Huayu: A Commercial Director

Chapter 194 Losing money

The 2.28 million figure on the second day shocked many people.

There are many big stars and their fans, so there are a lot of criticisms of this movie, but they are quickly drowned out by other reviews.

The movie will continue as usual, and it won't affect sales at all.

The other movies released at the same time weren't very good.

The Great Wall was released eight days earlier than Mojin: The Lost Legend. It grossed over 600 million yuan in six days and had a 44% screen share, which shows how much effort the companies behind it put in. China Film Group and Le's Group were working hard.

They discovered a problem: the film's box office performance was off.

It looked very promising, 100 million a day, but now it seems completely impossible. 1 billion is probably out of reach. Despite the high number of screenings, it only grossed 600 million in six days. Although there is the overseas market, the investment was too high. People in the film industry are calculating that if it doesn't reach 400 million, the film will definitely suffer a huge loss.

Moreover, it is no less impressive than the Taiping Ship, and China Film Group is about to suffer another defeat.

With the release of "Mojin: The Lost Legend," which took away some of their theater screenings, Chen Shou's theater chains were still quite cooperative. However, some theater chains only gave them 30%, as they were on a mission.

With the release of "Mojin: The Lost Legend" and "See You Tomorrow" two days later, the film market in China has been further squeezed.

China Film Group and the Lok family are clearly getting anxious, and it's not just them; Legendary Pictures, Universal Pictures, and other companies are also getting anxious.

The film didn't perform well in overseas markets either, failing to meet their expectations.

The domestic film market had captured over 6 million US dollars, but now it's only a little over 1 million US dollars, which they can't accept. If it's less than 2 million US dollars in China, plus the film markets in other places, they will lose money in all of them.

Opinions on The Great Wall are mixed in China, with everyone having their own perspective. The special effects are definitely top-notch, and the film boasts a star-studded cast, including many young and attractive actors. It was initially thought that the film would draw a large number of fans to the cinema.

It's only now that we realize it's completely unattractive; all the fans who came from have gone back to where they came from. The movie's plot has been criticized for being unacceptable to Chinese audiences, creating a serious divide.

"The cinemas are going to reduce screenings. Next is the New Year's Day holiday, and other film companies will be releasing films. Mojin: The Lost Legend is very strong right now, and the cinemas can't withstand the pressure. They also want to make money, so they have decided to reduce our screenings to make way for Mojin: The Lost Legend and See You Tomorrow."

Inside China Film Group, the director in charge of distribution reported to Director La and others.

Chairman La's face was extremely unpleasant. 6 million in 6 days, is that a lot?

There are very few movies on the market now, in fact, very few.

Look at Mojin: The Lost Legend. It grossed over 2 million on the second day and over 20 million on the third day. It's definitely heading towards 2 billion.

The Great Wall is clearly going to become a stepping stone. They originally expected the Great Wall to gross at least 30 billion. If it grossed 30 billion domestically, reaching 4 million US dollars, plus the overseas box office, they expected to earn hundreds of millions and make a name for themselves in film history.

Now it seems he's made a name for himself, but it's a bad one; he's lost out big time.

“We can’t reduce the number of screenings. The movies are not performing well right now, and if we reduce the number of screenings, they will lose even more money,” said Mr. La.

"But the theaters are under a lot of pressure. Without screenings of Mojin: The Lost Legend, they're all going to other theaters."

How many screenings of "The Great Wall" are still available?

"30%"

"Hold on, how much of the Dragon Seeking Technique do you have?"

"40%."

"so many?"

“Other cinemas have already reduced our screenings, only our own chain hasn’t. Other chains reduced their screenings by 30% yesterday. If it weren’t for the agreement, Wanda would have wanted to reduce it to 20% and allocate 50% to Mojin: The Lost Legend.”

"That's impossible. Even if Wanda invested in Mojin: The Lost Legend, they wouldn't do this. I should have known better than to release it at the same time as them. What do we do now? Is there any hope?" Director La's expression was very unpleasant. Although both films had investment from China Film Group, compared to Mojin: The Lost Legend, he definitely cared more about The Great Wall. It was a co-production, with certain advantages, and he had invested a lot. If it lost money, he would suffer the same fate as Zuo Shandiao.

The room fell silent. There was nothing they could do; they wanted to get good grades too, but the problem was that it wasn't up to them.

Unless they use some kind of manipulation to transfer box office revenue from other movies.

However, co-productions involve foreign investment in films. Even if it's a complete overhaul, would domestic production companies agree to it, or would the higher-ups just sit idly by and wait for the consequences?

The whole country is watching; who would dare to make such a drastic change?

What a joke.

So we could only watch helplessly as the Great Wall gradually declined, and there was nothing we could do. The previously prepared extension plan was of no use at all.

The atmosphere at China Film Group was deathly still; the Lok family had already prepared for euthanasia.

Starting in October, the parent company of Le's Group encountered cash flow problems. Coupled with the impact of the bear market, more and more people have noticed Le's Group's problems. Now, Great Wall is clearly going to suffer huge losses, and the star shareholders who previously invested in Le's Group are getting anxious.

Zhang Yimou and his men are probably having a hard time sleeping and eating. They finally escaped from Zhang Dapao's clutches, but now they've fallen into Jia Laoban's hands.

Now the movie is losing money hand over fist, the stock market is crashing, and the authorities are starting to investigate the Le family's situation.

However, Mr. Jia remained calm and unhurried, stating that he had already found a solution.

There's a sucker who's going to take the fall.

Throughout December, with the addition of films like Mojin: The Lost Legend and See You Tomorrow, The Great Wall has become increasingly less popular in the film market.

At this moment, Chen Shouzhe is receiving Wang Changtian at the company.

I heard that Enlight Media held two shareholders' meetings, during which Wang Changtian asked for the shareholders' opinions.

Upon learning that Chen Shou was coming in, the shareholders of Enlight Media were filled with mixed feelings.

why?
Chen Shou is capable.

To see how well they can make money, just look at Huayi; they've been living off Feng Xiaogang for years.

If Chen Shouzhe were to invest in Enlight Media, it would be far more useful than if Zhang Yimou were to join the Le family business.

Compare this to Ning Hao and the bald-headed director alliance, which is just a group of directors constantly speculating on stocks.

However, even if all these people were combined, they still couldn't beat Chen Shouzhe at the box office. Once Chen Shouzhe joined, it would mean a closer collaboration with Enlight Media, and Enlight Media would have more opportunities.

The downside is that while their stock holdings have become more valuable, their holdings have decreased. After all, with a big fish coming in, no one wants to give up their shares.

If they only give a little bit, they won't want it. But if they ask for too much, they won't be willing to part with it. Although they can get a lot of money, they prefer a steady, long-term relationship.

Therefore, there are quite a few conservatives who are unwilling to let Chen Shouzhe come in. They hope that Enlight Media can maintain its current operations. They make hundreds of millions every year, and they would be happy if they could share some of the profits.

Once Chen Shouzhe comes in, their share will be reduced, and they may have to depend on Chen Shouzhe's attitude in the future. They are uncertain about what the future holds.

Regarding Chen Shouzhe's request this time, the Guangxian team discussed it for a long time, whether to let him in, and how much to give him if he did.

The stock price has been halved but remains stable, and the company still maintains good profits every year.

"How is Chairman Wang doing?" Chen Shou asked as he poured tea for Wang Changtian.

(End of this chapter)