Chapter 225: Betrayal, the Script

Domestically, movie theaters typically designate Tuesday as a half-price day.

The minimum ticket price refers to raising the ticket price on that half-price day.

Zhang Zhang Weiping demanded raising the minimum ticket price by five yuan, effectively increasing the full price by ten yuan.

"Set the minimum ticket price at forty yuan in first-tier cities, thirty-five yuan in second-tier, thirty yuan in third-tier; then the full price becomes eighty yuan, seventy yuan, sixty yuan.

If theaters further raise it slightly based on their own tier, it's nearly a hundred yuan! Tsk, tsk, tsk…"

Even Lin Nan felt a pang of admiration—this time, Zhang Zhang Weiping's pricing and price hike for Thirteen Concubines was indeed high.

In Zhang Zhang Weiping's words:

"Most ordinary films are ninety to one hundred minutes long, but Thirteen Concubines is 145 minutes—more runtime means higher price!"

Surprisingly, this reasoning won approval from numerous production companies.

"These days, I heard they've negotiated many times, but each time ended in acrimony.

Broadly speaking, the theater chains still hold the same stance: if we can't agree, we won't screen Thirteen Concubines.

But Zhang Zhang Weiping is equally firm—he won't allow theaters to screen it unless they raise their share and ticket prices…"

Lin Nan organized his script while listening to Yue Jun's briefing.

"The theater chains probably aren't united, right? After all, Thirteen Concubines is a huge cake in their eyes.

Whether the box office hits ten billion or not, theaters will always profit—just more or less."

Hearing this, Yue Jun paused, then chuckled:

"Heh, Lin Dao got it right—some theater chains have softened their stance and are now ambiguous, but the Big Eight and another faction remain rigid."

Lin Nan had expected this—Zhang Zhang Weiping had succeeded in raising prices twice before for good reason.

To sum up Zhang Zhang Weiping: with one strategy in hand, he owns the world!

At that moment, a knock came at the door.

"What is it?"

Lin Nan and Yue Jun both turned toward the assistant at the door; the assistant spoke first:

"Lin Dao, Yue Zongjian, the Film Bureau called—they want someone from the company to attend a meeting tomorrow at ten a. m."

Here it comes! Lin Nan murmured to himself.

Yue Jun also guessed what it was. "Mm, understood. Go back to work."

"Lin Dao, is this about Thirteen Concubines?"

Lin Nan nodded, affirming:

"What else could it be? This whole thing has blown up so big—upstream producers and downstream theaters are about to go head-to-head."

"Theaters are the end point—they sit and split the profits. Being this passive? They can't swallow this anger, heh."

"It'll get better." Lin Nan thought of Potato again.

"Should I go this time?" Yue Jun asked.

"The Film Bureau's intention is clearly for me to attend the meeting.

If I'm right, tomorrow's attendees will all be CEOs of production companies, or major directors and producers. Of course, there'll also be representatives from those thirty-seven major theater chains."

In the film industry, many renowned directors run their own production companies; a few operate as studios.

Lin Nan was waiting for the call—he had his own demands to voice.

…………

The next day.

Outside the Film Bureau, it was truly bustling.

"How long has it been since we all gathered here? Feels surreal."

Ning Hao walked up beside Lin Nan and sighed.

"Shouldn't you have some psychological trauma? After all, back then you came to headquarters every single day over Wuerqi, hahaha…"

Lin Nan teased him, ignoring Ning Hao's eye roll.

Soon, prominent figures from the film industry began arriving.

Han Han Sanping, Ren Ren Zhonglun… Wang Wang Zhongjun, Wang Wang Changtian, Wu Kebo, Yang Yang Shoucheng, Yu Dong…

Chen Hong, Gu Gu Changwei, Jia Jia Zhangke, Ma Ke, Zhong Zhong Lifang…

Everyone here knew each other; greetings flowed continuously. Today, they were all on the same side.

"Where's Zhang Zhang Weiping?"

Wang Wang Changtian suddenly asked. Only then did everyone notice—the "leader" was nowhere to be seen.

"He really isn't here!"

"He can't have not come—he's the one involved!"

……

Far away, the theater chain representatives clustered together, keeping their distance.

"Where's Big Cannon Zhang?" Ning Hao couldn't help asking.

Lin Nan glanced inside the bureau, lost in thought.

"Maybe someone else got here earlier…"

"Huh? What do you mean?" Wang Wang Changtian beside him asked.

"Look—haven't you noticed something odd about the theater side?"

"What's odd?"

"I didn't see Ye Ning, or anyone from Star Beauty," Lin Nan said softly.

Wanda and Star Beauty are both among the top eight theater chains—Wanda first, Star Beauty trailing behind.

Of the eight major cinema chains, only these two Lin Nan was familiar with, after all, these two also produced films.

"That's right, none of the eight are outside. We're entering at ten, so they must have arrived early."

