Chapter 478 Things are brewing
"Hey, Mr. Sun, how come you have time to come to my place today?"
In the office of the cinema, Liu Liang poured a cup of tea for the man opposite him and said half-jokingly.
"Come on, we have known each other for so many years, how can we not know each other? Don't call me Mr. Sun." The man took a sip of tea and cursed by the way.
Liu Liang also laughed. This Mr. Sun, like him, opened a cinema in Guang'an.
After a few pleasantries, Mr. Sun said with emotion: "I thought you were joking before, but I didn't expect that you really didn't appear in "Eight Hundred" when I came here today."
"My two cinemas have a deposit of more than 100,000 yuan. I was originally short of money, so how could I have any money?" Liu Liang sighed and said: "Your cinema chain has at least borne part of it for you, but we don't have any subsidies."
Both of their cinemas are small cinemas with annual box office of less than 2 million, but Mr. Sun only has one, and it is affiliated with another cinema chain. After paying a deposit of 50,000 yuan, he finally got the screening rights of "Eight Hundred".
Old Sun snorted and laughed: "It's useless to get it. My theater can only hold ten shows a day at most. Now during the flu season, there can be more than 20 people in each show, and the box office is 7,000 to 8,000 a day. And they also require changing the key every day, so I have to find someone to work overtime to connect. After deducting labor and costs from this month's share, I made nothing."
Although Huayi said that the "deposit" would be returned, who knows how long it will take. It doesn't feel worth it to make so little money after so much effort.
Old Sun cursed in his heart more than once, those moviemakers must be using the deposits of people like him to earn interest, "freeloading" them inside and out.
"So I said, you might as well have done the same as I did and just gave up on "The Eight Hundred." Liu Liang said, "With the performance of "Famous", there will be no problem in holding up this week. Next week there's "Wild Grass" on the Qixi Festival, and the week after that there's Nolan's "Tenet". We don't need "The Eight Hundred" anymore."
"Forget it, we've already paid for it, so just put it aside for now. Any profit is good."
As soon as Old Sun finished speaking, he smiled and said, "Speaking of which, the guy named Wang in the west of the city has the same idea as you. He also won't pay. He plans to rely on "Famous" to hold up until the Qixi Festival, which is very good."
Liu Liang frowned, "That's not right, he should have paid the deposit as well. When I looked at the schedule of our local theaters yesterday, did he have screenings of "The Eight Hundred"? "
"How is that possible? When we were chatting two days ago, he told me that he didn't have much money and didn't plan to pay." Old Sun said with some disbelief.
But he soon stopped talking, because from the APP of the ticket purchasing platform, he could see that the other theater had "Eight Hundred" scheduled.
"Hey, this Wang said he didn't get any money, but he's here to bully me, you son of a bitch!"
Old Sun was also impatient, so he took out his phone and called: "Fuck you, you're a fairy boss, you want to argue with me for such a small matter..."
Liu Liang was drinking tea and watching the fun. He was not familiar with the "Boss Wang", but he knew that the two had been friends for many years.
But as he watched, he found that Old Sun's face gradually darkened and his brows twisted together. The tone of his speech also became hurried, as if he was verifying something with the other party.
After a while, he finally put down the phone, and Liu Liang hurriedly asked, "What's wrong?"
Lao Sun was silent for a few seconds, and then suddenly cursed, "Those bastards at Huayi, fuck them! They can't bear to give up the first week's box office, so they privately contacted those theaters that didn't pay the deposit, and secretly gave them the key to release the movie."
Liu Liang was stunned for a moment: "This... No way. Huayi is such a big company after all, can it do this? And if there is any private cooperation, why don't I know about it."
"I don't know why you don't cooperate, but Lao Wang did it this way. He said that the theater chain instructed them that if anyone outside asked, they should say that the theater chain helped them to fight for it, but in fact it was Huayi that gave it to them."
At this point, Lao Sun spat angrily: "If I had known they were going to do this, I would have paid a deposit, fuck their mother *&...%￥#"
He cursed for about five minutes in one breath, then he stopped and drank the tea on the table in front of him.
"Calm down." Liu Liang poured him another cup. "If this is true, then Huayi's actions this time are really a bit unkind."
"No, we can't just let this go."
Old Sun slammed the table: "This should not be a problem only in our theaters. I have to ask other theaters if this is the case. If I really catch these bastards, I must make them spit out the deposit!"
