Chapter 351: Naza's Thoughts, Old Wang's Big Move

Early morning, inside the Golden House.

A wisp of sunlight passed through the window and spilled onto the snow-white bed.

Wei Jin woke from a deep sleep, feeling the softness against his chest; he lowered his head to look, and sure enough, it was Mimi's conscience.

Wei Jin's gaze followed downward, where a snow-white, slender leg was pressing across his waist.

"This woman is really restless when she sleeps."

Perhaps it was because she had been single for too long, or perhaps it was because she had secured the film resources, but last night Mimi had cooperated with Wei Jin in playing quite a few fresh games.

This also made Wei Jin realize that this woman seemed to be gradually investing her emotions into their relationship.

However, Wei Jin believed that with Mimi's ambition for her career, she would handle this emotion well herself and would not cause him any trouble.

Perhaps his hand movements were a bit too large, as Mimi's long eyelashes began to flutter. Before long, she woke up faintly, and upon seeing the man before her, a sweet smile appeared on her face, and her "clamping" voice was released instantly.

"Senior, good morning."

The corners of Wei Jin's mouth curled into a smile, his hand movements not stopping at all.

"Mimi, the way to say good morning isn't that simple, you know~~"

Waking up in the morning, Wei Jin naturally wanted to get some exercise; after all, the morning is the best time of the day.

Upon hearing this, Mimi very sensibly burrowed into the quilt. Leaving the Golden House, Wei Jin headed to the company feeling refreshed, taking the time on the way to pay attention to the film market.

Just last night, while he and Mimi were taking off on three paths, *The Sorcerer and the White Snake* had been released early.

The box office for the six hours had already been reported: 10 million.

Honestly, this figure was not low; even though it was during the evening peak period, it could prove that as long as the word-of-mouth did not collapse, a daily box office of 30 million was a sure thing.

Wei Jin curiously looked at the comments online, only to discover a very strange phenomenon.

The rating on Yinxiang Net was unexpectedly quite good, at 7.1 points, but the comments seemed very absurd—some were cursing, some were praising, and everything in between.

After pondering it slightly, Wei Jin understood the crux of the matter; it was very obvious that someone was controlling the ratings.

"This guy is really willing to spend..."

One must know that as the social rating website with the largest user volume in the country, Yinxiang Net had done quite a bit of work over the years to prevent malicious reviews.

To rate a film, one either had to have a ticket purchase record in Yinxiang Net's ticketing system or upload a paper ticket stub, and the stub number would be bound to the account to prevent the situation of one ticket being used multiple times.

But human wisdom is infinite; since the producers couldn't delete comments, they would spend money to buy tickets and hire internet water armies to post positive reviews and drive up the rating.

Although Yinxiang Net was also blocking abnormal IPs, as long as there was profit to be made, the existence of water armies could not be completely eradicated.

Therefore, generally speaking, production companies would exert a certain level of control over a film's rating during its first week of release.

However, this was limited to the first few days of release; later on, as the number of viewers increased, the quality of a film's word-of-mouth could not be covered up.

But so far, most production companies only boosted the positive reviews of their own films and had not yet appeared to maliciously attack competitors.

However, Wei Jin estimated that this situation would become common in the future; after all, the battle for the release slot would become increasingly intense.

"Next, let's see how Old Wang makes his move."

Without paying too much attention, Wei Jin continued to focus his mind on the storyboards.

Before long, Jiang Xuerou walked in carrying a stack of documents.

"President Wei, am I interrupting you?"

"Director Jiang, sit down, wait for me a moment."

Wei Jin raised his hand slightly to gesture for her to take a seat, continuing to write and draw on the desk.

After completing the construction of a scene, Wei Jin finally stopped, looked up, and revealed a smile.

"What? Can't stay idle, picked out a few more scripts?"

Being teased by her boss, Jiang Xuerou felt a bit embarrassed.

"Yes, *Heart Surgery* wrapped up yesterday. Currently, only *Chuqiaozhuan* is still filming. All three crews are resting, so I was thinking about starting two more scripts. These are the ones I've picked out; would you like to take a look, President Wei?"

"Good."

Wei Jin didn't say much more, took the scripts, and began to read.

After some picking and choosing, Wei Jin pushed two scripts in front of Jiang Xuerou and tapped on the office desk.

"Let's go with these two."

Before Jiang Xuerou could answer, Wei Jin continued.

"Director Jiang, don't be in a hurry regarding the projects. Let the artists rest for a bit and settle down..."

Wei Jin was very worried that the company's crews were operating too fast and that those young artists wouldn't be able to translate their experience into strength.

Although the company had set up training classes and invited instructors from the Central Academy of Drama, if they didn't go through a period of settling down, it would be very difficult for the actors' strength to grow.

