I'm just trying to ride the wave of popularity!

Chapter 170 We can't control him anymore

1 month 18 day.

There are only three days left until Chinese New Year's Eve.

A heavy snow fell on Hong Kong Island.

After convening a meeting for the March Hong Kong Film Awards, Li Mingrui, chairman of the 40th Taiwan Golden Horse Awards, returned to his office in Hong Kong.

He was also one of the judges for the Hong Kong Film Awards in April, holding the power of life and death over many films at the awards, and his position was highly respected.

While he may not be considered all-powerful, he is undoubtedly one of the most influential figures in the film industry across Taiwan and Hong Kong, and even in the entire Chinese film industry.

Back in his office, he glanced at the application forms on his desk, gave his comments on each film, stretched, took out his phone, and instructed all the media partners to hype up the March Hong Kong Film Awards online, to get it trending on social media, before heading back to his room.

Just at this time……

The phone rang.

He answered the phone, and then, his calm expression froze for a moment. He, who was always calm, was stunned on the spot!
"Liang Zhongwei was not selected?"

Who made the cut?

"Mainland actor?"

"Which one?"

"Zhou Yang? Which Zhou Yang?"

"what!"

"How could it be him? How could it be him? How..."

The snow outside the window is falling heavier and heavier.

A vast expanse of desolation stretched into the distance.

in the office.

Li Mingrui's voice suddenly stopped. Then, he gripped the edge of the rosewood desk tightly, his fingers trembling slightly. His face instantly changed from confusion to shock, and then quickly turned ashen.

His mind replayed the scene from a few months ago at the Taiwan Golden Horse Award, with that group of arrogant young people and that repulsive face!
impossible!
impossible!
I've already blacklisted him, at least in the Chinese entertainment industry, no film or television company dares to give him any resources or recommendations!
How could I possibly get in touch with a Hollywood film crew like "Twilight"?
"Did you tell the Twilight crew that Leung Chung-wai was unanimously recommended by all filmmakers in Taiwan and Hong Kong?"

"Did you tell them that Liang Zhongwei is no good, but what about Wu Zuliang? Even if Wu Zuliang is no good, we still have Chen Liang, Liangzai. Did you tell them that Chen Liang is the next superstar we're going to promote to the international stage? Did you tell them about their status in China, their influence in China, and their number of fans in China?"

"..."

This news was so explosive that it caused him to lose his composure!
His voice was angry and filled with coldness: "Tell me, did you tell them that our Chinese film industry is blacklisting that little bastard named Zhou Yang? Did you tell them? I've made a rule that from now on, anyone who dares to use Zhou Yang will be blacklisted by us!"

The person on the other end of the phone was stumped by his barrage of questions.

After he finished yelling, the person on the other end of the phone said tremblingly, "I told them, but..."

"But what? Tell me, stop fucking stammering!"

"They are Hollywood movies! Behind them is Paramount, one of the eight major Hollywood film studios!"

The words "Hollywood movies" made the furious Li Mingrui tremble slightly!
It felt like a slap across his face!
Hollywood movies!
He went to blacklist them!

he……

Can it be blocked?
and!

That's a Hollywood movie!
He hung up the phone instinctively.

The anger felt like a bucket of ice-cold water had been poured over my heart!

He tried to calm himself down, but his whole body was still trembling.

Just at this time……

The phone rang again.

He answered the phone.

"KSA just made an official announcement!"

"The international KSA endorsement that Zhong Wei, Liangzai, and Wu Zuliang were competing for was snatched away by that bastard Zhou Yang!"

"It can't be suppressed anymore!"

"us……"

"We can't control him anymore!"

"It's completely out of control!"

"The entire internet is buzzing about him!"

"..."

Whether it was the chill of winter or the sheer shock, a trembling voice came from the other end of the phone.

Lee Myung-jui seemed struck by lightning, then clenched his fists, veins bulging on his neck: "I told you, I told you to completely blacklist him, without any blind spots, blacklist him! Make all the media blacklist him! Tell me, who recommended him to [KSA]? Who gave him the resources? Why was he nominated?!"

Li Mingrui could no longer contain his emotions and roared wildly into the phone!

And on the other end of the phone...

"I've issued blacklists to all the media outlets, the five major film studios in China, and the three major cinema chains, but..."

"It can't be suppressed!"

"We can't control it!"

The other end of the phone was filled with despair!

Li Mingrui hung up the phone, his whole body trembling uncontrollably, whether from anger or shock!
He rushed to the office, immediately turned on his computer, and stared intently at the screen.

The first thing you see is the huge, eye-catching title of "Movie House"!
The first trending news item: #TwilightOfficialAnnouncementZhouYangSelectedForHollywoodTwilight#
The second trending news item: #Twilight director Catherine Henrietta Lance Brocken and the original author disagree over the Chinese actor – a cool werewolf, or perhaps a mysterious exorcist from the East?#
Article 3: #At 2 AM, the internationally renowned clothing brand [KSA] officially reached a strategic cooperation agreement with Zhou Yang, potentially creating a globally limited-edition suit tailored specifically for him#
Article 4...

Top trending topics!
Different titles, but they're all the same thing: Zhou Yang, who was ordered to be blacklisted!
He immediately closed [Movie House] and opened [Wandou Movie Network]...

The very first page on [Wandou Movie Website]!
It was Zhou Yang!

