Became the best actor, the system just finished loading

Chapter 404 "Flying Swords of Dragon Gate" Released

Qi Hao has had very few films and TV series released this year. There is one film, "Flying Swords of Dragon Gate," in which he only acted but did not invest, which will be released at the end of the year.

This is a project invested in by Bernard Investments.

Bernard completed its IPO on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange at the end of last year, with an offering price of $8.5.

The stock closed at $6.58 on its first day of trading after the IPO, down $1.92, or 22.6%.

By December of this year, the first anniversary of Berna's IPO, its stock price had fallen from the offering price of $8.50 to $4.41, a drop of 48%.

Its current market value is $2.7 million.

Yu Dong explained that the current low stock price of Berna is mainly due to poor liquidity—there are many long-term investors, and even if hedge funds acquire the stock, they choose to hold it for the long term because they are optimistic about Chinese films.

No one is buying, so the stock price can't rise.

That sounds reasonable.

In fact, Qi Hao didn't understand why Yu Dong was so determined to go to NASDAQ.

Your company headquarters and revenue are all in China, and you have absolutely no brand recognition in the United States. Americans don't pay any attention to you at all, so why would they buy your stock?

Zhonghao Entertainment is also seeking to go public.

However, it definitely won't go to Nasdaq; it will either be listed in Hong Kong or on the A-share market, with the latter being the most likely.

There's another rather awkward aspect to "Flying Swords of Dragon Gate".

Its release date overlapped with that of "Lost in Thailand 2" and "The Flowers of War", creating a three-way competition.

Zhang Yimou and Xu Ke are both top-tier directors. In the past, no one would have compared Qi Hao to them.

It's a duel between two titans, what does it have to do with a young kid like you?

however……

Now there are even Qi Hao's fans making a fuss online:

You two come at me together.

Where is Feng Xiaogang? Didn't he say he was going to make a final push in the Lunar New Year film season? Why did he run away?

I want to hit ten!
I'm not targeting anyone in particular, I'm saying everyone here is trash!

But actually, Qi Hao was not the director of "Lost in Thailand 2". It's just that his personal prestige is so high that people overlook that the director was someone else.

Just like Xu Ke wasn't the director of "A Chinese Ghost Story" and "New Dragon Gate Inn".

However, Qi Hao is the lead actor, screenwriter, and producer, so it's not too far-fetched to say that the movie is his.

On the contrary, "Empresses in the Palace," invested by Feiyang Media, did not receive the expected popularity, and Zheng Xiaolong's brand seemed to have lost its effectiveness.

The main reason is that there was "Palace" before and "Scarlet Heart" after, and these two popular dramas are still going through a second and third round of ratings battles.

In the grand pot of ratings, it's already difficult to get a share.

Moreover, although "Palace" and "Scarlet Heart" were popular, they also brought a lot of negative impacts.

The TV series is too far-fetched and seriously contradicts history.

Moreover, similar to the previous "Bad Pig Princess", it is easy to mislead the public and make people feel a strong sense of goodwill towards this historical period.

There are already rumors that the quota for period dramas will be reduced.

Television stations are heavily influenced by Zheng Ce, so they have become more conservative in both purchasing and promotion.

So Zheng Xiaolong decided to start building a reputation by working on terrestrial channels.

The first broadcast was on Shaoxing News Channel.

Because it's a local channel, although the viewership is decent, its influence hasn't expanded at all.

It received far less attention than its sibling film, "Lost in Thailand 2".

Last year, Zhonghao Entertainment released several blockbuster movies with amazing returns on investment, but only the "Lost in Thailand" series released a second installment.

Whether the second installment can surpass the first will be a good test of Zhonghao Entertainment's overall strength.

For example, Feng Xiaogang's films, such as "If You Are the One" (3.4 million yuan) and "If You Are the One 2" (5 million yuan), have a very solid track record, and there will be audiences for any sequels he makes.

There might even be a third season of "If You Are the One".

However, the most anticipated film for Qi Hao is actually "The Mister 2".

First-mover advantage can create a preconceived notion.

Bangbang is currently remaking "The Man from Nowhere" and has cast Won Bin as the lead actor.

Won Bin is considered a top-tier handsome man in the Korean entertainment industry, but his own fans don't support him playing the role, believing it's a desecration of Qi Hao's portrayal of the older man.

It's very outrageous.

Who is this guy, Bangbang? He's supposed to be number one in the universe, yet he has such opinions.

It can only be said that Qi Hao's portrayal of the uncle is too deeply ingrained in people's minds.

However, "Uncle 2" won't be released anytime soon, because Qi Hao has to work on a film that can win Best Picture and a film that can reflect social responsibility, so he simply doesn't have time to participate in "Uncle 2".

"The Legend of Zhen Huan" is a TV series that his family invested in, and Qi Hao doesn't mind.

It just so happens that the newly acquired Bilibili lacks content.

So he bought the online streaming rights to "Empresses in the Palace" under the name of Bilibili.

However, the price is not one yuan as rumored.

Although Bilibili and "Empresses in the Palace" are both owned by Qi Hao, and this transaction is somewhat like a transfer from one hand to the other, the main investor in "Empresses in the Palace" is Feiyang Media, in which Gao Fei holds the majority stake.

