This director lacks vision.

Chapter 308 The impressive thing isn't Chinese films and television dramas, but Jiang Yifeng.

On the afternoon of February 23, Zhou Xingchi rushed to the headquarters of Huayi Brothers.

This is a six-story building, originally called Kunlun Apartments.

Huayi acquired Huayuan Real Estate for 4 million yuan through a combination of debt and equity transfer, and transformed it into the company's headquarters building.

The ground floor has been renovated into a movie theater, while the top five floors are used as office space.

This place can be used for offices, and also has various entertainment facilities, including a bathhouse.

Zhou Xingchi had enjoyed it before and praised it highly.

But he wasn't in the mood for fun today.

Bingo Group's stock price has already fallen by 21%, and if no countermeasures are taken, it will continue to fall.

The over-the-counter options product that Zhou Xingchi bought is about to fall to the liquidation line.

Once he closes out his position, he will lose at least hundreds of millions of yuan in principal, which will be a devastating blow.

Zhou Xingchi hurried to the 6th floor. Just as he reached the door of the president's office, he overheard Wang Zhonglei and Han Sanping's conversation.

"Third Master, we've been friends for many years. You can't keep showing favoritism to Jiang Yifeng, this newcomer, can you?"

"Nonsense! When have I ever shown favoritism towards Jiang Yifeng?"

"Why did Jiang Yifeng just blurt out, disregarding industry rules, and directly accuse us of rigging box office figures?"

If everyone follows his example and does this from now on, how much tax revenue will our country lose? Will movie theaters still be profitable?

Seeing Wang Zhonglei's indignant expression, Han Sanping said expressionlessly, "Then why did you say before that 'The Killer' was being used to inflate box office numbers?"

Wang Zhonglei: "..."

“I spoke without thinking, I admit I was wrong,” Wang Zhonglei argued. “Besides, I was punished; the screenings for the twelve zodiac animals were all reduced.”

That explains why you and the theater chains issued a statement to clarify when I said John Wick was inflating box office numbers.

We've been accused of inflating box office numbers, but you can't even issue us a statement?

Upon hearing this, Zhou Xingchi's eyes lit up.

If China Film Group can issue a joint statement with the cinema chains, this matter will be easily resolved.

This not only resolved the crisis of allegations of box office manipulation, but also allowed them to unite with cinemas to confront or even boycott Jiang Yifeng.

Han Sanping shook his head and said firmly, "Don't dream about it. I'm not going to issue a statement for you."

Wang Zhonglei pressed on, unwilling to give up, asking, "Why?"

"Because The Fast and the Furious didn't inflate box office numbers, but Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons did!" Han Sanping glared at Wang Zhonglei and retorted, "Do you want to drag China Film Group down with you and get the authorities to endorse your deceptive behavior?"

You can just boost the box office, but you had to go and make it the highest single-day box office in history!

"You can't even be discreet when you're faking it; you deserve to be reprimanded by Jiang Yifeng!"

For Huayi, they really wanted to outdo Jiang Yifeng and Fengxing Media, which is why they went too far in inflating box office figures this time.

This Spring Festival, Huayi can truly say they've had a triumphant moment.

The Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons was a box office hit, and Wang Zhonglei even shouted on Weibo that Huayi Brothers should return to number one.

The capital market also responded positively.

After the Spring Festival holiday, Huayi Brothers' stock rose for two consecutive days, hitting the daily limit, showing a very positive trend.

As a result, Jiang Yifeng stood up to question the box office manipulation and even made a real-name authentication statement saying "sue if you disagree." Today, Huayi Brothers' stock price plummeted to the daily limit.

Wang Zhonglei was also anxious, which is why she dared to argue with Han Sanping for a few words.

At this moment, Han Sanping was about to lose his temper, so he dared not argue any further.

Seeing this, Zhou Xingchi walked into the office and said, "President Han, Jiang Yifeng is targeting us Hong Kong filmmakers with this, which is a disuniting move."

Seeing what happened to me is disheartening for us Hong Kong filmmakers. We implore you to uphold justice.

As the leader of China Film Group, Han Sanping's goal is to promote the development of Chinese cinema.

He also played a role in encouraging Hong Kong filmmakers to move north.

After Zhou Xingchi finished filming Shaolin Soccer and treated the Lin Xiaoming couple, who had offered him help in his time of need, like fools, he completely lost his reputation among Hong Kong film investors.

Han Sanping seized the opportunity, approached Zhou Xingchi, and together with Huayi Brothers Investment, filmed Kung Fu.

This is how Zhou Xingchi connected with Huayi Brothers.

Zhou Xingchi is the kind of person who is clever but not wise. He keenly sensed his value as a Hong Kong Island resident and gained a lot of benefits from it.

This trick used to be incredibly effective.

But this time, they ran into a wall.

Han Sanping said calmly, "Don't talk about how disheartened people are in the Hong Kong film industry. You should sort out the situation inside Hong Kong first."

Zhou Xingchi was greatly puzzled.

"What do you mean?"

"Did you arrange for someone to write that article, 'Why are so many people criticizing Zhou Xingchi?'"

