China Entertainment started from Nortel 2002

Chapter 849 The Destined Scapegoat
Li Mu didn't expect this unexpected surprise.

"Great!" Li Mu rubbed the little bun's head, "Okay, Dad, come on, what do you want to drink?"

"Pig milk tea!"

The little bun said without hesitation, as if there was only one thing that attracted her.

"Okay!" Li Mu smiled and then clicked it.

After giving the money, the little girl continued to play with her toys.

"My parents have no choice but to drink now. They must be so happy."

Liu Yifei had a smile on her face, but she was very proud in her heart.

"Yeah!" Li Mu certainly knew the mentality of the elderly. If their grandchildren invited them to eat something, they would be happy for a long time. Even if it was something they didn't like, they would eat it without hesitation.

After the milk tea was delivered, Li Mu asked Xiao Baozi to send it over.

Sure enough, after the little bun had delivered all the food one by one, his little face was full of smiles, and it was obvious that he had been praised a lot.

Li Mu couldn't help but smile when he saw this, and then looked at Liu Yifei who was drinking fruit tea, "How is it, is it delicious?"

"It tastes good." Liu Yifei nodded frantically like a chick pecking at rice.

"Okay, then run two more laps tomorrow!" Li Mu took a sip and felt that the milk tea was indeed much better than before.

"Hehe, sure, then you accompany me."

"No, I'm so tired!"

"Hmph, no."

The weekend passed just like that, but the online condemnation of "Shanghai Fortress" became more and more intense, while the praise for "Nezha" became more and more intense.

Under such circumstances, "Nezha" officially broke the 30 billion mark on Sunday, becoming the only animated film on the 30 billion movie list in Chinese film history.

Various congratulatory voices followed.

The agency's forecast has once again raised the total box office of "Nezha", setting it between 42 billion and 48 billion, which is quite optimistic.

In contrast, the box office of "Shanghai Fortress" dropped directly to 2000 million on Saturday, and fell below 1200 million on Sunday, earning only million, which was a tragedy.

You should know that the production cost of this movie exceeded 3 million yuan. Now, let alone a box office of 3 million yuan, it would be a blessing to get a box office of 1.5 million yuan.

Major theaters have even considered when to take down this film, which has a very bad reputation.

Because according to the predictions of major cinema chains, the daily revenue of movies will fall below three digits before next Friday, which is lower than the box office of "The Wandering Earth", which has been released for more than a month.

However, what no one expected was that on Monday, the official media also took action, with the People's Daily publishing three consecutive articles criticizing the issue.

"Behind the sky-high prices of movie tickets for "roadshows", there are more than just stupid people with lots of money!"

"The Wandering Earth brought honor to Chinese science fiction, but was lost again by Shanghai Fortress?"

"Shanghai Fortress flopped, and relying on traffic stars to make money is no longer effective."

"."

I have to say that it is hard to say whether Lu Han’s Defense of Shanghai was exciting or not, but the public opinion war about "Shanghai Fortress" was indeed very fierce.

The People's Daily article received support from netizens, and the voices of condemnation became even louder.

"Director Li, is the Dream Theater line still not taking down the movie?"

Yu Dong was in a good mood at the moment, because the weekend screening schedule had been returned to "The Bravest", and "The Bravest" also performed well, earning 1.6 million yuan at the box office on Saturday and Sunday. For a movie in its second week of release, it is not easy. After all, not every movie is like "Nezha".

"No rush, the theaters are free to arrange it!" Li Mu smiled and shook his head. He seldom interfered in these matters unless in special circumstances.

“Yeah, with the official media’s intervention this time, I’m afraid the film won’t be shown for a few days.” Yu Dong laughed.

Huang Jianxin, who had just arrived, was a little confused, "What official media?"

"We're talking about Shanghai Fortress." Li Mu responded with a chuckle.

"Mr. Yu, you know what, maybe there will be a turning point?" Huang Jianxin suddenly smiled mysteriously and asked everyone a riddle.

"Director Huang, please tell me when you have news. We're all waiting." Yu Dong couldn't help it and asked quickly.

"His father has found someone, and seems to want to make a final attempt to save the couple's reputation. After all, this couple's reputation is not very good. I guess the news will be out today or tomorrow." Huang Jianxin finally said slowly. It was obvious that the father he was talking about was Teng Huatao's father Teng Wenji.

"Forget it, let's ignore them and continue with our work. We don't have much time." Seeing that everyone was gathered, Li Mu was too lazy to discuss "Shanghai Fortress" anymore. The things at hand were more important.

"By the way, let me tell you one more thing. Director Li, how is the post-production of "The Captain" going?" Huang Jianxin suddenly asked, which surprised Li Mu.

"There's no problem on my end. I expect the final cut to be completed by the end of August!"

"That's fine. The higher-ups are keeping a close eye on the tribute films, and the schedule for My Motherland and I has also been accelerated. This is the first time we've made a tribute film with such a tight schedule."

Huang Jianxin shook his head, obviously working on two tribute films at the same time was not enough for him, but fortunately the filming of "My Motherland and Me" was completed and the post-production was in progress. Meanwhile, Teng Huatao, who had just breathed a sigh of relief, was preparing for a road show again, hoping to make a final effort for the box office.

