Huayu: A Commercial Director

Chapter 139 Feeling confident
Jiang Zhiqiang never expected Chen Shouzhe's reaction to be so intense.

There are unspoken rules everywhere. The reason they chose A Chinese Ghost Story was because they liked that A Chinese Ghost Story was a lone wolf and a lone wolf. Even if they were discovered, so what if they offended Chen Shouzhe? They didn't need to be afraid of Chen Shouzhe.

Unexpectedly, Chen Shouzhe went to the higher-ups first and presented them with the evidence. Now they either had to back down or fight to the bitter end.

The pressure of remaking the movie is immense, coupled with the impact of the stock market, they need to quickly recover the stock price, so this movie is destined to break 2 billion, or even higher.

Now that Chen Shou has him in the thick of things, he's bound to pay a price, but he didn't expect the price to be so high.

“Director Tong, I don’t accept his terms. At most, I’ll return the box office money to him,” Jiang Zhiqiang said.

"Are you sure?" Director Tong asked calmly.

Jiang Zhiqiang was at a loss for words, sensing that Director Tong's tone was unfriendly.

“An Le will absolutely not apologize, nor will he offer tenfold compensation; at most, he'll give him double the amount,” Jiang Zhiqiang hesitated for a moment before finally gritting his teeth and saying.

"Sigh, I'll discuss it with Chief Chen again, but double is definitely not enough," Director Tong said.

"Double at most, otherwise An Le is willing to accept the punishment, and I will definitely not give him more," Jiang Zhiqiang said firmly.

He couldn't admit it. If he did, Anle would be finished. The box office fraud was a big deal, not a small one. After all, it wasn't just one company doing it. Anle had dozens of cinemas and was a listed company. If its reputation was damaged, it would affect its stock price.

Besides, he didn't think Chen Shouzhe could control him. What could Chen Shouzhe possibly do?

Director Tong felt a headache coming on. On the one hand, Jiang Zhiqiang could be considered a hero in China. Why do I say that? If you look closely at the big investments that the director made in China Entertainment, you'll see his presence in almost all of them. After all, he was a Hong Kong capital investor who supported domestic commercial films and had made a significant contribution to their development.

Although Hong Kong entertainment has declined a lot now, it is still a long-established giant, far beyond what Chan Sau-cheung can compare to.

Chen Shou is indeed the top commercial director in China, but he's all alone, which is why Jiang Zhiqiang is targeting him and bullying him.

After seeing Jiang Zhiqiang off, Director Tong hesitated for a moment but did not call Chen Shouzhe. Instead, he waited for Chen to call him.

Chen waited in the United States for a whole day, but received no news whatsoever.

"Alright, if that's the case, then let's go all out."

Chen Shouzhe opened Weibo and started editing. Although he was abroad, it didn't mean he couldn't post.

On July 16th, I flew to the United States. I never expected that my house would be robbed shortly after I left. Of course, it wasn't something that happened to my house, but rather that the box office revenue from the movie "A Chinese Ghost Story" was stolen.

I have obtained the evidence and uploaded it online, which everyone can check.

I, Chen Shou, am now formally reporting Anle Films for box office fraud. Many cinemas in China condone this practice of inflating box office figures.

I'd like to ask, are box office frauds now so blatant and unscrupulous?
I didn’t care about stealing a little before, but now it seems that the domestic environment really doesn’t allow for independent investment?

Anle is a Hong Kong-based company and a listed company. I don't want to say anything. In the future, my films will have foreign investment, and foreign companies will connect with China Film Group.

A message to all film production companies, large and small: if this box office fraud continues, then what's the point of making movies? You can all go ahead and make your own; I'll just do my own thing.

"The term 'stagnant water' seems too simplistic. I've witnessed the true filth firsthand. A word of advice to Anle Pictures: if you ever have a film released, I'll be waiting for you. No matter the investment, I'll support you to the end. If you're so capable, don't change the release date. I'll always have a film waiting for you."

Chen Shouzhe's Weibo post caused a huge stir.

It's unbelievable that the most famous commercial film director in China had his box office revenue stolen. No wonder the box office figures for the 16th and 17th were more than just halved.

The film and television industry was stunned, never expecting Chen Shouzhe to be so vehement, launching a direct attack on Weibo, and not just targeting Anle Pictures.
"Wow, this is so exciting in the middle of the night."

"An Le went too far. In the past, it was fine to steal a little bit, but he stole 40 or 50 million in box office revenue without hesitation and was caught red-handed."

"Now there's something good to watch."

Countless production companies were watching, and even the managers who had already left work were woken up by the phone call. When they saw Chen Shouzhe's Weibo post, they never expected him to directly break off relations.

There are already tens of thousands of comments.

"Don't delete it. It's good this way. These people have really gone too far. Let them make a scene."

"What's going on here? What if Chen Shou decides to make all the films foreign-made in the future?"

"Don't worry, he's just a little resentful."

……

The entire Weibo account almost crashed overnight because of Chen Shouzhe's post, and many directors who had their box office revenue stolen came forward to support Chen Shouzhe.

