It's reasonable for me, a stuntman, to live a crazy life, right?

Chapter 1326: A tiger in troubled times is bullied by a dog? How can a golden fish stay in a pond?
Three days passed in a flash, and the popularity of "Dream of Red Mansions" continued to rise, heading straight for the level of "the most popular drama of the year".

At the same time, "Chinese Doctor" released by Bona, despite the extremely polarized reputation, still achieved a box office of 3.82 million in its first weekend.

That's the benefit of having no competitors.

At the same time, I was a bunch of noobs. Even if I was not good enough, I could still stand the contrast with my peers!

However, the netizens’ comments made Yu Dong fall into deep thought.

Seeing that the momentum of mainstream movies is getting weaker and weaker, if we continue to work on projects of this type, will there still be any advantages?
After thinking for a long time in the office, he finally decided to play it safe and see how the situation develops.

In the next few months, China Film Group's "My Fathers and Me" and "Peak Explosion", Huanxi Media's "Revolutionary", and Feiyue Film and Television's "Changjin Lake" will all be launched one after another.

Each one comes with great momentum, aiming for high box office.

As to whether it will succeed, it is still unknown.

"Forget it, let's first see how these movies perform after they are released and analyze the market. There's no need to rush to launch new projects..."

Yu Dong muttered to himself, but what he was thinking about in his heart was Bona's re-listing.

It has been more than five years since Bona was delisted from NASDAQ and completed privatization, but it still cannot be listed on the A-share market.

He is really worried!
If Bona can also achieve the same high efficiency as Feiyue Film and Television, it would not be a problem for it to go public, or even break through 100 billion in market value.

However, none of Bona's projects have been a big hit in recent years, and coupled with problems with the auditing company, he is exhausted both physically and mentally.

"Alas, if I could make a movie similar to The Wandering Earth... No! Even a movie of the level of Wolf Warriors 2 or Operation Red Sea would be enough."

As he was muttering, his eyes suddenly lit up.

"Wolf Warrior 2"?
"Operation Red Sea"?
Why can’t Bona create this type of main theme?

“We can combine the advantages of Operation Red Sea and the Wolf Warrior series, add the thrill of naval battles, and the wolf warrior spirit when facing foreign mercenaries. This combination of films may be able to make a big splash in the market!”

There is a storm raging in my mind, and a large number of "high-quality" ideas are pouring out crazily.

Of course, he couldn't materialize this on his own.

But he has people under him!
Picking up the phone from the table, he went straight to Lin Chaoxian's contact information, ready to share with him the inspiration that suddenly popped into his mind.

If this can be realized and successfully implemented as a script, Bona might just soar to fame!
A movie with a box office of over 60 billion yuan will definitely contribute to Bona's road to listing!
Yu Dong was having a sweet dream, while Feng Xiaogang on the other side was praying in front of the computer.

In five minutes, "Northern Drift Southward" will be officially launched on iQiyi to be tested by netizens.

Whether it is a five-clawed golden dragon or a stinky worm will depend on the data and word of mouth after the first broadcast.

"It has to be a success! It has to be a big hit! I've already fallen to the point of filming a web series, it can't possibly be any worse than this, right?"

Just as he was praying silently, "North Drift South Turn" was officially launched!
At this time, at the hotel where the "Parasite" crew was located, Liu Yifei, who flew over from Yanjing, was leaning on Chen Fei's arms, eating strawberries and watching the show.

"Dream of Red Mansions" was a huge success with great data and good reputation, and all the pressure on her disappeared immediately.

There is nothing else for her to do after that, because the good reputation is enough to support the popularity of this drama.

Of course, we cannot completely let our guard down. After all, "Bei Zhe Nan Yuan" is still chasing "Meng Hua Lu" like a poisonous snake.

"Fade Chen, do you think this drama will be a hit?"

Liu Yifei ate the last strawberry in one bite and turned her head to look at her husband.

At this moment, faces with different styles flashed across the TV screen.

Lan Yingying, Jin Chen, Chue Ni, Sui Yuan, Wang Luoxun...all are the heroines of "Northern Drift Southward".

Netizens gave these people a group name, called "Feng Xiaogang's Five Golden Flowers", which refers to the five heroines in the drama.

