Chapter 286: There Is No Such Thing as Too Much Cunning in War

On New Year's Day, January 1, 2013, while the Jade Rabbit was still publicly condemning "Evil," causing it to lose a massive number of fans.

Rabbit Ticket issued a public announcement: an 8.3 billion valuation, raising 3 billion soft sister currency.

Rabbit Ticket CEO Zheng Zhihao publicly stated: "In the future, Rabbit Ticket will play more of a role in ticketing operations and subsidies, providing convenience for users, and will continue to increase subsidies for the film industry."

He added: "Of course, users still need to pay more attention to the quality of the films themselves."

The latter sentence was nonsense; the former was the key point, and it made the film forces led by Huayi extremely nervous.

The meaning was that capital warfare would be waged against the film industry with big money—of course Rabbit Ticket's purpose was traffic and users.

3 billion—enough to buy out every screening!

At the same time, it also impacted the ticketing market. At this stage, apart from a few internet capital firms and a limited number of ticketing platforms, few could compete with Rabbit Ticket.

Speaking in terms of capital.

At this stage, Tencent had Yupiaor; Baidu had Baidu Nuomi; although Alibaba had investments, it had not yet ventured into ticketing.

But their usual strategy was buy, buy, buy!

Alibaba's sensitivity in this area was relatively backward. Tencent and Baidu had already ventured into video platforms, yet Alibaba only acquired Youku in 2016.

Tencent was still raising poison-gu as usual, doing Yupiaor, and later also did Weiying and Wepiao, not putting all its eggs in the Rabbit Ticket basket.

Moreover, these two products had stronger subsidies than Rabbit Ticket. A true son is still a true son—Rabbit Ticket always belonged to the Jade Rabbit.

But according to the trajectory of the previous life, it still lost; several companies merged into a new platform.

In the previous life, Maoyan's strategy was to pick a good film and subsidize it to death to pull in users, not cast a net everywhere.

It was a single-point strategy—not every film got huge subsidies. Who could afford that?

Along with Rabbit Ticket's financing, Now You See Me also released its first promotional clip, putting on a propaganda posture.

The promotional clip only showed the leading actors' dashing and handsome figures in the film, with gorgeous visuals, and then it was over.

Not even a hint of content—very appetite-whetting.

This forced Huayi's people to sit down together again to respond, after all there was still one month before the release of Demon Subduing.

Change the schedule, or fight it out with money—some countermeasure was needed. The major ticketing platforms didn't have that much money to subsidize; the production and distribution sides needed to offer discounts.

Meaning everyone chips in a portion.

But they didn't have ticketing platforms—why should they pay the ticketing platforms? Wasn't that raising a tiger?

Huayi deeply regretted not acquiring a ticketing platform; they were always one step slower than the Jade Rabbit.

Previously they had thrown all their money into games. Over the past few months, they had taken a stake in Zhanqu Technology, becoming its second-largest Shareholder.

The very company that developed the One Punch Man: The Strongest game.

Don't think Huayi is stupid and doesn't do games. Games are a major trend anyway. Many film and television companies are doing film-game interactive entertainment. Some even came from the gaming field into the film and television industry—Perfect World is one example.

It's just that few have succeeded. Doing this requires vision, not a matter of money.

Although this year was the year mobile games began to explode, with so many new gaming companies rising, every sector had competition, and it was fierce.

Standing on the风口, even a pig can take off, but when the wind passes, the ones that fall to death are the pigs!

"The Jade Rabbit Chen Zhixi said it's already decided and the schedule can't be given up. If we don't make them yield, they'll yield next time." This was said by Jiang Zhiqiang.

Meaning move Demon Subduing to another schedule, and let Now You See Me release first.

Chen Zhixi still respected this person quite a bit—after all, there was no real conflict—so her words were still relatively polite.

Of course, that was just empty flattery.

"Next time would be the summer schedule—have to wait half a year," Xing Ye said.

