Fooling Huayu for Thirty Years

Chapter 434 Earning a Billion a Year! Bingbing's Big Belly

"It has been revealed that there are conflicts between the Hong Kong and mainland personnel involved in the production of 'Twin Dragons of the Tang Dynasty'!"

"Breaking news: One of the mainland actresses was bullied..."

"The filming of 'Twin Dragons of the Tang Dynasty' was plagued with accidents..."

That's how Hong Kong media are; once they have a good target, they'll do everything they can to break the news.

"Twin Dragons of the Tang Dynasty" is their latest target.

This film was originally shot in mainland China, and the Hong Kong media's reach was somewhat lacking.

But recently, it seems like he's regained his energy.

Of course, Ma Xun didn't provide anything specific, and he himself didn't have many details.

The materials inside CCTV's drama production center wouldn't be considered anything special by anyone else.

In other words, Ma Xun is experienced in gossiping, so he can see some of the tricks of the trade.

As for the Hong Kong media... it's actually quite simple. They just need to find some of the actors from that time, right? As long as they pay them the right amount, that's all they need to do.

Ma Xun could at most offer some targeted assistance, and absolutely no one would know that he was the one pulling the strings behind the scenes.

This move was indeed a bit underhanded, but... at this point, what does it matter whether it's underhanded or not!
Sun Donghai is really cunning in poaching my employees, isn't he?
Use force!
Must go!
Is that all there is to it?

of course not!

Don't forget that Ma Xun has always been well-versed in "The Art of War" and has always put its golden words into practice.

Abroad, this work is translated as "Art of War"!
Therefore, the orthodox and the unorthodox must be combined!

Now that the unexpected move has been made, the next step is to play it safe.

Although the production cost of our "Detective Dee" series is indeed not high, we cannot be careless in terms of publicity and distribution!

Of course, Ma Xun had already discussed this matter with Brother Ouyang beforehand. As the director of the TV station, Brother Ouyang naturally supported Ma Xun's 'new model' from the very beginning.

What's more, the investment attraction for this TV series is also surprisingly good!

This is such a wonderful surprise!

In fact, Ouyang Yang's family originally estimated that it would be quite good if the show could get around 1500 million yuan in advertising revenue.

After all, this show wasn't produced by Ma Xun's side. Those big names in advertising only invested in it because of Ma Xun's influence.

Two times would be good enough, but I never expected it to be six times!
No doubt about it, it must be widely publicized!
Therefore, when teachers Liang Guanhua and Zhang Zijian came to Changsha, they were treated like top-tier celebrities.

That's actually not wrong. If you look at their accumulated work, they're definitely top-tier stars!
Our teacher Zhang used to star in martial arts dramas that were popular all over the country.

Needless to say, Teacher Liang's Zhang Damin was incredibly popular.

However, they are relatively low-key, and at this time when many young actors and actresses are emerging, the market response has been somewhat lukewarm.

However, in terms of both ability and reputation, they absolutely deserve to be considered top-tier.

These two were extremely happy with such treatment.

After that, of course, I participated in promotional activities for the drama.

Happy Camp!

The most interesting thing was that Teacher Liang and Teacher Zhang did a live performance on the show.

It's about Di Renjie and Li Yuanfang, and the focus of this performance is:
"Yuan Fang, how do you see?"

That's right, it's this line.

It wasn't actually in the TV series, but the two of them performed this little skit on set.

It actually feels pretty good!

Of course, they themselves had no idea that this line would become a super meme in the future!

Needless to say, it was Ma Xun who did it.

The reason it wasn't added to the show is because the show has already finished filming.

If they're going to be added, we'll have to wait for a future sequel.

Regardless of whether it will be included in the main film, Ma Xun has done his best regarding this future meme.

It's actually quite interesting. This famous meme is very funny, and many netizens have used it since. However, when people try to find the person in question...

As Qian Yanqiu, the creator of this play, once said: I really don't remember there being such a line.

He then carefully checked every episode of the three parts, but couldn't find that line.

However, netizens genuinely felt they had heard this phrase before.

Have our memories been altered?
This seems to be a phenomenon, similar to how the pronunciation of poems in many textbooks was later changed.

What exactly happened is something we'll have to discuss again in a decade or so.

