Chapter 505 Top Rank
Sina Entertainment News

"Tong Dawei, Dou Xiao and Cao Kefan star in the Batman film."

"Zhang Yimou's much-anticipated new film, The Flowers of War, was unveiled yesterday afternoon. Thirteen producers including IDG Capital, LeTV, SMG, China Film Group, and Shanghai Film Group attended the media conference together."

"Zhang Yimou announced on the spot that Hollywood's top actor Christian Bale has joined the film and will play the leading male role, John."

"According to the chief producer Han Sanping, the agency rights for The Flowers of War in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific are already under negotiation even though the filming of The Flowers of War has not started yet. It is clear that the overseas market is very optimistic."

"CEOs of Bona and LeEco all expressed their joy at investing in Zhang Yimou's film."

On Christmas Eve, the 24th, Li Chen celebrated his birthday, and his Weibo posts were filled with blessings from celebrities.

People like Zhang Manyu, Liu Dehua, Li Ming and others who were friends with him called directly.

Liu Dehua has been so busy lately that he has been doing the work of two people. The promotion of "Cold War" and "New Shaolin Temple" cannot be separated from him.

Of course, he still knows the key points.

What's more, in Li Chen's opinion, the movie "New Shaolin Temple"

In the film's publicity, the film company put both Andy Lau and Cheng Long in the leading roles, which was completely to promote the Ying Huang prince Xie Tingfeng.

Let’s not talk about Liu Dehua.

The cooking monk played by Cheng Long did not appear until an hour into the movie, so it could be considered a cameo at best.

Not to mention that this drama is actually just an endorsement advertisement for Shaolin Temple shot by a group of actors.

From beginning to end, one concept is being expounded: Shaolin Temple is not only a refuge for all living beings, but also a place of salvation for spiritual rebirth. A temple has become a holy place for saving lives and even souls.

Li Ming called and told him a piece of news.

He recently received a script: "The Banquet at Hongmen"

"To be honest, I was very surprised when I received the script. Why did they choose me to play Liu Bang? Moreover, the film company told me that they would spend a lot of money to invite Yifei to play Yu Ji."

"I said at the time that I couldn't find another good young actress who could play Yu Ji, except Yifei."

"I didn't expect Yifei to be pregnant."

Li Chen finally understood what Li Ming said and has accepted the role.

This "Hongmen Banquet" has a similar theme to Lu Tailang's "The Banquet".

It is said that "The Banquet" was directed by Jitaro from the beginning.

Later, Lu Tailang changed the script of "The Banquet at Hongmen" beyond recognition.

The film company was furious, so they changed Li Rengang to direct.

And Lu Tailang found his partner Qin Hong, who had worked on the cancelled "Nan Jing", and started a new project called "The Banquet"!
However, Hong Xing Wu was indeed approached before "The Banquet", but Li Chen did not like the script that Li Ming liked.

He also doesn't think that people from the Hong Kong circle can make good historical dramas.

But he agreed with what Li Ming said. At present, no one in the circle can play the role of Yu Ji except his wife.

When Li Chen celebrated his birthday, the only people who were with him were his parents, mother-in-law and wife. It wasn't a lot of people, but it was enough.

After Christmas, the battle for the Lunar New Year box office has become clear.

"Bullet" was a huge success, with box office revenue exceeding 8 million just eight days after its release before Christmas Eve.

It became the first Lunar New Year blockbuster to enter Christmas with a box office of 3 million.

It took in another 3 million on Christmas Day, firmly securing the title of weekly box office champion.

"If You Are the One 2" and "Cold War" took the second and third place in the Lunar New Year box office, with both movies grossing over million yuan.

Of course, as the popularity of "Bullet" soars, there will inevitably be different voices, especially for a film like "Bullet" that breaks the rules and is full of swear words.

The most eye-catching one was that a host of the "News Broadcast" publicly criticized "Let the Bullets Fly" for torturing him and forcing him to leave the show early.

Jiang Wen is crazy, but he is not stupid.

He knows clearly who can be criticized and who cannot be criticized.

Jiang Wen, a representative of the "Bullet" production team, responded to the controversy.

"Dream of Red Mansions" has been aired for nearly 20 days and is about to be completed, and the topic online is becoming increasingly hot.

Especially Liu Yifei's several heart-wrenching scenes.

As the show was about to end, thousands of viewers and netizens went to Li Chen’s Weibo to ask if there would be a sequel.

Li Chen was busy with the post-production of "The Invisible Guest" in the company. In his spare time, he also replied to netizens.

“There is no sequel, but there is a new film, which will most likely still be a costume drama.”

A single Weibo post instantly generated tens of thousands of replies.

"It's good to have it. I like to see fairies wearing ancient costumes."

"The good thing about marrying Leo is that you don't have to worry about producing good works."

"When can we be sure? Thinking that we have to wait at least a year, I feel so heartbroken that I can't breathe."

Li Chen returned to the villa, and Liu Yifei was also very curious. When fans asked her what the subject matter was and who would be acting, she was also confused.

However, "Dream of Red Mansions" once again brought her fame and popularity to a qualitative leap.

She is already a top star, and even though she is pregnant now, it still does not affect her commercial value.

Because of the popularity of Dreams of Red Mansions, celebrity Wu has received more than five times more advertising endorsements, acting offers, commercial performances and other activities than usual.

