Li Mu and Liu Shixiong were planning an encirclement around Shunfeng in an orderly manner. Their goal was to trap all of Shunfeng's forces in both Guangdong and Hong Kong, then encircle and annihilate them.
At the same time, the Mu Ying ticketing system had begun to snowball in the cinema chains of the mainland.
With the continuous delivery of a large number of self-service ticketing machines, cinema chains in first-tier and second-tier cities had basically all connected to the Mu Ying ticketing system. There were also a large number of cinema chains in third-tier and fourth-tier cities waiting in line for the system.
For those cinema chains that had already connected to the Mu Ying ticketing system, the biggest benefit of the system was that the overall attendance rate was much higher than before.
In the past, users were reluctant to go to the cinema to watch movies, not only because of the price of the movie tickets, but also because of various costs. But now that movies had entered the Internet era, it was much more convenient for users to watch movies than before. Naturally, the total box office was constantly increasing. In the end, apart from the major film companies, the owners of the cinema chains also benefited.
Therefore, the owners of the cinema chains were extremely fond of the Mu Ying ticketing system, but the film companies didn't think so.
With the example of "The Hero", although the Mu Ying ticketing system had increased the total box office of the entire country, they were still full of hostility towards the system.
The most fundamental reason why film companies were hostile towards the Mu Ying ticketing system was that it was completely out of their control.
In the past, when people fought for movie showtimes, they would negotiate with the owners of the major cinema chains. They had been working together for a long time and followed a set of unspoken rules. However, the Mu Ying ticketing system itself was above the existence of the cinema chains. Except for Makino Image, no other film company had anything to do with the Mu Ying ticketing system. As a result, the security of the film companies was greatly reduced.
Just as the Mu Ying ticketing system swallowed up the first-tier and second-tier cities and was about to expand to the third-tier and fourth-tier cities, a sensational rumor suddenly emerged in the film industry of Beijing.
It was said that the ultimate goal of Makino Image was to cover the Mu Ying ticketing system in every city in the country and then control the distribution rights of all the cinema chains with an absolute monopoly.
Rumors even warned that if the major cinema chains didn't band together, once Mu Ye's ticketing system spread across the country and demanded that the cinema chains hand over their rights to show their movies, they would completely lose the ability to resist.
Because at that time, a large portion of the box office revenue would come from Shadow Mudra's ticketing system. If any cinema chain dared to disobey, Shadow Mudra's ticketing system would directly close the entrance of that cinema chain's online ticket. Then, the cinema chain would definitely suffer heavy losses!
Some people even warned major film and television companies that once the time came, any film and television company would become the target of Makino Image. No one could guarantee that there would be a big-budget film with an investment of over 100 million that collided with Makino Image's film. At that time, once Makino Image used the Shadow Mugu ticketing system to suppress the film, the film with an investment of over 100 million would not even be able to earn back tens of millions in the box office. Wouldn't that be the end of the world?
After these rumors came out, there were immediately many derivative versions, and the more they spread, the more exaggerated they became. In the end, it reached the point where Makino Image was trying to use Shadow Mudra's ticketing system to crush all the competitors and monopolize the domestic film and television industry.
Although there were a lot of brainless speculations in it, one had to admit that it more or less grasped some important points. If Shadow Mudra's ticketing system achieved a national monopoly, then if Li Mu liked it, he could really control the distribution of the national box office. If the owners of the cinema chains were obedient, everyone would get rich together. However, if they were disobedient, they could directly cut off the entrance of the cinema chain's online ticket and then direct these users to other cinema chains. The other party would definitely suffer heavy losses, and it wouldn't take long for them to compromise.
It was precisely because the person who spread the rumors made such an inference that the rumors became more credible. For a moment, the entire film and television industry, especially the bosses of the film and television companies, were in a state of panic.
When Li Mu was in Hong Kong, the bosses of many film and television companies in Yan Jing had gathered together to discuss the threat posed by Makino Image and Shadow Mudra's ticketing system several times.
When everyone had a sense of crisis, when they sat together, the sense of crisis would be magnified infinitely. Under the leadership of some people, the bosses of these film and television companies were almost unable to sleep at night because of the threat posed by Makino Image and Shadow Mudra's ticketing system.
After several discussions, the bosses of many film and television companies angrily reached a consensus that they had to unite and take the initiative to suppress Shadow Mudra's ticketing system and prevent it from becoming more and more powerful.
Then, a joint letter written by the senior executives of dozens of film and television companies was sent to the leaders of the SARFT. In the letter, they called Shadow Mudra's ticketing system a cancer that would harm the healthy development of the film and television industry, and a time bomb that could destroy the commercial film industry at any time.
