Chapter 623 - Boycott Throughout The Entire Internet: Your Movie Is Bad!
Chapter 623: Boycott Throughout The Entire Internet: Your Movie Is Bad!
Not long after Big Beard Liu posted on Weibo which mentioned Su Yang in it and everyone was still waiting in confusion…
Suddenly, someone realized that the famous director in the country, Liang Gang, had reposted this Weibo post and left a message. ‘Your movie is really bad.’
Liang Gang’s Weibo post caused an uproar.
Who was Liang Gang?
A true A-Ranked director in the country. His debut movie was ranked in the top 10 in the domestic box office. His second movie reached the top in the second year and became the annual box office champion.
In his third year, he filmed two movies consecutively. Not only did he win the annual box office championship, but he also won the first runner-up altogether.
After that, his career skyrocketed and no one could stop him. The movies he made were either the annual box office champion or one of the top three. He was the most successful commercial director in the country.
Because he had a lot of good films, his status in the domestic entertainment industry had always been stable like a veteran’s and he had a lot of influence.
He even became the executive director of the Spring Festival Gala last year and was officially recognized by the authorities. Therefore, he was at his peak.
In the end, he actually reposted Big Beard Liu’s Weibo post and said, “Your movie is really bad.”
This immediately caused an uproar.
Many netizens flocked over and started commenting and asking questions.
‘What movie is this? Is it not good?’
‘Who are you betting with? Who is this person?’
‘What the f*ck, what’s going on?’
Just as many netizens were curious about this, an even bigger storm stirred.
It was unknown whether it was because of Liang Gang’s connections or because he had especially greeted them, but many B-Ranked and A-Ranked celebrities started to repost Liang Gang’s Weibo at the same time and left comments below. ‘Your movie is really bad.’
‘A major incident!
‘This is definitely a major incident!
‘The entire Internet is in an uproar!
‘So many celebrities have reposted a Weibo post saying that this movie is bad! Are they trying to drive this movie up into a corner and abdicate itself?!
‘What kind of movie is this? Is it actually so bad that it’s able to incur the wrath of everyone?’
Weibo was being flooded with this as its top searches at that moment.
The first top search was, #Your movie is really bad.
The other trending topics were also related to these events.
#Liang Gang said this movie is bad.
#Chen Kun said this movie is bad.
#Shuang Bing said this movie is bad.
#Dozens of celebrities are saying that this movie is bad.
No one expected this storm to come so quickly. Even the people involved did not expect it to cause such a huge scene. When they realized it, they realized that it was no longer under control.
At the same time, Wu Feng gave Su Yang a call as soon as the storm broke out online.
When Su Yang received the call, he was working out in the gym in the castle and had no idea what was going on.
The first thing Wu Feng said was, “This is crazy! This is really crazy! Big Beard Liu has gone too far! It was clearly just a private bet within the industry, but he’s actually publicized it to the entire Internet!”
Su Yang was confused. “What’s been publicized to the entire Internet?”
Wu Feng replied, “Eh? Brother Su, don’t you know?”
Su Yang wiped the sweat off his forehead with a puzzled look on his face. In order to avoid getting injured during his exercise, Little Deeny would not disturb him unless it was an emergency. Hence, he really did not know.
“What’s wrong, Brother Wu? Tell me about it.”
Following that, Wu Feng told them about Big Beard Liu’s statement on the internet, about the bet and about Liang Gang and the other celebrities reposting on Weibo.
Su Yang was shocked. “Is he crazy?”
Wu Feng said, “I think he’s crazy too! Why is he making such a huge scene out of this?!”
However, Su Yang said, “No, no, Brother Wu. I mean, our movie has such a good reputation, yet he dared to publicize our bet. Is he crazy?”
After saying that, Su Yang shook his head and pretended to sigh. “Sigh, I really misunderstood him in the past. I thought that he was a scheming person.”
“Looking at him now, I just realized that he’s actually such an open-minded person. Even though our movie has such a good reputation, he still dares to make a bet. I see that Old Liu is an honest person.”
Wu Feng was confused.
‘That doesn’t seem to be the main point here, does it, Brother Su?’
Wu Feng could not help but ask, “Brother Su, aren’t you worried?”
Su Yang put on a towel and walked out of the gym. “Why should I be worried?”
Wu Feng said anxiously, “So many influential celebrities are publicly saying that our movie is bad. Once the audience has a fixed impression of us, our plan to use our reputation to bring in the box office will be over!”
Su Yang laughed and asked, “When did they say that our movie is bad?”
Wu Feng was stunned for a moment before coming to a realization!
‘That’s right! When Big Beard Liu mentioned Su Yang’s bet, he did not even mention what movie it is.
‘As for those celebrities and directors, they did not state which movie it is when they reposted it, so… even though the Internet is in an uproar, nobody knows what movie it is exactly!’
With that thought in mind, Wu Feng heaved a sigh of relief. ‘There’s still hope, we can still resolve this situation.’
At that moment, Su Yang spoke. “Brother Wu, since they’re trying to suppress our reputation, let’s expand our pre-screening as well. See if you can talk to the other cinemas about having the pre-screening in all the major cities in the country at the same time. Let’s have our reputation explode first!”
