Chapter 56: The Premiere of "The Message"

At 3:00 PM, Shen Yan took Shishi out for a late lunch...
Then he put her in a cab.
Well, it left him starving...
And successfully unlocked his bragging skills...
Having agreed to meet again tomorrow night, Shen Yan returned to his room. Around 4:00 PM, Ji Xiang came over and took him to try on a custom formal suit—a sponsored outfit that Li Bingbing helped arrange...
Li Bingbing's fashion resources were top-tier. Back in 2007, she became the Asia-Pacific spokesperson for Montblanc jewelry, making her the first Chinese actress to endorse an international luxury brand.
Originally, this honor should have belonged to Zhang Ziyi, but... Zhang Ziyi didn't have a powerful agency backing her...
Moreover, at this current stage, Zhang Ziyi was facing multiple scandals...
At least for now, the only one who could go toe-to-toe with Li Bingbing was Zhou Xun...
Fan Xiaoqing had not yet evolved into "Lord Fan"!
Oh, though called a formal suit, it was actually a tuxedo...
A black slim-fit suit paired with polished black leather shoes, revealing slender ankles, complemented by an ultra-slicked-back hairstyle, pushing the suave-yet-edgy style to the absolute extreme...
Looking at himself in the mirror, Shen Yan felt slightly awkward: "Damn, isn't this too flashy? I'm just attending a premiere, you know!"
Ji Xiang rolled his eyes: "...It's fine. You're not even famous; not many photographers are going to take your picture!"
"...What if they do?"
"There are no 'what-ifs'... Let me tell you, the cast of *The Message* are all familiar faces... and their personalities are all quite good!"
"Really? I heard Sister Bingbing and Zhou Xun were fighting for the top spot so fiercely they almost knocked each other's brains out?"
Ji Xiang was speechless: "Zhou Xun is leaving Huayi Brothers this year. Who is she fighting for the top spot with?"
"Didn't reports say Sister Bingbing snatched *Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame*, which was originally supposed to be Zhou Xun's role?"
"That's just hype!" Ji Xiang waved his hand: "Let me tell you, Director Tsui Hark had wanted to collaborate with Sister Bingbing for a long time. He initially offered her the role of Luo Bing in *A Deadly Secret*, but Jin Yong refused to grant the copyright for that adaptation... This time around with *Detective Dee*, Tsui Hark requested her by name!"
"Ooh, Luo Bing..."
Shen Yan arched his eyebrows and grinned...
"What? Luo Bing is the Eleventh Sister of the Red Flower Society, nicknamed the 'Mandarin Duck Swords', and the wife of Wen Tailai, the 'Thunder-Fast Hand'!"
"...Haha, Wen Tailai the Thunder-Fast Hand..."
Shen Yan immediately thought of *From Beijing with Love* (Note: referring to *From Beijing with Love* style parodies / *King of Comedy* context, keeping the cinematic reference natural), and casually opened his phone to search for *The Erotic Biography of Luo Bing*: "You haven't read this book, have you?"

"Luo Bing... Is this adult fiction?"
"Yeah..."
Ji Xiang's interest was piqued: "You read this kind of stuff?"
"It's for research purposes..." Shen Yan changed the subject: "...So is the feud between the two Bings real?"
Ji Xiang nodded: "That part is true. Fan Bingbing is not someone to mess with, and the two of them had a massive falling out back then... But that's all in the past now..."
Shen Yan roughly understood the situation...
Come to think of it, the producer and director of *Detective Dee* and *The Message* was Chen Kuo-fu, whose relationship with Zhou Xun goes without saying—the two of them, along with Chen Kun, later founded the "Himalayas Acting Workshop"...
Which was essentially an acting training class!
How could he possibly support Li Bingbing?
……
*The Message* was the first-ever film starring a purely Mainland Chinese cast...
Wait, Alec Su wasn't!
But he was just a supporting character... with minimal screen time.
Actually, Hong Kong and Taiwanese actors had long monopolized leading roles, leaving Mainland actors deeply resentful. Damn it, we're better-looking than you, taller than you, and our acting skills are superior, yet you get to be the lead simply because you're from Hong Kong or Taiwan?
To trace it back, the one who sounded the horn of counterattack was Feng Xiaogang!
His film *Assembly* directly propelled Zhang Hanyu and Deng Chao to stardom... capturing the runner-up spot for annual box office, fiercely suppressing *The Warlords*, and trailing only *Transformers*!
Only then did Huayi Brothers dare to forge ahead with a purely Mainland cast to create *The Message*.
Crucially, *The Message* achieved both box office success and critical acclaim, breaking into the top ten box office charts and winning accolades at the Golden Horse Awards as well...
As a side note, earlier that year there was a film called *Sniper*, directed by Dante Lam, with Huang Xiaoming as the male lead, while Edison Chen and Richie Jen played supporting roles...
This movie was released only in Hong Kong and was filmed before Edison Chen's notorious photo scandal...
Originally, Edison Chen was supposed to be the male lead, but after the photo scandal broke, Huang Xiaoming stepped up as the male lead!
It is worth mentioning that Dante Lam had once publicly stated in an interview that he "would never consider using Mainland actors as protagonists."
Although *The Message* was quite good, Mainland actors had not yet truly occupied the mainstream at that point.
Because studio bosses still trusted the so-called "pulling power" of Hong Kong and Taiwanese actors...
Otherwise, *Love Is Not Blind* and *Lost in Thailand* wouldn't have struggled so hard to find mainstream investors. The former was primarily funded by Perfect World Pictures, while the latter was backed by Enlight Media...

