It's reasonable for me, a stuntman, to live a crazy life, right?

Chapter 1439: The era of "Feng's comedies" has come to a complete end!
No one expected that after "If You Are the One 3" flopped both critically and commercially on its opening day, Feng Xiaogang would suddenly appear at a film and television forum event.

Facing the media swarming around him, he emotionally directed his anger at Longxiang Cinemas, his words laced with inflammatory rhetoric:
"I really don't understand! All the movies released at the same time, whether they are comedies or dramas, have a minimum screening share of 15%, but 'If You Are the One 3' has less than 5% of the screenings! Isn't this discrimination?"
Our crew spent two years polishing the script, and the actors gave their all in their performances, but in the end, even the chance for the audience to see it was cut off by the theaters!
As a leading cinema chain in the industry, shouldn't Longxiang Cinemas treat all films equally? Why should they use screen time to drive a film to the brink of collapse?

Facing the media, he became more and more agitated, even raising his voice: "I know that the market now focuses on box office performance, but the movie has only been released for one day, and before it even has a chance to gain traction, its screenings have been drastically reduced. Is this reasonable?"

To put it bluntly, this is a monopoly by certain powerful cinema chains, which cannot tolerate different types of films!

His words were recorded verbatim by the media and topped the trending charts on major social media platforms that afternoon.

The news caused an uproar across the internet!

It's worth noting that the last time a production company publicly criticized a theater chain was many years ago when Zhang Weiping defended Zhang Yimou's "The Flowers of War".

At the time, Zhang Weiping accused cinemas of excessively favoring Hollywood blockbusters in their screenings, sparking a debate that lasted for half a month and eventually ended with cinemas making minor adjustments to their screening schedules.

But now, Feng Xiaogang has directly targeted Longxiang Cinema, the industry leader, with a level of intensity and controversy far exceeding that of the past.

Many netizens commented with amazement: "This is putting industry conflicts on the table and openly tearing each other apart!"

Following Feng Xiaogang's statement, Longxiang Cinemas instantly became the target of public criticism, with a barrage of questions flooding the internet:

"Indeed, Longxiang Cinemas is too domineering! Even if 'If You Are the One 3' has only received mediocre reviews, it shouldn't be suppressed like this. It doesn't even guarantee basic screenings. This is clearly a market monopoly, leaving no room for other films to survive."

"It must be Chen Fei pulling the strings behind the scenes. When Feiyue Films' 'All or Nothing' and 'The Third Brigade' were released in Longxiang Cinemas, their screening share was frighteningly high. Now that Feng Xiaogang's movie is here, he's deliberately suppressing the screening share. Isn't this just settling a personal score?"

"Longxiang Cinemas' actions are a violation of industry rules! Screening schedules should be based on market demand and audience feedback, but now they've become tools in their hands, allowing them to give more screenings to whomever they want. How are small companies' films supposed to survive in the future?"

“My friend works at Longxiang Cinemas and said that an internal notice had been issued a long time ago that the priority is to ensure screenings of ‘The Annual Meeting Can’t Stop!’ and all other movies have to give way. Feng Xiaogang’s claim of discrimination is not unfounded!”

"I used to think that Longxiang Cinema's intelligent scheduling system was quite fair, but now it seems to be a complete charade. Isn't it just a matter of doing things according to the whims of capital? Chen Fei has Feiyue Films and Longxiang Capital in his hands, so he can manipulate the scheduling at will. This is too unfair to other production companies!"

The internet is buzzing with discussion.

Many netizens were immediately caught in a dilemma, feeling that Feng Xiaogang's situation was somewhat unfair, while also worrying that Longxiang Cinemas might actually be engaging in monopolistic practices.

But Chen Fei remained unusually calm when he heard these voices.

Because he knew all too well the source of these doubts.

That evening, he convened a video conference.

