Internet moguls are being held hostage by the entertainment system!

Chapter 509 Huayi Opens Champagne Halfway Through, Making Wild Flags

Thursday, October 7th.

Just as Chen Xiuxin's new film "Entrepreneurial Age" was being filmed normally in Shenzhen, "The Eight Hundred," on which Huayi Brothers placed all their hopes and was to become a film of great pride, was finally released.

It had 35% of screenings on its opening day and grossed 1.35 million yuan.

This achievement would be absolutely outstanding on a weekday. Wang Zhonglei, who had been feeling frustrated for a long time, suddenly felt like the sun had come out, the rain had stopped, and he could do it again.

That evening, Huayi held a grand celebration banquet, with all of its core members in attendance.

Wang Zhonglei, carrying a champagne glass, walked around the room, his face flushed red, urging people to drink. He was in high spirits.

Wang Zhongjun couldn't stand it any longer, so he pulled him aside and gave him a few words of advice.

"Xiao Lei, this is only the first day's results. Don't be so eager for quick success."

"Brother, that's not how it works. The online pre-sale data for tomorrow and the weekend has already exceeded 400 million, which means our box office will be at least 600 million. Everyone will be resting on the weekend, so adding another 200 million wouldn't be unreasonable. That would make 800 million in the first week, and the total box office would be about 3 to 4 times that of the first week, which is 3 billion!"

Wang Zhonglei's calculations make it seem as if he controls the film market, able to control the box office figures he desires.

Wang Zhongjun frowned: "Don't speculate about things that haven't happened yet."

"They're almost identical!"

Wang Zhonglei waved his hand, displeased that his older brother had interrupted his daydream.

"Once 'The Eight Hundred' surpasses 30 billion yuan at the box office, I'll follow Chen Xiu's example and throw a big celebration banquet. I'll invite him over too..."

"What do you want to do?"

Wang Zhongjun said anxiously, fearing that Wang Zhonglei might do something foolish again if he continued on his spree.

Wang Zhonglei, however, felt quite calm: "What can I do! I just want to use the celebration banquet for 'The Eight Hundred' as an excuse to apologize to Chen Xiu."

"Really?"

"By taking advantage of the box office success, I can apologize proactively, which will save Chen Xiu face, and then this matter can be resolved!"

Wang Zhonglei smacked his lips and said.

Unless he's gotten his head caught in a door, he can clearly see how big the gap is between himself and Chen Xiu.

A movie that grosses over 30 billion yuan is considered impressive in the film industry, but it's nothing in the internet industry... No, it's not particularly impressive in the film industry either. Datang Pictures has produced quite a few movies of this caliber.

Thinking that he couldn't even compare to Chen Xiu, who was just dabbling in the food industry, Wang Zhonglei's pouting expression showed both helplessness and resignation.

Seeing that his expression didn't seem fake, Wang Zhongjun immediately felt relieved.

"I'm relieved that you have this idea."

"Brother, you support it too?"

"I didn't ask you to apologize to President Chen right away because I wanted to wait for 'The Eight Hundred' to be released so that we could have more leverage to negotiate. Now it seems that my strategic vision is no less than Chen Xiu's."

"..."

Wang Zhonglei's lips twitched slightly, thinking to himself: You're just bragging! You're not inferior to Chen Xiu? Even Ma Yun said that Chen Xiu's strategic vision is better than his. So you mean you're better than Ma Yun?
Perhaps he exaggerated a bit, and he himself wasn't confident in his claim.

After noticing his younger brother's expression, Wang Zhongjun awkwardly and hurriedly changed the subject.

"Ahem, um, I asked you to keep an eye on 'Ne Zha,' did you follow it?"

"Yes, I've been paying attention."

Wang Zhonglei raised an eyebrow dismissively, not taking the animated film seriously at all.

Wang Zhongjun remained somewhat wary: "What's the situation?"

"The premiere of 'Ne Zha' was held on the 27th of last month, and then it started to be shown in previews. Cinemas will also schedule two or three screenings every day. The number of screenings is estimated to be 4% to 5%, and the box office is estimated to be 20 to 30 million."

"Overall?"

"Uh... single day."

At this point, Wang Zhonglei's expression changed slightly, and Wang Zhongjun stared wide-eyed in astonishment.

The two brothers looked at each other, and at the same time, they thought of something.

Wang Zhonglei's mood, which was originally immersed in great joy, was like a tuna that had been pulled ashore; it could still struggle desperately, but it had already left the seawater on which it depended for survival.

He swallowed hard and said with difficulty, "Brother, 'Ne Zha' will officially be released tomorrow, and its screening schedule will be similar to 'The Eight Hundred'."

Wang Zhongjun gasped, forcing himself to calm down.

"Don't panic. The two movies target different audiences. No matter how well 'Ne Zha' does, it won't affect..."

"Oh no!!"

This classic line immediately made the two kings tense up and their faces turn pale.

The two quickly turned around and saw Guan Hu, the director of "The Eight Hundred," and his wife Liang Jing, who is also the film's producer, walking towards them in a hurry.

That exclamation just now came from Liang Jing.

Wang Zhonglei noticed the suspicious looks from the other people at the banquet, and quickly stepped forward to grab Liang Jing's forearm. His smile remained, but his tone was unusually serious.

"What are you two doing here, crying at a funeral?"

Liang Jing's eyelids twitched, and he felt a disgusting leech on his arm. He quickly turned to Guan Hu for help.

As a result, the famous director completely ignored his wife's gaze and instead cooperated with Wang Zhonglei in urging him on.

"Tell Mr. Wang about this right away, don't waste any time."

