Chapter 217: Film Producer And Audience Fiercely Argue! Elevating 《big Shot》 To Unworthy Heights
“How… how can you say that! So unprofessional, so unprofessional!”
Jin Ming had never been insulted like this before, trembling with anger and his face flushed as he retorted, “Do you have any upbringing?”
“Upbringing my ass! You’re the capital representative, right? What kind of trash did you invest in, it’s worse than what AI would write for a script, are you an idiot?”
“Open the door, open the door!”
“Let us out!”
The movie fans and audience collectively erupted. Jin Ming tried to speak, but Director Yang, who had just realized what was happening, pulled him back. After a two-second silence, Director Yang’s face turned red as he shouted, “Everyone stop! Stop!”
Everyone was stunned.
Seeing that it had an effect, Director Yang could no longer suppress the anger churning within him. The audience’s reaction earlier, and their “uncivilized, disrespectful” behavior during the screening, made him feel deeply “insulted.”
In other words, he was a bit broken.
After painstakingly filming this epic blockbuster for so long, these trashy audiences don’t even appreciate it?
And they still want refunds?
He pointed at the agitated man and shouted, “Do you understand art? Do you understand the art of film?!”
Everyone was stunned again.
The main creators of “Magic City Fortress,” along with a few friends from the Beijing Circle, reacted and tugged at Director Yang’s sleeve: “Don’t argue, the media is still here!”
“I’m asking if you understand art?!”
Director Yang was like a creator completely broken down by insults, seeing his “child” being so despised, he was getting emotional.
“Don’t stop me… China has never made a sci-fi film before, so don’t we have to take it step by step? Your attitude makes us filmmakers’ hearts cold…”
“Cold heart your ass.”
The agitated man reacted and rushed forward: “You feed us shit and don’t let us fight back, fuck your mother, come here, come on…”
“…What are you doing! What are you doing!”
Director Yang was startled and calmed down a bit, quickly backing away a few steps.
“What the fuck am I doing to you! If you dare to serve it, you better dare to eat it! Come, give me a review of this piece of crap, tell me how you made it, you’ve been holding back for three years and all you made is this? And you’re talking about art!”
Director Yang’s face trembled: “Idiot!”
“Huh? The director is insulting people in public? Come on, everyone record it, quickly record it, this is the director of ‘Magic City Fortress’…”
The scene had completely descended into chaos.
All the big stars who attended the premiere of “Magic City Fortress” watched this scene in stunned silence, looking at each other – the director and the fans passionately arguing offline?!
What were they seeing?!
Although such incidents had happened before, Director Yang, you’re different!
Who are you, how could you… how could you be so out of control!
Also…
In this situation, what should we do?
Leaving doesn’t seem right, but staying… with so many cameras and audience members… what would people say about us outside?
Sigh, fuck, we really shouldn’t have come to this premiere.
The various big stars who came to support the event today were filled with regret. Some had already shaken their heads and moved to a corner, afraid of getting involved.
“It’s over, it’s over, it’s all over now.”
Lu Xiao Ming watched this scene, shaking his head continuously. Such an incident at the premiere… and because of quality issues… “Magic City Fortress” was likely going to be a huge disappointment for everyone.
Suddenly, he remembered the premiere of “Big Boss” five days ago.
At that time, the audience at the premiere was still buzzing, and it ended with zero negative reviews. At that time, he thought that perhaps “Big Boss” was just unlucky to have encountered “Magic City Fortress” five days later.
Now, seeing this… is that really the case?
In the office, the cinema manager held the phone and nodded: “Yes, yes… I think there was indeed a big misjudgment… Yes, I suggest we give the screening slots of ‘Magic City Fortress’ to ‘Big Boss’…”
“Are you sure? What if ‘Magic City Fortress’s’ box office in the next few days is as predicted, then we will…”
“Boss, trust me, you weren’t there at the scene, you don’t know… the scene is about to turn into a fight! ‘Magic City Fortress’ is really not good… I don’t think we’ll need to wait until the second day, today we’ll see the result.”
The manager paused and sincerely exclaimed: “I’ve been in this business for so many years, and this is the first time I’ve seen a movie that’s a disaster right from the sneak preview… it’s too ridiculous!”
On the other end of the phone, the boss was silent for two seconds before hesitantly nodding: “Alright, let’s do as you say.”
…
At the cinema for the capital premiere, it was decided to give up the original screening slots for “Magic City Fortress” and “return” them to “Big Boss,” who had already had a portion of its slots taken away.
But this was a minor issue. Following the end of the first sneak preview of “Magic City Fortress,” the official “exposure” of the film, and the incident of Director Yang and fans passionately arguing at the premiere, the buzz surrounding “Magic City Fortress” had completely exploded.
