The elevated status of "Strong Yet Broken" to a socially relevant film improved its performance at the box office. The longer it played at the cinemas, the more interest it garnered. LX Productions managed to negotiate with the theatres to extend its cinema run. Its viewership was only growing with each passing day.
Its sales trajectory was also the exact opposite of the other movies released at the same time, including the blockbusters. Compared to "Strong Yet Broken" which opened modestly, the others already reached their peaks within the first two weeks. Their ticket sales began gradually declining and many of them were already taken off the cinemas. On the contrary, the sales of "Strong Yet Broken" were increasing in a steady manner week after week.
There were also several talks among experts in the film industry of its eligibility to join various international film festivals. They thought that the film had a good chance of making it to the final selections.
This speculation was only reinforced when they heard that LX Productions rejected offers of an international release in foreign movie theatres at this time. It was because most film festivals didn't accept movies that had been released anywhere other than their country of origin. Since LX Productions was containing the film within the country for now, then perhaps they were really planning to join international film festivals next year.
As for Iris' soundtrack album, it held a comfortable number 2 position in the music charts. JJ wanted her to overtake the number 1 song held by the formidable duo of veteran singers, but it was proving to be difficult.
This only made it apparent that Iris Long still had a long way to go. Her music was high quality, but there were other musicians especially the veterans who could also produce quality music. If both sides had music of similar levels, then the winner would be decided by status and popularity.
Iris Long was only beginning to stabilize her music career, while the two veterans had already grown deep roots in the industry for decades. Their experiences and connections to the masses weren't something Iris could obtain in a short amount of time.
Although she couldn't obtain the top spot in the music charts this time, she wasn't bothered. The music charts rankings were only an afterthought to her. Besides, she thought that the number 1 song was really good as well.
The music charts this time lacked drama. There were no fierce competitions. The fans wanted some action and excitement but they could only be disappointed.
That was until one day, Jin Chonglin posted an official announcement on his blog. He wrote:
The post was shared and confirmed by Bright Summit and the record label producing Jin Chonglin's music.
As soon as it was posted, his army of fans went into frenzy. The anticipation only heightened when Jin Chonglin began releasing a music video teaser and promotional posters. His upcoming album trended online and even became the headlines in the entertainment news.
Many were already predicting that Jin Chonglin would slay the music charts once he made his comeback.
That was until JJ's record label released its own announcement on its website and social media pages. The announcement said:
"We are beyond excited to announce that Iris Long will be releasing a new single with the rock band Pandemonium. Iris is the sole songwriter. She created the song specifically to perform it with the talented Blaze, Eros, Night and Thunder of Pandemonium. What's more, Iris will also be the single's official co-producer together with Mr. JJ! Release date is scheduled some time after the new calendar year and before Spring Festival. Title is to be announced, but we guarantee that it's a song that will rock your world!"
Iris, JJ himself, the Pandemonium members and Bright Summit all shared the announcement to their own followers.
Needless to say, the Black Stars and the Pandemonium fans all went crazy with excitement. After Iris and Pandemonium's impromptu performance in "MusicFest Tonight" when Eros got injured, both their fans wanted them to perform together again. Although Iris and Pandemonium expressed their desire to work together, their fans didn't expect that it would happen so soon. This time, Eros would also get to perform together with Iris. His burns already recovered, although the marks could still be seen on his skin.
Finally, someone noticed an important detail in both the announcements.
"WAIT A MINUTE!!! Is it just me or did someone else notice that Lin Lin's album and Iris' single with Pandemonium will be debuting at around the same time? Is this intentional?"
"Our Prince Lin Lin made the announcement first, so it's obvious that Iris and Pandemonium are the ones who intentionally set their release date to compete against our prince! How audacious! It seems that Iris had become too full of herself when she beat Prince Lin Lin in the music charts before!"
"Hey, poster above! Don't you dare blame our Boss Iris! The one who made the announcement is JJ's record label! It should be JJ's fault! And besides, there's nothing wrong with our boss and Pandemonium releasing a song at the same time with Jin Chonglin. It's not like Jin Chonglin has the only right to release music during that time!"
"Did you really read the announcement? It says that Iris Long is the co-producer! It means that she has the same authority as JJ to decide the release date!"
"Why the hell are you all fighting? I, for one, am glad that Jin Chonglin and Iris (oh and Pandemonium too) are releasing music at the same time. Both are excellent musicians! This just means that we have more great music to enjoy. I also can't wait to see another fierce competition between them in the music charts! This is going to be so fun!"
"Jin Chonglin VS. Iris Long: Who will win?"
"No! Please don't fight against each other, Prince Lin Lin and Boss Iris! You two are meant for each other! Perfect together! #TeamLinRis #WeLoveLinRis #LinRisForever"
Before the actual album and single were even released, there was already a fierce rivalry between Jin Chonglin's army of fans and the combined forces of the Black Stars and the Pandemonium fans.
Fortunately, the competition between the fandoms was quite friendly and respectful. Of course there were some stray insults being thrown around, but they weren't considered overly offensive compared to the usual fandom wars.
This was because the Black Stars and Jin Chonglin's army of fans already felt a kinship to each other, especially after going through the difficult time together when Fan Luo's scandals rained down upon their Boss Iris and Prince Lin Lin.