I'm just trying to ride the wave of popularity!

Chapter 213 This person lies about everything!
3 month 8 day.

The Berlin International Film Festival is in full swing.

At the opening ceremony, the director and crew of "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" officially began their international screening amidst rounds of applause.

During the screenings, as the first film selected for the festival since the millennium, the Berlin International Film Festival filmmakers attached great importance to it…

Internationally renowned filmmakers such as Karl Hoffmann, executive chairman of the Berlin Film Festival, Hans Müller, former president of the Venice Film Festival, and Yuri Petrov were all present at the event and praised the film lavishly in public interviews, making it an instant sensation.

This should have been a moment of great interest for the Chinese film industry, but to everyone's surprise, the news of this glory didn't generate much buzz within the industry!

Instead of generating buzz, it was overshadowed by another film, "The Mine," which had a low-profile premiere!

Someone filmed on set of "The Mine" and discovered that Shen Long was the only member of the entire crew who attended the film's screening...

Zhou Yang, on the other hand, didn't participate at all!

Seeing this scene, and combined with the news coming from Berlin!

All filmmakers and movie fans in China were stunned!
The news that Zhou Yang had rejected cooperation invitations from several giants, including Huasheng Brothers and Tianyu Media, had appeared on the internet, but it did not generate much buzz.

The news that Zhou Yang declined the Berlin International Film Festival did surface later, but Zhou Yang himself did not directly refuse in an interview, and Xuan Shi Entertainment did not make a public announcement. Therefore, many people still believe it is fake news…

but……

As more and more news comes from the Berlin International Film Festival, and Karl Hoffmann, when pressed by reporters, said, "Whether to participate or not is a filmmaker's choice, and we respect any choice..." From now on...

The news that Zhou Yang declined the Berlin International Film Festival has finally been confirmed!

"Zhou Yang really rejected Berlin?"

This question instantly ignited a firestorm in the entire film industry!
On the [Movie Home] forum, posts are being refreshed at a rate of dozens per second...

"Is Zhou Yang crazy? He dares to refuse Berlin?"

Does he think he's more important than international film festivals?

"With the ban from Huasheng Brothers and Tianyu Media, coupled with offending international film festivals, how can he make movies in the future?"

On the other hand, fans who support Zhou Yang vehemently refuted him!
"So what if we refuse? 'The Mine' wasn't even aiming for awards in the first place!"

"Zhou Yang's films never need to rely on film festivals to enhance their reputation!"

"Some people have been kneeling for so long that they feel uncomfortable seeing others standing?"

Public opinion is completely divided, but what's even more surprising is...
Just as the news of Zhou Yang's refusal to attend the Berlin International Film Festival was gaining traction online, another explosive piece of news instantly swept across the entire internet!

Countless people stared in disbelief at the latest news posted on [Movie House]: Zhou Yang had rejected an offer to star in the Hollywood film "Twilight"...

The reason for his refusal left everyone speechless: a "difference in creative philosophies." The moment this news appeared on the internet, headlines like #ZhouYangRejectsHollywood# (Breaking) #ZhouYangClashesWithHollywoodPhilosophies# (Hot) #HollywoodDirectorsAreDrivenCrazyByZhouYang# (New) flooded [Movie House].

Clicking on the topic reveals a deluge of discussions that are almost entirely divided into two camps!

Those who support Zhou Enlai are displaying a unified slogan:

"President Zhou is so tough! Hollywood is nothing compared to what's right. Sticking to your own artistic ideals is the only way to succeed!"

"Chinese directors have finally stood up and dare to challenge Hollywood!"

"..."

The "anti-Zhou faction" then invoked industry unspoken rules:
"Hollywood is being disrespectful? What's with Zhou Yang's pretense of high-mindedness?"

"How can Chinese films go global without Hollywood's backing?"

"Zhou Yang is really insane!"

"How can a movie be made without capital support?"

"Will Zhou Yang be able to make another movie?!"

"Just wait and see, if he keeps playing like this, he'll be banned sooner or later!"

Among them, the most eye-catching was a repost and comment from "Old K," a senior film critic at [Movie House]: "Zhou Yang's Rejection: Idealism or Self-Destruction? We'll Wait and See." In just one hour, this post was reposted an astonishing 1.5 times, and the comment section was completely flooded with comments...

Besides him, more and more unverified revelations have emerged. Some say Zhou Yang smashed the table on the spot, others say the director and screenwriter of "Twilight" went crazy and berated Zhou Yang, and still others say Zhou Yang seemed to have made some very excessive demands, which were ultimately rejected... As the revelations increase, they become more and more terrifying!
The discussion forum on [Movie Home] crashed three times in just one day. The technical team urgently expanded its capacity, but still couldn't handle the overwhelming traffic. Ultimately, the official [Movie Home] account issued an emergency statement regarding the division of [Movie Home] sections and linked the [Movie Home] entertainment discussion area to a new website called [QuickBlog]...

Once everyone entered the [Kuaibo] website, the discussion functions became more comprehensive, especially the trending topics, fan rankings, reposts, and @mentions, making it feel like a brand new website for all users to discuss, and it was very easy to use. At the same time, the [Kuaibo] website also had more revelations about this incident...

How detailed is it?

