‘Hm? Isn’t Ma Hongbin a famous film critic? He had been enthusiastically criticizing Haotian before. Why is he on their side now? How much money did he receive?
‘Huh? Tao Fei too? Why did he change sides?’
He became more and more confused as he saw those big names.
‘This shouldn’t be!
‘Haotian Pictures only has been established not long ago, and they aren’t connected to the bigshots in the industry. How were they able to bribe so many people and so quickly?’
“Hmph! So what if you bribe so many people? At most, you’ll earn a little more from the box office. You might not even recoup the money you spent on paying the critics. You’ll never catch up to me.”
He felt disdainful.
Today, his movie was scheduled for many screenings. He would easily rake in 70 to 80 million, and maybe even 100 million.
That trash movie would make at most three or four million. That was a twenty-fold difference.
“Haotian’s boss must be an idiot!”
He took a sip of red wine and sneered.
Not long after, his phone rang. He picked it up and saw that it was the president of his company.
“Hey, President Lin, Happy New Year! Wishing you riches and prosperity!”
He shouted as soon as he picked up the phone.
“There’s nothing happy about this situation, Director Tian. something bad has happened!” On the other end, President Lin sounded very anxious.
“What happened?” Tian Qiuming was stunned.
“Our screenings are reduced. No, they’re canceled!” President Lin said.
“What?”
Tian Qiuming was so shocked that he jumped from his seat. His expression changed drastically.
“How could this be? If they canceled out screenings, who’s replacing them? Ol’ Zhang’s ‘Bait and Switch’? Ol’ Chen’s ‘Journey to the West’? Don’t tell me it’s ‘Potsticker Man’?”
“No, they’re all given to Haotian Pictures. Yes, it’s that ‘Mao Mountain Taoist Master’, the trash movie you mentioned before!”
President Lin sounded rather angry.
“Damn it, that movie’s popularity is exploding. The cinemas are taking advantage of the situation and canceling our movie. They say that our movie is terrible and no one is watching it, but instead, everyone is watching ‘Mao Mountain Taoist Master’.”
“How could that be…” Tian Qiuming was getting flustered.
Without the screenings, that would be the end of his movie’s run. Not only was becoming the box office champion impossible, but he also might not even make his money back.
There were too many high-profile celebrities in his movie, which cost him too much money. It would take at least 300 million to recoup the cost.
If his movie was canceled on the first day, there would be no recovering from that.
“Sigh! Most of the theaters are still retaining some screenings, but if this continues, I don’t know how long we can last. The managers tell me they’re under great pressure.”
Tian Qiuming stood there. His face was pale.
The sudden news shattered his dream earlier.
“It shouldn’t be like this!” He muttered, “Didn’t Haotian just pay off a bunch of people to boost their movie?”
President Lin was silent for a moment, then said, “I haven’t watched it yet, but those managers all said it’s a rare good film!”
Tian Qiuming was stunned. He stood there and did not move for a long time.
He did not even know when the call ended.
Eventually, he sat down dejectedly as if he had lost his soul.
“Impossible… this is impossible!”
He couldn’t believe that an unknown director would be able to shoot a blockbuster movie in a little more than three months.
“This must be fake news!”
His face contorted viciously. He abruptly stood up and walked out of the door.
A while later, he was sitting in a movie theater.
Playing on the screen was “Mao Mountain Taoist Master.”
Around him were bursts of laughter, but he never laughed. His face was frighteningly pale.
He felt as though he was in a dream. Could a movie with such excellent production values and amazing special effects be completed in three months?
Who was that director called Xuan Yang?
Where did all those old actors come from?
His mind was filled with questions.
By the end of the movie, after everyone had left, he remained seated there, unable to recover from his shock.
The first day of the Lunar New Year passed.
The box office earnings were tabulated. In first place was “Journey to the West”, earning 90 million yuan. The second was “Potsticker Man” at 70 million. The third was “Mao Mountain Taoist Master” at 60 million.
The movies behind them earned more than 10 million yuan each.
“Journey to the West” had mostly negative reviews, but it was slightly better than absolute stinkers like “Bait and Switch” or “The Legend of Deification”. It took first place with the help of a large number of screenings.
“Potsticker Man” was an underdog, but its reviews were mostly positive. Its box office earnings were unexpected.
Of course, the biggest dark horse was “Mao Mountain Taoist Priest.”
Not many people had high expectations about it, but it was quite enjoyable, which translated to positive reviews.
In this era when bad movies flooded the market, a good movie would be highly sought after. If it were not for the lower number of screenings, it would have taken first place.
On the second day of the Lunar New Year, the movie became more and more popular. Many people went to the cinema to watch it because of the review. Many people watched it twice or thrice, contributing a lot to the box office.
In the face of the huge demand, more screenings were scheduled.
At the end of the second day, “Mao Mountain Taoist Master” climbed to the top of the rankings, raking in 200 million yuan, while the second place only had 80 million.
