Soon, with intentional and unintentional help from various parties, although "Silent Search" and "Law of the Jungle" had only been promoting for a few days, the atmosphere between the two sides was already filled with gunpowder.
However, upon closer inspection, "Law of the Jungle" actually had the upper hand.
After all, with Director Ren's previous works, and the acting skills of leads Liu Zehang and Xiao He being basically recognized by the market, everyone was still very confident about this production.
In contrast, for that zombie film over there, thanks to the previous popularity of online movies, many people's impression of domestic zombie films still remained at the level of "My Zombie School Belle" type productions, holding lower expectations for Director Feng's "Silent Search." Moreover, lead actor Tong Junhui had completely withdrawn from the industry for many years, and his fanbase revival speed wasn't particularly fast. So when comparing the two, "Silent Search" was actually at a disadvantage...
In a hotel in Shanghai.
"Bang—"
Dong Zeng vented his anger by smashing a nearby vase on the floor, while Feng Zhengyang on the sofa remained as stable as Mount Tai, leisurely smoking his cigarette. Only, as the white smoke rose, his face became hidden within the haze, making it impossible to discern his inner emotions.
"Stop smashing things."
Feng Zhengyang said calmly, "You've already smashed several rooms these past few days, haven't you vented enough yet?"
"I just feel extremely frustrated." Dong Zeng said resentfully, "Ever since we came here, nothing has been going smoothly for us."
"At least we've completed half of our objective. Once we sell off all our shares, we can leave." Feng Zhengyang analyzed coolly, "Didn't you tell Xu Youyou to wait until the movie's release? By that time we'll have long escaped, she's not a threat at all."
"It's just that we haven't sold off all our shares yet, I'm afraid something might go wrong." Dong Zeng said in a low voice, "If Xu Youyou came looking for us, the police must have followed her too. They might already be investigating us."
"We're cross-regional investors, the companies we packaged are all in Hong Kong. For them to investigate us, they'd need to cooperate with the police over there, and over there we have the Old Master's people keeping watch. If the police were already investigating this matter, he would definitely notify us."
As Feng Zhengyang spoke, he casually flicked the ash from his cigarette.
They came to the mainland this time for only one thing: money!
The first step naturally was laundering: creating basic projects, fabricating project costs, establishing fake contracts through affiliated companies, inflating costs to over a billion or even higher, while simultaneously reducing actual costs, allowing illegal funds to circulate between affiliated companies, converting them into legitimate income and flowing back into their own pockets.
This step could be completed during the film production or promotion stages, which was the part they had already finished.
The second step naturally was collecting: packaging the project, creating hype with fictional star-studded lineups and big production gimmicks, creating an illusion of "guaranteed profits," then splitting the film shares and selling them to retail investors or other investors, drawing them into the scheme.
On the surface, it appeared they wanted to invite everyone to share in the future box office dividends, but in reality, they were dumping their own shares, converting them into money, making it convenient to maximize all income before the film's official release—and this step was what they were currently doing.
"All that money from before has already gone into the Old Master's pocket. If we don't take back our share before the movie's release, we'll really have worked for nothing this trip."
Feng Zhengyang had staked all his reputation, paying an unimaginable price. Without receiving corresponding compensation, he wouldn't leave.
Dong Zeng was also someone who would risk his life for money. He immediately responded to Feng Zhengyang: "I know, I just don't want to be threatened by a woman."
Back in the day when the authorities hadn't cracked down yet, as people in the underworld, what kind of reckless fools hadn't they seen? For a woman like Xu Youyou, he would have directly had people slash her face with random knives, leaving her with her last breath and dumping her at the police station entrance—others wouldn't even dare utter a word.
But now times had changed. The state apparatus was powerful and formidable, and if people like them didn't follow the trend and clean up their act to go legitimate, they might really end up with grass growing on their graves.
"Let's not worry about that woman for now." Feng Zhengyang said, "What we should be more concerned about right now is our promotion. We're supposed to be a guaranteed-profit blockbuster project, but now our promotion can't even beat 'Law of the Jungle.' What will other investors think?"
Releasing during the Qingming Festival had already made many investors hesitate. After all, the Qingming Festival slot really couldn't be considered a particularly good release period. If it were a big production satisfied with their work, they would definitely choose the Spring Festival or May Day season—those holiday periods are longer, more people watch movies, making it easier to earn box office revenue. By no means should it have fallen to the Qingming Festival slot.
But their production speed couldn't possibly catch up with the Spring Festival no matter what, so they could only settle for second best and choose another time. But May Day was too far away—the timeline would be too long, with many potential changes along the way. Since they were in a hurry to make money and leave, they definitely didn't dare delay too long, so they ultimately chose the Qingming period.
They just never expected that while they originally thought the Qingming Festival slot would definitely be their domain, with "Silent Search" easily sweeping other works in the same period and monopolizing the entire Qingming Festival box office traffic, now a competing product of the same genre, "Law of the Jungle," had suddenly appeared and was matching their momentum—
This was simply a roadblock to their big money-making plans!
After all, one genre corresponds to one audience group, and the Qingming Festival isn't a particularly long holiday. Even if most people want to watch movies, they're mostly only willing to choose one film to watch during this holiday. So between "Silent Search" and "Law of the Jungle," audiences would have to make a choice.
At this point, promotion becomes particularly important.
Especially early promotion—it doesn't matter how extravagantly they boast. Right now they just need to stabilize other investors' confidence and trick them into continuing to buy film shares—as for the actual release, it doesn't matter, since they'll already have the money.
The audience was never important to begin with. Of course, if there were still fools willing to provide them with box office dividends, that would naturally be even better.
"I'll find a way to cause some trouble for those people over there."
After some thought, Dong Zeng's eyes revealed a cold gleam.
But Feng Zhengyang frowned: "I suggest we continue increasing our promotional efforts, just enough to overpower their momentum. The situation is becoming increasingly severe now, the authorities are watching very closely, so you'd better not be too obvious about it."
"So what?"
Dong Zeng retorted, "Didn't Tong Junhui back then still fall for my schemes? Look at him now—still our dog."
"Hehe, but that was then, this is now." Feng Zhengyang sneered.
"What's the difference between then and now? You're not scared, are you?" Dong Zeng stared impatiently at Feng Zhengyang, "You even dared to—"
"Thump!"
Feng Zhengyang suddenly reached out and slammed the ashtray on the coffee table heavily onto the floor, his eyes gloomy, his entire body radiating a thick, dangerous aura. His presence was actually more frightening than Dong Zeng, this former gang leader who had cut down many people. Staring straight at Dong Zeng, his tone was eerie: "I was threatened by the Old Master with this matter to come here and help you make money, I admit my bad luck..."
"But that doesn't mean I can keep enduring your threats."
Dong Zeng was actually momentarily intimidated by Feng Zhengyang's words. He remained silent for a moment, and when he spoke again, his tone had softened considerably: "I know, we all have our own difficulties."
"Hmph."
Feng Zhengyang snorted coldly, finally not pushing back against Dong Zeng anymore. Instead, he changed the subject: "But times really have changed now. I've been observing the entertainment industry here recently, and while it's true that making moves in real life isn't popular anymore, online is a completely different story."
Dong Zeng narrowed his eyes: "You mean—"
Feng Zhengyang said meaningfully: "Public opinion is such a wonderful thing—"