Chapter 495: Public Release, Screenwriter Lu's Personal Attacks

"The summer season curtain rises; 'Transformers 4', 'Ip Man 3', and 'The Breakup Guru' officially hit theaters today!"

"Top male actor Hu Ge and popular young star Miss Jing Tian have joined 'Dragon Nest: Awakening of the Dawn' to participate in the main voice cast."

"Forbes released the first-half domestic film and television celebrity list; Lin Dao Nan ranks first, while also appearing on the Youth Wealth List, sitting high at..."

Time arrived on the 27th, one of the most important seasons of the year began.

Today's film and entertainment news was also varied, dazzling the eyes.

But it was clearly visible that the name 'Lin Nan' appeared with a somewhat high frequency.

The main reason was that the two films in which Lin Nan Pictures participated as an investor were to compete on the same stage today.

However, to put it another way, one could also say that 'Ip Man 3' and 'The Breakup Guru' would fight together to resist imported blockbusters.

"Damn, I've been low-key for so many years, yet I still couldn't dodge Forbes. I accept the celebrity list, but what the hell is this wealth list?"

Lin Nan was a bit speechless; it was all due to Weibo's listing, as the market value represented by that portion of equity simply couldn't be hidden.

However, this wealth list is just to fool ordinary people; it is the list with the most watered-down figures.

After all, even to know how much assets he currently has, he would have to hire professional evaluation agencies to calculate them one by one, and this is under the condition that he holds nothing back.

Yet even so, the data obtained would not be too accurate.

Because besides the profits from Lin Nan Pictures and a few other companies and film works that belonged entirely to him, the equity and stock holdings of other companies in his assets also accounted for a very large portion.

And the vast majority of these are confidential and volatile, unknown to outsiders, and difficult to value precisely.

"So, is it more or less?"

Liu Liu Yifei held a sweet cone, took a light bite, walked over, and asked. She was also on the celebrity list, in ninth place.

"Uh... less. But if others ask, it will definitely be that the list wrote too much!"

Lin Nan leaned close to Liu Liu Yifei, unexpectedly took a huge bite out of her sweet cone, and was then pinned onto the sofa by the 'furious' Dao Ma Dan.

"Haha, Heroine, spare my life. I still have important business to attend to."

Pushing the perky buttocks sitting on him, Lin Nan smiled and admitted defeat.

"Hmph, then I'll let you off for now. But there's nothing left in the fridge; you're responsible for stocking up when you come back this afternoon."

"Alright, can you get off now?"

"Mm-hmm."

As Liu Liu Yifei stood up, Lin Nan couldn't help but give it a pat; the texture was tight and elastic, a pity it was daytime.

Not long after, Lin Nan drove out.

Today, three films were released simultaneously, and the focus of the entire film circle was almost entirely on this.

'Ip Man 3' and 'The Breakup Guru' undoubtedly represented all domestic films, because other domestic films basically had no selling points to speak of.

The news on the car radio made Lin Nan sigh.

Another celebrity who touched prohibited substances, the screenwriter of 'My Own Swordsman'. Moreover, he committed the crime on the very day of the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking; simply asking for death.

Yan Ni, Sha Yi, and others posted on Weibo one by one to express regret and condemnation, but those who touched such things are not worthy of sympathy.

"Lin Dao, Happy Happy Mahua notified that 'Xia Luo Te Fan Nao' will officially start filming in one week."

As soon as he entered the office, Yue Jun came over.

"This movie is simple, and there aren't many special effects and such, so it is indeed fast."

Lin Nan nodded and said. He glanced at Yue Jun and found that the other party's mood seemed very good.

"Any good news?"

"Hey, it really is good news."

"Let me guess, Shi Yue Culture must have given a definite answer?" Lin Nan asked, half-questioning, half-affirming.

From the first time he told Yue Jun about the idea of swallowing Shi Yue Culture and asked him to communicate and implement it, until now, nine months have passed. It is thought that an accurate reply should be available by now.

"You really guessed right, Lin Dao; they just gave me a relatively clear answer this morning, which counts as an agreement."

Yue Jun's face showed an excited smile; for this matter, he had been dragging it out for nine months.

"What do you mean by 'counts as an agreement'?" Lin Nan was somewhat confused.

"It's just that the founding team has quite a few conditions, and I also feel the quoted price is very unreasonable."

Lin Nan thought it was something else; "Regarding the price, I trust your judgment, continue negotiating. Tell me what the conditions are?"

"Become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tiangong Color, not of Lin Nan Pictures; accept financial supervision, but do not want us to interfere excessively with creation; invest new operating funds..."

Hearing the first condition, Lin Nan exclaimed, "Good lord."

Is this the weird thinking of a science-and-engineering guy? Only get along with science-and-engineering guys?

The second condition was no problem; professionals do professional things; regarding the animation sector, Lin Nan wouldn't interfere much anyway.

To summarize, although the conditions were many, none were major problems.

Lin Nan nodded and instructed: "Their conditions can all be agreed upon; continue to bargain; I await your good news."

"Oh, by the way. How is 'The Monkey King'?" Lin Nan remembered the animated movie matter.

"It is expected to be fully completed before the end of the year. After all, it is the first one; they are doing it very meticulously, also accumulating experience."

"That's good. It doesn't matter if the first one is slow; the second one will be faster. 'Journey to the West', 'Investiture of the Gods', 'The White Snake', 'Liaozhai'... there are still many more to do!"

By afternoon, online discussions about the movies increased.

'Transformers 4' undoubtedly occupied an absolute topic advantage, topping the Weibo hot search list.

