Action films once had a very glorious period.

Action films were briefly the most influential type of Chinese-language films internationally.

But as the film industry developed, action films truly declined, at least they are not as glorious as they used to be.

In Chinese-language films, the most popular genre now is comedy, because comedy films do well at the box office. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Wen Bing’s action blockbuster like "Two Tigers" is not like the past, but more in line with the 007 type of spy genre, with action design and plot design somewhat detached from reality—even if everyone makes everything logically smooth in the film to avoid distortion.

Gunfights, car chases, explosions, large-scale scenes—these are elements that current action films cannot avoid.

In this "Female Assassin," the same elements are present.

Zhou Yun didn’t know what to say; she felt it wasn’t something she could consider.

What kind of movies audiences like or dislike—it’s not something she can decide.

After finishing dinner and sending off the martial arts instructor, Liu Gang said, "Miss Zhou, please forgive; Elder Chen was just lamenting that martial arts actions are becoming less valued, nothing else."

Zhou Yun shook her head with a smile, saying, "I’m fine."

She curiously asked, "Brother Gang, do you usually shoot many action movies?"

Liu Gang said, "It’s okay; I make a living. I don’t get many important roles, but I get seven or eight contracts a year, enough to live."

Actors like Liu Gang, although they have martial arts skills, lack fame and a fixed fan base; no film company tailors roles for him, only when such a role in a script requires it, they’ll find him.

Most roles are probably like in "Female Assassin," just appearing in the film as a symbol.

No background or storyline, merely taking on the role of a tool like an assassin.

Actually, there are many actors like Liu Gang in the film industry; they are not famous like Zhou Yun, not celebrities, besides filming, they have basically no other income source, but their pay isn’t high. Shooting seven or eight movies a year might only bring an income of around 200,000, and this is for someone like Liu Gang with a skill; if not an action or specialized actor, with more substitutes, income is even lower.

In such an industry with a large floating income space, this income is very low.

Unless compared with mass actors.

Zhou Yun was curious about how much Liu Gang could earn acting in "Female Assassin" for such a movie, such a role.

For such a major production and a named role, it shouldn’t be just one or two ten thousand, right?

Zhou Yun went to ask Zhou Lan.

Zhou Lan said, "If nothing goes wrong, it should be in the range of 50,000 to 200,000, considering New Shield’s stinginess, I guess it would be 100,000."

"That’s good, still much higher than his other films." Zhou Yun said.

Zhou Lan: "What’s up? Why are you suddenly curious about his income?"

"I just suddenly wondered how much an actor like him, without much fame, could earn."

"Earn more or less, anyway, it’s more than most industries, enough to be well-fed, but more is hard." Zhou Lan said, "This industry is a typical case of extreme income disparity, Liu Gang is already one of the better ones, action actors, opening so many films a year, action actors are always in short supply, while general actors often cannot start work for months, scratching at home."

"Yes." Zhou Yun nodded.

"Don’t mind them then, choosing to be in this line as an actor, you must bear the industry’s risk. If you don’t want to bear it, then switch to another career, many also change to do behind-the-scenes work, management." Zhou Lan said, "Just like Xiaoju, who worked as your assistant for several years, she’s now your executive broker, and her annual income is much higher than Liu Gang’s."

"Hm."

"By the way, Zeng Yeng and Wen Bing probably haven’t had any disputes recently, right?" Zhou Lan asked.

"No."

"That’s good." Zhou Lan said, "A drama that Cheng Shenlv was filming, the production has been halted because the director complained that the platform-appointed producer was too controlling, feeling greatly restricted and unable to continue filming; now the actors have all left the group."

"Wow, it turned out this severe?" Zhou Yun asked astonished.

"Yes, we didn’t expect it to be this severe; there hasn’t been such a mid-production shutdown for a long time in the industry, not even due to a broken funding chain."