There was no need to wait until the second day.
That’s right, it took “Big Boss” a day and a night to build its reputation, and it only gradually improved.
But as the saying goes, getting better is difficult, getting worse only takes a moment.
“Magic City Fortress” doesn’t need a good reputation, because it doesn’t have one at all!
As soon as Director Yang finished arguing with the audience that night, Weibo’s hot search list, Douban platform, Douyin, and other streaming software were already flooded with topics about the premiere of “Magic City Fortress,” topping the charts.
#MagicCityFortressBadMovie#
#YuYan Liu HaiDefendsAgainstAliens#
#YuYan ActingIsTrash#
#SciFiFilm#
#MagicCityFortressDirectorAngrilyScoldsAudienceForNotUnderstandingArt#
#RefundDemandedAtPremiere#
#…#
Related hot topics soared almost instantly. Because “Magic City Fortress” had generated so much hype and made such grand pronouncements beforehand, with years of anticipation, this was not a movie that could be compared to others.
As a result, casual viewers and fans gave “Magic City Fortress” the best treatment. For this, they even furiously accused “Big Boss” and Chi Ye of shamelessly seeking attention and riding on popularity before “Big Boss” was released.
In the end, after seeing it at the premiere today – you show us this kind of thing?
Are you worthy of our support?
Are you worthy of Chinese sci-fi films?
Are you worthy of those casual viewers who spoke up for you?
The film producers of “Magic City Fortress” owe the audience and casual viewers an apology, and the audience and casual viewers also owe “Big Boss” and Chi Ye.
But apologies can be delayed, while backlash must be immediate!
With “Magic City Fortress Bad Movie” at the top of Weibo’s hot search, it had already reached over 30 million views by midnight. The deep red “explosive” mark needed no further explanation. Those who hadn’t seen the movie and were still waiting saw the commotion on the hot search and already knew what to expect.
The comments below were uniformly abusive and disgusted.
Shit!!
The first time I watched a movie in a cinema and felt agonizing discomfort, only those who could endure it to the end deserve a thumbs up.
Congratulations to the audience who got to eat shit precisely on time tonight, the first epic piece of stinking garbage of 2026!
The gap between Yu Yan and Chi Ye’s acting is equivalent to the gap between “Magic City Fortress” and top gourmet food.
The stupid director is still scolding the audience, I really regret it, how could I have had expectations for these trash back then?
…
This is the agitated fan after eating shit on time.
There are also audiences who have eaten shit but are relatively milder, preferring to praise “Magic City Fortress” in a sarcastic tone.
Fun fact: The ultimate goal of the aliens attacking Earth is to destroy the shared bicycles in Lujiazui, Shanghai.
The mothership can be hacked by a Huawei phone, it’s recommended that aliens install 360 antivirus before invading Earth next time.
Aliens invading? Don’t worry, we’ll copy “Magic City Fortress” and launch it, and the aliens will be so disgusted they’ll die on the spot.
The most “sci-fi” “sci-fi” blockbuster I’ve ever seen.
Haha, the residents of the underground city are still drinking beer and having hot pot. It must be said that the film crew understands the exquisite tastes of Shanghai gentlemen.
These are viewers who have actually watched “Magic City Fortress”!
The plot is described vividly, and everyone is so eloquent, as if they all want to become Jian Ni Chi Ye and unleash a hearty outpouring.
Of course, in addition to the film’s problems, the main creators, lead actors, and director of “Magic City Fortress” also received unimaginable “friendly greetings” from the fans.
The battle even spread to “foreign networks.” Because the title of “the first industrial sci-fi blockbuster in Chinese film history” was indeed too prominent, the West was fine, but Southeast Asia also had quite a few audiences who were anticipating “Magic City Fortress.”
As a result…
This is it?
“Tell me, what is going on?”
Early morning, Shanghai.
The publicity representative who had contacted Jin Ming last time was also awake today. Originally, he planned to use the “Magic City Fortress” IP and its “phenomenal popularity” to promote Shanghai well.
In fact, he had even calculated the end of Chi Ye’s contract, but…
The popularity was indeed “phenomenal.”
But it was not what he had imagined.
Hmm…
Very different.
So, he called Jin Ming: “What am I supposed to do with this? Aren’t you screwing me over?!”
There seemed to be intense arguments happening on Jin Ming’s end as well, the environment was noisy.
After a while, it quieted down, and Jin Ming said blankly: “Stop talking, don’t call me.”
“What’s wrong with you?”
The representative frowned, sensing that Jin Ming’s tone was a bit off.
“Lost… lost… lost half the company…”
Jin Ming said with a mental breakdown: “I bought more than half of this company, and it lost it all right after it was released! Fuck!”
The representative was shocked: “You’re swearing?!”
