Director of Photography Department of Huayu

Chapter 562 No need to wait for me to come back
In August, Canada is blessed with clear skies and gentle breezes.

Wu Chen was sitting behind the monitor, staring at the screen, while a noisy farce was unfolding in the domestic film market across the ocean.

Since Huayi Brothers announced that "Aftershock" had grossed 3800 million yuan on its opening day, "breaking" the record of "1939" by a narrow margin, their promotional campaign has become increasingly intense.

On the second and third days, the box office broke the 4000 million mark one after another. In Huayi's press release, the film was leading the entire summer season with a kingly attitude of "surpassing '1939'".

Ning Hao looked at these sensational reports with disdain, and even called Wu Chen:

"Hehe, the box office of 'The Great Earthquake' is definitely suspicious. Let's not talk about how much of it is suspicious, but it's definitely inflated."

Many organizations are willing to pay such high ticket prices to book entire theaters, achieving 100% attendance every time. Can those figures be accurate? Only your film, *1939*, didn't do that, otherwise it would have earned far more!

It's a pity, I've seen the movie, and Feng Xiaogang's directing is still pretty good!

In his opinion, Huayi was somewhat shameless.

While the movie made money this way, the public remembers it, and a good movie becomes truly unwatchable with this kind of reputation.

"But I have to say, their publicity effect is really good." Wu Chen chuckled softly on the other end of the phone. "But with Feng Xiaogang and Huayi doing this, do you think anyone in the industry will recognize their achievements?"

“That’s true, but they just want to make money,” Ning Hao shrugged.

Xiangshan Film and Television City, the filming location for "The Orphan of Zhao".

Chen Kaige sat in the director's chair early in the morning, holding a copy of the day's newspaper. The front page featured a report that "Aftershock" had broken box office records again.

He glanced at it only once before tossing the newspaper aside, a barely perceptible hint of contempt playing at the corner of his mouth.

"A peasant will always be a peasant; he'll never amount to anything."

Chen Hong, standing to the side, glanced at Feng Xiaogang. She knew that her husband had never thought highly of him, even though his box office numbers were indeed very high.

She then softly echoed, "Hehe, how can he compare to you, Director Wu, Director Zhang, and the others?"

With just one simple sentence, Chen Kaige's lips curled into a smile, clearly pleased.

"I've heard the movie itself is pretty good, it just used the wrong methods," Chen Kaige said slowly, shaking his head. "Putting aside the box office controversy, their methods alone suggest a lot of inflated figures."

Meanwhile, news has also come from "Under the Hawthorn Tree," which has already finished filming for a long time, announcing its release date in mid-September.

When interviewed and asked for his opinion on "Aftershock," Zhang Weiping's words were full of sarcasm: "I think there are too many commercial films now, and all they care about is box office revenue."

Although "Aftershock" has been in theaters for a few more days, many media outlets and viewers have expressed doubts about the three different opening day box office figures.

"To be honest, something felt off about the opening day box office performance."

"Is it really better than '1939'? Or is it fake?"

"Hehe, that's definitely fake. Three different box office figures in one day—I don't believe there's no foul play involved. I just don't know how much of it is inflated."

Faced with the escalating box office controversy, early Tuesday morning, a mainstream media outlet finally published a commentary titled "Why Should 'Aftershock' Be Burdened by Box Office Hype?", directly targeting Huayi Brothers.

However, in Huayi's office, amidst the swirling smoke, Wang Zhonglei, Feng Xiaogang, and Xu Li were all smiles, even having the leisure to criticize the "cannon fodder" of the same release period—the star-studded "My Beautiful Boss."

"We gave them a chance, but they insisted on going against us. Does he think he's from 'Inception'?" Wang Zhonglei leaned back on the sofa and laughed heartily.

Xu Li quickly echoed the compliment:
"Yesterday I saw CCTV's report on this movie, saying that the fashion elements in the film are attractive to young audiences, and they also conducted an interview with Jing Tian."

It's estimated that Lu Zheng spent a lot of money to pull strings, but what was the point?

