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When examined by the market again, Xu Zheng found that everything had changed.

In 2012, he changed his career and released his first film, Lost in Thailand, which he directed and starred in. It became the first Chinese-language film in China to gross over 1 billion yuan.

As an actor, Xu Zheng entered the "loser track" with his acting skills and gained a lot of favor from the audience.

In the days that followed, Xu Zheng became a kind of box office guarantee. He directed "Lost in Hong Kong" and "Lost in Russia" in succession, becoming the second director in China to have a box office of over 10 billion yuan. During the process, he continued to invest in movies, served as a producer, and appeared on various variety shows.

It is precisely because of his multiple identities that Xu Zheng's popularity with the audience has been increasingly fragmented. More serious crises have also begun to appear in his career:

In early 2020, Xu Zheng skipped the theaters and sold "Lost in Russia" to ByteDance, setting a precedent for the online premiere of theater movies, which caused boycotts in the film industry.

Later in 2021, Zhang Ting and his wife's company was exposed to be involved in pyramid selling activities, and the media soon discovered that Xu Zheng and Tao Hong had close ties with Zhang Ting's business empire.

To the film industry, Xu Zheng became the person who broke the rules, and to the public, he became a shrewd businessman who was good at "harvesting leeks."

As factors continued to accumulate, the boomerang of fate caused Xu Zheng to "collapse" in a very new way.

When he handed in his test paper again and released the movie "Reverse Life", Xu Zheng suddenly discovered that the public's scoring standards had already changed.

After four years, Xu Zheng released his fourth film "Reverse Life", which he directed and acted in.

As a realistic subject, the story told by "Reverse Life" is not complicated: a man in a mid-life crisis chooses to become a delivery man and regains his strength in the ups and downs of life.

However, the film has been controversial since its initial promotion. Its story has been described as "consuming suffering" and the characters in the film are full of "lofty fantasies". Even more incisive comments are:

“Poor people spend money to go to the cinema to watch rich people play themselves.”

Looking back at the several works directed and acted by Xu Zheng, from "Lost in Thailand" in 2012 to the later "Lost in Hong Kong" and "Lost in Russia", the overall framework of the story is basically the same:

A middle-aged man who once had a smooth life suddenly encountered a huge setback and was forced to "come down to earth". While getting along with people who were once from different classes from him, the story and the characters gradually became sublimated.

Xu Zheng has never denied that the theme of the films he shoots is "midlife crisis."

But why were the first three films successful, but "Life in the Past" failed?

Putting aside the topic of the film itself, there are more complicated reasons behind it.

On the one hand, compared with last year, the overall summer box office in 2024 fell by more than 40%. The best performing film was "Catching Dolls" starring Shen Teng and Ma Li, which has currently box office exceeded 3 billion.

In addition, neither Chen Sicheng's "The Decryption" nor Wuershan's "Under the Alien" failed to break through the siege during the summer season.

On the other hand, it is Xu Zheng’s personal reason.

During the 2020 Spring Festival, when most movies announced their withdrawal, Xu Zheng decided to skip the theaters and broadcast "Lost in Russia" online. This action broke the rules of movie theaters and pushed Xu Zheng into the category of "a cunning businessman."

At that time, many cinemas and people in the film industry jointly boycotted it, so when "Reverse Life" was first released, some cinemas publicly stated that they would not schedule screenings for it.

In addition, in 2022, the brand "TST Ting Secret" founded by Zhang Ting and his wife was suspected of being involved in a pyramid scheme. During the process, some media revealed that not only Xu Zheng was the image ambassador of the "Zheng Wine Series" under Zhang Ting's brand, but his wife Tao Hong was also a shareholder of Zhang Ting's company.

In the past few years, the couple has helped Zhang Ting and her husband with public publicity many times.

Xu Zheng's reputation took a sharp turn for the worse.

In 2023, Zhejiang Satellite TV's variety show "Youth Travels 4" originally invited Xu Zheng as a permanent guest. After the poster was released, it was immediately opposed by many netizens.

During that period, Xu Zheng reduced the frequency of appearing in the public eye, but unexpectedly, the fire still burned the movie that he cared about most.

