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

Chapter 1426 The Stalemate of the Main Theme Has Emerged
"Ms. Zhang Ziyi and Mr. Wang Feng have decided to dissolve their marriage after friendly consultation. They will co-parent their children. Thank you for your attention, and we kindly request that the public respect their privacy and refrain from excessive speculation..."

On Weibo, a notice suddenly appeared with the bright red "Explosive" tag, and immediately went viral, appearing on the top of the trending topics list.

With just over a hundred words, it caused an uproar on social media like a pebble thrown into boiling water!

Major media outlets immediately reposted the story, with headlines ranging from "Zhang Ziyi and Wang Feng divorce" to "The golden couple of the entertainment industry part ways," displaying a variety of creative approaches.

Marketing accounts, sensing the opportunity, worked overnight to compile a timeline of the couple's relationship from dating to marriage.

Even sweet details from early interviews were dug up and compared in an attempt to find clues for the divorce.

Many entertainment industry gossip bloggers also went live to analyze the differences in the two's careers and speculate on the reasons for their divorce.

Almost all the bullet comments on the platform were discussions such as "I always felt that their relationship wouldn't last long" and "Did Wang Feng cheat on his wife again?"

Within a single day, hashtags such as #ZhangZiyiWangFengDivorce#, #ZhangZiyiIndependentWoman#, and #WangFengMarriageHistory# dominated the top of the trending searches.

The atmosphere of rational discussion about women's issues surrounding "The Room Next Door" was completely disrupted by this divorce scandal.

More and more discussions have deviated from the bottom line of respecting privacy, turning into an excessive dissection of the couple's relationship, and even mixed with deliberately created male-female antagonism.

Many netizens left helpless comments in the comment section:

"Why did a perfectly good divorce statement suddenly become a topic of gender antagonism? Can't we just respect their decision and stop exploiting gender issues?"

"Exactly! What business is it of yours if they get divorced?"

"Sigh, I understand the entertainment industry less and less. There are divorces every year, what's going on?"

"Can't public figures set a good example for their fans?"

There were quite a few people online, but their voices were quickly drowned out by the even louder speculation and discussion.

In the face of traffic, "rationality" and "respect" seem to have become neglected.

...

"What's going on between the two of them?"

Liu Yifei sat on the sofa, scrolling through her phone, her brows furrowed as she read through the screen full of divorce speculations and gender antagonism discussions.

"Our film finally allowed everyone to have a quiet discussion about 'respect for women,' but now it's been stirred up into a mess again. It's really bad luck."

Chen Fei smiled, walked over, reached out and ruffled her hair, gently comforting her: "Don't be angry. People are different. People who are not on the same wavelength will eventually drift apart even if they get together. We can't control other people's choices. Just do your own thing."

Liu Yifei nodded, seemingly understanding, her fingertips unconsciously swiping across the screen. Suddenly, she looked up at Chen Fei, a hint of worry in her eyes: "Then, the two of us... we shouldn't..."

Before she could finish speaking, Chen Fei reached out and covered her mouth, his tone serious: "What nonsense are you talking about? Absolutely not!"

As he spoke, he lowered his hand, gripped her shoulder, and said with an exceptionally firm gaze, "You must never mention such things again, understand?"

In his view, if a couple wants to live a good life together, they must first be considerate of each other and not both try to be the tough one.

A relationship between a man and a woman needs a balance of strength and gentleness. If both people are stubborn and only think of themselves when things happen, they will definitely not be able to get along.

Moreover, in the end, love is all about conscience.

A relationship can only last if one party is sincere towards the other and the other reciprocates with genuine feelings; otherwise, it is absolutely impossible for it to last.

Just like Chen Fei himself, he had his share of romantic entanglements in his early years.

His ambiguous rumors from his time in Hollywood, the scandals and hype surrounding his investments in South Korea—these past events have been brought up and discussed before.

But ever since he decided on Liu Yifei, he has completely settled down.

He turned down unnecessary social engagements, proactively made their relationship public, spent more time with his family, and even tried to bring her along when filming...

In his view, this was not a sacrifice, but a man's basic responsibility.

