Chapter 66 The Tuner Bombs the Summer Box Office

June 28th marked the official theatrical release of *The Piano Tuner* across mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan, officially kicking off the cinematic blockbuster bomb on its very first day.

Li Wenyu was in the guest suite receiving Chen Daoming, He Qing, Rosamund Kwan, and others.

*My Love from the Star* was merely a television series, yet with standards set this high, even minor supporting roles commanded top-tier talent.

In any case, he had zero worries about the budget. Putting everything else aside, in the original timeline, the show swept across Asia, and its iconic pairing of the first snow with beer and fried chicken sparked an unstoppable wave of enthusiasm.

Countless young people eagerly followed suit and fell in love with this culinary combination.

Co-director Ning Hao and Xiao Yang had approached Tsingtao Brewery. Leveraging Li Wenyu’s proven box office magic, they pitched the idea of crafting an ultimate idol drama that would surpass both *Meteor Garden* and *My Fair Princess*.

Tsingtao Brewery promptly shelled out 10 million in sponsorship!

Between automotive brands, mobile phones, digital cameras, laptops, and office computers, the production crew of *My Love from the Star* had already raised over 30 million from external sources.

There was simply no need to overthink anything.

What was the foundation of Li Wenyu's rise? Marketing and hype!

*The Shallows* had leveraged marketing to rake in 121 million in the mainland, 63 million Hong Kong dollars in Hong Kong, and 35 million Hong Kong dollars in Taiwan, totaling an equivalent of 220 million Chinese yuan.

*The Piano Tuner* was tied to Wahaha's promotional campaigns of "Another Bottle, Another Can," with street-level promotional efforts blanketing streets, alleys, and countless towns.

After all, people in rural areas drank Wahaha too!

Before the film even officially premiered, investors were already shouting slogans predicting a mainland box office of over 150 million and breaking 80 million in Hong Kong. Both China Star and Huayi were already preparing celebration banquets...

Under these circumstances, Tsingtao Brewery certainly didn't lack this 10 million investment. After all, they had spent years running the "Another Bottle" campaign before ascending to the ranks of the best-selling beers.

When Li Wenyu was originally deciding whether the snowy-day pairing should be beer with soup dumplings, small steamed buns, or fried chicken, McDonald's had offered 5 million, which he turned down.

In the end, he went with Shanghai pan-fried buns.

What was wrong with eating a piping hot plate of pan-fried buns on a snowy day?

As he handed out the scripts one by one to the actors, He Qing smiled and said, "Don't worry, Director Li. I will put my heart into playing the role of the female lead's mother. Thank you so much for the opportunity."

He Qing had just emerged from gaining thirty pounds for her role in *The Piano Tuner* and was currently working hard to lose weight, trying to drop from 120 pounds back down under 100.

Her role in *The Piano Tuner* was by no means small!

She was counting on the film to be a massive blockbuster so she could earn a bit more money.

Chen Daoming was cast as the female lead's father—the most important spiritual pillar in her life—while the mother served as a villainous vampire.

Rosamund Kwan followed up by taking the role of the second female lead's mother, casually scratching Li Wenyu's palm as she said, "Ah-Yu, how about I play Michelle Lee's mother instead?"

She spoke in Cantonese.

Li Wenyu almost spat out his drink. "Surely not. Are you two really going to feud everywhere you go?"

Kwan was forty years old. Without undergoing expensive anti-aging cosmetic procedures costing tens of thousands per injection, the traces of time were impossible to completely conceal, yet she possessed a mature woman's rich charm.

Rosamund Kwan continued, "I heard Ah-Xin got injections to turn back time, and her appearance is just like it was back in *Black Horse Prince*. Isn't she worried her face will collapse in a few years?"

Cosmetic injections were standard procedure for the actresses of the eighties and nineties generation a decade or later down the line.

Faces collapsing happened frequently, and the side effects were troublesome.

Still, the gimmick was fantastic, and outsiders wouldn't suspect Li Wenyu of orchestrating it for the next few years.

Whether claiming to be a naturally ageless beauty or attributing it to medical procedures, marketing narratives were easy to spin!

Besides, there were bound to be countless medical aesthetics groups willing to pay Michelle Lee tens of millions just for her to leak which specific clinic's injections she used.

With her top-tier appearance in the drama, global medical beauty brands would be rushing to throw money at them.

Li Wenyu chatted casually, unwilling to dwell on the topic. Rosamund Kwan smiled and said, "If it weren't for your sake, I really wouldn't have taken this script."

"You made me an aunt generation older than Michelle Lee. You'll have to make sure I profit more from future perks."

When mentioning the most beautiful actresses from Hong Kong, while these two didn't hold absolute monopoly, they were both Tier 0, and their names could never be omitted.

For Rosamund Kwan to be categorized as an aunt? That felt just a little awkward.

Michelle Lee had no objections whatsoever. Having consumed too many mysterious herbal medicines of unknown origin in a desperate attempt to win fair and square, she had ultimately ended up as a defeated beauty.

