Chapter 110: The Premiere Clashes Again
“Since Zhou Xun terminated her contract with renowned mainland agent Li Xiaowan, her affiliation has been a subject of widespread attention.”
“Yesterday, Venice Film Festival Best Actress Zhou Xun held a grand press conference in Beijing, officially signing with Rongchen Film and Television.”
“As one of the top actresses in China, Zhou Xun’s every move garners significant attention.”
“Regarding previous rumors that Rongchen Film and Television poached talent from Rongxingda, Zhou Xun repeatedly clarified at the press conference that these were baseless, and she simply chose Rongchen Film and Television voluntarily after her contract expired.”
Early in the morning, the news of Zhou Xun signing with Rongchen Film and Television quickly became the top headline on the entertainment sections of major websites.
“Smash!” Another crystal glass shattered in Wang Zhonglei’s office.
“Ungrateful wretches! All of them are ungrateful wretches who can’t be tamed!” Wang Zhonglei roared, not knowing who else he was cursing besides Zhou Xun.
Li Xue, standing in front of him, found it amusing. It was rare to see General Manager Wang lose his temper and curse like this.
She actually felt that Zhou Xun couldn’t be blamed for this.
When the banquet approached Zhou Xun, it was originally banking on the fame of both Zhang Ziyi and Zhou Xun, and the gimmick of them competing on the same stage.
Zhou Xun had never fully committed, and she knew that Zhou Xun’s heart was definitely with Rongchen Film and Television.
After all, titles like Venice Film Festival Best Actress and Chanel ambassador were all thanks to Director Li.
It was just that General Manager Wang still hoped to use fame to control Rongchen Film and Television, but he didn’t expect Director Li to not care at all.
Li Xue was certainly happy about Zhou Xun signing with Rongchen Film and Television; at least her sister had one less strong competitor.
But she couldn’t show it on her face.
Wang Zhonglei panted heavily, his face ashen.
He had sacrificed a film like the banquet, exhausted his efforts, yet failed to poach Zhou Xun, and in the end, he had made a wedding dress for Rongchen Film and Television!
How could he not be angry?
What made him even angrier was another ungrateful wretch in his eyes, Wang Jinghua.
Orange Sky Entertainment recently launched something called “Orange Sky All-Stars New Year’s Celebration.”
They gathered over thirty artists under their banner in four locations: Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Henan.
They spent a huge sum to create an Orange Sky All-Stars New Year’s picture.
It had the momentum of the number one management company in mainland China, as if saying, “Who else but us?!”
It was a blatant slap in Huayi Brothers’ face, because most of the artists involved were previously from Huayi Brothers!
Looking at the huge heart-shaped New Year’s picture formed by the Orange Sky All-Stars online, he felt his balls ache!
“We’ll see about that!” Wang Zhonglei said with a hateful tone.
Li Xue left Wang Zhonglei’s office, and the two sisters, Li Bingbing and she, drove away from the company.
Zhou Xun didn’t come, so Li Bingbing was naturally happy.
“Xue’er, General Manager Wang must be very angry, right?”
“How could he not be angry? First, Sister Hua is taking New Year’s pictures with all-stars at Orange Sky Entertainment, and then Zhou Xun publicly signs with Rongchen Film and Television. Either of these things would drive General Manager Wang crazy!”
“However, this has nothing to do with us. We just need to do what we’re supposed to do.”
“The power struggle between General Manager Wang, Sister Hua, and Director Li is something we can’t interfere with, nor can we afford to offend any of them!”
Li Bingbing drove and laughed, “Of course I know that. Sister Hua is a benefactor, Director Li is a noble person, and our sisters would never do anything that makes us look bad to everyone.”
Kang Honglei acted quickly in casting.
Originally, Wang Baoqiang was a bit reluctant to take on the role of Xu Sanduo.
But the company’s reputation was strong, and in the end, Wang Baoqiang still agreed.
With the finalized casting list, Kang Honglei came to Li Chen’s office to have Li Chen review it.
