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

Chapter 244 Chinese Cinema Has Fallen!
Inside the office of Huaxia Film Department.

The air conditioner is blowing air.

"Director Zhang, these directors have a lot of complaints about Zhou Yang... Today, they demand an explanation from us..."

Sunlight streamed through the windows into the office.

Zhang Changlong looked at the thick petition handed to him by Director Chen Li.

He flipped through it; the first page of the petition bore the signatures of nearly thirty directors from the fifth generation of Chinese film directors…

Apart from Li Zhengtao, almost all the fifth-generation directors who hold sway in the Chinese film industry have signed the agreement.

Turning to the second page, the second page contained the information they had collected, showing various comments from the internet.

These comments, without exception, all criticized the movie "Extreme" as a terrible film, and some of them appeared to be comments from "Zhou Yang's fans".

After reading these film reviews, Zhang Changlong glanced at Chen Li and fell into a brief silence.

"They attributed the failure of 'Extreme' to Zhou Yang instigating fans to give the film bad reviews and boycott their movies, using public opinion to influence box office performance and covering up the truth..."

Chen Li looked at Zhang Changlong without saying anything, and finally added this sentence.

Zhang Changlong closed the petition but did not respond, remaining silent.

At that moment, he could hear waves of indignation and curses coming from the conference room not far away, with shouts of "Zhou Yang, get out of the film industry!" rising and falling.

After a long while, he laughed.

"What do the directors want?"

"They want us to issue a public announcement banning Zhou Yang from directing, and for the authorities to blacklist him..."

“There is a process for banning films. For example, if someone takes an unapproved film to an overseas exhibition without authorization, or does something that harms the Chinese film industry, Zhou Yang has reported all of his previous works to us, and the tax system is very clear about that… As for harming the Chinese film industry, that matter needs to be investigated carefully. We cannot use our power rashly before the matter is fully investigated…” Zhang Changlong shook his head.

“But, these directors…” Chen Li lowered his head.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that this group of fifth-generation directors represents half of the Chinese film industry.

In fact, it's not just these fifth-generation directors; behind them are many more people within the Chinese film system. If these people develop resentment and unite, then…

“I know. Okay, tell these directors to go back first, and we'll hold a meeting immediately regarding Zhou Yang…”

“I’ve already said that, but these directors have made it very clear that they want us to give them an answer today…”

"..."

Zhang Changlong frowned slightly when he heard this: "I can't give you an answer today."

"but……"

"Tell them that this matter needs further investigation, give us four days, and we will give you a reply."

"Alright." Chen Li nodded and then walked out of the office.

The moment the office door closed, the gentle expression on Zhang Changlong's face vanished.

He opened the drawer, took out a file folder, and the words "Xuan Shi Entertainment" were clearly written on the top of the folder.

Last June, his subordinates reviewed a movie called "Sun Wukong vs. Superman 2".

When he saw that movie, he was completely dumbfounded.

Such a heinous film was actually being made; of course, it eventually passed censorship.

The movie was bad, but it wasn't too bad...

Later, starting with that movie, he gradually began to notice this director named Zhou Yang...

He saw that after this director became famous, instead of bowing down to the five major film companies and three major theater chains like other directors and joining them, he stood up to them and fought them to the end.

This immediately piqued his interest...

Starting in the late 90s, resources in the Chinese film industry were gradually monopolized by the five major film companies.

After the turn of the millennium, the three major cinema chains rose to prominence, joined forces with the five major film studios, and, by leveraging Hollywood resources, showed a tendency to monopolize the entire film industry...

Against this backdrop, directors from the Beijing, Northwest, and Hong Kong film circles began to unite and develop their own unique "tax mechanism."

If their movies, even if not all of them are hits, at least the Chinese film industry could prosper...

However, apart from a few directors like Li Zhengtao, all other directors' films were utterly crushed by Hollywood, with not a single decent film produced. Moreover, the entire industry seemed to be starting to decay; new directors who didn't join their system couldn't even get their films released in theaters...

Wang Changlong saw all of this.

Of course, I also felt a little anxious.

Faced with the overwhelming influx of Hollywood films imbued with American ideology, the entire Chinese film market was once transformed into a colony of Hollywood movies.

The five major film studios are vying for the rights to Hollywood films, coordinating with theaters to cram them into theaters. Meanwhile, the big directors in the Chinese film industry seem to be increasingly complacent. It seems that apart from Li Zhengtao, who is seriously making films, the other directors are either frantically chasing after various European and American film festivals or secretly participating in these festivals to curry favor with foreigners, using films with themes such as "barbaric and backward," "poor and dirty," "despicable," "criticizing the system," and "satirizing national leaders" to win over foreign audiences...

The more Zhang Changlong looked at it, the angrier he became, feeling at its lack of ambition, yet he was helpless.

At this time, he saw Zhou Yang emerge out of nowhere, and saw the film "The Mine," which satirized international film festivals.

"Director Zhang! The directors are still causing trouble in the conference room..."

Just then, Chen Li suddenly pushed open the door and entered, just in time to see Zhang Changlong hurriedly closing the file. He glanced at the stack of "Xuan Shi Entertainment" files on the table.

The section chief sighed: "The failure of 'Extreme' was clearly due to their own poorly made film, and now they're blaming Zhou Yang for manipulating public opinion. But after all, they hold a prestigious position in the film industry, so we still..."

