Chapter 211 New Film

Chapter 211: New Film

For a long time after the release of *Black and White*, Lu Xu’s days were filled with meetings and study sessions. Having once served as a judge for the Contention Award, he was regularly invited to events hosted by its organizers.

He attended whenever he could.

All required materials had been submitted well before their deadlines, including the articles requested by experts.

After accumulating acting experience across two lifetimes, Lu Xu definitely had something to say about being an actor.

"Killing time."

The weather had warmed up, and it was rare for Lu Xu to have such free time. Although *Number A77* was set for a summer release, it wasn’t scheduled for July but instead pushed back to August.

Apparently, the competition in July was too fierce, with several blockbusters already lined up. *Number A77* opted for a later slot.

Of course, to other films, *Number A77* itself was also a major contender—something others would rather avoid if possible.

When it came to box office performance, Lu Xu was practically unstoppable.

Even though *Number A77* was just a standard commercial film, ticket platforms predicted its earnings would reach 3B yuan right from the start.

“…Insane.”

“Straight to 3 billion? Now the pressure’s on the little guys.”

“Three billion? LMAO, *Fearless Life* and *Night Sky Observations* didn’t even get high predictions, but *Number A77* went all out, huh?”

Lu Xu himself thought the prediction was way too high—it felt like they were stacking pressure onto him.

“If it actually hits their predictions, sweet,” Wu Ming laughed. “I’ve never helmed a movie with this kind of hype before.”

Wu Ming knew full well that without Lu Xu starring, *Number A77* wouldn’t have drawn nearly this much attention.

Musing to himself, he realized—he had directed and edited the film carefully, and now, ahead of its premiere, he felt totally confident.

…

Before *Number A77* dropped, Lu Xu tried to arrange a trip with Zheng Xiao and others—maybe some boating or surfing—but both were swamped, leaving Lu Xu as the least busy of them all.

When plans fell through and Xu Wen was about to line up a last-minute gig for him, Lu Xu got a call from an expert he’d met before. The expert said one of his articles had been published in a certain newspaper.

Lu Xu didn’t catch which article exactly, but he remembered the paper’s name, so he quietly looked it up online. Sure enough, they not only published his piece but gave him a byline too.

Lu Xu: “….”

Did they have to announce it to the world?

He wasn’t underestimating his influence—the moment his article appeared, he knew it’d blow up.

Plus, the friendly expert told him that the industry was encouraging young actors to share insights, and as a role model for young actors, Lu Xu should lead by example.

In other words, his reflections on working on *Fearless Life* and *Reversal City* were worth copying by other young performers.

Sure enough, the news soon showed up on Hot Searches.

The comments section was filled with hype like “Lu Xu is amazing,” making him feel like a fraud getting too much credit.

His writing was honestly basic, and when talking about his acting experiences, he didn’t use fancy references—he wasn’t the theater kid vibe type, just sharing his raw acting instincts.

Still can't get over how amazing the puppy is. So this is what acting looks like from an actor's perspective...

I thought Lu Xu's daily life revolved entirely around luxury cars and designer brands, but his writing turned out to be much simpler than I imagined. He actually wrote two articles totaling more than 10,000 words—truly impressive.

"No fancy cars here, just several mountain bikes (if they haven’t been stolen)."

I don't have much else to say except that Lu Xu truly loves his character. That passion clearly comes through in his writing.

"As expected from a Contention Award-winning actor, so strong!!!!"

Lu Xu was showered with praise.

After finishing his new film, Lu Xu attended several meetings and formal events. In videos and live screenshots, he always appeared patient and earnest, never giving off the impression of merely going through the motions.

"Lu Xu is the perfect handsome package in my eyes."

"He looks incredibly handsome in a suit, and—as a current film student—I carefully read Lu Xu’s articles. Such genuinely thoughtful insights. Actors can really learn something from them."

"But I feel like with Lu Xu, some people probably think he's a pain."

"Me too..."

For others in the entertainment industry, Lu Xu's presence also has downsides—such as during box office battles, or now.

To fans, Lu Xu’s articles are sincere, but to some, he's simply being pretentious and stirring up trouble.

"What exactly do audiences like about Lu Xu?"

"Lu Xu’s fans call Liu Rennong pretentious, but isn’t he just as pretentious as Liu Rennong?"

The image of Lu Xu dressed in a suit and attentively taking notes during lectures was worlds apart from other celebrities who couldn’t even bother with pen and paper.

Appearance-wise, the difference was equally noticeable.

Just by showing up at an event, Lu Xu unintentionally managed to offend quite a few people.

He hadn’t expected marketers to latch onto this point.

But Lu Xu felt that, despite being a meeting, the content wasn’t as boring as he’d imagined. Perhaps considering the knowledge level of entertainment professionals, some parts actually had real substance.

As for offending people... well, he was always offending someone anyway. He was used to it by now.

Although he didn’t attend the event, Lu Xu ended up doing several Q&A sessions—even getting invited by a top drama school.