"The phenomenon of large companies bullying small companies has been going on for more than ten years. My films have also had their box office revenue stolen, but I was too weak to speak up. Thank you, Director Chen, for your comments."

"If they dare to steal box office revenue from even director Chen Shouzhe's movies, then who will want to make movies in the future? We might as well let these big companies make them all."

"Good heavens, over 40 million in box office revenue, and they stole 40 million? And they get away with it without any consequences?"

"Theft cannot be used against these people, right?"

Director Chen told me that he had already called the police.

"Director Chen Shouzhe is no ordinary director. He has a company in Hollywood. Tsk tsk, from now on, we'll make all our films co-productions. If they dare to steal box office revenue again, then we'll let the foreign countries have a say." "We've lost face internationally. Someone has already forwarded Director Chen Shouzhe's words to foreign websites. Director Chen Shouzhe is still quite famous, and now everyone is mocking us."

"I was wondering why the movie's box office revenue had dropped so much all of a sudden. Turns out it was stolen."

"I can testify that this is my movie ticket from back then. I clearly bought a ticket for A Chinese Ghost Story, but they gave me a ticket for a movie about catching demons. I went in and watched A Chinese Ghost Story."

"Mine too, the movie theater I'm in is..."

"Shows every half hour, 100% full, this is blatant box office theft, doesn't the higher-ups care?"

"Anoro has no shame at all."

Online sentiment was high, with many people staying up all night scrolling through Weibo and venting their anger on various websites.

Guo Degang also stood up for his godson, and even exaggerated his claims.

"The movie could have grossed 2 billion yuan, but it was ruined by a group of thieves. They couldn't do anything about it, so they resorted to underhanded methods. Is nobody going to do anything about it?"

Many people in the film and television industry dare not speak out, mainly because Jiang Zhiqiang has too many connections. People like the National Director have received his help, as have many other artists in the industry. It's not as simple as it seems.

Chen Shou's phone kept ringing, mostly with calls trying to mediate.

Two were stolen. One was Wang Changtian's movie, the one shown in the theater, "Jianbing Man," which was also stolen, so Lao Wang was very angry.

One of them was Ye Ning's. Several cinemas in Wanda Cinemas had tampered with the facilities. The cinema chain alliance also gave an explanation and punishment. All the managers who did not do clean things were dealt with, and some were even sent to jail by the police.

This is considered an explanation to Chen Shouzhe, but the box office figures are already blurred and difficult to recover. The theater chain said it would make adjustments.

Those scattered cinemas are hard to find, and it's difficult to find any shady dealings with offline tickets.

The lights at Anle Film Studio were on late at night, and many paparazzi were squatting at the company entrance. Sure enough, they saw a group of executives rushing into the company.

This incident also caused a stir in Hong Kong, since it was a Hong Kong film company that stole the box office revenue, making them look bad on the international stage.

Because foreign entertainment media are reporting on this matter, Chen Shou is no ordinary small-time director.

He has a lot of connections in Hollywood. Many ordinary people don't know him, but when you mention the movies that Chen Shouzhe wrote and directed, they all suddenly realize who he is. They never expected that such an international director would have his box office stolen by his own people.

Hong Kong, as an international metropolis, also felt ashamed, as it was their company that stole it.

Jiang Zhiqiang had just returned to Hong Kong and entered the company under the cover of bodyguards when too many paparazzi came to interview him.

“He actually dared to break off relations, should we…” one of the executives said fiercely.

"Are you crazy? He's in America right now. If something happens to him, everyone knows who did it." A tall piper nearby said.

"It's precisely because he's abroad that it's easier to make a move," said the high-ranking official.

"This isn't like it was a decade or two ago. Do you think you can get away with committing a crime?"

"Alright, enough talk, let's discuss how to solve this." Jiang Zhiqiang, who was sitting at the top of the table, tapped the table and said.

"Ignore him. No matter how loudly he shouts online, it's useless and won't affect us at all."

"But the stock market will definitely be affected tomorrow."

"Then let's keep going and get the movie to two billion."

"That's right, we can't stop. At worst, we won't steal from him anymore, we'll just pay some compensation. He's not going to kill us, is he?"

"That Chen Shouzhe is just a nobody, he's not even in his right mind, yet he dares to threaten those above him."

"This is what happens when you try to take all the credit for yourself; not a single listed company in mainland China is supporting him."

"Then just ignore it, issue a statement saying that you don't know anything about it and that it's not true."

"Yes."

"Don't bow your head."

"But with the evidence right in front of you, what are you going to do?"

"At worst, they'll impose a fine. How much can they really fine?"

"If we go up against him in the future, he will try to sabotage our movie's release."

"If he dares, then let's continue stealing his box office revenue."

"That's true, why should we be afraid of him?"

The group of people weren't nervous at all. In their view, this was no big deal. Even if they were punished, it wouldn't be a big fine. As long as the stock price was stabilized, that was enough.

However, what they didn't expect was that Chen Shouzhe had prepared a big gift for them. He had accumulated quite a few favors over the years, and it was time to reciprocate some of them.

(End of this chapter)