Seeing his friend leave, Liu Liang returned to the office and shook his head with emotion.
After working for so many years, this is the first time I have heard of such a thing.
Sure enough, my decision not to pay the deposit at the beginning was completely fine.
——The
first weekend of the summer season ended, and the box office results of the only two new films in the theater market were released.
"Eight Hundred" won the first week championship with a box office of 600 million. If the results of the previous previews are added, the total box office has reached 800 million.
In comparison, the results of "Famous" are a bit worse. It won 270 million box office in the first weekend, and the cumulative total is nearly 400 million, ranking second.
Although the box office revenue was reduced by half, no one would think that "Famous" performed poorly.
A low-budget movie that has already made back its investment and started making money within three days of its release is a very successful project no matter where it is.
Although the movies were released at the same time, one is a big-budget historical war film with a cost of nearly 600 million yuan, and the other is a low-budget mystery comedy with a cost of 50 million yuan. No one would force them to compare the numbers.
Chen Zhixi and Meng Bai were not unhappy about this result. They were just thinking about taking a gamble, but they didn't expect that the "bicycle would become a sports car".
The reputation of the movie has also been maintained well. Although the number of people who rated it has been increasing, it has always maintained an opening score of 8.0.
[The final ending is terrifying when you think about it carefully. The newspaper said that a ship sank. Was it the ship of the protagonist group? ]
[The story of the Nightingale was probably made up by Qi Leshan. These two people are probably members of the underground party. Killing the three elders was not revenge, but because they smuggled arms to make money in the national crisis. ]
【The little girl died in pursuit of her dream of the entertainment industry. The unspoken rules are fake. The patriots are wise and brave and kill the enemy to serve the country. 】
【It's so funny. "Nine out of ten projects are cold. Commercial investment is normal." Isn't this sentence really Mr. Meng's self-deprecation? 】
【……】
Although "Famous" is also set in the Republic of China, the overall structure is obviously fictional, so there is no controversy about the background setting. The vast majority of comments are directed at the plot itself.
As for "Eight Hundred", the score of 7.5 is also okay. However, in the past few days, many viewers on the Internet have questioned the plot and characters, believing that the creators are intentionally using the dedication and sacrifice of the Kuomintang soldiers to beautify the outrageous operations of the Kuomintang.
【The Kuomintang is the Kuomintang, and the Kuomintang is the Kuomintang. I hope that when you voice your support, you can distinguish between the two groups. 】
【No way, no way, these days there are still people who want to whitewash Sun Paopao? Don’t you know that this person is the master of the famous “wind, forest, fire and volcano” military theory! 】
【The above, isn’t this a commendatory word? 】
【Retreat and turn, it is as fast as the wind; support and encirclement, it is as slow as the forest; harass the people, invade like fire; when the friendly army is in trouble, it is as still as a mountain - the so-called “wind, forest, fire and volcano”. 】
【It’s just bluffing, and I’m used to adding personal goods. However, it’s normal to have some fictional elements in the details. The overall film is still good. 】
【……】
Although there are many controversies, the overall evaluation is still positive, at least it will not affect the box office growth of the movie.
According to this trend, the final total box office of "Eight Hundred" will definitely exceed 2 billion, and there is even a chance to rush to 3 billion.
For this kind of result, Huayi must be excited, after all, this is one of the few popular works they have in recent years.
But before Huayi can be happy for too long, a piece of news about them spread on the Internet.
The operator of a small cinema broke the news, claiming that Huayi Film and Television, the producer of "Eight Hundred", illegally collected "security deposits", but secretly provided keys to theaters that did not pay, affecting the rights and interests of theaters that paid.
A stone stirred up a thousand waves, and soon a large number of small theater owners in other places appeared on the Internet, confirming this situation.
At first, many netizens did not understand what this meant, but as more and more whistleblowers came out, the cause and effect of the matter were clearly revealed.
As a large company at the top of the domestic entertainment film industry, Huayi's name is still very well-known among ordinary audiences. Therefore, as soon as this news broke out, it immediately attracted a large number of people who came to watch the fun.
At present, everyone already knows that Huayi's collection of security deposits is true, and it is also true that it privately provides the first week key to theaters that have not paid the security deposit, and it is also true that the theaters that paid the money have been wronged.
Next, it depends on how Huayi responds.
Huayi must have been prepared for this situation. First, the official microblog issued a statement, saying that "the purpose of collecting deposits is to prevent small theaters from stealing box office revenue", and that there are only more than 200 theaters that have not paid, which is a very small number.
