This director is vindictive.

Chapter 460: Buying the "World's Largest Movie Ticket" for 10 Billion

Chen Mo's prediction of a 10 billion yuan box office has backfired spectacularly, drawing attacks from his peers.

However, sometimes they overlook a problem: too much of anything is bad.

Chen Mo is no small figure; he has quite a few fans, and his influence and status in the industry are built up through his films.

It's not the kind of tree without roots.

So when the entire internet suddenly started attacking Chen Mo and "Ne Zha 2" overnight.

Netizens aren't stupid; they immediately understood that Chen Mo had touched upon their core interests, which is why he was being attacked so overwhelmingly.

However, netizens lack a leader.

Soon, the leader appeared.

When Ning Hao was asked this question during the promotion of "Crazy Alien", he joked: "I don't think there's anything wrong with the 10 billion prediction. After all, those who criticize Chen Mo for talking nonsense should first look at their own new movie posters. Which one doesn't say 'Breaking 100 million on the first day' or 'Aiming for 3 billion?' and so on."

"Who doesn't shout a few words at the premiere to announce box office numbers? If you ask me, Chen Mo is just bringing the industry's unspoken rules to the forefront. He just bet a little too much!"

Soon, netizens left comments jokingly saying: "Director Ning said something fair. I was wondering why. We were enjoying the news about the 10 billion prediction, but suddenly overnight, it seems like Chen Mo has become a cancer in the industry. It turns out it's all about interests."

They're all so hypocritical!

Movie promotion is just bragging, isn't it? It's just that Chen Mo's bragging is a bit more refreshing and unconventional.

"Like 'The Legend of the Condor Heroes,' like 'Investiture of the Gods II,' like 'Detective Chinatown 1900,' it seems like you're just bragging, okay? What, since when even bragging needs standards?"

"No problem. If you think about it carefully, Chen Mo wasn't really bragging, was he? Back then, everyone expected 'Love is Not Blind' to gross 30 million at the box office, and then Chen Mo held up three fingers and said 300 million! He was bragging ten times over!"
The agency predicted that "Dying to Survive" would gross 10 billion yuan, but Chen Mo raised three fingers and said it would gross 30 billion yuan, which was only three times the predicted amount!
The first "Ne Zha" film grossed 5 billion yuan. As a sequel, "Ne Zha Conquers the Dragon King" shouldn't have a significantly lower box office than its predecessor, right? So why did he say it would gross 10 billion yuan, but he only exaggerated by a factor of 10!
This boast doesn't seem like it's going to be that big of a claim, does it?

"Hehe, during 'Detective Chinatown 3,' there was all sorts of boasting and control over speech. Compared to that, I feel Chen Mo is truly a breath of fresh air in the entertainment industry, okay?"

"A 10 billion prediction? Speechless. You say Chen Mo is overdoing marketing, then what are you guys doing? It's the same publicity, only now it's about suppressing and besieging the competition. It's like the saying goes, 'Only the magistrate is allowed to set fires, but the common people are forbidden to light lamps!'"

This debate unexpectedly polarized the audience.

A poll conducted by the Douban group "We Love Movies" showed the following results:

42% of users believe that "Chen Mo is damaging the industry ecosystem," but 58% of users chose "at least he is more honest than fake art films"—as one netizen aptly summarized: "The 'frivolity' you criticize is exactly the 'excitement' that the audience wants."

That night, while scrolling through the negative topics dominating Weibo's trending topics, Fan Binbin suddenly shoved his phone in front of Chen Mo: "Director Chen, the whole internet is criticizing you for bragging without paying taxes!"

She deliberately dragged out her words, tapping her finger on the trending search term "#Xu Ke says martial arts films don't need PPTs#" on the screen.

"How about we cancel the bet? I'm kind-hearted, I'll give you a way out~"

Yang Mi, legs crossed, looked up from her iPad, a sly glint in her foxy eyes: "Exactly! If we admit defeat now, all we have to do is dress up in women's clothes and dance to 'Gokuraku Jodo.' If the box office doesn't reach that level when it's actually released..."

She suddenly leaned close to Chen Mo's ear and blew on his hair: "But it has to be done like Zhang Yuqi said—Nezha's topknot paired with washing your hair upside down~"

"Pfft hahaha!"

Zhang Yuqi burst out laughing, pointing at Chen Mo and desperately trying not to laugh: "Look at the veins on his forehead! Doesn't it look like Nezha's Wind Fire Wheels are about to smoke?"

She suddenly imitated the tone of a slug: "Some directors—"

Chen Mo snatched Fan Binbin's phone, swiped to Ning Hao's interview screen, and sneered: "What's the rush? Didn't you see that Lao Ning said these people are just jealous!"

He suddenly pulled the three women into his arms, while his phone screen displayed a popular online comment: "Look, the eyes of the masses are discerning!"

"What's so bright about it?"

Fan Binbin broke free and deliberately counted on his fingers: "Wu'er Shan, Xu Laoguai, Chen Sicheng, Lin Chaoxian."

She suddenly cupped Chen Mo's face and shook it: "Half of the entertainment industry is ganging up on you!"

With a sudden twitch of his eyes, he clapped his hands and said, "How about this, you admit defeat now, and the three of us will take turns washing your feet as an apology?"

"Alright, don't get too excited. Do you believe that your master can break this situation with just a little effort?" Chen Mo said irritably.

"You're stubborn as a mule! The more stubborn you are now, the more you'll cry later~" Fan Binbin said confidently.