Li Chen glanced at it, a slight curve forming at the corner of his mouth.
He recalled how Zhang Yi had once written a three-thousand-word self-recommendation letter to Kang Honglei for the role of Xu Sanduo in his previous life, which was truly tear-jerking.
But everything is fate; Xu Sanduo was still Wang Baoqiang.
At the end, seeing the guardian of the “Stabbing Cult” who always liked to give people rocks, Li Chen felt a bit disgusted.
“Director Kang, let’s change the person for the role of Wu Zhe.”
Although Li Chen’s tone was a question, the firmness in his voice was undeniable.
Kang Honglei was stunned, “Who does Director Li want to replace him with?”
“Zhu Yawen. He will also be an artist of our company later,” Li Chen said.
Kang Honglei’s expression relaxed, and he smiled, “No problem, Director Li.”
“I had originally planned to ask if you had anyone to recommend, but then I thought the company didn’t seem to have any male artists, so I didn’t ask.”
“Don’t worry, Director Kang, I won’t just randomly insert people. Once you meet Zhu Yawen in person, you’ll know he’s absolutely perfect for playing Wu Zhe!”
Yang Mi’s “Wang Zhaojun” had wrapped up filming.
As soon as filming ended, she eagerly returned from the set.
She excitedly made her way back to Splendid Diamond and finally met the newly joined Zhou Xun in Li Chen’s office.
“Sister Xun, it’s great that you’re here,” Yang Mi said with a sweet smile.
With Zhou Xun’s arrival, there was finally a big star to stand in front of her.
This would prevent people from always targeting her and calling her ungrateful.
“Why is it so great, Mi Mi? Sister is taking the bullet for you, right?”
Zhou Xun straightened her face, deliberately teasing Yang Mi.
Yang Mi immediately stammered, awkwardly saying, “Not at all, Sister Xun.”
It was Yang Siwei who rose from the sofa and said with a smile, “Sister Xun, stop teasing Mi Mi.”
“Exactly, Sister Xun, don’t bully my junior sister. Hello, Mi Mi, I’m Zhu Yawen, you can just call me Brother Yawen.”
Zhu Yawen also stood up and introduced himself in a familiar manner.
Yang Mi glanced at Tang Yan beside her and extended her hand, saying, “Brother Yawen.”
Tang Yan, holding Yang Mi’s arm, laughed, “Just call him Xiao Zhu, everyone calls him that, even Yifei calls him that!”
“Xiao Tang! Can’t you give me some face in front of my junior sister?!”
Everyone burst into laughter, completely disregarding Zhu Yawen’s plea.
Li Chen saw that everyone had arrived, stood up, and said with a smile, “Alright, everyone’s here, and you’ve all met. Tomorrow, I’m hosting a dinner at my house, and everyone is welcome to bring their family members.”
“Sister Xun, bring your significant other too.”
“No problem, I haven’t been to Director Li’s house yet. Tomorrow, I’ll make sure to eat Director Li out of house and home!”
“Sister Xun, I’m afraid you’ll burst before the boss even reacts.”
“Family members? What if Mi Mi and I don’t have family members?”
“Who says I don’t have family members? Siwei is my family member, don’t drag me into this, Xiao Zhu!” Yang Mi said, hugging Yang Siwei with a laugh.
“Alright, let’s go, it’s almost time. Xu Zheng will be calling to rush us soon,” Li Chen said with a smile.
Today, the Political Consultative Conference Auditorium was also star-studded, especially with artists from Orange Sky Entertainment.
Liu Jialing, who made a cameo as the goddess in lost in thailand, and most of Orange Sky Entertainment’s artists, led by Wang Jinghua, were present to show their support.
Wan Renmi, Mei Ting, Xia Yu, Hu Jun, Zuo Xiaoqing, Tong Dawei, and many others were there.
Huayi Brothers’ Wang Zhonglei and the Double Bing also arrived together.
Upon seeing Li Chen and Zhou Xun, Wang Zhonglei still managed to greet them with a smile and offer congratulations.
