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

Chapter 1382 Happy Twist's Cry for Justice...

"The official Weibo account of 'The Octagonal Cage' announced a key extension notice, stating that the film's screening time will be extended to February 1, 2023."

"After a month in theaters, the drama film 'The Octagonal Cage,' directed by and starring Wang Baoqiang, and featuring Chen Yongsheng, Shi Pengyuan, Wang Xun, and Zhang Jingyi, has grossed a total of 20.18 billion yuan."

"Avatar 2 has grossed a total of 10.33 billion RMB in 17 days since its release."

"The Return of the South China Sea" grossed 12.73 billion yuan in its opening weekend, becoming the fastest film to break 10 billion yuan in box office revenue during this year's Lunar New Year season.

……

In the blink of an eye, the New Year's Day holiday has passed, and we have officially entered 2023.

This year's Lunar New Year film season has undoubtedly injected a strong boost into the long-dormant film market.

From the continued box office success of "The Octagonal Cage" despite its extended release date, to "The Return of the South China Sea" raking in a staggering 12.73 billion yuan in its opening weekend...

Behind these impressive figures lies the enthusiasm of audiences to return to cinemas, which has also brought a sigh of relief to many in the industry.

Is the shadow cast by the pandemic really slowly fading away?

The achievements of "The Return of the South China Sea" in particular have impressed many of his peers.

As the final installment of the "Ghost Blows Out the Light" series, it not only broke the curse of "series films getting worse and worse", but also far surpassed the expected box office growth rate, leaving "Avatar 2" far behind.

At an industry cocktail party, many owners of small and medium-sized film and television companies couldn't help but exclaim, "Ning Hao's move is amazing! The special effects are on par with Hollywood, and the plot is grounded in our own culture. How can he make commercial films that are both commercially successful and critically acclaimed?"

Some people were even envious, staring at the data: "Our project, which we've been preparing for for over half a year, didn't even cost as much as the cost of setting up just one of their scenes, yet they broke even in just three days..."

The envy in everyone's words was almost impossible to hide.

After all, in the past few years, the film market has either relied on Hollywood blockbusters or top-tier celebrities.

Cases like "The Return of the South China Sea," which broke through the competition purely through deep cultivation of the IP, polished production, and genre innovation, are truly inspiring!

Many film crews that had just recovered from the pandemic have also quietly adjusted their shooting schedules.

Some are jumping on the bandwagon to launch local fantasy films, some are refining the details of their scripts, and even teams that previously only dared to make low-budget art films are starting to think about ways to "balance commercial appeal and quality".

Standing at the beginning of 2023, looking at the long lines in cinemas and the constantly updated box office figures on ticketing platforms, everyone suddenly had this thought:
"The spring of the film market is coming!"

The sudden emergence of "The Return of the South China Sea" is like a mirror, reflecting what domestic films should look like, and making more people believe that as long as we focus on creating good content, audiences will always be willing to pay for good works.

However, if "The Return of the South China Sea" is a positive benchmark for the Lunar New Year film season, then "Desperate Househusband," which was released at the same time, has become a negative example that is repeatedly mentioned.

This film, marketed as a "gender-reversal comedy," garnered some anticipation before its release thanks to the "Happy Twist team" brand, but the final product was a huge disappointment to audiences.

The film is riddled with rigid gender stereotypes:

After a man transmigrates to a world where women are superior to men, he must stay at home to take care of children, put on makeup, and learn to act coquettishly. If he resists even slightly, he will be labeled as "unfaithful to women".

Women are portrayed as domineering CEOs who only give orders, and even in meetings they have to use delicate hand gestures when delivering their lines.

The worst part is the plot logic.

The protagonist's transformation from resistance to acceptance is completely unforeshadowed, and the ending attempts to elevate the theme of "mutual understanding," but relies entirely on vulgar jokes.

For example, scenes where male characters fall while wearing high heels or are forced to perform belly dancing have been criticized by viewers for "mistaking offense for humor and prejudice for plot twists."

The collapse of reputation came quickly and violently.

The Douban rating immediately dropped to 5.2 upon release, and the short review section was full of negative reviews.

"Using comedy as a pretext to create gender antagonism is less sincere than the sketches on the Spring Festival Gala."

"Is this really a Happy Twist production? Have they exhausted all their talent in recent years? It was so cringeworthy I wanted to dig my toes into the ground the whole time!"

"Exploiting loopholes, awkward gender swapping, utterly devoid of substance, a disgusting masterpiece of the year, a female bottom versus a female top, utterly repulsive!"

With a large number of negative reviews, its box office performance also plummeted.

After shipping 6800 million units on the first day, sales plummeted to 3200 million units on the second day, less than half the sales of "The Return of the South China Sea".

