Chapter 395

The new "Dream of the Red Chamber" collapsed in both ratings and reputation, but it made a lot of money anyway.

Thanks to the high per-episode price set by "The New Three Kingdoms," the first-run broadcast rights for this drama approached 2 million per episode.

Hmm, some say it sold for over 2 million per episode.

"The New Three Kingdoms" had high costs but many episodes; "The New Dream of the Red Chamber" had fewer episodes.

Generally, TV dramas with more episodes have higher total prices but lower per-episode rates, while those with fewer episodes have lower total prices but higher per-episode rates.

But according to insider rumors, this figure may not be accurate—it's likely promotional data.

Regardless, Yi'an's financial reports have some data on how much "The New Three Kingdoms" earned.

But how much "The New Dream of the Red Chamber" earned? Only the production team knows.

This drama runs deep—never mind the golden hairpins, director changes, or casting mismatches; just consider the cost.

"The New Three Kingdoms" filmed 80 episodes with countless battle scenes and spent less than 140 million total.

"The New Dream of the Red Chamber" was a garden drama with no major stars and only 50 episodes, yet its final cost was nearly identical to "The New Three Kingdoms."

Don't talk about expensive costumes, makeup, props, and sets—no matter how expensive, it's absurd to spend this much; even renting real antiques wouldn't cost this much unless they were smashed daily.

Cost is one sum, revenue is another; between inflow and outflow, there's plenty of room for manipulation.

For Yan Li and Yi'an, whether "The New Dream of the Red Chamber" made or lost money, or what shady dealings it involved, doesn't matter.

What matters is whether it will drag down the New Four Great Classical Novels—or specifically, the releases of "The New Water Margin" and "The New Journey to the West."

The outstanding performance of "The New Three Kingdoms" gave several projects a strong start, but "The New Dream of the Red Chamber" crushed that momentum.

TV stations and platforms that bought broadcast rights suffered huge losses.

According to Yi'an's knowledge, Zhejiang TV's collaboration with Yongle on "The New Journey to the West" has been hampered by "The New Dream of the Red Chamber," affecting advertising sales.

"The New Water Margin" and Zhang Dahuizi's version of "The New Journey to the West" naturally face similar troubles.

The former is fine—it's Yi'an Production, backed by "The New Three Kingdoms"; though the market is cautious, overall sentiment remains positive.

The problem is the latter—Zhang Dahuizi has been underperforming for years.

Since Huang Xiaoming's "The Deer and the Cauldron," every one of his dramas has flopped.

Hmm, more accurately, even his "The Green Li Xuejian" before "The Deer and the Cauldron" performed poorly.

"The Deer and the Cauldron" gave him a brief rebound, then he made "The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber," failed to learn from past mistakes, and boldly cast newcomers again—even more aggressively than with "The Green Li Xuejian."

The five major leads—Zhang Wuji, Zhou Zhiruo, Zhao Min, Xiao Zhao, and Yin Li—had only An Yixuan with any fame; the rest were unknowns.

Due to poor quality and lack of star power, it flopped hard, setting Zhang Dahuizi's worst record for a Jin Yong adaptation, and none of the actors broke through.

At the time, the failure of Zhang Dahuizi's "The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber," combined with Yi'an's "Xiao Shiyilang" failing to meet expected hype,

caused the two pillars of Wu Xia dramas to cool off, directly killing the once-booming Wu Xia market.

Yi'an immediately paused Wu Xia drama production; Zhang Dahuizi, refusing to believe it, made "The Tang Dynasty Wanderers," which flopped even harder.

Afterward, Zhang Dahuizi, seeing historical dramas were doing well, teamed up with Huayi to produce "The Soldier Sage," starring Zhu Yawen, who rose to fame after "Crossing the Pass," and it flopped again.

Zhu Yawen's momentum after "Crossing the Pass" had been extremely strong; after signing with Huayi, he was once considered Huang Xiaoming's successor—but this drama derailed his career, and now he's not as favored at Huayi as the cast of "Soldiers Sortie."

As the saying goes, when a wall falls, everyone kicks it—Zhang Dahuizi's reputation was already poor, and over the past two years, as he kept underperforming, criticism grew louder.

During the pre-production of the New Four Great Classical Novels, Zhang Dahuizi's "The New Journey to the West" and "The New Three Kingdoms" generated the most off-screen gossip.

But "The New Three Kingdoms" used a new approach—even if it borrowed old tropes, they were repackaged and marketed via Weibo as the center of internet hype.

Zhang Dahuizi couldn't keep up with the times; he stuck to the old formula—casting + boasting + ranting—causing audiences and netizens, tired of this routine, to mock him relentlessly.

Now that "The New Dream of the Red Chamber" flopped and "The New Journey to the West"—with its terrible reception—is inevitably hit hard.

Even Yi'an internally is divided over whether to release it.

Previously, Yi'an didn't fear bad TV dramas—they had distribution safety nets; even flops didn't hurt profits, and since Yi'an wasn't the producer, blame couldn't be laid on them.

But now, with the New Four Great Classical Novels turning into one ghost and one god, attention on subsequent projects has surged.

Yi'an, having become a positive symbol due to "The New Three Kingdoms," must now consider whether it will be dragged down—whether its reputation will suffer, or whether "The New Water Margin"'s release will be affected, or even whether its stock price will be impacted.

