Chapter 430: Coming and Going, Endless Tactics

The revenue-sharing battle stirred up by the distribution alliance is on a larger scale than last year's.

With producers and distributors joining forces, it means the upstream and midstream of the film industry are jointly launching an attack on the downstream cinema chains.

Furthermore, New Year Slot directors led by Feng Dapao, Chen Kexin, Wang Jing, Lu Chuan, and Wong Kar-wai, along with a large number of directors and producers in the industry, have also spoken out one after another in front of the media, hoping that the cinema chains could make concessions to alleviate the ever-increasing production costs.

Originally, according to the distribution alliance's thinking, the cinema chains should have continued to retreat and compromise just like they did with Zhang Weiping back then, but unfortunately, they all thought wrong.

Perhaps because they have been provoked time and time again, the cinema chains have also had their anger stirred up, so this time their attitude is very tough, and they have directly adopted a stance of rejection toward the distributors' notification.

As for the statements from those directors, the cinema chains simply ignored them, because the status of the two sides is completely unequal, so what is there to respond to? "President Wei, your previous decision was wise; the attitude of the cinema alliance is very clear, we will absolutely not retreat again."

Listening to Zhao Feng's report, Wei Jin nodded, not surprised by this.

Although the cinema chains are indeed guaranteed a profit regardless of the weather, if they retreat once and then retreat again, what is being divided up is their cake and meat.

And not every film can be like a Shanhe Media film, making the cake of the entire industry bigger and achieving a win-win situation.

"Alright, you just need to do your own job well and advance or retreat together with the large cinema chains."

To be honest, Wei Jin is also not optimistic about the cinema chains; among the more than thirty cinema chains, the interior is not of one mind either, so it is hard to say—this lively scene might still have more to watch.

The last imported revenue-sharing film of this year is Li An's *Life of Pi*.

Seeing that it is half a month away from release, Li An specifically ran to Beijing to hold a film press conference.

Many domestic big-name directors were invited, and Wei Jin was no exception.

Although he does not have much friendship with this Taiwan director, after considering it, Wei Jin still went to show his support.

Come to think of it, this marquee director among Huaxia filmmakers has a truly legendary experience.

Li An is a graduate of a legitimate professional film school and began to get involved in the film and television industry in the 80s, but several short films in succession did not make any splash, so he was left idle at home.

It was not until the early 90s that he began to emerge by winning a nomination for the Jury Special Award and a nomination for Best Director at the 28th Golden Horse Awards for his feature film debut, *Pushing Hands*.

Since then, Li An has seemed to be "hacking" the system, constantly refreshing all kinds of awards and honors.

In '93, he won the Berlin Golden Bear Award for *The Wedding Banquet*, and in '94, he was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film and the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film for *Eat Drink Man Woman*. To date, Li An holds two Golden Lions, two Golden Bears, two Oscar trophies, three Golden Globe trophies, and six Golden Horse trophies.

In terms of awards and honors, Li An is by no means inferior to Wei Jin or Zhang Yimou, and even in terms of quantity alone, he is a step ahead.

However, Wei Jin must admit that Li An indeed has the level.

His first attempt at a 3D film was done very excellently; after the 20-minute 3D clip was played, it won thunderous applause.

After the press conference ended, Wei Jin gathered with directors from Shanhe Media such as Zhang Yimou and Ning Hao to chat for a while, discussing the recent dispute between the distributors and the cinema chains.

This time, the matter has indeed caused a huge stir, and both sides are deadlocked.

More than a dozen cinema chains led by Wanda and Shanhe Cinema Line issued a joint statement: "If the distributors forcibly demand an increase in the revenue-sharing ratio, then the cinema alliance will no longer screen these eight films!"

The distribution alliance led by China Film did not show weakness either, stating bluntly that if the cinema chains did not agree, they would not supply the films.

Even when the Film Bureau stepped in to call on both sides to sit down and negotiate, they were rejected by both sides, who directly stated that they would not accept negotiations.

"Junior brother, what do you think will happen if they can't reach an agreement in the end?"

Ning Hao has no films being released this year, so he asked in the tone of an onlooker; the others, Zhang Yimou, Xu Laoguai, and the rest, also expressed their concern.

"That shouldn't be very likely..."

Wei Jin shook his head, first setting the tone, and then explained:

"To say something unpleasant, both sides are currently being held up, but given the domestic style of doing things, it is impossible not to leave a little room for maneuver. There is still more than half a month, so a solution will eventually be found."

Everyone nodded one after another, agreeing with Wei Jin's view; only Ning Hao had a rather peculiar train of thought.