Only that schedule had a slightly longer holiday, more viewers, students were on vacation. The May Day schedule was too short.

"That little bastard Principal's words can't be trusted. What 'yield next time'—if you listen to him, you'd miss even the New Year." Xiao Wang General Manager said this rather indignantly.

He had fought with the Principal for so long and had never heard a single truthful word from that little bastard's mouth—all bullshit, talking nonsense off the top of his head.

Jiang Zhiqiang ignored the grievances between them and asked him: "So you mean you're inclined to keep the schedule unchanged?"

"Right, this can't be avoided. The Jade Rabbit won't let us make money. I dare say so—even if we yield the schedule this time, next time he'll use other films to block us."

Xiao Wang General Manager saw through the Principal and complained: "I even suspect which rich second-generation he is, with so much money to burn."

Every time he would stick his nose in, as if he didn't care about box office, yet rising so fast.

"He should have a company in the United States," Jiang Zhiqiang was well-informed, being familiar with Hollywood.

"That Zhong family is really his?" Xiao Wang General Manager's eyes went wide.

There were rumors that the Zhong family was the previous United States Jade Rabbit.

It was just in English, not Chinese, and the translators weren't quite sure.

"Should be. I'm not clear on the specifics," Jiang Zhiqiang said.

He also couldn't figure out whether there was a shareholding structure behind the Zhong family, how much of it the Principal held—these weren't acquaintances, so he couldn't look it up.

Without blood transfusions from the United States, there was no way to explain how the Principal rose so fast, to the point of being comparable to Huayi.

One must know Huayi had never lost in making films and TV before, and was a listed company. Their accumulation over so many years meant their strength was far greater than the Jade Rabbit's.

But it seemed as if they weren't as rich as the Jade Rabbit.

"Squeak!"

The door was pushed open, and a person with an ugly appearance, short stature, head held high, and a natural-born confidence in his walk walked in.

Xing Ye, Xiao Wang General Manager, and Jiang Zhiqiang stood up and greeted: "General Manager Ma."

"I've heard the reports on the matter. No need to change the schedule. I want to see what the Jade Rabbit's background is—perfect chance to weigh them up." Jack Ma was very domineering.

Having just entered this industry, someone was already giving him trouble. He wanted to see how deep the waters of this industry were, and what kind of immortal the Principal was.

This was how he had fought his way up. He couldn't hide, and he well knew that to enter this industry and shake it up, he had to have a fight with the lords of this industry.

Otherwise it would make him, Jack Ma, look so lacking in "manners"!

"Then we'll increase propaganda, increase promotional efforts, book the prime-time screenings at all national cinemas, and do it through a rebate method to the cinemas," Xiao Wang General Manager said.

The Principal subsidizes tickets, and they buy out screenings to promote to audiences. This method is essentially giving up their own profit margin to give rebates to the cinemas.

If the screening share exceeds 40%, they get one extra point back; over 45%, two points back, and so on.

In his previous life, "Journey" reached 75%, so if pushed this way, at least around 7 points would have to be returned to the cinemas.

For more screenings, many films operate this way. Later, "Tiny Times" was operated exactly like this.

Although the share has been adjusted now, some films, to curry favor with cinemas and squeeze out other movies, still give rebates to cinemas.

Although that's how the math works, with Jade Rabbit involved now, a 7-point rebate isn't enough.

It's simple—if you schedule 75% of screenings for it, how much do "Now You See Me" and other films get?

It's impossible for other films to only take up 25% of the share, right?

Besides, this is the New Year period—they're working overtime for you. Without a rebate starting at 10 points, the theater chains won't agree.

10 points, on top of the cinemas and theater chains themselves taking 55%, means the cinema side takes 65%.

That is, after removing funds and taxes, production and distribution only get a 26.7% share.

Based on the previous life's 1.24 billion box office, that means 322.4 million in box office revenue, and this film definitely has over a hundred million in investment plus marketing costs.

