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

Chapter 312 A Chinese-made science fiction film?
early morning.

Yanjing Airport.

Xu Haibo walked down the gangway with a heavy heart. The April morning breeze, carrying a slight chill, rushed into his shoulders.

He gripped his briefcase tightly. At that moment, the coveted Star Wars contract lay quietly in a hidden compartment. After securing Star Wars on this trip to Hollywood, he felt no excitement, but rather an unusual heaviness...

The $4000 million buyout price, coupled with a mere 35% share of box office revenue, makes the film's chances of breaking even extremely slim.

For Tianyu Media, this is a gamble to maintain the company's reputation and stock price. Unless a miracle occurs—the film's box office surpasses 400 million RMB, and the official DVD sales reach 20 million copies, like Star Wars Episode I in 1999—it might be possible to barely reduce losses and boost the stock price, buying some breathing room for the "domestic film protection month" in July, and holding out until the release of "The Last Supper" and "Chrysanthemum Terrace"...

otherwise
Xu Haibo dared not think any further.

My phone vibrated; it was Chairman Deng Baichuan's twelfth missed call.

The staff from Tianyu Entertainment were jogging towards him from afar when he suddenly turned around and hid in the restroom, splashing cold tap water hard on his face.

The reflection in the mirror showed bloodshot eyes, and the figure of $4000 million churned in his mind like a nightmare.

He looked at the person in the mirror and could only let out a heavy sigh.

This movie might have hope...

but!
Will Zhou Yang, who is known for his vindictiveness, give them a chance?

……

In front of the floor-to-ceiling windows of the top-floor conference room of Tianyu Building.

Xu Haibo sat silently on the sofa, looking down at the project proposal in his hand, not daring to look at Chairman Deng Baichuan, and not even daring to breathe loudly at this moment.

Time passed slowly, mingled with the faint sound of heartbeats and an endless feeling of suffocation.

After an unknown amount of time, the expected torrential downpour of angry curses did not materialize. Instead, a faint sigh was heard.

"It would be good if we could get this movie."

Xu Haibo looked up and saw Deng Baichuan silently looking out the window with a complex expression.

"Gamble!"

He closed his eyes!

Xu Haibo watched Deng Baichuan's retreating figure: "President Deng, what you mean is..."

"This movie has to be a blockbuster! We can invest more resources in it!"

"What do you mean by 'more'?" Xu Haibo asked tentatively, almost instinctively.

Deng Baichuan turned his head, his face somewhat calm, but his eyes were sharp.

A faint, menacing aura emanated from within!
……

4 month 27 day.

The moment the news spread that Tianyu Media had signed a record-breaking $4000 million deal for the rights to Star Wars, the entire film industry was shaken.

Industry insiders were shocked after verifying the authenticity of the news. Anyone familiar with the film market knows what this price means—a $4000 million buyout price plus only a 35% share of the box office revenue. This is almost certainly a deal that will result in a huge loss.

While most filmmakers found Tianyu Media's outrageous actions unbelievable, a few astute observers had already realized something...

Perhaps this reflects Tianyu's last-ditch effort as it faces a severe operational crisis and is on the verge of collapse.

they!

There is nowhere left to go!

Only three Hollywood movies were released in May and June, and Zhou Yang has already acquired two of them.

If they don't secure the rights to Star Wars soon, Tianyu Media's stock price will inevitably collapse in the next two months, and the capital flight behind them will become even more severe!

They had no choice!

……

On April 27, the news of the record-breaking price tag for the Star Wars rights exploded across the internet like a thunderclap.

Among the top ten trending topics on emerging social media platforms such as [Kuaibo] and [Weibo], related topics occupied six spots, with hashtags such as #Tianyu is crazy# and #4000 million US dollars buyout# quickly exceeding one million views.

On film and television forums such as [Movie Home] and [Wandou Movie Network], an article titled "In-depth Analysis: Tianyu's Do-or-Die Battle" has been widely reposted. The author pointed out sharply: "This is not a business decision, but a lifeline for the capital market!"

In fact...

As this post says, Tianyu Media has completely poured all its resources into Star Wars...

This investment extends beyond online channels to include offline channels, and involves a massive, aggressive advertising campaign!

On the morning of the 28th, the Yanjing subway station was completely covered with scarlet Star Wars posters.

[Tianyu] spared no expense in buying up landmark advertising spaces in 23 key cities across the country, from the Bund in Shanghai to the Canton Tower in Guangzhou, with giant lightsaber projections piercing the night sky.

Even more outrageous, they even booked advertising space at the checkout counters of 1200 convenience stores nationwide, offering movie coupons to customers with their shopping receipts.

Even more outrageous, Tianyu Media bought out all the midnight radio advertising slots, playing lightsaber sound effects on a loop, prompting listeners to joke that they "even dream about lightsabers buzzing." This reckless investment caused an uproar in the industry, reaching a point of utter madness!

Analysts have calculated that Tianyu Media's daily marketing expenditure exceeds 200 million RMB, burning through approximately 1500 million RMB in two weeks...

Meanwhile, Zhou Yang's films "The Howling God" and "xXx: Return of Xander Cage," both from Hollywood, were suppressed in terms of buzz due to their restrained promotional strategies.