Wu Feng hurriedly said, “Alright! I’ll go and have a chat with them right now!”
When Wu Feng hung up the phone, Su Yang’s face gradually darkened.
The reason why he had made all those jokes and even praised his opponent earlier was actually just to let Wu Feng relax.
As the main lead, director and investor of the film, Wu Feng had yet to experience much success, so he was a little worried.
At that moment, Su Yang needed to stabilize the situation.
That was why Su Yang seemed so nonchalant.
But actually… When he heard this news, he was stunned for a moment, afraid that a huge issue might happen.
Hence, after hanging up, Su Yang called Little Hus and Little Deeny.
After analyzing the situation with the two of them, Su Yang got Little Hus to sniff the effects the box office had on “Wolf Warriors”.
Little Hus sniffed a few times and reassured Su Yang. “Su Yang, there isn’t that big of an effect on the movie right now.”
Once again, Su Yang tested the effects it would have on the movie if the movie’s name, “Wolf Warriors”, was released. Instantly, Little Husky furrowed its brows. “It dropped by quite a bit. About one-fifth.”
‘One-fifth… That’s 120 million yuan.
‘The Weibo posts forwarded by these celebrities and directors could indeed affect “Wolf Warriors”!’
Su Yang looked at Little Deeny and said, “Little Deeny, what’s the best method for us to mitigate the damages to the bare minimum in your opinion?”
Little Deeny thought about it for a while before looking up and saying, “Master, I’m not sure either, but I feel that… Since no one knows what our movie is, we don’t have to bother ourselves with them.”
Su Yang frowned.
After a while, his eyes lit up and he clapped his hands. “That’s it! This could work!”
‘Little Deeny’s plan is very useful. Since it will definitely cause negative effects, why don’t we use it to promote instead?
‘As long as the reputation from the audiences who watched the movie doesn’t drop, the more publicity there is, the more people would be attracted to the cinema.
‘After these people watched the movie, they would naturally join the discussion online and praise the movie.
‘The reputation of the movie would then divide the audiences into two parties and cause a debate, which would further increase the box office of the movie. Who knows, it might even turn this crisis into an opportunity!’
With that thought in mind, Su Yang wrote down the plan that Little Deeny had inspired for him and got Little Hus to smell it!
Little Hus’s nose twitched. After a while, it raised its paws and gave Su Yang a thumbs up. “This can work! I feel the fragrance has improved! In fact, it’s even increased by a mile!”
Su Yang was relieved!
Only Little Deeny was confused. ‘Huh? What did I say? I just wanted to drag it out and let the heat slowly die down. Did I say something wrong?’
…
For the rest of the day, Su Yang was like an ostrich and did not appear online or reply to any messages.
That night, Wu Feng called Su Yang and told him that the expansion of the pre-screening had been settled. He had reached an agreement with the top few cinemas in the country and fought for the pre-screening sessions. Soon, there would be two pre-screening sessions every day across the country. He believed that it would increase the popularity of the movie.
The next day, on the first day of the screening, even though the reputation of “Wolf Warriors” had dropped a little, it was still very strong. In fact, it had also received 1.37 million yuan at the box office, showing its potential for the first time.
On Weibo, the topic of Su Yang and Big Beard Liu making a bet and the tens of celebrities saying that the movie was bad was still trending.
The fans and netizens of countless celebrities had already casted this movie into the back of their heads. They thought that it was definitely a terrible movie, or else there wouldn’t be so many celebrities boycotting it.
Based on the “two” reviews of the movie, they deemed that it could not have been a movie at all.
On the third day, the reputation for “Wolf Warriors” stabilized, maintaining a score of 9.8 for its viewership ratings, they even maintained a score of 7.8 on Douban. The continuous expansion of its reputation caused the box office sales of the pre-screening to rise by quite a bit, receiving 2 million yuan in box office on that very day.
The celebrities and directors in the entertainment industry who were prepared to laugh at the movie could secretly feel that something was amiss.
‘Based on the increase in its box office earnings, it doesn’t look like the box office trend of a niche movie!
‘If its box office sales had a minor explosion on the first day of the expansion of its pre-screening, it would not have been surprising. However, something’s definitely wrong if it’s still able to rise on the second day.’
On the fourth day, which was the third day of the expansion of the screening for “Wolf Warriors”, there were only two days left until it was scheduled to be officially released. At that point, the reputation for “Wolf Warriors” was still stable and its box office earnings had once again risen to 2.51 million yuan.
After six days of pre-screening, they had obtained close to six million yuan, which could not be considered to be a good result. However, if the fact of the matter that they had won 5.5 million yuan at the box office after three days of pre-screening was taken into account, it was a very good result!
The quality of the movie and the expansion of its pre-screening also contributed to the expansion in the influence of “Wolf Warriors”. More and more people started posting and discussing this new movie online. Also, there were many people and their friends who had also recommended this movie.
At the same time, the topic of the entertainment industry boycotting a particular movie was also trending on Weibo. There were even many celebrities who did not understand about this matter who had joined the fray just to follow the trend.