Entertainment: Who still wants to fall in love when there are cheats?

Chapter 253 Twelve Billion Dollars
That very night, Li Boda dreamt of Su Shi's life, or rather, he simply dreamt of the experiences of becoming a heroic spirit and being summoned to the real world during those few days.

Even so, after Li Boda woke up from his dream, he obtained the skills he wanted.

Firstly, he acquired some of the Taoist cultivation abilities, such as knowledge of talismans, including peace talismans, house-protecting talismans, and exorcising talismans, all of which Li Boda obtained from the spirit of Su Shi.

Of course, these things were not important to Li Boda, and he did not want to obtain them.

Most importantly, it's cooking skills! That's what Li Boda wants most.

In terms of culinary skills, Li Boda did indeed get what he wanted.

Although I didn't get Su Shi's full-level cooking skills, I did get about 70% of Su Shi's cooking skills.

Upon waking up, Li Boda immediately took action and made a Dongpo pork dish without saying a word.

Looking at the Dongpo pork with its thin skin, tender meat, bright red color, rich and flavorful sauce, tender yet intact texture, and fragrant and glutinous taste without being greasy, Li Boda could hardly control himself. His mouth watered rapidly, giving him a strong desire to eat it.

"Boss, this, this, your cooking skills are amazing! This Dongpo pork smells so good, it's so appetizing."

After Li Boda woke up from his dream, Zhao Liying was also awakened. Although she was still a little groggy, she saw Li Boda busy in the kitchen.

Zhao Liying also knew that Li Boda had excellent cooking skills, so she didn't think much of it.

However, after she finished washing up, she saw that Li Boda had actually cooked Dongpo pork. How long had it been?

Most importantly, in such a short time, Li Boda not only made Dongpo pork, but it also smelled incredibly tempting, and even in terms of appearance, it was many times better than the Dongpo pork she had eaten before.

Having just done strenuous exercise the night before, Zhao Liying was genuinely hungry when she saw this Dongpo pork.

"Are you hungry? Perfect timing, let's eat together." Li Boda smiled, very happy.

The culinary skills inherited from Su Dongpo enabled Li Boda to flexibly utilize his abilities to quickly cook an ordinary dish in a very short time and make it even more delicious.

Or, to put it another way, they use their own magical powers to endow food with extraordinary properties, making it more delicious, healthier, and more nutritious.

Li Boda could even give these foods all sorts of properties.

Deliciousness is just the foundation. Adding nutrition and energy on top of deliciousness is also a very standard practice.

If Li Boda wanted, he could even give these foods special effects such as making people whiter, smoother skin, and thinner body.

In other words, even high-calorie meat dishes like Dongpo pork, made by Li Boda, can become a magic bullet for weight loss and fat reduction.

This kind of cooking is truly unreasonable.

This level of culinary skill even surpasses the glowing dishes in "Cooking Master Boy" and the drugged dishes in "Food Wars!" It truly belongs to the level of a God of Cookery.

After Li Boda finished making the Dongpo pork, he briefly activated 'Chu Xuan Mode'. After exiting 'Chu Xuan Mode', he was still in that emo state. However, after eating a few bites of Dongpo pork, although he couldn't completely eliminate that state, he was able to weaken it by more than half.

Although it couldn't completely offset the difference, it still made Li Boda extremely satisfied.

"Well!"

"Wow!"

"too delicious!"

"This, this is so delicious!"

As Zhao Liying ate, she exclaimed in amazement, and even shed tears as she ate, truly moved to tears by how delicious it was.

"Oh no! I'm already so full I feel uncomfortable, but I still can't stop eating. What am I going to do? Boss, am I going to die from overeating? If I die from overeating, will it count as a work injury?" Zhao Liying asked Li Boda while stuffing Dongpo pork into her mouth.

Zhao Liying's words immediately amused Li Boda.

“Too full to death is considered a work injury? What are you thinking? If you’re already full, then stop eating.” Li Boda snatched the chopsticks from Zhao Liying’s hand.

"But it smells so good, I can't resist!" After her chopsticks were taken away, Zhao Liying looked at the Dongpo pork with reluctance, even wishing she could grab it with her hands.

"Alright, alright. This Dongpo pork is very high in calories, be careful you don't turn into a big fat girl." Li Boda teased, and then, under Zhao Liying's gaze, he leisurely ate the Dongpo pork bite after bite, his face full of sweetness, which made Zhao Liying even more unable to bear it.

