Chapter 80: The Greatest Rival!

  "Hello everyone, welcome to today's Entertainment Back-to-Back, today's program is inviting a drama crew, welcome the 'New Chat Room' drama crew."

  Entertainment in a row is the flagship program of Phoenix Satellite TV. Some well-known movies or TV dramas will be promoted on this show. As one of the three major satellite TVs in China, Phoenix Satellite TV is naturally wealthy and has a high rating for its flagship program "Entertainment in a row", which can be said to be one of the top variety shows in China.

  The original "New Journey to the West" was supposed to start filming, but it fell into a black hole. Yu Qiyuan and Su Xingchen's attitude was to break the cauldron and sink the boat, so they closed the shooting and didn't go on any show, so they missed it.

  "This is Director Zhang Ruo of the 'New Liao Zhai' crew. Director Zhang, you're remaking 'Liao Zhai' this time, what would you like to say to the audience?"

  "Liaozhai Zhiyi" is a collection of short stories written by Pu Songling, a famous Qing dynasty writer. The complete book contains 491 articles. The theme is extensive and the content is rich, with intricate plot twists and exquisite layout. Most people are familiar with the stories in it, such as "The Three Strange Stories of Qiu State", "Xiao Cui", "Yan Luo's Banquet", "Stealing Peaches", "Dong Sheng" and so on.

  "There are too many classic stories in 'Liaozhai's Records of the Strange', I won't elaborate here"

  Moreover, the original work has achieved extremely high artistic accomplishments, successfully shaping many vivid artistic images, such as the fox spirit Xiaocui, Xie Fangping who went to the underworld to avenge his father, and the king who possessed magical powers to punish corrupt officials. This king is similar to the superheroes in Western movies, and can be said to be our Chinese superhero.

  "Liaozhai Zhiyi" can be said to be one of the most famous ghosts in Chinese culture, although it has been adapted into films many times, but there has never been a TV series, which is regrettable.

  "It may also be related to the original work's length, 491 episodes and each episode is very short, but our goal this time is to work hard to shoot a classic TV version of 'Liaozhai Zhiyi'." Zhang Ruoyi said with great enthusiasm.

  "Earlier, Director Zhang said that 'Liaozhai Zhiyi' has many episodes and they are very short. How do you overcome this problem to bring classics to the audience?"

  The reason why "Entertainment in a Row" is a classic program is not only because it can invite big-name star directors, but also because of its host. The host of "Entertainment in a Row" is not a yes-man who only asks flattering questions, but rather someone who asks high-level and valuable questions that often make the audience look forward to hearing the answers.

  For example, this question is generally not asked by the host because it's a bit sharp and has a hint of sarcasm. The underlying implication is that you just said that "Liaozhai Zhiyi" has many short episodes and is not suitable for adaptation, so how can you make a classic out of it?

  "I'm preparing for this remake, and I plan to turn 'Liao Zhai's Records of the Strange' into a series. First, we'll start by filming five stories as the first season, with each story having eight to fifteen episodes. Of course, we'll choose the most famous stories from the original work to start with. The screenwriters in our team have initially set their sights on 'Nie Xiaoqian', 'Painted Skin', 'Xie Fangping', 'Ying Ning' and 'Lu Pan' - these five stories may not be the final selection, but they're likely to be close."

  "It's impossible to adapt all 500 episodes of 'Liaozhai Zhiyi' into a TV series, so our approach is the most stable. Although the stories in 'Liaozhai Zhiyi' are short, they can be expanded by the screenwriters and completed in 8-15 episodes per story, which is very suitable. The first season will have 50 episodes, and our team, including actors and screenwriters, are all elites, so we're confident that what we produce will be classics." Zhang's words were firm and logical, clearly not blind confidence.

  "So what is Director Zhang's goal for this shoot?"

  "Nature is the annual TV drama ratings champion." Zhang Ru's overbearing aura leaked out.