But the media didn't seem to make it easy for him.

"Director Teng, why is it that Lu Han received positive reviews in Zhang Yimou's The Great Wall, but not in yours?"

"Director Teng, why didn't you consider using newcomers at the time? Just like Qu Chuxiao in The Wandering Earth, Li Mu used him very well. Did you make a major mistake in casting?"

"Director Teng, I heard that the theaters are going to take the movie off the shelves soon. Is that true?"

"."

At this time, Teng Huatao's face turned black after hearing all the questions. If it weren't for the roadshow, he would have wanted to just walk away.

He always mentions Zhang Yi and Li Mu. If he had the ability, why would he keep talking here?

“Director Teng, the reason for all these consequences is most likely Lu Han. The audience is too disgusted with him.” Chen Chihong was already looking for someone to blame and an excuse for the two of them.

Teng Huatao let out a sigh of relief. He knew very well that he had to make a choice.

At this moment, the phone suddenly rang. It was a WeChat message. Teng Huatao was a little confused, but when he opened it, he saw that it was from Lu Han, and it was encouraging.

"Director, it's okay, we can get through this"

However, at this time, after sending the message, Lu Han never thought that he had become the scapegoat of the distributor and the director.

In the evening, CCTV Movie Channel suddenly published a rare article to support "Shanghai Fortress": "When the wall falls, everyone pushes it down? Who is willing to "give" "Shanghai Fortress" a little justice?"

The article also supports "Shanghai Fortress" from multiple angles, arguing that the film was launched in 2013 and is considered a pioneer of Chinese science fiction films and a hard science fiction.

As to why "Shanghai Fortress" failed both at the box office and in terms of reputation, there was no specific analysis, but instead the blame was put on online bullying, with people believing that someone had given bad reviews.

The end of the article is even more sensational: In this case, will the future of domestic science fiction films become more difficult?
However, this aroused the dissatisfaction of netizens, and they directly started to criticize.

"What a joke! How come our criticism makes it harder and harder for Chinese science fiction to make progress? When did we become so influential?"

"Bad reviews are the key? Which movie doesn't have bad reviews, and which actor has all good reviews? Why can other movies make it? It's not good, it's not good for you, so don't blame others for having eyes, thank you!"

"."

"The relationship is quite deep." Li Mu naturally also saw this article, after all, it was on the hot search.

"Actually, I think it's not right to blame Lu Han alone. This movie is not the fault of just one person." Liu Yifei looked at the various comments, almost all of which put the problem on Lu Han alone, and couldn't help but say one more thing.

"You think he is not wrong, then whose fault is it?" Li Mu spread his hands and leaned back on the sofa.

"Ah, that's not wrong, but it's obvious that the director has more problems, the script, special effects, actors, etc.
Just like the hair issue, actors have to follow the director's instructions to perform, and the styling is also done by fixed staff. If the director asked Lu Han to cut his hair, he would probably do it as asked. This is not the kind of TV series that is influenced by traffic."

Li Mu listened to Liu Yifei's understanding of the movie, then nodded slowly.

"You are right, but the audience has been suffering from traffic for a long time. The most important thing is that if he doesn't take the blame, who will? Who is willing to take the blame? As of now, the film's box office share can exceed 5000 million, but the production cost is over 3 million!"

Li Mu smiled. This problem is very realistic. Someone has to take the blame. The producer must be feeling the pain with a loss of more than 200 million yuan.

"."

The next day, Li Mu went back to the company for a rare occasion. He had been traveling all over the capital recently, but he spent less time at Mengying Media.

"Mr. Li, the cinema chain has already planned to release Shanghai Fortress this week. Here are the current figures for you to review."

"Let them handle it themselves." Li Mu glanced at the data of major movies without much interest.

"This is the marketing plan for "The Captain," Lu Yu then handed over a second file.

"Okay, put it here first. By the way, when Lu Yang comes later, just let him in." Li Mu nodded and then instructed.

He came back today specifically because he has some relationship with Lu Yang.

Not long after Lu Yu left the office, Lu Yang came in a hurry.

"Secretary Lu, is Director Li here?"

Lu Yu stood up quickly and said, "I'm here. Mr. Li asked you to go directly over there."

"Okay, thanks!" Seeing this, Lu Yang hurriedly walked to the door of the largest office, knocked on it and went in.

"What's the matter? Not enough money?" When Li Mu saw Lu Yang coming in, he stood up with a smile and sat on the sofa.

Lu Yang scratched his head immediately: "The money is enough, but I didn't expect to spend so much. According to the special effects of the BOSS Red Haired Ghost, it costs more than 200 million to appear for one minute. I am wondering whether I should reduce his appearance time a little."

“Time can only be increased, not decreased! When we make movies, we must not save costs that should not be saved. Don’t lose the watermelon while picking up sesame seeds.”

"Let's go and take a look at your Red-haired Ghost. According to what you said, this character is probably the most expensive actor in the movie." Li Mu stood up with a smile and patted Lu Yang on the shoulder.

(End of this chapter)