Looking back, as early as 2013, after filming "Lost in Thailand", Xu Zheng wanted to make a movie about human nature, but in the end, he chose the "safer" "Lost in Hong Kong".

Xu Zheng knew clearly that at that time, the public's expectations of him would always be the "囧 series".

In 2020, "Lost in Russia" became the last work in the "Lost in Russia series". After that, Xu Zheng was finally able to shoot the "true story" that he had been thinking about for many years.

Unfortunately, during this period, his image as a businessman became more and more popular, and the frequent decline in his reputation also caused his popularity with the audience to begin to decline.

Perhaps, if "Reverse Life" had been filmed 10 years earlier, the result would have been different.

Before becoming a "shrewd businessman", Xu Zheng viewed himself as a "literary youth" for a long time.

Xu Zheng entered the entertainment industry very early. When he was in the third grade of elementary school, he was selected by a teacher from the Shanghai Children's Palace to star in the children's play "Examination" and joined the drama class of the Children's Palace.

When he was a little older, he was selected into the Youth Palace. Every day after school, he would run to the Lyceum Theatre with his script to rehearse lines with veteran actors.

In 1994, Xu Zheng graduated from the Shanghai Theatre Academy and joined the Shanghai Drama Art Center. Four years later, he won the first Magnolia Award in his life for the drama "The Color of Stocks".

In the same year, Xu Zheng directed and starred in two plays, "Mother" and "Crowded". Because the content was too avant-garde, Xu Zheng was questioned by many people: "I was very excited at the time and even argued with people."

That was the worst time for stage plays, with no money and no audiences.

Although Xu Zheng fought back fiercely in the face of doubts, he also realized that no matter how avant-garde the content of his creation is, it will be meaningless if no one understands it and it is difficult to spread.

After changing his mindset, Xu Zheng moved from Shanghai to Beijing and shifted the focus of his career from drama to film and television. He starred in the TV series "The Legend of the White Snake". That year, the drama swept all major satellite TV stations and set a new record in ratings.

In the following years, he starred in TV series such as "Love Across Time and Space" and "Li Wei as an Official", accumulating his fame in the film and television industry.

But the real "ascension" came in 2006, when Xu Zheng and Tao Hong were already married and they shared the same email address.

Once, Ning Hao sent a letter to Tao Hong, asking her to play the girlfriend of the third male character "Dao Ge" in his movie "Crazy Stone". After reading the script, Xu Zheng immediately contacted Ning Hao and said to him, "If Tao Hong doesn't come, I will."

At that time, the 29-year-old Ning Hao had 3 million yuan given by Andy Lau and a very low budget. Xu Zheng understood Ning Hao's difficulties. He came to shoot for more than 20 days and left the crew without taking a penny. He only said to Ning Hao:

"Just think of me next time you're filming."

"Crazy Stone" received extremely high praise that year and also became the starting point of the "iron triangle combination" of Xu Zheng, Ning Hao and Huang Bo.

In 2010, Xu Zheng starred in his last play, "Das Kapital", in which he played a drama actor who ran around to raise money.

At that time, Xu Zheng did not expect that the plot would soon become a reality.

In the same year that he starred in Das Kapital, the movie Lost on Journey, starring Xu Zheng, was released and received good box office and reputation.

The film director Ye Weimin is from Hong Kong, China, and is not familiar with the film context in the mainland. On the set, Xu Zheng became "more like a director", often explaining the scenes to the actors and providing many laughs in the content.

This experience gave Xu Zheng the idea of ​​becoming a director.

In 2011, Xu Zheng took the script "Lost in Thailand" which he participated in writing, and began to solicit investment as a director, but was repeatedly rejected.

In the film industry that believes in the "halo of famous directors", Xu Zheng, a "cross-border newcomer" who wants to become a director, has no persuasive power at all.

With the introduction of his good friend Chen Zhixi, Xu Zheng met Wang Changtian, chairman of Light Media.

Initially, Xu Zheng proposed an investment of 20 million. Wang Changtian hoped that he could reduce the budget a bit, but Xu Zheng insisted that the amount was calculated precisely and if it was reduced further, it would affect the quality of the film.

After several negotiations, Guangxian increased the budget to nearly 30 million.