Chen Mo shook his head; these women really were...
To be honest, Chen Mo didn't really care about their reaction. The encirclement and suppression was not entirely useless; at least it did suppress the public outcry that had just begun.

But that's all.

This is still based on the premise that Chen Mo, the instigator, has not yet taken any action.

"So, sir, what do you plan to do? Tell me," Yang Mi said, feigning a coquettish tone.

Chen Mo shivered and said irritably, "Speak properly!"

"It's actually very simple. Aren't they all criticizing me for letting marketing overshadow the film's content? But they really don't know that film marketing and distribution are just normal business tactics. Well, I'll show them what real marketing is!" Chen Mo said dismissively.

Chen Mo's advantages are actually very obvious.

In terms of personal influence, it's fair to say that all those directors combined couldn't match his influence.

Don't be fooled by the fact that Chen Sicheng single-handedly created the Detective Chinatown series and became the CEO of Wanda Pictures, or that Tsui Hark is a top director in Hong Kong. Forget about Wuershan, in Chen Mo's eyes, Wuershan is just a small fry.

However, all these people combined do not have as much influence as Chen Mo.

This is Chen Mo's real advantage.

Actually, his marketing methods aren't always particularly sophisticated, so why do they often stand out and produce amazing results?

It's all thanks to his status and influence!

Chen Mo wasn't just talking nonsense; his inspiration actually came from a bet he made with several women.

This time he's going to go all out and bet against the entire internet!

Actually, everyone is curious about what move Chen Mo will make.

After all, Chen Mo has never been the kind of person who would remain silent when bullied.

So the onlookers got their snacks and drinks ready, just waiting for Chen Mo to make a move to retaliate.

Chen Mo didn't keep everyone waiting long.

That evening, he posted a video: "Since everyone is questioning whether the 10 billion figure is just bragging, why not have a little game? From now on, everyone can sign up for this bet under the Weibo hashtag #10BillionBoxOfficeOfNeZha#!"

I've personally invested 1 billion yuan to establish a betting fund. Netizens can sign up to participate in this bet, betting on whether "Ne Zha 2" can break 10 billion yuan at the box office.

If "Ne Zha" fails to break 10 billion yuan in box office revenue within two months of its release, then this 1 billion yuan in cash will be distributed as a bonus to all netizens who participated in the bet.

If "Ne Zha" successfully surpasses 10 billion yuan at the box office within two months of its release, netizens who participated in this bet can purchase tickets to see the film at their own discretion—a bet is a bet!

In the video, he showed a screenshot of his bank statement: "The 1 billion yuan deposit has been secured, and the notary office has been supervising the entire process."

The camera then panned to the three women, Fan Binbin and his companion, who looked utterly shocked: "These three ladies volunteered to be hostages; if the box office targets are met, they'll wear Nezha costumes and dance to 'Gokuraku Jodo'!"

After Chen Mo launched a 10 billion yuan bet, netizens reacted with explosive discussion and polarization!
The topic once again dominated the trending searches.

The hashtags #Nezha21BillionDollarBet# and #ChenMo1BillionRedEnvelope# suddenly appeared in the top three of the trending searches, and the related entries garnered over 500 million views within an hour.

Netizens joked: "This is the first time I've seen a director play Texas Hold'em with the entire online audience, and he even went all in!"

"Haha, when it comes to marketing, Chen Mo is the best. This melon is guaranteed to be ripe!"

"Weren't you criticizing him for only knowing how to do marketing? Chen Mo: No problem, let me show you what marketing is!"

"Wow, Chen Mo is really generous! This bet has no restrictions on netizens. It doesn't matter if he loses, he can just pretend to be dead. Even if he doesn't pretend, it's just a matter of buying a movie ticket!"

"Take out 10 billion in cash like that?! That's incredibly extravagant! But I like it, hahaha!"

Interestingly, netizens posted screenshots of their bank balances for comparison: "I have to fight for even a 1 yuan red envelope, while Director Chen is betting 10 billion yuan? This is mind-blowing!"

Comedians quickly created memes, such as photoshopping Chen Mo into a Nezha cosplaying as Nezha holding a "10 Billion Universe Ring" with the caption "Fellow Daoist, wanna bet?";
A financial blogger photoshopped movie tickets into stock charts, labeling them "the biggest box office option in history."

Chen Mo has once again become a trending topic across the entire internet.

The other teams were once again stunned by Chen Mo's move, but they reacted quickly.

Soon, people began to question it.

A prominent financial commentator posted a chart: "The total box office for the Spring Festival films over the past five years has never exceeded 15 billion yuan. A single film needing to gross over 10 billion yuan would need to account for 67% of the market share—mathematically impossible!"

Film critic Zhou Li wrote: "The essence of gambling is to hold the audience hostage: using 'red envelopes' to lure passersby to boost box office sales, thus disrupting the natural selection of the market."

But this time, the supporters acted just as quickly.

Ning Hao reposted and joked: "Some people didn't say anything when they were making bad movies to make money, but now they're criticizing 'damaging the market'?"

粉丝晒陈默过往“三指预言”战绩：“《失恋33天》3亿，《药神》30亿、《哪吒1》50亿全中，这次凭啥不信？”

The Weibo topic of the billion-dollar bet attracted countless applicants.

Within 24 hours, over ten million netizens signed up to participate in the betting.

Many netizens joked: "Actually, more than 10 million people have already signed up. 1 billion yuan isn't much money, but it's just for fun, hahaha! And I'm already ready to pre-order my tickets for 'Ne Zha 2'!"

(End of this chapter)