Becoming a Movie Star, System Only Finished Loading After Ten Years

In the Spring Festival Gala of 2010, Qi Hao watched it at a hotel where the crew was staying.

There was no one else around.

An Feng was taken back home by her mother.

Although her recent behavior hadn't aroused Ms. Liu's suspicion, there was certainly dissatisfaction.

Do you really need to go to the film set all the time just for a cameo?

Then, on the first day of the new year, "First Love, This Little Thing" was released.

Because most people were still on vacation during this period, and Qi Hao was immersed in filming every day with semi-permanent makeup, they simply didn't hold a premiere.

Among various hyped-up holiday films, it was pathetically low-key.

This year's holiday season boasts a plethora of blockbuster films.

Starting from December last year, there were a series of blockbusters, even a giant like "Avatar" appeared.

It should be said, the film market at the start of 2010 was dominated by "Avatar," with countless domestic films failing, ultimately achieving a box office of 1.38 billion to stand out from the crowd.

However, after the new year, the timing suddenly became bizarre, although there were still many blockbusters, surprisingly few were standouts.

"Confucius" starring Chow Yun-fat, Zhou Xun, Lu Yi, Ren Quan, Chen Jianbin; "Jinyi Guard" starring Zhen Zidan, Zhao Yanzi, Hong Jingbao; Liu Dehua's "Future Policeman"; Jay Chou, Zhao Wenzhuo, Zhou Xun, Michelle Yeoh in "Su Qie'Er"; "Time Traveler's Treasure Box" starring a constellation of stars...

If the period before the new year was a queue of bad films, then after the new year it was still the same.

Of course, there were also films with terrible acclaim but decent box office.

For example, both "Time Traveler's Treasure Box" and "Jinyi Guard" engaged in heavy marketing upon release, making some money.

It's just that they lost steam over time, with constant criticism.

Competitively, on the same day, Fang Long and Wang Lihong's "Big Soldiers and Little Generals" was noteworthy.

Also, "All's Well, Ends Well," released two days earlier, was Mrs. Hua's major work this year.

"All's Well, Ends Well" officially released on February 11th, although it was the eve of Spring Festival and a time of massive population movement, it still achieved a first-day box office of 7.5 million, and on Valentine's Day which coincided with the first day of the new year, 10.44 million.

"Big Soldiers and Little Generals" had an even higher first-day box office of 13 million.

Feiyang Media's "First Love, This Little Thing," initially didn't attract much attention from passersby, at most the theme of first love broke through.

But this breakthrough did not immediately translate into a driving force for box office.

At most, people became aware there was such a film.

But who would decide to watch a movie related to a post just because they posted something online?

It's mostly the fans discussing it more.

After all, the coupling of top idols is truly captivating.

With just fan effects, the first day's box office of this film broke through the million mark, even higher than "All's Well, Ends Well," reaching as much as 11 million.

If nothing unexpected happens, the film will most likely be overshadowed by "Big Soldiers and Little Generals."

Yet the problem lies with reputation.

"Big Soldiers and Little Generals" for some reason had very low discussion levels, and its online reputation was mediocre.

Netizens remarked, the movie's "storyline wasn't rich enough, lacked tension," "had great location choices, good story, but mediocre martial arts scenes," "Fang Long is really getting old."

Others compared it with "Myth," saying "Myth" chanson ringtone downloads alone broke through 100 million downloads, "Myth" was incredibly popular, its love story quite poignant, "Big Soldiers doesn't seem to have any merits, just a barely-decent anti-war gimmick."

Some even criticized Wang Lihong, suggesting he should stick to singing, leave acting to professionals.

In "Se Jie," you were completely out of place; don't you have any self-awareness?

And for some reason, Jay Chou and Wang Lihong have taken to acting in movies recently, yet their acting leaves much to be desired.

Even more absurd is the Korean actor Liu Chengjun in it being a notorious actor due to dodging military service, making the film slightly scared to promote him.

"Big Soldiers and Little Generals" being neglected, was not unrelated to the film's "mainland market" setting, but further highlighted Jackie Chan's embarrassing situation of age, as his action performances are not as smooth as before and his appeal starts to face a crisis.

It is fortunate that the film's budget was only 3 million US dollars.

Yes, just 3 million US dollars, approximately 20 million RMB.

Wang Lihong's pay alone would be over a million, earning 6 million RMB, Fang Long's endorsement fee 15 million RMB, while his salary fluctuates between 8 to 10 million US dollars, and both he and Li Lianjie have 10 million US dollars as salaries in "King of Kung Fu."

Who knows how a 3 million dollar movie was made.

As for "All's Well, Ends Well," it gathered numerous top names in the movie industry, with Zhang Manyu even making an appearance, and specially linked to the Spring Festival and Valentine's Day dual bus.

And allegedly, this film cost 18 million.