Zhou Xingchi paused for a moment and said, "It wasn't my arrangement, but my company knew that a fan had written such an article, so we gave it a push."

"What an idiot!" Han Sanping couldn't help but curse when he heard Zhou Xingchi's words, and then said, "Take a look for yourself, Chen Lan from the Xiang family has already posted on Weibo to scold you."

The article "Why So Many People Criticize Zhou Xingchi" not only discusses Jiang Yifeng, but also the Xiang family.

Chen Lan responded on Weibo today, accusing Zhou Xingchi of five major offenses.

The first claim is that Zhou Xingchi commissioned someone to write this article; the second claim is that Zhou Xingchi is ungrateful and smears Xiang Huaqiang; the third claim is that Zhou Xingchi is feigning poverty to gain sympathy; the fourth claim is that Zhou Xingchi bullied Cecilia Cheung; and the fifth claim is that Zhou Xingchi is philandering but ruthless and cruel to women.

This is just a subheading; the full content includes Zhou Xingchi's failed immigration, salary disputes, bullying on set, and various controversies regarding his personal character.

As Zhou Xingchi's former boss, the Xiang family knows too many of his secrets.

Zhou Xingchi is truly an idiot for letting his fans publish such an article, which seems to be able to create personas for him such as "an introverted kid who doesn't know how to express his emotions" and "an art master who only knows how to bury himself in making movies".

But in reality, it angered the Xiang family.

The end result was dogs biting each other, leaving a mouthful of fur.

Even without Jiang Yifeng, Zhou Xingchi's reputation began to decline because of the article "Why So Many People Criticize Zhou Xingchi".

Mainland audiences know little about Hong Kong entertainment circles, so they have a biased view of them.

It was the controversy sparked by this article that made more people aware of Zhou Xingchi's scandals.

Therefore, even Han Sanping couldn't help but curse Zhou Xingchi for being stupid.

All I can say is that this world is a huge makeshift operation. As a director and actor, Zhou Xingchi is undoubtedly a genius, but as a businessman and boss, he is unqualified.

The three chatted for a while longer, and Han Sanping finally only agreed to help Jiang Yifeng plead on their behalf.

After Han Sanping left, Zhou Xingchi looked at Wang Zhonglei and said, "We can't just defend without attacking. Does Jiang Yifeng have any weaknesses? Let's launch a counterattack."

Wang Zhonglei said, "Jiang Yifeng likes to play around with beautiful women. Is that a big deal in the entertainment industry?"
Moreover, can we retaliate so easily?
Jiang Yifeng said he had a lot of information.

He's not revealing anything now because he doesn't want to become an enemy of the industry, but attacking him gives him a reason to do so.

Zhou Xingchi then asked, "Do you have any ideas?"

Wang Zhonglei shook her head.

Seeing this, Zhou Xingchi stood up and said, "Then I'll go find President Dong. Bye-bye."

This is Zhou Xingchi—very realistic.

The "Chairman Dong" he mentioned is Dong Ping, whose company, China Culture Media Group, also invested in the film *Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons*. Dong Ping currently serves as the CEO of Alibaba Entertainment, and his boss is Ma Yun.

Starting this year, Ma Yun began to interact frequently with Zhou Xingchi, and the two have given many interviews together.

After Zhou Xingchi found Dong Ping, Dong Ping then consulted Ma Yun.

So, Jiang Yifeng, who was working at the company, first received a call from Han Sanping, and then a call from Ma Yun.

Both of them came to plead for Jiang Yifeng to delete his Weibo posts.

Jiang Yifeng made his stance clear: the Weibo post would not be deleted, and Huayi and Zhou Xingchi should stop provoking him; this matter should end here.

If they want to keep playing, he'll play along to the end.

Jiang Yifeng's attitude quickly reached Hua Yi and Zhou Xingchi.

They were at their wits' end, wanting to retaliate but not daring to, and could only swallow their anger.

Then the audience discovered that the box office of Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons had a huge drop. It broke 10 billion yuan in the first ten days, but only 1.2 million yuan in the following week.

At this rate, it will be difficult for this movie to gross more than 13 billion yuan, let alone break the highest box office record of John Wick.

Moreover, Hua Yi and Zhou Xingchi remained silent and dared not respond to Jiang Yifeng's threat to "sue if you disagree."

Now the facts are clear: there was definitely box office manipulation involved in Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons.

Jiang Yifeng's supporters cheered, and even bystanders joined in mocking Zhou Xingchi and Huayi.

"Who's jealous of whom? I think Zhou Xingchi is jealous of Jiang Yifeng!"

"Absolutely! Zhou Xingchi's biggest dream isn't to be a great director, but to be a big boss!"

Jiang Yifeng amassed a fortune of tens of billions in just a few years, becoming the youngest billionaire on the Forbes Global Billionaires List—something Zhou Xingchi had always dreamed of.

"Actually, Zhou Xingchi is quite self-aware. He knows that if the film is released normally, its box office will not be as high as Jiang Yifeng's, so he inflated the box office."

"Zhou Xingchi's box office manipulation is the greatest respect he can show to Jiang Yifeng. Please stop criticizing Zhou Xingchi; he is Jiang Yifeng's most die-hard fan!"

