This director is vindictive.

Chapter 470: A Tsunami of Negative Reviews! Warning: All Files to Be Pulled Out!
For a time, the entire internet was in complete chaos.

Soon enough, netizens noticed that those movies started receiving widespread negative reviews.

You might only see one or two positive reviews occasionally.

The cost of hiring online trolls is really low; it's only 50 cents per post, and you can send out as many as you can.

The water has indeed been muddied.

In fact, "Ne Zha" also inevitably began to receive a large number of negative reviews.

And when the other side saw this, they thought, "Good heavens, you guys are starting to disregard all the rules, aren't you?"
Then don't blame us for being ruthless.

So, back and forth, all sorts of negative reviews quickly spread.

Unfortunately, due to the regulations of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, people cannot contact those platforms to control public opinion.

Now things are in complete chaos.

Eight films released during the Spring Festival season saw their Douban ratings collectively plummet to below 5 points, with even "Boonie Bears" receiving 3,000 comments about "Bald Qiang illegally logging protected trees."

"These bastards!"

Director Wang slammed the tablet on the conference table: "We told them not to control the narrative, not to do anything reckless!"

On the internet today, the battle of online trolls has evolved into a form of performance art.

The scene gradually became outrageous, and the situation became increasingly surreal!

Some netizens discovered that negative reviews of "Detective Chinatown 1900" included screenshots of lines from "Fengshen 2," while a one-star review of "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" clearly stated "a bit better than 'Shanghai Fortress'"—this toxic comparison infuriated Xu Ke's team, who registered a fake account overnight to retaliate, resulting in the topic of "Chen Sicheng's plagiarism confirmed" accidentally trending on social media.

Meanwhile, Chen Mo, a bystander, was listening to Fan Binbin read him a ridiculous comment while standing with his legs up: "The most popular negative comment under 'Operation Jiaolong' right now is 'Zhang Yi's costume scenes are too few.' Can you guys, the straight male aesthetic trolls, be a little more professional? Zhang Yi wasn't even in it!"

Suddenly her eyes widened: "Wait! The most popular comment on 'Ne Zha 2' is actually 'Director Jiaozi sexually harassed Shen Gongbao'?"

"puff!"

Chen Mo sprayed all the water he had just drunk onto the screen.

Good grief, he's using unspoken rules against Shen Gongbao? Dude, you know how to talk nonsense, you know how to generate traffic!

Clicking on the details revealed that it was a case of paid trolls getting the movie wrong—they applied the template for negative reviews of "Jiang Ziya" to the wrong film.

What's even more amazing is that this group of online trolls also have fandom attributes, and they flooded the official Weibo account of "Fengshen 2" with the slogan "Director Wu, fly bravely, Guoba will always be with you" to control the comments.

It's completely chaotic!

When someone starts breaking the rules, or when everyone starts breaking the rules, then in this mobile internet era, things can really explode.

In fact, the internet has already exploded by now.

Chen Mo was speechless at this moment; he really hadn't expected this.

Although I expected the other party to muddy the waters, I never imagined it would turn out like this.

It's no longer just about the movie; the entire public opinion has started to spiral out of control.

The manager of Dadi Cinema lamented on his WeChat Moments: "Now, when audiences buy tickets, they all ask, 'Are the negative reviews for this movie genuine enough?' They say they want to see if the creativity of the paid PR team is worth the ticket price!"

The State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) summoned them for talks again, but this time it wasn't a mediation session; it was a very serious meeting.

Of course, Chen Mo has nothing to fear, since he really didn't participate in this matter at all.

Old Wang, on the other side of the light source, was indignant and wanted to participate, but Chen Mo stopped him.

The atmosphere in the General Administration of Customs meeting room was even more somber than before.

Director Wang sat in the main seat, his face ashen, his fingers tapping incessantly on the table, producing a dull thud. His gaze swept over everyone present, finally settling on Wu'er Shan and Xu Ke, his eyes filled with obvious anger.

"Gentlemen, is this what you call 'healthy competition'?"

Director Wang's voice was deep and cold, like a sharp knife piercing directly into everyone's hearts.

"Wasn't I clear enough last time? No controlling the comments, no smearing each other! And what did you do? You just flipped the table, didn't you?"

The conference room was completely silent; even breathing became cautious. Wu Ershan and Xu Ke lowered their heads, avoiding eye contact with Director Wang, and fine beads of sweat appeared on their foreheads.

Director Wang slammed his hand on the table, causing the teacup lid to bounce and make a crisp clanging sound.

"Do you even know what a mess the internet is in right now? Audiences are cursing! You've turned the Spring Festival film market into a complete mess, with rubbish movies everywhere, and now you've even abandoned basic order?" He stood up, walked to the window, his back to the crowd, his tone filled with deep disappointment: "I originally thought that the last mediation would calm you down, at least maintain a semblance of civility. But instead of restraining yourself, you've gone even further! Online trolls, negative reviews, smearing competitors—are you trying to drag the entire industry down with you?"

Chen Mo sat in the corner, a slight smile playing on his lips, but it quickly returned to its usual calm. He glanced at Old Wang, who shrugged helplessly, clearly also speechless at the situation.