Liang Jing's heart skipped a beat, and she immediately realized Guan Hu's true colors. How ridiculous that she had just held onto hope...

"Mr. Wang, this is quite urgent, please let me go first."

"What is it? Tell me quickly." Wang Zhonglei immediately released Liang Jing's hand, his brows furrowed with unease and anxiety.

Without the feeling of being swarmed by leeches, Liang Jing said directly, "Just now, a lot of short videos reviewing 'The Eight Hundred' appeared online, and they are very popular. Many netizens have started to comment and forward them."

Wang Zhonglei's eyes widened, his pupils dilated, and he instantly thought of a name.

"It's Chen..."

"Shut up!"

Wang Zhongjun interrupted, adjusting his glasses, and appeared much calmer than Wang Zhonglei.

"Liang Jing, what are those short videos online that review 'The Eight Hundred' talking about? Are they just mindless smears, or do they offer plot analysis?"

Two very pointed questions.

However, the situation was far more complicated than Wang Zhongjun had imagined.

Liang Jing looked troubled: "It's not mindless slander. The plot did mention a little bit, but it was all clips from the trailer and introductions of specific events. We can't sue them."

"According to you, short videos are helping to promote 'The Eight Hundred,' so how can that be bad?"

"They say the entire film has the wrong values! The core point is that it's saying..."

Liang Jing stopped, glanced at Guan Hu, and his expression became even more troubled.

Clearly, this is a difficult question to answer, and it has something to do with Guan Hu.

Wang Zhonglei said urgently, "What time is it? Stop stammering! Just say what you have to say!"

Liang Jing pursed his lips, no longer caring about Guan Hu's feelings.

"They said that Guan Hu wanted to make a living by making patriotic films, but he didn't believe in the story of 'The Eight Hundred,' so the film he made was a bit of a hodgepodge, and photos of him going to... were even released."

Upon hearing what Liang Jing said, Wang Zhongjun couldn't help but inwardly curse.

If it's just paid trolls and mindless haters, he could easily do the opposite and use controversy to generate more buzz for the movie.

However, this kind of discussion, which focuses on the facts and is accompanied by evidence, makes it impossible to refute.

Left with no other option, Wang Zhongjun could only ask, clinging to his last glimmer of hope, "On which platforms has this content been disseminated?"

"Movie bloggers on Douyin are saying that each video gets tens of thousands of likes, and tomorrow it will probably get hundreds of thousands."

Wang Zhongjun's heart sank, and he suddenly felt dizzy.

Seeing his elder brother unsteady on his feet, Wang Zhonglei quickly went over to support him and comforted him, "Brother, Douyin might not affect the movie. Let's see how the box office goes this week!"

"That's true, let's see how the box office goes this week."

Wang Zhongjun's words lacked conviction, but how could shrewd people like Wang Zhonglei, Guan Hu, and Liang Jing not understand? The facts were just as they had feared.

The following day, "Ne Zha" was officially released.

Thanks to the positive word-of-mouth generated during the early screenings, "Ne Zha" secured 1.4 million yuan in box office revenue on its opening day with 32% of screenings, surpassing "The Eight Hundred" to become the top-grossing film of the day.

On the 6th and 7th, the first weekend of summer vacation, parents preferred to take their children to see animated films like "Ne Zha" rather than war movies like "The Eight Hundred".

Over the weekend, "Ne Zha" earned 2.4 million and 2.9 million yuan at the box office respectively. Combined with Friday's results, its first-week box office total reached 6.8 million yuan.

In contrast, due to the continued promotion of "The Eight Hundred" through short videos, it not only failed to achieve the additional 200 million yuan in box office revenue that Wang Zhonglei had expected over the weekend, but also saw a certain percentage of ticket refunds.

Ultimately, "The Eight Hundred" grossed 5.2 million yuan in its opening week, leaving "Ne Zha" far behind.

The box office performance of the two films has led theaters to vote with their feet.

The following week, "Ne Zha" saw its screenings increase to 45%, while "The Eight Hundred" was reduced to 20%, and the outcome was already decided!
……

In Pengcheng, at a tea restaurant that was temporarily rented for filming.

Wearing a floral shirt, shorts, and a fisherman's hat, Chen Xiu had her eyelids half-closed and a smile on her lips as she looked at Brother Hu across the table. She was also holding a straw in her right hand, which she kept swirling in her milk tea cup.

"Being a backpacker, in the jargon of eastern Guangdong, is considered making a living on the fringes. How long can you keep it up?"

"I plan to work for a few more years and then go home."

Hu Ge's eyes were wary, and his body looked somewhat tense, which contrasted sharply with Chen Xiu's relaxed demeanor.

Chen Xiu smiled dismissively, put down the straw, leaned forward, her eyes hidden, and her voice softened, like a devil's whisper.

"I have a quick way to make money, do you want to invest?"

"What deal?"

"The factories in Dongguan are assembling the new generation of Apple products. They're selling tons of their discarded parts as junk, but most of them are the same as the original parts sold in Huaqiangbei. You're the most famous among backpackers, so your testing skills must be excellent, right?"

"..."

Brother Hu's eyes suddenly widened, filled with barely suppressed but unmistakable desire.

Chen Xiu picked up the cup of milk tea and took a small sip.

"Cut! OK, one take!"

Guo Fan's voice reached their ears. Chen Xiu picked up her cup of milk tea and nodded to Brother Hu. Just as she was about to check the camera, Luo Shikan, who was waiting outside, came over with his phone.

"Boss, someone's calling you."

"Who?"

"Wang Changtian".

"Ah."

(End of this chapter)