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

Chapter 1450 This wave is all about making money from both ends!!!

Breaking News: Following "Let the Bullets Fly," "Gone with the Bullets," and "Hidden Man," Jiang Wen revealed at the celebration party for "Detective Chinatown 1900" that his new film is currently in preparation...

"It is understood that Jiang Wen's new work is suspected to tell the story of a 'musician'. Please look forward to it."

"The Hollywood blockbuster 'Godzilla vs. Kong 2' has finished its run, with box office takings totaling 13.55 billion yuan."

……

The news that Jiang Wen is about to shoot a new movie, which just came out from the celebration party of "Detective Chinatown 1900", quickly sparked a lot of discussion in the film and television industry.

Many netizens, upon seeing this news, immediately recalled the sharp lines and absurd narrative of the film "Let the Bullets Fly".

However, the industry's reaction was much calmer, even full of skepticism.

Because of the previous market failures of "Gone with the Bullets" and "Hidden Man", investors had already had concerns about his authorial expression.

Now, with the new work focusing on musicians, many investors say they don't understand it at all.

Fortunately, Jiang Wen has accumulated a considerable fortune over the years, so this time, with independent production, he is not constrained by funding issues.

Meanwhile, the market downturn following the end of the Spring Festival film season is putting immense pressure on major cinema chains.

Since March, apart from "Godzilla vs. Kong 2" barely keeping things going, the newly released films have either received mediocre reviews or are too small in scale.

Even the total daily box office has plummeted from over 20 billion yuan during the Spring Festival to around 1 million yuan.

Many cinemas are not even able to reach 10% occupancy.

In order to fill the gap and cover basic operating costs, cinemas had no choice but to urgently launch a film re-release plan.

From domestic blockbusters like "The Wandering Earth" and "Ghost Blows Out the Light" to classic imported films like "The Avengers" and "Aquaman," many are being re-released.

For many cinema chains, this isn't about making money, but about covering rent and employee salaries.

This is where Longxiang Cinemas' advantages become apparent.

As arranged by Chen Fei, all of his cinemas are located on his own property, and the only expenses he needs to incur are operating costs.

Without the pressure of rent, even during periods of market downturn, losses are unlikely.

This is the current operating principle of the cinema market.

As for those cinema chains that need to rent premises to operate, given the current market situation, they will have to close down sooner or later.

……

"Zeng Li's house collapsed."

On the set of "The Three-Body Problem," Shu Chang suddenly uttered a sentence that startled Chen Fei.

Zeng Li?

"That one from the Central Academy of Drama?" he asked instinctively.

"Correct."

"What's going on? Tax evasion?" Chen Fei immediately thought of this.

After all, although he doesn't have any high-quality works to release right now, his reputation is still quite good.

If it's true that they're suspected of tax evasion, then they've really brought this upon themselves.

“No, that’s not it.” Shu Chang shook her head and continued to explain, “I saw online that some fans discovered that the badges they gave to Zeng Li were being resold on second-hand platforms…”

Idols reselling gifts from fans?

Chen Fei frowned slightly: "What kind of operation is this? Are they short of money? Is it necessary to do this?"

"It must have been done by someone from the studio," Zhao Liying said after returning from the celebration banquet for "Article 20."

"No matter who did it, she's definitely involved. This wave of public opinion won't be easy to resolve," Shu Chang also offered her opinion.

Chen Fei agreed with this point.

Although this behavior is not illegal, it is highly unethical and particularly hurtful to fans.

Those badges, handwritten letters, and customized merchandise carry the sincerity of fans who regard their idols as spiritual support, and are the tokens of their heartfelt wishes, bought with their spare change saved up through frugality.

The result was quite the opposite; it was immediately put on a second-hand platform and sold at a fixed price, treated like scrap and wasted. No one could accept that.

It's important to understand that the trust between fans and idols is often very thin.

Especially for those fans who regularly attend offline events, they will go out at dawn to wait for their idols, and even if the gifts they bring are not expensive, they still put thought into them.

Now look what's happened! This sentiment has been used as a tool for profit. Who will dare to treat their idols with sincerity in the future?

Zeng Li's studio responded quickly.