The 3D special effects, especially the viewing experience under the IMAX 3D giant screen, were praised by all audiences in unison.

A large number of celebrities within the industry were posting on Weibo to support and recommend it.

A screening rate as high as 54% also pressed all domestic films so they couldn't lift their heads.

"Ip Man 3," with its bone-jarring fight scenes and the advantage of being part of a series, barely managed to hold onto enough buzz and good reviews under the pressure of "Transformers 4."

But as for "The Breakup Master," things there were truly hard to sum up in a word.

This movie did generate discussion, but the polarization of its reviews was so severe it rivaled "Tiny Times"!

After all, it's a comedy — where there are those who like it, naturally there are those who despise it.

Those who gave "The Breakup Master" good reviews felt the film was pretty funny, especially Deng Chao's no-holds-barred humor; those who gave bad reviews felt it was forcing the comedy, cringeworthy laughter.

Movies are movies, after all — accepting criticism is normal.

But no one, including Lin Nan and Wang Wang Changtian, expected that someone from the industry would actually jump out and launch personal attacks.

This person was Lu Tairang's father, the great screenwriter Lu, who bypassed the "criticizing a bad film" stage and went straight to cursing Deng Chao.

He named Deng Chao on Weibo, saying that his making "The Breakup Master" was despicable and vile, sickening, and even dragged Sun Li's name into it.

Quite a few netizens couldn't stand watching it anymore; some reminded him, "Comedies are meant to make people happy — why make it so complicated and take it so seriously?"

The result was immediately shot back by the great screenwriter: "So that's a clump of stinking shit, and you ate it very happily?"

That blew things up — swarms of netizens rushed to leave comments condemning him, demanding this deep-respected screenwriter Lu distinguish between what is "artistic criticism" and what is "personal attack"!

Deng Chao's side stayed silent, because given the couple's current standing in the industry, it really wasn't appropriate to respond to Lu Lu Tianming.

Actively backing down was impossible — that would not only be slapping Wang Wang Changtian, the man who discovered him, in the face, but also self-destructing his own future.

But going up for a direct counterattack was also an offense they couldn't afford.

Because in that family, the elder is a widely-connected great screenwriter — and crucially, still on the review committee — while the younger is also a well-known director. They truly couldn't be provoked.

This matter could only be reported back to Wang Wang Changtian.

When Lin Nan received Big Lao Wang's call, he was in a mall picking out ice cream and some nut snacks.

"That old bastard really thinks he's somebody! If the movie's bad, curse the bad film all you want — what's the mentality behind going straight for personal attacks on the director? Even Guo Guo Jingming never got cursed at like this!

One curse-post on Weibo — delete, repost, delete, repost again — is it senility or insanity? Just fixating on cursing Deng Chao to show off his industry standing?"

"Director Wang, hold on a moment, let me take a look. I'll call you back in a bit."

After all, he'd put in half the investment too — Lin Nan really couldn't just ignore it.

Besides, cursing a bad film and launching personal attacks are two entirely different things. Especially when the other side is Tairang's father!

He opened Weibo and got a shock — this post had already broken ten thousand?

He really didn't know whether to thank the great screenwriter Lu or thank him — plenty of people cursing "The Breakup Master" as a bad film had come running to support Deng Chao.

Things like "throwing one's age around," "unworthy of one's age," "at least better than 'City of Life and Death'"… all kinds of mockery and passive-aggressive jabs kept refreshing in.

But this screenwriter Lu clearly wasn't backing down an inch, going head-to-head with the netizens.

Enlight, as the main production company, producer, and distributor, had already posted on Weibo, and the meaning was very clear:

They didn't mind people judging whether the film was good or bad — to each their own, radish or cabbage — but they absolutely would not accept the vile behavior of one-sidedly attacking the director…

"Fine, I can't be bothered to argue with this family either — save myself getting entangled, it's disgusting. Clean cut."

Lin Nan flipped through his contacts, sent a text message out, telling the great screenwriter Lu to calm down a bit.

A few minutes later, Lin Nan got into his car carrying an insulated bag and several big packs of nuts, and called Wang Wang Changtian along the way.

"If he's just cursing a bad film, there's nothing we can do. But this kind of fixated personal attack — all I can do is have Weibo's side mute his account for half a month."

After hanging up Lin Nan's call, Wang Wang Changtian immediately opened the webpage.

Fast indeed — as expected, the account was already muted; other posts were all mocking Lu Lu Tianming.

"Served him right — your seniority in the film and TV industry doesn't work on Weibo!"

"Tsk tsk, congratulations, Old Lu, on earning yourself a half-month mute."

"By the way, he won't use his son's account to post, will he? Or make a burner?"

"Then he'd probably just get muted again!"

"This old man's brain doesn't work — among the co-producers there's Lin Nan Pictures. Cursing a bad film would've been fine, but he just had to curse a person. Got himself caught, didn't he?!"

"Lin Dao and Director Jiang — everyone knows they don't get along with his son. Weibo's major shareholder, muting an account in full compliance with the rules — completely no problem!"

"Careful with your words — Lin Dao says he didn't know about this matter, don't go slapping labels on people!"

……

One night passed, and when yesterday's box office data was published on the film and TV news sites, the entire mainland film industry was rocked.

Domestic films lay in ruins, cannon fodder everywhere — only "Ip Man 3" and "The Breakup Master" stood trembling and firm.

Although the two domestic films' box office numbers still looked decent, once compared against "Transformers 4," they really were rather insignificant — one could even describe it as a desperate last gasp; the gap was truly enormous!

Today's second chapter will be updated around one or two in the morning.

(End of this chapter)