China Entertainment's whatever you want

Having received Gu Wei's verbal promise, Chen Hongtao felt much more at ease and continued to report on the company's financial report for January.

"Due to the Spring Festival holiday season, the company's total revenue from cinemas in January this year reached 21.4 billion yuan, a new high in nearly three years."

It has reached 96.8% of the revenue in the same period of 2019.

Hearing this, Gu Wei raised an eyebrow, not surprised at all.

The three-year economic downturn and the resulting film and television industry downturn are real. Wanda Cinema's ability to weather the storm and gradually catch up with its pre-pandemic performance is already quite impressive.

"The number of screens in the company's cinemas accounts for about 15.6% of the total number of screens in the country, but its box office share in January reached as high as 23.7%."

This is mainly because most of the company's cinemas are located in bustling areas with high foot traffic and high occupancy rates.

Furthermore, the equipment is modern, with a large number of laser theaters, giant screen theaters, Dolby theaters, and IMAX theaters, and ticket prices are higher than those of regular cinemas.

Hearing this, Gu Wei interrupted him: "How did the company arrange the screenings of these movies released during the Spring Festival?"

"Six films were released during this year's Spring Festival. The most popular ones were 'Man Jiang Hong' and 'The Wandering Earth 2'. The company allocated most of the screenings to these two films, accounting for about 70%."

The remaining 30% goes to [Nameless], [Boonie Bears], [Deep Sea], and [Life Swap].

Judging from the box office results of the first week of the Spring Festival film season, the company's decision-making was not problematic.

【Man Jiang Hong】currently grossed 26 billion yuan, 【The Wandering Earth 2】21.6 billion yuan, and the other four films are all below 1 billion yuan.

This week, the plan is to further reduce the screenings of the last four films, especially the worst-performing ones, *Deep Sea* and *Swap*, and allocate more screenings to *Man Jiang Hong* and *The Wandering Earth 2*.

What Chen Hongtao said makes no problem; this has always been the logic behind theater scheduling.

The more popular a film is, the more screenings it will receive from theaters. Films with good ratings will get more screenings, while films with poor ratings will have their screenings taken away.

The fundamental purpose of cinema scheduling is to attract more viewers and make more money; that's the reality.

What are the current national screening percentages for "Man Jiang Hong" and "The Wandering Earth 2"?

Chen Hongtao thought for a moment: "As of today, 'The Wandering Earth 2' has a national screening share of 26%, and 'Man Jiang Hong' has a share of 33%, which is consistent with their current box office trends."

The company's screening ratio is basically consistent with the overall ratio.

Both films are highly anticipated big-budget productions. Relatively speaking, *The Wandering Earth 2* has received slightly better reviews, but *Man Jiang Hong* has put in more effort in its promotion, and being a comedy, it has an advantage due to its subject matter during the Chinese New Year period.

Gu Wei nodded slightly and tapped the table with his finger: "Well done."

However, I believe that as a cinema chain, the terminal for film screening, and an important part of the industry, we have a responsibility and mission to shoulder.

We need to look beyond just revenue and performance; we need to consider many other factors.

For example, films of excellent quality that hold a special place and significance in Chinese film history can receive more resource support.

Before he could finish speaking, Chen Hongtao glanced at Gu Wei, his eyes darting around before he immediately realized what was going on and replied, "Chairman Gu's considerations are indeed more comprehensive."

I originally had the same idea.

"The Wandering Earth," as a landmark masterpiece in Chinese science fiction cinema, deserves more support!

Originally, Wanda Cinemas did not invest in either of the two popular films during this year's Spring Festival. They were simply the theater operators, and they would release more of whichever film had higher attendance, higher popularity, and could make more money.

However, he remembered that his new chairman seemed to be a major producer of "The Wandering Earth," which made him realize the difference between those close to him and those distant from him.

"I'll arrange it right away and reallocate some of the screenings of 'Man Jiang Hong' next week to 'The Wandering Earth 2'!"

