Chapter 998 Accept Your Fate! Nothing Can Happen without Coincidence! Destroying the Jobs of Film Critics? Good News for Baoqiang!

Chapter 998: Accepting fate...no coincidence! Killing film critics' jobs? Good news to stay strong!

"Yesterday, the Sino-US adventure fantasy blockbuster "The Great Wall", invested and produced by Universal Pictures, Legendary Pictures, China Film, and LeTV, and directed by Zhang Yimou, grossed 212 million yuan at the box office on its first day... The reputation split is very serious!"

"The film "Romantic Demise" produced by Huayi Investment only received 10.93 million yuan at the box office on the first day of its release. Today, its share of the overall film schedule dropped again."

"Due to the impact of the film schedule, the movie "Operation Red Sea" directed by Chen Fei, the new box office fell below the 100 million mark yesterday, with a revenue of 84.23 million. The film has been in theaters for 15 days, and the total box office has reached 3.4 billion!"

…

On the morning of the 17th, new movie box office data was released.

Supported by large-scale film schedules and advance screenings in nearly 500 lMAX theaters, the box office of "The Great Wall" unsurprisingly exceeded 200 million.

However, even with excellent results, neither Zhang Yimou, nor La Pikang, Zhang Hao, or even the supervisors in charge of the "The Great Wall" project at Universal Pictures and Legendary Pictures were in a bad mood.

Because after a full day of screening yesterday, the reputation score of "The Great Wall" fell instead of rising, and it has dropped below 8 points.

The reputation of 7.4 is clearly there, looking very dazzling!

And the most important thing is that not only was the movie criticized, but the director and investors like them were also criticized by netizens and film critics!

What La Sheikang couldn't accept was that all the letters reporting him had been sent to the General Administration.

And comments calling him a "traitor" are flooding Weibo, which is very dazzling!

Many netizens even called out, demanding that the film studio change the title of the movie "The Great Wall" immediately, otherwise they would strongly boycott the movie.

The uproar of public opinion and chaos flooding the Internet gave him a huge headache.

"We must first control public opinion!"

Zhang Zhao took the initiative to mention this topic, preventing La Sheikang from opening his own wounds in person.

"What do you think, Mr. Zhang?"

In the huge conference room, Zhang Yimou and the heads of publicity departments of China Film and LeTV were all present.

Listening to La Sheikang's question, everyone turned their attention to Zhang Zhao.

"The criticism and abuse from netizens are easy to handle. LeTV will use the company's public relations capabilities to try to bring the trend to a positive direction..."

The meaning of this is obvious, it is to buy a navy army, lead the rhythm, and the operation is very simple.

"It's just the film critics, maybe it's not easy to deal with..."

"Let China Film and Television make arrangements for this." La Pikang's face was extremely gloomy. Those people actually called him "a vegetarian meal with corpses". This is absolutely intolerable!

"Li Mingsheng, go to Weibo and tell them to calm down those people who are talking nonsense."

"Okay, La Dong."

The vice president of China Film Public Relations Department responded, got up and left the conference room to communicate with Weibo.

"Does the film arrangement have a big impact?"

"It's quite big..." the head of the distribution department said with some embarrassment: "Because of the impact of word-of-mouth, major theaters are adjusting their film schedules. Tomorrow's box office of "The Great Wall" may drop significantly."

Hearing this, Zhang Zhao subconsciously looked at La Sheikang and asked tentatively: "La Dong, regarding the key extension, where are you..."

"There will be, you don't have to worry about that."

La Sheikang interrupted him irritably and reminded: "What we are going to discuss today is about the film's reputation and public opinion."

The conference room suddenly fell into dead silence, because there was no solution to this problem at all!

In the current state of "The Great Wall", it is already very good to be able to suppress the abuse on the Internet. It is simply impossible to reach the level of "Operation Red Sea"!

"well!"

In the corner of the conference room, Zhang Yimou let out a long sigh, his heart filled with deep helplessness.

At the beginning, he actually discovered some problems in the script, but the key problem was that this was a Sino-US co-production. His task was only to make the film smoothly according to the script, and he had no right to modify the script at all.

