Some media outlets analyzed that the so-called "box office fraud" scandal didn't hurt the film at all—in fact, it acted like a favorable wind, giving the movie an extra push at the box office. If Laila's film really did break the record, they joked, she might even have to thank the "kind soul" who tried and failed to frame her.
It was precisely because Laila benefited from the incident that some voices online began to speculate: maybe this whole "box office scandal" was orchestrated by Laila herself and Longteng Studios.
Why?
Simple. For the box office.
Just look at how many people heard of the movie because of this incident. Out of billions of people worldwide, even if just a few million became curious about the film, that still translated into hundreds of millions in ticket sales.
Sure, Laila seemed like the victim of a vicious smear campaign. But if the backlash was flipped so quickly, and she gained millions at the box office as a result, who wouldn't want to be "framed" like that?
If this were the outcome, any production company or distributor would gladly take a hit for that kind of payoff.
And surprisingly, once this theory started making the rounds, quite a few people actually believed it—even some of Laila's most loyal fans. In fact, the more someone admired her capabilities, the more likely they were to believe she was capable of pulling this off.
After all, aside from filmmaking, what was Laila most famous for?
Her campaign strategies.
Every time she promoted a brand, she used extraordinary and innovative methods to achieve massive results. Some of her most successful campaigns weren't even recognized as PR until long after the fact.
So it wasn't strange at all to think this entire incident was just another of her masterful publicity stunts. Who told her to have such an impressive track record? Her fans didn't even care whether it was really a stunt or not. Even if it was—so what?
Media and competitors could only watch as she raked in piles of cash, gnashing their teeth with regret that they hadn't thought of doing it first.
Still, the majority of people didn't believe the theory. Especially those familiar with the industry. They knew that someone like Laila wouldn't pour filth on her own name for a bit of publicity.
The reason was simple—this kind of thing was far too risky.
One misstep, and the entire Longteng Company—not to mention Laila herself—would be finished.
Laila wasn't just smart—she was savvy and well-versed in how Hollywood worked. No matter how badly someone wanted box office success, no rational person would take a gamble that dangerous.
In private gatherings among Hollywood elites, many discussed the incident. And the consensus was that it was, without a doubt, an attempted frame-up. A very clumsy one. The only question was—who was behind it?
One thing they could be certain of: it wasn't any of the major studios.
Let's be honest—everyone has played dirty at some point. But digging into box office fraud would risk unearthing skeletons from everyone's closets. If anyone truly managed to use that angle to take Laila down, it could trigger a domino effect that would implicate others.
And never forget—what was the Moran family's biggest strength?
Media.
The Morans had no shortage of journalists. If they wanted to dig into someone's past, no one could guarantee they wouldn't be caught in the crossfire. Anyone daring to mess with the heir of Moran Media had better be ready to get scorched.
This wasn't a threat. It was reality.
By the same logic, Laila herself wouldn't risk it either. Unless she wanted to offend every competitor in the industry, there was no reason to pull off something so reckless and thankless.
She definitely influenced Hollywood, no doubt about that.
But no one person could carry Hollywood alone. Only fair competition and a flourishing creative ecosystem could keep Hollywood standing strong.
Even the most brilliant filmmaker couldn't shoot thousands of films per year. Without a robust film industry behind her, Hollywood's global dominance would collapse.
After much speculation, most agreed: whoever framed Laila probably wasn't a professional from within Hollywood, not even someone from the production circles.
Most likely, it was someone she had offended outside the film industry. And this person had deliberately chosen her most brilliant and public domain—cinema—as the place to strike, hoping to destroy her.
And truthfully... they weren't far off.
Faaris's willingness to go along with this scheme stemmed from the fact that he was, fundamentally, an outsider. He had only one foot in the entertainment industry and didn't understand its unspoken rules. That's why he acted without fear of consequence—and even felt proud of himself.
Had he truly understood how Hollywood operated, he might've chosen differently. If not, why would Cooper only propose this idea when he had no other options left?
Right now, however, Cooper himself was in the darkest chapter of his life.
For this plan he came up with, Faaris ended up putting in the last of his personal funds. He had already emptied his company to invest in Green Lantern, and then put in even more—nearly $100 million—just to keep going.
And now this new plan—whether it was bribing people, planting insiders, or buying off theater owners—it all required a lot of money.
And Faaris was footing the entire bill.
After all, no one was going to risk their cushy job for peanuts.
Even if some of Laila's people weren't doing great financially and had debts up to their necks, it wasn't because they weren't being paid well—on the contrary, their salaries and benefits were among the highest in Hollywood.
They needed those generous salaries to fund their reckless spending habits. Banks were willing to let them rack up debt precisely because they had solid jobs and steady incomes.
So to buy them out, Faaris had to compensate for the loss of that security. And that wasn't cheap.
On top of that, bribing cinema owners wasn't going to be cheap either. If a theater got caught participating in box office fraud, the consequences would be devastating. No one would take that kind of risk for spare change.
Because of all these obstacles, Faaris didn't manage to recruit as many insiders as Laila had feared. But even with fewer people, some of them had escaped Xiao Ye's scrutiny.
Still, Laila had made the right move by going public first.
If she had waited for Faaris and Cooper to act, and all those people had struck at once, the damage would've been devastating—possibly fatal. Yes, she had her own army of trolls and PR machines. But it wasn't as if the enemy came unprepared either.
It was precisely because Laila exposed the situation ahead of time that Faaris's entire plan collapsed before it even began.
All their carefully laid steps became a joke.
Now, if they tried to release those so-called "explosive revelations" according to their original timeline, people would just laugh them off as pathetic.
Laila had timed everything perfectly, releasing the scandal at night and flipping public opinion by the next morning.