Some netizens even posted a Weibo post with a picture that clearly showed a mosaic screenshot of a scanned copy of the "Lord of the Rings" authorization letter from [Huashang Brothers] and an appointment document from [Tianyu]'s film department, accompanied by the caption "A list of the top ten sky-high contracts rejected by Zhou Yang!"
In addition, there are various partially censored contracts related to Twilight and a series of leaked information...

The content suggests that Zhou Yang's refusal to participate in "Twilight" was due to director Catherine de Blasio wanting him to film a scene where he is shirtless and holding a bow and arrow. Zhou Yang disagreed, leading to a lengthy argument with Catherine, ultimately resulting in a disagreement over their differing perspectives, with neither side willing to back down.

In addition, in the pinned hot post "In-depth exposé of Zhou Yang's 'mad logic'", an anonymous industry insider revealed: "According to sources within Huasheng Brothers, Liu Jinghua once said, 'We will ensure this madman has no films to make for three years.'" The comments section is filled with extremely opposing opinions, such as "waiting for Zhou Yang to flop" and "the savior of Chinese-language cinema"...

……

I'm seeing one bombshell after another!

Immediately, countless netizens were amazed, and more and more people moved from movie-related social networking sites such as [Movie Home] and [Wandou Movie Network] to [Kuaibo], registering as [Kuaibo] users...

....................................

[Huashang Brothers Headquarters]

3 month 9 day.

Liu Jinghua sat in his office, staring at the computer screen with a complicated expression.

On the trending topics list of [Movie Home], the hashtag #ZhouYangRejectsHollywood# still ranks at the top!
The newly launched website [Kuaibo] saw its registered users surpass 100,000 in just one day, and the topic of "Zhou Yang's exposed back" became a hot topic...

The surge of popularity came too quickly, catching Liu Jinghua off guard. Then, an indescribable emotion welled up in her heart, and she vaguely felt that something was wrong!

Just then, the door opened.

"Mr. Liu, we have just received an official reply from the 'Twilight' production team..." The assistant carefully handed over an email.

Liu Jinghua took the email, glanced at it quickly, and his eyes instantly turned cold.

The content of the email is simple:
"Thank you for your audition application, Mr. Liang Rong, but unfortunately, he does not fit the character requirements for our 'Twilight'!"

"Thank you for Mr. Wu Yichu's audition application, but I'm sorry, he does not fit the character setting for 'Twilight'!"

"..."

"..."

"Not up to standard?" Liu Jinghua narrowed his eyes as he looked at the rejection emails. "They are the most popular actors in our Huasheng Brothers. Their acting skills, image, and market appeal—what aspect doesn't meet their requirements? And they won't even approve their audition applications?"

Then, silence fell over the office.

A moment later, her pupils suddenly contracted, and she stared intently at the online buzz surrounding "Twilight" and the shot of Zhou Yang's bare back...

When she saw that the discussions about the plot of "Twilight" had gone crazy on the newly launched websites "Kuaibo" and "Movie Home," with countless netizens cursing but even more female netizens constantly refreshing posts "eagerly" to see Zhou Yang's upper body, she was slightly shocked!
In addition, on the website, there were also posts on Kuaibo from what appeared to be staff members of the "Twilight" production team, saying things like "The cast has been finalized, and filming is about to begin..."

Looking at this series of messages, she took a deep breath, picked up her phone, and dialed an internal number.

When the phone call came in, saying that audition applications from Wu Zuliang, Jay Chou, and other recognized handsome men in the Chinese entertainment industry had all been rejected, and that the role of "Edward" had been decided and the movie "Twilight" seemed to be about to start filming, she widened her eyes and was somewhat stunned!

Liu Jinghua stood up, walked to the floor-to-ceiling window, and looked down at the night view of Yanjing.

“Zhou Yang rejected Twilight, and our people tried to persuade him, but they were also rejected… Not only our people were rejected, but everyone else was rejected too…” She narrowed her eyes, suddenly realizing something, “Neither Zhou Yang himself nor Twilight has publicly stated that Zhou Yang rejected him. The inside information we received seems to be ‘suspected,’ which is not right!”

The assistant was taken aback: "Mr. Liu, you mean..."

"This is very likely a publicity stunt! Did you see these 'Lord of the Rings' contract announcements? If it wasn't Zhou Yang's doing, how could the contracts have been leaked?" Liu Jinghua's voice gradually turned cold as he pointed to the cooperation agreement between "Lord of the Rings" and Zhou Yang on [Kuaibo]: "All of this—Zhou Yang rejected us, rejected Berlin, rejected 'Twilight,' deliberately creating a buzz, making everyone confused about what's real and what's fake. Then, when the public outcry was at its peak, 'Twilight' issued a statement… immediately contacting the media and releasing information that Zhou Yang and the 'Twilight' production team had planned this all along, that it was a complete publicity stunt! At the same time…"

"what happened?"

Liu Jinghua stared intently at the newly launched website, [Kuaibo]!
"Don't post this on this website. We need our partner media to quickly create a similar site called 'Kuaibo.' These people are always hyping this and that; they're just using these topics to fund this new website! They want to build a completely new internet entertainment and gossip portal!" Liu Jinghua exclaimed in alarm, "We can't let them control public opinion anymore!"

"Okay, I understand!"

"..."

(End of this chapter)