This surprised Li Chen quite a bit; he probably had already cursed him to hell in his mind.
Yang Siwei took her three new artists to meet various bigwigs.
After making the rounds, Yang Mi whispered, “Siwei, I can’t tell, General Manager Wang of Huayi Brothers doesn’t seem to care at all that Sister Xun refused to sign with Huayi Brothers.”
“Nonsense, if you could tell, how would he make a living?”
“It seems Director Kaige isn’t here today,” Zhu Yawen said.
“Director Chen is quite tragic too.”
“Exactly, if it were me, I wouldn’t be in the mood to attend someone else’s Premiere within a short period.”
At 6 PM, the Premiere began on time.
Enlight Media’s host took the stage and began interacting with the main creative team.
At Li Chen’s table sat Han Sanping, Wang Changtian, Zhang Yimou, Yu Dong, Feng Xiaogang, Wang Zhonglei, and Lu Taro.
Li Chen glanced at Wang Changtian, who understood Li Chen’s meaning and subtly looked towards Han Sanping.
Li Chen understood; it was Han Sanping who wanted to be a peacemaker and had forced Lu Taro to sit at this table.
Li Chen didn’t take Lu Taro seriously, and Lu Taro’s face was also gloomy, as if someone had defiled him.
“I haven’t had a chance to congratulate Director Li on the great box office success of painted skin,” Yu Dong’s fleshy, smiling face, however, gave no warmth.
“General Manager Yu, you’re too kind. Once Director Feng’s the banquet and Director Zhang’s curse of the golden flower are released, I’m afraid my box office champion title will be in jeopardy.”
“As long as the audience is satisfied, I’ll be happy,” Zhang Yimou said with a smile.
“Director Zhang is right. Box office is like a gaudy woman; only insiders like us truly understand what’s inside.”
Xiao Gang Pao was indeed as crude as ever.
“Exactly! The art of film is being buried by these superficial things like box office!” Lu Taro added.
Li Chen truly felt as disgusted as if he had swallowed a fly.
“Director Lu, I disagree with that statement. Box office and film art are not mutually exclusive. Without box office, no one watches your film, and your art is nothing more than self-admiring, false pretentiousness!”
The bigwigs at the table all knew about the feud between these two, and they didn’t expect them to clash again today!
“Alright, film art is certainly important, but box office is also indispensable. Without the nourishment of box office, what will you use to pursue art?”
Han Sanping seemed to be scolding both sides equally, but his words still leaned towards Li Chen.
Lu Taro’s face grew even gloomier.
The Premiere quickly began. lost in thailand was full of gags, and the media, fans, and guests present spent nearly two hours in laughter.
Especially Liu Yifei’s cameo in the film and Liu Jialing’s cameo as the goddess at the end were particularly striking.
Xu Zheng adopted a very humble stance, going around to each round table to socialize and offer toasts, like a groom.
Today, no one refused to give Xu Zheng face; everyone unanimously believed that Xu Zheng would once again become a member of the hundred-million-yuan director’s club.
When he reached Li Chen’s table, only Lu Taro caused trouble.
Xu Zheng was a sensible person; just by looking at Lu Taro’s face, he guessed that there must have been another unpleasant incident with Director Li just now.
However, he was the protagonist today and couldn’t offend Lu Taro.
“Director Xu, make fewer comedy films. Don’t lose a filmmaker’s original intention for the sake of box office!”
Lu Taro arrogantly raised his glass, treating Xu Zheng completely like an elementary school student.
The scene was extremely awkward. Li Chen felt very unlucky, truly not understanding why Han Sanping valued Lu Taro so much.
Xu Zheng laughed heartily, “Director Lu, I hope you can always be like today, not caring about the box office!”
Li Chen also laughed heartily. What a sensible person Xu Zheng was.
“Well said, Director Xu. Chairman Wang, Chairman Han, let’s all raise a toast to Director Lu’s words.”
Han Sanping glared at Li Chen, but Li Chen pretended not to see it.
Lu Taro’s face turned green, like Taro the Watermelon!
