Fooling Huayu for Thirty Years

Chapter 490 Taking advantage of their desperation, Ma Xun unleashes his killing move! "Cloverfield" is released!
"The Banquet shouldn't be called the Banquet; it should be called Pretentious!"

"Yeah, this movie is so pretentious, and the worst part is, it's so embarrassingly pretentious!"

"A bunch of Chinese people, performing Chinese history, but they insist on speaking like British plays. What kind of nonsense is this!"

"Actually, there's another problem: Ge You really can't pull off the role of the usurper uncle."

“Ge You is indeed not bad enough, and besides, as the saying goes: he doesn’t look like a ruler!”

"Zhang Ziyi also contributed some rather daring scenes! It's just a pity that they weren't very good."

"Her figure is too bad, even if she leaks something, it's not interesting..."

A torrent of negative reviews flooded the internet and crashed down on the currently showing film "The Banquet"!

Perhaps, in the beginning, it was indeed because someone set the tone, with those film reviews and those short videos.

But later on, it wasn't just a matter of setting the tone.

Many moviegoers felt that this movie was really hard to watch.

Ultimately, it all comes down to this film, "The Banquet."

Who told you to advertise so aggressively before?
Such a powerful advertising campaign made this movie sound so amazing.

Almost everything in this movie is top-notch; it's meticulously crafted from start to finish.

It's safe to say that everyone's expectations have been raised to the limit.

Who would have thought that when I went to the movie theater, it would turn out to be this kind of thing!
The difference is so great, who can bear it?
This is a complete scam!

They tricked us moviegoers into the theater, only to kill us?

This is a typical case of public opinion backlash.

"The Banquet" looks like it's about to collapse.

The box office drop was much faster than expected, or rather, the Wong brothers never imagined that the film's box office would fall.

They anticipated that the film would continue to rise in popularity.

So now, what should we do?
Huayi Company.

"Does anyone else have a solution? Who else?"

There were others before, who were very arrogant.

The current "who else?" can be described as a desperate thirst for talent.

That's right, the Wong brothers hope someone can provide some solutions. No matter what, as long as it can increase box office revenue, any method will do.

Unfortunately, none of those present, who were supposedly elites in the entertainment industry, dared to speak up.

This is one of Huayi's many recent meetings.

The entire Huayi Company is currently under immense pressure.

These company executives and middle managers are all well aware of this.

The film "The Banquet" is a complete flop; it's beyond saving.

This movie had a huge impact on the company.

The investment was already substantial, and it also consumed a significant amount of the company's advertising resources.

Huayi is still an advertising company to this day, not to mention the crazy restructuring it undertook.

These executives did some private calculations and were absolutely certain that Huayi Company had almost no advertising in the first half of 2006.

They've all been swapped out!

Whether it will happen in the second half of the year... is hard to say.

What's even more alarming is that Huayi Brothers' films are actually financed by bank loans.

That's right, the Wang brothers have made a lot of money, and they also make a lot of money from advertising.

But these two guys were constantly borrowing money from banks to make movies.

Indeed, there are many other investors, but no matter how many investors there are or how much they have invested.

The Wong brothers have consistently used bank loans to finance their films.

The reason why they did this was something that even the senior executives at Huayi dared not ask.

Perhaps it's because doing so would allow for more funds to be used for financial transactions.

Or perhaps there are other reasons.

Anyway, they dared not ask, nor did they want to know.

But now, here comes the problem.

The situation with "The Banquet" is very bad. How can it be saved?

"At least come up with a way to break even!"

He was the eldest son of the Wang family just now, and now he's the second son.

Obviously, once those words came out, everyone knew that these two guys were definitely in big trouble.

I'm afraid Huayi Company will have to...

Probably not, after all, this company is quite strong.

"Both bosses," someone finally spoke, it was Li Xue, "it seems that the only thing we can do right now is... to sue?"

The last character of Li Xue was used in a questioning tone.

This lawsuit is actually a good idea!

Who should we sue?

Of course, it's "A Bloodbath Caused by a Mask"!