"No wonder Wang Zhonglei tried to smear John Woo last time by claiming that John Woo was inflating box office numbers; it turns out he does this all the time."

"Those who know about Huayi know about this company."

After being bombarded with criticism from netizens, Zhou Xingchi's fans became anxious, and many hoped that he would speak out.

"Honey, say something! Stephen Chow, say something!"

"As long as you say you weren't inflating box office numbers and were wronged, we will always support you!"

"Don't be afraid, Mr. Stephen Chow! 3 million fans are your strongest support! If you have any grievances, speak up!"

Unfortunately, Zhou Xingchi is a typical bully who preys on the weak and fears the strong, and he has not responded at all.

Even when Chen Lan accused him of five crimes, attracting a group of Hong Kong artists to cheer him on, and Wong Jing followed suit with mockery, Zhou Xingchi did not respond.

Seeing this, Zhou Xingchi's fans were completely silenced.

Many people unfollowed him because of this.

Bingo Group's stock price has plummeted. After rising by more than 80%, it has now fallen by 53% from its peak, and is now much lower than its previous share price.

Zhou Xingchi lost over 100 million yuan in the capital market, and his net worth also shrank significantly due to the stock price crash.

In this situation, Zhou Xingchi did not cause trouble for Jiang Yifeng, but instead went to Huayi.

He asked Huayi Brothers to pay a share of the box office revenue in advance to alleviate their financial pressure.

Unexpectedly, this led to a disagreement between the two sides.

On February 26th, Sohu Entertainment reported a news story.

"Zhou Xingchi intends to sue Huayi Brothers – Who really suffers behind the high box office of 'Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons'?"

The article caused an uproar across the internet after it was published.

If we're talking about what happened before, there wasn't any concrete evidence yet that Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons had inflated its box office figures.

Now that the news of the two sides going to court has come out, it's practically confirmed that this matter has been settled.

Zhou Xingchi's image has been damaged once again, and Huayi Brothers has become a laughing stock.

The onlookers gathered around and mocked the spectacle.

That's just how reality is. When external enemies are too strong to defeat, internal cooperation is easily strained, and everyone wants to take more money.

Zhou Xingchi broke off relations with Huayi Brothers ahead of schedule.

On the same day, CCTV-1 broadcast a previously filmed documentary, "Setting Sail at Sea".

In this documentary, the Yangshi team decided to record the material truthfully.

Excessive glorification and promotion can backfire and backfire.

Therefore, CCTV focused on filming Jiang Yifeng's promotion of "The Killer" in the United States.

When domestic audiences saw Jiang Yifeng walk the red carpet and American female fans faint with excitement, they gained a direct understanding of Jiang Yifeng's popularity in the United States.

Even the best wine needs advertising.

International celebrities also need constant promotion to maintain their status.

Take Jackie Chan for example. Even now, a large number of viewers in China don't know that Jackie Chan is a true international superstar, with far more prestige than most Hollywood stars.

The documentary produced by CCTV gave Jiang Yifeng a great opportunity for publicity.

There's no other way; "Sailing to the Sea" requires solid achievements, and others can't offer anything comparable.

After watching the documentary, viewers realized that Jiang Yifeng's previous talk about cultural export was not just boasting.

HBO's interest in "Empresses in the Palace" was merely a gesture of goodwill towards Jiang Yifeng;
Netflix's decision to have Cheng Kaige direct Marco Polo was also intended to provoke Jiang Yifeng.

In addition, the documentary also included an interview with Thomas from Legendary Pictures.

"Jiang is not a genius; 'genius' is an understatement to describe him!"
He is a complete miracle!

John Wick is a low-budget action movie, yet it grossed a staggering 6.71 million US dollars worldwide!

This is incredible!
Although The Hobbit's box office was higher than ours during the same period, John Wick completely overshadowed The Hobbit in terms of earning power.

After achieving unprecedented success with John Wick, I found myself in the same predicament as Netflix President Hastings: Jiang was unwilling to film a sequel immediately!

Oh my god! I can't understand Jiang's thinking!

If he films John Wick 2, he'll rake in money from the global film market! That's hundreds of millions of dollars!

To motivate Jiang to film John Wick 2 earlier, I came up with the same method as Hastings.

That's right, we've decided to make an epic film—The Great Wall.

This movie is also a co-production between the United States and China, with an investment of no less than 1.5 million US dollars, and the male lead is Hollywood superstar Matt Damon.

As for the director, we plan to invite Zhang Yimou.

Hopefully, after Jiang hears this news, he'll change his mind and stop making "The Hunt 2," and hurry up and make "John Wick 2" instead!

In the documentary, Thomas praised Jiang Yifeng and revealed a new film project – The Great Wall.

The male lead of the movie is Matt Damon, and the director is Zhang Yimou.

This has really generated a lot of buzz.

In particular, in the documentary, after interviewing Thomas, Li Sisi exclaimed, "After coming to the United States, I realized that the most impressive thing is not Chinese films and television dramas, but Jiang Yifeng!"

(End of this chapter)