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

Chapter 286 He rose to power!
In this world.

Many things are always unexpected.

For example, Ann Chen's "The Incredible Hulk" suffered a critical and commercial failure worldwide.

Negative reviews are overwhelming in overseas regions.

Mainstream media outlets were ruthless in criticizing the film, calling it "more like a psychoanalytic seminar than a superhero movie," with some even mocking the Hulk as "like an angry yoga instructor"...

Overseas audiences didn't have high expectations for "The Incredible Hulk." What they wanted was simply a simple and entertaining "popcorn movie."

However, the 20-minute confrontation between father and son in the movie made countless European and American moviegoers drowsy and left them feeling disappointed...

Ann Chen attempted to portray the Hulk as a "Freudian tragic hero," so the entire film is filled with psychological drama elements such as repressed father-son relationships, childhood trauma, and identity anxiety.
He wanted to create the most profound work in the history of superhero movies, but the audience's expectations for "Hulk" were nothing more than to see a thrilling "smash, smash, smash" experience.

Perhaps more than a decade from now, the film's reputation will partially reverse, but in this era, the audience's perception remains very simple.

However, for the executives of [Huashang Brothers], this "Hulk" film cannot afford to flop at the Chinese box office!

At least, we can't afford to lose this November!
..............................

In the early hours of the morning, the chairman's office of [Huashang Brothers] was filled with smoke.

A gust of autumn wind blew in through the window, and a deathly silence lingered in everyone's hearts.

Zhang Zhonglei gripped his phone tightly; on the screen, Liu Jinghua's number remained unanswered.

The secretary, standing not far away, kept her head down, holding documents and barely daring to breathe...

The documents included resignation letters, non-compete agreements, breach of contract notices, and also some artist contracts.

No one could have imagined that the company, which was full of laughter and joy just a day ago, would suddenly face such a drastic change. Liu Jinghua's departure this time was really too ruthless!

"Snapped!"

A piercing explosion suddenly rang out!
The phone was slammed to the ground, and the screen shattered into pieces upon impact.

The air in the entire office seemed to freeze after the impact, and everyone instinctively looked at Zhang Zhonglei.

Zhang Zhonglei's hands trembled, his expression contorted. He clenched his fists tightly, staring at the resignation reports on the table, gritting his teeth: "That damn bastard!"

Zhang Zhongqiang, standing to the side, also had a grim face. After glancing at Zhang Zhonglei, he continued to stare at the computer screen.

The Hulk on overseas film review websites is so glaring!
He never dreamed that "The Hulk," on which they had placed such high hopes, would suffer such a crushing defeat!
As he watched the barrage of negative reviews, Zhang Zhongqiang's face gradually turned ashen. Finally, he took a deep breath: "We must block the news! We absolutely cannot let it spread in the domestic media! Absolutely not!"

After he finished speaking, he turned to his secretary and asked, "Have the opening weekend box office figures been released yet?"

The secretary frantically flipped through the documents: "The initial estimate is around 1800 million, but we've invested a lot of resources, so we should be able to raise 2500 million."

“2500 million is far from enough!” Zhang Zhongqiang took a deep breath to calm himself down, and then asked, “Can ‘Devilman’ maintain a box office of 3000 million today?”

"Theoretically, it's possible, but the current data..."

"Tell them to hold on at all costs!"

Just at this moment, the phone suddenly rang.

He answered the phone, and the marketing director's voice trembled: "Mr. Zhang, some marketing accounts are already reposting negative reviews on Weibo! And people are doing it on Kuaibo too!"

"Suppress it! Spend whatever it takes to suppress it!" Zhang Zhongqiang suddenly stood up: "Contact all our partner media outlets, and make sure the press releases focus on the special effects and the Oscar-winning team... Also, have our online trolls push 'deep narrative' and 'artistic breakthrough' to the top of the trending topics!"

Just then, Zhang Zhonglei rushed over, grabbed the landline, and dialed his secretary's number, his voice distorted: "Prepare a statement immediately, saying that overseas audiences 'don't understand Eastern philosophy'... Also, have the legal department keep a close eye on those who have resigned. Anyone who dares to leak internal data, sue them directly! By the way, help me find out, that bitch Liu Jinghua, there's no way she could have suddenly resigned! She must have found another job. Find out who she is!"

"It's Zhou Yang..."

"what!"

The office suddenly fell into a deathly silence.

Immediately afterwards, his pupils contracted sharply!

Then...

He couldn't control himself and started cursing!
"Zhou Yang, I ***"

Just at this time……

The phone rang again.

"Mr. Zhang, Weibo is easy to operate, but what about Kuaibo and Movie Home? Those two websites are both owned by Zhou Yang… If he wants, we simply…"

The voice on the other end of the phone abruptly stopped! Zhang Zhonglei suddenly slammed the phone down!
"That bitch Liu Jinghua...she planned this all along!"

Under the lights!
Amidst the flying debris, the two brothers' expressions were contorted to the point of madness!

Zhang Zhonglei's eyes were bloodshot, and the veins in his neck bulged: "At all costs!"

"Make amends! Now! Immediately! We absolutely cannot let this affect tomorrow's stock market!"

