Especially Wan Ke, he could barely breathe.
The announced investment for "Republic of China Graceful Hero" was two hundred million, and indeed two hundred million had been invested during the filming period.
But for the later publicity, he forked out of his own pocket an additional hundred million for promotion!
Not to mention sinking all his assets into it, he even took out loans from the bank, determined to make the promotional effects stand out, counting on this movie to catapult him to fame!
To completely trample Xu Jiayang beneath his feet!
However, he hadn’t expected that his hundred million invested in promotion couldn’t even match "Despair’s" zero publicity!
Just because of a single Weibo post by Xu Jiayang, which dragged up Xia Weibao’s past affairs, the entire entertainment circle was flipped upside down in one day!
Xia Weibao’s limelight was unmatched, sending the popularity of "Despair" skyrocketing!
Even saving on the publicity expenses.
Not to say that a hundred million went down the drain, but also that he lost the first battle. One could imagine how stifled Wan Ke felt.
What made him so angry he could spit blood was, it was not a whitewashing, and no ghostly injustice; that video was clearly real, not some movie clip!
Maybe other people didn’t know the inside story, but he and Xu Jiayang were competitors. He has been keeping an eye on him for years, and Xu Jiayang didn’t shoot any "Despair" at all!
Instead, there was that period recently when Xu Jiayang, Han Luoqi, and Xia Weibao all disappeared for a month—it was obviously then that it was shot!
However, he was the only one who knew about this.
After all, Xu Jiayang had been blacklisted four years ago and had faded from the public eye, with nobody paying attention to his whereabouts.
So when he said he shot a movie three years ago, even if people doubted it, they couldn’t find any evidence.
Wan Ke slumped into his chair, his gaze dark and ominous.
He indeed knew the truth, but it was a pity he didn’t have the courage to speak it out loud.
After all, for this incident, the release of "Despair" was secondary; the main purpose was to clear Xia Weibao’s name!
With Xia Weibao’s powerful backers being unshakeable, would he dare to stir up trouble?
The fate of Chu Ying, vividly remembered, filled him with dread at mere thought.
He had surreptitiously sent people to check, and the submission time shown for "Despair" was indeed three years ago, the forgery flawless.
Apart from the intervention of the financial backer behind Xia Weibao, he could think of no other explanation.
And so, he could only swallow this grievance whole.
Apart from Wan Ke, the two lead actors of "Republic of China Graceful Hero," Chen Naizhi and Meng Zhaocheng, were also feeling extremely suffocated and frustrated.
There weren’t any major domestic films this year, and "Republic of China Graceful Hero," in terms of its cast and effects, was said to be a massive hit. When they initially got the roles after the big shuffle in "Republic of China Graceful Hero," both felt like they had hit the jackpot.
They were even hoping to nab the Best Actor and Best Actress awards at this year’s Golden Ying through this film.
Yet, out of nowhere, "Despair" came along and stole all the limelight. It was infuriating.
Meng Zhaocheng was somewhat okay; the Golden Ying Best Actor award can only be won once, and Han Luoqi had already won it two years before, so he wasn’t much of a threat to Meng. It was just a little disheartening to be overshadowed.
But Chen Naizhi was truly gutted.
Xia Weibao was the Best Actress of the Golden Flower Award three years ago, and she was five years ago. Whoever won the Golden Ying Best Actress award this time would become the fifth person in the Chinese music industry following Yan Weiyang to be a double award-winning actress!
Looking at it now, Xia Weibao’s acting could almost annihilate hers!
And Xia Weibao is currently at her peak popularity.
The question of whose home the double award-winning actress will belong to is suspenseful.
Although everyone involved in "Republic of China Graceful Hero" was holding back their anger, there was nothing they could do but wait for the nominations to be announced at the Golden Ying Film Festival in five days.
With Xia Weibao’s current popularity, no amount of promotional investment would matter.