Chapter 381: The Besieged Guo Guo Jingming

"Directed and written by Guo Guo Jingming, starring Yang Mi, Guo Guo Caijie, Guo Biting and others, the youth-themed film 'Tiny Times' reported a first-day box office of 71 million..."

"'Tiny Times' is expected to challenge the 1 billion box office mark."

……

The entire film production industry was shocked by this number.

A complete newcomer, who had even crossed over from another industry, casually threw together a film and got this kind of box office?

But although the first-day box office figure of 71 million looked very glamorous, it wasn't all that enviable.

Because within just a day and a night, the internet had already turned into a battlefield.

Never before had any film been publicly refuted and belittled by half the film industry.

And never before had any director been publicly besieged by a large group of filmmakers and critics.

Now, 'Tiny Times' and Guo Guo Jingming have done it all — they are worthy of being recorded in film history!

"'The Extraordinary Path' created a record of terrible films selling super well, and in less than a month, it was broken by 'Tiny Times.'"

"'Tiny Times' is far worse than any bad film before it. Its flaunting of wealth and piling on has reached a pathological level."

"With flat, symbolic, vulgar character portrayals, it shallowly interprets friendship, love, and youth. The entire film from start to finish is the epitome of materialism, money worship, vanity, and decadence... its values are utterly shattered!"

"'Tiny Times' is an extra-long video that insults the very word 'film,' a spiritual opium labeled with the tag of youth!"

……

Countless people in the film industry were watching the battle online — truly a scene rarely seen in film history.

Large numbers of critics, directors from the Directors' Guild, screenwriters from the Screenwriters' Guild, and even producers, rarely stood together to jointly boycott 'Tiny Times.'

Even the Federation of Literary and Art Circles came out, directly pointing out that 'Tiny Times' was harmful to public morals.

The industry also witnessed for the first time what the "power" of fans meant.

Massive numbers of 'Tiny Times' fans waged a life-and-death war on Weibo against critics, the Film Association, the Screenwriters' Guild, the Federation of Literary and Art Circles, and other units, hurling abuse at each other.

In their mouths, 'Tiny Times' surpassing 'So Young' by 26 million on its first day meant it was definitely a good film that could hit 1 billion.

And those who refuted 'Tiny Times' were all a bunch of withered bones in their graves, jealous petty people...

Guo Guo Jingming had already posted several Weibo posts, bitterly denouncing the entire film industry's persecution of him, and calling on fans to be rational.

"I don't know if I stepped on someone's cake, to be targeted by the entire industry."

"If you have a problem, come at me, but please don't curse my fans and the fans of my film — they simply want to support the work they like..."

"I can tell everyone targeting me, I and 'Tiny Times' will not fall. The second part will be scheduled for August 8th.

Afterwards, I will also film the third and fourth parts as planned, and even my other works. I will not stop my steps as a director, and I will not bow to you!"

……

Lin Nan sat in his office, reading the news online, and couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"Is he shouting at the entire film industry?"

"To use what many netizens joked about: a petite frame shouting out the loudest rebellion!"

Yue Jun added with a quip, then shifted the topic:

"The actors can't escape either. Yang Mi's Weibo has already exploded. It's a good thing Lin Dao had the foresight back then."

Lin Nan scrolled through Yang Mi's Weibo. As Yue Jun said, she was the lead among the leads, taking the brunt of it.

"No wonder Lin Dao Nan specifically emphasized in front of the media back then, saying 'Tiny Times' was a resource you took on yourself, not something the company found for you. So he had already foreseen this day?!"

"I heard you signed for the complete 'Tiny Times' series? Can you breach the contract? The more of this kind of film you act in, the more a stain it adds..."

"Serves her right, ruining her reputation..."

"She was doing fine, why didn't she renew the contract? She's going to be done for."

"Lin Dao is awesome!"

……

Lin Nan found that under his own Weibo, under Lin Nan Pictures, and under Shanhai Media's Weibo, quite a few people were talking about 'Tiny Times.'

Either asking him to review the film, or about the matter of Yang Mi signing the 'Tiny Times' contract back then.

"Don't pay attention to these topics."

He sighed and said to Yue Jun.

"Understood." The latter nodded.

At this moment, Wang Wang Changtian's call came in.

"Wang Dong?"

"Lin Nan, your line yesterday about 'setting a target of 1 billion box office first' — you really said it at just the right time.

Starting from yesterday afternoon, the stock price began to turn around and rise. The institutions gave me a very clear answer — it's because of 'Taking Mount Mount Weihu by Strategy'!"

"Haha, I have this kind of ability too..." Lin Nan said halfway, then stopped himself.

It seemed that in the film industry, he really did have this kind of influence!

Otherwise, why would Huayi always want to invite him to their annual meeting every year, and in their reports they'd occasionally mention that he was a Huayi shareholder?

"Did you catch on?"

"Yeah, I caught on. Doesn't Wang Dong owe me some shares?" Lin Nan joked.

"No, no, principles can't be changed. Enlight Media's most fundamental strategy is not to be tied to any one person. Huayi's model is too dangerous. I suggest you keep that in mind."

"I'll definitely keep score. Soon."

He thought there was nothing else and was about to hang up, but Wang Wang Changtian started hemming and hawing again.