In the joint letter, they also used a pleading tone to hope that the SARFT could ban Shadow Mudra's ticketing system and protect the commercial film market that had developed with great difficulty. In the end, they also vaguely sent a threat: if Shadow Mudra's ticketing system continued to develop, major film and television companies would consider suspending the filming of cinema movies to avoid becoming victims of monopoly.
The joint letter of dozens of film and television companies had indeed shocked the leaders of the SARFT. In addition, there were also people secretly adding fuel to the fire. Soon, the SARFT sent a notice to Makino Image for a talk.
As the nominal general manager of Makino Image, Ning Hao immediately contacted Li Mu when he received the notice and reported it to Li Mu.
As soon as Li Mu heard that the higher-ups wanted to talk to him, his heart skipped a beat. He blurted out, "Is there any special movement in the film and television industry recently?"
Ning Hao thought for a long time and said, "No, I haven't heard anything special."
Then, Ning Hao asked Li Mu, "Boss, what do you mean by special movement?"
Ning Hao was just a rookie director. His first movie had not been released yet, so he could not reach the high-end groups in the film and television industry. Although dozens of film and television companies were discussing how to fight against Shadow Mudra, the people who participated were all the top executives. Therefore, no news had been released in the industry. Ning Hao also knew nothing about it, nor did he hear anything.
When Li Mu heard Ning Hao ask such a question, he knew that with his status, connections, and strength in the industry, he might not be able to reach the real core information. Therefore, he could only ask, "When will the talk be?"
Ning Hao said, "The day after tomorrow, at ten o 'clock in the morning."
Li Mu said, "How about this, I'll ask someone to find out about the situation first. When the time comes, you can go and talk to them. If the higher-ups have any requests when you go, just write it down and report it to me later. Don't make any verbal promises."
Hearing Li Mu's cautious voice, Ning Hao couldn't help but ask, "Boss, will it be troublesome to talk to the higher-ups?"
"I don't know," Li Mu said solemnly. "But for us, it definitely won't be a good thing."
Ning Hao asked him, "Why do you say that?"
Li Mu did not answer his question. Instead, he asked him, "What are the contestants at the front most afraid of?"
Ning Hao thought for a moment and said, "Mistakes are the most feared, right?"
Li Mu smiled and said, "They're most afraid of the referee suddenly jumping out!"
After saying that, Li Mu said again, "Originally, the contestants at the front have an absolute lead. As long as there is no external interference, they will definitely win the race. If the referee appears at this time, even if it's not a bad thing, it definitely won't be a good thing. On the contrary, the contestants who are lagging behind see the gap getting bigger and bigger, and the contestants in the front do not make any mistakes. Their only hope can only be placed on the referee."
Li Mu did not finish his words. In fact, it was the same for enterprises. For enterprises that focused on new products and developed smoothly, the most feared thing was to talk to the higher-ups. This was because at this time, the higher-ups would often start to control new products. If they wanted to control a new field, the biggest impact would definitely be the leader.
At this time, Li Mu's intuition was not very optimistic. He had a feeling that this talk would not be beneficial to him. On the contrary, it might even affect him to a certain extent.
Therefore, Li Mu hung up the call with Ning Hao and immediately called Chen Ze. He was the son of a government official, so he would definitely be more informed than the average person. Moreover, this was related to the national ministries. If there was really something hidden in this, Chen Ze was the most likely candidate to dig it out.
Recently, Chen Ze had been busy with Wanying Real Estate, and he and Li Mu had invested in the race track and the CSC Club. He was very busy, so he did not pay attention to a lot of news. When Li Mu mentioned that Makino Image was being talked to, he also expressed that he was also confused. He had not heard any news in advance, but he attached great importance to this matter. He immediately used his own connections to help Li Mu inquire about the news.
Less than an hour later, Chen Ze called Li Mu. As soon as the phone was connected, Chen Ze said to Li Mu, "Brother, this time you poked a hornet's nest!"
Li Mu frowned. "What's wrong? Did I offend a lot of people? "
Chen Ze said, "The bosses of dozens of film and television companies jointly complained to the higher-ups, saying that your Mu Ying ticketing system is suspected of monopoly, unfair competition, and destroying the industry balance. They even said that if the Mu Ying ticketing system is not abolished, the film and television industry in the country will be destroyed by it."
"F * ck!" Li Mu was suddenly annoyed. "This is simply f * cking bullsh * t! The Mu Ying ticketing system has increased the national box office by more than three times compared to the same period last year. I'm helping them add food to the pot, but they don't know what's good for them and jointly slander me? "
Chen Ze said, "I guess this matter is not as simple as it seems on the surface. There should be someone behind this. I've already asked someone to help me inquire about it. I'll let you know as soon as there is any news."
Li Mu nodded and asked again, "Have you heard about the specific purpose of the meeting with Makino Image?"
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