Chapter 397: The Wolf is Really Coming

"Following a first-day box office of 38.5 million and a second-day revenue of 39.8 million, *About Time* raked in 38.45 million and 35.75 million in box office on its third and fourth days, respectively."

"After the first weekend of 4 days, the film *About Time* reached a cumulative box office of 151.5 million, strongly opening the August slot!"

"The low-budget youth-themed film *Young Style*, after three days of release, had a total first-weekend box office of 11.6 million, with a rising trend in daily box office."

The film market had been thoroughly warmed up, and several domestic films about to be released and receiving much attention were almost in a state of rubbing their hands in anticipation.

Led by the production teams of films like *Tiny Times 2* and *A Moment of Love*, everyone was scrambling to increase promotional efforts and the number of press releases, fearing they would fall behind and suffer losses.

It was as if as soon as these films were released, they could easily rake in high box office, looking like they could take whatever they wanted.

"Guo Fan has become famous in one battle these past two days; not only is he busy running around every day, but the congratulatory Weibo posts, calls, and messages haven't stopped."

Yue Jun had just returned from the outside, and his first sentence upon seeing Lin Nan was to tease Guo Fan.

"It won't be too late to be happy after the first week ends; it's still a bit early right now."

Lin Nan smiled lightly, closing the script in front of him and putting it into the drawer, then stood up.

"I'm leaving first; call me if there's anything."

"Mm, take care, Lin Dao."

Mango TV was again making a big splash with a talent show, commonly known as star-making.

When driving back, on the commercial buildings on both sides of the road, *Super Boy* billboards and support posters could be seen everywhere; it was said that the top ten had already been born.

Quite a few A-list stars in the circle had been invited over to be judges and guests, such as Chen Kun, Fan Bingbing, Nicholas Tse, and others.

In Lin Nan's view, among those who could make it to the top 10, how many were truly from ordinary family backgrounds?

The answer is: almost none.

Behind these contestants, there were more or less some resources or family background; they just had to follow the script.

Facing the public and fans, each of them had their own persona, like "Mars Brother," "Sunny Big Boy"...

Perhaps, maybe only the initial *Super Girl* and *Super Boy* had some grassroots.

Liu Yifei had increased her exercise time these days, preparing for the start of filming for *Interstellar*.

Lin Nan hadn't even walked to the practice room when he heard the bickering between Shu Chang and Miss Liu inside.

"I saw the car in the garage, and I knew you were coming to freeload a meal again."

As the words fell, Lin Nan walked into the practice room.

He saw Miss Liu doing sit-ups there, while Shu Chang was sitting cross-legged on the side, peeling nuts and throwing them into her mouth from time to time.

"What do you mean! It was Xixi who called me here." Shu Chang rolled her eyes at Lin Nan and retorted.

Liu Yifei stopped, lying flat on the wooden floor, her white t-shirt on her upper body rising and falling slightly, and fine beads of sweat could be seen on her forehead.

She turned her head and looked at her best friend with annoyance: "I didn't ask you to tempt me on the side while I was training."

"Hahaha, open your mouth."

"Ah."

A peeled nut was thus fed to Miss Liu by Shu Chang.

This scene, in Lin Nan's eyes, was truly heartwarming.

Every time Shu Chang came over, Liu Xiaoli would prepare a more sumptuous lunch, truly treating her like a goddaughter; this goddaughter really had lost her mother very early.

"Do you have time this afternoon? Let's three go go-karting. I said last time, I'm going to make you eat dust!"

At lunch, Liu Yifei asked Lin Nan, and Shu Chang also looked at him expectantly.

Lin Nan shook his head helplessly, "The time you two picked is really unfortunate."

"What's wrong, do you have something to do?"

"I have to go to the Administration for a meeting this afternoon; they notified me two days ago."

Hearing this, Liu Yifei and Shu Chang were instantly a bit disappointed, "Forget it, we'll go play by ourselves."

"Mm, have fun. I'll go with you again when I'm free another day."

Liu Xiaoli looked at the three children in front of her, a smile on the corner of her mouth: "Eat quickly, the food will be cold in a moment..."

Lin Nan didn't know what the meeting in the afternoon was about, but he knew it was definitely very important.

Because people like Wang Changtian and Han Sanping were all going to be there; all the film and television giants in the industry had received notifications, and it wasn't just that...

At 1:30 in the afternoon, Lin Nan set off from home.

And Liu Yifei and Shu Chang were also preparing to go out; they had quite a lot of plans, go-karting, watching a movie, shopping, strolling, eating...

Outside the Administration, there were quite a few luxury cars; after all, many film and television company bosses were coming today.

"Lin Nan."

Wang Changtian got out of a car and walked to Lin Nan's side: "Are you very curious why internet companies are here too?"

Lin Nan nodded subconsciously, but in a daze, he also had some guesses.

"Alibaba, Tencent, Baidu, 360, Sohu, Youku..."

He whispered in his mouth, and suddenly his eyes lit up; he saw Wang Wei, Tudou was here too.

China Film, Shanghai Film, Western Film... Huayi, Bona, StarMe, Orange Sky... the giants of the film and television circle were all there, not one missing.

"Let's go in." Ye Ning reminded him.

The large conference room, which could accommodate one hundred people, was nearly full.

A deputy director from the State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television personally presided over the meeting, with people from the General Administration of Press and Publication and the Ministry of Culture also present on the sidelines.

"Today's meeting is an internal one, and it is also a meeting to collect opinions."

Han Sanping said with a composed air, no longer possessing that intimidating aura he once had.

"Collecting opinions?"

At this moment, the leaders above began to speak.

"Present today are representatives from the film and television industry and the internet industry, and they are all major companies and leaders in their fields..."

