Chapter 177: Bombarding the Two Zhangs
Sina Entertainment News:
"Regarding the online flood of vulgar and negative reviews, Zhang Weiping, the producer of curse of the golden flower, expressed his immense anger when interviewed by our reporter."
"Shameless, despicable, disgraceful, they are too evil."
"When our reporter asked Zhang Weiping who 'they' referred to, Zhang Weiping only uttered twelve words!"
"so young is gone, confession of pain is shattered, still life is dead!"
"The reporter then asked if he was referring to the production and distribution companies of so young, confession of pain, and still life?"
"Zhang Weiping stated directly that he was indeed talking about them!"
News Express:
"The war of words escalates again, Zhang Weiping publicly bombards the production companies of three New Year Film Season movies."
Southern Morning Post:
"After bombarding his own person, Chow Yun-fat, Zhang Weiping turned his muzzle on three competitors, fearless in taking on three at once."
Zhang Weiping's outburst delighted netizens.
The New Year Film Season always brings good drama.
Last year's The Promise sparked a chaotic battle among directors' wives.
This year's curse of the golden flower was even more explosive, with Zhang Dapao launching indiscriminate attacks on formidable opponents.
Yingyi Entertainment, the production company of so young, was one thing.
But Rongchen Film and Television, a co-producer, was not a company anyone could easily trample on.
When had Li Chen, the fatal weapon, ever bowed down?
Although the production company of confession of pain was in Hong Kong, its distribution company was Bona Film Group.
Yu Dong's stern face had no pretense.
It seemed only Jia Zhangke of still life was a bit outmatched.
But he had also won a Golden Lion; how could Zhang Weiping just toy with him?
Netizens fanned the flames with glee.
"Zhang Dapao, a true man! One against three, solid!"
"Xiao Li Zi, rise up!"
"Xiao Li Zi, if you pretend to be deaf and dumb, I'll look down on you!"
Netizens eagerly awaited Xiao Li Zi to step forward and respond.
However, Li Chen was currently conducting remote video casting at his company.
The casting for pieta had to be finalized quickly, with filming scheduled to start by the end of January at the latest.
After auditions with several invited Hong Kong artists,
Li Chen finally decided that Fang Lishen would play the supporting role of Xun Zhe.
Yang Siwei, seeing the auditions conclude, then approached Li Chen to report on Zhang Weiping's matter.
"I know. Don't worry about him for now, and don't respond to the media. We'll talk in a few days."
Yang Siwei didn't know what her boss was planning.
But she had blind trust in him.
"I understand, boss."
On the 22nd and 23rd, battle of wits and so young successively ended their runs.
The box office for battle of wits ultimately didn't exceed 50 million, ending dismally.
so young's box office settled at 165 million.
Rongchen Film and Television's annual box office surpassed 1 billion!
This set a new record for annual box office revenue among domestic film and television companies.
Meanwhile, genius gunner, released in Europe and America, achieved a double harvest in both box office and critical acclaim.
After three weeks of release in North America, its box office reached 9.5 million US dollars.
In other European regions, the combined box office also exceeded 5.8 million US dollars.
Its fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes exceeded 95%, while curse of the golden flower only had 57%, not even passing.
It was also far inferior to Director Yi Mou's own Hero and house of flying daggers.
Although Gong Li continued to sing praises for curse of the golden flower,
constantly raving that curse of the golden flower was a true blockbuster.
It balanced grand form with rich content.
Although Gong Li and Zhang Weiping were at odds,
they surprisingly had a tacit understanding regarding curse of the golden flower.
American media such as Time Magazine, New York Times, Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times, the four core print media, all gave curse of the golden flower extremely high praise.
Words like 'epic,' 'masterpiece,' and 'feast' were ubiquitous in American mainstream media.
Li Chen felt the time was right.
Yu Dong and Jia Zhangke had already come out to counter Zhang Weiping's fiery remarks.