Facing Huo Qigang, Ye Ning, and others on the other side of the video, he bluntly stated: "These most vocal critics are most likely not from ordinary viewers, but from small and medium-sized cinema chains whose market share has been taken over by Longxiang Cinemas."

Since our intelligent scheduling system went online, Longxiang Cinemas' occupancy rate and box office share have been rising steadily, and many small and medium-sized cinemas have lost customers, which has long been a source of resentment for them.

Now, taking advantage of Feng Xiaogang's situation, they're turning their attention to us, trying to disrupt the market and regain market share.

“That’s right, that’s how it is.” Huo Qigang pulled up the backend data and frowned. “Our film scheduling is adjusted based on real-time occupancy rate and audience ticket purchase data.”

"If You Are the One 3" only had an 8% occupancy rate on its opening day, far lower than the 35% of "The Annual Meeting Can't Stop!" during the same period. The low screening share is the result of market selection and has nothing to do with discrimination.

Feng Xiaogang is desperate after losing and trying to divert attention by blaming the cinema chains, while those small and medium-sized cinema chains are taking advantage of the situation to muddy the waters.

The other members of the video conference immediately understood after hearing this.

Chen Fei made the decision directly: "Ignore the noise. Let's follow the normal procedure, make the scheduling data and adjustment basis public and transparent, and let the audience judge for themselves."

As for Feng Xiaogang, if he still wants to cause trouble, we'll see it through to the end, but on the condition that it doesn't affect the normal promotion and distribution of other films..."

While Chen Fei was deploying countermeasures, online discussions were escalating.

Some media outlets have even begun to delve into the film scheduling mechanism of Longxiang Cinemas.

This "screening war" ignited by Feng Xiaogang has become the most exciting "side event" of the 2024 New Year's Day film season!
However, to everyone's surprise, this heated "screening dispute" came to an end before it could ferment for long.

The following morning, Longxiang Cinemas published a lengthy article on its official account, making public the operating rules of the intelligent scheduling system and the real-time data of all films released in the past three days.

From audience ticket purchase conversion rate and theater occupancy rate to the demand for screenings at different times and ticket refund rate, every piece of data is clearly available, and even includes the system's automatically generated records of scheduling adjustments.

Data shows that on the first day of its release, Longxiang Cinemas allocated 12% of the initial screenings to "If You Are the One 3", which was not much different from "The Infiltrator" (15%) and "The Annual Meeting Can't Stop!" (18%).

However, two hours after its release, the film's occupancy rate was only 8%, far lower than the 35% of "The Annual Meeting Can't Stop!" and the 22% of "The Infiltrator".

More importantly, the ticket refund rate was as high as 15%! Many shows even had half-empty seats.

According to the intelligent scheduling system's rule of "dynamically adjusting the number of screenings based on the occupancy rate," the system automatically reduced its screening share to 5%.

Meanwhile, "The Annual Meeting Can't Stop!", which also saw a continuous increase in occupancy rates, saw its screening share rise to 25%.

The lengthy article clearly states: "Our screening schedule is based solely on data, not on the director's reputation, and we do not offer any special treatment."

The decline in screenings for "If You Are the One 3" is a result of market selection, not so-called 'discrimination'.

If a film is of high quality and enjoys high audience approval, the system will naturally increase its screenings. This has been proven in films such as "All or Nothing", "The Annual Meeting Can't Stop!" and "The Third Brigade".

Both films initially received less than 10% of screenings, and it was only through high occupancy rates and low ticket refund rates that they gradually gained a larger share of screenings.

A series of cold, hard data directly refuted Feng Xiaogang's "discrimination theory."

He, who had been speaking out on social media, suddenly found himself in an awkward situation.

The more excited they were when they were criticizing Longxiang Cinemas, the more embarrassed they are now in the face of irrefutable evidence.

His accusations of being "suppressed by monopolies" and "not given opportunities" have become a complete joke in the face of data!