This phrase is still quite pleasing to the eye.

After all, the main focus of our show is detective work.

Now that we've finished airing on Happy Camp, our show will soon be released to the audience.

Let's see what it's really like!
……

Beijing, Huayi Company.

Tonight is destined to be a sleepless night for the Wang brothers.

Anyway, I'm going to watch a show today.

Detective Dee!
Okay, they don't just look at it, they stare at the data.

Naturally, we'll need an undercover agent again this time.

Actually, the so-called undercover work is quite simple; the data wasn't really that confidential to begin with.

In fact, it will be made public later.

However, if you want to know this data as quickly as possible, you'll definitely have to do some manipulation.

Currently, the broadcast time of "Twin Dragons of the Tang Dynasty" is a little later than that of "Detective Dee".

Having already lost twice, the Wang brothers really don't want to lose again.

In fact, Sun Donghai's return is a major boon for the brothers.

The brothers had also heard that Sun Donghai had started a sizable real estate project in Guangzhou.

That's even better! This is money!
When they make movies, their favorite trick is to get investors to invest.

The brothers absolutely adore a wealthy patron like Sun Donghai.

In particular, Sun Donghai has a past grudge against Ma Xun.

perfect!

But is Sun Donghai going to lose his first battle after returning?

No no no.

The Wang brothers felt that even from a deceptive standpoint, they couldn't let Sun Donghai lose.

Let him win so that he will trust us more, and in the future, we will have the opportunity to swindle more money and invest in more projects.

Therefore, the viewership ratings this time...

"coming!"

The Wang brothers immediately tensed up when the phone rang.

But the message coming from the other end of the phone...

The average viewership ratings for the first two episodes of "Detective Dee"...

2.4%!

The Wang brothers felt a chill run down their spines.

what's the situation?
What's happening here?
So far this year, TV drama ratings have generally been on a downward trend.

Even with this result, it's no worse than the classics of the past!
Hunan TV is now broadcast on satellite, so the ratings are really strong!
At least we can brag a bit, the premiere episode broke 2!

The Wang brothers were utterly disheartened.

They are also professionals and know the current situation of the domestic TV drama market.

In other words, according to the CCTV-Sofres ratings reports for domestic TV dramas in recent years...

There's always this phrase: overall viewership ratings are declining.

This phrase seems to appear every year lately.

Although there's always this saying, the TV drama market is always thriving.

Contradiction?
It's not contradictory, because there are many media channels now.

Moreover, competition among local TV stations is fierce.

Basically, all the provincial main stations have been launched into satellites, which means that everyone is now competing in the same arena.

They each displayed their unique talents, employing various methods and underhanded tactics... cough cough.

The competition is fierce, and TV stations are spending lavishly on investing in TV dramas.

The market is certainly thriving.

However, Hunan TV currently has the highest TV drama viewership among all local TV stations.

The previous high this year was only 2.7!

Therefore, "Detective Dee" definitely had a strong start! And the average viewership ratings for Zhejiang TV dramas...

How can we even fight in "Twin Dragons of the Tang Dynasty"?!

The expressions on the Wang brothers' faces clearly indicated that they were about to suffer their third loss!
……

How well is the broadcast of "Twin Dragons of the Tang Dynasty"?

Ma Xun had no interest in knowing.

He admitted that the TV series was of fairly high quality, but it also had many flaws.

We must acknowledge that Mr. Huang is the patriarch of time-travel novels, and it could even be said that he gave many online novel authors a livelihood.

However, Mr. Huang's works are truly yellow.

Anyone familiar with his work will know that Ma Xun was praising him, not slandering him.

However, TVB still has its old problem; they always liked to adapt Mr. Jin Yong's works.

The current adaptation of "Twin Dragons of the Tang Dynasty" is also a complete mess.

The difference from the original work is still quite significant.

But to be fair, this TV series does have some commendable aspects.

For example, the casting of Shi Feixuan was a classic.

And then there's the Empress Dowager, chosen by Weng Hong. Good heavens, she really is a good Empress Dowager...

Actually, Weng Hongren is not bad, just like Brother Jinjiang.

In real life, I am actually very, very introverted.

As for the others, the two male leads were well-chosen, and then there's Fu Junzhuo.

