Huayu: A Commercial Director

Chapter 267 The Little Cannon Fires, Little Wang Takes Action
He rested at home for a day, and only went to the premiere of the Jingjue Ancient City in Wuershan the day after he returned to China. He watched the movie first and only allowed it to be shown after confirming that there were no problems.

Feng Xiaogang's Fang Hua went first; how should I put it about that movie?

It's just pointless complaining; Chen Shouzhe certainly wouldn't understand. Feng Xiaogang has a lot of influence, and Huayi has strong marketing capabilities.

It was taken down from theaters before and I cried a bit, but it grossed 7610 million yuan on its first day of release.

It will be released on Friday the 15th, and the premiere of Mojin: The Lost Legend will be on the 16th. It will be officially released next week.

Holding the premiere a week earlier, with a one-week difference in release dates, doesn't actually have a significant impact.

Huayi Brothers was naturally very nervous, and they were not backing down at all while guarding the film studio.

"I have a question for Director Chen. What are your expectations for the film's box office?" Xie Nan asked on stage.

"Of course I have expectations. I hope the movie can break the 2 billion mark," Chen Shou said with a smile.

"Two billion, right? It seems like Director Chen hasn't been in the Lunar New Year film season for quite some time," Xie Nan said with a smile.

"Leave some for the others," Chen Shou said with a smile.

Everyone present laughed. They knew Chen Shou's unspoken message: it wasn't that he didn't want to, but that he wasn't allowed to do it.

The statistics for the films he produced last year have been compiled, and they accounted for a quarter of the total domestic box office revenue.

It's no exaggeration to say that one company dominates the market, and then foreign films take up half of the box office. The entire domestic market is gradually shifting towards larger companies, which is not conducive to the development of the film industry. It's clear that the authorities are taking action to suppress Chen Shouzhe.

Otherwise, he would have made even more movies, leaving even internet companies speechless.

Even the big IPs that Alibaba used to boast about dared not say anything. The failure of the Ferryman has nailed Alibaba to the pillar of shame.

It's still being used as a target of ridicule from time to time, and some IP developments are mocking Alibaba's failure in the film and television industry.

In contrast, Tencent took a steady and pragmatic approach, acquiring the largest IP novel website. With its traffic, IP, and massive promotional capabilities, it was able to release numerous works.

In the future, resources in the film and television industry will only become more concentrated, and an artist's value will not only be reflected in their works, but in the current era, it may be more about marketing.

The movie is over, the interviews are finished, now let's look at the publicity and promotion.

Huayi Brothers was also anxious. They were working hard to promote the film "The Lost City of Jingjue," and Feng Xiaogang and his team were constantly appearing on TV shows to promote their film.

Hopefully, they can capture more of the film market before the release of "The Lost City".

This scene was witnessed by netizens, and many people laughed at it.

"When Goodbye Mr. Loser was released 10 years ago, Huayi Brothers published an article criticizing Chen Shouzhe, saying that any Tom, Dick, or Harry could make a movie, and looking down on Chen Shouzhe in various ways. Now, the Lunar New Year film season doesn't need Chen Shouzhe to personally take charge. Wuershan and Ghost Blows Out the Light should be able to crush it."

All these years have passed, and Huayi is still the same Huayi, Feng Xiaogang is still the same Feng Xiaogang, nothing has changed. What has changed is Huayi's stock price; once the top privately-owned stock, it's now nothing.

"Looking back, Huayi has repeatedly tried to discredit Chen Shouzhe. Why isn't it doing that now? Why is it focusing on promoting its own movies? Keep shouting, I like to see you fight."

"Feng Xiaogang did win the Golden Horse Award, but how can that compare to the Oscar? Chen Shou is aiming for the Oscar next year, so what can Feng Xiaogang bring out next year?"

"It's true that Huayi Brothers popularized the Lunar New Year film season, but the real Lunar New Year film season is all about the quality of the movies."

"I just love Ghost Blows Out the Light."