At this point, Chen Hongtao frowned slightly, as if thinking of something: "However, it might not be possible to adjust too many."

"These blockbuster movies have pre-signed screening agreements with the company before their release. If we go too far, we risk violating the contract."

Gu Wei didn't speak, but crossed his fingers in front of him.

The quiet environment put considerable pressure on Chen Hongtao, but then he had a sudden inspiration.

"Actually, there are other ways."

Since the proportion of screenings cannot be adjusted too much, we can still work on the timing and number of screenings.

I'll arrange for the theaters to schedule prime-time screenings for "The Wandering Earth 2" as much as possible each day, and then give the remaining time to "Man Jiang Hong".

This way, the contract is not violated, and the desired effect can still be achieved.

This will definitely help "The Wandering Earth 2" achieve even better results!

Hearing this, Gu Wei finally smiled: "Very good, President Chen, do it your way."

To be honest, Gu Wei's actions seem like he's acting as both player and referee, which feels a bit unfair.

But that's how business competition is in reality; people will stop at nothing to protect their own interests, as long as it's within the bounds of the law.

The US ban on film production companies investing in cinema chains aims to prevent monopolies and ensure market competition.

However, there is no such regulation in China. Gu Wei spent 45 billion yuan to acquire the cinema chain, and he couldn't let the money go to waste.

It doesn't matter who gets screen time; for "The Wandering Earth 2," the price of a single movie ticket will make Gu Wei, the theater chain, and the producer both profit, so of course he'll favor his own people.

As for whether this will affect Wanda Cinema's revenue.

He wasn't promoting some bad movie that wouldn't make money, but rather a top-tier domestic sci-fi film like "The Wandering Earth 2," which would still attract audiences to buy tickets even if it got screen time.

Moreover, from any perspective, Gu Wei doesn't want "The Wandering Earth 2" to ultimately lose to "Man Jiang Hong".

One is a 600 million yuan investment, four years in the making, and a masterpiece of Chinese science fiction cinema; the other is a low-budget, fast-paced comedy relying entirely on star power. If *The Wandering Earth 2* loses, it will be a blow to everyone aspiring to make big-budget science fiction films. To put it more bluntly, it will have a significant negative impact on the future development of Chinese cinema.

This is not alarmist.

The Wandering Earth 2 lost, and many film companies and investors felt that it was pointless to spend so much money and time, and that it would be better to find more stars and hire a big director to make a comedy in a short time.

Chinese films need comedy, but if one day all they have left are comedies, then it's over.

Later that evening, Gu Wei gave another interview, arranged by his team.

The main purpose is to respond to the recent acquisition of Wanda Film.

Reporters asked many questions about the equity acquisition, and Gu Wei responded normally to all of them. Finally, a reporter asked a slightly off-topic question: which of the films scheduled for this year's Spring Festival was Gu Wei most optimistic about?
“Of course it’s [The Wandering Earth 2], I’m Liu Qi!” Gu Wei joked.

"I promoted 'The Wandering Earth 2' on platforms like Weibo and Douyin before the movie was released. I believe in Guo Fan, the production team of 'The Wandering Earth,' and Brother Jing and Brother Hua."

I booked out a whole theater to support the movie after it was released.

It can only be said that Director Guo's films get better and better, and all the actors' performances are also outstanding.

"The Wandering Earth 2" is definitely worth seeing in theaters, and I hope that Chinese science fiction films will continue to improve!

With the affairs in Beijing settled in the new week, Gu Weifei flew back to the Hainan film crew to continue filming, but the change of ownership of Wanda Films continued to unfold.

On the same day Gu Wei gave the interview, he also promoted "The Wandering Earth 2" on his personal accounts on platforms such as Weibo and Douyin.

Riding on the wave of popularity generated by his takeover of Wanda Cinema, coupled with the increased screenings of "The Wandering Earth 2" this week.