After discussion, the distribution department's deputy director, Xiao Guan, proposed:

Establish a subsidiary dedicated to distribution, with this subsidiary handling releases under a dual-brand system—one team, two names.

Pushing away guaranteed profits would be too extreme.

Forget other things—total revenue for "The New Three Kingdoms" neared 400 million; even if "The New Journey to the West" gets a discount, it'll still bring in 200–300 million; at a low 10% distribution fee, that's 20–30 million handed over.

The distribution department has existed for years and has never handled projects of this scale—how could they just give them up?

Better to take a roundabout route, add a shell layer—money still flows in, but if anything goes wrong or the project's reputation tanks, the subsidiary takes the blame.

In the future, this could become standard: good projects bear the Yi'an Distribution name; risky, low-reputation projects bear the subsidiary's name.

It sounds like covering one's ears while stealing a bell, but sometimes, adding this shell changes everything.

Many large companies create subsidiaries and spin-offs, piling on layers—part of the purpose is exactly this: protecting the parent company's brand image.

Name and profit go to the parent company; hardship and blame fall on the subsidiaries and spin-offs.

Not just the distribution department—TV drama department, film department, advertising department can all create shell companies for projects whose quality is uncertain but potentially profitable.

Thus, they comfortably earn profits, secure the substance, while minimizing negative impact and preserving their reputation.

So Yi'an Distribution withdrew from releasing Zhang Dahuizi's version of "The New Journey to the West," replaced by a new company with no apparent connection to Yi'an—but the same personnel and team remained.

The "The New Journey to the West" production team had no major objections—the name changed, but the people, resources, and channels didn't; as long as they could sell more, who cared what tricks Yi'an played?

In contrast, Yi'an had much more confidence in "The New Water Margin."

The core distribution team took direct charge, aiming to match the revenue of "The New Three Kingdoms."

Behind this also lies the president race between Xiao Guan, head of distribution, and Du Guowei, head of film.

Ascending to the top requires achievements to back it up.

The film department's recent dominance is Du Guowei's greatest advantage; although distribution doesn't lead production, it still earns significant credit by maximizing revenue from dramas.

In response to the distribution department's efforts, Du Guowei's side did not sit idle.

He didn't have high hopes for becoming CEO; in a giant conglomerate like Yi'an with so many departments and elders, lacking seniority was a fatal flaw.

But even if he couldn't secure the CEO position, he could use this chance to strengthen the Film Department—say, by taking control of film distribution, and if he could get involved in theater chains, that would be even better.

Or he could push Yi'an to establish a CCO position—the so-called Chief Content Officer—fully responsible for all content operations.

Yi'an is an entertainment and film company, and its content business has vast authority and scope; once this position is created, every department could insert itself, granting real power and making it the company's third most powerful role—and the more dominant kind.

First, use this Chief Content Officer role as a transition, accumulating prestige, achievements, and seniority, then naturally seize the CEO position.

In Du Guowei's heart, there was even a small ambition to one day become Yi'an's chairman.

After all, Yan Li's empire is so vast; now that he's willing to delegate power, in the future he might fully step back, retreat behind the scenes, or focus on other industries.

When that time comes, who better than Du Guowei to be the successor—someone with ability, loyalty, and prestige?

Of course, right now it's just a beautiful wish; pushing for those things isn't easy.

Du Guowei must make the company and Yan Li see his value; otherwise, not only will he never become chairman, he might even be used by Xiao Guan after he takes over as a warning example.

So these past days, Du Guowei has been demanding funding from the company, planning new film projects, preserving and expanding Yi'an's cinematic glory, and securing more leverage for himself.

Yi'an, Chairman's Office

Yan Li flipped through the project proposals Du Guowei had submitted.

Du Guowei's move was bold—he started with three major films: *Thirteen Daughters of Jin Ling*, *Longmen*, and *Wu Xia*.

All three films were collaborations with renowned directors—Lao Mouzi, Xu Laoguai, and Chen Kexin—and featured big-name stars including Li Lianjie, Donnie Yen, Deng Chao, Fan Xiaopang, Li Bingbing, Yang Mi, and even Hollywood actors.

Yan Li closed the proposal: "Let's not discuss *Thirteen Daughters of Jin Ling*—it was already decided. The script still needs refinement, but the tone is set; we'll revisit it later. Let's first talk about your thoughts on the other two projects."

Du Guowei nodded and explained his strategy.

Yi'an is now the leader of the film and television industry and has just gone public; it needs bold moves to seize market share, demonstrate its dominant position, instill market confidence, and raise its stock price.

Under these circumstances, Yi'an's previous low-budget strategy no longer works well.

Yi'an must make big films—films requiring massive investment, top directors, major stars, and grand promotion.

The *Longmen* project belongs to Xu Laoguai.

Previously, Huayi collaborated with him on *Detective Dee: The Mystery of the Phantom Flame*. Although the film hasn't been released yet, rumors have already spread in the industry; many have even seen the Semi-Finished Product, and their confidence in Xu Laoguai—whose past two years have been rough—has been restored.

*Longmen* is a reimagining of Xu Laoguai's classic *New Longmen Inn*; with the influence of *New Longmen Inn* behind it, the industry views it even more favorably.

China Film, Shanghai Film, Enlight Media, Bona, and Yinghuang have all shown varying degrees of interest in this project.