In other words, it's about letting the Wang brothers learn from Chen Kaige.

“What’s the use of this!”

The eldest son of the Wang family denied it in a harsh voice.

Yes, it didn't work, but that's not the problem.

Li Xue remained silent after that, and the other executives offered no good solutions.

If neither of you can do anything, what can we do?
Having no other choice, the two kings had to let the group go back first.

As for methods... Chen Guofu did come up with some, but unfortunately, they were of little use.

This includes constantly smearing Gao Yuanyuan's new movie!

Yes, they insult our opponents!

After all, at this point in time, these two movies are the most important.

If we can eliminate our competitors, we'll definitely dominate in terms of screen time.

But... it didn't work!
It's like you can badmouth someone, but they don't care at all.

Even when a reporter interviewed Gao Yuanyuan, they asked her about it.

It seems that many people didn't understand this movie.

How Gao Yuanyuan responded:

It should be alright. This movie isn't too difficult to understand. Hmm, maybe I should watch it a couple more times.

Good guy, really good guy!

Not only do they refuse to acknowledge their own problems, but they also ask people to watch it a couple more times?
Of course, Gao Yuanyuan's statement is not entirely unreasonable.

In fact, many movie fans have said so.

If you don't understand it, that's your own problem!

Try to find the reasons within yourself.

Therefore, the only problem with the movie "Yesterday Me and Tomorrow You" is that it's hard to understand.

As for "The Banquet," it has far too many flaws.

So, keeping it dark is useless.

Looking at the box office, Gao Yuanyuan's film is indeed not as good as "The Banquet".

But now it has exceeded 2000 million.

As far as romance movies go, this is a preview screening with a certain viewing threshold.

This result isn't bad.

The box office for "The Banquet" needs to be doubled, but even that is not enough!

According to the expectations of both Wang and Da Wang, "The Banquet" should have grossed over 100 million yuan by now!
Unfortunately, I can't touch it at all.

The key point is that, under such circumstances, "The Banquet" actually had a higher number of screenings than "Yesterday Me".

However, the performance of "The Banquet" has been getting worse and worse.

Theaters are complaining bitterly!

Qin Hong was clearly gritting his teeth and forcing himself to stay upright.

Other cinema chains, however, don't have such a positive attitude.

Change!
They absolutely have to be replaced! You can imagine the pressure the two kings are under now.

The executives at Huayi are under immense pressure!

However, what the two kings don't know is that after the meeting, Li Xue immediately found a private space and called Ma Xun.

……

Palm Springs Villa, USA.

Ma Xun did not continue in China because the film "Cloverfield" had another key market: the United States.

Now, Li Xue's phone rang.

"What did you say? They're in a hurry?"

"Correct."

"Are you sure? What evidence do you have?"

"I have no evidence, but I am very certain."

"Oh, I see..."

"Do you believe me?"

"Okay! I choose to believe you!"

"Mr. Ma, you are truly the best man I have ever met."

"Your assessment is a bit strange."

"I won't bother you anymore."

Li Xue's behavior was really strange.

This woman probably had a child with Ma Xun. The reason for saying "probably" is that the child's identity is not yet fully confirmed.

But given that they already have this kind of relationship, Li Xue's behavior is like that of a 'partner'.

Yes, this is probably what people often call a sense of propriety.

Ma Xun didn't pay much attention to this; his mind was still analyzing the information provided by Li Xue.

The Wang brothers are in a hurry... this is really important.

In fact, Li Xue was able to reach this conclusion because of the method she provided to the Wang brothers at the meeting.

告。

Based on Chen Kaige's previous case, Huayi Brothers is almost certain to win this lawsuit.

However, this announcement has a major drawback.

We are certain to win, but we can't get the money immediately.

It might involve a court hearing or something, and could drag on for six months to a year.

The case between Chen Kaige and Hu Ge was only resolved a year later.

Of course, Chen Kai didn't actually ask for much money.

The main purpose was to apologize.

But this time, we could actually sue Douban.com.

However, that would take even longer.

Putting all that aside, let's just talk about the performance of the Wang brothers.