Director Wang turned around, his gaze sharp: "From now on, all film promotion and distribution must be reviewed by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television! Any unauthorized marketing activities will be treated as violations!"

He paused, his tone becoming even sterner: "Especially you two families—" He pointed to Wuershan and Xu Ke, "If I find out you're up to something again, don't blame me for pulling your films from theaters immediately!"

The entire room fell silent; after all, everyone knew that things had gone too far this time.

Moreover, when the blame is lifted, it's fair to say that no one is innocent.

Even Chen Mo's Shengshi Pictures and Enlight Media are the same!
Wuershan finally couldn't hold back any longer; "The Second Part of Investiture of the Gods" was extremely important to him.

If things really go wrong, he won't be able to withstand the pressure from the investors, which could be fatal!
So he braced himself and raised his head to argue, "Director Wang, we were forced into this situation! We were smeared by Chen Mo's film review, which caused a huge negative impact and resulted in a high refund rate. The mediation last time not only had no effect, but it also had the opposite effect!"

If we don't do something, we'll lose all our screenings! "The Second Part of Fengshen" has a budget of 700 million yuan, that's 700 million yuan!
We can't just watch our money go down the drain at the movies, can we?

Everyone else looked at Chen Mo, thinking that Wuer Shan was really bold, still provoking Chen Mo at a time like this.

However, when everyone thought Chen Mo would retaliate, Chen Mo remained silent.

Since the other party had called out his name, Chen Mo should have retaliated. However, Chen Mo was well aware of the situation.

He's not stupid. He might feel good talking now, but it's just adding fuel to the fire. He's not a victim, so why should he show off his power for a moment?

Moreover, whoever speaks up at this time will be targeted!
Chen Mo almost couldn't help but applaud the other party. Playing the victim? Sometimes it does work, like during the first meeting.

But this time, it's clear that it will only backfire.

As expected, upon hearing this, Director Wang sneered, his gaze sweeping over Wu Ershan and Xu Ke like a knife, his voice filled with suppressed anger: "Forced into a corner?"

He slammed his hand on the table, and the teacup lid bounced up with a "smack" before crashing back down onto the rim of the cup.

"When you guys teamed up to control online comments and smear your competitors, why didn't you think this day would come? Now that pre-sales have collapsed and there's a wave of refunds, are you panicking? Too late!"

He stood up, placed his hands on the conference table, and looked down at everyone, glaring at them: "I don't care who's backing you up, or who you have grudges against—but the Spring Festival film season isn't your arena!"

He pointed sharply out the window, his voice rising abruptly: "Do I need to remind you? The refund rate for 'Fengshen 2' is 37%, and the refund rate for 'The Legend of the Condor Heroes' is 42%—the result of the audience voting with their feet, isn't that bad enough for you?"
The entire internet is mocking "Ultraman fighting the Smurfs," and instead of trying to change public opinion, you're escalating the situation with underhanded tactics? You think this is a joke? This is a disgrace to the entire industry!

The conference room was deathly silent. Cold sweat beaded on Wu Ershan's forehead, and Xu Ke's knuckles turned white as he gripped the pen. Director Wang took a deep breath, suppressing his anger, and said, "This is the final warning—if there is any further large-scale smear campaign, manipulation of public opinion, or incitement of conflict, the film in question will be pulled from theaters immediately!"

He grabbed the folder and slammed it on the table: "Meeting adjourned!"

Everyone felt as if they had been granted a pardon, and when they hurriedly got up, they didn't even dare to drag their chairs out with a sound.

Chen Mo deliberately lagged behind, and as he passed Director Wang, he leaned slightly forward and whispered, "Director Wang, you've really worked hard this time."

Director Wang glanced at him and squeezed out through gritted teeth, "Don't get cocky, kid. Although you didn't start this, if I see you stirring things up again, I'll take care of you too!"

Chen Mo smiled and nodded: "Understood, Director Wang, you know me, I always follow the rules the most."

"You? Follow the rules? Get out of here! Just looking at you gives me a headache!" Director Wang glared at him irritably.

Good grief, you have the nerve to say you followed the rules? When you wrote those bizarre film reviews for those two movies, did you follow the rules?

This guy is cunning and unforgiving!
However, neither Chen Mo nor Guangxian were involved in this matter, so he couldn't use it as an excuse to make trouble. But overall, although Chen Mo wasn't the instigator of the whole incident, he wasn't entirely innocent!

To be honest, Chen Mo was also a little frustrated.

Honestly, he wasn't really gloating.

After all, this whole mess really didn't do him any good!
It seems I really need to be careful with my words and actions from now on, otherwise who knows what kind of butterfly effect might occur.

But it's all for the best. After this ordeal, everything should be back on track.

In fact, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television acted very quickly this time, and Director Wang even got angry at the meeting. Every single company became extremely obedient.

Comments on the internet have begun to be deleted on a large scale, especially those that are obviously from paid trolls.

Although things are still in a mess, at least no one dares to defy the rules anymore.

After all, even a bad reputation can at least earn some box office revenue, but if they really mess things up and get their tickets canceled, then they're truly doomed.

(End of this chapter)