This director is vindictive.

Chapter 467: Refund Strategy Goes Viral Online; This Generation of Audiences Are Not So Fooled
First, there was the Smurfs vs. Voldemort in "The Investiture of the Gods Part II," and then there was Ultraman mediating a fight in a kindergarten in "The Legend of the Condor Heroes."

It's fair to say that Chen Mo's actions have thoroughly satisfied the onlookers.

It's not that his film reviews were particularly brilliant, but rather that the adjectives he used were just so incredibly bizarre.

In addition, because both films were subject to comment control during their preview screenings, some netizens who had seen the movies but had nowhere to complain felt very resentful.

Chen Mo's actions served as a way to vent their grievances, while the other onlookers were less interested, mainly because the gossip was just too juicy.

Moreover, this matter dates back to the interview where Chen Mo made his 10 billion prediction. Back then, Wu Er Shan and Xu Ke were incredibly arrogant, making sarcastic remarks about Chen Mo.

Now the tables have turned. Chen Mo made his move, and they were completely dumbfounded. Both of their statements sounded like they were furious.

In fact, online discussions don't mean much. After all, only a small number of people have seen those two movies. However, Chen Mo's influence and the direct negative impact he brought, such as the pre-sale ticket refund wave, are the reasons why they are so angry.

However, their statement did not reverse the decline in pre-sales. Now, the one under the most pressure is not them, after all, the damage has already been done.

The one under the most pressure is actually Chen Sicheng.

Wanda couldn't sit still any longer, so Chen Sicheng naturally couldn't call Chen Mo to plead for him. Although business is business, to some extent, this matter wasn't actually started by Chen Mo.

Therefore, Chen Sicheng doesn't have that much face.

Therefore, it was Zeng Maojun, another person in charge at Wanda, who called Chen Mo.

"Director Chen, you really have a life-or-death decision! Amazing!" Zeng Maojun exclaimed as soon as the call connected, showering Chen Mo with compliments.

Of course, it wasn't entirely flattery; the impact of Chen Mo's two film reviews was astonishing, even to someone with many years of experience in the industry.

"What do you mean by 'one word decides life and death'? That's an exaggeration, an exaggeration. It's just a feeling I had to express. If a movie's fate is decided by a single film review, then it can only mean that the movie is really bad. I'm not taking the blame for that!" Chen Mo said calmly.

Zeng Maojun on the other end of the phone could only smile wryly. Chen Mo was right, but damn it, you also have to consider who wrote the film review!
If you, Director Chen, personally write a film review, how can that be the same?

While saying that one's word can determine life or death is indeed an exaggeration, Chen Mo's two film reviews could at least influence tens of millions of yuan in box office revenue!

Even more extravagantly, box office revenue in the hundreds of millions is not impossible.

Otherwise, why would Wuershan and Xu Laoguai be so furious?
Otherwise, why would I have made this call even though I was feeling awkward?
"Director Chen, look, we've already made two films, you've vented your anger a bit, and our two companies have been working together for quite some time now, so isn't this a good thing?" Zeng Maojun said with a smile.

"Hehe, Mr. Zeng, you know that our two companies have been cooperating for quite some time now. Wanda is also a shareholder of our Shengshi Pictures," Chen Mo said, stopping short of commenting.

But Zeng Maojun couldn't continue speaking, mainly because he was in the wrong!

Chen Mo's words actually made it quite clear: when several film companies ganged up on him earlier, you didn't call, did you?

What? Was Wanda no longer a shareholder of Shengshi Pictures back then?

So you're just going to let Chen Sicheng and the other families join forces to besiege you?
Zeng Maojun's phone call naturally ended without any resolution.

Both the palm and the back of the hand are flesh, but there's always a difference in how close they are!
Of course, Zeng Maojun also cursed Chen Sicheng's ancestors for eighteen generations. Why would you go and provoke this guy?
Does she really think she can be his equal?
If someone has to be respectful to others, then they must be someone who can sit on equal footing with the big boss, right?
Just thinking about Chen Mo's influence, and the fates of "Investiture of the Gods Part II" and "The Legend of the Condor Heroes," gave him a headache.

The key point is that you really can't say that Chen Mo did anything wrong in this matter.

They're already being nice; they're still following the rules. Otherwise...
Zeng Maojun shook his head. He had done everything he could, and he wouldn't take the blame for anything else.

Chen Sicheng is truly in a bind; he's now kicking himself for it.

It's not to say that Chen Mo can really decide the fate of "Detective Chinatown 1900" with a single word, but if Chen Mo really treats "Detective Chinatown" the same way he treated the other two films, the negative impact will definitely be significant.

Moreover, there's a reason why directors don't comment on competing products; after all, they're all professionals, and it's really too easy for them to find fault.

Unless it's a true classic, you can easily find countless flaws in it.

Moreover, Chen Mo is clearly adept at creating hype and knows what kind of comments are more likely to win over the public.

Look, in "Fengshen Part 2", they directly used an abstract combination of Teletubbies, Smurfs, and Voldemort, which instantly made the film famous. It's hard not to know about it.

So, is there really nothing to criticize about "The Legend of the Condor Heroes"? No, there is, but Chen Mo just happens to give you an Ultraman-style peacemaking kindergarten.