However, the second half of the statement was soon overturned. According to the comparative statistics of various comprehensive data, the number of theaters that have not paid deposits is at least more than 2,000.
Regarding this argument, Huayi chose to avoid talking about it, adopted a follow-up plan, and pushed the matter onto the theater chain. It said that the reason why some theaters "did not pay the deposit and got the movie key" was because the theater chain helped them pay on their behalf.
However, this excuse is not very effective, because some relevant practitioners on the theater chain side said that they did not reach any payment cooperation, and everything was communicated between the film party and the theater.
Obviously, the theater chain is also very dissatisfied with Huayi's "overlord terms". Although considering taking care of each other's face and not directly tearing their faces, the subtext proves that Huayi's explanation is pure fart.
At this point, many people have actually understood. It is hard to say what the motivation was at the beginning, but the specific situation is that Huayi "bullies the store with big customers" and came up with a rule, but was reluctant to give up the movie box office, so it ended up making such a scene.
"Haha, it's just as I said before, Huayi is indeed doing something in private."
Chen Zhixi looked at the various compilations and interview reports on the Internet, and said with a smile: "I said that the data of "Eight Hundred" is not quite the same as expected. Sure enough, I guessed it right."
"Wow, Sister Xi is awesome!" Meng Bai clapped his hands perfunctorily.
It's not that he doesn't care about this matter, but no matter what the truth is, it is ultimately a dispute within the film industry. The vast majority of netizens on the Internet are just following the melon to have fun. It has no impact on ordinary audiences, and it does not delay the box office of "Eight Hundred".
He was a little uninterested in other people's affairs. Just as he was about to change the subject, he suddenly heard Chen Zhixi slam the table and curse: "No, Huayi and the others are sick, right? Just have fun by yourself, what does this have to do with us!"
Meng Bai was startled by her sudden outburst. Hearing this, he stood up and walked over to ask: "What did you see that made you so angry all of a sudden?"
"Look for yourself." Chen Zhixi took a deep breath and handed over the phone.
Meng Bai took it and took a look. It was an article from a marketing account, talking about Huayi's recent turmoil.
However, unlike other similar marketing accounts, this article stood on Huayi's side. The whole article downplayed the issue of differential treatment of deposits, and instead focused on the "deposit clause is to resist small theaters from stealing box office revenue."
By the way, a screenshot was added to the article, which was a "small essay in the circle of friends" sent by Liu Ge, the general manager of Huayi Distribution.
"To quote Mr. Lu Xun: A soldier with flaws is still a soldier after all, and a perfect fly is still a fly... "Eight Hundred" says no to all "box office stealing theaters" this time... If you want to intercede for "box office stealing theaters", you will be hung up directly, and WeChat will be blocked directly if you mention it three times..."
Objectively speaking, regardless of the motive, most of what this small essay says is still very reasonable. The fact that small theaters steal box office is indeed a chronic disease in the film industry, and Huayi's behavior this time can more or less curb some of the atmosphere.
However, as he watched, Meng Bai's brows could not help but frown.
I don't know if he was too excited or intentional, but Mr. Liu added a sentence at the end: "I hope the entire industry can unite to fight this chronic disease together, and I also hope that other movies that are being released at the same time will not only focus on temporary benefits and help the tiger, and everyone will jointly resist the bad trends in the industry."
The so-called "other movies that are being released at the same time" definitely does not refer to those re-released films. Well, apart from "Eight Hundred", isn't the new movie "Famous" now showing in theaters?
Although it is not explicitly stated in the original text, anyone who pays a little attention to movies can immediately guess who it is talking about.
"That doesn't make sense." Meng Bai touched his chin, "We didn't follow them to get a deposit and send out more promotional materials. Does that
count as aiding and abetting the evil?" "Hehe, it's just a pretext to divert attention online." Chen Zhixi sneered, "Suddenly so many soft articles with similar content appeared, do we need to think of other possibilities?"
Generally speaking, any marketing articles with similar content that appear in large quantities in a short period of time are basically posted by the parties themselves.
After cursing a few times, Chen Zhixi calmed down: "Let's find someone to communicate with the other party first, and ask what Huayi means."
"I'll make the contact." Meng Bai said, "But if you ask me, there's no need to talk. If they don't follow the rules, we don't have to worry about it."
"Let's ask them first, so they don't have to find other excuses."
(End of this chapter)
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