Haha, Director Feng's movies are truly amazing, they utterly crushed them!

Feng Xiaogang listened with great interest, his smugness evident in his expression.

Based on this trend, his film will most likely surpass Wu Chen's "1939" and become the highest-grossing domestic film in history.

By then, Feng Xiaogang will be one of the top domestic filmmakers, far ahead of Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige.

"Hahaha"

The office was filled with a cheerful atmosphere.

Just then, the secretary gently knocked on the door, quickly walked to Wang Zhonglei's side, and whispered a few words in his ear. The smile on Wang Zhonglei's face faded slightly.

Feng Xiaogang and Xu Li immediately looked over.

"It's a call from the bureau," Wang Zhonglei waved his hand confidently, "to inquire about the opening day box office of 'The Great Earthquake.' No problem, we've already prepared."

Upon hearing this, Feng Xiaogang and Xu Li immediately relaxed.

It's just a minor issue with the box office statistics; what's the big deal?
Moreover, Wang Zhonglei had already prepared his response.

The State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, in a conference room.

After finishing the meeting, Tong specifically called his secretary over and asked:
"Have you clarified the issue of Huayi Brothers' 'Aftershock' opening day box office with the special fund office? Why are the data inconsistent?"

The secretary nodded and reported:

"Boss, we've already found out. Wang Zhonglei personally replied, saying that the difference in statistics is due to the different times each cinema chain reports its box office figures."

Some cinemas reported their box office figures late, which may have included the box office revenue from the early morning and morning of the following day.

Secondly, nearly 200 cinemas counted tickets manually instead of using computers. To obtain first-day data as quickly as possible, they relied on historical estimates based on sampling surveys from the past three years.

Hearing this, Tong Gang was so angry he laughed, and asked in return:
Do you believe this reason?

The secretary could only smile awkwardly: "Maybe it's because they want to surpass Director Wu's '1939' opening day box office and win some honor."

"Nonsense! Absolutely nonsense!" Tong Gang slammed his fist on the table. "How many times has this happened in the box office statistics over the past few years! The box office issues of recent years must be rectified! Now, order Huayi to immediately publish the true opening day box office information!"

"Okay, leader!"

The news quickly reached Huayi. After hearing the report, Wang Zhonglei simply waved his hand casually, telling Xu Li to take care of it.

In fact, they had been prepared for this for a long time.

It's just a mistake in the box office figures, it's not a big deal.

At most, the bureau will ask them to make some changes, or at worst, hold a meeting to criticize them. What kind of substantial punishment could they possibly impose?

Huayi issued a clarification announcement quickly, and the reasons given were almost identical to those reported to the bureau. It even listed the so-called "sampling data and valuation methods" in detail, making it seem "professional" and "innocent".

However, the actual opening day box office figure was ultimately announced as 3640 million.

Netizens weren't about to let Huayi off so easily; their sarcastic remarks flooded the comments section.

"This round trip cost nearly two million, wow, so this is really something, trying to be number one among domestic brands!"

"I knew there was something fishy going on! This is how the statistics are done. Why didn't you just postpone it for a few days and include all the weekend box office revenue as the opening day?"

"That was absolutely amazing!"

"."

"It seems Huayi is going to great lengths to surpass your '1939.' Luckily, this isn't a video game, otherwise it would feel like those kids are saying, fighting a boss."

Jiang Wen couldn't help but laugh when she called Wu Chen.

Wu Chen was speechless. How did he become the BOSS?
"Don't worry!" Jiang Wen patted his chest on the other end of the line, volunteering, "When I make my move during the New Year's film season, I'll definitely take down this Feng Xiaogang for you!"

In his opinion, Wu Chen probably doesn't have any other options right now.

After all, Interstellar is still being filmed, and even if it is finished, it will not be released this year.

“No need,” Wu Chen’s voice came through the receiver, calm and firm. “Wait for me to get back.”

"what?"

Jiang Wen was stunned for a moment, unable to understand what other method Wu Chen could possibly have.

(End of this chapter)