CHAPTER 840: CHAPTER 842: THE MOST ANTICIPATED FILM BY THE AUDIENCE

The pace of life is very fast, and the speed at which online buzz updates is also quick.

As the wheels of time roll on, He Jinxia’s second film as the lead actor—"Special Action," is finally about to start promotions, eyeing the May Day Golden Week!

On April 1st, "Special Action" began releasing various trailers online, featuring He Jinxia rolling in the mud, as well as the male lead Gong Hongyu performing impressive moves while rapidly switching guns.

There are three trailers in total, adding up to less than ten minutes, and the most discussed part is not the two mentioned earlier, but the last scene:

The male and female leads dodging through a rain of bullets on the battlefield in a perilous scene!

As soon as this trailer was released, it immediately sparked widespread discussion among netizens, thanks to the inherent popularity of He Jinxia.

He Jinxia was already popular, and her performance in Xiao Xiangyu’s Many Sorrows elevated her status further. Netizens are highly interested in her, keeping the topic hot.

Because He Jinxia naturally attracts attention, many media outlets like to report on her, leading to "Special Action" gaining widespread online discussion without much advertising.

Coincidentally, on April 1st, the first episode of the second season of "Rescue 5 Hours" was released, with Yu Yanyu and the original cast making a return to the show, stirring up a frenzy once again.

[Ahhh, the Preemptive Team is back together!]

[Did they plan this? Did they plan this? How come Jinxia’s new movie is about to be released, and the Preemptive Team appears!]

[Industry rumors suggest that He Jinxia invested in "Rescue 5 Hours." Now it seems true, otherwise how could it be such a coincidence?]

[My dear Husky is so cute, Ren Xiao baby is also so cute, I can’t help but ship the YanyuXiao CP!!]

...

The online storms are all building momentum for "Special Action."

A half month later, major movie ticket booking apps enabled the reservation feature, and "Special Action" quickly garnered one billion reservations, rocketing to the number one spot in [Audience’s Most Anticipated Movie]!

This movie didn’t have the most aggressive promotions. Strictly speaking, the crew only bought a pinned post on a certain messaging app, not involving other channels.

The phenomenon seems so explosive because of the high quality of the released trailers, coupled with He Jinxia’s popularity, igniting the buzz.

The reason for not investing in promotions is simple: the director ran out of money.

This sounds quite funny. As a mature director, considerations about sales would definitely be made before filming, as no one would want to make a film only to lose all money and fail to recover costs.

Hence, no matter how tough, many films squeeze out a bit of the budget for promotions, letting some people learn about the film.

Unfortunately, Director Qian is just such a new director who didn’t consider anything.

This film was initially shot for nostalgia, just to fulfill a dream.

So when shooting the movie, he didn’t consider subsequent promotion expenses at all, belonging to the type that takes things step by step.

He was too busy pouring all funds into special effects, neglecting actors’ pay, and couldn’t afford more considerations.

Fortunately, this movie featured He Jinxia, and luckily, the response to the released trailer was better than expected in the industry.

Many in the industry were actually not optimistic about this film. When Director Qian initially sought to shoot it, he leveraged his relationships to find many people for investments, but no one invested.

They had all read the script and admitted it was good, but shooting it was too challenging, locations were hard to find for on-site filming, and the subject matter was a bit sensitive.

Several scenes in the movie depicted different societal issues in Huaxia, and many initially thought Director Qian’s film wouldn’t pass the review.

To their surprise, not only did it pass the review, but it also got assistance from the national weapons department, and even roped in the current hot star, He Jinxia!

Just with He Jinxia’s current popularity, tsk tsk, the box office appeal is certainly a force to contend with!

The time for the movie’s release on May 1st grows closer, and anticipation among netizens for "Special Action" grows higher.

Based on real-time statistics from major pre-sale apps, "Special Action" undoubtedly tops multiple categories and may very well become the dark horse of the May Day Golden Week, turning into the biggest winner.

On W-blog, netizen comments:

[Watching a war movie for the first time, I hope it brings me a different experience. Super excited for Jinxia’s performance, finally not playing those weak girl roles!]

[The movies Jinxia stars in are all guaranteed quality. As for weakness, I find that except for her early works, her later ones have nothing to do with being weak, right?]

[Cough cough cough, she’s just a decent girl. Don’t keep calling her Pang Hu and forget her gender!]

[Feels like this year is the year of He Jinxia’s film and drama debut. She already had a hit drama this year, and there’s another movie about to release, while "Devil’s Sea 4" seems almost finished filming, right?

If the production team hurries, works hard, maybe we’ll also see her heroic figure in "Devil’s Sea 4" this year. Is she going to dominate the charts?!]

[Wahaha, having a foothold at the beginning, middle, and end of the year, with such good opportunities, if she doesn’t get popular, it would be unjust!]

[Sniff sniff, every time I see Fat Emperor working hard, I start to resent Emperor Sheng for not being productive, at least making one movie a year. But this year, it seems he hasn’t taken on any movies!]

[Conclusion, one is diligent, the other is lazy, definitely siblings!]

[Haha, a bunch of brainless fans already sucking up before the movie is even out, eager to flatter He Jinxia?]

[Whose dog got loose and is barking all around? Oh, sorry, turns out it’s mine, apologies everyone!]

...

A movie, having good reviews naturally carries criticisms as well, especially being this rising hit, the more popular it gets, the more people know about it, and the more responsibilities weigh on it, bringing along criticism and accusations.

Just like standing at the top of a stage, one can’t expect all the audience members to be loyal fans; there are always a few anti-fans causing trouble.

By the end of April, "Special Action" entered a frenzy of hype, with almost everyone discussing the movie, garnering rave reviews, and everywhere online was singing its praises.