"Ah, boss, you've gone too far! I'm already about to give up, and you're still tempting me. I—" Zhao Liying couldn't help but try to snatch back her chopsticks, but Li Boda held them down.

Zhao Liying, whose forehead was being pressed, tried to reach out with her two small hands to grab it, but Li Boda easily moved the basin away, placing it in a spot that Zhao Liying couldn't reach.

Then, while Zhao Liying couldn't reach him but could see him perfectly, Li Boda happily continued eating Dongpo pork.

Zhao Liying was going crazy. She was already craving it so badly, and then Li Boda did it on her own.

One hand was pressing against her forehead, preventing her from getting close or leaving, leaving her only able to watch helplessly as Li Boda ate by himself.

Enraged, Zhao Liying flailed her arms wildly and even tried to kick Li Boda. However, the difference in their body sizes meant that Zhao Liying not only failed to gain any advantage, but also made the situation particularly comical.

Then, Zhao Liying could only watch helplessly as Li Boda ate the Dongpo pork bite by bite until he put the last piece into his mouth. At this point, Zhao Liying seemed to lose all her energy and stopped struggling. She just glared angrily at Li Boda.

"Yes, I'm full. Liying, let's go, we still have to go on the roadshow today," Li Boda said to Zhao Liying with a smile.

"Hmph hmph hmph!" Zhao Liying hmphed angrily to express her dissatisfaction, but then she realized that something was wrong.

"Huh? I was feeling a bit full and uncomfortable just now, but I don't feel full anymore?" Zhao Liying touched her lower abdomen in surprise, but there was no sign of it protruding, even though her lower abdomen had been sticking out just now.

"Maybe you burned off all those calories from jumping around?" Li Boda stroked his chin, offering this completely illogical guess.

Zhao Liying rolled her eyes, but she couldn't figure out what was going on. She had been feeling a bit uncomfortable just now, but now she didn't feel uncomfortable at all.

Although I don't understand what's going on, the most important thing is that I feel comfortable. Since I can't figure it out, I might as well stop thinking about it.

Then, Zhao Liying felt she had lost out.

Since she didn't feel full, didn't that mean she could have eaten even more Dongpo pork? Thinking about it this way, Zhao Liying felt really cheated, and then glared angrily at Li Boda.

Zhao Liying's appearance amused Li Boda greatly.

"Liying, you seem to have forgotten, I made this Dongpo pork." Li Boda said to Zhao Liying with a smile.

Upon hearing this, Zhao Liying was stunned for a moment, then immediately put on a smiling face and began to fawn over Li Boda with a flattering smile. After all, if she wanted to eat such delicious Dongpo pork again in the future, she would have to trouble Li Boda to make it for her.

……

Despite not starting its run in the early morning, "The Holy Grail War" still managed to gross a respectable 110 million RMB on its opening day.

It was only slightly less than the opening day box office of Ning Hao's movie "Breakup Buddies" which was released last month.

That's right, it's just a tiny bit worse than "Breakup Buddies".

"Breakup Buddies" was just a road movie filmed on a budget of 35 million, with virtually no special effects or anything like that.

However, its opening day box office was actually slightly higher than that of "The Holy Grail War".

The Holy Grail War, a film with an investment of over 100 million US dollars, cost more than 20 times more to make than the film Breakup Buddies.

Despite the fact that "The Holy Grail War" had ten fewer hours of box office time on its opening day than "Breakup Buddies".

However, even after the opening day box office figures for "The Holy Grail War" were revealed, it still sparked a lot of discussion. Some media outlets, in an attempt to attract attention, deliberately compared "The Holy Grail War's" opening day box office with that of "Breakup Buddies," even comparing their investment amounts. They used this comparison to disparage Li Boda and the film "The Holy Grail War."

There was even a lot of media coverage, to the point that some people who didn't know the truth actually thought that the movie "The Holy Grail War" was really bad.

However, neither Li Boda nor the "Holy Grail War" production team paid much attention to this kind of news.

After all, everyone in the industry knows the truth about the two situations.

The reason why "Breakup Buddies" got 130-500 million yuan in box office revenue on its opening day is because that's all it could get.

The reason why "The Holy Grail War" only grossed 110 million yuan is because that's all the box office revenue available in the domestic market.