Zhang Zhongqiang slammed his fist on the desk, sending reports flying everywhere.

"Grass!"

"I want his mother, Zhou Yang, dead!"

The brothers' roars echoed in the smoke-filled office, their distorted faces resembling demons in the cold light of the monitor.

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

11 month 17 day.

For the entire Washington Brothers, it was the most desperate night ever!

The news that "Hulk" underperformed at the box office and received poor reviews worldwide hit Washington Brothers hard on its Achilles' heel.

The meeting room of [Huashang Brothers] was brightly lit. At the end of the meeting, Zhang Zhonglei slammed his fist on the table and ordered the implementation of the "lock-in and fill-in" strategy at the emergency meeting. All means were used, including free tickets, private screenings, and member point redemption, in an attempt to cover up the box office decline with a false prosperity.

Meanwhile, the finance department worked through the night to turn marketing expenses into "free tickets for the audience," and theater managers tacitly filled in the midnight screenings. The empty theaters were only occupied by cleaners and "audience members" playing on their phones, but the system data showed that every screening was sold out...

The following morning, the official website of [Washington Brothers] and the three major film studios respectively announced the box office results for "Hulk" and "Darkman"!
After 13 days of release, the daily box office suddenly continued its upward trend, maintaining 3000 million RMB, and the total box office of "Hulk" was approaching 3 million RMB. With 2500 million RMB already earned, this should have shocked the entire Chinese entertainment industry...

However, the market's reaction was far below expectations, not only far below expectations, but even alarmingly dismal!

They tried their best to hide some things, after all, the Chinese film industry is not their sole domain!
Many things can't be kept secret forever, especially since the capital market has a keener sense of smell than wolves!
The news that Liu Jinghua and his overseas distribution team had collectively left the country leaked in the early hours of the morning, like a bomb exploding in the capital market.

At 9 a.m., after the Hong Kong stock market opened, the share price of [Huashang Brothers] plummeted, dropping 12% in a single day, wiping out nearly HK$7 million in market value.

Even more devastating was the sudden announcement by Liu Jinghua's Xinghai Cinema Circuit that it was joining Zhou Yang's Cinema Alliance. This defection directly shook the stance of small and medium-sized cinemas.

In just one night, 6 out of 15 independent cinema chains broke their screening agreements overnight, causing the screening rate of "Wu Hun 3" to skyrocket from 25% to 40%, while the prime screenings of "Hulk" were drastically cut.

In the early hours of November 18th, Zhou Yang, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly published a long article on [Kuaibo] entitled "A Letter to All Movie Fans," accusing "Dakl Ultraman" and "The Incredible Hulk" of systemic box office fraud.

The article included surveillance footage of "ghost audiences" at three cinemas' midnight screenings, a flowchart of the ticket-giving and box office manipulation process, and a screenshot of the overseas "Hulk" showing a 17% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The caption read, "Using capital to trample on movies is the greatest betrayal of the audience."

One stone stirs up a thousand ripples; #ZhouYangExposesBoxOfficeFacts# instantly ignited the entire internet, with [MovieHome] and [KuaiBo] simultaneously exposing evidence of financial fraud by [Huashang Brothers]...

Not only were there allegations of financial fraud, but overseas comments about "The Hulk" also flooded in, rampaging wildly throughout the entire "The Hulk" forum!

Seeing one shocking revelation after another...

The capital market has already smelled blood.

Institutional investors began a massive sell-off, and the channels for original shareholders to cash out were under intense pressure!
The following day, when Hong Kong stocks opened, the share price of [Huashang Brothers] plummeted by 20%, triggering a circuit breaker. The Zhang brothers' pledged shares faced margin calls, and the stock price briefly stopped falling!

Even more fatally, on November 20th, the State Film Administration announced the establishment of a special task force to investigate abnormal box office figures. They immediately began a thorough investigation of the box office data of 30 cinema chains nationwide. The three major cinema chains temporarily withdrew "The Incredible Hulk" and "Darkman" overnight in an attempt to protect themselves. However, they were ultimately found to have inflated box office data!

The defeat came too quickly, like the most crucial piece being removed from a meticulously built tower of blocks, and then...

Everything started to collapse madly!

11 month 21 day.

The driving force behind this domino effect!
Liu Jinghua, who has resigned, announced the official establishment of Century Entertainment and a strategic cooperation agreement with Xuanshi Entertainment.

11 month 22 day.

The collapse of [Huashang Brothers] spread rapidly like an avalanche. Following the departure of some senior executives, a wave of resignations also broke out in its artist management department.
On November 23, award-winning actor Zhang Tingfeng was the first to release a statement on [Kuaibo] announcing his contract termination, accompanied by the text "A wise man does not stand under a dangerous wall."
On November 24th, rising star Lin Jiayi followed suit, posting a photo of herself signing a contract with Century Entertainment; even newly promoted newcomer Li Zihao posted a video overnight: "Thank you for your support, but I want to take a cleaner path."

……

11 Month 29 Day!
【Tianyu】

Xu Haibo silently stared at one message after another.

He slowly closed his eyes and sat down in the chair. A sudden wave of despair and exhaustion washed over him, and he finally murmured, "He... he's in power!"

(End of this chapter)