That afternoon, the studio released a statement attributing the resale of fan gifts to the unauthorized actions of internal staff, emphasizing that the police had been notified and the staff involved had been dismissed, and attaching the dismissal certificate and police report receipt.

However, this seemingly quick attempt to mitigate the damage failed to immediately quell public opinion.

Because fans simply weren't buying it, stating that the studio's management was chaotic and the artist was largely to blame...

The number of people leaving the fandom continues to rise.

This also caused Zeng Li's previously accumulated reputation as an elegant older sister to crumble overnight.

At the same time, this scandal has made celebrities in the industry feel insecure.

Many artists' teams launched self-examinations and investigations overnight.

Some cleaned up the piles of fan gifts in their studios, registered them, and donated them to charitable organizations.

Some have directly published guidelines for managing fan gifts, promising not to waste or resell them.

Some popular idols even recorded videos to thank their fans for their kindness, emphasizing that they would cherish every gift, fearing that the aftermath of Zeng Li's incident would affect their public image and the trust of their fans.

While the industry was busy avoiding pitfalls, Tencent Video suddenly dropped a bombshell!
Together with more than 500 celebrities and 76 film and television companies, they released the "Joint Initiative to Resist Infringement of Short Video Film and Television Editing".

The initiative explicitly requires short video platforms to promote compliant management of copyrighted content, comprehensively clean up unauthorized film and television clips, segments, and reposted content, and even proposes to establish an infringement early warning mechanism, requiring the removal of pirated content within 24 hours of discovery.

As soon as the news broke, platforms such as Douyin and Kuaishou were instantly caught in a media storm.

Supporters argue that the copyrights of film and television companies and artists should be respected.

After all, arbitrarily editing plots and distorting character actions in short videos not only infringes on intellectual property rights but may also lead to spoilers and affect the film's box office performance.

Opponents, on the other hand, argue that short videos are an important channel for film and television promotion, and many viewers watch the full film precisely because they see exciting clips. A blanket boycott would only cut off the natural flow of viewers to the work.

But in reality, the essence of this incident is a power struggle between long-form video platforms and short-form video platforms.

As users' attention shifts to short videos, the membership revenue and advertising revenue of long video platforms will inevitably continue to decline.

Short videos attract traffic by offering free edited content, but rarely pay copyright holders.

The conflict between the two sides had been brewing for some time.

The boycott spearheaded by Tencent is simply bringing the conflict to the forefront.

However, as an industry leader, Chen Fei has never joined this chaotic battle.

It's not that he doesn't care about copyright, but rather that his business strategy has already covered the entire industry chain.

Upstream, he has invested in film and television companies that are responsible for production.

In the midstream, cinema chains with stakes control film scheduling.

Downstream, it not only has its own video platform Youku, but also has reached in-depth cooperation with Douyin and Kuaishou, including customized film and television editing and promotion projects, as well as participating in copyright revenue sharing with short video platforms.

In other words, regardless of the outcome of the power struggle between long and short video platforms, Chen Fei is a beneficiary.

If short video platforms regulate copyright, he can obtain more copyright revenue.

If the boycott eases, his work can continue to expand its influence through short videos.

Therefore, he doesn't need to take sides; he can simply wait quietly for the final result.

In any case, no matter which direction it takes, it won't harm his core interests.

Therefore, when faced with the invitation from Tencent's senior management to participate in the "joint initiative," he simply replied, "I will not participate for the time being, but will continue to pay attention."

Su Guohai was still somewhat worried and called to ask, "Won't we offend people if we don't follow the main group?"

Chen Fei smiled and reassured them, "Don't worry, as long as we ensure our interests are not harmed, let others do whatever they want. We can just sit back and watch them fight it out."

As he expected, the incident started quickly and ended quickly.

Just as May began, Tencent Video and Douyin Group officially announced that they will explore and cooperate on aspects such as joint promotion of long and short videos and secondary creation of short videos.

Next, Tencent Video will authorize Douyin to use its long videos, which have the right to be disseminated online and the right to sublicense, and has clarified the methods of secondary creation and the rules for release.

Users of Douyin Group's platforms, including Douyin, Xigua Video, and Toutiao, can create derivative works based on these content.

This collaboration signifies a certain reconciliation between long and short videos on copyright issues, successfully expanding the pool of high-quality content in the audiovisual industry and laying the foundation for the copyright compliance of secondary creations of short videos.