Sure enough, after Li Boda and his group ignored that news, the next day, "The Holy Grail War" grossed 170 million at the box office.

With a box office of 170 million, it has already reached its peak.

With 60% of the theater screenings allocated to "The Holy Grail War," the total box office revenue it could generate would only be around 200 million. "The Holy Grail War" directly took 170 million of that 200 million. The remaining 0.3 billion came from either theaters in particularly remote locations or those showing in the early morning hours.

On the third day, the box office for "The Holy Grail War" broke 200 million RMB in a single day.

In just three days, "The Holy Grail War" grossed 500 million yuan at the box office. In contrast, "Breakup Buddies," which was released last month, only grossed 370 million yuan in three days. The difference is now stark.

In this way, no one complained about "The Holy Grail War" like they did a couple of days ago, and no one said that a movie with such a big budget as "The Holy Grail War" was inferior to a road comedy like "Breakup Buddies".

After a week of release, "The Holy Grail War" grossed an astonishing one billion yen at the box office.

The gap between it and "Breakup Buddies," which was released last month and grossed less than 700 million RMB in its first week, has widened considerably.

In reality, anyone with a modicum of common sense wouldn't actually compare the Holy Grail War to Breakup Guru.

After all, although "Breakup Buddies" had a high box office on its opening day and grossed 610 million yuan in the first six days, its total box office was only 1.16 billion yuan.

After all, it's quite normal for low-budget films to have shortcomings in post-production.

While special effects blockbusters like "The Holy Grail War" might have difficulty gaining a significant advantage initially, these types of films generally have very strong staying power, and even after twenty days in theaters, their box office revenue hasn't dropped much.

Just like "The Holy Grail War," even after 20 days of release, its daily box office remained above 50 million, and its total box office reached 1.9 billion.

Even a month after its release, The Holy Grail War still grossed over 20 million yuan per day, and its total box office reached 2.1 billion yuan.

Then, they successfully obtained the delay key, allowing the film to continue its theatrical run for another month.

The box office performance of "The Holy Grail War" is even better than that of "Infinite Terror 3" last year.

Of course, this is only limited to the domestic market.

After all, Li Boda has been associated with the "Infinite Terror" film series from the very beginning. The popularity of "Infinite Terror" is almost equivalent to the popularity of Li Boda. Moreover, "The Holy Grail War" also features characters such as Harry Potter and Captain America, which will inevitably attract another wave of box office revenue.

In addition, the domestic film market grows larger every year, so it's quite normal for the box office of "The Holy Grail War" to surpass that of last year's "Infinite Terror 3".

However, overseas, the box office performance of "The Holy Grail War" was significantly worse than that of last year's "Infinite Terror 3".

In Japan, it's not too bad. After all, "The Holy Grail War" is a Japanese game and anime, so the audience is relatively large. Therefore, the box office of "The Holy Grail War" in Japan is similar to that of "Infinite Terror 3" last year, both exceeding 10 billion yen.

However, in other countries, The Holy Grail War's box office was significantly lower than Infinite Terror 3's, by 20% to 50%.

On the contrary, in North America, Europe and other countries and regions, because "The Holy Grail War" used the popularity of "Harry Potter" for promotion, its box office was no worse than "Infinite Terror 3", and may even have been slightly better.

Especially in the United States and the United Kingdom.

Because of the presence of George Washington, the legendary axe-wielding god, and Artoria Pendragon, in the movie "The Holy Grail War," the box office performance was actually quite high.

Even though there were many voices in the UK that were dissatisfied with the portrayal of King Arthur as a woman, these voices actually attracted more people to the cinema. Some people even believed, due to their level of education, that King Arthur was a woman!
As time went on, The Holy Grail War gradually began to be pulled from theaters in some countries and regions.

In China, "The Holy Grail War" ultimately grossed 2.6 billion yuan, nearly 400 million US dollars.

Meanwhile, The Holy Grail War grossed $130 million in the United States and a total of $180 million in North America.

The total box office of "The Holy Grail War" barely reached 1.2 billion US dollars.

It almost caught up with the box office of "Infinite Terror 3" and "Iron Man 3".

When the total box office figures for "The Holy Grail War" were released, the entire world fell silent.

They never expected that a single film, "The Holy Grail War," without any prequels or sequels, could achieve such astonishing box office success.

Although one-third of the box office revenue came from China alone.

