Unboxing, Director!

Chapter 52: Wolf in front and tiger behind, preparation for the big hydrogen bomb
June 1999, 5 Beijing time.

One day before the deadline for short film submissions to the Venice Film Festival, Situ Zhaodun, who had submitted his short film in person, called and said that "Not Drunk" had successfully completed the submission process.

The 32-day high-intensity production finally came to an end.

But Lu Jiang did not have much time to rest and continued to devote himself to the post-production work of the new album.

Among them, the special effects work of "Dong Feng Po" is more important, followed by the underwater MV version of "Bu Zui".

In terms of special effects, Lu Jiang specially set up a special effects team of 12 people.

The number of people is small, but the equipment is expensive and the technology is even more advanced.

Lu Jiang’s requirements were not high, he just wanted to restore the visual effects of the original "Dong Feng Po" as much as possible.

During the production process, Zhou Jianhui came to check the progress, and his face looked a little worried.

the reason is simple.

The competitive situation this year is worse than expected.

As far as he knows, Richie Jen will release a new album in August this year. The specific quality is unknown. The current leaked information is that there will be several remastered versions of old songs, such as "Sad Pacific" and "Heart Too Soft", plus a few new songs.

Such albums are called greatest hits albums.

But this might be a smokescreen, maybe it's a new album.

Just like Lu Jiang’s current one-shot “Not Drunk”, the smokescreen released to the public is that many of his MVs are short films lasting over 6 minutes.

Therefore, Ren Xianqi’s August album cannot be underestimated and must be prepared for it.

In this regard, Lu Jiang does not remember any other hit album after Ren Xianqi's "Love is Like the Pacific Ocean".

But he did not take it lightly, just in case time and space changed.

"In addition to songs, Ren Xianqi also took on two Hong Kong films this year."

Zhou Jianhui continued the introduction.

One was a guest appearance in Fang Shilong's "Glass Bottle", and the other was the starring role in Zhang Baizhi's "Star Wish".

Hong Kong films are the commanding heights of current Asian commercial films.

As a Taiwanese artist, Richie Jen can make a cameo appearance in Fang Shilong's new movie and can also star in it alone.

Regardless of the final performance and box office results, it is enough to offset the reputation loss caused by "The Return of the Condor Heroes".

It is even rumored that Richie Ren has started working on a second Jin Yong drama.

Lu Jiang knew that it was "The Smiling, Proud Wanderer".

After playing Yang Guo, Ren Xianqi is going to play Linghu Chong again.

This not only shows that Ren Xianqi is popular enough, but also shows the extent to which Taiwanese capital is allocating resources to him.

Zhou Jianhui added: "It also shows that your presence puts enormous pressure on them."

Lu Jiang smiled.

This is natural.

The way the cake is divided is naturally different when there is only one new king in the music industry and when there are two kings at the same time.

In the original time and space, even if Lu Jiang was not there, there were still other threats.

For example, Chef Xie.

This is the only singer who can compete head-on with Ren Xianqi during his peak period.

Although his popularity is due to various reasons such as the support from the Hong Kong circle, his good looks, and the huge popularity of the "Feng Fei love affair", Chef Xie's own strength should not be underestimated.

The reason why Ren Xianqi didn't hold back Nicholas Tse was, to a certain extent, because the latter was handsome and filled the gap left by him, attracting a large number of female fans and young fans.

Similarly, he couldn't control Lu Jiang now.

Now Lu Jiang is more handsome than him, has better creative ability than him, and his songs sell better than him.

If Ren Xianqi wants to maintain his position as the king, he must of course diversify his development and establish an advantage over Lu Jiang in as many tracks as possible.

When talking about Xie Tingfeng, Lu Jiang also asked if there was any information about him.

From 99 to 01, the most popular people in mainland China, besides Ren Xianqi, were Xie Tingfeng.

It was not until the 02 case of taking the blame that Xie Tingfeng's momentum was stopped, and then Jay Chou and others officially took his place.

It can be said that Xie Tingfeng, who has all the resources in the Hong Kong circle, can really take over the position of the Four Heavenly Kings as long as he does not commit suicide.

It is really difficult for artists from mainland China or Taiwan to overshadow him.

It was not until Hong Kong films completely lost their influence, or until Edison Chen entered the market, that mainland male stars could come to the fore.

Calculating the time, it should be time for Xie Tingfeng to fully operate the mainland market.

Zhou Jianhui immediately replied: "This is what I want to say today."

Or according to intelligence.

Eagle King is already preparing to let Xie Tingfeng focus on the mainland market.

His latest album will be released at the end of July.

In response, Lu Jiang said: "Release at the end of July is not a good idea."

"How to say?"

"There's a bombshell at the end of July."

That is "Return of the Condor Heroes 2".

If last year's "Return of the Condor Heroes 1" was an ordinary atomic bomb.

Then this year's "Return of the Condor Heroes 2" is a more powerful and high-yield hydrogen bomb.

An average national viewership rating of 50%+ and a peak of 60%+ is no joke.

This phenomenal hit drama was a devastating blow to TV dramas of the same period.

The aftermath of this has also had a huge impact on other markets, including the artist performance market and the music industry.

For example, when "Return of the Condor Heroes 1" was released last year, the two theme songs "Dang" and "Yudie" frequently topped the major music charts.

Lu Jiang and Ren Xianqi's songs were taken down several times.

In terms of endorsements, most of the competitors of singing superstar Lu Jiang are the leading actors of "Return of the Condor Heroes 1".

This year, "Return of the Condor Heroes 2" premiered, and Xie Tingfeng actually chose this time to release a new album.

Lu Jiang could already sense it.

By that time, if the national popularity reaches ten points, Xie Tingfeng might not get even a single point.

"Is it so scary?"

