Box Office Miracle, Yi Fei's Nickname Appears

Chapter 83 Box Office Miracle, Yi Fei's Nickname Appears (Third Update)

After contacting the person he was supposed to contact, He Yi'an stopped paying attention to minor public opinion issues.

He's someone with some status and resources now, it's beneath him to always be the one to take the lead in everything.

It's important to make good use of connections and resources. Having the right people fight for you is much more effective than doing it yourself.

And all parties acted swiftly.

On the afternoon of September 9, the Beijing Youth Daily published an interview with Zhang Yimou.

When asked by a reporter about his opinion on He Yi'an's award, Zhang Yimou directly defended him: "I've seen 'Fireworks in the Human World' and I'm familiar with He Yi'an. He's a talented young man, and the film was very well made. He deserves the award."

The reporter followed up, saying, "Some critics say this film whitewashes reality and avoids the truth. What's your opinion?"

Zhang Yimou flashed his signature smile: "Have they seen the movie? The characters in the movie are laid off, have a disabled left hand, encounter all sorts of difficulties opening a noodle shop, and almost die on the street. What is this if not suffering?"

"But He Yi'an did not dwell on suffering; he filmed how people survive and support each other in the face of suffering."

This is true realism; it doesn't show you the wounds, it shows you the power to heal.

"I asked He Yi'an before, and he said that he never sings praises of suffering, nor does he glorify suffering. He only praises those who are struggling in life but are still willing to keep striving."

"As for criticism," Zhang Yimou paused, "criticism is not limited to one method."

"Loud cursing is criticism, and silent recording is also criticism. Every filmmaker has their own way, and He Yi'an simply chose his way."

The reporter then asked, "Director Lu Chuan said that Venice awarding the prize to He Yi'an was a political choice. What's your opinion?"

Zhang Yimou shook his head: "I don't comment on my peers, but I can say that He Yi'an's films have their own value. The Venice jury members were looking at the films themselves, not anything else."

The release of this interview poured cold water on the online discussions that had begun to subside, and many people were surprised by Zhang Yimou's stance.

However, Zhang Yimou also has many haters, and since He Yi'an's film was pushed to Venice by him, the two groups are now mixed together, which makes those who are gradually being compressed into one circle and constantly purified feel that the two can be hated together!

But Jiang Wen's subsequent statement left many people puzzled.

On the evening of September 9, a reporter spotted Jiang Wen outside a movie theater after he had just finished watching "Fireworks in the Human World".

He was wearing a black jacket and sunglasses, yet he was still easily recognizable.

The reporter rushed up to him and asked, "Director Jiang, what did you think of He Yi'an's film?"

Jiang Wen took off his sunglasses and immediately swore, "Who the hell said this movie is bad?"

"I think this movie is very well made! The only bad thing is why He Yi'an didn't invite me to act in it."

Knowing Jiang Wen's personality, the reporter asked again, "Do you think it's too fast for He Yi'an to win Best Director at Venice at such a young age?"

Jiang Wen glared at the reporter: "What do you mean fast? When I was filming 'In the Heat of the Sun,' Xia Yu was only 16 years old and he won the Venice Film Festival's Best Actor award."

"A genius is a genius, it has nothing to do with age. He Yi'an has the ability, he deserves this award. As for some people, even if I personally taught them, I still couldn't teach them!"

Upon hearing this, the reporter's eyes lit up, and he was about to press further: "Director Jiang, who are these people you mentioned? Is it—"

However, Jiang Wen would never answer such a question. He put on his sunglasses and walked away.

After the interview was posted online, Jiang Wen's fans shared it widely, with some even saying, "Jiang Wen himself said it's good, so what else is there to criticize?"

Jiang Wen is the kind of person who likes things a lot and dislikes things a lot.

He has quite a few fans, and those who like him are genuinely fans.

But the opponents were not to be outdone: "Jiang Wen is an old hand; he's just saying that to keep us in check. Don't take it seriously."

Not content with the statements from two prominent directors, Chen Daren also spoke out, though he was much more cautious in his interview: "I haven't seen the movie yet, so it's not convenient for me to comment. I'll comment after I've seen it."

As for Feng Xiaogang, his response was the most intriguing.

A reporter cornered him at a celebration banquet and asked him what he thought about He Yi'an winning the award.

Surprisingly, Feng Xiaogang didn't criticize him this time. Instead, he was quite polite: "Congratulations to him. Winning Best Director at Venice at 18 is remarkable."

The reporter pressed further, "So what do you think of his movie?"

Feng Xiaogang waved his hand: "I haven't seen it, so I won't comment, but there must be a reason why he won the award."

After saying that, he began promoting his new movie: "I also have a new movie in preparation, and it will definitely be another movie that makes everyone happy."

The reporter tried to press him further, but he had already turned and left.

Feng Xiaogang's attitude surprised many people.

Even He Yi'an found this news rather strange.

Is Little Cannon's personality really that good?

However, when he looked at Han Sanping, he seemed to realize something.

At this point, it seems that Xiao Gangpao was able to gradually fall out with those people and emerge from the shadows thanks to Han Sanping's support.

Could it be that Han Sanping said something, or perhaps he didn't want to get involved in this mess because of Uncle Han?

With several prominent directors publicly supporting He Yi'an, the one-sided public opinion surrounding He Yi'an was completely suppressed, and the actual film promotion began to regain its popularity.

What no one expected was that during the period when the public opinion was fermenting, along with the popularity of Yan Danchen's song, the box office of "Fireworks in the Human World" continued to rise under the heat of public opinion.

On its release day, September 7, the film grossed nearly 700,000 yuan.

On Saturday, September 8th, the box office reached 970,000.