That leaves only around 200 million in profit.

Based on the previous life's box office performance, this film can't not make money. What Fang Hong needs to do is make them earn as little as possible.

So many investors—each one taking a few tens of millions to satisfy their appetite is fine, don't let them earn too much.

As for actually going head-to-head with Xing Ye, no confidence! "We can operate it this way," Jack Ma said.

Anyway, it's split among all the investors, not just their Alibaba alone. He's just testing the waters, seeing how deep the film and TV waters are.

To see if the Principal really is, as the legend goes, undefeated!

Since General Manager Ma had decided, they had no objections. Not only is he an investor, he's also a Shareholder of Huayi.

Although he reduced his holdings a lot, he's still a Shareholder of Huayi.

Jiang Zhiqiang had no objections—his share was small, earning a bit more or less didn't matter much, the impact was minimal.

It's just that Xing Ye was a bit sullen, as if he'd been cut to the bone.

Actually, they overestimated the Principal here, and underestimated Xing Ye's influence and his film. Even without giving so many rebates, the Principal might not necessarily beat Xing Ye.

Mainly because they'd fought for two or three years before, fighting Huayi and the others until they lost confidence, and letting others in the entertainment circle clearly know the Principal's strength, so they had even less confidence.

Really, before this, whether the Principal took the initiative or was forced to respond, he was never passive, never lost.

This time he also raised so much money, making people even more wary!

Combined with the success of "Lost in Thailand," Jade Rabbit's strength rose to another level.

Jade Rabbit is like a weathervane, very attractive to the new generation of directors and film people, because they're constantly cultivating new forces to replace the old.

Just as the few finished their discussion and walked out of the meeting room, Yao Dazui, who had been waiting outside for a long time, hurriedly stepped forward.

"General Manager Wang."

Yao Dazui looked anxious, but seeing the others, she still greeted them and nodded.

Xing Ye, Jiang Zhiqiang, and Jack Ma responded with nods, or "mm," or silence—all rather indifferent—then left.

This person's matters had nothing to do with them.

"What is it?" General Manager Xiao Wang asked.

"Can you do me a favor and get Jade Rabbit to stop buying Publicity Drafts to smear me?" Yao Dazui pleaded.

These past few days she'd been cursed to death by Wangyi. The "Evil" label was firmly stuck to her forehead, her commercial value dropped a notch, and she lost fans rapidly.

"Damn, no end to this," General Manager Xiao Wang cursed.

Now that Li Bailian, Fan Xiaopang and the others have left, Yao Dazui is essentially their key cultivated target.

Just look at the resources Yao Dazui got in the next few years—"Control," "Storm," "Monster Hunt," "Chronicles of the Ghostly Tribe"—all premium resources from both Hong Kong and Neidi.

Her collaborators were either top-tier stars or top-tier directors; Li Bailian actually fell behind her.

She just ruined her own reputation by her own doing.

"I'll handle this matter. Don't go provoking Liu Tianxian anymore—you can't beat the Principal," General Manager Xiao Wang advised.

Even they have to be wary of him, let alone an actress like Yao Dazui—simply not enough to pose a threat to the Principal.

"Alright, I understand," Yao Dazui said dejectedly.

She still claimed to be number one, able to throw her weight around, show her presence, let the entertainment circle know who the new big sister is—didn't expect even her boss wasn't much help.

General Manager Xiao Wang didn't say more. He found Huang Xiaoming to act as middleman and make a call—he heard he had a decent relationship with Liu Tianxian.

Also someone not too involved in this matter, perfect to serve as middleman and smooth things over.

He couldn't possibly make the call himself—no other reason, he couldn't afford to lose face.

And right now fighting the Principal isn't appropriate—"Journey" is about to release, Huayi's full focus is on this film.

