China Entertainment started from Nortel 2002

Chapter 677: Pressure of Gambling, Snow is Coming
"Is the CEO of LeEco too idle or too concerned? He even intervened personally. Will he even tear the netizens apart later?"

Ning Hao was also dumbfounded when he saw what Zhang Zhao did.

"That shouldn't be the case."

Wen Muye is still a newcomer in the circle at this moment. Seeing the CEO of this big company directly attacking the big film critic, he felt very enlightened.

"LeEco has to count on The Great Wall this year. Don't forget that LeEco and LeEco Pictures have a bet against each other. Zhang Zhao must be really angry this time. Does he really think he has so much free time?

If he fails to fulfill the gambling agreement, the other shareholders, except LeTV, will tear him apart, and he will also have to make up the difference in the equity price."

Li Mu smiled. The investment department had done special research on this. On May 5 this year, LeTV announced that it planned to acquire 6% of LeTV Pictures' equity for 98 billion yuan.

然而截至2015年12月31日，乐视影业的净资产为21.08亿元，只相当于其交易价的21%。

In other words, the assessed value-added rate of LeTV Pictures is as high as 367%, and "the main reason for the assessed value-added is the strong profitability of the assessed object."

The key factor guaranteeing LeTV Pictures' high valuation lies in a performance commitment, which is usually referred to as a "betting agreement" in the industry.

As these agreements reach the end of this year, we can only rely on "The Great Wall".

It can be said that anyone who goes against "The Great Wall", no matter if they are big Vs or media, as long as they dare to give a bad review, will be warned by a lawyer's letter.

"That's what I thought. No wonder! It just looks difficult. The Great Wall Investment seems to have an investment of over 10 billion. According to the convention that the box office must be three times the cost to make a profit, excluding the cost of publicity and distribution, the global box office of this film needs to reach 30 billion yuan.
Based on the current domestic reputation, 20 billion is already quite good, but it will take billion globally, which is difficult!"

Ning Hao did the math for "The Great Wall" and shook his head.

"We don't have to worry about these. How is the progress of "Dying to Survive"? Can it start shooting normally next Thursday?"

Hearing Ning Hao's analysis, Li Mu just smiled indifferently. As a director, Ning Hao's judgment was very accurate.

"It's fine on my end."

"Brother, we expect to finish all matters on Monday, and it won't affect the start of filming on Thursday."

Ning Hao and Wen Muye both made promises regarding their respective matters.

At the same time, some negative reviews have begun to criticize Zhang Yimou harshly.

The film has a Douban movie score of 5.2 and a Mtime score of 7.3, and its quality seems unlikely to satisfy many movie fans.

Zhang Yimou was able to remain calm in the face of the negative reviews, but it seemed that Zhang Yimou’s wife Chen Ting could no longer sit still and quickly posted a post on Weibo criticizing the film review:
"You can call such personal attacks a 'film review'? Can someone of this level be called a 'film critic'?"

"Just because I made a movie, you are cursing me like this. Where is your quality? Where is your conscience?!"

"How can anyone kill a film director?"

It was obvious that Chen Ting was speaking up for Zhang Yi.

"Director Zhang is just like he was after the release of Three Shots!"

Liu Yifei also saw the various comments on the Internet, and she couldn't help but sigh as if she was back to the days after "Three Guns" was released.

"Sister Chen Ting is actually not wrong. If netizens criticize you someday, I will fight back."

Liu Yifei waved her little fist.

“What if I end up making a bad movie someday?”

Li Mu asked with interest.

"Then I'll help you too. I help my relatives, not my friends." Liu Yifei smiled and leaned on Li Mu's shoulder, "But we might get criticized together."

Li Mu touched the hair on Liu Yifei's forehead and smiled knowingly.

However, despite the endless criticism, "The Great Wall" still delivered a good report card in a polarized situation.

"'This is the Lunar New Year box office!' The Lunar New Year blockbuster "The Great Wall" directed by Zhang Yimou easily earned over 1.2 million yuan on the day of its release. More than 500 million viewers "added bricks and tiles" to "The Great Wall", helping the film to drive the entire film market with great momentum."

"The Great Wall lived up to expectations. According to data from the Maoyan platform, the film had nearly 10 screenings that day, accounting for 44.2% of the total screenings that day, and more than 69% of the box office, breaking the 60-day silence in the film market since Li Mu's Operation Red Sea, and grossed over 1.2 million yuan on the first day of its release."

Major media outlets have also been reporting on the box office performance of "The Great Wall".

The release of "The Great Wall" increased the overall market by nearly 70%, and made many industry insiders sigh that it finally felt like the Lunar New Year holiday.

After all, the economy is so depressed that everyone is running out of confidence.

However, the Internet is now very lively. After several rounds of disputes between the Blasphemous Movie and LeTV Pictures, it has been widely reposted on many social media platforms. Many film practitioners and film critics have also joined the discussion and have different opinions.

Amid the controversy, "The Great Wall" continued to hit the market, taking in 1.7 million yuan at the box office on Saturday.