It was just like Mimi in his previous life, working back-to-back days; it looked like she had rich experience in film crews, but in the end, her acting all became formulaic, completely losing the spirituality she had in her initial performances. That would be a case of the loss outweighing the gain.

Jiang Xuerou was stunned for a moment upon hearing this, but she quickly understood Wei Jin's meaning and promised.

"Don't worry, President Wei, I understand."

"Mm, you go ahead first."

In the film market, the first head-on confrontation of the National Day Slot had begun.

Thanks to the frequent bragging beforehand and the first-day rating boosting, the first-day box office for *The Sorcerer and the White Snake* was out: counting those 6 hours, it totaled 25.8 million.

This result significantly exceeded the 12.6 million first-day box office of *Painted Skin*.

The industry could also understand: for one, *The Sorcerer and the White Snake* did have 6 extra hours, and for another, cinema scheduling still had to evaluate the film's cast and production costs.

In a situation where it didn't have an advantage in either of these two areas, it was already quite remarkable that *Painted Skin* could fight *The Sorcerer and the White Snake* to a standstill.

But Yang Zi, that hothead, didn't think so; he only felt that in the first battle of Julli entering the film circle, he had stepped on the veteran film company Enlight Media.

This made Yang Zi so happy that he immediately stood up and made a high-profile statement: "This National Day Slot, *The Sorcerer and the White Snake* will create miracles all the way. Our film's box office is bound to break 400 million, 500 million, or even higher."

Whether it was the media or netizens, everyone was amused by this guy; *Thieves* was still a week away from release, and he really didn't know the immensity of heaven and earth.

Although the industry didn't hold high hopes, it didn't hinder *The Sorcerer and the White Snake*'s box office from climbing all the way up.

The next day, *The Sorcerer and the White Snake* brought in 21.6 million in box office, once again crushing *Mural*'s 15.4 million. Yang Zi, that guy, came out to speak up again, and this time he was truly being somewhat arrogant.

"After *The Sorcerer and the White Snake*, there shall be no more White Snake!"

" *The Sorcerer and the White Snake* aims its sword at the king of the National Day Slot!"

"After *The Sorcerer and the White Snake*, Juli Pictures will invest another one billion to create ten films with budgets exceeding one hundred million!"

But before he could continue his bluffing, large-scale exposés appeared online.

"A large number of film critics have received 'writing fees' and 'hush money' from Juli Pictures!"

"Juli Pictures hired internet water armies to crazily spam positive reviews on major websites."

"The official Weibo of *The Sorcerer and the White Snake* has engaged in massive post-spamming and post-deletion."

People in the industry were all speculating whether Enlight Media had made a move, and were waiting to watch this good show.

Yang Zi immediately stood up to deny the "hush money" and "review spamming" behavior, and issued a warning:

"No matter who it is, this is blatant slander. We have already reported it to the police; wait to receive our lawyer's letter."

Unfortunately, the market did not buy it. Even though it was the weekend and the box office should have seen an explosion, *The Sorcerer and the White Snake* instead showed a trend of sharp decline.

The daily box office plummeted directly from over 21 million to 15 million, and on Sunday it even fell to 12 million.

Looking at *Mural* in contrast, the box office saw a small explosion upon entering the weekend, with 18.6 million on Saturday and 17.8 million on Sunday.

Thus, *The Sorcerer and the White Snake* finished its opening weekend with 74.4 million, while *Mural* finished its opening weekend with 64.4 million.

It was a very interesting phenomenon; the gap between the two sides was merely the box office from those 6 hours. Discerning people already had a psychological prediction regarding the outcome of these two films.

Just as the two sides were planning to decide the winner, *Xinhai Revolution* was released.

Unfortunately, this tribute film, which claimed an investment of over one hundred million, did not bring any surprises. Its opening day box office of 7 million directly announced the bankruptcy of Shanghai Film Group's ambitions.

The industry was not surprised by this; after all, the premise of *Xinhai Revolution* was already slightly inferior to *The Founding of a Republic* and *Beginning of the Great Revival*, and it couldn't manage administrative block-bookings. Having this outcome was only to be expected.

However, Ren Zhonglun was not in a good mood at this moment; the bragging he had done earlier was now making his face sting too much. Just as the film market was filled with smoke and fire, Changying announced the project *Bronze Sparrow Terrace* to the public.

"Following *White Vengeance* and *The Banquet*, another historical blockbuster with an investment of over one hundred million, *Bronze Sparrow Terrace*, is coming with a shock."

"It has been confirmed that the famous Hong Kong film star Mr. Zhou Runfa will play the male lead, the popular young actress Yang Mi under Starry Sky Culture will play the female lead, and numerous powerful actors are joining with passion."

