Chapter 880: The Half-Truth, Half-False Cinema Chain Plan; A

The banks' reaction measures were indeed faster, more precise, and more ruthless than those of the relevant departments. In less than 20 hours, a request for property preservation was submitted to the court.

The target was clear and hit the nail on the head: it was aimed directly at the 1.2 billion-plus in deposits that Boss Jia had left for his wife and children before fleeing, as well as a large amount of jewelry, luxury goods, and several properties...

This was the hot news on the morning of the 6th, which captured the attention of the film and television industry and the entire internet.

Sure enough, LeEco's collapse was LeEco's business. Regardless of how much external debt was owed, how many people were driven to bankruptcy, or how many actors and celebrities were dragged into the pit, the boss would never be poor!

"Now that this has happened, those exclusive film and television copyrights owned by LeEco can truly never be sold. I reckon they'll have to rely on the various revenues from these assets to pay the employees' wages."

"Speaking of which, Wang Wei has always been unwilling to give up, but at this point, no matter how unwilling he is, there's nothing he can do. Between struggling on at death's door and complete ruin, Zhang Zhao and the others have a sense of the situation; they won't be stupid."

Wang Changtian made a special trip to Tiangong Color. Recently, he had been beaming with joy, and he was in high spirits while gossiping.

After all, the stock prices of Tudou and Enlight Media were both in the spotlight, so naturally, he was in high spirits.

"Chairman Wang, you'd better just get to the point. How is the distribution for *Wolf Warrior 2* going?" Lin Nan asked Wang Changtian while watching the edited footage of himself dancing on the pole.

Right now, the most important thing was the theatrical release of *Wolf Warrior 2*. The objective conditions of favorable timing, geographical advantage, and human harmony were rare and could not be sought; one could not slack off even a little bit.

When it came to business, the smile on Wang Changtian's face vanished instantly, and his brows furrowed slightly:

"Enlight and Shanghai Film Group have already done their best, but among the films in the same release window, there are, after all, some that possess considerable influence and appeal."

"So the current situation is that the major domestic cinema chains are basically divided into three camps: led by Wanda, Shanghai Film Group, and Dadi Cinema, they will give us high screen allocations from the very first day;"

"While the cinema chains led by China Film Group and Poly Bona are prioritizing *The Founding of an Army*; their combined market share is not small either;"

"As for the last group of cinema chains, represented by Jinyi Cinema and New Film Association, they have promised to give *Wolf Warrior 2* a normal screen allocation because they also have to cater to popular films like *Once Upon a Time*."

"But they have also promised that from the day after the release, they will flexibly adjust screen allocations based on the trends of the film market, referring to the reviews and attendance rates of numerous films in the same window, respecting the market and respecting box office interests!"

Hearing this result, to be honest, Lin Nan was already very satisfied.

After all, looking back, mainstream commercial films with military themes had never received such high-spec treatment, especially when it was domestic personal heroism!

One had to know that due to the general environment, public intellectuals were always attacking domestic films and setting the narrative, artificially creating a public opinion atmosphere at the cultural level that blockbusters of personal heroism could only be produced by Hollywood, and everything else was neither fish nor fowl!

"Distribution to this extent is already very good. In short, *Wolf Warrior 2* is in the spotlight; just seize the opportunity, and it won't be low." Lin Nan said solemnly.

"Enlight's distribution business has been doing this for so many years. To this day, my biggest feeling is that as the market has become more and more prosperous over these years, the discourse power of cinema chains has become greater and greater."

"For a long time in the past, cinema chains had to curry favor with distributors and producers, just like how Zhang Weiping could rely on Zhang Yimou to threaten cinema chains time and time again;"

"And now? It's completely reversed. We need to curry favor and beg cinema chains for screen allocations, and it is foreseeable that this situation will continue to be so in the future, becoming more and more intense..."

Wang Changtian changed the subject and sighed inexplicably, but there was more jealousy in it.

"Cinema chains are quite comfortable. After a film's total box office pays the 8.3% special fund and surcharges, they take away 57% of the remaining part."

"And the box office share is only a small part of the profit; popcorn, snacks, and drinks—these are the big ones... Sitting there collecting money, a steady profit without loss." Lin Nan took over the conversation and echoed with a sigh.

