Chapter 691

If a regular company played this game, it might collapse within months, because if funds aren't returned for a single day, the interest alone is substantial.

Many companies finance their films through fundraising.

Even this time, Yutu's acquisition of Shanghai Xingyi was funded by loans—every day unpaid, the interest piles up.

Just drag it out until you're dead, freeze one film after another, let the frozen capital accumulate in massive amounts.

You don't know if his pledged box office revenue will be extended from 180 days to 360 days.

"Is that all?" Fang Hong said dismissively.

"That's already extremely serious! Our Spring Festival Slot, New Year Slot, and Qingming release 'A Letter Not for Two' box office revenues are all frozen by Wanda and unrecoverable—so many films, billions in investment, isn't that serious?!"

Chen Zhixi realized he didn't grasp the severity and added: "If Wanda teams up with Jin Yi, Dadi, and Hengdian to jointly strangle us, and we can't recover our box office returns, the losses would be incalculable."

We've mortgaged all these films' box office revenues to the bank—the interest alone isn't trivial."

The longer the delay, the more interest accumulates—Old Wang Zong is determined: you mess with my son, I'll mess with you.

Previously, everyone only subtly reduced screen time beneath the surface; this is equivalent to openly tearing off the mask.

Wanda has Wuzhou Distribution, an alliance whose members include Jin Yi, Dadi, and Hengdian—all giants.

Though these three giants have resource ties with Wanda, they don't have to obey Wanda's orders.

It depends on whether the target is worth such a move—Yutu is questionable, because Yutu's films make money; without audiences, they have no cash flow.

Previously, Huayi, Tencent, WePics, and Shanghai Film Group formed Huayi Tianxia, which died in the womb—Huayi has already collapsed, what's the point of trying now?

In the previous life, it also failed—Tencent's ticketing platform never took off and was sold, Huayi collapsed, none of them worked out.

"Then our films won't screen at their theaters—Tupiaopiao will divert traffic from Wanda's cinemas to others; our 'Dominant World' must also play its part," Fang Hong said.

This can only be endured—see who breaks first.

Yutu's films are the most popular; if they're not shown in Wanda cinemas, foot traffic at those theaters will inevitably drop—and they'll have to bear that loss.

Add Tupiaopiao's traffic diversion, pushing audiences toward other cinemas, further reducing Wanda's foot traffic.

That's all we can do—no other options. Yutu is still powerful, still capable of countermeasures.

Other film producers facing this would just run and beg, "Daddy!"

In fact, Wanda has done this before—'I Am Not Madame Bovary' was blatant commercial retaliation; Huayi poached a senior executive from Wanda, so Wanda restricted its screen time to under 10%.

Both sides erupted in public feuds, but Old Wang Zong refused to deal with those two brothers—it was Xiao Wang who launched the attack.

But in this life, Fang Hong altered the course—this never happened.

They've also demanded producers cover ticketing system access fees: 800,000 to 1,200,000 RMB per film, effectively raising the barrier for mid- and small-scale films.

For big films, this is trivial.

They charge non-partner films a 5% to 8% advance box office payment as a screen time deposit, and demand 30% of peripheral merchandise sales revenue go to the cinema chain.

Others charge around 8%—look how brutal they are with Yutu, raising it directly to 30%.

Some even force joint production, seizing 20% of the profits outright—this is how aggressive they are.

Of course, this sparked widespread complaints and eventually led to official summons—that's another story.

In this industry, cinema chains and producers have always been at odds—arbitrarily adjusting payment cycles, disrupting producers' cash flow.

If you're not one of us, you get fewer showings; if you are, you get more.

This is the downside of capitalization—before, China Film Group mediated and held it in check; now, there's no one—only self-discipline remains.

Capital's viciousness only calms down when hit with an iron fist.

"Not screening our films at their theaters isn't a good idea—they have so many cinemas, and most are in prime locations," Chen Zhixi felt it wasn't wise.

Skipping Wanda's theaters means far less exposure—they're still the largest cinema chain.

"Then what should we do? Give me a suggestion," Fang Hong looked at her with interest.

Chen Zhixi fell silent immediately, wanting to say: Can't you use some of your tactics? Aren't you full of them?

But she couldn't bring herself to say it.

"In the end, competition is always about strength. Do you think tricks and schemes can threaten them? We used countless schemes against Huayi, BoNa, and Alibaba—did they ever collapse? No, they're still thriving—eventually, it always came down to strength," Fang Hong said.

Chen Zhixi agreed—it was true. When they were weak, they used too many tactics against competitors like Huayi and BoNa, but those tactics never inflicted real damage.

They only crushed them later, step by step, through sheer strength.