One cinema manager reluctantly adjusted the screening schedule and even asked on his WeChat Moments: "We showed two screenings this morning, but the occupancy rate was less than 10%. We might as well add more screenings of 'The Octagonal Cage'."

Both films were released at the end of the month and competed in the New Year's Day period, but the difference between "Desperate Househusband" and "The Return of the South China Sea" has made industry insiders see things very clearly.

It's not that audiences don't buy it, but rather that they're no longer willing to pay for poorly made "formulaic" plots.

The revival of the Lunar New Year film season has never been a blind celebration, but rather a paving of a wider path for truly dedicated works.

As for those terrible movies, they should just get as far away from us as possible!

Meanwhile, viewers were still indignant about the terrible plot of "Desperate Househusband".

Meanwhile, the fat lady's live stream was criticized and became a trending topic again because of a "mishap".

The incident stemmed from her promoting a high-end skincare product in her live stream, which was originally priced at "four figures" but was offered at a "flash sale price of 999 yuan" in the live stream.

When a netizen questioned the "exorbitant price" in the comments section, she immediately frowned and said to the camera, "If you think it's too expensive, don't buy it. Our family never sells cheap goods. Some people are just sour grapes."

What angered netizens even more was that when someone in the live chat mentioned that "a certain brand of bird's nest that I recommended before was exposed as being just sugar water," the fat lady immediately had her assistant ban the user and sneered, "What right do you have to tell me what I recommend? If you're not going to buy it, get out."

These words instantly ignited outrage across the internet!

Netizens flocked to the trending topic to express their opinions:

"Isn't the point of live-streaming e-commerce to serve consumers? Who can tolerate this attitude?"

"Have you forgotten about the bird's nest scandal back then? Still so arrogant?"

"Why are you putting on airs when you're just selling something? Do you really think you're a queen?"

Even old stories about her "flaunting her wealth with millions of dollars worth of jewelry" and "being bossy to her assistant" from her previous live streams were dug up.

In no time, hashtags such as #FatLady'sLivestreamAttitude# and #FatLadyBeingToldToGetOutOfTheLivestream# quickly rose to the top of the trending topics list, and the comment section was almost flooded with negative reviews.

Some industry insiders privately commented: "These days, live streaming is all about being 'down-to-earth,' but she's still putting on airs like an old generation. Does she really think the audience still buy into that?"

In the end, the controversy escalated to the point that Mrs. Fat's live stream had to be temporarily shut down, and her team had to urgently delete comments and conduct public relations. Her reputation had already plummeted.

Compared to being criticized for bad movies, this kind of "arrogance" that leads to a fiasco is obviously more offensive to netizens.

If the "fat lady" being criticized was a case of reaping what she sowed, then Happy Twist was simply caught in the crossfire. Chen Fei had just finished browsing the trending topic of the "fat lady's" livestream mishap when his phone rang, and the caller ID clearly showed it was Zhang Chen.

"Chairman Chen, you absolutely have to help me this time!" Zhang Chen's voice on the other end of the phone was filled with exhaustion and anxiety. "That piece of trash, 'Desperate Househusband,' has absolutely nothing to do with Happy Twist!"
Just because two of the lead actors are people we've worked with before, netizens are all attacking us, saying things like 'Happy Twist has made another bad movie,' and the comment section is exploding!

He sighed and complained, "We didn't even invest a fraction of the money, and the production company is another company, but who cares about these things now? The audience only recognizes the four words 'Happy Twist,' so tell me, aren't we being wronged?"

Chen Fei was both amused and exasperated.

This is truly a case of being wronged.

Happy Twist managed to salvage its reputation from the past few years with "The Lonely Moon," but if it gets dragged down by "Desperate Househusband," all its previous efforts will be in vain.

"Tell me, how do you want me to help you?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Chen immediately said, "Feiyue Films' PR team is so capable, could you help us issue a statement to clarify things? Please list the information of the production company and the production team clearly so that the audience won't be misled."

Chen Fei thought for a moment and readily agreed: "Okay, I'll take care of it for you."

After all, Feiyue Films has shares in Happy Twist, so helping them is also helping themselves.

“Send me the list of film producers and the relevant clauses in the cooperation contract. We’ll issue a statement and contact a few authoritative film and television accounts to repost it. That should be enough to suppress it.”

"Thank you so much!" Zhang Chen's voice instantly brightened. "I'll have my assistant prepare the documents and send them over right away!"

After hanging up the phone, Chen Fei immediately called the public relations director: "Contact Weibo and issue a clarification statement, emphasizing that Happy Twist has no investment or production connection with 'Desperate Househusband,' attach a screenshot of the official production information, and keep the wording calm and objective, without any emotion, just state the facts."

"Okay, Mr. Chen, I'll arrange it right away."

After giving the instructions, Chen Fei turned off the computer and couldn't help but rub his temples.