Wang Wang Changtian spoke with a somewhat low tone; at this moment, everyone had a bad premonition.

…………

At a quarter to ten, the staff from the General Administration finally came to lead the way.

A crowd walked toward the large conference room; the journey was very quiet, with few people discussing anything.

When everyone entered the large conference room, they were all somewhat bewildered by the situation before them.

Director Tong of the Film Bureau sat in the main seat, with two rows on each side.

Zhang Zhang Weiping sat alone on the left side, sitting boldly and arrogantly.

On the other side were the people from the eight major cinema chains; Ye Ning and Qin Hong were conspicuously present.

"Since everyone has arrived, take your seats; today's meeting will begin immediately."

In theory, several state-owned enterprises should not have gotten involved, because they all owned cinema chains.

But the special nature of state-owned enterprises forced them to come, and they even had to sit on the production side.

They would simply not speak unless they could avoid it.

On the production side, everyone's faces were not very good, because they did not know what had happened here before.

"Director Lin, sit here."

A few seats remained in the front row; someone invited Lin Nan over.

"Thank you."

…………

"Today, the Bureau invited you here, and I will personally preside over the meeting to mediate the matter between 'The Flowers of War' and the cinema chains..."

"Director Tong, Zhang Zhang Weiping cannot just do this. He changes things whenever he wants, just because he has Zhang Zhang Yimou and 'The Flowers of War'?"

"If we concede this time, next time he will surely push his luck even further..."

Lin Nan was impressed by the few cinema chain representatives who had just entered; interrupting the Director? They had quite the guts!

At this moment, many people from production companies noticed something was wrong.

The people from the eight major cinema chains opposite were not speaking at all.

"You build a cinema; at least the property rights are there.

We make a movie; if it ends up losing money, what is left? Only a reel of tape..."

"Yes, you make money either way; only we production companies bear the risk. That small share of the box office must not only cover costs but also bear the expenses for prints and promotion..."

Several people from film companies also spoke up in turn.

……

For a moment, both sides talked over each other, chattering nonstop.

Lin Nan noticed that Zhang Zhang Weiping and the people from the eight major cinema chains had not made a sound, and he began to form some guesses.

"Quiet!"

Tong Gang's face turned iron-green as he shouted, and the scene immediately fell silent.

"Before you entered, I had already spoken with the cinema chain representatives and the production company representatives; they are willing to accept mediation and each step back a little!"

Upon hearing this, everyone who had entered later widened their eyes, looking at their own camp's representatives: the eight major cinema chains and Zhang Zhang Weiping.

"Director Tong, what are the terms of the mediation?" Wang Wang Zhongjun asked.

Everyone instantly focused their attention, looking at Tong Gang.

"The cinema chain side accepts a minimum box office price increase of five yuan. As for the revenue share, for box office earnings within 500 million for 'The Flowers of War', New Picture takes 45%; for the portion exceeding 500 million, they take 41%..."

At this moment, all production companies felt a sense of betrayal. No, not a feeling; they were truly betrayed!

It was agreed to advance or retreat together, yet Zhang Zhang Weiping was using everyone to achieve his own goals.

It seemed Zhang Zhang Weiping had accepted the mediation plan, but in reality, he had won. Now, did he no longer care about the other production companies?

"I do not accept this plan."

"We do not accept it either."

"I accept it."

"Accept."

……

Chaos broke out on the cinema chain side first; some chains still maintained a tough stance.

It seemed the eight major cinema chains and some other chains had accepted this plan, while another part chose to refuse screening 'The Flowers of War'.

On the production side, most people were glaring fiercely at Zhang Zhang Weiping; everyone felt they had been made a fool of.

Zhang Zhang Weiping paid no attention to everyone's gaze, because his goal had been achieved.

As for those cinema chains that refused to screen 'The Flowers of War', he believed these people would definitely compromise!

……

At this time, Lin Nan spoke up.

"Director Tong, I have some words I wish to say."

Everyone looked at Lin Nan; whether production companies or cinema chains, they all became serious; they could not ignore this!

"Hmm, if you have something to say, just say it."

"Today's plan seems to be exclusive to 'The Flowers of War'. What about the future films of our other companies?"

Hearing Lin Nan's words, everyone from all the film companies became agitated.

Everyone knew that Lin Nan's box office influence was even greater than Zhang Zhang Yimou's!

Ye Ning smiled bitterly and looked at Lin Nan; this was trouble again. Zhang Zhang Weiping also felt a bit unnatural.

Lin Nan scanned the room, then smiled.

"My 'Thieves' also hit 900 million. Back then I was truly stupid; I should have learned from Producer Zhang."

"Besides, 'Pacific Rim' is about to release. How do the theaters plan to split the revenue with us? And my 'Passengers' is currently doing special effects; how will we split then?"