But these are all things that are out in the open; the real core issues cannot be hidden from someone like Chen Fei, who has been deeply involved in the industry for many years.

The essence of this collaboration is simply that Tencent Video has opened up a new revenue stream from Douyin.

Previously, although Tencent Video spearheaded the boycott of short video editing, it was also aware that the reach of short videos could bring significant traffic benefits to long videos.

Now, through licensing partnerships, Tencent can not only earn a considerable copyright fee, but also leverage Douyin's user base to promote its own content for free.

For example, user-edited clips of famous scenes from movies and TV series are actually used to attract new viewers to the shows.

Douyin, on the other hand, has completely gotten rid of the "infringement" controversy by legally authorizing content, which not only retains creators who are good at derivative works, but also enriches the platform's content ecosystem.

Both sides simply got what they needed, achieving a balance of interests.

Of course, this is also because Tencent's own short video platform failed to take off; otherwise, Douyin would have been left behind long ago.

This incident had absolutely no impact on Chen Fei.

If you're going to charge copyright fees, then go ahead and charge them.

After receiving the money, he can earn even more from Youku.

Meanwhile, when those film and television bloggers on Douyin promote their new dramas, they inevitably have to charge the production company a promotional fee.

In this regard, the platform naturally enjoys a share of the profits.

As a shareholder, Chen Fei naturally gets a share of the profits. This strategy aims to profit from both ends.

Meanwhile, as May arrives, the May Day holiday season has officially begun.

"The Japanese import 'Spy Kids Code: White' grossed 3525 million yen on its opening day."

"The comedy film 'The Last Money Maker,' directed by Wu Rina and starring Jia Bing, Tan Zhuo, Xiao Shenyang, and Yu Yang, grossed 9635 million yuan on its opening day."

The Hong Kong film "Kowloon Walled City" grossed HK$6069 million on its opening day.

"The action blockbuster 'Peacekeeping Riot Squad' grossed 1.53 million yuan on its opening day!"

"The new film 'Claw Machine,' co-produced by Happy Twist and Feiyue Films and starring Shen Teng and Ma Li, officially wrapped up filming yesterday and is expected to be released during the summer vacation."

Since no new films produced by Feiyue Films were released during the May Day holiday this year, Chen Fei didn't pay much attention to them.

He only glanced at the box office data occasionally and paid attention to a few of the higher-grossing films.

In particular, "Peacekeeping Riot Squad" grossed 1.53 million yuan on its opening day.

This number is remarkable on the first day of the May Day holiday, far exceeding that of other films!

This made Chen Fei wonder if another phenomenal action blockbuster was about to become a hit?
However, upon opening the rating website, the screen full of mockery instantly shattered his expectations.

The so-called "action blockbuster" turned out to be just a big promotional gimmick, but the actual content was full of loopholes.

"Can't we follow human nature and logic at all when making movies? The behavioral logic in this film is simply an insult to the intelligence of peacekeepers and enemy villains!"

"Thanks to peacekeeping, I haven't slept so soundly in a hail of bullets in a long time."

"It's so annoying and stupid to always use disobedience to highlight personal growth..."

"I don't understand what it's trying to express. It feels like it's just forcibly trying to evoke emotions. What is Zhong Chuxi's character thinking? The child she met died less than a minute after they met and she couldn't be saved. She was hysterically blaming herself and kneeling there shouting! Sister! Your captain and colleagues next to you are about to be beaten to death. Aren't you going to do anything about it?"

Chen Fei scrolled through the comments and shook his head helplessly.

He finally understood that the reason why "Peacekeeping Riot Squad" was able to get 1.53 million yuan in box office revenue on its opening day was entirely due to the pre-release publicity gimmick of "peacekeeping theme + popular actors".

On the other hand, the film itself lacks a solid plot and decent action design, making it completely unworthy of its box office success.

The final result was a shocking outcome: the film was pulled from theaters early and its box office performance plummeted to last place among major films released during the May Day holiday.

Compared to the Spring Festival film season, the May Day film season was a disappointment, with not a single movie grossing over 10 billion yuan.

There aren't many trending topics in the film and television industry, but the music industry is quite lively.