However, as the weekend is coming to an end and there are doubts about its reputation, the fact that it only took in 1.29 million yuan at the box office on Sunday seems to have foreshadowed the fate of the film.

"Alas, I am destined not to go far."

Zhang Yi sighed, the trend is already very obvious.

"Director Zhang, the event is about to begin."

Seeing Zhang Yi standing there with a frown on his face, Jingtian also hurriedly called out in a low voice.

The box office of "The Great Wall" is pretty good recently, but due to its reputation, she has also been questioned by many people recently.

"It's okay. If there is any problem, I will help you. My acting skills have improved a lot." Zhang Yi heard this and came back to his senses. He also saw the sadness on Jing Tian's face. He naturally understood what was going on in the current situation.

Although Jingtian did not show the charm of those movie queens in this movie, she still made progress compared to her previous performances.

The strategic cooperation press conference of China Film also announced the list of cooperative films in the next one or two years, including the red classic "Sha Jia Bang", the hilarious musical comedy "Three Smiles", the action spy film "51st Soldier Station", the realistic theme "Dying to Survive", and the costume fantasy film "The Code of the Classic of Mountains and Seas".
After this release, netizens didn’t know much about the other films, but they were very familiar with “Dying to Survive”.

"Don't just talk, ask Director Li when the filming will start."

"Yes, the review took so long, and the preparation took two or three months?"

"I can't wait any longer. Urge Li Mu to hurry up."

Netizens were all urging Li Mu to start filming quickly.

"Please release the news of the start of filming of 'Dying to Survive'."

After reading it, Li Mu couldn't help but smile and called Lu Yu.

"Okay, Mr. Li."

Shortly after the media announced the list of cooperative films for China Film’s strategic cooperation conference, the official Weibo account of “Dying to Survive” finally released new news after several months.

“Dying to Survive will be launched this Thursday, so stay tuned.”

“Finally taking action!”

"It's not easy. Is it because I shouted a few words that Li Mu saw it?"

"I am looking forward to it. Will it be released next year? I like realistic themes."

This announcement really came as a surprise to fans, who left comments below.

"Baby, Daddy is going to release a new movie. Are you looking forward to it?" Liu Yifei said to herself while playing games with her little bun in the living room.

"Ba Ba!"

The little bun seemed to be following suit, but Liu Yifei was no longer surprised. Now the little bun could often utter two-syllable words.

Suddenly, Liu Yifei's cell phone vibrated on the sofa, and the screen suddenly lit up. The screensaver was a photo of Li Mu, Liu Yifei and Xiao Baozi.

Liu Yifei was about to reach out to take it, but the little bun on the sofa smiled and pressed Li Mu's position with his chubby little hand, "Ba Ba!"

This stunned Liu Yifei for a moment, and then her face was filled with joy and surprise.

"Baby, who is this? Call me again?"

"Ba Ba!"

The little boy's childish voice rang out, opening up in Liu Yifei's heart like the sound of nature.

"What about mom?" Liu Yifei quickly instructed.

The little bun removed his chubby little hand and slowly moved it to the other side, "Mom!"

"Oh, so good!" Liu Yifei hugged the little bun in her arms, and a joy like a flower blooming in her heart completely surged into her heart.

Then Liu Yifei immediately called the whole family over, and they all sat around the little bun.

Li Mu was driving home early. Liu Yifei had already told him the news in a voice message on WeChat and even had a video call with him. Although the little guy only shouted once in the video, it was not enough.

Anyway, the company's affairs had been dealt with, so Li Mu drove home in a hurry.

In late December, it was snowing heavily in the imperial capital. Everyone on the street was either wrapped in a military coat or wearing a feather suit, and their breath was clearly visible.

Every year's heavy snow seems to be like this, but Li Mu feels that this year's snow is particularly beautiful. The flying snowflakes are like dandelions all over the sky, or like countless young and indescribable lives, trembling, floating, and rippling in the vast sky.

"Dad is back, shall we go pick him up?"

Liu Yifei heard the sound of Li Mu's car driving into the yard, buttoned up the little girl's clothes, and gently supported her.

The little bun is just beginning to learn how to walk, and must rely on people or other objects to be able to walk.

With the help of Liu Yifei, the two little feet are very active.

"Ba Ba!" When the little boy saw Li Mu coming, he uttered two words. They were still not so clear, but they were enough to make people happy.

"Great!" Li Mu lifted the little bun above his head.

"Hee hee hee"

The little bun seemed very happy and waved it in the air for a long time with a smile on his face.

As expected, the box office of "The Great Wall" on Monday was cut in half, reaching the 5000 million mark.

The current forecast given by the industry is roughly around 10 billion.

If this movie was released a few years ago, a box office of 10 billion would definitely be enough.

But at the end of 2016, with a cost of over 10 billion, the box office of 10 billion seemed a little insufficient, and there seemed to be a long way to go before the film could make back its investment.
(End of this chapter)