But now that he has encountered such consequences, as a director, he must bear the corresponding price.

The atmosphere in the conference room was very dull. When no one was paying attention, Zhang Yimou took out his mobile phone and sent a WeChat message to Dong Ping of Huanxi Media:

"Mr. Dong, make an appointment and let's have a chat."

Not long after the news was sent out, a reply came through: "Okay! But it will take a few days. I am currently discussing the signing details with directors Gu Changwei and Chen Kexin."

By this time, Dong Ping already had the winning ticket.

In order to kill Zhang Yimou's energy and put some pressure on him, it would naturally take a few days.

"Okay, then you get busy first and we'll talk in detail later."

After sending the message, Zhang Yimou turned off the phone screen and acted like others around him.

Although in the eyes of the outside world, the reason why this movie is so "bad" is all the responsibility of director Zhang Yimou.

But as practitioners in the industry, everyone knows very well that the current problem is mainly due to the script.

As for the main person in charge of the domestic side, it is natural that he must be La Pikang!

…

"Dad, Uncle La will definitely have a headache in the office just like you did after your investment in "Red Cliff" and "Taiping Wheel" failed."

On the set of "I'm Not the God of Medicine", Han Jia Nu's words almost made Han Sanping collapse.

"Which pot should not be opened?"

The third master's face darkened and he glared angrily at the leaky cotton-padded jacket in front of him.

"Hurry up and carry your camera, what are you talking about here?" Chen Fei patted Han Jianu on the shoulder and sent her aside.

"I'm not telling lies..." The little mountain eagle pouted and ran away quickly.

"His problems this time are much bigger than when I invested in "Tai Ping Wheel". The huge investment of 150 million US dollars was thrown out, and what he got in exchange was a group of evaluations of 'advocating foreigners and favoring foreigners', 'eating with corpses', and 'the crime is punishable'. The impact is not small.”

Chen Fei shrugged, "The bad thing is the name "The Great Wall". If the name were changed, even if the plot is still about foreigners coming to save the Chinese people, it wouldn't be so bad."

"By the way, when you refused to direct this project, did you see the problem in it?"

Han Sanping suddenly changed the subject and asked Chen Fei.

"It may be due to this reason. I wanted to change the script, but Universal Pictures was reluctant. I happened to have other things to be busy with, so I refused."

"Alas, one plan is quite unlucky."

Chen Fei didn't want to talk to him about "The Great Wall" anymore, so he simply asked about another thing: "By the way, Director Han, you went to the bureau yesterday...how was it going?"

"It's done."

A smile flashed across Han Sanping's face.

Starting next year, he will be the helmsman of the review department, directly under the jurisdiction of Zhang Hong. In this unit of the Film Bureau, he can be said to be inferior to one person and superior to ten thousand people!

"Oh, congratulations! It's really not easy. Those old men didn't object this time?"

"Haha, they wanted to object, but they no longer have the qualifications to object."

"Huh?" Chen Fei raised his eyebrows and was quite surprised: "What do you mean by this?"

Han Sanping looked to the left and right and saw that no one was paying attention, so she lowered her voice and said, "Do you know about "Railway Tigers"? That guy Ren Zhonglun found a group of old men in the review department to jointly take on this responsibility.

Now that the bureau knew about it, they ordered those old men to retire immediately, which just made room for me. "

"Hey? What a coincidence?"

"Haha, speaking of which, I have to thank Ren Zhonglun. If it weren't for him, it would be difficult for me to go to work."

"Eh? That's wrong!" Chen Fei suddenly reacted: "Since the bureau already knows that "Railway Flying Tiger" has problems, why hasn't it been ordered to be withdrawn from the theater?"

"According to my analysis, it should be..."

Han Sanping had just finished speaking when suddenly, there was a commotion outside the set.

The two subconsciously turned their heads to look, and saw Ren Zhonglun leading Chen Long in with a smile.

These two people who have made "outstanding contributions" in the history of Chinese-language films naturally received respectful greetings from many people on the crew. They were called "Brother Chen Long" all the way.

Seeing this, Chen Fei and Han Sanping looked at each other with a bit of understanding on their faces!

"Heroes" all enjoy certain privileges.