"It's too late. Entering the market now is too difficult, and the costs are terrifying. If I had known it would be like this, I should have entered around the millennium. Even when Enlight started making films, it wasn't too late then..."

Wang Changtian cursed at himself, and then looked at Lin Nan by some strange twist of fate:

"I remember you seemed to have said before that you were interested in cinema chains. But given the current land prices and the market, I'm afraid your intention will only ever be an intention."

"Intention? No, it's already in the plan. After 'this period' is over, I will most likely get the license first... Hmm, and then open one or two IMAX giant screen cinemas as a flagship and template, letting people get familiar with the cinema business for a period of time..."

Lin Nan spoke about his actual plan to the outside world for the first time, in a joking tone, half-truth and half-false.

The first explosive hit of the second half of the year was born—*The Advisors Alliance*.

As the first part of the two-part series, the most brilliant character was undoubtedly Cao Cao.

Yu Hewei's Cao Cao managed to make countless viewers both inside and outside the industry and across the entire internet light up, with almost no negative reviews.

He successfully created a brand-new Cao Cao, different from any "treacherous hero" on the screen in the past.

Especially the scene at sunset: feasting with his officials, recounting the merits and demerits of the past few decades; old and frail, dancing with a weapon heroically after the wine. It could be called a highlight!

Therefore, Youku really won the bet with this drama. And they also bought one hot search after another in a push-and-pull manner, introducing quite a lot of new traffic.

"The fan groups corresponding to popular IPs are originally internet users, so increasing investment in promotion on internet platforms is not wrong."

"And now it has long been the internet era; the active front for promotion should be here, because almost all viewers are netizens!"

Zhang Qiang said with a sharp tone, firmly instructing on the promotion work for *Once Upon a Time*.

There was less than a month left before the theatrical release of this film. As the first film exclusively produced by Alibaba Pictures, its significance was extraordinary and very important.

"President Zhang, the finalized script for *Gong Shou Dao* has been delivered."

"Take it directly to the Film Bureau for review, and by the way, send a copy to Chairman Ma. It's his first time acting, so he needs to read the script thoroughly, right?"

Zhang Qiang paused and then joked with a smile. But the secretary's hesitant appearance seemed to suggest there was something else.

"Is there anything else?" He looked at the secretary and asked again.

"The group called, saying the CSRC has issued an official letter, asking us to cooperate with inquiries about Wanjia Culture. President Zhang, you might have to be absent from tomorrow's promotion conference for *Once Upon a Time*."

Hearing this, Zhang Qiang's face darkened instantly, "Hasn't it been mostly resolved?"

"It's the fallout from the LeEco matter. The 'PR' side says that a fine might not solve the problem anymore; there's a high probability that Director Zhao will be banned in the financial market... The group is worried she will make a scene..."

"Fine, I'll go take another trip." Hearing this, Zhang Qiang's expression changed again, becoming much more serious.

When leaving the company after five in the afternoon, Lin Nan heard a piece of gossip from within the circle: the final cut of Feng Xiaogang's *Youth* was rejected by the Film Bureau for the third time this afternoon.

Among the film works of well-known directors in the mainland, this could be considered a very rare occurrence.

Especially since Feng Xiaogang's previous film had just won a major international award at the end of September last year; the contrast in treatment at this moment was undoubtedly a slap in his face.

However, fortunately, "Little Cannon" was different from "Young Master Lou." The former would at most be furious and curse in private. As for the latter, it was highly likely he would poke the "suppression" he suffered onto the international stage...

"Filed for record?"

"Just saw the project promotion poster, it was released by Lou Ye's company. It looks like they are going to start filming in December."

"*Saturday Fiction*!

When I invited Gong Li to star in *Marriage Story* in the first half of last year, she was held back by this film. Lou Ye told her it would start filming as early as the second half of last year, but what happened? It was dragged all the way to the end of this year!"

Lin Nan was originally here at Han Jia's studio to pick up Liu Yifei, but just as he arrived, he heard the news of Lou Ye's new film project, and along with it, the casting notice for the lead actress was announced.

It had to be said that no matter how one looked at it, in the eyes of the industry, this was a film by a big director aiming for awards; this lineup of director plus core lead actress was undoubtedly aimed at A-list film festivals—top-tier resources!

