CHAPTER 1840: CHAPTER 963: CRUSH THE THEATERS

Where did the halved screening rate go?

Obviously, do we even need to guess this answer?

For Penguin Group’s "League of Legends: The First War" to have such a high screening rate, it definitely squeezed out part of the screening time of "NeZha the Devil Child". Xu Jiuge was really upset about this matter, so he came to vent to Principal Ding.

Ding Yue frowned upon hearing this and looked at Xu Jiuge, asking, "Didn’t we sign an agreement with the cinemas about the screening during the promotional stage of our ’NeZha the Devil Child’? How come there’s only half the screening rate now?"

Ding Yue was also extremely astonished by this matter.

Originally, he thought that today, Feiyue Animation Studio’s "NeZha the Devil Child" would have a screening rate of over 15%, or even possibly reach up to 20%, allowing it to compete directly with Penguin Group’s "League of Legends: The First War" on the first day.

Unexpectedly, who would have thought it would be a backstab?

"I don’t know either. I think we’ve been backstabbed. I suspect that Penguin Group might have been up to something," Xu Jiuge mumbled, frowning. "There are clauses in many cinema screening agreements that allow adjustments based on actual circumstances. I think those cinemas, seeing the popularity of ’League of Legends: The First War’ and the high marketing costs from Penguin Group, gave the screening time to ’League of Legends: The First War’."

Xu Jiuge analyzed and said.

In Xu Jiuge’s view, the main reason why "NeZha the Devil Child" had its screening rate halved was probably due to Penguin Group’s behind-the-scenes scheming to market "League of Legends: The First War".

After all, as long as Penguin Group provides even a slightly higher interest to the cinemas, and the cinemas notice the high popularity and advance box office of "League of Legends: The First War", they would naturally choose to allocate more screening times to "League of Legends: The First War" for profit and risk avoidance.

"Well, it’s not impossible, but the cinemas suddenly reducing our screening rate by half is really unscrupulous, isn’t it?"

Ding Yue patted his chin, muttering.

Nothing Penguin Group does surprises Ding Yue anymore since that’s just how they are. What’s there to do? He’s long gotten used to it.

But what the cinemas did was infuriating because they already agreed on the screening volume beforehand, yet on the day of, they cut it by half. That’s just plain bullying!

"But the cinemas... with what they’ve done, there’s nothing we can do. We’re just too passive here."

Xu Jiuge said helplessly.

"Who can swallow this?"

Ding Yue angrily said, "Xiao Wen, help me call Director Huang and Miss An over."

"Okay, Principal Ding."

Wen Ruohan immediately started contacting Director Huang and Miss An.

Then, Ding Yue called over Big White: "Big White, come over here for a moment."

"Principal Ding, what’s this about?"

Xu Jiuge didn’t quite understand what Principal Ding intended to do.

"Instead of being at the mercy of others, let’s hold the initiative in our own hands. Cinemas today are just too arrogant. Their popcorns and colas are ridiculously overpriced."

Ding Yue shrugged and said, "Our Feiyue Group can provide better cinema environments, viewing experiences, and services. Let’s shake things up and show those arrogant cinemas what real audience service means!"

"Principal Ding, are you planning to open a cinema?"

Xu Jiuge, upon hearing this, was quite startled.

Goodness!

Is this what it means to be a young tycoon like Principal Ding?

Decision made on a whim to open a cinema?

"Big White, help me check how many cinemas there are in our country’s major cities."

Ding Yue asked Big White.

Only Big White could quickly access such data, as it is an artificial intelligence robot.

"Data screening complete—

Haicheng: 337, IMAX+Dolby cinemas: 43!

Shencheng: 303, IMAX+Dolby cinemas: 24!

Mist City: 296, IMAX+Dolby cinemas: 29!

...

Wan City: 160, IMAX+Dolby cinemas: 10!"

Big White quickly provided Ding Yue with the cinema numbers for the top ten cities in the country.

"There are several thousand in total."

Ding Yue muttered, saying, "IMAX+Dolby cinemas are the mainstream now. Add the regular theaters, and we can target all audience demographics. So, we’ll design according to the IMAX and Dolby cinema standards, and upgrade the themes to let the contemporary youth truly enjoy the cinemas. We don’t need to rely on popcorn and colas for profit!"

"Principal Ding, are you preparing to open a cinema?"

Xu Jiuge asked, astonished, as he looked at Principal Ding.

"That’s right."

Ding Yue nodded with a grin and said, "These cinemas are just too arrogant. Once our Feiyue Group enters the cinema sector, we’ll outcompete them completely!"

Just now, Ding Yue was thinking, instead of negotiating with these cinemas, why not outdo them? Feiyue Group could open cinemas in major domestic cities, provide better environments, superior services, and more affordable prices. Ding Yue refused to believe he couldn’t outdo those high-and-mighty cinemas.

After all, when a movie is released, cinemas take quite a share of the revenue.

If Feiyue Group establishes its own cinemas and makes Feiyue Cinemas a mainstream choice, then the split from movies could be eliminated.

Of course, achieving this goal might cost a lot, perhaps even in the hundreds of billions.

At that moment, while Ding Yue and Xu Jiuge were discussing the cinema matter, Huang Youjie and An Yujia arrived at the principal’s office one after the other.

"Principal Ding, you called?"

An Yujia asked as she walked into the office.

"Yes."

Ding Yue nodded and said to An Yujia, "Miss An, do you know about the screening rate issue with our Feiyue Animation Studio’s ’NeZha the Devil Child’ today?"

"The screening rate issue? I was informed earlier; isn’t the screening rate over 15% today? Is there a problem?"

Upon hearing this, An Yujia asked, puzzled.

"Big White, tell Miss An."

Ding Yue said to Big White beside him.

"According to real-time screening data, ’NeZha the Devil Child’ only has a nationwide screening rate of 8.1% today."

Big White reported the relevant data.

"What?"

Upon hearing this, An Yujia was stunned.

An over 15% screening rate suddenly dropping to 8.1% on the release day of ’NeZha the Devil Child’ — how does that happen?

This drop is way too dramatic, isn’t it?

"Big White, are you sure you didn’t calculate wrong?"

An Yujia turned to Big White and asked.

"The data comes from multiple platforms, with an error rate of only 0.3%," Big White answered.

"This..."

An Yujia was dumbfounded, then looked at Xu Jiuge, asking, "Jiuge, what’s happening with the screening of ’NeZha the Devil Child’? Wasn’t the screening agreement with cinemas made by Feiyue Media?"

"Miss An, our Feiyue Animation Studio did not communicate with the cinemas. It was all done by Feiyue Media."

Xu Jiuge quickly replied.

"Then where did the problem occur? Did the cinemas really cut our screening rate by half? Isn’t this deliberate targeting?"

After thinking for a moment, An Yujia could only come up with this explanation.

Otherwise, how could an over 15% screening rate suddenly turn into 8.1%?

This is absurd!

"Miss An, you also think there’s a problem here, right?" Ding Yue calmly said to An Yujia.

"Could it be..."

After thinking more carefully, An Yujia found the screening rate too suspicious—could someone have tampered with it?

"Yue, do you mean the cinemas breached the screening agreement?"

Huang Youjie asked from the side.

As a high-achieving law graduate, Huang Youjie, after listening to Ding Yue, An Yujia, Big White, and Xu Jiuge’s discussions, could indeed smell a breach of the screening agreement...