Chapter 90: Industry-Wide Blacklist

On the sixth day, "Love Is Not Blind" continued to fall at the box office, dropping to 36.67 million, having passed the 200 million mark.

Likewise, "If You Are the One 2" was also falling, with only 16.42 million; "Let the Bullets Fly" also dropped to around twenty million.

These past few days have been a period of growing pains—box office revenue was all sucked into those two Christmas days, so the entire market is in decline!

On the seventh day, "Love Is Not Blind" continued to break below thirty million, with only 23.47 million—a rather steep drop, losing ten million all at once.

Needless to say, "If You Are the One 2" and "Let the Bullets Fly" were also falling.

And starting from the 30th, Huayi seemed to have seen the light—no longer bickering with the "little fairies," no longer smearing anyone, and began shifting toward promoting the film itself.

They felt that fighting on was a losing proposition—better to promote the film first; that was the real money.

Huayi's strategy was correct—going up against the "little fairies" was just asking for trouble.

So the online public opinion began to shift:

"'If You Are the One 2' Yao Dazui plays ambiguous, love triangle leaves everyone guessing."

"'If You Are the One 2' releases new poster, complex character relationship chart exposed!"

"."

Promotional headlines like these were everywhere online, even pushed to the front page.

In short, they were ignoring the "little fairies"—let them curse and throw punches however they liked.

This left Fang Hong with strength but nowhere to use it, like having deep internal energy ready to explode, but the enemy had fled, so he could only blast at the air.

"'Big and Little Wang aren't that stupid,' Fang Hong said."

It was still that same office; Liu Tianxian wasn't there.

She had caught fire again, gone off to run promotional appearances to support the family—this family had to be propped up by her, with three elders to support, which was quite exhausting.

Fang Hong was also an "elder"!

Alright, the real reason was that Liu Tianxian felt Fang Hong's methods were underhanded, creating a divergence in thinking.

"So what do we do? Put up money for a promotional push?" Chen Zhixi said.

"Forget it, we can't out-promote them either. Let's stick to the established strategy—tie ourselves to the little fairies, stigmatize them for stealing box office, and keep going against the grain," Fang Hong said.

With their strength, conventional, by-the-book promotion would be futile; they could only try unorthodox tactics.

On the 31st, no surprises—the entire film market continued to decline; this was the trend.

But on January 1st, New Year's Day, the entire market began to rise,

"If You Are the One 2" took 26.99 million at the box office—before they had almost dropped below ten million, but this wave shot them back up.

Even "Let the Bullets Fly," which had been in theaters for a long time, rose to 30.08 million, nearly tripling.

But this film's quality really was good, no question about it!

For a film that had been hammered by the "little fairies," being able to perform like this was already impressive for Huayi.

"Love Is Not Blind," which had also previously dropped to around the ten-million level, tripled on this day as well, taking 32.88 million at the box office, still holding the top spot.

Current total box office: 304 million!

Meanwhile, "If You Are the One 2" had a total box office of only 242 million—a far cry from the original timeline.

At this point, the victor between the two sides was decided, the situation was set, and the box office going forward had no more reference value—it would only fall harder.

Besides, they had already been in theaters for over ten days!

But "If You Are the One 2" wasn't actually losing money—when they were making this film, most of the cost had already been recouped through advertising.

The box office was just extra profit; otherwise, audiences who had seen it wouldn't have cursed the film as an advertisement movie, garbage to the extreme.

But the fact that they could have earned a higher box office, yet had it cut short by the Principal, was still hard to swallow.

With the box office breaking 300 million, Fang Hong's side was also quite happy, and he even specially bought a bottle of red wine; Chen Zhixi, Meng Jun, and the three of them held up wine glasses.

With a "clink," the few raised their glasses and drank together.

Meng Jun was the financial officer—seemingly contributing nothing, but all the money had to pass through his hands.

In anything you do, money is the most important thing.

"Old Yu isn't here; it would be great if he were," Fang Hong said, taking a sip of red wine, feeling it was a pity.

Old Yu was also one of the core members of the team.

"There will be plenty of chances in the future—we're not only succeeding this once."

Chen Zhixi was growing more and more confident now.

Even daring to take on a top player like Huayi—what was there left to fear?

Although for Huayi, this fight meant nothing, and they hadn't caused them any harm—their film hadn't lost money either, and had still made a lot of profit.

But venting their anger was real, and it had also made Yutu's name roar.

This would bring tremendous benefits to their future business expansion—for example, artist management, film and television production, distribution, derivative businesses, and team building would all benefit greatly.

Reputation is a siphon effect—talent and projects will naturally come!