The accumulated box office earnings of “Mao Mountain Taoist Master” after two days was also in first place at 260 million yuan.
“Mao Mountain Taoist Master” continued to maintain its momentum on the third and fourth days, taking first place in all single-day box office earnings. In terms of accumulated box office earnings, “Mao Mountain Taoist Master” was far ahead of second place.
Chapter 627 - Surpassing One Billion!
The Lunar New Year was supposed to be a joyous and lively occasion.
However, it was a depressing scene on Dragon Tiger Mountain.
All the heavenly masters look frustrated and glum.
“What the hell? It’s number one again yesterday? 180 million at the box office!”
“This… this is illogical! How did that movie become so popular? Why Is it so popular? Is that movie even watchable?”
Their faces were scrunched up. No matter how hard they racked their brains, they could not understand how things had turned out like that.
When the movie was first announced, they had laughed at it. They were even laughing in their dreams.
They were surprised by the first trailer, but they continued laughing at it anyway.
They were still laughing when the second trailer was released…
As they had their reunion dinner on New Year’s Eve, they were using the movie as a joke.
However, on the next day, they could no longer laugh.
That was because the movie had suddenly become popular, and it had received overwhelmingly positive reviews online. The box office earnings shot up like a rocket.
They were too shocked to laugh.
Then, they began to frown.
The heavenly masters did not have the mood to celebrate the Lunar New Year anymore. They were swiping and refreshing the news feed on their phones every day, keeping an eye on the situation.
The box office earnings continued to rise after every day. They became more and more dejected.
“That shouldn’t be!”
“This must be
fake news!!”
They were finding all kinds of excuses to comfort themselves, hoping that the box office earnings of the movie would start to fall.
However, the reality was contrary to their wishes. The box office sales continued to rise with strong momentum.
“Mao Mountain Taoist Master” was far ahead from second place In the accumulated box office rankings.
As the movie rose in popularity, it caused a wave of Mao Mountain fever. Not only had the original novel became more popular, but it was also said that many people took advantage of the Lunar New Year holiday to travel to Mao Mountain with their families.
Those leading actors also received many new fans.
The heavenly masters were incredibly jealous.
In their eyes, the Taoist masters of Mao Mountain were considered poor losers with no money or taste. However, they had become celebrities.
They saw the Taoist masters in the news, dressed up and attending all kinds of events. Everywhere they went, reporters swarmed over and their flashlights flashed wildly. The way how people had admired them made the heavenly masters incredibly envious.
“Let’s go! Let’s go and see what the movie is like!” An elderly heavenly master could not hold back his curiosity any longer.
“If we watch the movie, aren’t we contributing to their box office earnings?” Someone immediately said reluctantly.
“Yes! Yes!”
Many people agreed.
They were incredibly frustrated when they were reminded that their money would be lining the pockets of those stinky Taoist masters.
“Hah! They’ve almost made a billion yuan. What’s a few more?” The elderly heavenly master said.
He led the heavenly masters to a nearby county seat and booked an entire theater.
The laughter and exclamations of surprise did not cease.
As fellow cultivators, they could tell that the zombies and ghosts were the real deal. The fighting also used real weapons and spells.
From the trailer, they thought that the movie had used special effects.
When the movie ended, they were all dumbfounded.
‘Shooting a movie with real weapons, spells, and monsters, but packaging them as special effects? That was unprecedented!
‘Who came up with that idea?’
“That was an amazing movie! That Xuan Yang is really talented! I’ve never realized that!”
“This is too cool! I want to act in a movie too!”
They heaped on praises while feeling extremely envious.
“Should we… talk to them? We can tag along with them and be cool too!” Suddenly, someone said.
Everyone fell silent.
Then, they scrambled to take out their phones to contact the people from Mao Mountain.
A few of them even called Tang Hao.
Tang Hao was at his grandmother’s house. They had finished lunch and were chatting.
“Hello, Fellow Cultivator Tang! Are you looking for more actors? We want to be actors too! Money is not a problem. We can invest a lot of money into your company.”
Tang Hao had a weird expression on his face after hearing that.
‘Aren’t those heavenly masters sworn enemies with the Taoist masters? Why are they now willing to humble themselves and ask for cooperation?’
He did not reject them immediately but instead replied that he needed some time to consider.
The heavenly masters were loaded. If he could get them to invest, it would be beneficial to the development of Haotian Pictures.
Tang Hao received a few more calls afterward, and he gave them the same reply.
Grandma looked at him and smiled. “You’re a busy man now, Lil Hao! Your phone keeps on ringing!”
“Yeah, Lil Hao is running a big business now!” First Uncle, sitting beside him, said with a smile.
“That’s good!” Grandpa said cheerfully.
His grandparents were healthy and energetic.
Qin Xiangyi and Grandma sat together. Grandma pulled her aside from time to time and whispered something to her, which made her blush. Shi Dazhu’s family was also there. They sat in the courtyard and chatted happily.
Tang Hao received some good news that night.
“Mao Mountain Taoist Master” had earned one billion yuan!