Looking at the news online, Miss Cai almost lost her Dao heart. This Yang Mi was moving faster and faster; if things went on like this, when would Liu Shishi be able to catch up? "I haven't heard of Yang Mi having any connections with the major producers, have I?"

Hearing her boss's muttering, the Assistant spoke up to explain.

"Boss Cai, according to rumors, the producers first invited Liu Yifei, but after being rejected by President Wei, they settled for the next best thing and chose Yang Mi."

"So that's how it is."

Upon hearing this, Miss Cai felt slightly better, but she also felt some regret. Liu Shishi's schedule had been set early; otherwise, perhaps she might have had a chance this time?

"What a pity."

On the other side, inside a girls' dormitory at Beijing Film Academy, a group of girls were chattering while looking at the news online.

"Nazha, *Eastern Palace* has been wrapped for several months now. Has your company not arranged any new plays for you? Senior Sister Yang Mi has been in many plays in a row..."

"The company's meaning is that I am still young, and my studies are the priority. One drama a year is enough. I also feel that I should learn more about acting so that I can go further in the future. What do you all think?"

Nazha tried her best to keep smiling, but no matter how one looked at it, this smile carried a hint of reluctance.

"That's true. Signed to Starry Sky Culture, you won't have to worry about resources in the future. Sigh, I really envy you."

Nazha couldn't respond to this, so she could only smile and find an excuse to leave the dormitory.

In a place where no one could see, Nazha's alluring red lips pouted.

"It was clearly agreed that I am his little lover, but it's been half a year and he hasn't asked me out."

Thinking of this, Nazha felt she should take the initiative and be a thoughtful little lover.

As the release date of *Thieves* drew closer, the competition between *The Sorcerer and the White Snake* and *Mural* had entered a white-hot stage, racing against time to harvest the box office.

But just at this time, the negative reviews about *The Sorcerer and the White Snake* online could finally no longer be suppressed and erupted.

Lazy Bug Who Doesn't Like Working: "What kind of damn movie is this? From beginning to end it's all Fahai and the White Lady. What is Xu Xian doing? He doesn't even have as much screen time as Fahai's disciple."

Sinful Little Pig: "The romance scenes made me cringe. Damn it, does the woman chasing the man have to be so exaggerated? Can't you at least have some foreplay?"

ぁMidnight Smokeぁ: "What kind of weird action scenes are Li Lianjie's? Why is the motion in slow motion? Damn it, can't there be some other plot?"

Departing Song Exhausts the Splendid Dress: "Am I the only one who has doubts about the special effects? How are these 100 million in special effects not much better than *Mural*?"

Cliché: "I'm afraid they're just bragging. I don't believe this damn movie spent 100 million on special effects..."

Netizens had many guesses about the special effects, and some meddlesome media actually blocked the entrance to Shanhe Building to interview Chen Zhiming.

Chen Zhiming instantly remembered Wei Jin's original instructions, and his answer was watertight.

"Regarding the production cycle and production costs of the film's special effects, according to the client's requirements, we need to keep it strictly confidential."

With Chen Zhiming's statement, the media understood instantly. If this really cost 100 million, would Juli Pictures need to keep it confidential?

Soon, the media published this interview online.

For a time, claims about *The Sorcerer and the White Snake*'s special effects being fake, and even the production costs being fake, became rampant, and the film's box office plummeted once again.

But before Yang Zi could come out to explain, Old Wang's ultimate move, which he had been holding back for a long time, was finally used.

A large number of posts appeared online, in the media, and on Weibo: "The classic White Lady image in the audience's hearts should be the one played by Zhao Yazhi. She is noble, elegant, and has temperament. But after watching *The Sorcerer and the White Snake*, I really feel that Huang Shengyi insulted this role. The air of a courtesan on her is too heavy, and her performance is also very flirtatious."

"If Zhao Yazhi's White Lady came from heaven to the human world, surrounded by an immortal aura, then Huang Shengyi's White Lady looks like she walked out of Tian Shang Ren Jian, exuding a lewd aura all over."

00 A-Kuang: "The big shot's description is too apt. I just haven't read enough books, I can't say it, I can only shout 666~~~"

I Am a Fool: "It's a pity that back during *Kung Fu Hustle*, the mute girl was so pure. Huang Shengyi has now been ruined by Yang Zi."

What a GP Name: "I miss Tian Shang Ren Jian so much. So many fallen female college students, and third-tier little stars. They sealed it just like that. It's such a pity."

"..."

All kinds of posts about *The Sorcerer and the White Snake* popped up like bamboo shoots after a spring rain.

Not only was the film's reputation and box office affected, but Huang Shengyi's image as a pure jade maiden plummeted even further. (End of chapter)