Entertainment mogul: Starting his business with the internet

Chapter 194 The fight started
On April 24, 2008, it was co-produced by Huayi Brothers Media Corporation and Hollywood, and starred a host of big-name stars including Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Liu Yifei, and Li Bingbing.

The action movie "The Forbidden Kingdom," with an investment of up to $7000 million, premiered in China and sparked a viewing frenzy upon its release.

The premiere at Wanda International Cinema in Beiping was a star-studded event, with numerous celebrities showing up to support the film, bringing the atmosphere to an unprecedented climax.

On the stage of the cinema, the leading actress Liu Yifei wore a silver off-shoulder dress with a black ribbon cleverly tied around her waist. Her long hair was tied up in a bun, and she was graceful and stunning.

Li Bingbing, standing next to him, appeared in a striking black dress. The two resembled a pair of stunning black and white roses, vying for attention on stage and attracting countless eyes.

Below the stage, flashbulbs were constantly going off, and the sound of camera shutters was incessant. A group of reporters raised their hands, eager to try and get a chance to ask questions of the big stars.

After Cheng Long, who was standing in the center, answered a reporter's question with a smile, the premiere host quickly invited the next reporter to ask a question.

The selected middle-aged female reporter slowly stood up, a sly glint in her eyes, and threw out a sharp question.

"Hello Bingbing, I'm a reporter from Entertainment Weekly. As a veteran in the entertainment industry, having been famous for a long time, playing a supporting role to Liu Yifei in 'The Forbidden Kingdom,' do you feel any pressure of being surpassed by younger generations?"

Upon hearing this, Li Bingbing's face flashed with a hint of unease. She was naturally unwilling to be "carried on" by Liu Yifei for such a big-budget production as "The Forbidden Kingdom."

Although displeased, Li Bingbing, a seasoned veteran, quickly composed himself, donned a generous and polite smile, and calmly replied:
"I believe that actors should serve the role more, and not all leading lady roles are suitable for me."

As for pressure, there was definitely some. "The Forbidden Kingdom" was Yifei's big-screen debut, and her performance during filming was outstanding. Every time I acted opposite her, I had to be on my guard."

Upon hearing this, Liu Yifei tightened her grip on the microphone. As one of the parties involved, she knew her own situation and sensed the strong sarcasm in Li Bingbing's words.

Cheng Long, the eldest brother standing to the side, also gave Li Bingbing a meaningful glance, making it hard not to speculate about what he had said.

Others may not know, but he is very clear about some details during filming. When Li Bingbing and Liu Yifei acted together, the supporting actress's acting skills were indeed superior, almost completely overshadowing the lead actress.

Once the audience watches the movie and compares the two actors' performances, they will understand how extremely sarcastic this statement is.

"Thank you, Bingbing!" The female reporter sat down contentedly, having already discerned the underlying meaning.

Li Bingbing meant that the reason I didn't play the female lead was simply because I felt the role wasn't suitable for her.

As for whether younger generations will surpass her, let's wait until Liu Yifei has established herself on the big screen before making any decisions.

After all, it's only her first movie role, and she's still far from being as famous as the established actresses.

The next reporter asked Liu Yifei a question: "Yifei, I am a reporter from Southern Metropolis Daily."

What are your thoughts on the recent online uproar about rising star Liu Shishi allegedly taking your endorsement deal?

Liu Yifei's lips twitched slightly, but her face remained expressionless as she calmly responded:
"I don't know the specifics of this matter! Although Tengda Group has been in contact with my agent, it is the brand's prerogative to choose who to be its spokesperson."

She didn't choose to answer the question directly, but she was speechless at her mother's actions some time ago.

Just a few days ago, on April 20th, Tengda Group officially announced Liu Shishi as the spokesperson for their new game "DDTank".

This was originally a trivial matter in the entertainment industry, and probably apart from Liu Shishi's fans and players of the game "DDTank", no one would care much about it.

However, after learning about this, Liu Xiaoli was indignant and resentful that Tangren had used underhanded tactics to steal her daughter's endorsement. For a time, she was powerless to do anything about Tangren.

So they contacted several media outlets and leaked the news about Tengda Group's sudden change of spokesperson.

The media, naturally eager for a good spectacle, quickly went viral with their embellished reports, claiming that Tangren Media's leading actress had maliciously undercut Liu Yifei to steal her endorsement deal.

As soon as the news came out, Liu Yifei's fans, "a family," immediately couldn't sit still. How dare they bully their "celestial beauty"? This is outrageous!

