I'm just trying to ride the wave of popularity!

Chapter 222 Clash with Hollywood Movies!

Early in the morning of June 4.

【Huashang Brothers】

Liu Jinghua did not rest, nor did any of the senior executives of the film department at [Huashang Brothers].

At this moment, the conference room is brightly lit.

Everyone is watching the movie "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Rings" very closely!
Previously, no one took this movie seriously, thinking it was just a movie trying to ride the coattails of a trending topic. The entire staff focused all their attention and energy on the copyright.

They were discussing how to sue "The Lord of the Rings: The Second Ring" for copyright infringement and make them pay dearly.

Given Zhou Yang's track record, this movie is bound to contain some copyright infringement issues, as it's likely to be a film that's trying to ride the coattails of a trending topic.
But, until the very last moment of the premiere of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Rings, everyone on the legal and analytical teams was absolutely stunned!
Damn it, this movie is a racing movie!
Moreover, apart from the words "The Lord of the Rings," this movie has absolutely nothing to do with "The Lord of the Rings"!

They went around in circles, and all their previous efforts were wasted!
It's fine if all my efforts were in vain!
What shocked Liu Jinghua and everyone in the film department of [Huashang Brothers] even more was that a racing movie, which had never appeared in the film industry before, had such an amazing influence!
"Mr. Liu!"

"As of early this morning, the number of discussions about The Lord of the Rings: The Second Ring on the internet has exceeded 2!"

"[Search results] The 'Racing' forum, which previously had only 900 members, has seen nearly 30,000 new members..."

"Screenshots of the highlights from The Lord of the Rings: The Two Rings are everywhere..."

"Just now, the official website of [China F1 Racing Headquarters] reposted a screenshot from the movie 'The Lord of the Rings: The Two Rings' and posted a pinned caption..."

"Tickets for 'The Lord of the Rings: The Two Rings' are extremely hard to come by. All four major cinema chains that have partnered with Zhou Yang are packed to capacity, with screenings already scheduled until 2 a.m. Some cinemas are even showing the film all night long!"

"What's even more outrageous is that when you enter our 'Lord of the Rings' movie into the [Sohu] search engine, the news that pops up is either various plot discussions about 'The Lord of the Rings: The Two Rings,' or drifting explanations, or various news about Zhou Yang... What's most speechless is that there's also a whole bunch of old racing news. It takes a long time to find our 'Lord of the Rings' news..."

"What's even more speechless is..."

"Our Lord of the Rings forum has been completely taken over by 'racing,' damn it!"

"..."

On the projector at the front of the conference room.

Liu Jinghua watched as analyst Li Wei wiped the sweat from his brow and clicked on the internet buzz surrounding The Lord of the Rings series one by one!

When Liu Jinghua saw this scene, she was stunned. In particular, when she saw that Li Wei opened the "Lord of the Rings" movie forum and found that all the discussions were about racing, her face changed drastically and she was even terrified!
In fact, when she saw the movie, she realized that it would be popular, but she never dreamed that it would become so popular!
And this has only been one day!

She couldn't imagine how far the movie's popularity would be if left unchecked!

Fuck!
If this continues, their official Lord of the Rings will be in big trouble!

No!

Absolutely not!

She tried to remain calm, looking at all the executives in front of her.

"Legal Department, work overtime tonight to continue investigating whether Zhou Yang's film uses unauthorized racing car brands or music copyrights. If found, use that to file a lawsuit!"

"Furthermore, we must issue a statement regarding the lawsuit filed against Zhou Yang for 'unfair competition,' accusing him of deliberately confusing the 'Lord of the Rings' IP and misleading the audience!"

"..."

"In addition, the marketing department, immediately, should coordinate with the media resources of the five major film companies to release some announcements to categorize this film as a 'vulgar car chase movie'!"

"In addition, we contacted relevant departments and accused the film of inducing minors to engage in illegal racing..."

"..."

"The PR department will continue to release more behind-the-scenes footage of 'The Lord of the Rings' to generate buzz!"

"..."

In the conference room.

Liu Jinghua kept issuing instructions, directing the next steps of each department, her voice filled with a tension that she herself didn't even realize she was experiencing.

After everyone left, only she and Li Wei remained in the conference room.

She sat in the chair, somewhat tired, but still forced herself to look at Li Wei with a determined expression: "What do you think of this movie?"

"I……"

"I want you to tell the truth!"

"Zhou Yang's film should be considered a phenomenal work, and a pioneering work in the racing genre. I don't know if it's appropriate to describe it as a 'milestone,' but it should not be underestimated, and it has had a significant impact on our 'Lord of the Rings'..."

"Um……"

Liu Jinghua nodded; at that moment, she had a bit of a headache.

A brief silence fell over the meeting room.

Immediately afterwards, the phone rang!
Li Wei answered the phone, and his expression gradually became serious.

"The box office results are in!"

"How many?"

"Total box office at the opening weekend: 450 million!"

"450 million... If I remember correctly, there are only four theater chains showing this movie nationwide, and they have exactly 100 partner theaters, right?"

"Yes, a typical cinema chain has around 15 screenings per day, all scheduled until the early hours of the morning, and there's also a little..."

"what?"

"About six theater chains ignored our warnings, bought the rights to 'The Lord of the Rings: The Second Ring,' and are scheduling two screenings of it tomorrow..."

"..." When I heard that sentence.

Liu Jinghua closed her eyes, a complex mix of emotions welling up inside her.