Yu Dong stated directly: "Although curse of the golden flower relied on a one-month exclusive agreement signed between the Film Bureau and digital cinemas,"
"confession of pain still had its nationwide release on the 22nd, unafraid of curse of the golden flower's monopolistic practices."
"From December 14th to January 14th, digital cinemas could only screen curse of the golden flower. What is that if not a tyrannical agreement?"
"Some people might watch two or three movies in a month, but would anyone watch two or three curse of the golden flower consecutively in a month?"
"Others might fear curse of the golden flower, but confession of pain does not!"
Jia Zhangke also wrote an open letter to Zhang Weiping for the media.
He refuted Zhang Weiping's rumors about irregularities in still life's Golden Lion award.
He also 'politely' asked Zhang Weiping to mind his manners and not use foul language.
Only Li Chen, the volcano, had not erupted yet.
Although netizens had already retaliated against the failing Rotten Tomatoes score of curse of the golden flower on behalf of Rongchen Film and Television!
They all hoped to see Li Chen step forward and take on Zhang Weiping and Zhang Yimou.
Li Chen's blog was exceptionally lively again, filled with messages from netizens.
"Xiao Li Zi, are you a man or not? Do you bully the weak and fear the strong? Have you gone soft when facing Director Yi Mou?"
"Director Li, if you don't speak up, I'll have to unfollow you!"
Liu Yifei's blog also had many comments.
"Xixi, did Xiao Li Zi get his vocal cords cut? Is he mute?"
"Such a spineless man, dump him and be with me!"
Liu Yifei, stealing a moment from her busy schedule, even had time to reply to fans and netizens.
"Xiao Li Zi is busy with the casting for pieta and has no time to look around."
Even Wang Changtian called, requesting that if Li Chen were to speak, he must choose Enlight Media's Entertainment Live for the exclusive report.
"Alright, have Liu Yan come over. I'll give her half an hour for the interview."
"Okay, little brother, that's very kind of you. I'll have Liu Yan head over now."
Liu Yan excitedly sped to Splendid Diamond, even running a red light on the way.
After interviewing Li Chen, Liu Yan was still in a state of exhilaration.
She had only one thought: "Director Li is too bold!"
That afternoon, the report from that episode of Entertainment Live quickly became the top headline on major portal websites.
Zhang Weiping, Zhang Yimou, and Gong Li were all dumbfounded.
Not to mention these three, everyone in the entertainment industry was severely shaken by Li Chen.
Sina Entertainment News:
"Li Chen accepts an exclusive interview with Entertainment Live, stating directly that curse of the golden flower is a bad movie."
"Let's not even talk about how the setting of curse of the golden flower is the turbulent Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period."
"Even in the prosperous Tang Dynasty, soldiers were not seen wearing golden armor, and the history of various countries, both Chinese and foreign, is no different."
"This is nothing more than a hodgepodge of three-in-one entertainment big stars, clumsily put together by Director Yi Mou to fulfill his promise to Gong Li of a queen's dream, and Zhang Weiping's dream of getting rich after tasting success with Hero!"
"curse of the golden flower opened in 1234 theaters in the United States on its first weekend, grossing a total of 1.87 million, averaging 1517 dollars per theater."
"The four major US mainstream media are not stupid. With such terrible box office and such a terrible Rotten Tomatoes index, are Americans blind?"
"Their praise for curse of the golden flower is nothing more than wanting more people to see the joke of China's so-called blockbusters."
"It's laughable that Zhang Weiping still deceives himself and takes pride in it."
"Perhaps Zhang Weiping also knows in his heart that curse of the golden flower is a bad movie."
"But he doesn't care, as long as the box office isn't bad, that's fine, after all, he is a genuine businessman."
"However, Americans are not foolish. After suffering a loss with house of flying daggers, they won't fall for your curse of the golden flower."
"Without the strong support of the domestic box office, curse of the golden flower would have lost so much that Zhang Weiping would tremble."
"Human cannon Xiao Li Zi, he's just too adorable!"
A netizen left a comment, but it was instantly drowned out by the overwhelming number of newcomers.