"Fang Hua, what did I just watch? A bunch of people were dancing?" "A courtesan sings 'The Song of the Rear Courtyard' across the river, oblivious to the nation's ruin. It's a nonsensical movie."

Seeing the online mockery of the movie, Wang Zonglei was furious. Huayi's current situation is indeed not good, and even he has to go on variety shows.

Go to the countryside to grow vegetables and farm, and build a good image for yourself.

"It's him again. Since 10, his movies have been released every Lunar New Year season. This guy is like a persistent ghost, he just won't let it go."

"I've received information that he might be developing a Journey to the West adaptation next year," Ye Ning said.

“Journey to the West…” Wang Zongjun was speechless. Journey to the West is hailed as the biggest IP in China. Countless companies dream of owning it. Alibaba is still not giving up on this IP and is harassing Chen Shouzhe whenever it comes up, hoping to buy the copyright.

The price is said to have skyrocketed, so Huayi shouldn't even think about it. Chen Shouzhe isn't giving them a chance. Wang Zongjun even called Chen Shouzhe before, but he ignored him completely.

He even bowed his head to Chen Shouzhe, who was almost humiliating him in public.

Thinking about this, Wang Zonglei felt a tightness in his chest, especially since the end of the year was approaching and all kinds of data were being compiled.

Starting with last year's Lunar New Year film "Mojin: The Lost Legend," films produced by Shougang Pictures have grossed around 170 billion yuan, while the entire domestic film market is only 500 billion yuan. Foreign films account for about 230 billion yuan, leaving only 100 billion yuan for Shougang. How good is the domestic film market?
Huayi's financial report this year will definitely look terrible, and Chen Shou's side hasn't compiled specific data yet, since they're not a listed company and can only rely on movie box office statistics.

Chen Shouzhe probably earned 40 billion.

Upon thinking of this number, Wang Zonglei's eyes immediately reddened with envy, jealousy, and hatred.

I regret suppressing and belittling Chen Shouzhe back then; now I can't control him at all.

With the addition of overseas markets, Chen Shou's annual income is enough to easily surpass that of his brothers.

“He hasn’t released a new IP for Journey to the West in years. Could you get in touch with him and buy a sub-series from him?” Wang Zonglei said.

"I'll give it a try." Ye Ning didn't want to refuse, so she decided to give it a shot with an optimistic attitude.

Back in China, Chen Shou was busy with post-production, so he devoted himself to Xiao Xiao Meng. He went to work during the day and either spent the night at the Rose Garden or went back to the horse farm. He rarely went to the villa he bought.

Fang Hua's box office results after one week of release are in: 340 million yuan, and it is expected to break 1 billion yuan.

However, on Saturday, the two films entered the Jingjue Ancient City theater and clashed.

Fang Hua's box office revenue, which was expected to break 1 million yuan in a single day, was suddenly reduced to 6000 million yuan, resulting in a loss of 4000 million yuan in box office revenue.

The box office for "Candle in the Tomb" exceeded 200 million yuan on the first day, reaching 214 million yuan on the first day and 2.885 million yuan on the second Sunday.

He forcefully pinned Fang Hua to the ground, making Hua Yi furious.

Feng Xiaogang even launched an attack on Weibo, but his target was not Chen Shouzhe or Wuershan, but Wanda.

"Wanda is a complete rogue. They violated the industry's non-compete agreement. 88% of the screenings! Which theater chain can afford to show that many? You are disrupting market rules. You are ruining the entire Chinese-language film industry."

When faced with Feng Xiaogang's online rant against Wanda Cinemas, Liu Xiaobing of Wanda Cinemas didn't stand up for him, but Xiao Wang wouldn't be so lenient.

"If a movie is bad, it's bad. What's the point of making excuses? If it's really that bad, just take it off the shelves," Xiao Wang retorted sarcastically.

Don't they even look at who produced the movie? There are only two production companies for "Candle in the Tomb": one owns 70% and the other 30% is owned by Wanda Pictures. They won't give their own movies screen time, do they expect them to give it all to you?
(End of this chapter)