"'The Thirteen Women' invested 600 million and demanded a higher revenue split. 'Pacific Rim' has invested 88 million USD domestically; converted, that exceeds 600 million by a bit!"

Lin Nan spoke eloquently; aside from Wanda, the theater representatives all had bad expressions.

In contrast, the production companies were more excited than one another; this was truly a big brother leading the way!

Han Han Sanping's face bloomed with joy. If this really succeeded... hmm, China Film holds 20% of 'Pacific Rim'.

Tong Gang wore a bitter smile. He had calculated a thousand things, but never expected Lin Nan to jump out.

However, he had to admit that everything Lin Nan said was correct.

"Director Lin, we can come down later and negotiate this issue slowly. How about a tiered revenue split?"

Unlike their attitude toward Zhang Zhang Weiping, when facing Lin Nan, the theater representatives' attitude was clearly much "softer."

After all, although Zhang Zhang Yimou was a great director, his track record in commercial films still couldn't compare to Lin Nan's.

The latter not only maintained box office records for a long time, but Lin Nan Film's movies were truly very successful.

If Lin Nan went on to make award-chasing films later and stopped making commercial films, the theaters would be the ones to lose...

"Only me?"

Lin Nan asked deliberately, as if by accident.

"Yes." Many people on the theater side nodded.

Even those theaters continuing to boycott 'The Thirteen Women' fell silent.

Hearing this, the other production companies' faces turned ugly again.

"Alright, alright, let's end this matter here. As for Lin Nan's matter, you can discuss it among yourselves later."

A large group walked out of the conference room; the atmosphere was somewhat subtle.

Both the theater representatives and the film companies had greeted Lin Nan and prepared to leave.

Han Han Sanping walked over. "Later, let's go talk to them about 'Pacific Rim'; I want 45% too!"

"Then you can go stop Ye Ning first and let Wanda take the lead, hehe..."

After nearly two hours of meeting, Zhang Zhang Weiping had become a character hated by people and dogs alike.

At this moment, whether on the theater side or the film company side, everyone stayed far away from him, afraid of getting sick themselves.

"I estimate the media news this afternoon will be very good to watch."

Lin Nan said softly, looking at Zhang Zhang Weiping's back in the distance.

"This time he has cut himself off from the entire film circle, but he still has Director Zhang; otherwise, he would be completely finished!"

Ning Hao shook his head on the side and muttered a sentence.

"Hehe, has Director Zhang? That might not be certain, you know."

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing, just speaking casually. Aren't you leaving yet?"

"Waiting for you together." Ning Hao looked at Lin Nan, somewhat confused.

"I have a bit of something to do; you go first."

"Alright then, I'll go back to Bad Monkey first."

Lin Nan followed the direction of Tong Gang's office all the way and knocked on the door.

A voice saying "Come in" came from inside; only then did Lin Nan push the door open.

Tong Gang was preparing to make tea. "Why haven't you left yet? What's the matter?"

Lin Nan smiled. "Director Tong, I need to ask you for help."

Leaders are leaders; he reacted instantly.

"Another script you're unsure about?"

"Yes, this subject matter has some risk..."

"Sit down, tell me about it."

After following Tong Gang for a meal, Lin Nan drove back.

Liu Liu Yifei wore a striped casual shirt on top and jeans on the bottom; her calves were pressed together and tapered, revealing a pair of plump feet; her whole body sat sideways, curled up on the sofa.

Seeing Lin Nan enter, she finally put down the Apple mobile phone in her hand and lazily sat up.

"What did you say in that meeting? It went on until now?"

"It ended in the morning, but I accompanied Director Tong to a meal and asked him for help."

Liu Liu Yifei's eyes instantly lit up; she hurriedly got down from the sofa and jumped into Lin Nan's arms.

"Speak quickly, what script is it? Is it prepared for me?"

Lin Nan held Miss Liu's fleshy buttocks with both hands and tightened his embrace of the person in his arms.

"Princess Liu Qianqian, how about going back to school with me for a while?"

"Ah?"

Lin Nan's serious demeanor left Liu Liu Yifei somewhat bewildered.

"What are you going back to school for?"

"To take an exam. The cheating kind."

"What kind of joke is that? I never..."

Liu Liu Yifei said with a huff, but stopped halfway, stunned.

"Is it a new movie?"

Lin Nan kissed Liu Liu Yifei's lips lightly and smiled: "Correct, but it's too early to say."

"Why?"

Liu Liu Yifei asked, somewhat urgently.

"Because this subject matter is hard to get approved, which is why I stayed with Director Tong for so long."

"Then, then what's the result?"

Liu Liu Yifei leaned on Lin Nan's shoulder, cheeks puffed, asking with some worry.

"Director Tong said he would help me. If it were anyone else, he would likely have refused outright. After all, this script might cause some controversy..."

"Uh, I believe in our luck; it will definitely be fine, hehehe..."

"Haha, I think so too, Student Liu."

(End of this chapter)