"Come to think of it, Li An's *Life of Pi* is still good; it's an imported revenue-sharing film, so he doesn't need to worry about this matter. Maybe the bigger the fuss, the higher his screen allocation will be."

"That's impossible. The closer it gets to the New Year Slot, the smaller the room for maneuver for both sides, and the easier it is to reach a consensus."

Everyone nodded again: "That is the logic."

That *Tiny Times*, which had been controversial and received attention since its project initiation, started filming.

Although Guo Xiaosi is a newcomer director, the producers were clearly very optimistic about this series of films adapted from a bestseller, and the launch press conference was held very grandly.

However, what was embarrassing was that some media directly asked Guo Xiaosi how he explained the plagiarism, which made the latter's face turn black with anger, and he forcibly argued that it was just "reference."

But the media remained relentless; after all, the court's verdict was that *Dreams Fall in the Flower* had plagiarized *Inside and Outside the Circle*.

In the end, the host came out to smooth things over and guided the topic back to *Tiny Times*.

Among the cast of this play, Yang Mi had the highest status, so she was also the most dazzling star in the eyes of the media today.

"Mimi, there was news earlier saying that you took this play yourself and it wasn't arranged by the company. May I ask if that's true?"

"That is indeed the case."

Yang Mi admitted it in one breath, then smiled and added: "However, I still want to thank the company for its cultivation, otherwise Director Guo wouldn't have specifically requested me to play the female lead, haha."

Yang Mi's words showed no regard for the other actors at all; after all, her status was right there, and even the other few so-called main actors didn't mind at all, only having envy in their eyes.

"Then there is also news claiming that because you took this play, you missed out on *New Police Story 2013*. Is that so?"

The smile on Yang Mi's face stalled, then returned to normal.

"I wouldn't call it missing out. As an actor, one must certainly be responsible for the film. Since the schedule has already been set, the rest is not within my scope of consideration..."

"Mimi, the Golden Horse Awards are in a few days, and your *Love is Not Blind* has also been shortlisted for Best Actress, competing on the same stage as Jing Tian. Do you think the chances are high?"

Hearing this question, Yang Mi forcibly suppressed the displeasure in her heart.

"This is my first nomination. Regardless of whether I can win, I feel it is a great progress and recognition. As for the final result, I'll leave it to the judges. Thank you."

After answering this question, Yang Mi stopped speaking, and the media also shifted the topic to the producers and other actors.

At this time, Ceng Jia brought Yang Mi to a quiet place.

"Everything is settled with Director Guo, right?"

"Mm, it was already discussed before. The scenes will be adjusted a bit, and I will only attend on the day of the awards ceremony. I hope there will be a good result..."

In front of the media, Yang Mi appeared very humble, but at this moment, fighting spirit ignited in her eyes.

"Mm, relax your mindset." Ceng Jia could also understand Yang Mi's attitude. As an actor who graduated from Beijing Film Academy, no matter how big her ambition is, her desire for awards will not be small.

What's more, the gold content of the Golden Horse Awards is not low. If she can really win it, it will also be a huge boost to Yang Mi's commercial value, and Ceng Jia is also happy to see it happen.

Time entered the middle of November.

In the film market, the reputation of that film *Tai Chi 2* from Huayi had completely collapsed, and its box office performance was even worse than the first installment.

After being in theaters for ten days or so, the box office was not even 50 million, which could be called a bloody loss.

The rest of the films, whether domestic productions or imported Flat-fee Films, all performed extremely poorly.

In the entire film market, there wasn't a single film worth mentioning, which made Wei Jin feel a bit regretful for missing this window of opportunity.

On the other side, the cinema chains and the distributors were still arguing incessantly, but it had absolutely no impact on the promotion of the New Year Slot films; after all, these were processes that had long been set.

However, the unyielding attitude of the cinema chains still made people in the industry panic.

Under these circumstances, the Film Bureau could no longer sit still and urgently issued a new policy.

The core content of the document was also very simple: for cinemas where domestic film box office revenue reached over 50% this year, the Special Fund Committee would return 100% of the special funds turned in by these films; for those reaching a share of over 45%, 80% would be returned.

Honestly speaking, the original intention of this policy was good; it both supported domestic films and compensated the cinema chains, which could be called killing two birds with one stone.

According to the data released in the third quarter, domestic films accounted for 39% of the total market, and with the release of nearly ten films in the New Year Slot, it was entirely hopeful to pull the ratio up to 45% or even over 50%.

It was a pity that the cinema chains were not buying it, because the policy brought only short-term benefits, while the distributors' demands were damaging their long-term interests.