A star-studded film, filming in multiple locations, bringing such a film with this money is indeed miraculous.

Mrs. Hua clearly hopes the success of the movie can rescue the half-dead stock market.

Rumor has it, Penguin, which originally planned to acquire Mrs. Hua's stock after its price dropped, seemed to have lost interest, shockingly sold all of the absorbed Mrs. Hua stock in the secondary market before the Spring Festival.

Resulting in Mrs. Hua's stock price plummeting further.

However, "All's Well, Ends Well" doesn't have good reviews either.

Netizens said, they always hated such romantic movies because they are too far from me or our love.

This movie was full of nonsense from start to finish, all melodramatic.

"All's Well, Ends Well" at its core is just another Xiangjiang film using its usual montage of clichés and star-studded casts. They add some sappy humor, and the sole purpose is to cash in during the Valentine's Day and Chinese New Year period.

Some audiences have even started calling it "All's Well, Ends Rotten".

The two competing films at the same time didn't even need to buy negative publicity; a bunch of posts criticizing them emerged, which made "First Love, This Little Thing" stand out.

"First Love, This Little Thing" claimed a budget of ten million.

Though lower than the other two, the producers clearly stated that the movie had no other producers. An Feng and Qi Hao funded it themselves, and thus neither took any salary.

After the premiere, the movie received rave reviews.

However, this doesn't mean much, because films featuring two top idols usually have fans flooding the first-day reviews with praise, which is not surprising at all.

So, even with the overwhelming good reviews, no one felt the movie was exaggeratedly excellent.

Yet, in the following days, the movie consistently grossed tens of millions in daily box office earnings, and the praises amassed more, making people feel it was over the top.

Many who watched "Big Soldiers and Little Generals" and "All's Well, Ends Well" were curious enough to buy tickets to "First Love, This Little Thing" and went to the cinema to watch it.

Some even approached it with a critical mindset.

"I'll scorn it after watching, exposing the false hype of this movie's rave reviews."

However…

These people soon became the movie's spontaneous supporters, each praising it highly.

It spread like a plague.

Some said Qi Hao captured the essence of youthful purity beautifully!

Some claimed that a good movie must resonate with the viewer, and "First Love" achieved this.

Others mentioned that memories related to youth are easily evoked, even just walking down a street and catching a familiar scent can awaken such feelings. Viewers who had secret crushes should check out this movie.

Love is just a small thing, yet it can change a person's life trajectory.

Apart from being touching, it's beautiful.

Many people noted they weren't fans of Qi Hao and An Feng, but after watching the movie, they grew to like them and hoped they'd really get together.

Of course, there were dissenting voices about the film.

But these voices mostly started with criticism, saying the plot was too simple or cliché, then quickly transitioning to praise for the movie.

It's simply bewitching.

Even Qi Hao couldn't quite make sense of it.

If you say the movie isn't successful, the reputation and box office figures are standing right there.

If you say the movie is highly successful, the points he thought would be commented on went unnoticed, and even if mentioned, they were quickly drowned out.

For example, Qi Hao thought many would focus on An Feng's makeup.

This was truly An Feng's attempt at looking ugly.

"October Fortress" didn't count, as even there, many praised An Feng's impressive fight scenes.

An Feng in "First Love, This Little Thing", during the ugly duckling phase truly dressed and looked as ugly as possible.

How could such a transformation of a pretty girl into something so unattractive not be worth discussing?

Shouldn't you commend her on her dedication?

But what happened?

People were busy discussing first love and reminiscing about their school days, completely ignoring the actors' relentless performances and the director's hard work.

It's just... ridiculous.

This outcome even led those who were previously discussing first love online to step into the cinema, which turned them into staunch fans of the movie.

Additionally, China Film executed a relatively "failed" marketing attempt.

It seemed like China Film lost their minds, not intensifying the "First Love" topic but instead rebooting a theme, promoting that domestic films also have outstanding works.

We don't have "Avatar", but we have "First Love, This Little Thing".

They hoped to carve out some dignity for domestic films using "First Love, This Little Thing" during "Avatar"'s market domination void.

Support domestic films, go watch "First Love, This Little Thing"!

This just stirred up a hornet's nest.

"Avatar" grossed over ten billion in mainland cinemas, considered a milestone film, and this massive sum was accumulated with countless viewers.

And here comes a tiny romance film daring to challenge it?

It ignited a backlash from "Avatar" fans, leading to an online battle of words.

While you claim "First Love, This Little Thing" is a good movie, I deliberately say it's not. Trashy domestic film, even in fifty years it won't match a single hair of "Avatar".

The public debate, once triggered, was hard to contain.

Even as China Film quickly backpedaled, "First Love, This Little Thing" was scorned to the doorstep.

Some media outlets even called Qi Hao, asking him to comment on the topic.

"Just tell us, which is better, your movie or 'Avatar'!"