Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
“‘Mao Mountain Taoist Master’ is a genuine and conscientious local production?”
“Haotian Pictures, the hope of Huaxia cinema?”
Tian Qiuming’s lips curled up into a sneer when he read the screen full of positive reviews.
“Pay all the comments you want! What kind of trash film is this? And you call it the hope of Huaxia cinema? Dammt, are you looking down on me?” He snorted.
He switched to his movie review page, and the corner of his eye twitched when he saw the page full of negative reviews.
The negative comments had been pouring in since midnight.
However, he was not angry. After many years as a director, he had long gotten used to it. There was no such thing as negative publicity. The more they commented, the more famous his movies became, and the higher his profits.
It did not matter if the movie was horrible. Any movie that could entice viewers to pay for cinema tickets was a good movie.
Tian Qiuming’s name alone was very appealing. With a bunch of big-name celebrities starring in the movie, it would not be a problem for him to earn 500 to 600 million during the Lunar New Year period.
“All you Internet trolls are vulgar and crass. How could you possibly understand my movie?”
He sat in his villa which was worth tens of millions, lit a cigar, poured a glass of red wine, and slowly sipped it. From time to time, he would quarrel with netizens. What a relaxing day!
“All these losers are idiots! What do they know?”
He felt disdainful toward the people dogpiling on his movie.
As he scrolled down his feed, he gradually realized that something was amiss. Why were there more and more people speaking up for Haotian? He wondered how much money they spent on paid commenters.
‘Hm? Isn’t Ma Hongbin a famous film critic? He had been enthusiastically criticizing Haotian before. Why is he on their side now? How much money did he receive?
‘Huh? Tao Fei too? Why did he change sides?’
He became more and more confused as he saw those big names.
‘This shouldn’t be!
‘Haotian Pictures only has been established not long ago, and they aren’t connected to the bigshots in the industry. How were they able to bribe so many people and so quickly?’
“Hmph! So what if you bribe so many people? At most, you’ll earn a little more from the box office. You might not even recoup the money you spent on paying the critics. You’ll never catch up to me.”
He felt disdainful.
Today, his movie was scheduled for many screenings. He would easily rake in 70 to 80 million, and maybe even 100 million.
That trash movie would make at most three or four million. That was a twenty-fold difference.
“Haotian’s boss must be an idiot!”
He took a sip of red wine and sneered.
Not long after, his phone rang. He picked it up and saw that it was the president of his company.
“Hey, President Lin, Happy New Year! Wishing you riches and prosperity!”
He shouted as soon as he picked up the phone.
“There’s nothing happy about this situation, Director Tian. something bad has happened!” On the other end, President Lin sounded very anxious.
“What happened?” Tian Qiuming was stunned.
“Our screenings are reduced. No, they’re canceled!” President Lin said.
“What?”
Tian Qiuming was so shocked that he jumped from his seat. His expression changed drastically.
“How could this be? If they canceled out screenings, who’s replacing them? Ol’ Zhang’s ‘Bait and Switch’? Ol’ Chen’s ‘Journey to the West’? Don’t tell me it’s ‘Potsticker Man’?”
“No, they’re all given to Haotian Pictures. Yes, it’s that ‘Mao Mountain Taoist Master’, the trash movie you mentioned before!”
President Lin sounded rather angry.
“Damn it, that movie’s popularity is exploding. The cinemas are taking advantage of the situation and canceling our movie. They say that our movie is terrible and no one is watching it, but instead, everyone is watching ‘Mao Mountain Taoist Master’.”
“How could that be…” Tian Qiuming was getting flustered.
Without the screenings, that would be the end of his movie’s run. Not only was becoming the box office champion impossible, but he also might not even make his money back.
There were too many high-profile celebrities in his movie, which cost him too much money. It would take at least 300 million to recoup the cost.
If his movie was canceled on the first day, there would be no recovering from that.
“Sigh! Most of the theaters are still retaining some screenings, but if this continues, I don’t know how long we can last. The managers tell me they’re under great pressure.”
Tian Qiuming stood there. His face was pale.
The sudden news shattered his dream earlier.
“It shouldn’t be like this!” He muttered, “Didn’t Haotian just pay off a bunch of people to boost their movie?”
President Lin was silent for a moment, then said, “I haven’t watched it yet, but those managers all said it’s a rare good film!”
Tian Qiuming was stunned. He stood there and did not move for a long time.
He did not even know when the call ended.
Eventually, he sat down dejectedly as if he had lost his soul.
“Impossible… this is impossible!”
He couldn’t believe that an unknown director would be able to shoot a blockbuster movie in a little more than three months.
“This must be fake news!”
His face contorted viciously. He abruptly stood up and walked out of the door.
A while later, he was sitting in a movie theater.
Playing on the screen was “Mao Mountain Taoist Master.”
Around him were bursts of laughter, but he never laughed. His face was frighteningly pale.
He felt as though he was in a dream. Could a movie with such excellent production values and amazing special effects be completed in three months?
Who was that director called Xuan Yang?
Where did all those old actors come from?
His mind was filled with questions.
By the end of the movie, after everyone had left, he remained seated there, unable to recover from his shock.
The first day of the Lunar New Year passed.
The box office earnings were tabulated. In first place was “Journey to the West”, earning 90 million yuan. The second was “Potsticker Man” at 70 million. The third was “Mao Mountain Taoist Master” at 60 million.
The movies behind them earned more than 10 million yuan each.
“Journey to the West” had mostly negative reviews, but it was slightly better than absolute stinkers like “Bait and Switch” or “The Legend of Deification”. It took first place with the help of a large number of screenings.
“Potsticker Man” was an underdog, but its reviews were mostly positive. Its box office earnings were unexpected.
Of course, the biggest dark horse was “Mao Mountain Taoist Priest.”
Not many people had high expectations about it, but it was quite enjoyable, which translated to positive reviews.
In this era when bad movies flooded the market, a good movie would be highly sought after. If it were not for the lower number of screenings, it would have taken first place.
On the second day of the Lunar New Year, the movie became more and more popular. Many people went to the cinema to watch it because of the review. Many people watched it twice or thrice, contributing a lot to the box office.
In the face of the huge demand, more screenings were scheduled.
At the end of the second day, “Mao Mountain Taoist Master” climbed to the top of the rankings, raking in 200 million yuan, while the second place only had 80 million.
The accumulated box office earnings of “Mao Mountain Taoist Master” after two days was also in first place at 260 million yuan.
“Mao Mountain Taoist Master” continued to maintain its momentum on the third and fourth days, taking first place in all single-day box office earnings. In terms of accumulated box office earnings, “Mao Mountain Taoist Master” was far ahead of second place.