This year's Lunar New Year film season is truly lively.

On one hand, there's a box office frenzy, and on the other hand, there's a media war. Now, there's Happy Twist, a company that gets caught in the crossfire even when it's not doing anything wrong. It's really chaotic.

Fortunately, clarifying the facts is not difficult. As long as the boundaries are clearly drawn, the audience will eventually be reasonable.

As for Happy Twist, after this incident, they will probably have to be more careful when choosing cooperation projects in the future.

After all, the audience doesn't care whether you've invested in or produced the film. If they see Happy Twist artists in a bad movie, they're bound to start criticizing you, right?

...

The clarification notice was issued quickly. Although the audience stopped criticizing Happy Twist, their impression of the company still dropped significantly.

This is actually quite reasonable; once this storm passes, everything will naturally be fine.

After handing the little stone over to Shu Chang so she could take it to Liu Yifei, Chen Fei began to handle some work ahead of the Spring Festival.

For example, employee benefits and bonuses all need to be arranged one by one.

However, to his utter surprise, while he was busy working on the project proposal, he suddenly received a message!
"Hu Ge announced on Weibo that he has become a father."

When Chen Fei received this message from Liu Yifei, he was filled with questions.

Hugo is a father?
"Isn't he currently promoting his new TV series 'County Committee Compound'? How did he become a father?" Chen Fei was very puzzled.

Liu Yifei urged, "Go check on Weibo, they've posted updates."

Without hesitation, Chen Fei immediately opened Weibo.

The next second, the top few trending topics were already dominated by the news of "Hu Ge becoming a father".

The hashtags #HuGeAnnouncesBecomingADad# and #HuGeSecretlyMarriesAndHasADaughter# are all followed by the bright red word "Explosive".

Clicking into Hu Ge's homepage, the latest post was published half an hour ago: "I'm a father! Mother and daughter are safe and sound. I'm sharing this good news with everyone and thanking everyone who cares about me. Thank you for your understanding in the past. May we both get better and better in the future, focusing on life and on our work."

The article is accompanied by a photo of a baby's tiny feet, simple yet full of warmth.

The comment section exploded instantly! Within just half an hour, a million comments flooded in.

"My God! You secretly got married, and now you're a dad? Hu Ge, you've done an amazing job keeping this a secret!"

Congratulations! We've finally heard the news of your marriage and career. Wishing you happiness!

"No wonder he seemed different during the promotion of 'County Committee Compound,' it turns out he had some good news to keep quiet! He's so good at hiding things!"

"From Li Xiaoyao to Mei Changsu, and now to my father, time flies so fast. Lao Hu has finally found his happiness."

The media reacted extremely quickly, with major entertainment accounts reposting the official announcement and digging up details of his "reduced public activities" and "rejected variety show invitations" over the past six months, suggesting that there had been foreshadowing all along.

Some fans even dug up his previous interview where he said he "hoped to have a stable home after he turned 35," and exclaimed, "It turns out he has always remembered his promise."

Chen Fei couldn't help but laugh as he looked at the lively comments.

This kid is even more secretive than when he's filming a movie!
He randomly picked up Hugo's private number and dialed it.

The call was answered quickly, and Hu Ge's voice was a little embarrassed and hoarse: "Hello, Director Chen?"

"You're something else!" Chen Fei teased with a smile. "You kept such a big thing as becoming a father a secret! When I saw you at the premiere, you didn't let a word slip."

Hu Ge chuckled softly on the other end, his tone full of apology: "I'm sorry, I mainly wanted to protect my family and didn't inform you in advance. My wife is not in the entertainment industry and is not used to being in the spotlight, so I didn't dare to make a fuss."

He paused, his tone softening: "It's a daughter, just born not long ago. Both mother and daughter are quite healthy. After we're done with this busy period after the New Year, I'll treat everyone to a meal when the baby turns one month old, and I'll tell you more about it then."

“Okay,” Chen Fei replied, “Congratulations on becoming a father! You’ll have even more motivation to act in the future.”

“Of course,” Hu Ge’s voice was filled with undisguised joy. “I’ll have to earn money for my daughter’s milk powder from now on.”

After hanging up the phone, Chen Fei looked at the photo of a baby's tiny feet on his phone screen, feeling a warm glow in his heart, but also unable to hide his envy.

After thinking for a moment, he picked up his phone and sent Liu Yifei another message: "Wife, didn't you say you were going to give me a daughter? When are you going to keep your promise?"

"Wait, I'll have your baby after I finish filming my movie."

Liu Yifei was quite straightforward, after all, she had already agreed to this.

Once she has fulfilled her dream of becoming a director, she plans to return to her family and no longer appear in public.

With such a large family business, there's no need for him to go out and cause trouble. He can just come out and film a movie when he's bored, and otherwise be a good wife.
(End of this chapter)