It's clear that his own film quality is subpar and unable to retain audiences, yet he shifts the blame to theaters. This "passing the buck" behavior completely exposes his lack of confidence.

While Feng Xiaogang remained silent, Huo Qigang, head of Longxiang Cinemas, gave an interview to the media, and his words were even more sarcastic:
"Director Feng said we discriminated against his movies? But the data doesn't lie. When 'If You Are the One 1' and '2' were released, Pan Asia Cinemas gave them priority screenings. Why didn't they say we discriminated then? Now that nobody's watching the movies, they blame the cinemas for not giving them screenings. That logic doesn't make sense, does it?"

Moreover, our intelligent system doesn't recognize any 'director qualifications,' it only recognizes 'audience preferences.'

If a movie can fill the theater, even if it's a film by a new director, we're willing to give it prime-time screenings.

But if the movie itself is bad, even if it's directed by a famous director, the audience won't buy it. We can't expect you to leave the screenings that can make money and insist on giving seats to movies that nobody watches, can we?
Instead of criticizing the theaters, Director Feng should go back and think about why audiences don't like his movies anymore.

The interview with Kenneth Fok sparked a heated discussion among netizens.

Feng Xiaogang stared at the news on his phone, his hands trembling with anger, yet he couldn't find a single reason to refute it.

With the data and audience feedback out there, any further explanation from him will only make him look more pathetic.

As the truth came to light, netizens reacted instantly.

Previously, the comments section was full of sympathy for Feng Xiaogang, but now it has turned into a frenzy of criticism.

Everyone advised him to look for problems within himself and stop making a fool of himself here.
"The data is so clear, who can we blame? I went to see 'If You Are the One 3,' and the plot was dragging, the jokes were awkward, and I wanted to leave halfway through. Isn't it no wonder that the attendance rate was low? If your movie is bad, don't blame the theaters for not giving you a chance."

"Hehe, does Director Feng think the audience is stupid? Does he think he can divert attention by shouting a few words about being discriminated against? Today's audiences are not blind. They know whether a movie is good or not. The low number of screenings is not the problem of the theaters. It's because you haven't made anything good."

"I used to think Director Feng's New Year films were pretty good, but what happened to them? They just rely on past glories and shift blame instead of reflecting on their own problems."

If it's a truly good movie, even with a low initial screening schedule, it can still make a comeback through word of mouth. Look at "The Annual Meeting Can't Stop!", didn't it surpass expectations through audience reviews?

"Chairman Huo is right. Cinemas are in it to make money, not to do charity. We can't expect all cinemas to reserve screenings for 'If You Are the One 3' and end up losing money with empty theaters, can we? I think Director Feng should stop worrying about scheduling and focus on polishing the script first."

"The most ridiculous thing is that Feng Xiaogang said before that he would spend two years polishing the script, and this is the finished product? It seems that he has been slacking off for two years. If the movie is bad, just admit it. Don't make excuses to shift the blame to the theaters. With this attitude, who will want to watch his movies in the future?"

As criticisms continued to emerge, the daily box office figures for "If You Are the One 3" steadily declined.

During the three-day New Year's Day holiday, all the films released at the same time, including "The Annual Meeting Can't Stop!", "The Infiltrator", "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star", and "Golden Finger", successfully grossed over 100 million yuan.

In contrast, "If You Are the One 3" only garnered less than 6000 million yuan, a huge disappointment.

This farce ultimately ended with Feng Xiaogang's "silent exit." In contrast, Longxiang Cinemas used this incident to further enhance its reputation for "data-driven scheduling and fair transparency."

Many viewers even said that they would prioritize screenings at Longxiang Cinemas in the future, so that they wouldn't waste their time on bad movies.

As for Feng Xiaogang, this incident has further damaged his already precarious reputation.

Netizens have predicted that "after this, I'm afraid no one will dare to invest in Feng Xiaogang's movies again."

This speculation was quickly confirmed.