Chen Fei thought for a moment and replied, "I don't know if it will go viral, but it will definitely be very popular. After all, this is a web series directed by Feng Xiaogang, so netizens will definitely pay close attention to it."

Although Feng Xiaogang has had some troubles in recent years, his status and reputation in the industry are still there.

It goes without saying that there will be many netizens and media waiting in front of the screen, waiting to judge the quality of this drama.

The film director ventured into the online drama circle. He was once a pioneer in the Lunar New Year period, but now he has fallen to this point...

Is it that the tiger is in dire straits and is bullied by the dog?

Or maybe the golden scales cannot stay in the pond, as they will turn into dragons when encountering wind and clouds?

Let’s see the outcome!

Different from Dream of Red Mansions, VIP members can watch 8 episodes of "North Drift South" on the first day of its premiere, while non-members can watch 2 episodes on the first day.

At the same time, the drama also launched an advanced on-demand event. Gold VIP members can unlock episodes one by one in order at 3 yuan per episode, while Diamond VIP members can unlock them for free.

The platform's behavior is still very ugly. Although the audience is indignant and keeps complaining, they can do nothing about it.

In comparison, Youku on the other hand is simply a breath of fresh air in the industry!
But because of this, Gu Yongqiang has been criticized a lot by his peers.

However, Fade Chen comforted him and asked him to wait and see.

The country will definitely not sit idly by and watch this situation. After all, the act of advance on-demand viewing is essentially an infringement of consumers’ rights!

Once it is suppressed to a certain critical point, it will inevitably begin to rebound!
When the time comes, we will hit them hard and they will suffer the consequences!

~

On the TV screen, the plot of "North Drift South" is slowly unfolding. The exquisite scenery and fashionable outfits in the camera are indeed eye-catching, but there is an indescribable sense of incongruity between the actors' dialogues.

After watching for a while, when Chen Fei heard the characters in the play talking about the difficulties of starting a business with floating lines, he immediately frowned.

"This line is so out of touch with reality. Who would talk like this in real life? It's not that easy to open a restaurant. Isn't this just like playing house?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the screen suddenly exploded with barrages of comments.

"This plot is suspended in outer space!"

"What does a utopia of rich people per capita have to do with the lives of ordinary people?"

"In Guo Jingming's Tiny Times, there was at least one Gu Li, but in this drama it's like there are five Gu Lis attending a socialite party."

"Is iQiyi crazy? Pushing this kind of drama?"

"Well, Feng Xiaogang is still using his old-school thinking, right?"

The complaints in the barrage came like a tide. Liu Yifei swiped her phone to read the Douban comments and couldn't help laughing out loud.

Fade Chen turned his head and looked at her curiously, "What are you laughing at?"

"Look at this review." Liu Yifei tapped the phone screen with her jade finger and chuckled, "Many people are saying that this drama is about 'floating sisters', which is completely out of touch with reality."

The protagonists drive luxury cars, live in mansions, and discuss troubles that ordinary people find difficult to empathize with. Even the twists and turns in the characters' relationships are so abrupt, like fragments that were forcibly spliced ​​together.

There are also those advertisements that are inserted from time to time, which are even more numerous than the plot, and it feels like watching a live broadcast of selling goods.

Before he even finished watching the first episode, Chen Fei completely lost interest in continuing watching.

Instead of wasting time watching this kind of drama floating in the air, it is better to take a bath and stick with my wife~
Thinking of this, he picked up Liu Yifei and walked towards the bathroom.

"Ah! What are you doing?"

The body suddenly flew into the air, and Liu Yifei was immediately startled.

"Go take a shower. You don't need to watch this show. This drama is doomed to fail. It's not even as good as Dream of Red Mansions."

"whee."

Liu Yifei likes to hear this.

She stretched out her hand, put it around Fade Chen's neck, and smiled sweetly.

"Sister, I am very happy tonight, you must seize the opportunity~"

Upon hearing this, Fade Chen quickly quickened his pace and kept going!

……

After one night, the premiere data of "North Drift South Turn" was released.

The popularity of the drama on iQiyi exceeded 7000, and on the day of its premiere, it soared to the top of the site's list, with over 1 million views at the start.