"Let me tell you—schemes and tricks are only for when you're weak and have no other choice. Once you're strong, those things look petty and beneath you. Now, if anyone tries to use tricks against us, let them try," Fang Hong added.

"Not screening our films at Wanda's theaters feels harmless," Chen Zhixi said.

"Wanda is a giant—Yutu can't touch it, Chang'e can't touch it. All we can do is endure—prepare for a long war," Fang Hong told her to brace mentally.

"We're not afraid of competition—but when will this end?!" Chen Zhixi said.

"Short term, three to five months; long term, a year. At most, we just endure until the end of this year," Fang Hong didn't know how it would develop, but he believed Wanda couldn't last long.

"Then this year, let's shift focus to web dramas and TV dramas, and animation," Chen Zhixi said.

Yutu has a moat—it's not solely dependent on films; it's just that films tie up the most capital.

"Who says that? The more this happens, the more we should focus on films—show them that even without Wanda, our box office still thrives, no losses at all."

Shifting focus is no different from Huayi's earlier move to abandon films—we can't let them look down on us," Fang Hong tapped the table.

"That makes sense—the strong stay strong!" Chen Zhixi smiled.

If we don't show strength, they'll think Yutu is weak, and everyone will start testing us—encouraged by Old Wang Zong, it'll become a nightmare.

Endure we must, but we can't appear weak.

Even if we can't screen at Wanda's theaters, China has more than just Wanda—there are over eight thousand cinemas nationwide.

Wanda accounts for less than one-tenth, but they truly hold the largest market share, and their locations are all prime.

It's roughly a 10% loss in market share!

The outside world doesn't know this news—they have no channels to probe; this only spreads within the film industry.

"Old Wang Zong of Wanda has targeted the Principal!" The news spread like a special bulletin through every film circle.

Everyone was excited—another good show to watch. Curious onlookers everywhere inquired about the situation; surely this wouldn't affect them this time. As for the movie release, the actors had no say in it.

They were just actors, paid to perform.

Film companies were more cautious, fearing Wanda or other theater chains might do the same to them.

They only hoped these two sides wouldn't drag them in—they couldn't afford to fight back.

BoNa's Yu Pangzi was especially miserable—he was Principal's subordinate, and right at this critical moment of their IPO; if they got hit, the IPO might collapse.

This year's May Day lineup included *The Phantom of the Magic Palace*, and the summer slate included *The Mekong River Operation*—both theirs. No one knew whether Wanda would target them too.

Wanda hadn't issued them any notice, hadn't said what they planned to do, and Principal hadn't told Yu Pangzi to get involved.

Lao Wang Zong remained rational—someone always needed film sources, and Yutu's sphere of influence had grown too large.

If they cut off their film sources, it would hurt them badly, especially after the hundred-billion-yuan buildup, which still involved several film producers.

But upon hearing the news, Wang Zong of Huayi immediately rushed to see the Principal.

Just as Fang Hong was about to write a report to the Film Bureau—on recommendations for promoting the healthy development of the film and theater industry—

meaning theaters must not abuse their market dominance.

He saw the two brothers burst into the Oval Office.

"Principal! Principal!" Wang Zhongjun rushed forward enthusiastically, followed reluctantly by Wang Zhonglei and a secretary trying to stop them.

"You coming to me won't help—I've already been trying to communicate with Warner. You know I don't speak English; communication is difficult." Fang Hong closed his laptop and signaled the secretary to leave.

He assumed they were here about the Warner money issue. He didn't even pretend—he just claimed he didn't speak English and couldn't communicate, when in fact he hadn't even made a single phone call.

Wang Zhonglei seethed inside—he couldn't stand this nonsense.

They'd been locked in a bitter fight with Warner; the trial was nearly set, but Warner kept delaying it with "jurisdictional objections," just trying to wear them down.

Their legal fees had already climbed to millions of dollars, and they were drowning in debt they couldn't repay.

"Let's not talk about that now. Aren't you fighting Wanda? We can help you," Wang Zhongjun patted his chest.

"Oh? Really?... No, that's too much trouble," Fang Hong perked up—he'd been about to say, "So you're that cooperative?" but held back to avoid crushing their enthusiasm.

"No need to be embarrassed—we're all on the film production side. We've long resented these theater chains; they've bullied us too much. We'll help you take them down," Wang Zhongjun said with genuine enthusiasm and generosity.

But Fang Hong found this highly suspicious—it was too unusual. He feared they might be spies, planning to stab him in the back, especially after how badly he'd crushed Huayi.

"In that case, please, sit down!" Fang Hong gestured warmly, eager to hear what they really wanted.

(End of Chapter)