"It's scheduled to premiere on the same day as our show?"
Xiao He frowned. "Did they do this on purpose?"
Although only their "Royal Destiny" and "The Legend of Zhaohua" are palace intrigue dramas during the entire summer season, and they are competing products on different platforms, the investment scale of "Royal Destiny" is too small, far less than that of the large-scale and heavily ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ invested "The Legend of Zhaohua". Normally, "The Legend of Zhaohua" would not take them seriously and would not deliberately target them in the same time slot.
Is it really possible that all these long summer movie seasons will be released on the same day?
What a coincidence?
"The female lead in 'The Legend of Zhaohua' is an artist under Xingchen Entertainment," Liu Rulan said. "Perhaps it's still related to Xingchen Entertainment."
Xiao He twitched the corner of his mouth: "How annoying."
They've already caused them trouble once, yet they're still secretly exerting their influence, trying to use their cannons to shoot down their small fish.
It really can't be that bad!
Xiao He really couldn't understand how a person could hold a grudge to this extent.
"It's really outrageous. That director Tannis has never contacted us! How come Qin Lezhang still holds a grudge against him?"
Xiao He was quite unconvinced and asked Liu Rulan again, "Sister Liu, has the studio really not received any work offers from overseas?"
He wouldn't say anything if he had already gotten his hands on the pie, but the problem is, he never saw this so-called film shooting invitation from director Tannis!
We haven't even seen a single person!
Xiao He simply couldn't understand or accept it.
"No, really." Liu Rulan was also somewhat helpless. "After that incident, I already inquired around. Director Tannis was indeed casting everywhere, but recently, for some reason, he suddenly went back to the United States and hasn't appeared since, nor has he mentioned casting again."
"Moreover, I have repeatedly reminded the studio. But since your Xu Ning character became a hit overseas, we have received some job offers from overseas, even from Hollywood, but not from there."
Liu Rulan was also confused.
If Xiao He were truly unknown abroad, then Director Tannis might need to spend some time screening and confirming his identity. However, Xiao He is now somewhat famous abroad, so it would be incredibly easy for Director Tannis to find him.
But here's the problem: since director Tannis hasn't contacted Xiao He or explicitly asked him to participate in his film, what's Qin Lezhang so anxious about?
Is this his role? He just broke down right there.
If Qin Lezhang hadn't lashed out at them in a fit of rage, they might not even have known that director Tannis was casting on set... So this whole thing was inexplicable, an undeserved disaster.
Xiao He and Liu Rulan were completely bewildered from beginning to end, unable to quite understand Qin Lezhang's thought process.
If possible, Xiao He would like to bring Qin Lezhang and Director Tannis together so that they can sit down and have a good talk about what exactly is going on.
Of course, that's impossible.
"It's fine. Since it's scheduled for the same period as us, it just adds to our popularity."
Liu Rulan comforted Xiao He, "Originally, 'The Imperial Decree' didn't have any outstanding promotional highlights. We were just lucky this time. There were many similar works during the summer season, and when various platforms were competing, they would mention our work in passing. This can be considered as us riding on their popularity."
Otherwise, based on the past, "The Imperial Decree" would not have had such a grand scale as it does now, making it seem like it could compete with "The Legend of Zhaohua".
“That makes sense.” Xiao He had come to terms with it and accepted it well. “Then we’ll hire more online trolls for Sister Liu and let them piggyback on our success. After all, they came to us of their own accord this time.”
Even if they are inferior to "The Legend of Zhaohua" in every aspect, so what?
Even climbing high can lead to staged accidents; they're trying to capitalize on the hype surrounding the competition between various video platforms to forcibly compare "The Imperial Decree" and "The Legend of Zhaohua" to the same level.
Anyway, they're definitely not the ones who will suffer losses.
"OK."
Liu Rulan readily nodded in agreement.
"By the way, we were just talking about the law of the jungle, and Director Ren just gave us some good news."
Liu Rulan looked down at the data on her phone.
“The overseas distribution data of ‘Law of the Jungle’ is quite impressive. By the time it was taken off the screens, it had officially surpassed 200 million in global box office revenue. Moreover, the overseas box office revenue was basically the same as the domestic box office revenue. The character Xu Ning, whom you played, became a huge hit overseas, and his popularity was even far higher than that of the movie.”
Xiao He exclaimed, "So impressive!"
Although he hadn't felt it so strongly when he was mobbed by foreign fans at the airport before, it was almost unbelievable that Sister Liu was telling him that the domestic and international box office figures were actually on par.
After all, in previous years, most of the exported films were made domestically, with fewer exported. Domestically, they had a fan base and home advantage, while overseas, they started from scratch.
"Indeed, there is a lot of discussion about this matter in China right now."
Liu Rulan nodded.
In previous years, Chinese films have been continuously exported overseas. However, due to differences in subject matter and culture, these films face cultural barriers after being exported abroad, and the actors are not as well-known as overseas stars.
Especially in the North American and European markets, the core of overseas distribution there is local box office revenue sharing. Different regions have different rules, making it extremely difficult to fully expand the theatrical market there. Therefore, apart from some classic old films from earlier years, overseas box office revenue is basically in a "self-congratulatory" mode now – that is, overseas people supporting their own people.
The actual white people wouldn't willingly go to a local movie theater just because of a Chinese celebrity.
Interestingly, Xiao He's appearance somehow captured the hearts of these white girls. After he became popular on the largest video platform on the international internet, his box office in North America and Europe began to skyrocket. Clips of Xiao He's other characters in China were constantly being uploaded online, and there was even a group of white girls willing to pay for the role of "Xu Ning".
At one of the largest seafood markets in China, a group of foreign accounts suddenly flooded in, begging for Xiao He's previous magazine merchandise.
Among them, Xiao He's first fashion magazine shoot, "CKOOL," and "KULA," shot specifically to promote "Law of the Jungle," were once sold for exorbitant prices on the platform.
These overseas fans vividly demonstrate the terrifying power of the "appearance economy".
The extent to which they were so intoxicated was beyond the comprehension of even Xiao He and his colleagues in China, let alone their peers.
"So why is that?"
Xiao He was also puzzled.
In terms of appearance, Xiao He's looks are actually not as popular as Shu Han's abroad, because Shu Han has a more typical Chinese face, the kind of appearance that foreigners find more memorable. He has a dignified and reserved appearance with oriental characteristics, and his temperament is elegant and grand.
As for Xiao He, he is handsome, but there are handsome men in China who are more handsome than him. So why are these foreign girls so keen on his type?
Xiao He was puzzled and greatly shocked.