Since you've chosen to spend your life with someone, you have to be responsible for her and loyal to the relationship.

He held Liu Yifei's hand and squeezed it gently: "Don't overthink it. I've decided on you for life, and I'm not going anywhere else."

Liu Yifei giggled, snuggling closer to him, and said softly, "I know, I love you, honey. I was wrong just now, I brought up something I shouldn't have..."

However, before she could finish speaking, she suddenly felt a warm hand slip quietly under her clothes.

The familiar warmth from those fingertips made her freeze for a moment, her eyes widening in astonishment.

"???"

Realizing what was happening, she hurriedly reached out to stop him, scolding him angrily, "Hey! What are you doing in broad daylight?"

Chen Fei, however, persisted, tightening his grip on her and holding her even closer, his tone carrying a sly smile: "What are you afraid of? There's no one home, and why can't we do it in broad daylight?"

"How could you be like this..." Liu Yifei's cheeks flushed red as she reached out and pushed against his chest, trying to get away.

But she was no match for Chen Fei's strength, and he picked her up in one swift motion.

"Let's go back to the bedroom and talk."

He whispered something in her ear and then walked towards the bedroom.

Liu Yifei wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, buried her face in the crook of his shoulder, and even her ears turned bright red.

"Couldn't we wait until tonight..."

Suppressed, soft breathing gradually filled the room, accompanied by occasional whispers between the two, making the afternoon feel exceptionally romantic...

……

The topic of Zhang Ziyi and Wang Feng's divorce did not last long.

After all, the divorce was a done deal. Even though netizens dug up many of their past controversies, both teams remained silent and neither side engaged in any online fights. The breakup was clean and thorough.

With the emergence of new entertainment news, the hype surrounding this divorce gradually died down.

Ultimately, both parties may have made mistakes in this eight-year marriage.

In the chaotic entertainment industry, being able to part amicably and not exploit past relationships for publicity is already a rare act of decency.

Recalling their sweet promises at their wedding, and seeing their current situation of "co-parenting the children and not interfering with each other," it's still heartbreaking. Eight years have ultimately come to nothing...

Time quickly moved into late October, and the focus of the film and television industry returned to film and television works.

The auditions for supporting roles in "The Three-Body Problem" officially started at the headquarters of Feiyue Film and Television. Every day, actors from home and abroad arrived with their resumes, from veteran actors to new generation actors, all wanting to have a chance to appear in this 30 billion yuan mega-project.

At the same time, news that Shanhe Film City is about to build a (complete version) giant dome theater has spread throughout the industry.

As soon as the news broke, major cinema chains across the country were immediately thrown into a state of "everyone is on edge".

After all, the immersive experience of a dome theater is unmatched by traditional cinemas.

Once the dome theater at Shanhe Film City is put into use, it will not only attract audiences to visit, but also host large-scale premieres, special effects film screenings and other events, enough to take away most of the traffic from traditional cinemas.

What frustrates them even more is that Wanda Cinemas and Pan-Asia Cinemas have now become part of Feiyue Film and Entertainment's business empire.

In other words, Feiyue Films has integrated the entire industry chain, from upstream scriptwriting and film shooting to midstream production and distribution, and downstream theatrical screening, and has occupied more than 60% of the industry share!
More importantly, every film they produce is a masterpiece, earning both critical acclaim and box office success.

This "closed-loop advantage" makes it impossible for other cinema chains to compete.

Even more distressed than these cinema chains is Hengdian Group.

Hengdian World Studios was once the only film and television shooting base in China, and almost all period dramas and martial arts dramas were filmed here.

But everything changed after Shanhe Film City appeared.

Shanhe Film and Television City not only offers more favorable policies (such as reducing venue fees and providing supporting accommodations), but also has built many modern large-scale shooting bases that can meet the shooting needs of various blockbusters such as science fiction films, action films, and disaster films, directly taking away Hengdian's "blockbuster film crew" resources.

Even more fatally, Hengdian's core advantage, its "ancient architectural complex," has long lost its former appeal due to the decline of the martial arts and period film market.

In today's film and television market, audiences prefer realistic and science fiction works, and there is less and less capital willing to invest in period dramas.

