggering 26.83 billion yuan at the box office! The power of patriotic commercial blockbusters was on full display.

All the film and television companies in the industry watched as "Operation Red Sea" soared to new heights, seemingly unstoppable, and were green with envy.

From "Tiger Mountain" to the "Wolf Warrior" series, and now to "Operation Red Sea".

Zhou Yutang has always been a trendsetter in the market, and now this mainstream commercial film track is becoming another core business for Jiangdong Entertainment.

Since there is profit to be made, capital, like sharks smelling blood, swarms in.

As a result, several mainstream commercial film projects were launched.

Zhou Yutang doesn't care much about those who follow the trend. If this path were so easy, then "Sky Hunter" wouldn't have failed so miserably.

The end of the year and the beginning of the new year is also the busiest time for him, the helmsman of Jiangdong Entertainment.

Many documents await his signature, as well as the annual strategic meetings of Jiangdong Group's domestic and international companies.

The closing ceremony of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics is the day after tomorrow, and Zhou Yutang is scheduled to attend as a special guest. He heard the news on his way to the airport.
"Dong Shen Future, the cultural brokerage company co-founded by Zhou Xun and Chen Kun, held its opening media conference after the Lunar New Year. Newly signed artist Zhang Jingyi, a beauty from the Beijing Film Academy, made her appearance. It is reported that Dong Shen Future will release several film and television works in the future, so stay tuned."

"Had enough of the bitterness of love, now you want to focus on your career?"

Zhou Yutang shook his head and chuckled.

The leading actresses in the industry are, after all, getting older.

With fewer and fewer suitable roles available to them, they have begun to use their connections and resources to pave the way for their successors.

Aside from Zhao Zhetian, who wanted to bring his talent to the stock market, this wasn't his intention.

Li Lianhua's Hesong Culture is currently in contact with a rising starlet who appeared on a star-studded talent show.

Xu Jinglei, the "princess of the Beijing circle," single-handedly mentored Li Gengxi, who recently appeared in Wu Yifan's new song MV, giving her a head start over most people.

Guo Tingting had been planning to start her own business for a long time, and had already registered the company Bozhongxinghe before the Lunar New Year.

After the New Year, the agency was officially launched, and the new "Mou Girl" Liu Haocun was successfully signed by him.

Zhou Yutang did not go to the scene, but only sent a flower basket on his behalf, which was enough to show his sincerity.

Chen Duling, standing beside him, asked gossipily, "Boss, do you know who Chen Kun's son's father is?"

"how could I know?"

Zhou Yutang glanced at her and noticed that his secretary seemed to have gained some weight after returning to work after the New Year. He couldn't help but reach out and pinch her cheek.

The skin was perfectly soft and tender; when pressed with a finger, both cheeks immediately sank in. Chen Duling took a step back, puffing out her cheeks, and glared angrily: "Boss, what are you doing?"

"You seem to have gained a little weight over the Chinese New Year."

"No way!?"

Chen Duling instantly turned pale.

No woman is indifferent to her weight.

He immediately took a small mirror and looked at himself from left to right, feeling worried and secretly annoyed.

"It's not a big problem, it won't exceed three pounds."

"how do you know?"

"My eyes are my ruler."

Zhou Yutang said casually, "Besides, I'll be on a business trip abroad these next few days, so I'll lose weight quickly."

Why is that?

"Just eat the Korean kimchi, one bite at a time without making a sound."

"."

The secretary not only has to contend with body image anxiety, but also diligently prepares PowerPoint presentations related to overseas film and television development plans.

Zhou Yutang leaned back on the leather massage sofa, his legs naturally crossed, in a relaxed and comfortable posture.

He offered guidance from time to time and didn't forget to reply to Ms. Liu's messages.

This year, Liu Yifei returned to Wuhan for the Spring Festival and once again had a get-together with her girlfriends, including Yao Beina.

It was just photographed by a reporter and is now trending on social media.

She had long, flowing hair, fair and smooth skin, and sunglasses perched on her nose.