For instance, if someone has a good project and is looking for investment, Yutu would be one of the options; if a star wants to sign with a company, they could also choose Yutu.

In the past, film and television talent, special effects talent, actors, etc., would prioritize choosing to cooperate with and enter companies like Huayi, Bona, and Enlight.

But from now on, it wasn't certain—among the major film and television companies, talent had one more option: Yutu Film Industry!

In the past, no one had heard of Yutu Film Industry, or their impression of Yutu was that of a small workshop—some shabby, broke outfit.

Even someone like Yang Zi could be bullied a bit.

From now on, that impression would be completely changed—at the very least, Yutu Film Industry had taken on Huayi; that was reputation, that was the battle to establish oneself!

With this war, Yutu Film Industry's cohesion would become even more solid, simply because they could see hope, see a future.

"You're right—we're not just winning this once, we're going to win many times," Fang Hong said.

Just as the three were chatting, a "beep beep beep" sound rang out; Chen Zhixi gestured, set her wine glass on the table, and went off to one side to take the call.

Fang Hong turned to Meng Jun and said: "I want to get a sum of money out of the country—do you have a way?"

"How much?" Meng Jun asked back.

Fang Hong thought for a moment: "About seven million U. S. dollars."

That's roughly 49 million; with The Breakup in 33 Days as a baseline, this money is still obtainable.

It all depends on how Meng Jun manipulates it—turning this money into usable funds through financial means.

That's the advantage of having someone who understands finance nearby—you can leverage it.

But he didn't fully trust him either; he still had Chen Zhixi supervise it—this woman was sharp and could spot Mao Ni.

Meng Jun asked again: "Is it urgent?"

"I need it after the New Year, but it can be delivered in batches," Fang Hong said.

Exchanging local currency is difficult—there are limits—and seven million dollars clearly exceeds those limits.

"Fine, I'll arrange it!" Meng Jun agreed.

"Principal."

Chen Zhixi walked over, holding her phone, whispering: "It's Xiao Wang Zong calling."

It was normal for him to have her number—they'd made appointments before and submitted materials.

Besides, she held the title of Producer, President of Yutu, and had previously spoken publicly about exposing box-office fraud—she'd already made her name.

"Huh? Why is he looking for me?" Fang Hong was puzzled.

"I don't know. He just said he wants to speak with you—and he was pretty aggressive," Chen Zhixi whispered.

"Could he be calling to yell at me?" Fang Hong guessed.

"If you're scared, I can refuse him for you—say you're busy," Chen Zhixi teased playfully.

"Who said I'm scared?"

Fang Hong tapped the table, signaling her to turn on speakerphone.

Chen Zhixi smiled, placed the phone on the table, and turned on speaker: "Xiao Wang Zong, you can speak now."

"Principal?" the other side asked. "That's me!" Fang Hong replied.

"Hah!"

Xiao Wang Zong sneered: "You've got guts, daring to smear us."

"What do you mean smear you? Dare you say you never stole box office?" Fang Hong said.

They definitely stole before—every film company has done it; none are clean. For example, The Orphan of Zhao and The Laughing, Proud Wanderer once accused each other of box-office fraud.

But they never stole from The Breakup in 33 Days.

"Don't play dumb with us. You know damn well whether we stole yours or not."

Feng Kuzi lost his temper—he couldn't stand this guy's attitude.

"So what is it now? Are you here to reason with me, or to demand justice?" Fang Hong said calmly.

Does accusing each other of box-office theft even matter now? It's all in the past.

Can he possibly make them give back the money they earned? Dream on!

"Principal, you're impressive—unshaken under pressure. I admire you. Join my team and work with me—it'll benefit you."

"Do you know what happened to the last person who spoke to me like that?" Fang Hong said.

"What happened?" Xiao Wang Zong asked instinctively.

"He's been driven out of the film industry and went back to singing," Fang Hong said—referring to Wang Laoer.

Chen Zhixi and Meng Jun exchanged glances—this tone was too arrogant.

But they liked it. This was the posture a victor should have.

Meng Jun hadn't witnessed Fang Hong's previous defeat of Wang Laoer, but he'd seen him take down Huayi—it was still thrilling.

"Don't get too cocky, I'm warning you."

Xiao Wang Zong pointed at the phone, furious: "Who do you think you are? Is that your real strength? Know your place—you're still a noob."

Luckily they weren't in the same room—if they were, they'd have fought physically.

People get impulsive and tend to resort to brawling.

"If you can't even beat a noob, what right do you have to put on airs in front of me? Don't play the strongman act—I'm not buying it," Fang Hong replied sharply.

"Fine. Very fine. This isn't over."

