Chapter 194

The box office of *Painted Skin 2* continued to advance triumphantly, reporting 43.8 million on the third day.

Han Sanping had already accepted reality.

*Beginning of the Great Revival* can have reserved screenings, but it cannot stop the cinema chains' decision to spontaneously adjust screenings due to market behavior.

The daily box office these past few days has barely maintained at 3 to 4 million, and it will only go downhill from here.

At this time, *Wu Xia*, directed by Peter Chan and with an investment of 145 million, was also officially released.

In the eyes of a group of production companies, the next month will be a battle between these two blockbusters!

Other domestic films can only eat some leftovers on the side.

……

Liu Yifei drove to visit the set of Shu Chang; she heard that *Magic Mobile Phone 2* had finally wrapped up after many stumbles.

On the other side, Lin Nan went to the China Film Digital Production Base alone.

Inside the super-large 5,000-square-meter studio, the "spaceship interior" structure was being built, looking very spectacular.

"Lin Dao." Guo Fan walked to the entrance wearing a safety helmet.

"Didn't say roughly how long it would take to finish?"

"Around the end of this month; it's impossible to determine specifically."

Lin Nan nodded; he originally thought about starting filming by mid-August at the latest.

If that's the case, then the filming time can be completely advanced.

"That *Wu Xia* movie was released today; didn't Lin Dao pay attention?"

Guo Fan remembered something and asked suddenly.

"No rush; I can check the movie news tomorrow, or look at the reviews on the internet this evening."

In Lin Nan's view, Peter Chan is a director who aims for awards at heart. In the field of commercial films, he is actually not particularly outstanding.

…………

Outside, the main cast of *Wu Xia* was still working hard to promote it on the first day of the film's release.

"*Wu Xia* is a real 'martial arts' film; I hope everyone can walk into the cinema and experience 'Yen-Fu'!"

"Director Peter Chan's masterpiece, not to be missed..."

……

In the evening, many film reviews appeared on the internet.

"The movie title is too big, too empty, the routine is too old!"

"'Martial' and 'Arts' are seriously disconnected, the plot is completely inconsistent from beginning to end, and the whole film is split..."

"Hmm, this is a detective movie wearing a martial arts film coat, a Republic of China version of Conan! The key is that the plot is too terrible, too messy."

"Still that common problem: is it really that hard to tell a good story?"

Lin Nan flipped through the netizens' comments for a while and roughly understood the movie. As for the film critics, they can be completely ignored.

The next day, the first-day box office of *Wu Xia* was reported at 15 million.

At the same time, the fourth-day box office of *Painted Skin 2* hit a new high, reporting 45 million.

The data with a full 30 million difference made many people in the industry unable to accept it, but it was also somewhat expected.

"Commercial films are about telling stories; if the story is good, it won't be bad no matter what.

*Wu Xia* clearly deviates from the theme of commercial films; it can only be said to be barely passable."

Many domestic directors expressed similar evaluations.

This is the hot summer release slot.

A commercial film with an investment of 145 million, the first-day box office is only 15 million!

Not to mention the previous bold words of a guaranteed 500 million and sprinting for 700 million box office, now even whether it can break even might be a big problem!

*Painted Skin 2* and *Wu Xia* once again became the focus of discussion in the industry and on the internet.

"Director Director Wu Ershan said at the premiere that the box office of *Painted Skin 2* would completely defeat *Wu Xia*, and it really did; awesome!"

"I didn't see any big battle in this movie; why could it spend 145 million?

The props and costumes are so simple, yet it spent 15 million more than *Painted Skin 2*, and the latter has a large number of special effects shots!"

…………

Outside, several movies are still continuing to be released.

The producers and crew of *Wu Xia* did not give up and were still working hard to promote and "explain" the word-of-mouth problem.

Lin Nan was burying his head in rushing the storyboard at home.

Liu Yifei was wearing slippers, coming over to help from time to time, followed by several cats and dogs.

"The sun is so big outside; if you walk back and forth a few more times, you will definitely get a lot darker."

Looking at the fruit platter that Miss Liu brought over from another villa, Lin Nan couldn't help but remind her, although it was only a distance of a few dozen meters.

"You're really stupid; I applied sunscreen." Liu Yifei said with a smile.

Alright, Lin Nan forgot about that.

Just at this time, the phone on the table vibrated.

"I'll answer it."

Liu Yifei walked over first, "Hello, Brother Yue..."

In less than ten seconds, the phone was handed to Lin Nan, "Here, serious business."

"What's wrong, calling at this time?" Lin Nan took the phone and asked.

…………

Some people are truly shameless!

The daily box office of *Painted Skin 2* reported 46 million and 44 million in succession, rushing to 250 million in 6 days; the film circle was cheering, and the market was completely ignited.

Conversely, the daily box office of *Wu Xia* was far too different from what the producers expected.

The data didn't rise as they thought, breaking through 20 million, 30 million, or even higher.

Instead, it maintained at around 10 million, 15.3 million, 14.5 million...

At this time, trouble started.

"This data is definitely problematic; calculating the whole country from StarMe's cinema data, the difference is too big..."

"It cannot be ruled out that 'stealing' box office happened, and we have already grasped a certain situation."

"It is highly probable that only we are the victims, and they are all making a fortune..."

……

Peter Chan and StarMe spoke out one after another, being sarcastic in front of the media.

Following that, a pile of movie ticket stubs was posted on the internet by "kind-hearted netizens."