At the end of 2012, "Lost in Thailand" was released. The box office reached 38 million on the first day and eventually sold nearly 1.3 billion, becoming the first Chinese-language film in China to gross over 1 billion.

The market value of its main investor, Light Media, increased by billions in just one month, and its share price increased several times.

"Lost in Thailand" created a new model, and investors began to realize that in the film market, the combination of low cost and new directors can actually make a lot of money.

For Xu Zheng, his first battle as a director was not only a great victory, but also changed the direction of the battlefield.

Once, Xu Zheng went to a psychology class, and the teacher asked him to draw a tree and a house on paper. Xu Zheng drew a few strokes, and the picture showed a big tree and a small house.

The teacher said to him: "The tree represents your career. You spend too much energy on your career. You should draw the house bigger. It's out of proportion."

Looking back now, Xu Zheng did have a strong sense of career ambition during those years.

After Lost in Thailand became a huge success, Xu Zheng received 10% of the film's profits, plus the share from Guangguang, he earned a total of 50 million.

Although the amount of money was not small, after witnessing the skyrocketing share price of Guangxian, Xu Zheng realized that only by investing personally could he maximize his profits.

In 2013, the film "Lost in Hong Kong" was approved, and the investor had become "Beijing Zhenledao Culture Communication Co., Ltd." jointly established by Xu Zheng and Tao Hong.

That year, on the first day of its release, Lost in Hong Kong grossed nearly 200 million yuan at the box office, and eventually took in a total of 1.8 billion yuan.

Before the release of "Lost in Hong Kong", Xu Zheng and Ning Hao invested in "Huanxi Media" together and started walking on two legs.

Afterwards, Huanxi Media invested in popular films such as "Dying to Survive", "Win the Championship", "Crazy Alien", and "One Second".

Xu Zheng also began to invest in many new directors, such as Wen Muye's "Dying to Survive", Chen Zhengdao's "Hypnotist", Su Lun's "Time Raiders", etc.

In total, he has participated in the investment of more than 20 films, with a total box office of 18 billion, including many works with low production costs that were not favored in the early stages.

Because of his unique investment vision, Xu Zheng was once known as "the most investment-savvy actor in the director circle" for a period of time.

At the same time, in the field of investment, he always manages to optimize capital.

Just as in early 2020, Xu Zheng and his investor Huanxi Media sold "Lost in Russia" to Toutiao for 630 million yuan, setting a precedent for the online broadcast of blockbuster movies. Although this move attracted a lot of criticism, from a commercial perspective, the film not only made a profit, but also caused Huanxi's stock price to soar by 43%, and its market value soared by 2 billion yuan.

The huge commercial success did not make Xu Zheng happy, but instead pushed him into a process of thinking about his own identity.

For a long time, Xu Zheng did not like the title of "director". On the other hand, he considered himself a "failed actor".

Once, Xu Zheng saw a question on the Internet: "When it comes to acting talent, who do you think of first?" There were more than 1,000 replies under the question, and Xu Zheng read through them from beginning to end:

"I saw that everyone's was mentioned, but mine wasn't."

After "Lost in Hong Kong", Xu Zheng disappeared from the big screen for three years until 2018, when he regained his identity as an "actor" in the movie "Dying to Survive" directed by Wen Muye.

"Dying to Survive" became the dark horse of the box office that year, and was rated 9.0 by 2.2 million users on Douban. Xu Zheng was once again widely discussed for his "acting skills".

On Zhihu, someone commented on Xu Zheng: "Xu Zheng without hair mostly plays funny roles, which are comedies. Xu Zheng with hair mostly plays tragic roles, which make people reflect."

To some extent, this also represents his two pursuits:

On the one hand, you can't lose in business, and on the other hand, you can't lose in creation, but when you have to win in both, everything becomes more difficult.

Xu Zheng never denies that he is "vulgar".

On the talk show "13 Invitations", he once lamented to Xu Zhiyuan: "I really want to work with Lou Ye on a movie, but I am also worried that he might think I am too commercial and look down on me."

But in Xu Zheng's long acting career, he has also left behind many "outstanding" clips.