They both immediately rejected it.

So it's obvious that they are in a hurry.

They wanted immediate results.

Or rather, they want money that comes out in no time!
Li Xue didn't tell Ma Xun the details because she felt that Ma Xun would most likely not believe the reasoning she was giving.

Moreover, it could also cause some misunderstandings.

After all, Li Xue's suggestion to the two kings was to have them sue Douban.com.

What if Ma Xun becomes suspicious?
In reality, Li Xue really underestimated Ma Xun, but of course, she can't be blamed for that.

How could Li Xue possibly know that Ma Xun had seen far too many strange things?

For example, Ma Xun has seen aircraft used to receive missiles.

For example, Ma Xun has also seen a commander receiving a missile.

What I'm saying is, back in 2005, who could believe these kinds of things?

But, 20 years later, these things... Anyway, Ma Xunzhen is no ordinary person.

So, Ma Xun believed her!
Ma Xun did not lie to Li Xue; he genuinely chose to believe him.

After all, this woman has given birth to his child. If he still doesn't believe her, that would be too much, wouldn't it?
After thinking for a while, a smile appeared on Ma Xun's face.

Take action! Take action immediately!
……

In the last few days of 2005, a piece of news bombarded the Chinese entertainment industry!

"Bingbing's latest blockbuster is about to be released!"

"Cloverfield" is a Sino-US co-production!

"This is the most unexpected attack in the Lunar New Year film season!"

"What about the publicity? Was there any prior announcement?"

"Those daily posts Bingbing shared before were all for publicity!"

"This will be a very novel sci-fi film!"

It really had the effect of a bombing.

With "The Banquet" falling short of expectations and "Yesterday Me" having a viewing threshold, the film's success is hampered by several factors.

This year's Lunar New Year film season was indeed quite lackluster.

Then, how about we get one fried!
Cloverfield, Bingbing's latest masterpiece, is characterized by its novel marketing approach.

A lot of confidentiality work was done beforehand.

The world premiere is currently underway, but before that, almost no one knew anything about the film.

However, some people did find out.

In other words, by following Bingbing's personal social media account, you can also play some mini-games.

Overall, this marketing plan is quite interesting.

The most interesting thing is that it's a Sino-US co-production! And it's being released simultaneously in China and the US!
Actually, these days there are already films that are released simultaneously in China and the US, and some Hollywood blockbusters even choose to be released in China first.

But now, isn't there another Sino-US co-production... wait!
What makes this movie so special is that it's a science fiction film!

It's been so many years since China has produced a decent science fiction film.

In this way, once the news broke, it spread like wildfire!

I wonder how many movie fans are planning to go to the cinema to see it.

Putting everything else aside, look at Bingbing!
But given this situation... both the king and queen were even more anxious.

"Wait a minute! What's going on with this movie?"

Are there any screenings?

"Yes! Ask Master Han!"

"I'll make the call right now."

The Wong brothers felt that this movie was too secretive.

Han Sanping is in charge of scheduling films, and he's responsible for arranging big-budget films.

But this time, the call went through...

"Oh, this movie? It's not exactly a blockbuster."

Good heavens, one sentence completely baffled both King and Queen!
Han Sanping's answer made a lot of sense; this wasn't a blockbuster, so he didn't care.

So, this film will definitely have fewer screenings?
The Wang brothers are extremely anxious right now.

Because they realized that this "Cloverfield Files" was the trump card that Ma Xun had been hiding all along!
For a movie like this, regarding screenings...

The brothers still made phone calls.

The answer they received was even more devastating.

Only Qin Hong said: "Brothers Wang, Xingmei will definitely support you!"

That sounds really good, but... only Hoshimi could do that!
The Wang brothers now only have one trick up their sleeve.

They burned incense and prayed to Buddha, hoping that "Cloverfield" would not be a success!

That's the only way. What else can we do?
And on December 31st, Cloverfield was released worldwide!
At this point, the Wang brothers were still unaware of the devastating impact this film would have on them.

Their Huayi Brothers Media empire is about to collapse!

(End of this chapter)