Singer 2024 aired in May, and the show was broadcast live with all microphones on.

Na Ying, representing online singers, accepted Adam Lambert's challenge, earning her the nickname "a fifty-year-old woman guarding the nation's gate" from netizens!

On May 24, Wang Xinling, affectionately known as "Sweet Sister," reposted a CCTV news report on cross-strait relations and wrote, "I am a member of the Chinese nation. Our territory cannot be divided and our nation cannot be separated," reiterating her stance and drawing widespread praise!
Entering June, the Three-Body Problem series is coming to a new end.

Previously, in the ending of "The Three-Body Problem 1", there was a scene showing the Trisolarans using sophons to lock down human technology and sending a fleet to Earth.

The second film depicted the "Wallfacer Project," a plotline implemented by humanity to resist the invasion.

Four Wallfacers were chosen, capable of mobilizing vast resources and explaining their plans, to counter the Trisolaran invasion.

Meanwhile, the remnants of the ETO, followers of the Trisolaran civilization, launched the "Wall-Breaking Project" and selected three Wall Breakers.

As for the fourth Wallfacer, Luo Ji, the one who broke through the wall was himself.

The first Wallfacer, Frederick Taylor, planned to build a quantum ghost fleet, but committed suicide in despair after the Wallfacer was breached.

The second Wallfacer, Manuel Rediaz, planned to detonate a nuclear bomb on Mercury to allow the sun to engulf the Earth in order to blackmail the Trisolarans. After his plan was exposed, he died in a riot.

The third Wallfacer, Bill Hines, wanted to use his mind imprint to make humanity believe that defeat was inevitable so that they could escape as soon as possible, but his plan failed after his wife broke through the Wall.

Luo Ji initially used the power of the Wallfacers to enjoy a life of luxury.

But after his wife Zhuang Yan went into hibernation, he couldn't help but start thinking about the cosmic sociology proposed by Ye Wenjie, and deduced the Dark Forest Theory, broadcasting the position of a star to the universe as a curse, and then went into hibernation due to ETO's genetic attack.

Two hundred years later, Luo Ji, Zhang Beihai, and others awaken.

At this point, human technology was highly advanced, and they no longer feared the Trisolarans, so the Wallfacer Project was abandoned.

However, the "droplet" probe launched by Trisolaris easily destroyed the human space fleet upon arrival.

In an instant, human fear struck again!
People suddenly remembered Luo Ji's "curse," only to discover that the star whose location had been revealed had already been destroyed.

Based on this, Luo Ji became a Wallfacer again.

He threatened the Trisolaran civilization that if they continued their invasion, he would reveal their coordinates to the entire universe.

Ultimately, the Trisolarans compromised, changed the fleet's course, lifted the blockade on Earth's basic science, and agreed to help humanity develop technology...

"The sun is about to set, and your children aren't afraid?"

"Of course, because he knows the sun will rise again tomorrow!"

"Crack!"

Inside the studio, with Chen Fei calling for a pause, filming of "The Three-Body Problem 2" officially came to an end.

At this point, some people have reached the end of their filming.

Meanwhile, the filming of "The Three-Body Problem 3" officially began with the casting of Cheng Xin, played by Jing Tian.

"Filming will officially begin in three days. Are you ready?"

On set, when Chen Fei asked her seriously, Jing Tian nodded emphatically: "Reporting to Director Chen, I'm always ready!"

The thought of directing a movie starring herself filled her with excitement and anticipation, but also a touch of nervousness.

But the thought of working with Chen Fei filled her with anticipation!
"come on."

Chen Fei patted her on the shoulder, left the studio, and went back to the capital to spend a day with Liu Yifei and Xiao Shitou.

The following day, he attended the opening ceremony of the third theme park in collaboration between Feiyue Films and Fantawild.

Fantawild Adventure Creative Park

This is a theme park themed around fun and creativity, featuring many visions for the future, with a focus on novelty and wonder!
The store was packed on opening day!

Because the park is located in the capital, Chen Fei returned home after attending the opening ceremony.

There are still two days left in the holiday, so I can continue to spend time with my family.

"Will there be any other new parks in the future?" Liu Yifei asked curiously when she met him.

