Chapter 152 152 Best Actor

Chapter 152: The Lead Actor

To some extent, Lu Xu's interview lacked depth, but Mu Lang's statement left Zhao Yifan in a tough spot.

Perhaps he truly put in effort, but from the director's and the *Reversal City* crew's perspective, his efforts were meaningless. His interpretation of the character still deviated and just didn’t meet the film’s standards.

Besides...

"Does anyone actually think Zhao Yifan acted better than Lu Xu? I’m just an average moviegoer, but in *Reversal City*, Zhao Yifan’s performance seemed significantly weaker than Lu Xu’s. Maybe it’s just me having no taste, but I really can’t convince myself otherwise."

"Same here... Especially in the scenes where he acted opposite Lu Xu. I wouldn’t say he was bad, but his character came off flat."

"Maybe it was a creative decision?"

"According to Mu Lang, the current version of *Reversal City* is the most balanced. I suspect Zhao Yifan’s scenes were indeed cut quite a bit, but anyone who’s seen the movie can tell—*Reversal City* is a complex film, while Zhao Yifan’s performance felt somewhat flat."

Most of those defending Zhao Yifan were his fans. For the general audience, unless an actor’s screen time significantly impacts the viewing experience, they don’t really care who gets more or less screentime.

Zhao Yifan initially garnered some sympathy from everyday workers, but after learning he had required 20 takes for a single scene, that sympathy naturally faded.

After all, Zhao Yifan could choose not to attend *Reversal City*’s promotional events, while ordinary workers don’t even have the option to show up for work.

"The lead actor can boycott, but everyone else still has to clock in on time—that’s the reality of the crew."

Once sympathy for Zhao Yifan waned, the audience’s focus naturally shifted back to the film itself.

No matter how many complaints Zhao Yifan had, if his performance in the movie had been stronger and more compelling than the others, the audience would have supported him. But the reality was the opposite.

"First, he criticizes Lu Xu, then underperforms on set—of course the director would be unhappy."

"Rumor has it... *Reversal City* originally had a different ending, but Zhao Yifan couldn’t pull off the story, and Mu Lang loves revising as he shoots, so the final cut ended up like this."

The public sentiment, which had once overwhelmingly favored Zhao Yifan, now shifted toward the *Reversal City* crew.

For the crew, Zhao Yifan and Enne Entertainment’s conflict wasn’t entirely a bad thing—since its release, *Reversal City* hadn’t garnered much attention, but in recent days, interest in the film had noticeably increased.

After all... at its core, the conflict between Zhao Yifan and the crew was really about his dissatisfaction with Lu Xu’s screen time. In the process of their dispute, the premise of *Reversal City* gradually unfolded before the audience.

Before this, while *Reversal City* had sparked plenty of debate, the audience’s understanding of the film remained vague, lacking a clear perception.

Though the movie starred Lu Xu and was directed by Mu Lang—known for many critically acclaimed works—some viewers hesitated to go to theaters, fearing the film might be too heavy or have an overly bleak ending.

But now, audiences at least had an understanding of *Reversal City*’s premise—it was simply a non-traditional story where good doesn’t conquer evil.

The protagonist, Ji Chongyang, may have been corrupted, but in the first half of the story, the director had already planted clues about this development.

Ji Chongyang was never a hero—Mu Lang never portrayed him as one.

Lu Xu also delivered a standout performance as the villain in the film.

"*Reversal City* isn’t a story about salvation, but the plot is truly engaging!"

"+1, the story definitely isn’t overly convoluted!"

"Honestly... even if you watch it for the cinematography, it’s totally worth it."

More reviews started pouring in.

Critics analyzed the film through varied lenses, focusing on different aspects, but together painted a picture of *Reversal City* from multiple perspectives.

A film critic titled "How Ji Chongyang Escapes" focused on several characters Ji Chongyang encounters in the movie, analyzing their different roles within the gang.

Even the fact that Ji Chongyang didn’t die was analyzed by critics.

"From the very beginning of the story, Ji Chongyang became a pawn of the gang leaders. I can boldly speculate that he wasn’t the only one—the characters he meets, Brother Zha, Brother Wei... perhaps they were all absorbed into the system after the game's conclusion, just like Ji Chongyang in the finale."

"That final expression of Ji Chongyang’s... Let’s revisit and look at these characters when they first appeared. Do they share similarities?"

"I can even imagine a possibility—the villain in the movie, the Final Boss who manifests as Luo Ying, might have once been a participant in the game. These details suggest..."

Another film blogger emphasized the dark world constructed in *Reversal City*.

"The reason *Reversal City* had such a high production cost is that Mu Lang created a world entirely distinct from reality—one with its own set of governing rules, unique architecture, and culture. The characters in the film could even be called NPCs (non-player characters), exhibiting fixed traits..."

This blogger analyzed in great detail, setting aside the main characters to focus solely on the impersonal elements of the film. In his view, *Reversal City* may seem out of place in today’s film market, but it fully showcases Mu Lang’s ambition as a director.

In fact—to some extent, the key to breaking free from the formulaic trends in today's film market lies within *Reversal City*.

Two or three days after its release, *Reversal City*’s box office still wasn’t staggering, but it strangely stabilized around 80 million yuan. Though it hadn’t crossed the 100 million yuan mark, there were no drastic fluctuations either. After three days, the film’s total box office reached 250 million yuan.

