Chapter 888: Flavorful Gossip; A Job Transfer!

Just past eight in the morning, right as Lin Nan had set off from home to head to the airport, "Sky Hunter" released a brand-new promotional short film, promotional posters, and promotional slogans to the public...

From the director to the lead actors, without exception, everyone was explicitly benchmarked against "Wolf Warrior 2"; and there was no doubt that this was exactly how they were being promoted in the film's official marketing materials.

The loudest of all was the promotional slogan: "Sky Hunter" — the Air Force-themed version of "Wolf Warrior 2"!

Beyond that, it was also clear that the creative team behind "Sky Hunter" had a very obvious intention: they had made up their minds to run their publicity and roadshow campaigns along this line of thinking before the film's official release.

In other words, the more devastating and unrivaled the reputation and box office of "Wolf Warrior 2" became, the more blood bags "Sky Hunter" could absorb, and the more potential viewers it could draw in.

"The release window for 'Sky Hunter' is the National Day slot on September 29th. Counting everything, there are still nearly two full months until the premiere."

"Being used for traffic and having our blood sucked is actually nothing; it fundamentally won't affect the box office of 'Wolf Warrior 2'... At most, it just makes us look bad on the surface, getting freeloaded on and taken advantage of, hehe..."

Lin Nan sat on the sofa with his legs crossed, joking with great interest. Only then did he seriously explain, "Mainly, this matter is the kind where you have the reason but no way to argue.

If you raise objections, it just makes you look petty, and you'd be damaging the 'harmonious development' and 'common progress' of domestic films, especially since the other side is an Air Force-themed main melody film."

"Hehe, you make it sound so easy, but what about Light Chaser's 'The Band of the Sewing Machine'?" Wu Jing fell silent, but Wang Wang Changtian immediately got angry.

There we go, as soon as Big Lao Wang cursed out loud, Lin Nan and Wu Jing immediately realized what he meant.

"Sky Hunter" riding on the heat of "Wolf Warrior 2" and sucking its blood, only to end up hitting Light Chaser and Wanda's "The Band of the Sewing Machine" the hardest? Because those two films are releasing on the same day!

"Then we can only say 'hehe', I have no choice either." Lin Nan helplessly spread his hands.

"Chairman Wang, given this situation, those two films can only compete on quality and critical reputation." At this point, Wu Jing actually turned around to comfort Wang Wang Changtian.

However, this remark only made the latter's face look even worse; Lin Nan guessed that Wang Wang Changtian must have been reminded of the debts owed by Da Peng. Critical reputation? It comes with built-in negative reputation!

"Actually, Chairman Wang, you don't need to worry too much. Just think about it, can someone of Li Chen's caliber really direct a large-scale Air Force-themed main melody film well? You know the leaders at the Naval Political Department have complained about the Air Force Political Department many times."

In the end, it was Lin Nan who spoke up, offering a well-reasoned and highly persuasive argument.

However, there was one thing he didn't say out loud: the more "Sky Hunter" rides on the heat of "Wolf Warrior 2", the more it will crash and burn, and the more miserable its death will be.

Because not only will the audience compare the two films, but the leaders will also compare the quality and the critical reputation!

Half an hour later, Lin Nan and Wu Jing stood up one after another to prepare to leave, and Wang Wang Changtian immediately offered to see them off.

The three chatted and laughed, discussing as they walked out the trend of "Wolf Warrior 2" seemingly sucking the entire box office dry; but as soon as they stepped out of the office, the noise from the outer office area interrupted the three of them.

"It's so chaotic, what are they all crowding around for?" Wang Wang Changtian's face immediately darkened; these employees were making him lose face.

"Chairman Wang, Lin Dao, Director Wu, we aren't doing anything; we're just busy with work."

"Guess if I believe that?" Xie Nan is Light Chaser's top star, so Wu Jing naturally knew most people well and could joke very casually.

"If we're really working, we do have media business. Look, a huge news story just broke, it's absolutely explosive!"

"Yeah, yeah, it's really thrilling, very thrilling."

"Who would have thought that someone with a height of 1.4 meters is actually a top? Hahaha..."

A group of people chattered and laughed noisily without stopping; it took Lin Nan and the other two quite a while to finally understand. Everyone looked at each other; indeed, it was a very disgusting piece of major news!

Outside, half an hour ago, a long Weibo post titled "Regarding Someone, To Everyone" had spread wildly across the internet. In just half an hour, it had circulated throughout the entire web.

The author was once a contracted writer under that "big man's" company, and the content of the long Weibo post was even more "flavorful":

Accusing that boss of long-term... and the "relationships" between the boss and certain male artists who had acted in his works and received his film resources...

Without a doubt, the heat of "Air Force Version of 'Wolf Warrior 2'" was forcefully suppressed by this "flavorful" major gossip.

Entertainment headlines across the entire web were born in a flash... Countless onlooker netizens began to dig deep and excavate details, searching for past clues... Good heavens, looking back and verifying, there really was a huge pile of them!

Starting from the afternoon, the online verbal battles officially began, heating up intensely.

The one with the somewhat short height directly filed a lawsuit citing numerous charges such as fabricating facts, damaging his reputation, and defamation;

while the former employee began to detail and leak even more explosive content, implicating many male artists in the entertainment industry.

China Film Group, Chairman's Office.