"My dad says Director Lou fell behind a long time ago, and his thinking is problematic. As a film director, and a non-commercial film director at that, his utilitarianism is too strong; he can even abandon his bottom line for awards from abroad. It's unlikely such a director can win major awards anymore, and his circle will only get smaller in the future."

Han Jia handed a casting list to Lin Nan while repeating Han Sanping's evaluation of Lou Ye.

"Specifically, what day next month does it start filming?" Lin Nan glanced at the list and asked.

"After confirming the complete actor list in the next few days, it will start filming on time on the 15th of next month. It's a pity I can't go to Venice Lido Island with you guys to play."

"Don't worry, we'll play for you." Liu Yifei interjected at the right time with a sweet smile.

After 7 days of release, *Reset* was almost dead. As of the evening of the 6th, the total box office was 163 million, with a daily take of 130,000...

Entries like "Best Backyard Award at the Houston International Film Festival" and "Best Water Queen at the Houston International Film Festival" were hung on Weibo hot searches on the morning of the 7th just like that!

It could not be denied that this would likely have a certain negative impact on the upcoming film version of *Once Upon a Time*.

Therefore, in less than an hour, that large batch of negative entries and hot search topics disappeared completely. People in the industry didn't need to guess to know that Alibaba Pictures had taken action.

At the same time, *Secret Fruit*, starring Chen Feiyu, the son of the big director Chen, which had been recommended and praised by dozens of first and second-tier actors in the entire film and entertainment industry, was also officially released.

It was just a pity that it seemed the cinema chains were not like the actors and celebrities in the film circle; they were not willing to give face to the big director Chen.

At nine in the morning, Lin Nan, who originally planned to rest at home for the morning, was woken up by a phone call; he had to prepare another portion of funds.

Because the ByteDance system was going to conduct its Series E financing on August 1st, planning to sell 9% of its shares to raise 2 billion USD.

That's right, it had been less than 6 and a half months since Lin Nan joined the ByteDance shareholder camp, and the latter's market valuation had soared from 11 billion USD to 22.2 billion!

For Lin Nan, this was simply a "painful yet happy" experience.

Because he would have to go through this kind of thing—injecting capital to ensure his shares were not diluted—many more times in the future.

But it had to be admitted that the market value of the shares in his hands was soaring at a truly terrifying speed; in just over 6 months, it had increased by nearly 350 million USD!

"Not to mention Cao Guowei; Weibo and the ByteDance system are now completely at odds, they're almost fighting like dogs. As for Zhou Hongyi?"

The more Lin Nan thought about it, the more interesting he found it; mainly because Zhou Hongyi was a person who cared only about money.

Huayi.

Feng Xiaogang had given up; he wouldn't struggle anymore, and he didn't dare to struggle anymore.

Because today was already July 7th, and there was less than 3 months left until the release window at the end of September. During this period, distribution and promotion work had to be done well; there was no time to delay.

"Chairman Wang, let's ask the August First Film Studio, Emei Film Group, and China Film Group to help. I'll make some casual changes to the final cut; this time, we must get the theatrical release permit."

"You should have let go a long time ago, otherwise it wouldn't have dragged on until now. Three submissions for review, three rejections; people outside are saying all sorts of things."

Wang Zhonglei snatched the words from Wang Zhongjun and "criticized" Feng Xiaogang quite angrily.

The latter's behavior had put great pressure on the promotion department, and Ye Ning had already come to be sarcastic several times. Feng Xiaogang had once put eye drops on Ye Ning, and now Ye Ning was returning the favor.

"Why talk about this now? Don't we still have time? The final cut review and film promotion can be carried out simultaneously, without delaying each other."

"Xiaogang, you get ready to lead the team for promotion. Second brother, you go contact those three companies and solve the review matter."

Wang Zhongjun skillfully played the good cop and took control of the situation. Feng Xiaogang and Wang Zhonglei nodded one after another, each accepting their tasks.

"By the way, what's the situation with Fan Bingbing recently? I heard she seems to have accepted Cao Baoping's new film?"

"It's not that she accepted the film, it's just that Cao Baoping contacted her and there's an intention."

"But this intention doesn't seem safe, because it has spread in a small circle in the industry that Zhou Xun is poaching, so she made an appointment with Cao Baoping today..."

"From what I heard from her, the script is indeed a good one; it's a realistic subject aiming for awards, and it would be a pity to miss it."