Faced with the box office and critical failure of "If You Are the One 3" and a sharp drop in screenings, iQiyi took the lead in pressing the "stop-loss button".

On the same day, the official announcement stated that all promotional resources for the film would be completely withdrawn, and all marketing expenses and channel resources originally used for "If You Are the One 3" would be transferred to the new film "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star".

This romantic fantasy film, co-produced by iQiyi and 13 other production companies, may not have a novel theme, but thanks to its refreshing visual style and the popularity of its lead actors, it grossed over 1 million yuan on its opening day.

On social media platforms, topics such as "mutual unrequited love" and "time travel" remain highly popular, clearly indicating that they are potential stocks worth betting on.

iQiyi's move is almost tantamount to publicly announcing its separation from "If You Are the One 3".

This also means that from now on, Feng Xiaogang has been completely abandoned by iQiyi, his former important partner.

After all, in the film and television industry, capital only chases after projects that can make money; no one will continue to invest in a bad film that is destined to lose money.

Following iQiyi, the other five distributors involved in the distribution of "If You Are the One 3" also chose to withdraw.

Some distributors have stopped distributing promotional materials to offline cinemas, some have withdrawn promotional resources from online platforms, and some distributors have even stated directly in internal meetings:

"For a movie that has no hope of even breaking even, continuing to drag it out will only increase the losses, so there's no need to linger on it."

In just two days, the publicity team for "If You Are the One 3" completely collapsed, leaving only a few scattered staff members to handle the remaining tasks.

The blockbuster film, once expected to "turn the tide," has become a complete flop, ignored by everyone.

At this moment, in the office of Dongyang Meila Film Industry.

Feng Xiaogang sat alone behind his large desk, his back hunched, looking like a wilted eggplant, completely devoid of his former swagger as the "King of the Lunar New Year Film Season".

The box office reports and screenshots of negative reviews for "If You Are the One 3" were scattered on his desk. The glaring red numbers and sharp comments were like knives, stabbing his heart with pain.

He knew better than anyone else that, starting today, his film career was likely completely over, barring any unforeseen circumstances.

After all, in the film and television industry, capital only gives you a chance to trust us.

Back then, he signed Dongyang Meila with Huayi Brothers based on their past reputation and box office appeal.

Over the years, from the controversy surrounding "I Am Not Madame Bovary" to the box office failure of "Only Cloud Knows" and now the complete flop of "If You Are the One 3", he has repeatedly caused many investors to lose money, and has long since exhausted the last bit of trust that capital has in him.

What's even more cruel is that the current film and television market is no longer what he was familiar with.

Young audiences are no longer buying into the "nostalgia card" approach; they value innovative storylines and relatable characters more.

Capital is also more willing to invest in emerging directors who can accurately grasp market demands, or teams like Chen Fei that have both high-quality content and technological support.

On the contrary, he is still stuck in the past creative thinking, trying to win back the audience with old jokes, old actors and old routines, and the result can only be that he is left far behind by the market.

At that moment, he suddenly remembered when he first entered the industry, he made "The Dream Factory" with a burst of energy, creating a glorious chapter in the domestic New Year's film season.

I remember when "If You Are the One 1" was released, the theater was filled with laughter and the box office was booming.

But look at the present: the movies he makes are criticized by audiences as "outdated" and "awkward," and even theaters are too lazy to give them screenings. He even has to resort to attacking theaters to attract attention, only to be severely slapped in the face by the data.

This dramatic fall from grace made him appear several years older in an instant.

The office door was gently pushed open, and the assistant cautiously entered, handing over a document: "Director Feng, these are letters of intent to terminate the contracts from several investors..."

Furthermore, we've also received news from iQiyi that any further cooperation plans will be terminated here.

Feng Xiaogang took the document, his fingers trembling slightly, but he didn't even have the courage to open it.

He knew that these were not just a few termination notices, but a "verdict" on his film career.

From now on, perhaps no one will ever approach him with a script to direct again, and no one will ever be willing to fund his films.