Even if at least one-third of the remaining two-thirds of the box office revenue for "The Holy Grail War" is attributed to "Harry Potter".

However, regardless of the circumstances, it is an undeniable fact that "The Holy Grail War" grossed $1.2 billion, even surpassing the box office of the final film in the "Harry Potter" series.

Therefore, Liberty, the director of "The Holy Grail War," truly became famous overnight.

Even in China, and in some other countries, some rather blindly believe that Li Boda is the second "Cameron".

Of course, many people think this kind of slogan is ridiculous.

After all, the movie "The Holy Grail War" only grossed $1.2 billion at the box office.

Cameron's Avatar grossed a staggering $2.7 billion worldwide.

Even Cameron's 1997 film "Titanic" grossed $1.8 billion worldwide, something Li Boda can't possibly compete with now.

Regardless, Li Boda has indeed become a hot commodity. Although he was already a hot commodity before, he is now even more so.

Countless people wanted to collaborate with Li Boda and wanted to make movies with him.

Even the eight major Hollywood studios have offered Li Boda very generous terms.

They were even willing to offer Li Boda a staggering $50 million to direct a film, and he could choose any subject matter and write any script.

Although the director's fee of 50 million US dollars is really too high.

However, Li Boda's achievements as a director were simply too outstanding.

Cameron's movies have incredibly high box office returns, but that can't be offset by their high production costs. Most importantly, the filming process for Cameron's movies is also very long, sometimes taking several years.

Li Boda is different. Although the production cost is not low, it is not particularly high, and the filming time is not long. In fact, if Li Boda wanted to, he could film two or three movies a year. Even now, he is only filming one movie a year, which is already very fast.

The investment cost is relatively low, the filming speed is fast enough, the box office is high enough, and the profits are substantial.

Li Boda is exactly the best investment target in the eyes of many film and television companies.

However, Li Boda did not accept these invitations, even though the film and television companies offered him such generous terms.

The main thing is, you can never earn all the money in the world!

Moreover, Li Boda is not the kind of person who is greedy for money. He considers himself a person of high moral character and has absolutely no interest in money. Well, it seems that Li Boda has forgotten the time a few years ago when he was desperately running around doing commercial performances and making money.

The main thing is that he already has enough money.

There are just too many ways to make money: making movies, making mobile phones, starting a company, running an online novel website.

Fifty million US dollars is a lot, but for Li Boda now, it's not much.

Li Boda now acts on his hobbies and preferences; nothing else matters.

Since Li Boda has already made the money he was supposed to make and achieved the high box office returns from his films, he's starting to wonder if he should make an art film next and try for awards.

Well, the Li Boda of the past didn't care about awards at all. He thought awards were unimportant and didn't care whether he had them or not.

But now, Li Boda is actually starting to want to win an award.

It can only be said that people's desires and pursuits change at different stages of life.

When you have no money, or not enough money, all you pursue is money.

With more money, people start pursuing things they previously thought were unimportant.

Moreover, despite Li Boda's current fame and the box office success of his films, there is still a group of people in China who feel that Li Boda, as a director, is no match for Zhang Yimou, Chen Kaige, or Jiang Wen.

Why would a group of people say this? Naturally, it's because Li Boda's movies have very high box office returns, but he hasn't won any major awards.

Needless to say, Zhang Yimou is a regular at the three major international film festivals, having won the Golden Lion at the Venice International Film Festival twice, the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival once, and the Jury Prize at the Berlin International Film Festival once.

Chen Kaige has been making a living off of "Farewell My Concubine" for decades.

Jiang Wen's film made Xia Yu the youngest actor to win the Best Actor award at the Venice International Film Festival and the Jury Prize at the Berlin International Film Festival.

As for Li Boda, he didn't win any awards after becoming a director.

Therefore, some people think that Li Boda is only slightly better than Feng Gangpao.

Feng Gangpao had a problem with this. He wanted to curse. Although he hadn't won any of the three major international awards, he had won many awards for his films in China. Unfortunately, all of these were ignored. After all, the box office of 1.2 billion US dollars was enough to crush any domestic awards.

So at this time, there was a voice on the internet that wanted Li Boda to make an art film to compete in the three major international film festivals. Of course, they would be even happier and more supportive if Li Boda could compete for the Oscars.

Therefore, it's quite normal for Li Boda to want to make an art film to compete for awards.

(End of this chapter)