Whenever this happened, Lin Nan knew that Big Lao Wang was definitely trying to take advantage again.

"Um, about the distribution of 'Taking Mount Mount Weihu by Strategy,' why not give it to Enlight? Han Dong is retiring at the end of September."

The meaning behind Wang Wang Changtian's second half of the sentence was a bit deep.

The most direct implication is that after Han Han Sanping retires, the distribution work no longer has to be tied to China Film, and can be handed over to Enlight.

After all, when Han Han Sanping was in office, the films Lin Nan directed—especially the commercial ones—were all distributed by China Film.

After he steps down, among Lin Nan Pictures' fixed partners, only Enlight would remain as a distributor.

But with Han Han Sanping's retirement, another issue cropped up—this was the second layer of meaning in Wang Wang Changtian's words.

Namely: should future big-budget Lin Nan films still reserve a share for China Film?

"It's still early. Let's talk about this when the time comes."

That was the only answer Lin Nan could give—he really couldn't decide on the spur of the moment.

Wang Wang Changtian could also hear Lin Nan's hesitation. "Alright, then we'll talk later. When Han Dong's retirement banquet comes around, the few of us can sit down and discuss this."

After hanging up, Lin Nan had a headache too.

To be honest, starting from his second film, he had never stopped working with China Film—it was all handled by Han Han Sanping.

And now, suddenly, the man was about to retire. How should they cooperate going forward?

"People leave and the tea cools" is relative. Most industry insiders see Han Han Sanping as the tea and that position as the person; but for Lin Nan, Han Han Sanping is the person, and China Film is the cup of tea…

Yue Jun hadn't left yet—he still had more to say.

"Go on." Lin Nan gestured.

"Lin Dao, how do we handle Han Dong's pay?"

"Has everyone else been settled?"

"The other actors' payments have all been settled."

Lin Nan nodded. "Han Jia-nü belongs to the production team, so her pay probably hasn't been given yet, right?"

"The production team's pay follows the company's salary schedule. Not yet."

"Then withhold Han Jia-nü's pay. After September, wire both their pays to Han Jia-nü in one lump sum, so that in the last two or three months we don't bring Han Dong any unnecessary trouble."

"Hmm? Good idea!"

…………

Speaking of which, it's rather laughable—the entire film industry has been set off by one *Tiny Times*.

140 million in two days, 210 million in three.

Fans were pumped up like they'd been injected with adrenaline, keeping the daily box office at 70 million for three consecutive days.

At the same time, the film's reputation across the internet had already bottomed out, with only its fans still holding it up.

But this film was also rather unusual—it couldn't pull off reverse marketing the way *Fu Chun Shan Ju Tu* and *Bu Er Shen Tan* had. The "hate-watching" route was a dead end for it!

Simply because the vast majority of ordinary people couldn't project themselves into this kind of youth film at all—not even a shred of relatability could be found, far more absurd than *Zhi Qing Chun*.

The whole film gave off an utterly lofty, over-the-top vibe, leaving ordinary viewers completely unable to muster any interest.

The lead actors also went quiet, not daring to speak up online.

Yang Mi's mood at this moment was like she'd lost a parent.

This was the worst film since her debut—the entire internet was cursing it. She felt she was drifting further and further away from the path of being an "excellent actress."

"Was it a mistake to take this film in the first place?" Yang Mi asked Ceng Jia.

She remembered clearly that Yue Jun had once strongly opposed her taking this film, saying its values were off, it was bound to be a stinker, and it would seriously damage an actor's reputation.

But Ceng Jia and her own view had been that the original novel had a huge fanbase, so the box office was guaranteed. Looking back now, Yue Jun was right!

"Don't overthink it. Isn't the box office great? And these past two days, your schedule has filled up with a lot more gigs.

You're the female lead. For the next two films still waiting to be shot, you're still the number one female lead—that's something countless actresses in the industry would envy.

Films can't avoid bad reviews. Commercial value is the most important thing for a female star…"

Ceng Jia kept talking at her side, and before long, Yang Mi's conviction was firm again.

In the short term, what *Tiny Times* brought her was indeed more good than harm—buzz, price tag, and fans were all rising.

"By the way, Mimi, *Gu Cui Jian Qi Tan* is about to start filming. Get ready."

"Okay, got it."

……

Lin Nan couldn't help feeling a bit envious of Wang Wang Changtian's luck—Big Lao Wang must be laughing his head off right now.

*Tiny Times* was so terrible that it actually made *Bu Er Shen Tan* look good by comparison, letting audiences feel the latter was still watchable!

This was literally a pie falling from the sky—the kind you couldn't dodge even if you tried.

Just like that, *Bu Er Shen Tan*'s daily box office miraculously turned around, climbing to 17 million, and in ten days its total box office successfully broke through 210 million.

It still looked like it wouldn't recoup its costs, but at least it would lose a bit less in the end, right?

People in the industry watched, dumbfounded—there's such an operation? All thanks to the competition making us look good!

…………

Lin Nan began working on the post-production editing of *Taking Mount Mount Weihu by Strategy*.

Liu Liu Yifei also busied herself with her own schedule—endorsements, magazines, commercials, picking new brand partners…

The polite term for it: saving up her dowry.

(End of chapter)