It wasn't until the famous Donnie Yen and Vincent Zhao incident that many movie industry bosses realized ordinary audiences actually loved Mainland actors after all, and felt disgusted by the fawning over Hong Kong and Taiwanese stars...
Then came 2013, when eight of the top ten box office hits were domestic films. Among those eight, though not all were fronted by Mainland stars, the promotional and marketing campaigns were overwhelmingly dominated by Mainland middle-generation actors. From that point on, Mainland actors successfully ascended to the throne!
The leads of *So Young* and *Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon* were played by Mark Chao, but the vast majority of audiences had no idea who Mark Chao was; the promotional heavy lifting was carried out by Vicki Zhao and Tsui Hark...
Returning to the premiere, just as Ji Xiang had said, not a single reporter snapped photos of Shen Yan; the media's focus was entirely on the principal creators...
*The Message* boasted a superstar lineup!
Wang Zhonglei was full of confidence, publicly stating, "The box office will definitely break 300 million!"
In truth, the pressure was still there. Keep in mind that *The Message* premiered on September 29th, whereas *The Founding of a Republic* had premiered on September 16th, pulling in 124 million in its first week and breaking 100 million in its second, meaning *The Message* and *The Founding of a Republic* entered the National Day holiday box office battle head-to-head...
Additionally, the marketing for *The Message* focused heavily on the horrific tortures depicted, as well as the behind-the-scenes catfights between Zhou Xun and Li Bingbing—specifically the rumor that Li Bingbing had slapped Zhou Xun across the face...
There was even a highly upvoted comment on Douban that read: "I suspect that slap Li Bingbing gave Zhou Xun came from the bottom of her heart"...
Which was understandable; after all, it was the first commercial spy thriller film, and a mainstream patriotic one at that, which made it a bit tricky to market normally. So leaning into the catfight rumors was a reliable angle!
If they had waited a few more years, all they needed was Zhou Xun's monologue—I am not afraid of death; what I fear is that those who love me will never know why I died.
I reside in purgatory, leaving this record behind, hoping only that my family and Sister Yu can forgive my decision at this moment.
Yet I firmly believe you will eventually understand my state of mind.
My dearest loved ones, I am so heartless toward you only because our nation has reached a moment of life and death, and our generation can only plunge forward regardless of danger to save whatever may be saved.
My physical body is about to perish, but my soul shall remain with you forever. The enemies will never understand that Old Ghost and Old Gun are not merely individuals, but a spirit, a belief.
Only belief is an irreplaceable force.
……
"I feel Sister Bingbing gave the better performance because if Zhou Xun had been cast as Li Ningyu, she simply couldn't pull it off... Zhou Xun excels at roles that are exceptionally obsessive and a bit stubborn; her height and physical presence define the boundary of her acting range!"
"Is that genuinely how you see it?"
"Just speaking my mind!"
As the premiere concluded, Ji Xiang asked Shen Yan for his thoughts, and the latter resolutely delivered his critique...
Ji Xiang was delighted: "When you see Sister Bingbing later, tell her exactly that!"
Shen Yan was speechless: "Hold on, you think I'm intentionally trying to butter her up? I'm telling the truth! Let me tell you, Zhou Xun is a textbook example of the experiential school of acting. The biggest flaw of the experiential school is that once they lack a comparable real-life experience, they simply cannot play that kind of role."