On Sunday, September 9th, box office revenue hit a new record, exceeding 133 million.

In just three days, "Fireworks in the Human World" grossed over 300 million yuan, something that many commercial films have failed to achieve.

This figure was nothing short of a miracle in the Chinese film market in 2002.

It's worth noting that last year, "Big Shot's Funeral" grossed 4300 million yuan, and its box office in the first three days was only 380 million yuan. Moreover, this was achieved despite the presence of Ge You, Rosamund Kwan, and Feng Xiaogang in a New Year's film.

What is in "Fireworks in the Human World"?

An 18-year-old newcomer to become the best director, a TV star, and an unknown actor.

The only explanation is public opinion.

The more people criticize it, the more curious people will become.

The more curious people there are, the more people will go to the movie theater.

The more people go to the movie theater, the higher the box office.

This is probably what is known as "black and red".

On September 10th, in Xinchang, Jiangsu and Zhejiang, the crew of the TV series "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils" were present.

Liu Yifei sat in the dressing room, clutching her phone, looking at the text message from Yi An on the screen: "Have you been keeping an eye on me all this time?"

"Okay, Sisi, I had no idea you were paying so much attention to me. Tell me, what are you up to?!"

"Tell me, are you planning to ambush me?!"

She had received these messages a long time ago and had been staring at them for a long time, but she still couldn't figure out how to reply.

Looking at these messages, she could almost picture He Yi'an as he sent them.

"What a big liar! He just passed the problem back to me—"

Xiao Liu was well aware of He Yi'an's evasive reply, which was why she was so conflicted.

One moment she's frowning and pouting, the next her lips are unconsciously curving upwards.

After thinking it through, she finally started typing on the keyboard, preparing to reply to He Yi'an.

If other members of the crew were here at this moment, they would exclaim in surprise: Who said that the fairy sister's expression is wooden? Isn't she quite vivid?

Yes!

Fairy Sister!

Two of Liu Yifei's longest-lasting derogatory nicknames have emerged!

With the start of filming for "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils" and the release of various character stills, there's bound to be a lot of discussion among netizens.

When asked by reporters why he chose Liu Yifei, the bearded man simply said: "She's like a fairy."

Then I started getting nitpicked and ridiculed.

This is actually an indispensable part of the entertainment industry; there aren't many good production teams these days.

Liu Yifei, a newcomer, won this opportunity, leaving nothing for the others.

There were quite a few people vying with her for the role of Wang Yuyan.

The most popular choice is Kim Hee-sun from South Korea. It can only be said that the Korean wave is so strong that the Chinese entertainment industry not only has to compete with Hong Kong and Taiwan, but also with the Korean wave.

Kim Hee-sun was the person chosen by the investors, but director Zhou Xiaowen strongly opposed her, saying, "She doesn't speak Chinese, doesn't understand Chinese culture, and can't portray the scholarly and ethereal beauty of Wang Yuyan."

Then it was Jiang Qinqing's turn, which was even more ruthless because she was already 27 years old, and the director rejected her on the grounds of being too old.

Xu Jinglei received high online votes, but was directly criticized for being too modern, lacking ethereal beauty, and not having enough scholarly air.

Huang Yi is currently very popular and wanted to play the role, but she was criticized for not being pretty enough and not being suitable for the aloof Wang Yuyan.

Although most of these criticisms came from the director and the bearded man, which of these women being criticized was a good person?

There may be some who won't hold a grudge, but certainly not everyone is so forgiving.

What do they do when they're so petty and can't stand being attacked? Since they can't deal with the director and the bearded man, they just smear Liu Yifei.

Besides, it's normal for industry insiders and netizens to question a 15-year-old newcomer being cast as the female lead in a Jin Yong drama.

All sorts of press releases are everywhere, saying things like "She relies on her background, has no acting skills, is expressionless, and her lines are stiff like she's reciting a memorized text," and "Does she even deserve to be called a fairy sister? She's an expressionless wooden doll!"

The online forums and Tianya erupted with hate posts, which forcibly diverted a large portion of He Yi'an's popularity; otherwise, the hate would have been even more intense.

What "fairy sister"? She's just a poker-faced woman and a line-reciting machine!

What kind of nonsense is this, "A parachuted-in actress with zero acting skills, yet she dares to call herself a goddess?" Even if the production team tries to salvage the situation by actively marketing her as "as beautiful as a fairy, the chosen Wang Yuyan," and Jin Yong praised her, saying, "Only after watching her performance did I realize such a beauty existed in the world."

This sparked a backlash from a large group of people: "That's an exaggeration! A face as big as a basin, calling herself a celestial being?"

Then came variations of derogatory terms: "Fairy Sister → Celestial Fairy → Antenna (a homophone for 'black')," mocking her as a "flat-faced fairy who's been praised to the heavens."

"Fairy Sister" and "Heavenly Fairy" are both derogatory terms used by haters to refer to Liu Yifei!

In reality, without encouragement, there wouldn't be such a huge buzz and level of discussion among fans.

It's obvious that someone is deliberately stirring up trouble.

To be fair, some of the things used to criticize others, aside from those that are deliberately malicious, are not entirely baseless.

At least the "resource-backed" type isn't entirely shady, since there's usually some exchange of benefits involved. (Just kidding!)

However, some people have really gone too far by organizing such a large-scale attack on a newcomer.

But in reality, they never had a chance at all from the beginning.

The only one who might have a chance is actually Yan Danchen.

After all, she was personally invited to audition, but she was ultimately rejected because her appearance was too tragic.

So those who say that Xiao Liu stole her role are just trying to smear her, they can stop now.

Moreover, this time, she didn't even go to the audition.