"... The 'piracy phenomenon' in the film and television industry has already become a stubborn disease that must be dealt with. We have gathered everyone here today to hear your opinions and views..."

The words "piracy" and "stubborn disease" echoed in Lin Nan's mind; it was exactly as he had thought.

The expressions of everyone below were quite varied—excited, enthusiastic, or unsurprised; in short, it was a good thing!

The internet is the primary hub for film and television piracy, but internet companies are also at a loss and suffer from constant headaches regarding this, so the authorities must take action.

This must have been the meeting where participants were most active in speaking; one moment it was an internet company, the next a film company, pouring out endless grievances and opinions.

Things like how much revenue is lost every year due to piracy, how many peripheral industries are affected, which in turn affects tax revenue, and even the WTO is criticizing it...

After nearly three hours, everyone's remarks could be summarized in one sentence: the industry has suffered from piracy for too long!

The remarks and attitudes from the internet industry side were even more intense than those from the film and television side.

"'Film and television piracy' is the stumbling block for internet companies entering the film and television industry, the biggest obstacle..."

Lin Nan tilted his head and chatted in a low voice with Wang Changtian.

"It's clear they want to get in. This is a good thing; they have the money, and we have the expertise!"

This remark from Wang Changtian left even Lin Nan stunned for a moment.

Good heavens, internet enterprises are not like the financial industry, and they are even less like coal bosses or real estate developers.

Their desire for control and their overbearing, savage nature are not just talk—they are man-eaters!

"In order to accelerate the development and prosperity of the film and television cultural industry, policy encourages internet enterprises to enter the film and television cultural industry.

Within the next year, targeting the stubborn disease of 'piracy,' multiple relevant departments will come up with solutions to eradicate it completely..."

The authorities have truly made their stance clear!

Once the relevant departments take action to solve the "piracy" problem, it will be the time for a group of internet companies to fully enter the film and television industry.

This meeting will be held a few more times later, but Lin Nan does not intend to come; let Yue Jun attend on behalf of the company.

"Lin Dao, Chairman Wang, President Ye, as long as the 'online piracy' issue is resolved, Tudou's market value can definitely more than double!"

Wang Wei said in high spirits, and Wang Changtian and Ye Ning were also full of joy; they must hold onto their shares tightly.

"I heard that a few days ago, Alibaba issued an acquisition intent to the Hong Kong-listed company 'Culture China'..."

Ye Ning said unexpectedly; this is a listed film and television company!

Lin Nan and Wang Changtian exchanged a glance, and the latter joked:

"This appetite is big enough. If it really happens, Alibaba will have gained a listed company in the film and television circle in one fell swoop!"

"Last time, when we went to attend Alibaba's 'Internet Era + Film and Television Cultural Industry Summit,' wasn't that Chairman Ma's style?"

Lin Nan also smiled, then waved to the group. The meeting ended, and everyone returned home.

But before he could walk very far, he ran into a few people.

"Lin Dao, nice to meet you. I hope we can cooperate with Lin Nan Film in the future. This is my business card..."

Looking at the person from Tencent in front of him, Lin Nan smiled and took the business card.

Come to think of it, he still holds quite a lot of Tencent stock.

"Hmm, you're too kind."

After a few words, the other party politely took their leave.

"Compared to the people from Alibaba, the style is indeed different, hehe..."

Lin Nan muttered softly.

He looked at the business card in his hand and couldn't help but exclaim: "The wolves are really coming!"

Photos of Liu Yifei and Shu Chang shopping have already appeared in entertainment news.

The two are in the same style: T-shirts, jeans, and white sneakers, plus a pair of wine-red oversized sunglasses covering most of their faces, with long hair draped over their shoulders, making them look even more youthful and lively.

"Are you coming over? We bought a lot of things and are missing someone to carry the bags..."

"And someone to swipe the card!"

Shu Chang shouted at the phone from beside Liu Yifei.

"In your dreams..."

"What did you say? Say it again!"

"I said... send the address!"

Lin Nan changed his tone, and a burst of crisp, sweet laughter immediately came from the other end of the phone.

"Xixi, you're still the best!"

On its fifth day, "About Time" grossed 34.9 million; although the daily box office fell back slightly, it was normal.

The box office for that film "Youth" is not high, but the daily box office is stably maintained at around 4 million, which can be considered a small dark horse; after all, the investment cost seems to be only around 3 million.

"One Night Surprise" and "Tiny Times 2" will be released on the same day, and the two films will also be at daggers drawn.

But before the films could openly clash, the directors made the first move.

Gao Qunshu directly posted on Weibo, mocking Guo Jingming and "Tiny Times 2":

"Some people are truly shameless for the sake of money, filming whatever poisons the youth. Those brainless ones, don't come to watch my movie..."

To be honest, the film circle really didn't expect Gao Qunshu to be so direct.

Although he didn't name names, there was no need to name names at all; everyone understood.

But the movie is about to be released, and pulling this stunt—is this hype a bit too much? It already contains profanity.

The consequence caused by this Weibo post was that the two films openly started bickering.

A large number of "Tiny Times 2" fans besieged the official Weibo of "One Night Surprise" and began to fight back.

Guo Jingming was quite patient, standing there with his head lowered, and replied with softness overcoming hardness:

"It is inevitable that movies are released on the same day. Why be so angry? Can a big director scolding his opponents make the box office a big hit or what?"

Punching cotton and lowering one's own status—that describes Gao Qunshu, who was a bit irrational this time.

Because for movies released on the same day, regardless of whether the film is good or bad, ultimately it still has to be judged by the box office.

No matter how fierce the scolding is beforehand, or how many supporters there are, if the box office comes out and it's unsatisfactory, then it's truly a slap in the face; it's embarrassing!