Even without makeup, her face is still stunning, and her looks are still incredibly striking.

Unfortunately, Ms. Liu didn't stay on Toutiao for long.

Because the entertainment industry was bustling at the start of the year, another unexpected piece of news caused an uproar throughout the industry!

An anonymous, enthusiastic netizen posted a picture and text message on their Douyin account: "Yi Lu Tong Xing, Yu Sheng Qing Duo Zhi Jiao @M鹿M", along with a photo of the two of them from behind.

Immediately, a detective like Sherlock Holmes unraveled the mystery and discovered that this was Guan Xiaotong's alternate account.

Netizens on Douyin, Weibo, and various forums were in an uproar over this, and as the public opinion was fermenting, Lu Han's personal account updated with a Weibo post:
"Hello everyone, let me introduce you to my girlfriend, @Guan Xiaotong."

"Oh my, so cute! @M鹿M"

Almost simultaneously, Guan Xiaotong responded, almost as if they had agreed beforehand.

boom!
It was like Mars colliding with Earth.

The top celebrity in the Chinese entertainment industry announced his relationship, which crashed Weibo's servers. Programmers who hadn't finished their annual leave were forced to return to their desks to work overtime to fix the problem.

"Holy crap! This is fake! A fake account?! Is it April Fool's Day?! Lu Ge, if you've been kidnapped, blink twice!!!"

"The first top-tier celebrity to officially announce his relationship, is it still Brother Yong who's brave!"

"Hilarious, Wang Feng just released a new song today."

"The server crashed and I couldn't access Weibo, so I went to Douyin to browse. Is it really necessary to be this dramatic?"

"Guan Xiaotong? Whose subordinate is this?"

"You don't know Princess Guan from Beijing? These two have been subtly showing affection online for a long time."

"."

This wave can be considered a testament to the history of the Chinese entertainment industry. Before this, only the rumors between Jiangdong Grand Commander and Liu Yifei and Liu Shishi had such an effect.

However, as Zhou Yutang's power grew, he gained control of media channels, and he could no longer say things that were detrimental to unity.

In addition, many minor female celebrities are trying to get Zhou Dudu to help them generate hype, so everyone just treats it as entertainment and doesn't get too excited.

Lu Han, who was born into an idol family, is naturally different from a certain playboy who has collapsed into ruins.

Generally speaking.

The core logic of idols based on the fan economy is to use the persona of the idol as the ideal partner as an important selling point.

This allows fans to project their emotions onto their idols, leading them to spend money on them.

The official announcement of their relationship shattered this fabricated illusion, causing possessive fans to feel betrayed.

Many fans were disillusioned and couldn't accept reality, so they unfollowed the fans on the spot. Some even turned against the fans and boycotted the fandom.

As the top of the four kings of returning idols, Lu Han's fan base is mostly from his idol days. At this time, he announced his relationship on social media and lost hundreds of thousands of fans in less than a day.

"Haha, Chris, look at this!"

Far across the ocean, Wu Yifan's assistant excitedly told him about it.

As one of the four top celebrities who returned to China, Wu Yifan also experienced a surge in popularity this year, and even received the title of Super Bowl 52 ambassador, appearing and performing at the American Super Bowl.

However, Wu Yifan, who had just had a great time at a party last night, looked somewhat listless with dark circles under his eyes.

Upon hearing this, Feng Feng perked up slightly and exclaimed in surprise, "You're not joking?"

"real."

The assistant grinned and said, "We've already lost over 60 followers, and it seems like we're still losing them. Our chance has come."

"Just play around, why take it so seriously?"

Wu Yifan's eyes flickered, he shrugged, and looked cool and aloof.

Immediately, his team members were celebrating.

Although they were teammates in the past, they have been compared and belittled by the entertainment industry quite a bit, and there are also conflicts of interest, so they don't have much contact.

With Jiangdong as his powerful backer, Lu Han kept Wu Yifan firmly under his control, leaving him with no room to retaliate.

Now this has happened.

For him, however, it was a golden opportunity.

(End of this chapter)