Many brands and businesses are willing to wait until Liu Yifei gives birth before shooting commercials or attending events.

In Li Chen's opinion, the most obvious difference between first-tier and top-tier stars is the number of fans. Take Weibo as an example. Liu Yifei is the only female star in China with more than 10 million fans on Weibo.

The artists in his company, including Tang Yan, Yang Mi, Deng Chao, Zhu Yawen and others are now all first-tier artists.

But compared to other artists, Yang Mi and Deng Chao are showing signs of becoming top stars.

The former benefits from being diligent, taking on roles frequently, publishing press releases frequently, endorsing products frequently, and attending events frequently.

The latter benefited from the hit variety show "Running Man". As the team leader, Deng Chao seemed to have opened the door to his comedy talent.

He frequently interacts with his Running Man brothers on Weibo and makes fun of himself from time to time.

The same goes for Yang Mi. The biggest thing the two have in common is that they are much better at self-marketing than other artists in the company.

The interaction and updates on Weibo with fans are basically updated once, twice or three times a day.

In fact, Tang Yan, Zhu Yawen, Zhang Hanyun and others also have quite a few fans, but compared to these two, they lack subjective initiative.

Yesterday, Yang Mi was a guest in Sina's live broadcast room and attracted the attention of millions of netizens as soon as she came online, which shows how popular Yang Mi is now.

In addition, "Palace" will soon be aired on Mango TV's prime time.

Li Chen estimated that after "Palace", Yang Mi would also become a top star.

The situation is similar to the pattern of "Dreams of Splendor".

However, Liu Yifei has already been a top star for a long time.

"What drama? Why have I never heard you talk about it? Changchang even asked me why I kept it a secret from even her." As soon as Li Chen returned to the villa, Liu Yifei came to greet him.

Shu Chang also followed. She heard the news and came here on the pretext of visiting a pregnant woman, but in fact she came to invite them to play.

The success of Dreams of Splendor caught her by surprise.

If I had known this would happen, I would have begged Xixi to let her play Song Yinzhang, even if I had cried for her.

She has come to realize that whether a drama can become popular depends not only on whether the script is attractive, but also on the director.

As long as it is directed by Li Chen, there will be people rushing to pick it up even if it is garbage.

This is what makes a great director special.

If big directors like Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige could humble themselves and start shooting TV series, she estimated that the effect would be similar to that of Dreams of Splendor, which would also become popular before it was even aired.

"Brother, you have to leave a role for me this time no matter what. Xixi and I have already agreed on it. I am willing to play a supporting role." Shu Chang immediately made his attitude clear.

Li Chen supported his wife as they walked and laughed: "If after the show is broadcast, the audience says that Shu Chang's acting is too much of a show and completely overshadows Liu Yifei, how will you deal with it?"

The two girls were stunned by this sentence.

Shu Chang couldn't help but laugh first, and he took Liu Yifei's arm affectionately: "Although what you said is true, you should also consider the feelings of the pregnant woman."

Liu Yifei glared at her husband with a pursed mouth and a smile in her eyes.

Li Chen pointed at her and laughed, "Look, I'm just using an analogy, your face has changed."

"Then if someone says that they originally thought Shu Chang was pretty, but when she stood next to Liu Yifei, she looked very ordinary."

"How do you two feel?"

Now it was Shu Chang's turn to stop laughing. After thinking about it carefully, it was very likely.

Her best friend can be called a fairy, which shows how beautiful she is.

Although she was proud of her beauty, she still lacked confidence when facing her best friend.

Not only her, but who else in the circle can compare with her in beauty.

If it weren't for her beauty, how could she have become so famous as soon as she debuted, and how could she have become Mrs. Li today.

Liu Yifei chuckled: "I found out that you are a bad person who loves to sow discord."

Li Chen laughed: "I am telling the truth, that's why I don't want you and Chang Chang to be on the same stage."

"There are too many fake sisters in the entertainment industry, and people like you two are rare."

"When you were acting in 'Tian Long', you were still young and the Internet was not well developed, so these problems did not exist."

"But things are different now. You all have your own fans. Changchang has four million fans, right?"

Shu Chang nodded, seeming to understand.

There are some things that even if the two of them don't care about, but can you ensure that the fans and audiences don't care?

"So, if you want to maintain your friendship, don't even think about performing on the same stage."

"As for other plays, I will consider them if there are suitable ones."

Shu Chang said pitifully: "Okay, brother, you must remember what you said. My small studio depends on you for support."

Liu Yifei immediately became unwilling and pinched Shu Chang's cheek: "On who? Explain clearly?"

"Depend on you, depend on you!" Shu Chang immediately said with a flattering smile.

Liu Yifei suddenly remembered the question she asked and Li Chen hadn't answered it yet: "You haven't told me what play it is."

Li Chen pinched his wife's tender face affectionately and said with a smile: "I'll tell you tonight."

After dinner, Shu Chang left, and Liu Yifei pulled Li Chen aside and asked, "What play is this?"

Li Chen took her upstairs, turned on the computer and went online, pointing to a novel that had just been serialized by a certain Jiang: "This is it, you can read it during your pregnancy."

Liu Yifei opened her beautiful eyes and saw the title of the book in a line of small characters.

It looks very beautiful: "Do You Know? It Should Be Green, Fat, Red and Thin".
(End of this chapter)