  "Will Yu Qiuming, the director of 'New Journey to the West', feel pressured by that?" asked the host of "Entertainment in a Flash".

  "There is definitely pressure, after all 'Journey to the West' is CCTV's flagship drama and Yu Qiuming is an excellent director himself. However, I have confidence that 'New Chat Room' can become the best TV series of the year."

  ……

  Another big show is coming, also a remake of a classic, also directed by a well-known director.

  "Journey to the West" and "Liaozhai Zhiyi" are both ancient famous works of ghosts and gods. Although "Journey to the West" is called one of the Four Great Classical Novels, in terms of fame, "Liaozhai Zhiyi" is not much inferior to "Journey to the West".

  After all, characters like Xiaocui and Xiaoqian have been made known to everyone through films.

  Yu Qiyuan is a great director of Huaxia, but Zhang Ru is not a mediocre director either. Finally, Zhang Ru's words were quoted by most newspapers - "But I have confidence that 'New Chat Room' can become the best TV series of the year"

  The Show is Coming, Be Careful

  An article released on Movie Weekend -

  The launch ceremony of "New Journey to the West" has brought a huge wave, because it is CCTV's heavyweight drama, and there are no other big dramas in the same year that can compete with it. Therefore, even if the crew of "New Journey to the West" has some problems, I believe it can become the best TV series of the year. As for whether it can surpass the old version of "Journey to the West", I remain neutral.

  With the support of Yu Baoyi, a director from CCTV, and the participation of several top-notch actors, these are not fake. Even if there are problems with the script, relying on these alone can already make it an annual best TV series.

  But now "New Chat Room" is coming, can "Journey to the West" stop it?

  "Entertainment Daily" published an article on its newspaper saying:

  Zhang Ruo PK Yu Qiyuan, fierce battle

  Don't worry about not having good shows in the first half of next year. After Yu Qiyuan director's high-profile announcement to remake "Journey to the West", famous director Zhang Ruoyi has brought news again to remake "Liaozhai"!!

  Director Zhang chose a clever approach by selecting five stories that are well-known, pitting "New Journey to the West" against "Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons" in a battle of wits. Notably, "New Journey to the West" also assembled a team of five screenwriters, four of whom were former members of the "Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons" crew, including writer Shao Feng.

  These articles are relatively neutral, while most of them lean towards "New Tales of the Old World".

  For example, articles like this one published by entertainment newspaper "Entertainment Early Edition" are just like that.

  The advantages of subtlety

  What are the advantages of "Journey to the West"?

  The editor gives you a detailed account of this play is CCTV's big production, which is not comparable to ordinary TV dramas in terms of support and publicity.

  But this advantage is nothing compared to the crew of "New Chat Room", because the investor who filmed "New Chat Room" is Mango TV. Although Mango TV can't compare with CCTV, it's very popular among post-80s and post-90s, so overall it's not bad. So the advantage of "Journey to the West" is gone.

  The cast of the second "New Journey to the West" is extremely strong, with veteran actor Huang Sanqi, Asia's strongest newcomer Li Shu, idol superstar Qiu Yiming, and even the actor who plays the White Dragon Horse, Wang Zimo, son of a film emperor. The lineup is so strong that it can be described as a large truck full of big-name stars.

  But is the crew of "New Liaozhai" bad? Although it has not been officially announced which actors will join, Zhang Ruohan has already declared that the main characters of the five stories will be played by five emperors or film emperors, which means that in terms of lineup, the crew of "New Liaozhai" is even stronger than "Journey to the West".

  The third advantage of "New Journey to the West" is that the director is a powerful one, but this point has also been removed. Yu Qiyuan is a powerful director, and Zhang Ruoyu is not a mediocre director either.