With the boost from reviews and audience feedback, by the fourth day—a Monday—the daily box office saw a modest uptick, hitting 120 million yuan.

*Reversal City* is an unorthodox narrative film, yet it incorporates seemingly obscure elements. Critics like Wang Ying, who attended the premiere, believe the film is more likely to achieve success in awards rather than box office breakthroughs.

Moreover, the rumors of discord between Zhao Yifan and Lu Xu during filming, coupled with Zhao Yifan’s public criticism immediately upon release, were all unfavorable factors hindering the film’s box office performance.

But—the 120 million yuan figure on the charts was real.

"There’s some inexplicable logic behind Lu Xu’s box office appeal."

"This box office trend... is truly unpredictable."

"...Whatever. On *Reversal City*’s opening day, X Ticket Platform predicted a total box office of 500 million yuan, much lower than *Sanctuary*. But now, they adjust daily—I bet even the platform is baffled."

"Amusingly, with an opening day of 80 million yuan, they really couldn’t predict higher. Who knew it’d surpass half the prediction in three days? Now, four days in, it’s not far from 500 million yuan."

Fans have dubbed this inexplicable phenomenon "the Lu Xu effect."

...

After *Reversal City*’s release, Lu Xu attended all promotional events held near the *Fearless Life* set. Once filming wrapped for the day, as long as there were no night shoots, he would head straight to the theaters—sometimes not finishing until late at night, only to return to set the next morning.

The media attributed *Reversal City*’s box office growth to him, and Lu Xu acknowledged it matter-of-factly.

Zhao Yifan later participated in a few *Reversal City* promotional events, but his resentment was evident.

Lu Xu even occasionally wondered if Zhao Yifan actively opposed *Reversal City*'s success.

Xu Wen provided an answer to Lu Xu’s doubts: "You haven't seen anything yet."

In fact, Xu Wen’s prediction was more accurate than Lu Xu expected.

Because *Reversal City*’s box office growth was faster and more unpredictable than industry forecasts.

After *Reversal City*’s daily box office hit 120 million yuan, platforms promptly adjusted their predictions. The lowest projection was 800 million yuan, while the highest reached 1.2 billion yuan.

Judging solely by *Reversal City*’s content, these predictions seemed reasonably grounded.

Yet, the day after surpassing 100 million yuan daily, *Reversal City*’s box office held steady at 120 million yuan the following day.

In the film market, Tuesday is hardly a prime time for box office performance, yet *Reversal City* still pulled off astonishing numbers.

One ticketing platform analyzed that 70% of *Reversal City*'s audience is made up of young viewers under 30.

Their reviews surprisingly kept using one recurring word—"trendy."

The setting is so trendy, from its world-building to its game mechanics, that it hardly seems like the work of a veteran director like Mu Lang.

As for the slightly bittersweet ending, it fits right into what young audiences will tolerate—even becoming a talking point.

By this Tuesday, *Reversal City*'s five-day total box office had reached 490 million, within spitting distance of 500 million.

The following Wednesday and Thursday kept raking in strong numbers, and after the crew released a tie-in miniseries, the box office cracked the 700 million mark.

New releases still dropped on Friday, yet even under their impact, *Reversal City* held steady at around 80 million daily in its second week.

Left with no choice, platforms had to revise their projections upward—1 billion was no longer enough, and even 1.5 billion might still be conservative.

Some critics noted, "While Lu Xu's films' box office isn't staggering at 3 or 4 billion, they remain reliable if unspectacular. *Reversal City*, with its 320 million investment, still has room for profit growth."

Xu Wen's prediction was confirmed the day *Reversal City* surpassed the 1 billion mark.

That same day, several marketers started bombarding feeds with the same narrative—*Reversal City*, directed by Mu Lang and starring Zhao Yifan as the lead, had far exceeded box office expectations...

Zhao Yifan also began taking ownership of *Reversal City* on Weibo.

When he frequently reposted behind-the-scenes content from the official blog, the Weibo handler was blindsided and immediately reported it to Mu Lang.

Mu Lang: "..."

Even the director was speechless.

In an interview, Zhao Yifan graciously claimed that despite conflicts with the crew, as the lead actor, he was proud of *Reversal City*'s box office success.

Yes, even if he sat out the promo circuit, wasn't the director's pet, and had a strained relationship with co-star Lu Xu—none of that changed the fact that *Reversal City*'s achievements were partly his.

No matter what, he was *Reversal City*'s undisputed leading man.

If *Reversal City* hadn't crossed 100 million, he would have pretended he never starred in it.

At 500 million, he could still feign indifference, though he was already softening his stance.

At 800 million, he could reasonably take some credit.

But surpassing 1 billion—he was undoubtedly the film's undisputed leading man.

And with *Reversal City*'s box office showing no signs of slowing down, 1 billion was just the beginning.

Author's Note:

Same old issues—supporting characters lacking uniqueness and underdeveloped character arcs. I'm really not great at shaping characters; I mostly rush through the plot and struggle with depicting emotions and personalities.

I said I didn’t want to resort to clichéd revenge tropes, but the resulting plot was so bland I had nothing to say—so I ended up defaulting to writing self-contradictory villains again.