The machine-printed movie tickets were either *Painted Skin 2* or *Beginning of the Great Revival*, but the names had been crossed out by someone with a pen and changed to *Wu Xia*...

And the ticketing system only recognizes the movie name printed by the machine on the movie ticket!

"This is clearly looking for trouble, right?"

Lin Nan started to contact Han Sanping, Ye Ning, Western Film Group, and Ningxia Film Group.

Not to mention anything else, he wanted to confirm first whether there were any problems on his own side.

After all, the cinema side is easier to operate when it comes to "stealing box office."

"Lin Dao, this matter absolutely does not exist; does Wanda need to 'steal'? I can completely increase the screenings!"

Han Sanping was also furious; *Beginning of the Great Revival* was also affected.

"Oh! In that case, it means that side is looking for trouble, or hype!"

…………

Not to mention, after this operation by StarMe, *Wu Xia* attracted a lot of attention, and the daily box office really rose.

But some things, since they happened, cannot pass so easily.

China Film Group represented the five producers and refuted in front of the media.

"If your own movie has a bad response and bad reviews, don't drag others down. We don't look down on those few pennies; if there are still problems, you can report directly to the General Administration, and we will accompany you..."

The people below worked very efficiently and didn't delay at all; they had to fight back!

"Enthusiastic netizens" posted on the internet, showing some procurement details of the *Wu Xia* crew.

The most eye-catching one was a straw hat custom-made from the United States, the one on Takeshi Kaneshiro's head in the movie.

Custom price: 6,000 USD; postage and insurance fees were not cheap.

And for this hat, the crew specifically bought a safe and hired people to watch it twenty-four hours a day when not filming.

Subsequently, many netizens who played extras in the *Wu Xia* crew also confirmed the safe and dedicated personnel.

This kind of Arabian Nights story is simply outrageous!

Producers in the industry all felt that Peter Chan was too greedy this time; the crew team was all his people!

The internet was even more noisy.

"How many of us can't afford that straw hat with the money we earn in a year!"

"Is this the world of the rich? A straw hat woven with gold thread, right?"

"Are they crazy? There's no difference between that and a ten-yuan straw hat on the street!"

"This way of accounting..."

…………

Lin Nan updated his Weibo.

"Money, sure enough, the more you spend, the more you have! One dares to spend, one dares to give; it's really strange..."

This Weibo post was released, and it became lively.

There were many in the industry who were silent or discussing it.

The next day, StarMe made an announcement to the outside world.

"The 'stealing box office' matter has been investigated clearly. Some staff members were not familiar with the machine operation and printed the wrong tickets.

In order not to affect others in line, the ticket stubs were temporarily changed, and later the tickets were refunded on the computer, and the ticketing records were re-supplemented..."

…………

"Lin Dao, that side asked someone to pass a message, wanting to invite you to a meal, and also invited Chairman Han and the others, saying it's about the previous misunderstanding..."

Hearing Yue Jun's words, Lin Nan felt a bit like laughing.

They were the ones looking for trouble, and they were the ones who chickened out first.

Peter Chan is truly greedy, and StarMe is highly likely playing dumb, or even tacitly approving.

The water here might be a bit deep...

"You go on my behalf; I'm busy with *Passengers*."

"Hmm, then I'll go."

…………

When the first week ended, the box office of *Painted Skin 2* reached 300 million, and it had great staying power.

Looking at *Beginning of the Great Revival*, it grew slowly these days, only increasing by 30 million in a week, reporting 330 million.

*Snow Flower and the Secret Fan* had been forced to be taken off the screen, and *Treasure Inn* was struggling at over 50 million.

*Wu Xia* started to be half-dead again, hanging on a daily box office of just over 10 million.

The box office of this movie should still have a chance to exceed 100 million, but 200 million is absolutely impossible, and even 150 million is very shaky.

……

"Director Director Wu Ershan, you don't seem to be a director signed to Lin Nan Film Industry, right?"

"Yes, I'm not signed like Guo Fan, Lu Yang, and the others. I have my own studio."

Director Wu Ershan didn't expect that someone would come to poach him so quickly, and it was Wang Zhonglei who came in person.

"Then you can consider Huayi; we are a listed group, the leader among private film companies in the circle..."

Wang Zhonglei talked eloquently, full of confidence in recruiting Director Wu Ershan.

Huayi's box office forecast for *Painted Skin 2* had already come out; it would definitely be over 600 million.

A newly promoted commercial film director like Director Wu Ershan, who is fighting alone, is exactly Huayi's target.

Not to mention poaching from Lin Nan's side, Wang Zhonglei became more and more interested!

Just when Wang Zhonglei was waiting for a positive answer with a smile on his face, Director Wu Ershan shook his head.

"Mr. Wang, I'm sorry, I don't sign with companies. If I were to sign, I would have signed with Lin Dao at the beginning."

"Then we can sign a cooperation agreement..."

Before Wang Zhonglei could finish speaking, the other party shook his head again.

"I have a contract with Lin Dao, and I will film a few more plays for Lin Nan Film Industry in the future, so I appreciate Mr. Wang's kindness."

At this time, Wang Zhonglei was already cursing in his heart; he really is impervious to persuasion!

Subsequently, he took out a business card and handed it over with a smile.

"Even so, Huayi hopes to have the opportunity to cooperate with Director Director Wu Ershan in the future. If you have any needs, you can contact us at any time..."

Director Wu Ershan was stunned for a moment, and out of courtesy, it was not easy to refuse again.

"Hmm, thank you for Mr. Wang's kindness."