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

Qi Hao wouldn't respond to such comments.

In terms of special effects, he's definitely at a disadvantage.

But when it comes to emotional scenes, he can easily outshine the cross-camp, cross-species romance of "Avatar".

Admitting defeat is simply impossible.

Cameron is 56 this year. By the time Qi Hao is 56, he will definitely have made a film that surpasses the box office of "Avatar".

Don't underestimate a poor young man.

Well, also don't underestimate a poor middle-aged man... a poor old man...

In short, no one can predict the future.

Moreover, with so many netizens defending "First Love, This Little Thing," how could he, as director and lead actor, surrender first?

Your Majesty, we wish to fight to the death, why are you surrendering first?

What's more, there's a bunch of Western culture enthusiasts barking around, and Qi Hao certainly won't let these people flaunt their ignorance.

These people haven't even watched "First Love, This Little Thing", perhaps not even "Avatar"; they've just seen a Hollywood movie and a domestic film, and without hesitation, they start licking Hollywood's boots.

Of course, Qi Hao didn't need to respond anyway, silence suffices.

At least in terms of special effects, "Avatar" has taught films worldwide a lesson.

Especially those with low-budget effects.

Learning from the strengths of others to become stronger, domestic films really need to work hard on special effects.

Unexpectedly, the first weekend after the holidays, when people had returned to work on the seventh and eighth, the box office for "First Love, This Little Thing" hit new highs.

Nineteen million one day, twenty-three million the next.

Which means the box office for the first week exceeded a hundred million!

If it's released on Sunday, its first-week box office won't be calculated just based on the first day; it will be extended a week to the second weekend.

The industry always does it this way.

Otherwise, a first week of only over ten million would look too unappealing.

First-week box office surpassing a hundred million not only exceeded the over sixty million of "All's Well, Ends Well", but also surpassed the eighty million of "Big Soldiers and Little Generals".

I can only say, controversy indeed generates buzz.

Due to the controversy of being compared with "Avatar", China Film gave "First Love, This Little Thing" the heat it needed to break out.

Seemingly a stroke of luck, yet there's a pattern to follow.

In the film distribution industry, this is called "social controversy interaction", utilizing people's attention and desire to discuss a controversial event, blending the content of the film with societal-created public discourse controversy, thus fermenting online interaction heat.

"First Love, This Little Thing" already had decent quality and considerable buzz, and the distributor released controversial information during the film's promotional process, causing the audience to question, discuss, and debate, indirectly boosting the film's popularity once again.

Of course, this promotional method carries considerable risk.

Controversy-driven social interaction can promote the film's publicity effects, but poses negative risks to its reputation.

If "First Love, This Little Thing" was merely an idol romance film, purely relying on Qi Hao and An Feng to carry it, even if buzz was promoted, the film would quickly be crushed in the controversy.

By then, not only would the film's reputation be affected, even Qi Hao and An Feng's public image would also take a hit.

Public image may seem insignificant but plays an important role at crucial moments.

Fortunately, "First Love, This Little Thing" caught this tremendous opportunity.

Many professional film critics also began speaking up for the film, further elevating its reputation.

It may not be a great movie, but it's definitely an engaging one.

Tickets are only half or even a third of "Avatar's", you won't be ripped off, you won't be deceived, as long as you've ever had a first love or a secret crush, you'll surely love this movie.

"First Love, This Little Thing" successfully broke a hundred million mark, making Qi Hao a director of the Billion Club.

And this movie is his second work.

His first work won the Best Director at the Golden Horse Award, and the second scored over a hundred million in box office.

It's just incredibly awesome.

For a while, the whole internet was praising Qi Hao, drawing more people to want to watch "First Love, This Little Thing".

However, films breaking a hundred million mark are a bit too many this year, "Jinyi Guard", "Confucius", and "Time Traveler's Treasure Box" all premiered earlier, and now they've passed the hundred million mark as well.

Market condition is excellent; even under the pressure of "Avatar", passing a hundred million isn't a problem.

"All's Well, Ends Well" and "Big Soldiers and Little Generals" all managed to pass one hundred million.

Now the main focus is on who comes first and what the situation will be after breaking a hundred million.

Movies are commodities, they are made to make money. "First Love, This Little Thing" made a hundred million in box office with a cost of ten million, the return on investment is astonishing, but what if the box office could reach two hundred million?

It's currently just eight days in, already past one hundred million; reaching one hundred fifty million would be a breeze, and two hundred million isn't impossible, especially with the current buzz, directly facing off with "Avatar".

If the box office reaches two hundred million, then a film with a ten million cost will have at least sixty million in profit.

A film earning sixty million is an absolutely insane return on investment.

Many small and medium-sized companies might not even have sixty million in annual turnover.