Even if Gao Fei agreed to buy it for one yuan, Qi Hao didn't want to take advantage of the situation.

Furthermore, if the online streaming rights for this TV series are sold for only one yuan, and are given away cheaply, it will not only affect the sales of other aspects of the TV series, but may also affect the reputation of the TV series.

So Bilibili immediately offered 20 million. Poor Bilibili general manager, his annual revenue is usually only a few hundred thousand, he hardly ever pays his salary, and he relies entirely on pirated anime to make a living. When has he ever fought such a lucrative battle?

Besides the fact that Qi Hao offered him a huge sum, another reason he sold Bilibili was the overwhelming wave of copyright infringement; he simply had to sell it.

The government has taken the lead in cracking down on all forms of film and television piracy.

All video websites must spend real money to acquire copyrights.

The old small workshop model will be completely eliminated.

Only those who have a big tree to lean on can enjoy its shade.

The same applies to "My Love from the Star"; the online streaming rights will be sold to Bilibili.

After the second round of broadcasting ends, it will be available on internet platforms.

Moreover, these are all online streaming rights held by everyone.

Bilibili gains a greater advantage than other video websites simply because of the films and TV series produced by Zhonghao Entertainment.

The online streaming rights for "Flying Swords of Dragon Gate" are also under negotiation.

Since Berna himself did not own a video website, nor did he have any close business dealings with any video website, he wanted to sell the online streaming rights of "Flying Swords of Dragon Gate" to Qi Hao.

Asking price: 30 million!

There was no other way; "Flying Swords of Dragon Gate" had an investment of 200 million yuan, and to break even, it had to gross 600 million yuan at the box office.

With "Lost in Thailand 2" and "The Flowers of War" being released at the same time, it's extremely difficult to achieve a box office of 600 million yuan.

Yu Dong then thought about finding some ways to make money elsewhere.

Qi Hao rejected him without hesitation.

Why don't you go for 30 million? In the current online streaming rights market, 20 million is already the highest price.

I'd be embarrassed to spend 30 million even if I were just transferring money from my left hand to my right.

Where does your confidence come from?

You look like someone with a million dollars.

However, even though the deal fell through, goodwill remained. As the second male lead in "Flying Swords of Dragon Gate," Qi Hao attended every promotional event he could.

He's much more diligent than Li Lianjie.

Both "The Flowers of War" and "Flying Swords of Dragon Gate" were released in mainland China on December 15.

One shouted "International".

One person shouted "3D".

Their stance of challenging each other in the ring was very obvious.

In order to compete head-to-head, "The Flowers of War" moved its release date from the original December 16th to December 15th.

The two old men seemed a bit impatient.

The media described the battle as "bare-knuckle fighting."

Actually, it wasn't that Xu Ke and Zhang Yimou came to the old man to have a battle that would determine who was superior and who would live or die.

This is a matter of "grudges" between Zhang Weiping and Yu Dong.

Back in 2006, Yu Dong's "Confession of Pain" was defeated by Zhang Yimou's "Curse of the Golden Flower".

However, it was revealed that the producers of "Curse of the Golden Flower" had signed a one-month exclusive screening agreement with digital cinemas, which led to a complaint from Berna for "bullying the market." Zhang Weiping denied the "agreement" claim, and the two film moguls thus developed a grudge.

In 2009, the two producers' films, "A Simple Noodle Story" and "Bodyguards and Assassins," met again during the Lunar New Year holiday season.

Although "A Simple Noodle Story" did not receive the same critical acclaim as "Bodyguards and Assassins," it earned more money.

From a purely business perspective, "A Simple Noodle Story" wins.

Competing against blockbuster films during the Lunar New Year season has almost become a "habit" for Yu Dong and Zhang Weiping.

We've run into each other again.

On the other hand, "Lost in Thailand 2" was completely devoid of any tension and even chose to be released on a Sunday.

The film was released on December 18, 2011.

Ye Weimin chose this day because it was Qi Hao's birthday.

Jiang Wen had already pulled this stunt before.

Ye Weimin copied the homework exactly, how could he possibly make a mistake?

Yip Wai-man had no confidence in either "Flying Swords of Dragon Gate" or "The Flowers of War," and he had come to terms with it.

Anyway, he won't lose face even if he loses.

If we win... that would be a pleasant surprise.

Qi Hao attended the premiere of "Flying Swords of Dragon Gate". He and An Feng both starred in the film, so they naturally went together.

As the second male lead, a good box office performance for the movie would also benefit him.

The premieres of Zhang Yimou's "The Flowers of War" were held on the same day, creating a choice between attending Xu Ke's or Zhang Yimou's event.

Overall, Xu Ke is still not as popular as Zhang Yimou in mainland China.

The premiere over there was a huge success, with many international stars in attendance, making it comparable to an international film festival.

But actually, "Flying Swords of Dragon Gate" is not weak either.

After all, it's a major production by Bernard, and it also features big-name stars like Li Lianjie, Zhou Xun, Qi Hao, and An Feng.

However, no matter how lively the premiere is, it will ultimately come down to box office success and word-of-mouth.

(End of this chapter)