It broke out of its niche in no time.

If you go into the details of the plot, people will probably just have a laugh, since they haven't even seen the movie yet.

But the description of "Ultraman mediating a fight in a kindergarten" is so abstract, yet the general public can remember it immediately!
Moreover, the reach and impact of this kind of dissemination are completely different from those of a proper film review!

The power of Chen Mo's two film reviews was still evident; even though both companies issued statements, it backfired somewhat.

Pre-sale ticket refunds have happened before, but most of the time they were sporadic. This time, however, the refunds have reached a point where they're panicking.

Among them, the pre-sale ticket refund rate for "Fengshen II" exceeded 40%, and the subsequent pre-sale box office growth also slowed down significantly.

The situation is even more outrageous with "The Legend of the Condor Heroes: The Great Hero" having a refund rate of up to 46% for pre-sold tickets!

Although they did not release this data, the media is not blind; such data cannot be hidden!

It was quickly reported.

The media's exposure of ticket refund data for "The Investiture of the Gods II" and "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" instantly sparked a huge uproar online. Netizens and media alike were amazed by the "nuclear-level" power of Chen Mo's film reviews, and related topics quickly dominated the trending search lists.

"Holy crap, Chen Mo is awesome! As expected of you! This really does mean life and death with a single word!"

"Is Director Chen's film review a 'refund voucher'? The Smurfs and Voldemort + Ultraman kindergarten will make the audience run away on a train overnight!"

"I suggest that in the future, film promotion should prioritize funding Chen Mo; otherwise, a single abstract film review can wipe out hundreds of millions of yuan in box office revenue."

"Are Wuershan and Xu Laoguai begging Chen Mo to delete their posts right now? (doge)"

"A refund rate of 40%+? This is no longer the fault of the film critics. How bad must the movie be for audiences to be willing to lose money on ticket refunds and still leave?"

"Chen Mo was just telling the truth. He got his comeuppance for trying to control the comments and cover his mouth. He deserved it!"

The media also joined in this traffic frenzy.

Entertainment Weekly points out: "The reason why Chen Mo's film review was able to trigger a wave of ticket refunds is due to its 'breaking out of its circle' effect—using highly abstract and highly communicable metaphors (such as 'Ultraman mediating a fight') to hit the public's curiosity and make viewers who have not yet seen the film form a preconceived negative association."

Film Industry Observer believes that "this incident exposed the drawbacks of film companies' over-reliance on controlling reviews. As a top director in the industry, Chen Mo's criticism carries inherent authority, and the information blockade during the preview screenings has exacerbated the audience's reliance on film reviews."

Even the cinema chains couldn't escape the media's pursuit.

A cinema manager revealed in an interview that some cinemas have begun to adjust the screening ratio of two movies, "because an excessively high pre-sale refund rate will lead to a sharp drop in expected attendance, and cinemas must stop the losses in time."

In addition, several production companies held emergency internal meetings to discuss "how to avoid becoming the next target of Chen Mo's film reviews," and even considered "communicating with Chen Mo in advance about his film review preferences."

Sometimes, however, things are just really surreal.

Chen Mo himself originally thought that everyone's focus should be on the upcoming premiere of "Detective Chinatown 1900".

But the results proved him wrong.

Because suddenly a bizarre wave of "ticket refunds" started appearing online!
You read that right, getting a refund has become a trend.

Netizens shared screenshots of their ticket refunds on social media, along with various jokes and creative captions, making this behavior a bizarre popular cultural phenomenon.

It started when a netizen posted a screenshot of a successful ticket refund, mimicking a tourist photo op, with the caption: "Successfully avoided the Smurfs and Voldemort, life achievement +1."

Soon, netizens found this funny and quickly chimed in: "Today's dose of happiness: Kick out of the Ultraman mediation kindergarten and save on a hot pot meal!"

After posting his refund record, someone wrote: "I ran away overnight with my projector. Chen Mo's film reviews are my guiding light!"

Some people even created a "refund symbol" meme that reads "Chen Zi confirms, this film will definitely be refunded."

Some movie fans have even compiled refund guides, such as "how to bypass the refund obstacles set by the film company" and "which platform has the lowest refund fees", etc.

Some people even posted their refund records online and photoshopped them into "Voldemort's Refund Notice," or wrote in Ultraman's tone, "I'm not going to try to persuade this kindergarten anymore!"

The media also fueled the fire. In fact, controlling comments is an industry norm, and the media usually doesn't report on news about an upcoming movie.

But this time, I just couldn't control it, I simply couldn't control it!
They certainly wouldn't be polite then, after all, nobody has too much traffic!

As a result, entertainment media quickly followed suit, and some marketing accounts even created a special feature called "The Great Online Ticket Refund Awards," further amplifying the spread of this phenomenon.

Industry insiders also shared their experiences and began analyzing this bizarre phenomenon that has been rarely seen in recent years.

An industry insider said, "This incident reflects the audience's aversion to 'comment control marketing,' and Chen Mo's film review just happened to become an outlet for their dissatisfaction."

In fact, even Chen Mo had no idea that ticket refunds could become a trend.

This generation of netizens is truly amazing!

(End of this chapter)