Ah-Xin comes and goes, but Lao Li is forever!

Rosamund Kwan spoke again, "Aren't you worried about the box office at all? *The Piano Tuner* sold overseas rights in East and Southeast Asia for 40 million, and 8 million US dollars in Europe and America."

"That adds up to 102 million Hong Kong dollars. Brother Rong didn't split this one with you; the Heung family and Huayi are making a killing."

Li Wenyu chuckled. "Without the Heung family and Huayi cooperating wholeheartedly with the China Film Group to crack down on piracy ever since *The Shallows*, *The Shallows* wouldn't have exploded to its current figures."

"How much manpower and material resources were spent on *The Piano Tuner* to push the 'Another Ticket' campaign down to county-level cinemas everywhere?"

"They provided the personnel, capital, and effort. Once they manage to whip up momentum for major Chinese blockbusters, the nearly collapsed Hong Kong film industry will also get a transfusion of fresh blood."

This was everyone working together to drag a dying, collapsing market back to life with a fresh health bar.

The Heung family had told him to pick whatever female lead script he wanted for Fan Bingbing, offering an 8 million salary per film—if one wasn't enough, do two—which was also a form of resource reciprocity and complementarity.

...

Inside a cinema in Beijing.

Zhao Wei, Li Yu, Old Wang, Gao Yuanyuan, Lao Zhang, Xu Jinglei, and others had gathered once again in a movie theater, waiting to critique the acting skills of the slender Li Bingbing.

*The Piano Tuner* began, its opening scenes lighthearted yet tinged with a streak of dark humor, showing Tony Leung playing a normal person who pretends to be blind to work, earning special care from ordinary people.

Tony Leung showcased his youthful, mid-thirties state on screen, primarily maintained through fitness, workouts, and self-discipline, projecting a brand-new aura.

There was zero flaw in the Best Actor's performance!

The brilliance of *The Piano Tuner* was genuinely striking, effortlessly captivating the audience's attention scene by scene.

Until the piano tuner arrived at the female lead's home restaurant, having arranged with the veteran star to visit the next day and play music to celebrate the couple's third wedding anniversary.

The brilliant film officially entered its grand theme!

Tony Leung arrived at the door, rang the bell, and spoke with Maggie Cheung, who was reluctant to let him in.

Leung tried every trick in the book to gain entry and earn extra cash. Maggie Cheung confirmed he was blind, while the elderly neighbor across the hall opened her door to see what was happening...

Maggie Cheung had no choice but to let Tony Leung inside.

In subsequent scenes, as Maggie Cheung's apartment revealed the corpse of Alan Tam, Tony Leung's indescribably exquisite improvisational performance on the spot, combined with Jiang Wen standing bare-chested behind the bathroom door delivering a deathly stare, elevated the dramatic confrontation to soaring heights.

Every single spectator, including Zhao Wei and the rest, felt a tingling sensation ripple across their scalps!

Tony Leung, his skin crawling, pretended to remain calm while continuing to play music, as the other two efficiently disposed of the corpse and the pools of blood.

The showdown of brilliant acting was an absolute textbook template!

Such plot twists were intensely entertaining and thrilling, making it even easier than ordinary crime films to hook audiences into binge-watching eagerly.

Tony Leung, disguised as a blind man, faced continuous testing, culminating in Jiang Wen dumping the corpse and returning to work, while Leung sat for a moment by a flowerbed in the bustling city street before heading to the police station!

Just as the receptionist officer pulled out paper to take the report and Tony Leung stated the reason for calling the police, Jiang Wen walked over with a dark expression. This iconic scene shocked the theater with one exclamation of "holy shit" after another, rising in an endless stream.

Even Zhao Wei dropped a vulgarity: "Damn it, this script is absolute genius! As expected of the script that's been rumored for months. I heard Jiang Wen forcefully snatched this role from his brother Jiang Wu."

"So unfair! How could he?!"

Old Wang nodded in agreement, praised the awesome plot, and then asked out of curiosity, "What's so unfair?"

Zhao Wei calmly shook her head. "Nothing. If this film follows the trajectory of *The Shallows*, it has a shot at breaking 200 million. And the skinny Li didn't even get cut—such a great role handed to her on a silver platter."

She hadn't yet evolved to the point of polite innuendo.

Right now, she was green with envy over Li Bingbing's treatment, wanting to die. Junior Brother Li from Beijing Film Academy was too ruthless! If you didn't think much of the skinny Li, you should've cast me. Never mind driving...

Even being hospitalized would be worth it!

*The Piano Tuner* officially bombarded Chinese cinema circuits, opening with twists that gave industry insiders goosebumps right out of the gate. How could ordinary film fans possibly escape such rhythm?

The Four Dan and Two Lis? Starting today, the Four Dan would be chasing the taillights of the Two Lis so far behind they wouldn't even be visible.