She didn't say anything more about contacting major cinema chains to boycott Zhou Yang!
She knew it was all meaningless now!

........................

"What are you banning?"

"Haven't you seen how much money those four cinema chains are making lately?"

"During the Chinese Film Protection Month in March, three Chinese films were released, and we provided them with both resources and screen time!"

"As a result, not only did we fail to replicate the miracle of the movie 'The Gangster', it was a complete flop, and we lost a lot of money..."

"And what about the four cinema chains that partnered with Zhou Yang?"

"They were still making money in March..."

"Have you seen the online buzz? Have you seen the influence?"

"Whatever kind of mess Zhou Yang has with the major film companies is their business. As for us, from this moment on, it's all about making money! Making money!"

"Contact Zhou Yang's side, damn it, contact him now!"

"A lower profit share is fine. Tell Zhou Yang that we don't take sides; we'll cooperate with whoever makes money!"

"..."

Before 2004, China's five major film companies virtually controlled all of China's film resources and held absolute power over their success or failure, especially Hollywood film resources...

Using their resources, they practically controlled everything...

After 2004, as resources were repeatedly used to suppress Zhou Yang, the attempts to do so had no effect. Instead, Zhou Yang rose to prominence step by step, and the attitude of a small number of cinemas gradually changed!

Every movie Zhou Yang makes money, damn it, even that lousy film "The Mine" has now broken even!

5:4 AM on April 15th!
After [Xuan Shi Entertainment] officially announced the box office figures and 2% occupancy rate of "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Rings", major cinema chains began frantically contacting Zhou Yang.

Hollywood movies are important, but the revenue share from screenings is nowhere near as high as that from Zhou Yang's movies. Even if Zhou Yang's movie tickets are cheaper, he can still make a lot of money!
..............................

4 month 15 day.

The global epic film "The Lord of the Rings" held its Chinese premiere at the Shanghai Grand Theatre.

At 8:30 a.m., a red carpet stretched for over 100 meters outside the Shanghai Grand Theatre.

Countless flashes of light surrounded the red carpet. Amidst screams and exclamations, the crowd surged, and the media and eager fans watched with excitement as the Lord of the Rings creative team, dressed in suits, stepped out of their cars and onto the red carpet.

The official Lord of the Rings team attaches great importance to China. Assistant director Peter Johnson personally led a team to China and participated in the premiere!
Huasheng Brothers attached great importance to this premiere, investing an astonishing amount of traffic and resources!

After 8 o'clock, websites such as [Wandou Movie Network], [Movie Home], and [Kuaibo] were instantly flooded with all kinds of news about "The Lord of the Rings", which immediately suppressed the trending topic of "The Lord of the Rings: The Second Ring"!
Last November, the Hollywood film "Digital Empire," imported by [Huashang Brothers], set a daily box office record of nearly 29 million RMB!

It became a milestone film in the Chinese box office for Hollywood movies, topping the box office charts.

The epic film "The Lord of the Rings" in April is highly anticipated by Washington Brothers, and could even be described as ambitious...

And The Lord of the Rings did not disappoint!

The premiere pre-sale tickets sold nearly 2300 million RMB, setting a new record for premiere pre-sale tickets!
The three major cinema chains mobilized 90% of their resources to guarantee screenings, while three domestic films voluntarily withdrew from their releases to avoid the competition. They were unstoppable!
However, these performances are still not enough for Liu Jinghua!
After the film premiere, Liu Jinghua declined all celebratory banquets and returned to his office immediately.

Then keep an eye on the opening weekend figures for The Lord of the Rings!

One hour after the premiere ended!
Major movie websites such as MovieHome have successively rated the film, all of which gave it an amazing score of 9.2!

The discussion surrounding this movie exploded on movie-related forums on major portal websites!
And it received rave reviews!
The phrases "visual revolution" and "fantasy benchmark" are all used!

Besides that!

"We've taken over all the trending topics on major movie websites!"

"All the movie-related data on major portal websites are discussing our 'The Lord of the Rings'!"

"..."

From noon until about ten minutes into the evening, Liu Jinghua stayed in the office.

Witnessing "The Lord of the Rings," the film did not disappoint her. The epic Hollywood movie "The Lord of the Rings" had a sensational impact on the Chinese film industry upon its premiere!

Before the premiere, there were concerns that "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Rings" would affect "The Lord of the Rings".

At this moment, seeing that all the trending topics on the movie forum were about "The Lord of the Rings" and that Zhou Yang's "The Lord of the Rings 2" had all disappeared, Liu Jinghua finally felt completely relieved!
However, she still keeps a close eye on the popularity of "The Lord of the Rings" movie.

Whether the box office can break 3000 million RMB and create a new milestone for Chinese films will indirectly affect the stock price of [Washington Brothers] in Hong Kong!
It will further elevate the company's standing in the capital market!

Based on the popularity and data from various sources, this Lord of the Rings movie is very likely to break records!
At 3 a.m., after resting in the office for a few hours, the box office figures for the premiere of "The Lord of the Rings" came out!
but……

Liu Jinghua was slightly stunned after seeing the data.

The film grossed 2850 million RMB at the box office on its opening day!

Although it was crazy, it didn't break the record of "Digital Empire"!

She trembled slightly!
Next, let's look at the box office results for "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Rings" on its second day!
His eyes widened instantly!
"Damn it!"

She, who was usually very calm, subconsciously stood up from her chair, and suddenly lost control of her emotions!

(End of this chapter)