Zhou Jianhui was a little unconvinced.

"You'll know then."

"Will we also be affected in August?"

"There will be an impact, but it will be far less than the impact of the explosion center." "Return of the Condor Heroes 7" premiered at the end of July, and it was the pure explosion center.

By the end of August, although the aftermath would not completely dissipate, its impact on the music scene had been greatly reduced. In addition, students would soon return to school and would not be able to watch TV, so the demand for pop music would naturally return.

By then, they will be able to regain the popularity by relying on the super high quality of the new album.

So this is Xie Tingfeng’s first album this year.

Lu Jiang could only wish him good luck.

At this point, Zhou Jianhui added, "But Xie Tingfeng is releasing more than one album this year. Rumor has it he's releasing at least two. The second one might be released in September, and it's even higher quality. The music video is said to feature a ton of special effects, and the plot is directed by a renowned director. I'm certain he's targeting you two, and you're the primary target."

Zhou Jianhui analyzed it carefully.

If Xie Tingfeng was present, he would definitely be surprised because Zhou Jianhui could actually analyze it so accurately.

Lu Jiang was not surprised by this.

If I remember correctly, Leon Lai will announce his withdrawal from the Hong Kong Music Awards Ceremony at the end of this year and retire from the music industry.

Leon Lai's departure also marked the beginning of the Four Heavenly Kings' withdrawal from the music scene.

In the following years, several kings retired one after another, marking the complete end of the era of the Four Heavenly Kings.

But people can withdraw, but the business model built around them cannot be dissolved. This is an important economic artery of Hong Kong's entertainment industry.

Therefore, Xie Tingfeng was promoted as the "successor" by Hong Kong media a few years ago, and then starting from this year, he broke out completely, striving to truly complete the succession.

On the road to succession, everyone is an enemy.

If you want to fight, fight the one at the top.

So compared with Ren Xianqi, Lu Jiang, the mainland singer, became the first soft persimmon to be attacked. After beating him, they would go after Ren Xianqi.

In response, Zhou Jianhui suggested again: "Lu Jiang, do you want to take on a few roles? If you want, I can still get some good resources."

His meaning is also obvious.

In front of him is the enterprising Ren Xianqi, and behind him is the resourceful Xie Tingfeng.

Both are diversifying.

Under the influence of both, the definition of "King of Pop" will become increasingly blurred in the future, and will become a diversified king.

If Lu Jiang fails to keep up with the pace, even if he becomes the new king, he will become unworthy of his reputation when the Hong Kong and Taiwan media influence the pace.

Hong Kong and Taiwan media will have a profound impact on mainland media.

By then, it will be much more difficult to maintain your position.

To sum it up in one sentence: Facing the double encirclement from Hong Kong and Taiwan, you have to think of more ways to stand firm.

What you said makes sense.

But no matter how good your resources are, can they be as good as Xie Tingfeng?
Moreover, Hong Kong films are on the decline. What good resources can we get in the next few years?

So this war cannot be fought like this, we cannot follow the pace of others.

"How do you want to fight?" Zhou Jianhui asked.

"It's very simple. Just sell out the new album like a slam dunk."

"I know, but it's not easy."

Want to create a record of failure.

The quality of the album is one thing.

Momentum is also one aspect, and sometimes even more important.

Now there are wolves in front and tigers behind. Not to mention Ren Xianqi, Xie Tingfeng is the one who is highly praised by the entire Hong Kong circle. Once his popularity explodes, his influence will be enormous.

Moreover, the quality of his new album is still unknown. What if it explodes like Lu Jiang’s last year and scare everyone?

Lu Jiang also has similar concerns about this. The quality of his album this year, "Yuan Shikong", is good, but it is just good and is completely inferior to Lu Jiang's new album.

But because of Lu Jiang's existence, the time and space line may not be exactly the same as the original time and space.

So in this regard, we have to prepare two insurances.

The first is to directly hype the battle between the two kings.

Now Lu Jiang is just widely regarded as the new king, but he is not the new king himself.

Even all of Warner’s publicity efforts did not directly acknowledge the new superstar.

That does not work.

Now that the new album is ready, I have full confidence.

It’s better to just confirm it yourself first.

Then directly hype "August Double King Competition!"

There will definitely be people who object during this period.

But what Lu Jiang wanted was opposition.

Whether it is criticized or praised, it is all about popularity.

Popularity can promote sales.

Then we will use the results to confirm it completely.

In addition, under the high popularity during the hype period, unless Xie Tingfeng or other singers do something shocking, they will not be able to surpass the two kings in popularity.

Of course, the resources behind Xie Tingfeng cannot be underestimated. Maybe there will be other ways to break out of the siege.

For example, the high-quality album that Zhou Jianhui mentioned.

The same goes for Ren Xianqi's new album, which is of excellent quality.

Although Lu Jiang thought it was unlikely, he still had to take it seriously.

This requires a second line of defense.

Lu Jiang now has 10 treasure chests in his hands. After the filming of "Not Drunk" was completed, he opened four low-level ones, three of which were MVs. Together with the two songs opened earlier, there are a total of 5 new songs, three of which are king-level.

If all of them were put into the new album, there would be 13 new songs in total, at least 8 of which would be hits, and the rest would also be of good quality.

Such an album is a hydrogen bomb that has never been seen before and will never be seen again in the Chinese music scene!
If you really push me to the limit, don't blame me for releasing them all.

As for why this method is not used directly?

Of course, it’s because the probability of Golden Finger producing high-quality songs is uncontrollable.

So I have to save a few of the best songs for later use.

Talented people emerge in the music industry in every generation.

The Chinese music scene will become more and more exciting in the future.

Unless it is an extreme situation, as a superstar, the longer it lasts, the better.

(End of this chapter)