As a result, people began to condemn Tangren Media and Liu Shishi online. Some radicals even went to the official Weibo account of Tengda Group to hurl insults, accusing Tengda of being blind to talent and choosing such a trashy spokesperson.

He even tagged Song Ci on Weibo, threatening that if he, as the chairman, didn't manage his subordinates and give his "celestial beauty" an explanation, he would boycott all products of Tengda Group.

Liu Shishi's fans, the "Little Lions," were naturally not convinced and refused to back down.

When it comes to endorsements, it's the brand's prerogative to choose who to endorse. What's so great about "Fairy Sister"? Why can't her "Lion King" be their spokesperson?

As a result, fans from both sides engaged in heated online arguments, arguing from Weibo to Tieba, and then from Tieba to various other forums, causing a huge uproar. The two groups, "One Family" and "Little Lion," had completely formed a feud.

However, in this "battle," the "little lion" is currently at a disadvantage and cannot defeat the "family."

After all, Liu Shishi is not as popular as Liu Yifei is now, with a huge fan base and a large following.

The reporter from Southern Metropolis Daily's eyes lit up, seizing the key point in Liu Yifei's words, and quickly followed up with another question:
"You mean, Tengda Group did contact you first, intending to have you as their spokesperson. But the endorsement was later snatched away by Liu Shishi from Tangren Media, right?"

Liu Yifei's face immediately darkened, and she felt a pang of regret.

Before the premiere, she kept reminding herself to be careful when answering reporters' questions and to avoid sensitive topics, but she still accidentally brought up Tengda Group in her answer.

Her biggest worry right now is that the endorsement incident will drag Tenda into a media storm, offend the country's largest internet company, and bring her unnecessary trouble.

Liu Yifei took a deep breath and replied coldly, "No comment! Each reporter may only ask one question. Please move on to the next reporter."

Seeing this, the host quickly tried to smooth things over: "Please understand, this is the premiere of 'The Forbidden Kingdom'."

Dear reporters, please refrain from asking questions unrelated to the film. If you have any other questions, please conduct your interviews after the screening. Now, please have the reporter seated in the middle ask their question.

Following the host's instructions, a male reporter wearing glasses stood up and looked at Liu Yifei.

"Hello Liu Yifei, I'm a reporter from Toutiao Entertainment," the male reporter introduced himself.

Upon hearing the reporter introduce herself, Liu Yifei quickly composed herself, changed her expression, and gave a charming smile while calmly staring at the reporter who asked the question.

At this moment, the crowd on and off the stage also showed strange expressions, looking like they were watching a show.

Just now, a reporter mentioned the long-standing feud between Liu Yifei and Tengda Group, and now a reporter from Tengda is interviewing Liu Yifei. What a coincidence!

"Ms. Liu, as a highly anticipated big-budget film, what are your expectations for the box office performance of 'The Forbidden Kingdom'?"

Liu Yifei breathed a slight sigh of relief; the questions asked by the Tengda reporter were fairly standard. Moreover, regarding box office predictions, the lead actors had already discussed it beforehand, and she already had an answer in mind.

"The higher the box office, the better. With Jackie Chan and Jet Li starring as superstars, I think the box office of 'The Forbidden Kingdom' will definitely not be less than 100 million yuan, given the audience's love and support for them."

The audience burst into enthusiastic applause. Although domestic film box office records are being broken repeatedly, films that gross over 100 million yuan are still extremely rare.

Liu Yifei boldly predicted that "The Forbidden Kingdom" would start at 100 million yuan at the box office, which shows her confidence in the film and makes the audience at the scene look forward to this big production.

Just when everyone thought the reporter from Headline Entertainment had finished asking questions, the reporter smiled and asked again:

"Your fans online are comparing 'The Forbidden Kingdom' with 'A Little Thing Called First Love' starring Liu Shishi, believing that the former will definitely crush the latter at the box office. What do you think about this?"

Liu Yifei inwardly scoffed, though she actually agreed with her fans' opinions.

I really want to loudly ask the reporter, did you see that to my left is Jackie Chan, and to my right is the Kung Fu Emperor Jet Li?

With the box office appeal of two superstars, how can "A Little Thing Called First Love," a low-budget youth film, compare to "The Forbidden Kingdom" at the box office?

It's only natural that his own movie completely outshines Liu Shishi's.

However, she obviously couldn't say these things. After all, "A Little Thing Called First Love" was a film produced by Tengda Culture, and she was trying her best not to clash with Tengda or belittle the film.