However, the distributors seemed full of confidence, because the chips in their hands were all hot films for the New Year Slot; the closer it got to the release period, the more passive the cinema chains became.

Han Sanping even had the mood to call Wei Jin to tease him a bit.

"Wei Jin, the advantage is with me this time. There's no reason that what Zhang Weiping could accomplish, we distributors won't be able to win if we unite. Just wait for the arrival of the new era."

"Uh, then I wish Han Dong success in his wishes, and I'll just lie back and win along with you."

"Hahaha, just watch and see."

Wei Jin soon witnessed Han Sanping's methods.

The five major distribution companies jointly released the "Notice on the Progress of Negotiations for Box Office Revenue Sharing Ratios."

According to the information released in the notice, over 28 cinema chains had signed new screening contracts with the five major distributors.

In addition, there were hundreds of cinemas that bypassed their affiliated chains and negotiated new revenue-sharing ratios directly with the distributors.

According to the data released in the notice, the market share occupied by these combined cinema chains and cinemas had already exceeded 70%.

"Damn, this really looks like the trend is set. Old Han has some tricks up his sleeve, tsk tsk."

After sighing, Wei Jin flipped through the emails from North America.

*Taken 3* had already been in theaters in North America for a month and had now entered the routine disposal stage.

Sometimes one has to admit that the impact of reputation on the box office is indeed too great.

The first and second installments both had results of over 150 million in North America, but this third installment had only 96.8 million USD.

However, fortunately, Summit Entertainment hyped the concept of the "final chapter" very hotly, so much so that the performance in overseas markets was quite good.

Europe, Australia, Japan, South Korea, and other regions cumulatively reported 168 million USD, with a total global box office as high as 264 million USD.

Waiting until next year to release it domestically as an imported film, it is estimated that it can still take another 30 to 50 million USD.

By then, with a total global box office of 300 million USD, it could be considered a perfect full stop for this series.

The distributors' attitude was forceful, and the cinema chains' counterattack was also very timely.

The next day, 27 industry giants including Wanda, New Film Association, Shanhe, and Dadi Cinema held a press conference in Beijing.

In front of hundreds of media reporters, they directly announced the paper version of the "Joint Declaration" stamped with official seals.

"We absolutely do not accept the forceful and rude demands of the distributors. We 27 mainstream cinema chains have reached a consensus: we refuse to be coerced, we will never compromise, and we firmly will not screen those 8 films!"

The key interesting point was right here, because the market share of these 27 cinema chains that issued the joint declaration had already reached 80%.

The entire entertainment industry, the media, and even netizens all began to discuss it heatedly.

"On one side they say they've taken 70% of the cinemas, and on the other side it's a 27-cinema chain alliance occupying 80% share. What the hell is going on? Has the market doubled?"

"Hehe, I guess there are two possibilities: either both sides are bluffing, or there are fence-sitters participating on both sides."

"Damn, this is something. Truth and falsehood, all is fair in war; it seems both sides still have a fight ahead."

The increasingly aggressive attitudes of both sides caused the matter to escalate instantly, and even Ceng Li, who usually didn't pay much attention to industry news, expressed curiosity.

"Xiao Jin, what do you think is going on?"

Looking at the thirst for knowledge on the beautiful woman's face, Wei Jin did not hide anything.

"There are indeed fence-sitters; both sides are dividing and winning people over."

Although he didn't participate this time, with Zhao Feng revealing bits of news from time to time, Wei Jin knew some of the inside story.

However, this time, the distribution company of China Film Group used some nasty methods, directly bypassing the cinema chains to contact the cinemas under them individually, which was how they got the 70% market share.

After listening to Wei Jin's explanation, Ceng Li frowned.

"Isn't Han Dong afraid of completely offending the cinema chains by doing this?"

"Hehe, they are already offended."

To tell the truth, Han Sanping's behavior was equivalent to bypassing Shanhe Media and directly having Starry Sky Culture or Shanhe Ink and other companies follow his lead; it was definitely going to invite hatred.

According to Zhao Feng's report, quite a few state-owned cinema chains were already boycotting the distributors led by China Film Group, and it was unknown what kind of trouble would be stirred up later.

"Han Dong was dragged onto the chariot by Huayi this time, but given his temperament, perhaps he had wanted to do this for a long time."

Wei Jin admitted that Han Sanping was indeed devoted to the development of the industry, but the matter of revenue sharing involved too much; unless the higher-ups issued a document directly, it would be absolutely impossible to reach an agreement.

This time, there was a high probability that Han Sanping would be used as a pawn. (End of chapter)