This news swept across the Internet like a whirlwind and shocked countless people.
One billion yuan in six days!
The news made many people envious.
All the film critics who had mocked Haotian Pictures had switched sides. They praised Haotian Pictures and cheered them on.
The rest were silent.
The other directors were also silent and ashamed.
The atmosphere on the Internet was jubilant. Everyone was congratulating Haotian Pictures.
Tang Hao’s phone never stopped ringing. He received countless congratulatory messages.
Finally, Tang Hao found the time to call Trendy Taoist Master and the others to congratulate them.
The company resumed operations on the eighth day of the Lunar New Year.
All the employees were talking about the movie. It was extremely lively.
“I didn’t expect the earnings to be so high!” Liu Yan said wistfully when she met her boss in the office.
She had thought that the movie would lose a lot of money and ruin their reputation. However, the movie had made them a lot of money, and also raised Haotian Group’s reputation.
In the afternoon, he received a call from Captain Zhou.
“Hello, Captain Zhou! What’s the matter?” Tang Hao answered the phone.
“Hey, Brother Tang! I have something to trouble you with. In a car chase earlier, the criminal was caught in an accident and was seriously injured. The doctors managed to stabilize him, but he’s still unconscious.
“The doctor said that he won’t wake up from the coma! That guy is very important. He can’t die. If he dies, the case will go cold. That’s why I need your help!”
“I see… OK! I’ll come over now!”
Tang Hao agreed. Waking someone up from a coma was a simple task.
“No need. I’m almost at your place. I’ll pick you up!” Captain Zhou said.
When Tang Hao went downstairs, the police car arrived and drove him to the hospital.
Chapter 628 - What A Small World
“What case is it, Captain Zhou?” Tang Hao asked in the car.
“Sigh! It’s a fraud case. The amount involved is quite large!” Captain Zhou turned his head and said.
He seemed indignant.
“Fraud is like herpes. It can’t be totally removed no matter how hard you try. It’s getting even more troublesome with modern technology. Look at the number of telephone scams nowadays!”
Tang Hao could not help but nod when he heard that.
He had frequently received such calls too. Indeed, the scammers were very rampant.
“We’ve been investigating this case for a long time. The one we arrested today is supposed to be a breakthrough, but we didn’t expect him to crash and fall into a coma. You’re the only one we could ask for help,” Captain Zhou said helplessly.
They soon arrived at the hospital.
After getting out of the car, Tang Hao followed Captain Zhou into the building and arrived at a room.
Tang Hao saw Senior Doctor Chen at the door.
“Divine Doctor Tang!”
When Senior Doctor Chen saw Tang Hao, he immediately walked up to him. “Wow! He really brought you here!”
They shook hands, and Tang Hao said, “How’s the situation?”
Senior Doctor Chen said, “His vitals are stable, but he’s not regaining consciousness.”
“Got it!”
Tang Hao did not say much. He walked into the room, asked everyone else to go
out, and began to perform acupuncture.
Ten minutes later, the criminal’s fingers moved. A moment later, his eyelids fluttered, and he opened his eyes.
Tang Hao put the needles away and shouted, “It’s done!”
Immediately, a group of people rushed in. Captain Zhou was delighted when he saw that the criminal had woken up.
“Thank you!” He said to the prisoner and walked toward the criminal.
“Since you’ve woken up, don’t pretend to be asleep. Quickly fess up, who are your accomplices?”
The criminal opened his eyes and did not say a word.
“Hah! You’re still being stubborn?” Captain Zhou was instantly annoyed.
He raised his hand and was about to slap him.
“Hey! Be careful, Captain Zhou. He just woke up. What if you knock him out again? What would we do then?” Senior Doctor Chen said hurriedly.
“I…”
Captain Zhou’s raised hand froze in mid-air.
“Dammit!” He cursed as he dropped his hand. He became even angrier when he saw the criminal’s smug look.
He looked at Tang Hao and abruptly said, “Brother Tang, don’t you have many amazing potions? Do you have anything that can make people tell the truth?”
Tang Hao nodded. “I do!”
Captain Zhou was surprised. He was not expecting a positive answer.
Then, he asked excitedly, “What potion is it?”
“It’s like a truth serum!” Tang Hao said, “But, Captain Zhou, you have to use it sparingly…”
“I know what to do!” Captain Zhou quickly said.
Tang Hao took out a bottle of truth potion and handed it over. “Just a little bit will do,” he reminded Captain Zhou again.
Captain Zhou took it, ordered his two subordinates to hold the criminal down, and poured some potion into his mouth.
Almost immediately, before Captain Zhou and the others could ask any questions, the criminal started to confess everything. He almost burst into tears.
Seeing that, Captain Zhou and the police officers were flabbergasted.
“What kind of miracle potion is this? This is so effective!”
Captain Zhou looked at Tang Hao, astounded.
Tang Hao scratched his head and said, “Well, it has special ingredients inside. It’s very effective, but it’s not a legitimate method to extract a confession.”
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