After careful consideration, he cautiously replied, "Fans have the right to express their own opinions, and I cannot interfere."

As for my personal opinion, I can only say that *The Forbidden Kingdom* is a good film. As for *First Love*, it hasn't been released yet, so I haven't seen it and can't comment on it.

"Thank you!" The reporter from Toutiao Entertainment stopped there and didn't ask any further questions.

"Please ask your question, reporter."

"Hello Yifei, I'm a reporter from XX Entertainment!"

Liu Yifei felt a surge of nervousness upon hearing this. It seemed the reporters present weren't going to let her off the hook today, as they were all pressing her with questions.

What are the differences between acting in movies and acting in TV series?

Fortunately, the reporters behind her didn't ask any strange questions, and Liu Yifei easily handled them based on her past interview experience.

After several more reporters asked questions, it was exactly 8 p.m.

The host then announced the end of the interview segment and invited everyone to begin watching the film.

Time passed quickly, and the 104-minute movie came to a hasty end, soon finishing its screening.

The film critics and audience members in the audience had an indescribable feeling, and were greatly disappointed with this highly anticipated big-budget Sino-foreign co-production.

In the audience, Lu Yugang frowned, looking bewildered.

He never understood the plot of "The Forbidden Kingdom" from beginning to end, and didn't understand what the director wanted to express.

He nudged Lin Hao beside him with his elbow and asked in a low voice, "Haozi, what do you think of this movie?"

Lin Hao's expression was complicated, as if he wanted to say something but hesitated.

He was a fan of Liu Yifei and went to great lengths to get several tickets to the premiere. He also brought his roommates Lu Yugang and Tang Xiaochuan to support "The Forbidden Kingdom".

However, he found the movie disappointing, with the overall storyline being a mess.

Actress Liu Yifei's performance in the film was mediocre, and her acting skills were completely overshadowed by Li Bingbing, leaving fans speechless.

After racking his brains for a while, Lin Hao finally managed to squeeze out, "The action scenes were pretty good!"

Tang Xiaochuan curled his lip and mercilessly complained, "What a waste of time and money! The plot is terrible! Even with Cheng Long and Li Lianjie, it's still no good. I'd rather spend this time reading more books in my dorm."

Seeing that his two roommates were dissatisfied with the movie, Lin Hao immediately reassured them, "Don't take it too seriously. Just balance work and rest, and treat it as a chance to relax."

Other viewers seemed to share the same sentiment and discussed the film extensively.

Someone shouted and cursed, "Garbage movie! What kind of crap is this?"

Other viewers joined in the jeering: "Damn it, this is a terrible movie, give us our money back!"

After the movie ended, the three of them followed the crowd out of the theater, hearing a lot of discussions along the way, but most of them were negative reviews, indicating that people were not optimistic about the movie.

On the taxi back to Peking University, Tang Xiaochuan looked at his roommate who looked depressed and couldn't help but joke, "Haozi, your goddess's movie is definitely going to flop."

Lin Hao muttered, "So what if the movie flops? Anyway, I like Zhao Ling'er and Xiaolongnu."

Lu Yugang, a tall and burly man sitting in the front passenger seat, turned around and asked, "It's a terrible movie, nothing worth talking about. Haozi, let me ask you, when we graduate in a few days, is Lao Si going back to school?"

Lin Hao nodded, looking confident: "I've already called and asked. Song Ci will come back to Peking University on graduation day to visit and have a get-together with us."

Lu Yugang sighed softly, "Ah, time flies, four years have passed in the blink of an eye. Last year, the fourth brother graduated early, and soon we will graduate as well, and we will go our separate ways completely."

"Brother Gang, why are you being so sentimental? Even after graduation, we'll all stay in Beiping to develop our careers. It'll be easy for us to meet up in the future, instead of going our separate ways all over the country."

Lu Yugang shook his head slightly. Song Ci was no longer on the same level as the three of them. The four of them in the dormitory were still on good terms. How much contact would they still have after graduation?

Lin Hao seemed to see through Lu Yugang's thoughts: "The fourth brother is a sentimental person, but we can't be too far behind him. The three of us brothers also have to make something of ourselves."

Tang Xiaochuan nodded in agreement: "Yes, you have to be strong yourself to succeed. If you can't make a name for yourself, you'll be ashamed to face Lao Si."

"I won't say much more. Let's have a good get-together when Lao Si comes back to school on graduation day," Lu Yugang said, a hearty smile on his face typical of a Northeastern man.

(End of this chapter)