Chen Fei shook his head: "There are no more for now. There are only plans for three theme parks. We'll see how the market reacts. If the revenue is good enough, we might continue to open more."

"Oh, that's how it is……"

"Let's go, let's go." Chen Fei picked up his son and waved to her. "I'll take you out for a big meal."

"Great!"

Liu Yifei instantly forgot all other thoughts and followed along excitedly.

……

"The movie 'I Don't Want to Be Friends with You,' starring Zhuang Dafei and Chen Haoyu, grossed 3452 million yuan on its opening day."

"Hong Kong films 'Never Give Up' and 'The Negotiator' grossed HK$3496 million and HK$2471 million respectively on their opening day."

"The family/comedy film 'Walking and Stopping,' starring Hu Ge, Gao Yuanyuan, and Yue Hong, grossed 2651 million yuan on its opening day."

"..."

On his way back to the film set, Chen Fei took a look at the film market in June.

Unsurprisingly, it was a dismal failure!
However, the TV drama market continues to rise.

First, "The Legend of the Tang Dynasty: Journey to the West" successfully concluded its run, with impressive viewership figures during its broadcast.

Before the broadcast even started, the number of pre-registrations on Youku exceeded 600 million, setting a new record.

During its run, the show's popularity score averaged over 10,000, ranking 5th in the history of the entire site!
Meanwhile, the series received over 1 million bullet comments. According to data from Yunhe, the series ranked first in popularity across the entire network for 14 consecutive days, with a peak market share of 35.3% for online dramas. It also ranked first in viewership across all platforms on Kuyun for 12 consecutive times.

After its finale, the drama received a high rating of 8.6 on Douban, making it the highest-rated historical drama of 2024.

The Weibo entertainment media rating reached 9.3, successfully breaking the new record.

And it has consistently topped the charts on platforms such as Weibo, Douyin, and Xiaohongshu.

There were over 1800 trending search terms across the entire internet, over 1100 trending search terms on Weibo, and over 90 billion views of related short videos on Douyin, with over 200 trending search terms on Douyin.

In addition, the show is also being streamed simultaneously on overseas websites, topping the popularity charts in 11 countries and regions!
Feiyue Films made a fortune from this drama.

Thankfully, the show that took over was "The Long Ballad Season 2" starring Yang Zi; otherwise, if it had been an ordinary period drama, it would have been heavily criticized!
Upon returning to the film set, Chen Fei immediately threw himself into filming "The Three-Body Problem 3".

At the same time, the Hollywood import "Inside Out 2" was released in the mainland Chinese market.

Unfortunately, its box office performance did not meet expectations.

However, the drama that followed closely behind, "There's a Small Shop on the Edge of the Clouds," starring Peng Yuchang and Zhou Ye, achieved quite good results and quality.

However, it was precisely because of the film's popularity that Chen Fei saw just how fierce the competition among young actresses in the current market is!
On the day the film's box office surpassed 100 million yuan, Zhou Ye's past controversies were unearthed, including rolling her eyes at Dilraba Dilmurat and showing disrespect backstage at CCTV. Her reputation within the industry immediately plummeted, and public opinion continued to escalate...

The PR team reacted quickly, immediately creating a new trending topic to suppress the issue.

Then, Joey Yung ran into trouble.

Some netizens claimed that she was a lesbian, and this news quickly sparked widespread attention and discussion online!
Strangely, he chose to remain silent, as if he were tacitly agreeing, which is quite surprising.

Summer movie season is here in the blink of an eye!

Movies like *Silent Killer*, *Despicable Me 4*, *Claw Machine*, *Deadpool & Wolverine*, *Under the Inhumans*, *Decipher*, *Reverse Life*, *Alien: The Deadly Ship*, and *Rebirth* suddenly began appearing one after another…

Meanwhile, news has also emerged that Chen Kaige's film "The Chinese People's Volunteers: A Battle for Survival" has wrapped up filming.

Clearly, this film is aiming for the National Day holiday release.

There's also "Crisis Route" starring Liu Dehua, "Road to Fire" starring Xiao Yang and Zhao Liying, and Jackie Chan's new film "Project Panda"...

The basic framework for the summer and National Day film seasons has been established, but whether it can regain the glory of the Spring Festival remains to be seen.

(End of this chapter)