…

The next day, as expected, the box office of "The Great Wall" experienced a "tragic" plunge, from 212 million to 160 million.

On the other hand, "Operation Red Sea" was a "blessing in disguise". Yesterday's new box office returned to the 100 million level, and the total box office successfully broke the box office record of "Mermaid", starting to launch a campaign towards "Detective Chinatown 2" and "Operation Mekong" charge.

As for "The Death of Romance", it's a bit miserable.

When the box office figure of 8.21 million came out the next day, the industry suddenly had a new understanding of Wanda's "ruthless" tactics!

"Don't offend the theater chain if you offend anyone! If you adjust the film schedule a little, the movie box office will collapse."

On the Alibaba Pictures side, Zhang Wei murmured, suddenly losing confidence in the box office competition between the movie versions of "Three Lives Three Worlds" and "Zhu Xian".

By the time the movie is released, if they make some "adjustments", wouldn't their own movie be ruined?

"We have to think of a perfect solution..."

"Dong dong dong!"

A sudden knock on the door interrupted Zhang Hao's thinking.

"Enter!"

The secretary pushed the door open and walked in, placing a document in front of him.

"What is this?" Zhang Hao asked curiously.

"It was sent over by some companies in Longwei Culture Media."

"Oh?" Zhang Hao raised his eyebrows, opened the file and read it.

It describes in detail Zhao Yanzi's next operations and arrangements. Starting from the 23rd, Longwei Media will officially announce that it will pay 3.059 billion yuan in four installments to acquire 29.135% of the equity of Wanjia Culture.

Of course, the announcement does not mean that it will be implemented. Subsequent acquisition plans will be changed one after another until... the transaction is completely terminated!

In this acquisition, Alibaba can plan ahead and obtain huge profits!

After reading the document, Zhang Hao solemnly put it away and ordered: "Go and tell Mr. Zhao that I have received the document and let her go ahead and do it."

"Okay, Mr. Zhang."

The secretary turned around and left.

After the office was empty, Zhang Hao's laughter finally couldn't be suppressed.

"Female Buffett? Haha, I have trained you for so long, and it can finally be put to use. I hope you can succeed this time and open up a new profit channel for Alibaba..."

…

212 million, 160 million, 105 million.

Three days passed in a flash, and "The Great Wall" handed in the box office answer sheet for the first three days of the weekend with a score of 477 million.

If this was the result of "The Wasted Times", then the two Wang brothers could have prepared a celebration banquet.

However, this was the result of "The Great Wall", which had an investment cost of 150 million US dollars, equivalent to 996 million RMB.

Regardless of the performance of North America after its release on February 17 next year, if this movie wants to get a good return in China, the total box office must reach at least 3 billion.

But what about now?

Relying on the latest box office result of 105 million, let alone 3 billion box office, whether it can break through 1 billion box office depends on whether it has a key extension.

Perhaps because of the exasperation, China Film and LeTV have been tossing around on the Internet these two days.

Buying water army and manipulating public opinion are all child's play, not worth mentioning at all.

What is really shocking is the way LeTV and China Film Group joined forces to target those critics who gave bad reviews to "The Great Wall"!

"Weibo has blocked a batch of film critics' accounts, but it seems that a batch of new accounts have been successfully registered, and the two sides are still attacking each other..."

While listening to the secretary's report, Chen Fei looked at the warning letter issued by China Film Group, LeTV and the official Weibo of "The Great Wall" to many film critics:

To: "Blame the movie" film critics

Subject: Warning on deleting infringing Weibo and publicly apologizing.

"Recently, we have noticed that many Weibo users, film critics, and big Vs have recently posted a number of Weibo posts involving our art director Zhang Yimou and the film "The Great Wall" produced by our company.

The Weibo not only spoofed the characters on the movie poster, but also added "Zhang Yimou is dead! ” and attached an emoji of three candles, which seriously violated the reputation rights of director Zhang Yimou and was close to slander and cursing.

Afterwards, several users published long Weibo articles, continuing to belittle and criticize "The Great Wall" with fierce and irresponsible words.