On Monday, "The Wandering Earth 2" grossed 1.89 million yuan, surpassing "Man Jiang Hong" which grossed 1.25 million yuan, becoming the national box office champion for the day.

In the following week, "The Wandering Earth 2" continued its strong performance, surpassing "Man Jiang Hong" in total box office revenue after 14 days of release, reaching 34.6 billion RMB.

The box office trends of the two most popular films during this year's Spring Festival are now basically clear. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, "The Wandering Earth 2" will be the champion of this year's Spring Festival.

This is somewhat different from the original timeline. Originally, "Man Jiang Hong" slightly outperformed "The Wandering Earth 2," but due to Gu Wei's intervention, the box office results of "Man Jiang Hong" and "The Wandering Earth 2" were almost reversed.

This incident demonstrates just how important screening schedules and promotion are to a film's box office performance.

"There's nothing to thank me for. I'm also a producer of the film. It's a box office hit and I make money. It's not normal for me to help promote it."

The increase in screenings is because our movies are good and have high attendance.

In the crew's rest area, Gu Wei hung up the thank-you call from Guo Fan.

Sitting next to him, Meng Ziyi listened to his phone call and asked curiously, "Is that Director Guo Fan?"

Gu Wei nodded.

"Both 'The Wandering Earth 2' and 'Man Jiang Hong' have been very popular these past two weeks, not just in terms of the movies and box office, but also in terms of the recent online discussion about the trend of 'The Wandering Earth 2' initially lagging behind but then overtaking at the box office."

Gu Wei put down his phone, picked up his cup, and took a sip of water: "What were they saying?"

"Hmm~ Many netizens say that it's because you bought Wanda Cinema that you're favoring your own production, 'The Wandering Earth 2,' in terms of screenings, which is why we're in this situation now."

Gu Wei nodded slightly: "Yes, so what? Isn't this what we should do?"

Meng Ziyi didn't expect Gu Wei to admit it so readily. Shouldn't such things be handled respectably in public, regardless of how one behaves in private?
She suddenly remembered something: "I just saw a news article where Dong Ping, chairman of Huanxi Media and producer of Manjianghong, complained in an interview that some industry tycoons are both film producers and theater distributors, which leads to a bias in film scheduling."

He also cited the example of how film producers and theaters in the US film industry cannot have both, saying that doing so constitutes a monopoly.

Netizens are saying he's being sarcastic or mocking.

Gu Wei laughed: "[Huanxi Media] can't even clean its own tracks, yet Dong Ping still has the nerve to criticize me."

No matter what I do, it's all within the scope of laws, regulations, and even industry unspoken rules.

Do you think I don't know the little tricks they used to promote "Man Jiang Hong" in the first week?

Ghost screenings and ticket fraud—if ordinary viewers don't know, how could I not?

Meng Ziyi nodded somewhat angrily: "Then they are really terrible!"

Do you think "The Wandering Earth 2" will gross more at the box office than the first one?

Gu Wei thought for a moment: "It's highly unlikely. Based on the current box office trend, the final figure will probably be between 40 and 50 billion."

Frankly speaking, the plot of the second season wasn't as appealing as the first, and viewers who had seen the first season didn't experience the same wow factor in the second.

"I think the most important reason is that you weren't in the second movie."

"If you could act in it, you could crush 'Man Jiang Hong' in no time, and the box office would be a huge hit!" Meng Ziyi said cleverly, her big, watery eyes wide open.

Gu Wei smiled.

“I haven’t seen ‘The Wandering Earth 2’ yet. There are no night scenes tonight, so how about we go see it together?” Meng Ziyi invited.

"Today won't work. Liu Shishi has her last scene this afternoon, and we need to throw her a wrap party tonight."

Meng Ziyi was slightly disappointed.

However, she realized that she didn't seem to have many more days of filming left, and that filming was not far from wrapping up.

Looking at Gu Wei beside her, she felt time had flown by too quickly, and she felt increasingly reluctant to part ways. (End of Chapter)