How did this star become more popular after his scandal?

Chapter 338 Unable to Suppress

Meanwhile, at Warner Entertainment, Chu Shaoyang was on his side.

He himself was also paying close attention to the release of movies during the Spring Festival, especially Jiang Yu's movie, The Secret That Cannot Be Told. He was keeping a close eye on it and even took extra care of Jiang Yu and his team.

After losing to Jiang Yu in their company Warner Entertainment's strongest area—television dramas—Chu Shaoyang had been feeling frustrated and resentful. He had been looking for an opportunity to suppress Jiang Yu again. Now that Jiang Yu's movie had been released, he had joined forces with other business owners in the industry, especially cinema owners, to suppress Jiang Yu's film. Even if Jiang Yu's movie was a box office flop and no one had high hopes for it, he was determined to crush Jiang Yu.

This time, it wasn't just him; the cinema owners and major film companies also joined forces. Everyone knew that Jiang Yu's momentum was too strong. Warner Entertainment had already lost ground in the television drama sector, and now they were focusing on the film industry—an industry built on massive financial investment, an industry that could make them incredibly wealthy. Previously, these major companies would share the profits equally, or divide the pie according to their interests. But if Jiang Yu were to rise again and interfere, wouldn't that mean he would have to take a slice of the pie?
If Jiang Yu ate, then they should eat less.

This is a situation they don't want to see. Even when competition among major companies is fierce, the distribution of profits is already fixed. At most, they're competing for market share; the pie is only so big, and that's enough for everyone. But now, if Jiang Yu interferes, the pie is already small. With another mouth to feed, their share will be even smaller.

Now, Chu Shaoyang looked at the news about Jiang Yu's movie online, especially noting its slow box office growth and numerous complaints from Jiang Yu's fans about the limited screenings. This made Chu Shaoyang's lips curl into a slight smile, and a hint of smugness flashed in his eyes.

"Heh, Jiang Yu, let's see how you turn things around this time. Without screenings, let's see how your movie gets released."

This time, he joined forces with so many people, especially the cinema owners. Chu Shaoyang paid a considerable price, but as long as he could make Jiang Yu stumble, allow his film to be successfully launched, and teach Jiang Yu a lesson, Chu Shaoyang felt it was all worthwhile.

With Jiang Yu's film receiving so few screenings, and some cinemas not even showing it, his box office performance is unlikely to improve, no matter how much his fans support him.

He checked the box office and saw that the movie had been released for almost a day. It was already evening, and Jiang Yu's movie had only managed to break through 28 million yuan from the pre-sale of 20 million yuan, a very slow increase. With so few screenings and such a niche subject matter, he wanted to see how Jiang Yu would turn things around.

Leaning back on the sofa, Chu Shaoyang played on his phone and hummed a song. He felt exceptionally relaxed this time. Jiang Yu's movie was finally going to flop. This guy had been having such a smooth ride for so long; this time, he was finally going to stumble.

He wanted to see what those who supported Jiang Yu online and called him a genius would say after his movie flopped.

Chu Shaoyang hummed a little tune, sitting on the sofa playing on his phone. After a year of success, he seemed to see Jiang Yu's movie flop, and Jiang Yu, this genius, fall from grace. He'd let Jiang Yu have his way for so long; finally, it was time for him to stumble.

Chu Shaoyang was well aware that this film was Jiang Yu's debut film, and also his first foray into the film industry. It was an exploratory work; if it failed, it would mean that Jiang Yu couldn't establish himself in the film industry for the time being. He could act in movies, but if he wanted to get a piece of this pie, he was far from qualified.

Although it's uncertain whether this guy will be able to keep up in the future, or whether these people will still be able to unite against Jiang Yu, at least for now, Jiang Yu is still with him. Chu Shaoyang thinks that's a good thing. If things haven't even gotten off to a good start, how can you expect things to improve later?

At this moment, with the release of the first batch of Spring Festival films today, many viewers have already watched almost all of them. Some chose to watch one, while others watched several.

Online discussions about these films are also in full swing, and after a day of release, everyone has gained a certain understanding of their impressions. Now it's time for word-of-mouth to take hold.

Basically, every year after the first day of release of films during the Spring Festival season—or rather, every single year after the first day of release of films during this period—some films will start to have problems with their reputation, while others will soar to great heights, achieving both critical and commercial success.

Everyone is watching now. A day has passed since the movie aired, and online discussions about various films are becoming increasingly heated.

"I feel like the movies released during this year's Spring Festival are pretty good, especially Jiang Yu's 'Secret'. I went to see it with my girlfriend. I initially thought it was a boring movie with an obscure subject, but after watching it, I found that Jiang Yu's movie was really wonderful and entertaining."

"Indeed, I went to see it with my girlfriend, not my boyfriend. After watching it, I thought Jiang Yu's movie was very exciting. I never expected the ending. Towards the end, my girlfriend cried, and I also felt a little teary-eyed."

"Really? Is Jiang Yu's obscure movie really that good? You guys aren't shills, are you?"

"Exactly! Are movies with such niche themes really that good? Do you prefer romance or school-themed movies? Aren't they just the same old formulas? Are they really that good?"

"It's really good. I went to see it today. I went with my girlfriend. To be honest, buddy, we guys aren't usually that interested in romance movies like this, but Jiang Yu was really good. I was completely engrossed in it myself."

"I really, really highly recommend Jiang Yu's 'Secret,' it's absolutely fantastic! Plus, the movie uses music, which Jiang Yu excels at, as a central element to weave a love story that transcends time. I highly recommend it, everyone should go see it."