We believe that the above-mentioned behavior has constituted malicious slander and defamation of our company and director Zhang Yimou, and has seriously damaged the good reputation and image of our company and director Zhang Yimou.

In view of this, we hereby issue this warning letter to you, requiring you to take the following measures immediately:

1. Immediately delete the relevant Weibo content involving infringement;

2. Post an apology statement at the top of the Weibo homepage, publicly apologize to us and director Zhang Yimou for this infringement, and the apology statement must be retained for at least 30 days;

3. You should Guarantee that you will not publish any remarks or content that infringes upon the rights of us and Director Zhang Yimou in the future;

If you fail to complete the above requirements within [specific time, such as ‘within three days’] after receiving this warning letter, our company will have to take further legal measures, including but not limited to filing a lawsuit in court, pursuing your legal responsibilities in accordance with the law, and demanding compensation for all economic losses and mental damages caused to us and Director Zhang Yimou.

We hereby solemnly declare that we will resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of ourselves and Director Zhang Yimou, and any infringement of rights and interests will be subject to legal sanctions.

At the same time, we also call on the majority of netizens to jointly resist online violence and maintain a healthy and harmonious online environment! "

As soon as this warning letter came out, those film critics and Weibo big Vs were silent.

After all, it is not possible for them, "individual users", to confront giants like LeTV and China Film.

However, the ridicule of netizens was filled below this warning letter, which was so dazzling!

"Haha, it's wrong to scold Zhang Yimou, but it's a bit too overbearing that you can't even post a review of this movie?"

"You made a bad movie, but you don't admit it or apologize, and you want others to keep silent. You are really awesome!"

"You also sent a warning letter? Haha, wait and see, the box office will fall tomorrow."

"LeTV is almost finished, why are you still so arrogant?"

"Why don't you change the name? The name "The Great Wall" makes me feel more and more uncomfortable."

"If you send a warning letter, then we will send a report letter. Let's compare and see who has more family members."

Movie critics are afraid of losing their jobs, but netizens are not used to it.

For a while, the online abuse increased!

Chen Fei saw it clearly. The reason why LeTV and China Film warned those critics and did not allow them to continue to speak out was nothing more than fear of causing greater negative impact.

The dissatisfaction of movie fans can be covered by water army.

But the dissatisfaction of professionals cannot be covered up by a group of water army leading the rhythm.

Therefore, it is the most reasonable arrangement to keep them silent.

"Mr. Chen, the premiere of "The Ferryman" will start at 7 o'clock tomorrow night. Do you want to attend?"

The secretary's sudden question interrupted Chen Fei's state of eating melons.

Without raising his head, he asked casually: "The Ferryman? Where is the premiere held?"

"Hong Kong."

"Hehe." Chen Fei was immediately amused: "It's really interesting to eat food in the mainland and go to Hong Kong to work hard."

"Then I will delete this schedule for you?"

"Well, delete it, I don't have time to go so far." As he said, he did not forget to remind: "Tell Mr. Su too, and tell him not to go. Just find someone from the branch in Hong Kong to show up, and don't bother with them."

"Yeah, OK."

The secretary responded and went to the other side to make a phone call.

The contempt on Chen Fei's face had not yet dissipated, but became even stronger.

He wanted to see what kind of tricks this "The Ferryman" could come up with.

The King of Sunglasses "produced" a comedy, and vowed that it would definitely give movie fans a unique and novel viewing experience...

I don't know how "unique" this film will be!

"Ding-ling-ling!"

The sudden ring of the phone interrupted Chen Fei's thinking again.

After taking a look at the caller ID, he pressed the answer button: "Hello? Baoqiang?"

The next second, Wang Baoqiang's honest laughter came from the other end of the phone: "Haha, Director Chen, I didn't let you down. "Lost in Hong Kong" has been successfully completed!"

After three and a half months of hard work, "Lost in Hong Kong" has finally landed successfully, and Wang Baoqiang's nervous and anxious mood has finally eased a little.

So, he couldn't wait to call Chen Fei first and report the good news.

"Haha! Great! When will you come back? I'll hold a wrap-up party for you!"

Chen Fei couldn't hide his excitement on the phone!

...

(ps: Second update, please vote!!!)