At the same time, the topic #北掣南辕开播# was read 1.8 million times, and the number of hot search topics reached 16!
Although this data is far lower than that of "Dream of Red Mansions", if it can be maintained, it can also be called a hit drama.

If the quality of the plot can be improved later on, it has a great chance of becoming a hit drama.

However, along with the first broadcast data, there was also a Douban score of 5.7 points, as well as various complaints and criticisms. In particular, the sponsorship and advertising placements were criticized.

Someone made a special statistical analysis and found that there were more than ten brand placements in the first two episodes alone.

From skin care products to cars, I wish I could fill the screen with all the sponsors’ logos!

What's even more outrageous is that the plot rhythm of the subsequent episodes is very chaotic, with multiple story lines intertwined but without any logic. As soon as one plot begins, it is interrupted abruptly and then moves on to the next one.

In this case, it would be strange if the subsequent data could be pulled up.

On the way from the hotel to the crew, Liu Yifei read the online news and muttered, "It looks like Director Feng Xiaogang is going to fail this time."

"Word of mouth determines data. If the quality is not good, it will fail sooner or later."

Chen Fei continued casually, but a comment from a netizen that he had seen before came to his mind:
"From the king of Lunar New Year films to the director of online dramas, Feng Xiaogang's era is over!"

The once great director now seems to have forgotten what the audience really wants and what they want to watch for the sake of traffic and profit.

"Ah! How did it become like this?"

In the office of Dongyang Mela Pictures, Feng Xiaogang was scratching his head, feeling very annoyed.

The phone on the desk kept vibrating, with trending search push notifications, media interview invitations, and news from partners popping up one after another, but each one was like a thorn, piercing his heart.

He took a big gulp of strong tea and stared at the negative reviews that kept dropping on the computer screen.

In the comment section, words like "suspended", "dog-blood", and "money-making" were so dense that they hurt his eyes.

The high-quality drama, which was originally envisioned to focus on the growth of women, has now become the target of ridicule on the entire network on the second day of its premiere.

"Director Feng, there's a call from iQiyi..."

The assistant cautiously pushed open the door, holding a buzzing cell phone in his hand.

Feng Xiaogang took it irritably and pressed the answer button.

The next second, a questioning voice came from the receiver: "Director Feng, the reputation of this drama is too far from our expectations. Do we need to readjust the subsequent publicity costs and scale?"

His knuckles turned white as he held the microphone, and he suppressed his frustration and anger and said, "Give this drama some more time, the plot will become more and more exciting later..."

After finally dealing with iQiyi and hanging up the phone, he slumped in his chair, looking at the trophies and medals hanging on the wall, his eyes a little red.

Looking back to the past, tickets for his Lunar New Year films were hard to come by, and some audiences even laughed to tears at a single line. The media even praised him as "the director who best understands Chinese humor."

But now the world has changed, and he has fallen to the point where he has turned to filming web dramas.

He had originally wanted to achieve greater success in the new track, and even added a large number of young popular actors and hot topic elements in order to attract young audiences, but he did not expect to backfire.

At this moment, a new message suddenly popped up on the phone, which was a screenshot of the playback data curve sent by the staff of iQiyi.

Although the premiere was very popular, the number of views on the next day dropped drastically as word of mouth collapsed, and the number of new VIP members was far from meeting expectations.

Seeing this, Feng Xiaogang's hands began to tremble slightly.

He grabbed the ashtray and slammed the cigarette butt into place, but accidentally knocked over the script on the table.

The script, which had been revised repeatedly and added with countless "explosive elements" to cater to the market, was now scattered on the ground, like a silent mockery of him.

"Is it really my fault? Am I no longer suitable to be a director? Have I been abandoned by this market?"

He murmured to himself, his voice filled with a tiredness he had never heard before.

He, who used to be full of energy and in control of everything on the set, is now overwhelmed by the overwhelming doubts.

He now had only one thought in his mind.

Can he find back his original intention when making the movie? How can he save this situation that is almost doomed to failure?
And who should we ask for investment in the half-written If You Are the One 3?

Another day has passed, and the reputation of "North Drift South" continues to decline, and the latest new episodes released still failed to capture the hearts of the audience.