Xiao Wang Zong was about to hang up.

But Fang Hong's arrogant voice rang out again: "I'm right across from you. If you've got guts, come take me on. I'm waiting."

"Fuck you!"

Xiao Wang Zong's temper was just as bad—he slammed the phone hard onto the floor with a "Boom—".

He had money; he could buy a new one—perfect timing, since the iPhone 4 had just come out.

After years dominating the entertainment industry, this was the first time a young man had dared challenge their authority.

In the past, they wouldn't even glance at these youngsters—men had to bow down, women had to lie down!

"Damn it, I'm going to find him!"

Xiao Gangpao lost his temper, slapped his thigh and stood up to go across.

They could've made tens of millions more—now he'd suffered heavy losses.

Blocking someone's path to wealth is like killing their parents.

"He's a twenty-something kid. You think you can beat him?"

Xiao Wang Zong's words froze Xiao Gangpao—he weighed his own physique and realized he probably couldn't.

He slumped back down: "What do we do now? Just let it go?"

"Who said we're letting it go? This isn't even close to over," Xiao Wang Zong said.

He had never seen someone so brazen before; truly an eye-opener. If they didn't teach this guy a lesson, what would outsiders think of them?

Feng Kuzi asked: "What should we do?"

"Blacklist him! Industry-wide blacklist!" General Manager Wang crushed the cigarette butt fiercely.

Everyone in the room fell silent.

At this stage, if Huayi wanted to blacklist Yutu, it would still be terrifying, because Huayi's film, television, music, and talent management businesses were still at their peak.

Its reach extended even to Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan's film circles, where it held connections and influence.

Behind-the-scenes figures like Zhang Ji Zhong, Zhang Guo Li, Xu Ke, Xing Ye, Fang Long, Teng Hua Tao, and Guan Hu, along with capital powers like Yinghuang, were all its partners.

Not to mention stars like the Four Dan and Two Bing, Huang Jiaozhu, and others.

Once Huayi added someone to the Blacklist, they were effectively cut off from the mainstream circle.

The entire film and television industry had to give Huayi three parts of respect.

Take a simple example: right now, General Manager Wang could doodle any picture, and many in the industry would pay top prices just to flatter him.

Don't believe it? Check out the Baisha auction—General Manager Wang's paintings are auctioned every year; look at how stars scramble to bid, how they grovel.

All General Manager Wang needs to do is sit there with a smile, watching the show.

This is power. When you reach that height, even a dog's shit is wanted!

Once this blacklist order was issued, no famous actor or actress would dare take on a Yutu film.

Unless they didn't care about working with Huayi anymore.

Likewise, good scripts wouldn't flow to Yutu, because any screenwriter who collaborated with Yutu would lose the chance to submit work to Huayi.

How many films can Yutu make in a year? If Huayi wanted, it could launch multiple productions simultaneously and invest in several more.

Besides these, renowned directors and quality projects would have nothing to do with Yutu. And by the same logic, how much capital did Yutu have to invest in their films?

Even a pig could make this choice!

Once this blacklist order was issued, famous actors, screenwriters, directors, cinematographers, and behind-the-scenes film workers would all refuse to collaborate with Yutu.

They wouldn't even work for Yutu, fearing Huayi's resentment.

Huayi might not directly harm them, but one word from them—"Don't use this person"—and though film companies might dislike it, they wouldn't dare offend Huayi.

Because you're insignificant!

The news spread quickly through the industry; major film companies and capital players remained silent—it had nothing to do with them; this was Yutu and Huayi's feud.

They wouldn't get involved, wouldn't take sides, and wouldn't offend anyone.

Yet after The Youth had just finished filming, the actors involved were terrified.

They went around asking whether they'd be affected.

Regardless, Fang Hong didn't care whether they lived or died now that the film was done.

Those who believed in him could stay; those who didn't could leave. He now had money and people—he was no longer the same as before.

In Fang Hong's eyes, Huayi was a paper tiger; sooner or later, he would swallow this paper tiger whole!

The company, which had started by shooting advertisements for state-owned enterprises, had risen too smoothly, never faced any setbacks, and had zero capacity to withstand risk.

Starting this year, the Four Dan and Two Bing would all leave; Ge Daye would leave too; slowly, Huayi's great ship would fall apart.

It would sink to the level of a broken company that couldn't even control a few stars, constantly signing gambling contracts with them.

The biggest taboo in film and television is gambling contracts, because they destroy credibility—stars don't care; they'll take any trash film just to fulfill the bet.

The female star Han Shu is a classic example!

A company propped up by red pants, with zero foundation—no threat at all.

(End of Chapter)