A fake account claiming to be a crew member released a secretly filmed video!
In the video, he saw Zhou Yang holding a wine glass, leaning against a leather sofa, chatting with director Catherine about the temporal resonance between pre-Qin wine vessels and medieval silver carvings, and then clinking glasses with her!
Catherine's cheeks flushed slightly, her gaze fixed on Zhou Yang, who was speaking eloquently, not looking away for a single second. Beside her, Mia, the original author of "Twilight," also rested her chin on her hands, watching Zhou Yang and occasionally swirling her wine glass along with him...

His eyes widened!

Then I opened a series of internet movie-related websites such as [Movie Fans' Home] and [Jiaoya Forum], and even a series of portal websites such as BBS and forums...

He saw the headline: "[First time a Chinese actor has entered a Hollywood A-list production]!"

We also saw the new generation of superstar who defeated a host of male gods, including Leung Ying-tung and Wu Zu-liang, and successfully reached the top!
Furthermore, we saw that [renowned KSA designer Zhou Yang exchanged ideas on Eastern culture and praised his extensive knowledge!]...

One title after another!

Like a tidal wave, it surged in, overwhelming everything!

That night, it seemed as if the entire Chinese internet film industry was surrounded by news about Zhou Yang!
Keep watching!

Li Mingrui suddenly took out his phone and started yelling into it, completely losing control of his emotions!

then……

Chairman Li!

"We can't block it! We can't block it from any media outlet!"

"We need buzz, we need news, we need attention. Now, everyone knows that whoever gets associated with Zhou Yang will get traffic!"

"We promoted Chen Liang; we invested a lot of resources!"

"But even if Chen Liang's online presence doesn't increase, we still need to eat, we still need to survive!"

"During this period, during this period, as long as Zhou Yang loses even a little bit of popularity, we can blacklist him!"

"But ironically, from the Golden Horse Awards to 'Love Ferris Wheel' to 'Love Roller Coaster,' he's always been in the spotlight! He alone has propelled the 'Movie Home' website to over 51 registered users and over 30 daily visits!"

“If we don’t report on him, our website will be completely overtaken by other websites. He’s always generating buzz, what can we do?”

"Chairman Li, don't worry, as long as new news topics emerge, we'll suppress them!"

"..."

The response from the other end of the phone was one of great grievance!
Sales of print newspapers have declined slightly, but the internet age has truly arrived!
The clash between traffic and the battle between topics have become the rules of the game!
And Zhou Yang!
Yet, he happens to be the one who plays the game best within all the rules!

"Snapped!"

Li Mingrui angrily smashed his phone!
He clutched his chest, his chest heaving as he gasped for breath!
He had never suffered such humiliation in his entire life!

....................................

On the morning of November 18th.

[Tianyu]

Xu Haibo, deputy general manager of Huaxia Film Division, was startled awake early in the morning!

There are only three days left until Chinese New Year's Eve!

New Year's Eve and the Spring Festival film season have always been fiercely contested battlegrounds!
This year's Spring Festival film season is of paramount importance to Tianyu Media!

They invested a lot of promotional resources in the martial arts New Year's film "The Legend of the Condor Heroes," just waiting to bombard the entire Chinese film industry in these three days!
They want to make this movie the second "Qin", and even have the ambition to surpass "Qin"!
The director of this film is Li Zhengtao, the director of "Qin", which once set a box office record for Chinese martial arts films!
The cast is unprecedentedly strong, featuring Li Yuanjie, a giant in the Chinese international film industry; Donnie Yen, a popular star of Chinese martial arts films; and male gods such as Leung Chung-ying and Wu Zuliang!
But it's a powerful alliance!
This epic film, which cost 1.5 million RMB to produce, should have had all its screenings fully booked!

but……

"What did you say?"

"Damn it!"

"Changkong Cinemas says they will only schedule basic screenings and won't increase the number of screenings?"

"Is this what Wanxin Cinemas also thinking? And four other cinema chains, including Xinde Cinemas, are also refusing to give us more screenings, let alone fill the theaters!"

"Have these small cinemas gone mad?"

"damn it!"

"What exactly are they lining up for?!"

"Aren't they afraid we'll completely blacklist them?!"

"..."

Xu Haibo became emotional and, somewhat irrationally, launched into a tirade of profanities!

Just at this time……

There was a rapid knocking on the office door!

Immediately afterwards, the operations manager rushed in.

"Our 'People in the Jianghu' isn't trending!"

"Zhou Yang took them all!"

"Zhou Yang and Hollywood have taken over everything. No matter how much publicity we put into the internet, it's all been suppressed!"

"The influence of the Hollywood movie 'Twilight' is insane! Add to that the failure of 'KSA'!"

"Oh shit!"

"All the actors in our movie 'The Gangsters' were used as stepping stones for Zhou Yang, and people said that Zhou Yang defeated them!"

"Once public opinion takes hold, it can't be suppressed!"

"It's not just internet media doing this now; many unscrupulous print media outlets are using increasingly sensational content to grab attention, even going so far as to announce the sudden emergence of a Chinese superstar to suppress everything!"

"..."

When Xu Haibo heard those words, his head was buzzing.

I just received the news, and haven't read much of it yet!

The phone rang!

Next!

"What did you say!"

"You know, that bastard Zhou Yang suddenly wants to show his own New Year's film too!"

What Lunar New Year film?

"The Martial Spirit Zhao Zilong vs. the Ape King in the Jianghu?"

"I'll take care of your uncle!"

Hang up the phone!

Xu Haibo saw the video sent by a reporter from Tianyu Media from the entrance of Xuanshi Entertainment!
He suddenly stood up and started cursing!
(End of this chapter)