In 1999, Xu Zheng, who had not yet become "Zhu Bajie", starred in the short film "Criminals" directed by Cheng Er, a low-budget work of only 31 minutes.

At that time, Cheng Er was still a senior at the Beijing Film Academy. This work was his graduation work and was later called "the best graduation work of the Beijing Film Academy."

This movie records Xu Zheng, who was still in his literary and artistic period at that time. Many years later, this short film became popular again, and some fans lamented:

"Xu Zheng's acting is really good, but it's a pity that he is being positioned right now."

Xu Zheng certainly understands the gap between the past and the present. In an interview, he said: "Cheng Er definitely doesn't think highly of me now."

But is Xu Zheng completely "vulgar"?

In recent years, after making money, Xu Zheng has been supporting theater performances. He not only initiated a drama education program, but also looked for capable directors to support at the annual FIRST Film Festival venture capital conference.

For example, in 2020, he served as the producer of the film "Love Myth" by new director Shao Yihui. Not only did he star in the film himself, he also invited Ma Yili, Ni Hongjie, Wu Yue and others to star in it.

In an interview with People, Shao Yihui recalled the collaboration and described Xu Zheng as "a typical Shanghai man, very humble, and respectful of women."

On the set, Shao Yihui had a soft voice and was often ignored by others when he spoke. Xu Zheng would then shout: Everyone be quiet and listen to the director.

Many extras later told us that sometimes the organizers would be very rude to them, and Xu Zheng would always scold them:

"Don't talk to anyone like that. Filming is nothing big. Don't think you have a little power and can disrespect others."

At the end of 2021, "Love Myth" was released and became the highest-rated domestic film on Douban that year, and won two awards at the Golden Rooster Awards the following year.

Shao Yihui thanked Xu Zheng on his official account:

"I really admire him for being willing to give such a big opportunity and trust to a newcomer with no experience."

He Keke, who has worked with Xu Zheng many times, commented that Xu Zheng cherishes his "three reputations": first, the reputation as a good director, second, the reputation as a good actor, and third, the reputation as a producer who "never loses money."

Because of this, every time Xu Zheng decides to direct and act in a film, he always has to grasp these three reputations at the same time, which makes him particularly cautious:

"Whenever I want to go a step further, to be a little bit unconventional, I think the audience will not accept it."

Just as he has mentioned many times in public that he does not like the word "囧", believing that it is a product of the Internet age and has no background. At the same time, he is also aware that in the film market, this word brings its own traffic and appeal.

After realizing this, he hardly struggled. Not only did he shoot the "囧 series" for a full eight years, he also let it run throughout his directorial career.

But because he was too sober, he was unable to get close to the creation that he most desired in his heart:

“Sometimes it feels like the more you know, the further away you are from the answer.”

In 2003, Xu Zheng and Tao Hong got married. After marriage, they settled down in Beijing and Shanghai. In a year, Tao Hong would live in Shanghai for a few months, and Xu Zheng would live in Beijing for the rest of the year.

Occasionally, when it was Xu Zheng's turn to live in Beijing for several months, he would quietly complain: "It tastes bland on my tongue. The food in Beijing is not fresh."

Xu Zheng once lamented that his characteristics and limitations are all Shanghainese:

On the one hand, Shanghai was the starting point of his literary and artistic career and the foundation of many of his later creations. On the other hand, he possessed the Shanghainese stereotype of being "smart and capable".

This clear awareness of self runs through Xu Zheng's career.

He once said: "I think every director shoots something that they want to solve internally. Even a horror film director is solving his own problems."

So Xu Zheng tells the same story over and over again in his movies:

Failure and success always alternate in life, and what a person ultimately faces is inner desire and persistence, and how to rebuild oneself through failure.

There is no doubt that in Xu Zheng's directorial career, "Reverse Life", which has been released for 12 days and has a box office of just over 300 million, is a relative failure. After all, "Lost in Hong Kong" once created a box office of nearly 200 million on the first day of its release.

Now, after this incident, no one knows whether Xu Zheng, as a director, will retreat to the safe zone and continue to create "Xu-style comedies".

No one knows whether Xu Zheng’s popularity with the audience has disappeared temporarily or permanently.

Perhaps the answer can only be given in his next work.