During his rise to fame as an actor, Lu Xu’s only flaw was his lack of formal training. When he first started in TV dramas, he faced mockery from fans of theater-trained actors.

Mocking his low academic credentials was one thing, but more importantly, they felt threatened—there's only so much room at the top, and limited resources: drama roles, commercial deals, fashion opportunities. Every time Lu Xu moved up, someone got pushed down.

Even after achieving success, some still mocked him for his awkward moments during his Verse period.

Not having formal training made it seem like Lu Xu was naturally at a disadvantage.

But now, even formal acting schools were inviting him, finally filling that gap.

There was more to the story.

Because this top drama school had "lowered itself" to invite a non-traditional actor, some netizens declared it was no longer elite, demoting it from a domestic top-ranked film school to "has-been" status.

Lu Xu sighed—his list of sins had just grown longer.

Yet he boasted he could single-handedly alter public perception of an institution.

...

Summer break came in a flash. Lu Xu’s films always dropped during peak seasons, and he knew how cutthroat these slots were.

In contrast, summer releases didn’t fight as dirty—after all, the extended schedule allowed ample time for hype to build.

By early July, aside from domestic blockbusters, a slew of foreign blockbusters were also released. After summer vacation began, at least two big-budget films hit theaters every week, covering every genre imaginable—far more varied than those during the National Day or Spring Festival seasons.

Lu Xu scrolled through timelines of several film bloggers and noticed that the week of *Number A77*'s release seemed relatively quiet, with no real challengers.

"...Could it be that they're avoiding *Number A77*?"

"No production team would admit it, but I'm really suspicious."

"It is quite strange... Wasn’t *Number A77* just an ordinary commercial film with some special effects at best, something Lu Xu 'sold out for'? Why was nobody throwing down against it?"

"Hmm... An ordinary commercial film with special effects—if we’re being precise, the last movie that fit this description was *Night Sky Observations*."

"..."

"...Speechless."

In any case, whether it was the platforms initially predicting *Number A77* to gross 3 billion yuan right off the bat or the film "selecting" a relatively quiet slot in the summer schedule, both were clear indicators of Lu Xu’s current box office appeal.

Then, *Number A77* unleashed a trailer.

The immediate effect? Platforms revised their box office forecast for *Number A77* upward—to 3.5 billion yuan.

All from just one trailer.

Because the comments section was flooded with keyboard-smashing “AAAAAA” screams.

"...LU XU SUPERMODE ERA!!!!!"

"How could they blueball fans like this for so long?! How dare they withhold such gorgeous visuals from us sooner?!!"

"Handsome, handsome, handsome—I’m deceased!!!!!"

In the trailer, Lu Xu looked even more striking than a professional male model, oozing icy badassery—a side of him fans had never seen before.

Artistically, *Number A77* couldn’t compare to Lu Xu’s other films. It was wall-to-wall hotness, pure and unadulterated. His character was cold yet breathtakingly attractive, every frame slayed—his ruthless, decisive action sequences delivering maxed-out eye-gasms.

From the fans' perspective, Lu Xu should churn out a dozen more of these.

"If the trailer shows Lu Xu in this kind of role, it means over 50% of his scenes will look like this, which means *Number A77* is an outstanding film. The math checks out."

"I agree—the above comment is brilliant. No notes."

Even before its official release, *Number A77*'s presales surpassed *Night Sky Observations*, ranking first among all summer releases.

Hot-take accounts crowed that the film industry had entered the era of "male beauty," while others argued that if *Number A77* had no plot to speak of, it would be nothing more than a glorified screensaver—and if such a film achieved high box office returns, it would be an insult to actual cinephiles.

However, no matter how critics judged it, nothing could change the fact that *Number A77* had become the most anticipated film of the summer.

This year’s summer box office was exceptionally competitive, with six or seven overseas VFX-heavy blockbusters—from mechas to monsters to aliens—dominating screens. Creatures of all kinds got beaten up across genres, and ticket sales were generally strong. On the domestic front, family dramas, VFX spectacles, comedies, youth films, thrillers, and animated features took swings at each other, with similarly tight competition.

Unlike the head-to-head clashes of the Spring Festival season, the summer box office was more of a relay race, with productions taking turns in the spotlight. While the fights between studios weren’t as fierce, the films stayed clawing at each other’s numbers.

The summer box office is large enough that it can't be drained by just one or two films.

As the lead actor of *Number A77*, Lu Xu dove into his grueling promotional tour, moving daily from the sweltering outdoors to freezing-cold air-conditioned rooms. Unsurprisingly, he caught a cold.

No matter where the crew went for promotions or what events they attended, Lu Xu was always there.

He knew very well that a lot of the audience was there just for him.

Lu Xu had always considered himself built like a tank, rarely falling ill no matter how much he worked. This sudden cold hit him hard—on the first day, he felt dizzy from the chill, and by the second day, he was down with a high fever, too sick to get out of bed.