Zhang Changlong said coldly, "Let them come in and find me!"

"This……"

"Let them in!"

……………………………… May 30.

On the internet.

The intense boycott of Zhou Yang by five generations of Chinese directors has gradually subsided.

The sarcastic remarks made by the website 【Zhou Yang's Home】about the movie "Extreme" and Chen Kai have gradually cooled down under the management of the administrators.

However, the online criticism of "Extreme" did not stop, and even continued until early June. The film's popularity remained high on websites such as [Kuaibo], [Weibo], and [Movie Home]...

I don't know if "Extreme" set a bad precedent, or what!

In June, the Chinese film industry seemed to be cursed...

On June 4th, Liang Xiaogang released his film "Gasping for Breath." This film, with an investment of 120 million yuan, grossed around 18 million yuan on its opening day, but its box office plummeted the following day…

On June 9th, director Chen Kesen's new film "Switch" entered the Chinese film market, but was criticized as a terrible film on its opening day. After three days, it grossed around 30 million yuan, and on the fourth day, it grossed less than 5 million yuan, with its screenings being utterly dismal...

Ultimately, on June 14th, it was pulled from theaters along with Liang Xiaogang's film, resulting in a dismal failure...

Director Li Yiqiang took over, bringing "The Other Side of the Sea" to theaters. This youth-themed film, which was promoted before its release, flopped so badly that it was unrecognizable. The opening weekend box office was only a few million yuan, the second day's attendance was shockingly low, and it didn't even make a splash online...

Starting with the movie "Extreme Challenge," one bad movie after another has been released in China, leaving Chinese moviegoers feeling utterly bewildered. Some even wondered if these directors had collectively lost their minds...

Some movies are so bad that you don't even bother criticizing them!

July arrived quickly, the summer movie season, with a plethora of Chinese films being released and a deluge of promotional material.

However, the film failed to make a splash after its premiere!
Furthermore, all the directors at Zhou Yang's [Xuan Shi Entertainment] company are extremely low-key. There are rumors that Che Xiao's "Wu Hun 3" will be released, but there has been no concrete news. There are also rumors that Shen Long is filming a superhero movie, "Black Robe Alliance," which is currently in post-production, but [Xuan Shi Entertainment] has not officially announced anything. They are all frighteningly low-key...

The heatwave in Yanjing in July was intense.

On the movie theater schedule, a dense array of Chinese film posters fluttered listlessly in the cold air from the air conditioner.

The alarming data on the electronic screen:
[Disaster's daily box office: 500 million]

[Spider-Man's daily box office: 2800 million]

[The Undersea World's daily box office: 2400 million]

On Huaxia Film's screening schedule, the screenings for Li Hao's new film "Battlefield," a sixth-generation director, are completely empty, with several staff members taking down its promotional signboard.

"Which one this month?" Old Wang from Entertainment Weekly turned to ask the intern.

"Seventh Intern Xiao Zhang wiped his sweat: 'Starting with *Extreme Challenge*, not a single domestic film has broken 100 million yuan at the box office. They've all been like they've been infected with a plague, getting utterly thrashed by Hollywood movies... Sigh...'"

Just at this time……

A scream suddenly erupted in the hall.

At the entrance of the screening room for "Spider-Man", a line of people stretched for hundreds of meters.

Several young people dressed as Spider-Man rode skateboards through the crowd, eliciting cheers from the girls.

"Make way! Make way, everyone!"

Security guards roughly pushed through the crowd and threw the display stand of "Fuchun Tu" into the warehouse.

The metal frame crashed into the pile of old posters, kicking up a cloud of dust.

Old Wang squinted and saw that the poster for "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Rings" at the bottom was still faintly glowing.

Since the controversy surrounding "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Rings," Zhou Yang seems to have become much more low-key, and everyone at [Xuan Shi Entertainment] seems to be keeping an unusually low profile as well...

He knew that several films directed by Zhou Yang had finished filming, but none of them had given a specific release date...

In fact, he wasn't the only one waiting for Zhou Yang's movie; many movie fans were also waiting for Zhou Yang's movie.

At first, [Xuan Shi Entertainment] did not respond, but in mid-July, someone finally responded.

In July, [XuanShi Entertainment] will not be releasing any films, and in August, no films will be released domestically...

……

Time passes day by day.

August has arrived in the blink of an eye!
August 2nd.

It's quite unusual for China Film Group to release a total box office figure for July.

However, upon seeing this message, everyone felt as if they had fallen into an ice cave, and even felt a slight sense of humiliation!

July total box office: 930 million

[Domestic films account for 11%]

Hollywood blockbusters dominated nearly 90% of the summer movie season in China!
The Chinese film industry has been completely overrun!

And in August, there were still quite a few Chinese films released...

But Hollywood movies are even more amazing.

The global bestseller adaptation of "Magic Academy," the crime film "Tom and Jerry" starring renowned Hollywood actor Tom Hanks, and "Vampire Warrior" with a budget of $1.2 million...

In June, several fifth-generation directors who had clamored to lead Chinese films to compete with Hollywood seemed to have lost their spirit and were now completely silent...

And on August 15th...

A piece of news from overseas has finally stirred up the long-dormant Chinese film industry.

After two months of silence, Zhou Yang is back with his new movie!
However, it's not China, but North America.

8 Month 16 Day!
Saw premiere!
(Sorry for the late update, the chapter is under review and being revised...)
(End of this chapter)