To deal with this fight, Huayi assembled a business expansion team of over a hundred people, conducting promotional activities at cinemas nationwide, coordinating group bookings.

This needs to be prepared in advance, coordinated in advance.

It can be said Huayi has its forces ready, structure complete, with a very mature system.

Their distribution arm is specifically for this, having done it for many years.

In this regard Jade Rabbit isn't as good as Huayi—they don't have such a team running around nationwide doing promotions, coordinating group bookings, handling rebates and such, and very professionally at that.

Their distribution is outsourced.

"Hello, General Manager Lei," Fang Hong stood before the floor-to-ceiling window, watching the snowy scenery outside Beijing, answering the phone.

"Isn't your 'Now You See Me' supposed to be releasing? Why is there no movement at all, you haven't come to me to pick a schedule," China Film Group's Manager Lei said.

Now outside everyone's saying "Now You See Me" and "Journey" will release on the same day, but Jade Rabbit has no such screening plan at China Film Group.

"We're still in the research stage. Once research is settled, we'll come find you to schedule the date," Fang Hong said.

Liu Tianxian sat in the rest area reading a book, ears perked up, listening to Fang Hong's conversation.

Today was New Year's Day, and she had promised Fang Hong's mother that she would go to her house for a meal. Hearing that Fang Hong still had to work today, she came over, and they would go together in the afternoon.

"Why are you still researching? There's only a little over a month left." Manager Lei was puzzled.

"Wait a moment, let me think it through. I'm a little nervous too, you know. Such a big investment—if the box office is bad, I'll be ruined." Fang Hong said.

"Oh, this is the first time I've seen you scared. You weren't like this before." Manager Lei teased.

The old Fang Hong had been very confident, with the air of someone charging forward, ready to take on anyone.

"Back then I was barefoot and not afraid of the shod—worst case I'd just start over. I can't be like that now; so many people depend on me to make a living." Fang Hong explained.

"Fair enough, you've matured. You should just switch the release window. Why would you want both sides to lose? It's no good for anyone."

Manager Lei offered a word of advice, then said: "Once you've decided, give me a call."

"Got it!" Fang Hong said.

The two chatted a while longer, then hung up the phone.

"Are you really planning a Spring Festival release, or is it fake?" Liu Tianxian rested the book under her chin, unable to contain her curiosity.

Logically speaking, for a Spring Festival release, the actors should have been arranged for promotion, but there hadn't been a peep—just a trailer dropped, nothing else.

In the past, although they hadn't let her do much promotion either, at least they'd have her promote a bit whenever she made public appearances.

People like Zhu Yilong and Zhang Songwen had both asked her, saying they'd heard Now You See Me was going to be released—why was there no promotion plan?

They didn't dare ask the Principal, only dared to ask Liu Tianxian.

"Of course it's fake. The film's post-production isn't even done—how could it possibly be released?" Fang Hong said straight out; he had nothing to hide from Liu Tianxian.

Not telling others was because he didn't trust them—what if someone tipped off Huayi? Then all his effort would be for nothing.

"Then what's the deal with you telling everyone it's a Spring Festival release?" Liu Tianxian said.

"I'm stringing Huayi along, making them earn a little less. If they earn too much, I can't stand it—it makes me uncomfortable."

Fang Hong spread his hands, imitating "Liang Kun," thrusting his hip with a sleazy look: "I'm just firing blanks at them."

"Hehehe, can you not be so funny?"

Liu Tianxian covered her mouth and let out a silvery laugh. He was just too much of a clown, acting like some big pervert.

"I was just making an analogy," Fang Hong said, returning to normal—he'd just been teasing her.

"What you mean is 'all's fair in war.' What blanks? You read Sun Tzu's Art of War every day and still get the wording wrong." Liu Tianxian scolded him.

Fang Hong walked over and sat down next to Liu Tianxian, smiling: "It just slipped my mind. My little Xiao Feifei is the smart one."

(End of chapter)