Jin Ming: “…The fact that I can restrain myself from ‘killing’ is already a sign of good upbringing, buddy.”
Representative: “…Sigh, it’s really over now. I’ll be dragged down with you… It’s fine for me to be dragged down, but… we gave you so many resources and opportunities, built so many sets for you, and opened so many green channels, and you guys… sigh!”
He didn’t finish his sentence, but Jin Ming knew what he meant.
– Now, the higher-ups were probably also in despair.
China’s first sci-fi blockbuster, after just one sneak preview, its reputation has experienced a snow-like collapse.
Yes, it’s a collapse. In just over two hours, “Magic City Fortress” achieved a record of crushing China’s sci-fi film dreams of over a decade + cultural deployment + bankruptcy of at least two film companies + collective “persona collapse” of lead actors + … and many other records and achievements.
It can be called the most spectacular flop of a major production in the Chinese entertainment industry in the last decade.
And who says phenomenal bankruptcy isn’t phenomenal?!
This achievement is no less than that of “Xing Ni”!
That night, the Beijing Circle spent the time in various accusations and infighting, but they didn’t argue too fiercely… because they still held some hope… who says bad reputation means bad box office?
“Nu Fa Chong Guan” also had a very bad reputation, but it achieved a solid box office of 4.5 billion!
They are no longer hoping for good reviews, only for the box office to break even. As long as they can break even, everything will be fine.
Unfortunately, at this moment, the main creators of “Magic City Fortress” still haven’t realized the severity of this incident. With their quality, let alone competitors in the same slot who were already set to be blockbusters, even without them, the audience wouldn’t be fooled for another cent.
The wind blows, the sunlight shines, and all things reveal themselves.
The next day, the box office growth rate had already hit a bottleneck period after the Dragon Boat Festival holiday, making it difficult to exceed 200 million in a single day. However, thanks to the suicidal assist from “Magic City Fortress,” “Big Boss” began a “takeoff” that no one had dared to imagine.
Countless deceived casual viewers turned their attention to “Big Boss” and began “retaliatory” consumption.
And those viewers also had something to say: “After watching ‘Magic City Fortress,’ I was suddenly moved by ‘Big Boss’s’ attitude of making movies with heart. I don’t want Chinese cinema to die, so I’m watching it again.”
“After watching ‘Fortress,’ I finally realized how amazing Chi Ye’s acting is. Zhao Tai is truly brilliant. I used to scold Chi Ye, and I feel bad for not compensating.”
“I’m an idiot, I actually thought Chi Ye was inferior to Yu Yan before… Are these two on the same level? Not to mention acting and business ability, are they in the same tier of traffic?”
“Indeed, Yu Yan isn’t even fit to carry Chi Ye’s shoes. I didn’t realize it before, I just found the fan circle fights annoying and didn’t follow any traffic stars, but after this comparison, I finally understand why Chi Ye is called a ‘quality idol’. Singing, acting, appearance, traffic, which aspect doesn’t he crush Yu Yan in?”
“I’ve been bombarded by Zhao Tai these past few days. After watching ‘Fortress,’ I had some PTSD about traffic-driven movies. Today, I bought a ticket for ‘Big Boss’ with skepticism… Now that I’ve watched it, all I want to say is, Chi Ye is really strong!”
“…”
Amidst this public opinion, on its sixth day of release, “Big Boss” achieved a historical single-day box office of 270 million, exceeding the historical single-day box office record for Chinese crime films by nearly 200 million, truly making history.
Then came the seventh day, the eighth day…
In just eight days, “Big Boss” successfully surpassed 1.5 billion at the box office. As of its tenth day of release, it had already broken through 2 billion, becoming the biggest dark horse of this summer’s slot.
With an investment of 150 million, 50 million for publicity and distribution, and a 100 million investment, it grossed 2 billion in ten days of release…
Such an achievement, which stunned the Chinese entertainment industry, was laid bare before everyone’s eyes.
– They were stunned.
Everyone was stunned.
2 billion in ten days… no, guys, the previous highest prediction was 2.5 billion… you reached that in just over ten days?
Why?
To be fair, although “Big Boss” was of good quality, its subject matter was limited. Even if it exploded, it wouldn’t have had such a terrifying momentum.
Previously, the predictions from major authoritative institutions were reasonable. For “Big Boss” to break 2 billion at the box office before its run ended would already be a dazzling and unwatchable achievement.
But now…
– The appearance of “Magic City Fortress” has elevated “Big Boss” to a height it did not belong to!
This thought arose in everyone’s mind, and then… their gazes fell upon Chi Ye’s side and the Beijing Circle’s side.
Primarily on the Beijing Circle’s side.
How must they feel now, having personally sent their opponent to the “altar”?