  In summary, all the advantages of "New Journey to the West" are gone in front of "New Liaozhai", and instead, "New Liaozhai" has one advantage over "New Journey to the West", that is, director Zhang Ruoyu did not make a confusing arrangement, while director Yu Qiyuan made a wrong move. Therefore, our newspaper predicts that "New Journey to the West" will definitely lose in the PK with "New Liaozhai"!!!!!

  Yu Qiyuan's wrong move mentioned in "Entertainment Early Know" should be hiring Su Yuechen as the screenwriter of "New Journey to the West".

  "The Unavoidable Story Between Zhang Ruo and Yu Qiuyuan" The Dahe Daily used such a sensational title to attract many readers, but the actual content is...

  Zhang Ru and Yu Qiyuan are both great directors of our Chinese nation. These two directors have many similarities, such as being over 50 years old, and both having directed films and TV dramas, and both having won the highest awards in the film and television industry.

  So in terms of strength, the two directors are equivalent. "New Chat Room" has 50 episodes and "New Journey to the West" has more than 60 episodes. According to the production schedule, the two TV dramas should collide with each other.

  It should have been a fierce showdown, but unfortunately, Yu Qiyuan rushed to finish and pulled down the curtain for this showdown.

  This is still not the most excessive, some media are even more excessive by trampling on "Journey to the West" to promote "New Dream of the Red Chamber", it's unknown whether this is arranged by the crew of "New Dream of the Red Chamber".

  Just like the report published on Zhi Bao

  "Absolutely incomparable!"

  Today, the editor saw many reports comparing "New Journey to the West" with "New Chat Room", and some media even said that the collision between the two dramas will be very exciting. I want to ask if there will be a fierce collision between an aircraft carrier and a small sailboat?

  No, of course not. When an aircraft carrier collides with a small boat, the small boat will definitely sink to the bottom of the sea, but it won't have any impact on the aircraft carrier at all. "New Liaozhai" is like an aircraft carrier, while "New Journey to the West" is like a small boat. Next year, when the two dramas are broadcast simultaneously, there won't be any intense collision because "New Journey to the West" will sink to the bottom of the sea as soon as it encounters "New Liaozhai"!!

  The media's report is like "New Chat Room" really crushing "Journey to the West" in ratings, with countless newspapers and magazines crazily reprinting such articles.

  Even the crew of "New Chat Room" was confident when accepting an interview.

  One of the five male leads in "New Chat Room" said in an interview with reporters, "New Chat Room" will definitely win the annual ratings championship. As for Yu Qiyuan's work, I can only say that I'm sorry to have encountered "New Chat Room", otherwise it would also be the annual ratings champion, but now the championship has been won by us.

  One of the five female leads, rumored to be playing Xiaoyu, also expressed her opinion in a subtle manner when facing reporters' questions: "Although 'New Legend of Madame White Snake' is composed of five connected stories and may not be as coherent as 'Journey to the West', under Director Zhang Ruoyi's exquisite direction and with the participation of big-name stars, I have confidence that it can surpass 'Journey to the West' and become the best TV drama of the year."

  Of course, the most intense in the interview was still screenwriter Shao Feng. When facing the camera, Shao Feng said without any reserve: "How can 'Journey to the West' be compared with 'Liao Zhai'? I can already imagine a script written by an amateur in just one month, and a TV series shot according to this script will definitely be sloppy. Whether the audience can understand it is a problem, let alone competing for the best TV series of the year. In terms of the script, it's predictable that 'Liao Zhai' will surpass 'Journey to the West'."

  The original "New Journey to the West" had already fallen into the black sea due to the last boot ceremony, but after two months, the black sea has slowly settled, and not many people remember it, but this time it was stirred up again.

  When it comes to "New Journey to the West", most people will compare it with "The New Chat Room", but in the end, most media think that "The New Journey to the West" will be crushed by "The New Chat Room".

  The reputation of "Journey to the West" has hit rock bottom again, but the crew members of "Journey to the West" have not come out to fight or accept interviews, and are still filming as usual.