Ma Xun remembered that in the early years, there was a time when it was particularly popular to create stories about Fu Junzhuo in transmigration novels. In those stories, you had to have sex with her.

It's probably related to the actress, Wu Yongwei.

One thing that must be mentioned is that casting her as Yan Ying in the movie version of "Storm Riders" was not a mistake.

Ms. Wu is very sexy and very open-minded in Hong Kong.

Okay, that's all for now.

Ma Xun originally didn't intend to think much about "Twin Dragons of the Tang Dynasty".

What's more, a good show is about to begin.

"effort"!
That's right, Ma Xun went to see a movie, and he watched it in a different way than others.

We've booked the entire venue!

He was the only one in the screening room at that moment.

This was certainly not because he wanted to show off his awesomeness, but because of what happened after he booked the entire venue.

The box office of "Kung Fu Hustle" should now officially and cleanly surpass 200 million.

Ma Xun booked the entire venue at a relatively quiet time.

And so it is calculated.

If we start from "Warriors of Heaven and Earth", then "Incense" in between, and now "Kung Fu Hustle".

Even with the most conservative estimate, he still made a net profit of 200 million.

This only accounts for box office revenue.

If you take other income into account, Ma Xun has already earned around 3 million yuan from domestic films alone before the year is even over.

Then we look at the performance of the artists.

This year, we've already reached 150 million.

The improvement is obviously significant.

There are other copyright issues, as well as website-related issues, and of course, TV series-related issues.

All things considered, the year isn't over yet.

Ma Xun's net profit...

One billion?!
Earning a billion a year?

That's about right. Anyway, considering the circumstances in 2004, Ma Xun was quite satisfied with making so much money.

What more could you ask for!

Of course, the industry is now expanding and becoming more and more numerous, and the Enlight Media Building is about to rise from the ground.

Ma Xun is facing some financial pressure.

Then there's the investment aspect.

He certainly knew he should invest in Tencent, but the problem was that Tencent was currently in the hands of someone else, Lihuang.

Ma Xun made a net profit of one billion yuan in one year, which sounds impressive, but compared to others...

Their strength is indeed not enough.

But that's okay, just be patient.

Ma Xun was certain that the family didn't have much foresight.

Their family's ability to rise to prominence, hehe... just take a quick look and you'll understand how they managed to acquire those lands by sheer coincidence, and how they always managed to secure huge loans from HSBC.

That family is just a bunch of dogs.

Therefore, they will definitely abandon Tencent in the future.

That was the time when I, Ma Xun, entered the 'factory'.

This plan was conceived a long time ago; now we just have to wait for the right opportunity to act.

As for the rest...

"Brother Ma~"

A voice rang in Ma Xun's ear, accompanied by a sweet, cloying fragrance, which also contained the scent of frankincense.

Ma Xun looked and saw it was Bingbing.

"coming."

"Hey~"

Bingbing sat obediently next to Ma Xun, but she was already heavily pregnant.

When will you give birth?

"They...they're not sure either."

Where do you plan to give birth?

"This is still..."

"Don't worry, everything is prepared for your trip to Hong Kong."

"Thank you, Brother Ma."

"Then what else..."

"The name has already been chosen. It will be Chengcheng, and it will take my surname."

"What about external relations..."

"My brother."

"Not bad."

Everything was arranged in just a few words.

So next...

"Brother Ma, they're planning to..."

"Want to spend some tender time together before you leave?"

"Don't you want to?"

Bingbing's eyes were alluring at that moment; the fragrance she had just smelled was probably related to this.

But Ma Xun suddenly said something that surprised Bingbing.

"You specifically wanted to meet Wan Qian?"

Bingbing was taken aback, then looked somewhat aggrieved and said, "As expected, the newcomers surpass the old."

Ma Xun laughed, "Your acting is pretty good now."

"Oh dear, Brother Ma noticed that."

Bingbing no longer looked aggrieved; this little vixen is becoming more and more like that.

So... hiss~
Bingbing doesn't watch movies at all because that little brat is in one of them.

Buried in...

Forget it, although "Kung Fu Hustle" is good, there are things that are more distracting to Ma Xun now.

Ma Xun understood, "Don't worry, there will definitely be resources for you."

Bingbing had complete faith in his credibility, and her smile became even more radiant.

(End of this chapter)