Since returning from the bureau at noon on the 23rd, La La Peikang had kept a low profile and not shown his face. Rather than calling it keeping a low profile, it was more like hiding from the storm.

The reason lay not in the leaders' dissatisfaction and anger towards "The Founding of an Army", because the two sides were not in the same system; he had merely been criticized.

The real reason he was "hiding from the storm" was Ye Dajing's "indictment", that "Open Letter" carried too much weight; it almost crushed someone to death, and could even be said to have already caused serious damage.

"Chairman La, the Film Bureau just announced a document: 'Wolf Warrior 2' has received a one-month extension key. But this is only the 6th day of release; isn't the upper level being a bit too obvious?"

"If they are willing to give you an extension key proactively, do they care about those things? No one in the film industry dares to object, and the internet is full of cheers, right?"

La La Peikang asked back wearily; he had guessed this result back during the Shanghai International Film Festival. Director Zhang had met privately with the four producers of "Wolf Warrior 2".

"Yes, 'Wolf Warrior 2' has the momentum of a whale swallowing the entire market; no one outside dares to say a single bad word. The cinema chains have gone crazy, frantically increasing screenings, leaving almost no room for survival for other films."

Speaking here, the secretary paused, hesitating before reporting: "Chairman La, the Vice Chairman in charge of cinema chain business has already cut the screenings for 'The Founding of an Army' and replaced them with 'Wolf Warrior 2'..."

Before the words were finished, the atmosphere in the office had already become deathly silent, and La La Peikang's face was even colder and more terrifying.

"Chairman La, we have no choice but to change it; the cinema chain business must be self-sustaining, and the pressure on the group is also very great." The secretary forced himself to explain.

"I understand." In the end, La La Peikang helplessly nodded; the momentum in him was completely drained in an instant, and he had thoroughly admitted defeat.

"Where is Liu Liu Weiqiang?" Suddenly, he asked again in a harsh voice.

"He has... already returned to Hong Kong. He left the day before the film's premiere and hasn't come back to the mainland to this day."

"Heh, exactly the same as John Woo during 'The White Storm' back then. When something goes wrong, he runs back to hide, waiting for the storm to calm down before coming back?"

The secretary did not answer, because the Hong Kong directors who had screwed over China Film Group were indeed all of this character, exactly the same!

"From last year to this year, all the key blockbusters have failed... No, there is still 'Sky Hunter'!" Mumbling this, La La Peikang immediately looked at the secretary and ordered:

"Go communicate with Li Chen's team; there are still nearly two months left. Let them focus all efforts on publicity... China Film Group will provide all possible help... and this blockbuster..."

After a night passed until the morning of the 2nd, the internet was still dominated by those "chilling" gossip news stories on the top trending searches.

If it weren't for taking a look at the box office of "Wolf Warrior 2", Lin Nan would absolutely not have opened Weibo, because he would inevitably see those unpleasant news stories.

In 6 days, it has grossed 1.6 billion in box office; the daily box office market share has been above 80%, and the daily box office growth in recent days has been over 250 million, approaching 300 million, with no sign of slowing down...

"Wolf Warrior 2" was indeed doing the thing of sucking the entire box office dry, leaving the entire industry stunned.

And Wu Jing, without exaggeration, has officially been deified in these six days since the film's release—he is now one of the country's top commercial film directors.

Since the year 2000, when Hero officially opened the door to China's commercial blockbuster era, in the fifteen years since, Wu Jing is the first director to achieve "instant ascension" without any groundwork.

This kind of journey can be described entirely by the two words: "legend."

Although most in the industry see this as Wu Jing simply being lucky enough to stand at the forefront of the trend, who can deny that his luck isn't "Destiny"? Others simply don't have this fate!

Lin Nan glanced at the time—it was nearly 11 a. m., time to clock out.

Since Liu Liu Yifei and Liu Liu Xiaoli were already in Shunyi, he could go directly there. A new batch of furniture had just arrived; once arranged, the atmosphere at that home would be even more complete.

"Lin Dao, don't rush to leave early. Zhengwu Yangguang just sent over the casting list for Zhi Nü—take a look?" Yue Jun blocked Lin Nan at an inopportune moment, grinning teasingly.

"By the way, did Zhu Zhu Yawen mess up?"

As he took the list, Lin Nan couldn't help asking. He didn't need Yue Jun to answer—in the next second he saw the man's name: "Still somewhat reliable, then."

"To be honest, Zhengwu Yangguang's casting has always been professional. Since they cut their talent agency business, their casting has become even more perfect." Yue Jun pointed to names like Gao Lu and Liu Lin above.

"Tell Hou Hou Hongliang to follow their shooting schedule. Don't bother me with stuff like this going forward." Lin Nan's last words were directed at Yue Jun—TV dramas were too trivial.

"No problem. I just figured you were in the office, so I thought you'd be bored anyway, hehe…" Yue Jun smiled as he saw Lin Nan into the elevator.

Watching that smiling face, Lin Nan couldn't help but shake his head with amusement.

Suddenly, a thought flashed through his mind: "In the future, if we launch a cinema chain… Director Yue, you'll be reassigned. Hand this over to Director Jiang…"

"What?"

Yue Jun hadn't quite caught it and hurried to ask again. But sadly, the elevator doors had already closed.

…