Chapter 29: Premiere

July 11.

Saturday.

4:30, just as the sky began to lighten...

A crowd had already gathered at the entrance of the 【Flying Crane Cinema】.

These people...

were all staff from the 【Flying Crane Cinema】 and the production crew of the film "Sun Wukong Battles Superman 2".

At this very moment, they stared anxiously at the alley not far away.

Zhang Muxue had not slept a wink all night, enduring every minute and every second in agonizing anticipation!

How could she possibly sleep!

The film was only a few hours away from its premiere!

But can you imagine, the film source still hasn't arrived?

Even more absurd, rumors say this film is still being worked on in post-production!

Chen Jianfeng, standing nearby wearing a "Zhengban Tiao Ren 2" shirt, was like an ant on a hot pan, pacing back and forth incessantly...

Yesterday, they had actually sold quite a few movie tickets against their conscience!

Thanks to the influence of "Superman 2"...

the audience's anticipation for this film had reached unprecedented heights...

The greater the expectation, the greater the disappointment...

He no longer hoped the film would bring any real surprise to the audience; he only hoped the film could at least be shown, otherwise, they would be frauds!

In fact, it wasn't just him...

Almost everyone harbored this thought deep within their hearts.

Around 5:00 in the morning, a red glow appeared on the horizon; the dawn's light pierced through the thick clouds and shone upon this ancient city of Yanjing.

Just as everyone's hearts were in their throats...

they finally heard the sound of a car engine approaching from the distance.

Zhou Yang, driving a familiar Audi A6, got out of the passenger seat and hurried over with a huge pile of film copies!

"Take a look, see if there are any problems... never mind, even if there are, we'll head straight to the next cinema!"

After Zhou Yang hurriedly finished speaking, he got back into the passenger seat of the Audi A6 under the dazed gazes of the crowd; immediately, watching the driver An Xiaoshi with a complex expression, he drove off in the direction Zhou Yang indicated.

Inside the car.

An Xiaoshi looked at the messy pile of film copies scattered on the floor; her sense of complexity had reached its peak!

These guys actually intend to release this film!

"Zhou Yang, can I skip the premiere of this film? I have some matters to attend to with my production team..."

"Director An, you are the investor and sponsor of this film; how can you not go..."

"But... I... how about I really don't go? Tell me what you need, and I'll support you from behind; this film's premiere... Zhou Yang, the artistic content of your film is simply too high; a vulgar person like me..." An Xiaoshi's face grew redder as she spoke, until her voice became as faint as a mosquito's buzz.

Although she had not seen the final version of this film.

But...

even thinking with her toes, she could imagine how eye-bleeding this film would be!

She could even imagine the mental state of those movie fans who walked into the cinema to watch it!

Thinking of this, she realized she simply did not have the courage to step through the cinema's doors...

…………………………

7:30 in the morning.

Roughly half an hour remained before the film's release.

The once quiet 【Flying Crane Cinema】 was now surrounded by a crowd.

Street vendors from all directions, residents from nearby neighborhoods, and students from schools were all slowly flooding into the cinema entrance with their tickets.

……

Deng Hairong, squeezed among these people, looked at the promotional poster inside the cinema with a complex expression!

Originally...

he had absolutely no interest in watching a film like this.

One look was enough to know it was a case of selling dog meat while hanging up a sheep's head.

But, for some reason, as soon as he went to sleep last night, his eyelids kept twitching non-stop.

In the end, he brought a lawyer along to see exactly what kind of dog shit this film was!

"Remember, we gather evidence; after gathering the evidence, we make a proper example of them!"

"Understood!"

Nearby, Fan Qiang, the head of the legal department and the piracy division of the 【Tianyu Entertainment Group】, nodded and tightly gripped the camera in his hand.

"Take a picture of this poster!"

"Understood!"

"This poster, do you think it constitutes infringement?"

"Let me see..."

Under the sunlight...

the title "Superman 2" on the promotional poster was so striking!

The poster was almost identical to those on the internet and in major cinema chains, leaving Deng Hairong stunned!

Have these pirates gone this crazy now? Infringing so blatantly?

"It doesn't seem to be Superman 2..."

"Hmm?"

"There's a line of small text on the poster..."

"What small text?"

After Fan Qiang took the photo, he stared intently at the poster; a moment later, he was stunned!

Immediately, he raised his head and stared at that poster...

The most prominent text on the poster was "Superman 2", but, if one looked closely with the eyes...

His spirit surged!

What did he see?

He saw a line of small text right next to the large "Superman 2" characters, extremely easy to overlook!

On the small text, it was clearly written "Sun Wukong vs..."!

Moreover, after he stared at that huge poster once more, his entire body was shaken until he was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside!

Damn it!

How is that "Superman 2"? It's clearly, damn it, "Zhengban Tiao Ren 2"!

One is a 'Tiao' character, one is a 'Zhi' character!

And also...

Although this poster completely plagiarized their "Superman 2" poster, the key actors' faces had been PS-ed and modified...

One is a Western face, one is damn it an Eastern face!

It's completely, damn it, Li Kui and Li Gui!

Seeing this scene, Deng Hairong was also stunned: "Does this count as infringement?"

"At most it counts as similar, but infringement..." Fan Qiang held back for a while, finally shook his head: "It really, damn it, doesn't count!"

"..."

Hearing this, Deng Hairong took a deep breath; an emotion wanting to slap someone hard gradually became hard to suppress.

These bastards are so damn infuriating!

Just at this moment...

The onlookers not far away were becoming more and more numerous, and more and more crowded.

He and Fan Qiang were squeezed very uncomfortably in the crowd.

Looking at those pairs of expectant eyes!

He felt suffocated!

These damn bastards!

They are completely, damn it, riding the heat of "Superman 2"!

"Isn't this fraud?"

"Fraud has a very broad definition... Strictly speaking, as long as the movie is played, it doesn't count as fraud..."

"..."

Seeing that fraud could not be established, and infringement was not temporarily established either, Deng Hairong suddenly felt his chest blocked...

For a moment, he didn't even know what to say!

Afterwards...

The two of them took out handwritten tickets!

And queued up in the crowd!

Immediately, they checked their tickets and entered one after another, walking into the musty smell and sitting on chairs that were almost turning into tattered cloth.

"How can this cinema be so outdated?"

Looking at such old facilities, and then looking at the screen in front, Deng Hairong felt his worldview refreshed.

"According to the latest data, after '95, this cinema completely entered a state of eating and waiting to die... The owner always wanted to sell it, but several bosses changed, yet none were willing to spend money, ultimately leading to it getting worse and worse... This is also the reason why those big cinema chains look down on this cinema, not even accepting the cheapest acquisition..."

"..."

Deng Hairong already didn't know what to say.

Finally, his gaze silently stared at the large screen in the distance...

The screening hall was almost full.

He looked carefully and found that more than half of this movie's audience were parents with children.

Basically, every child was holding a bucket of popcorn and ice cream, sitting on the chairs, staring expectantly at the large screen...

More than ten minutes passed!

The dim large screen in the distance finally lit up.

The movie...

Started playing!

Deng Hairong perked up his spirit and silently watched this movie!

Immediately...

He heard a sudden commotion in the cinema!

"Sun Wukong vs Superman 2"!

A line of prominent movie text appeared in everyone's sight!

Many people's faces turned green!

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