He will make a quiet exit from the industry he has dedicated decades to...

The sunlight streamed through the window and fell on the desk, but it couldn't warm Feng Xiaogang's cold heart.

Back then, he, Zhang Yimou, and Chen Kaige were hailed as the "Three Giants of Chinese-language Film Industry" by the entire industry.

At that time, Zhang Yimou opened up the international market with films such as "Red Sorghum" and "Hero," becoming a representative of Chinese films "going global" with his magnificent cinematic language and rich color aesthetics.

Chen Kaige established his status in film history with "Farewell My Concubine," and even though his subsequent works have been controversial, he has always maintained his pursuit of "humanistic sentiments."

Feng Xiaogang, with films such as "The Dream Factory" and "Be There or Be Square," successfully pioneered the domestic New Year's film season, using humorous and down-to-earth stories to bring laughter to a generation during the New Year.

The phrase "Feng-style comedy" was once a box office gold standard!
Later, Chen Fei emerged out of nowhere. From "Buried Alive" to "Breakup Buddies", and now the intensively filming "The Three-Body Problem", each of his works accurately hits the market demand, with both realistic depth and commercial explosiveness. In just a few years, he has joined the ranks of top directors.

Since then, the "Big Three" have become the "Big Four".

At that time, although Feng Xiaogang felt a little disappointed, he didn't care too much.

He felt that he still had the "New Year's film nostalgia" as his trump card, and that he would be able to catch up one day.

Looking at them now, the other three, despite their own controversies, still stand firmly at the top of the film and television industry.

Although Zhang Yimou directed a controversial film like "The Great Wall," he quickly proved himself with "Cliff Walkers."

Even though Chen Kaige's films "Monk Comes Down the Mountain" and "Blossoms in the Dust" received polarized reviews, the "Volunteer Army" series still managed to secure top-tier investment and invite talented actors such as Zhu Yilong and Xin Baiqing, thus securing a place in the mainstream film market.

Chen Fei is even more extravagant. Not only are all his films blockbusters, but he has also ventured into the science fiction field to film "The Three-Body Problem." His ambition and strength are clearly visible. His companies, Feiyue Films and Longxiang Cinemas, have become industry benchmarks and are gaining increasing influence.

On the other hand, he himself was completely trampled underfoot by these three.

Zhang Yimou is still making big-budget films with investments of hundreds of millions, Chen Kaige is still able to lead the production of patriotic blockbusters, and Chen Fei has even opened a new chapter in Chinese science fiction.

Feng Xiaogang, however, could only cling to the sentiment of "If You Are the One" and produce a film called "If You Are the One 3" that was disliked by the audience and abandoned by capital. In the end, even his criticism of the theaters became a joke.

When the four of them appeared together at an event, he was able to sit on equal footing with Zhang Yimou, Chen Kaige, and Chen Fei.

But now, it seems even invitations to industry summits are hard to come by.

Capital chased after the other three, audiences eagerly awaited their new works, while he was left with only the label of "washed-up director" and a drawer full of scripts that no one wanted.

The office was so quiet you could hear your own breathing. Feng Xiaogang picked up the lighter on the table, trying to light a cigarette, but his hand was shaking so badly that he couldn't get the flame going several times.

He suddenly found it ridiculous.

Back then, he also joked that Zhang Yimou was "too pragmatic," criticized Chen Kaige for being "too artistic," and looked down on Chen Fei for being "too young."

In the end, it was precisely this person who "understood the audience best" who was directly abandoned by the audience and the market.

He knew that from now on, his name, Feng Xiaogang, would no longer be among the "giant directors" of the Chinese film industry.

He could only watch from afar as the other three continued to shine in the world of light and shadow, while he himself could only remain in a forgotten corner, slowly being forgotten.

Looking out at the bustling streets, he realized for the first time that his era had truly come to an end...

(End of this chapter)