At the same time, Douban's score plummeted to 4.9 points!
The massive publicity before the show started seemed to have been paused all of a sudden.

Feng Xiaogang, who had always been in the spotlight, simply went into hiding. Although the promotion of other leading actors continued, the response was very poor.

Anyone with a discerning eye can see that "North Drift South Turn" is doomed to fail.

……

"We won! Dream Record won easily and decisively!"

"Huh? I thought the new drama released by iQiyi was so great, but it turns out it's just so-so."

"Feng Xiaogang lost to Liu Yifei? Wow, I didn't even dare to think about it before."

"The four golden flowers of Feiyue Film and Television are really awesome. Feng Xiaogang's five flowers are really not good enough. In terms of acting skills, fame, popularity, and status, they are far behind."

"Pfft, it's quite funny when I think about it. My Sissi is getting better. She can even suppress Feng Xiaogang's new drama. It's so cool!"

Different from the depressing atmosphere in "Northern Drift South Turn", the atmosphere in "Dream of Splendor" is full of jubilation.

Fans of the show and fans are celebrating.

In the crew, Liu Yifei even waved her hand and paid for coffee for all the actors in the crew for a week.

There will definitely be a celebration party, but it will probably have to wait until after the finale.

"Eh? I calculated the date, and it seems that when Parasite is finished, it will be the finale of Dream of Red Mansions. The celebration party can be held together with the wrap-up party."

Liu Yifei looked at the calendar and suddenly discovered this highlight.

However, the next second, before Chen Fei could reply, Han Jianu started complaining, "I really admire you two, you two really can't have two different kinds of people sleeping in the same bed.

The wrap-up party can be held together with the celebration party? What are you thinking! "Dream of Red Mansions" is a costume drama, how can it be related to "Parasite"? "

"Of course." Liu Yifei looked at her innocently, "These are all projects invested by Feiyue Film and Television."

Han Jianu: “…”

Lost!

She was completely defeated by this couple!
Chen Fei suppressed his laughter and nodded in approval, "That makes sense. Let's do as my wife says. We can hold the celebration banquet and the wrap-up banquet together, so we don't have to run back and forth between the two."

"Hehe~"

Liu Yifei smiled brightly and kissed him on the face, which immediately made Han Jianu next to him feel a chill.

"Can you two stop showing off your affection? I'm almost dying of it!"

"Start the camera! Start the camera now! Finish your scenes and leave my crew!"

Han Jianu was collapsing, and on the other side, Lu Chuan, who had traveled across the ocean to America, was also overwhelmed by deep despair and collapse.

In the past, the phrase "empty building" was just a written word in his eyes.

However, at this moment, he stared blankly at the silent building in front of him, and finally understood the desolation of "a deserted building"!

The glass curtain wall was covered with a thick layer of dust, and the wind whistled as it swept through the corridor. The once imposing sign of the special effects company was now crumbling, with only half of the damaged letters swaying in the wind.

Run away with the money!
This group of foreigners ran away with the money he spent on the special effects for "749 Bureau"!

Lu Chuan's legs went weak and she almost fell to the ground.

After looking around and seeing that no one was paying attention to this side, he pushed open the mottled glass door with trembling hands.

His heavy footsteps echoed in the empty corridor. There were only a few crooked tables and chairs and documents scattered on the floor left in the office... As for the other computers and equipment, they had long disappeared.

The emails in my phone are still from a week ago.

The news that the other party had solemnly promised to deliver on time was like a loud slap in his face!

He hurriedly took out the contract, but the bright red seal on it seemed to be mocking his naivety.

You know, this money is the most critical special effects cost for the later stage of "749 Bureau". Now it has all gone down the drain. How should I explain to Penguin Pictures after returning home?
"Do I really have to pay for the post-production myself?"

Lu Chuan slowly slid down to the ground, leaning against the cold wall. Her mind was filled with images of the film being postponed, investors being held accountable, and being sued in court.

All the frustration and despair in my heart turned into tears at this moment, swirling in my eye sockets and finally bursting out!

If he had known this would happen, he would never have believed the Japanese foreigner and transferred the money in a hurry.

"How could he lie to me? He is my fan! His favorite movie is Nanjing! Nanjing!, which I filmed. How could he lie to me?"

(End of this chapter)