……

But behind this madness lies a deadly hidden danger.

Tianyu Media's marketing relies entirely on "mortgaging the future".

An internal email from a senior executive at Tianyu Media has been leaked, revealing that the company had poured all of its 2005 working capital into Star Wars. Along with the massive publicity campaign, the film's budget was driven to an astonishing level. The film needed to gross at least 4.5 million yuan at the box office, and all the necessary rights, including DVD and Blu-ray releases, had to be hugely successful to even begin to mitigate losses…

however……

[Tianyu]'s almost manic marketing strategy is like a grand performance art, continuously dominating the trending searches amidst controversy and doubt.

From subway stations to convenience store receipts, from midnight radio broadcasts to lightsaber projections on landmark buildings, a deluge of scarlet posters transformed the entire month of April into a Star Wars battlefield.

Industry analysts are calculating the daily cash burn rate of 200 million yuan. On social media, under the hashtag #TianyuIsCrazy#, there are both sharp criticisms mocking its short-sighted approach and subtle admiration for its reckless gamble.

Amidst numerous controversies, the capital market's reaction was unexpected!
When Tianyu's stock price suddenly rebounded against the trend after a continuous decline, those institutional investors who had been watching from the sidelines suddenly smelled blood.

Financial reports show that despite the exorbitant copyright fees that have razed profit margins to razor-thin levels, even leading to fatal losses, the siphon effect of the Star Wars super IP is becoming apparent: pre-sales exceeded 3000 million yuan within 48 hours of opening, breaking the record for the most frenzied pre-sales in Chinese history. Even other films in the [theatrical alliance] were packed with Star Wars fans eager for the spectacle…

The films *The Wrath of Gods* and *xXx: Return of Xander Cage* seem to have sensed the crisis and deliberately avoided screenings of *Star Wars*, thus freeing up a significant portion of their screening slots…

This world has never lacked gamblers!

In the stock market, these gamblers, blinded by greed, are everywhere. When they saw Zhou Yang retreat, the speculators suddenly realized that this might be the most crucial battle for Tianyu's rebound. If they went all in at this moment, they might make a fortune throughout May!

The gamblers' revelry thus began.

In the secondary market, the trading volume of Tianyu Media, which had been sluggish, surged by 800% in a single day compared to usual.

In the derivatives market, futures contracts for lightsaber toys have been driven up by 30%.

The surge in cinema stocks was soaring, as if the entire industry had found a new path to wealth in this high-stakes gamble.

Meanwhile, pre-sale numbers for "Star Wars," at the center of the controversy, continue to soar, with scalpers selling midnight IMAX tickets for up to five times the face value. This is no longer just the release of a movie, but a doomsday frenzy of capital and traffic.

……

May 10, 3:00 AM.

The top floor of the Tianyu Building is still brightly lit.

Deng Baichuan stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, looking down at the ever-burning neon lights of Yanjing.

The stock chart on the projector behind me looked like a steep cliff!
The red candlestick chart representing [Tianyu] has surged almost vertically upwards over the past two weeks, causing its market capitalization to soar by 60%...

"Closing price: HK$28.7." The CFO's voice trembled with excitement: "That's double what it was before the Star Wars announcement!"

Deng Baichuan nodded after reviewing the data.

"Mr. Deng," the assistant whispered, leaning closer, "We just received news from North America that the opening weekend box office was 15% lower than expected."

"Suppress it." Deng Baichuan stubbed out his cigar, the cold curve of his lips reflected in the glass window: "Wait until the second batch of institutions take over tomorrow before releasing negative news."

"it is good!"

Just as his assistant left, Xu Haibo walked in step by step with a complicated expression.

Upon seeing Deng Baichuan, Xu Haibo couldn't help but ask with concern, "President Deng, isn't this all-or-nothing gamble jeopardizing Tianyu's future?"

Deng Baichuan gazed resolutely out the window: "As long as we can bring the capital back, Tianyu Media won't collapse. Once Star Wars surpasses 3.2 million at the box office, the situation will stabilize! Hold on until the 'Domestic Film Protection Month,' and that will be our time to reclaim the top!"

Xu Haibo nodded thoughtfully, but then a hint of unease crept in: "It's been so quiet on Zhou Yang's side for the past two weeks. I'm worried about Zhou Yang's situation..."

"With Star Wars' pre-sale data being so hot in China, Zhou Yang wouldn't turn down money. If he dared to violate market rules and restrict our screenings, not to mention the relevant departments, the theater owners under his control would not stand for it! This time we're clearly giving them money to make. Who in this world would turn down business that's offered to them?"

"Right……"

Just as Deng Baichuan nodded and was about to leave...

I suddenly received a phone call.

Immediately afterwards...

His face turned green instantly!
"What? His 'Moon Wars 2' is going to be released at the same time as ours? It was just officially announced? And it's touted as China's first truly homegrown science fiction film?"

Immediately afterwards...

He looked at the text messages on his phone...

His face suddenly turned ashen, as if he had swallowed a fly, and he felt nauseous...

(End of this chapter)