On the 15th, Tianxing Entertainment's official website announced the formal establishment of the TV series project for "the heaven sword and dragon saber."
For a time, an unimaginable storm swept through the Chinese entertainment industry.
As the General Director, Liu Xialai, announced at the press conference the cast for some roles, including Zhao Min, Zhou Zhiruo, and Xiao Zhao.
This news immediately caused a stir among book fans and netizens.
The female lead, Zhao Min, would be played by Wang Meiling; the second female lead, Zhou Zhiruo, by Liu Ruyan; and Xiao Zhao by Sun Xiaoxiao.
Additionally, the role of Yin Susu was assigned to Xiao Xia.
Wang Meiling was the actor for Huang Rong in "legend of the condor heroes," so her popularity and national recognition at this time were naturally beyond doubt.
As the lead actress taking on this major role, there were no issues in the eyes of the public.
Liu Ruyan, even more so, was the lead actress in an 1.1 billion box office film, so playing Zhou Zhiruo, who transforms from an innocent girl to someone gradually consumed by darkness, should not be a problem.
Sun Xiaoxiao had played Hua Zheng, and it was rumored that she also played Guo Xiang in the upcoming "the return of the condor heroes," so her acting skills should be fine.
Furthermore, her somewhat youthful appearance was very much in line with book fans' expectations for Xiao Zhao.
As for Xiao Xia playing Yin Susu, the public was also full of anticipation.
Especially upon learning that Zhang Cuishan would be played by Li Enjun, it gave the audience and netizens the illusion of Li Xunhuan and Lin Shiyin being together across time!
Of course, female actors outside had no chance for the female lead roles, but the choice for the male lead, Zhang Wuji, was not announced at the same time!
This left entertainment companies and various actors outside very surprised.
Could it be that this time they were going to openly cast the actor for Zhang Wuji?
Holy cow! If selected, wouldn't that be a direct path to instant fame?
After this press conference, some entertainment companies began to actively contact Tianxing Entertainment, all hoping to secure this opportunity for their male actors.
Even if it meant zero pay, or even investing their own money to join the production! They would spare no effort.
However, the result was that Liu Xialai mercilessly rejected them all.
He planned to scout for new talent in top film and television academies like Yan Film Academy and Central Academy of Drama!
Just like Su Yu had led them to discover Wang Meiling as Huang Rong.
Although he was eager to start filming, he placed more emphasis on details and quality.
If he couldn't find a suitable actor, he would rather keep searching!
Moreover, casting in schools also had a great advantage: it allowed them to directly sign the selected actors to Tianxing Entertainment.
This way, the benefits wouldn't flow into other people's fields, would they?
As for having Sun Daqiang play Zhang Wuji? Liu Xialai felt it would be a bit distracting.
During this period, Sun Daqiang was sent to Yan Film Academy for further study, to learn more about acting.
Liu Xialai felt that Su Yu was not trying to sideline his former driver, assistant, and bodyguard, but rather hoped he could go further!
This made everyone in the company's Film and Television Department exceptionally polite to Sun Daqiang, and they did not secretly mock him for being a "connected person."
Just as "the heaven sword and dragon saber" began its casting at Yan Film Academy on the 16th, the results for the sixth episode of the "Four Nations Concert" were also released.
Su Yu's "above the moon" unsurprisingly took first place.
However, the second place was somewhat surprising and unexpected for everyone.
Because initially, everyone thought it would be Chu Daye.
After all, it was a home game, and Chu Daye feared no one except Su Yu.
However, in the end, Chu Daye ranked third in the sixth episode, with a disadvantage of over three thousand downloads.
Second place was taken by the newcomer Kailina!
Her symphonic metal performance in the previous episode was indeed very eye-catching and impactful.
However, this kind of thing fears comparison!
Her stage was followed by Su Yu's "above the moon," which netizens now jokingly call "The Guanghan Palace March."
Despite such an impact, Kailina still managed to get second place, which shows her strength.
Fourth place was taken by Ida Shoichiro, who secured the fourth position with data only twenty thousand higher than Chris.
Chris was fifth, Yamaguchi Yuto sixth, and the two replaced South Korea lyricists were at the bottom again.
After the results of the sixth episode were released, there were also changes in the overall points standings.
Su Yu ranked first with an absolute advantage of eighteen points.
Chu Daye ranked second with six points.
Chris ranked third with five points.
Ida Shoichiro ranked fourth with four points.
Newcomer Kailina ranked fifth with two points.
Lawrence, who had already withdrawn from the competition, ranked sixth with one point.
However, there are still five episodes in the regular season, and no one can guess what changes will occur in these five episodes.
But it's now firmly established that Su Yu has secured a spot in the finals.
On the 19th, Su Yu and the Cool Fire Combination's flight arrived at Los Angeles International Airport.
The seventh episode of the "Four Nations Concert" would be held at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
That venue can accommodate over seventy thousand spectators and often hosts various concert events.
The person who came to pick them up this time was not from the American television station, but Wang Tianfeng, who was conducting acquisition negotiations for Tianxing Entertainment in Hollywood!
Su Yu came early to familiarize himself with the stage environment, and also for Tianxing Entertainment's acquisition of a Hollywood entertainment company.
After a period of research and initial contact, Tianxing Entertainment had temporarily set its acquisition target on Lionsgate Films.
This is a second-tier Hollywood company, but it has independent distribution channels, as well as the ability to independently produce TV series, films, animations, and variety shows.
It is considered one of the better-performing entertainment companies in recent years, aside from the Hollywood Big Six film companies.
Recently, the people at Lionsgate Films heard that a Chinese entertainment company wanted to acquire them, and initially refused, as they felt their company's development momentum was good, and the current market valuation for them was too low.
So they kept holding out, even demanding an exorbitant price of 4 billion US dollars.
If Tianxing Entertainment was willing to pay this amount, they wouldn't mind being packaged up and happily changing their surname.
Lionsgate, with a maximum market value of 2.5 billion US dollars, brazenly demanded 4 billion US dollars. Wang Tianfeng felt this company was simply crazy.
And there were plenty of other companies here willing to sell themselves! They could easily pick a few suitable ones.
So Wang Tianfeng didn't waste any more time arguing with them and instead turned his attention to other Hollywood companies.
What surprised Wang Tianfeng the most was that people from MGM actually contacted him first!
Hoping that he, a director from China's largest entertainment company, would consider MGM?!
Wang Tianfeng truly felt he was dreaming. Who would want MGM, that mess?
And even though MGM was declining, its market value was still around 6 billion US dollars!
Why acquire it? To cause himself trouble and suffering?
If Tianxing Entertainment was truly determined to spend 6 billion US dollars on an acquisition, then why not be resolute and acquire Paramount, one of the Big Six?
They were also packaging themselves up for sale.
That would be much more cost-effective than MGM.