"It's really good, I went to see it today. Although I'm a fan of Jiang Yu's songs, to be honest, this movie is really good and wonderful, and it shouldn't be overlooked. But I noticed that there are so few screenings. Could it be that someone is deliberately targeting Jiang Yu?"

"Yeah, I feel there are too few screenings. It's not normal at all. If there were more screenings, I don't even want to imagine how high the box office of Jiang Yu's movie would be."

"No, no, I absolutely have to go support Jiang Yu's movie. I strongly urge all cinemas to increase the number of screenings for Jiang Yu's film; it really is a great movie!" "Really? What you're saying makes me want to see it too! Is it really as amazing as you say? Is Jiang Yu's 'Secret' really that good?"

……

At this moment, more and more people are commenting online, especially those movie fans who have seen Jiang Yu's film. They are all praising Jiang Yu's "The Secret That Cannot Be Told".

Many people think that Jiang Yu's "Secret" is a very good movie, and a good film shouldn't be overlooked. After watching it, they all strongly recommend it to others.

Moreover, Jiang Yu's fans who went to see the movie were aware that his film seemed to be receiving unfair treatment. It had very few screenings, which was clearly someone targeting Jiang Yu behind the scenes. This further angered Jiang Yu's fans, who rallied online to support him.

That very evening, on the first day of the film's release, Lin Qianqian posted a video review of Jiang Yu's film, "The Secret That Cannot Be Told."

"Hello everyone, I'm Qianqian. Today we're not talking about music, but about Jiang Yu's latest movie, 'Secret'..."

In her video, Lin Qianqian directly shared photos of herself watching the movie at the cinema, including a picture of her movie ticket. She described in detail her feelings after watching the film, clearly showing her excitement and high praise for Jiang Yu's movie.

"I believe everyone is already familiar with Jiang Yu's film. Today, I also went to the cinema to watch it myself. How should I put it, Jiang Yu truly lives up to his reputation. Whether it's his talent in music or his talent in screenwriting, his directorial debut, 'Secret,' is excellent in my opinion."

"Many people say that Jiang Yu's film has a niche subject matter and no market potential. But after watching it in the cinema today, I felt quite shocked, surprised, and amazed. This film brought me many surprises. Whether it's the subject matter, the imaginative ideas, or the emotional scenes, they all left a deep impression on me..."

"Because the film has just been released, I won't go into details to avoid spoilers. However, I really want to say that this is a film worth watching. In it, Jiang Yu uses his most proficient skill, music, as a link to create a love story that transcends time and space. Everyone should go see it. You definitely won't be disappointed. Please trust Jiang Yu's talent; a good work shouldn't be buried. I see that many cinemas aren't scheduling this film very well right now. But I strongly recommend everyone to see it. Let good films enter the public eye. Only in this way can we encourage more excellent creators and directors to create, and only then can our Chinese film industry produce more and more excellent works..."

Lin Qianqian posted a video, and it quickly became a trending topic. Like comments from moviegoers online, the word-of-mouth for Jiang Yu's film began to spread rapidly. By the next day, it had directly climbed to the top of the trending topics.

Many netizens, after watching Lin Qianqian's video, were puzzled by the numerous comments from fans below.

Is Jiang Yu's movie really that good?

It's one thing for so many netizens to be recommending it online, but now even the well-known music critic blogger Lin Qianqian is pushing it.

This has piqued the curiosity of many netizens who haven't seen the movie yet. Suddenly, many felt they had nothing better to do, and since they were spending the Lunar New Year holiday at home, they bought a movie ticket out of curiosity. However, the time slots weren't ideal. They were just waiting to go to the cinema when the time came.

They were shocked after watching the movie. Just like Lin Qianqian and others online said, the movie was really amazing.

Within two days, Jiang Yu's film received overwhelmingly positive reviews. It sparked heated discussions online, frequently trended on social media, and even garnered increasing numbers of film bloggers recommending the movie.

This situation directly boosted the popularity and box office performance of Jiang Yu's film. Although screenings are still limited, even in these less popular time slots, more and more viewers are buying tickets. Some are even complaining online and on ticketing platforms because they can't get tickets.

Moreover, some cinemas that had previously been on good terms with Jiang Yu and his team, seeing this situation, immediately increased the number of screenings for Jiang Yu's films. This instantly caused the film's box office to soar higher and higher. In just three days after its release, it went from 20 million to 30 million, and then directly broke 100 million. It was an instant surge.

Suddenly, seeing that the cinemas that were on good terms with Jiang Yu had increased the number of screenings of Jiang Yu's film "Secret" and made a fortune, the other cinema owners who were targeting Jiang Yu suddenly became hesitant.

Especially seeing the current popularity of Jiang Yu's movie and the large number of people who want to see it, and watching their competitors increase the screenings of Jiang Yu and make a fortune, these bosses who were originally united to resist all of Jiang Yu's films have begun to waver.

In the first few days, they were able to remain calm, but later they realized that Jiang Yu's film was unstoppable, its word-of-mouth was exploding, and more and more people wanted to see it. Those cinemas that had previously befriended Jiang Yu and his team and started increasing screenings were already making a fortune, and suddenly, others couldn't sit still anymore.

At first, they were able to remain calm, but now, they've lost their composure. Some started increasing the screenings of Jiang Yu's film, and gradually, like a butterfly effect, it triggered a chain reaction, instantly prompting other affiliated cinemas to increase their screenings as well.

Jiang Yu's movie just couldn't be contained; it became a complete sensation.

(End of this chapter)