Actually, at this point, "First Love, This Little Thing" could already have a celebration party.

Holding a celebration party for breaking a hundred million box office is justified.

Unfortunately, "Hello! Mr. Tree" is at a critical moment here, so there's no time to spare.

Qi Hao is the producer, director, and lead actor; if he doesn't show up, what meaning does a celebration party have?

Only having An Feng present, might as well not hold it.

Fortunately, Jinmen Satellite TV aired the variety show Qi Hao and An Feng recorded, adding further heat to the already highly buzzed film.

The title CP was a great success.

An Feng returned from her hometown after the New Year, and the "Hello! Mr. Tree" crew was ready to start shooting her scenes.

Even though it was a guest appearance, the crew wasn't casual at all with An Feng's arrangements, considering she was one of the producers, and her unclear relationship with the boss.

She clearly had no scenes, yet stayed with the crew for so many days.

Everyone in the crew saw it with their own eyes.

It was just that Qi Hao called all the shots on set, and the two behaved very properly without any inappropriate actions, which is why no one exposed them.

As for what inappropriate actions...

That's naturally things like discussing the script at night and sitting on each other's laps during breaks in filming.

Finally, it was time for An Feng's scenes.

Whether it was makeup or wardrobe, the crew arranged everything flawlessly.

In "Hello! Mr. Tree," which had a dark tone, almost to the point of madness, An Feng in a light blue nurse's uniform became a highlight.

Of course, if you delve deeply, you could say Shu was crazy from the start.

A lot of things were just his imagination.

If they hadn't invited Qi Hao, they wouldn't have had the chance to invite An Feng. Han Jie originally planned to cast Super Girl He Jie.

This casting was aiming for dissonance from the start.

Now with An Feng, it naturally seemed even more out of place.

Actually, many parts of the movie were shot in a bizarre manner, like when Shu's father occasionally popped into reality, the scenes where he looked sideways at the camera filled the frame with absurdity and oppression.

An Feng's scenes weren't very difficult, and there wasn't much pressure on Qi Hao's part either.

He just needed to get into the right mindset.

After all, the scene where his character injures his eye and goes to the hospital belongs to the early part of the movie, where he hasn't completely fallen into madness yet.

Soon, they reached a key moment.

"Hey, uncle, what are you doing! Let go of me!"

An Feng, grabbed by Qi Hao's hand, tried anxiously to break free. No matter how handsome he was, as a young nurse being teased like that, she obviously had to struggle.

"Cut, be more serious."

Han Jie rubbed his forehead, always feeling like these two were flirting, and it had that uniform element, generational taboo kind of flirtation.

"Where's the problem?"

An Feng didn't quite understand, she had acted very seriously, and everything was fine before.

"That 'hey' of yours carried a bit of coquetry. It should have more anger. Let's try it a few more times."

Let uncle see if you've grown up.

Qi Hao didn't even need Director Han Jie to say anything; he could already point out the issue.

However, the defiant Director Han Jie didn't appreciate it.

"Qi Hao, you can let go of her hand now. Discussing the scene is fine, but holding onto her hand isn't appropriate."

"..."

The surname Han, you're a sharp one, and I'll tell you this, you're walking a narrow path.

An Feng tried several times until she met Qi Hao and Han Jie's expectations, then she was more or less done with her scenes.

The date was already February 25th, and the movie's shooting was nearing completion.

Basically, just a few city scenes were left.

"Old Han."

After working together and filming for thirty or forty days, Qi Hao and Han Jie became familiar with each other.

He liked to call people Old this or that, like Old Tian, Old Deng...

"What's up?"

Han Jie raised his head from behind the monitor.

"When are you planning to release this movie?"

Qi Hao needed this movie to fulfill his mission of winning Best Actor, so the earlier it was released, the better.

But he couldn't push too hard.

Slow work yields fine products, and post-production is very important. Rushing it would affect the movie's quality.

"Later this year, do you have any thoughts?"

Han Jie calculated the time; it was already almost March, so it indeed needed to be later in the year.

This was considered relatively fast.

If there were delays in approval, it might get dragged out longer.

Ning Hao had a new film called "No Man's Land," which reportedly had already failed to pass approval several times.

Who knows if it will even have a chance to release next year.

"Alright, later this year is fine. Are you interested in participating in an international film festival?"

"You're serious?"

Han Jie looked at Qi Hao in surprise. Previously, Qi Hao had said if he won Best Actor at one of the top three film festivals, he'd get a million-yuan reward, and Han Jie thought it was just some pre-battle motivation, the boss painting grandiose visions for the staff.

"Of course I'm serious!"

Damn it, a million yuan isn't enough to use as a grandiose vision.