Therefore, nowadays, Hengdian is only used for filming some period dramas.

Almost all other film crews of any moderate size were drawn away by Shanhe Film and Television City.

The news that Shanhe Film and Television City is going to build a dome theater is an even bigger blow to Hengdian.

In fact, the shareholders of Hengdian had also considered building a dome theater, but after inquiring, they found out that the construction cost of a complete dome theater was as high as 20 billion US dollars (approximately 160 billion RMB)!

In addition, there are subsequent maintenance and operating costs, etc.

Fearing that their huge investments would be difficult to recoup, the shareholders began to back out.

As time went on, the plan to build a dome theater fell through, and all they could do was watch helplessly as Shanhe Film City gradually expanded its advantages, without even having the strength to fight back.

……

As October drew to a close, the casting process for "The Three-Body Problem" was nearing its end.

More than 20 supporting and guest actors have been confirmed for their roles, ranging from ordinary members of "Science Frontier" to duty officers at "Red Coast Base".

Currently, only auditions for a few key supporting roles, such as Chang Weisi and Ding Yi, are still in full swing, with talented actors taking turns to compete for these crucial roles every day.

Just as the casting for "The Three-Body Problem" was nearing completion, the National Day holiday film season came to an end.

When the box office figures were finally finalized, the entire capital market was stunned!
First, there was "The Volunteer Army: Mighty Army Strikes Back," directed by Chen Kaige, which ultimately closed with a box office of only 8.6 million yuan.

It's worth noting that this result wouldn't even have made it into the top three during previous National Day holidays, but this year it ranked second.

Following closely behind, "The Journey Home" took the top spot during the National Day holiday with 13.66 billion yuan.

"Moscow Mission" ranked third with a box office of 6.64 million yuan.

The combined box office of the three films is far lower than the total box office of last year's National Day holiday!

What puzzles investors the most is why patriotic films with a strong nationalistic theme, which were once considered a "box office panacea," have suddenly lost their appeal.

It's worth noting that a few years ago, films with similar themes could easily gross 20 billion or 30 billion yuan at the box office.

However, during this year's National Day holiday, even the top films failed to break 15 billion yuan, and the box office performance of small and medium-sized patriotic films was even more dismal, leading to their early removal from theaters. It was truly a dismal performance!
Meanwhile, this "cold wave" has also quickly spread to the upstream of the film and television industry.

Many film and television companies were preparing to shoot patriotic projects; some had already written scripts, and some had even finalized their creative teams.

But looking at the box office figures for the National Day holiday, everyone is at a standstill.

Let's keep filming, I'm afraid it'll flop at the box office and we won't be able to recoup the costs.

But if we stop filming, all the money we've invested in the early stages will go down the drain. It's a real dilemma.

Bona Film Group is the most conflicted among them.

They had been preparing for "Operation Jiaolong" for two years, hoping to capitalize on the "mainstream patriotism" craze to boost box office sales.

The script's plot revolves around "naval special forces carrying out overseas rescue missions." Under the banner of "Operation Red Sea 2," it also specially invited well-known directors and popular actors to join the cast, and nearly 3 million yuan was spent on pre-production alone.

But now, the sluggish box office performance during the National Day holiday has been like a bucket of cold water, directly extinguishing the confidence of Bona's top management.

The question of "whether or not to continue filming" became a dilemma lingering over everyone's heads.

During the meeting, some people advocated "suspending the project and observing the market," believing that making a film with a patriotic theme now would be "walking into the line of fire."

However, some people think, "We can't give up easily; perhaps changing the subject matter or direction can revitalize the business."

Others suggested, "Reduce the investment scale to reduce risk."

However, despite repeated discussions, no consensus was reached.

After all, nobody dares to gamble.

If the gamble pays off, it might be able to recover the losses from the beginning.

However, if the gamble fails, it will undoubtedly plunge the already struggling company into an even greater financial crisis.

The entire conference room fell silent, with only the early concept art of "Operation Jiaolong" lit up on the projection screen, silently reminding everyone that the once-hot mainstream genre was no longer a "sure-fire" investment...

(End of this chapter)