Chapter 607: Chapter 375: The Mutual Undermining in Hollywood

The Beautiful Country.

Hollywood, Los Angeles, a meeting was in progress.

The attendees were all famous figures in the Beautiful Country’s entertainment circle, the controlling individuals of the six major giants.

Paramount, 20th Century Fox, Disney, Warner Brothers, Universal, Sony Columbia.

Together, these six giants accounted for more than 85% of the movie box office market share in the Beautiful Country. They were representatives of Hollywood, and with the powerful national strength of the Beautiful Country, movies produced by Hollywood had become popular worldwide, sweeping the globe.

It had been many years since the six giants gathered together. They were competitors, and they despised each other. They wouldn’t come together unless necessary.

The atmosphere at the meeting was somewhat silent until Michael, the Chairman and CEO of Warner Brothers, coughed and spoke up, breaking the frozen silence.

“I believe everyone has received the fax from the Jieke Group regarding their movie ‘Wedding Dress.’ They are requesting us to give it favorable classification, support in promotion, and distribution.”

With Michael’s statement, the other giants in the room were no longer reserved.

“I received it as well. What is the Jieke Group thinking? Why are they also eyeing the film industry, which is just a trivial matter?”

“We have two films slated for release during this year’s summer, and we hardly have enough screens for our own movies, let alone spare ones to give to them!”

“I’ve seen a copy of ‘Wedding Dress.’ They want us to classify it as PG-rated, but the movie’s horror level is so high, it’s asking the impossible!”

“We in Hollywood are already not getting enough, and now Jieke Group, this new challenger, is here to snatch our share. It’s simply unreasonable.”

“Let’s think of a solution, Hollywood is our six giants’ turf!”

The giants voiced their complaints, but although they grumbled, none dared to openly refuse.

After all, the Jieke Group was no ordinary company; they liked to engage in real business warfare as soon as they disagreed.

“As I see it, let’s outright refuse to release ‘Wedding Dress.’ The Jieke Group sends a greeting and expects to get involved just like that, it’s taking us too lightly. Let’s teach them a lesson.”

An unexpected remark made all the giants in the room gasp in surprise, wondering who was so bold.

Then they saw it was Arsen Garnier, the Chairman of Disney. That made sense.

In the current Hollywood market, Disney was the most dominant of the six giants. They occupied nearly 30% of the movie box office share in the Beautiful Country. The renowned Marvel Cinematic Universe series was produced by Disney, which made a fortune through the superhero movies.

Disney’s business was extensive, encompassing not only films but also entertainment program production, theme parks, toys, books, video games, media networks, and more. It was undoubtedly a giant in the entertainment industry, both in the Beautiful Country and globally, with a market value of two hundred billion US dollars and annual net profits of several billion dollars.

Of course, they couldn’t compare to the Jieke Group, but they were indeed the biggest giant among the film industry giants.

As everyone knows, Disney has three magical treasures: Marvel, animation, and Disneyland.

Disneyland alone brings Disney a huge cash flow each year, licensing images to the parks while shooting movies, making a killing on both fronts.

Coincidentally, Jieke Group’s Nightmare Park claims to be the world’s largest haunted house. Now that they are making movies, they are following the same strategy. The giants present could see this, and the competition model between the two was similar.

The only difference was that Disneyland catered to children and families, while Nightmare Park focused on thrill and horror. It might seem that there wasn’t much overlap, but who knew if Jieke Group would later make other entertainment and children-oriented movies and then open Nightmare Parks around the world, competing with Disneyland for business.

The giants thought, if they were Disney, they too would not want a formidable opponent like the Jieke Group to emerge. It would be best to nip it in the bud.

“I suggest we join hands to block Jieke Group from entering the film industry. We can use the rating committees to stall the release of ‘Wedding Dress’ and prevent it from being shown.”

Arsen slapped the table and spoke righteously.

The giants looked at each other with unusual expressions. Was this guy really not afraid of death?

As everyone’s understanding of Jieke Group grew, it became increasingly clear.

Competing with Jieke Group in a normal business was fine; Jieke Group wouldn’t react overly to that. But if underhanded tactics were used, Jieke Group would abandon all martial ethics. Their confrontational business tactics could be utterly terrifying.

To use their market-dominant position to stall the release of ‘Wedding Dress’ was undoubtedly an underhanded move.

The last time someone dared to play such a trick with Jieke Group was the Averson Family. Their fate was that the entire family perished.

“I’ll contact our rating committee connections. Everyone should contact their own contacts too. We must absolutely prevent Jieke Group from entering our film domain. I will take the lead in this matter.”

Arsen shouted loudly, and the other titans at the scene were stirred, exchanging glances before nodding in agreement.

With Arsen taking the lead, everyone felt much more confident.

…

After the meeting ended, the following day, Arsen arrived at the Beautiful Country’s movie rating committee.

The so-called movie rating committee is an organization that classifies films according to the viewer’s age, restricting the audiences allowed to watch them.

If a film is too violent, it may be restricted from viewers under age, such as R-17, where people seventeen and under have to be accompanied by a parent or guardian to watch. This can greatly reduce the film’s expected box office, and there are even movie ratings that prevent a film from being shown in major cinema chains, like NC-17, which can only be distributed through video tapes.

One of the important reasons that the six giants of Hollywood are considered giants, aside from their money-making capabilities, is that this rating committee is essentially controlled by them.

Apart from the six giants themselves, other film companies have to watch the giants’ faces and pray for a more audience-friendly rating when they release a movie.

Accompanied by a secretary, Arsen walked into the film rating committee.

“Boss, you’ve gone into the wrong room; that one over there is for the PG-rated film reviews.”

The secretary reminded Arsen, and since the secretary was also present at yesterday’s meeting, there was a reason for the comment.

PG-rated films are those for which minors are advised to watch with parental guidance, though if you really want to watch them, it’s no big deal; it’s just a suggestion. Most of Beautiful Country’s films fall into this category, and if “Wedding Dress” were to receive this rating, there would be no restrictions at all.

“Heh.”

Arsen curled his lip and said, “This is exactly where I’m going. You think I really want to go head-to-head with Jieke Group? I’m not crazy.”

“Ah! Boss, didn’t you say you wanted to restrict Jieke Group’s entry into the film domain?”

The secretary’s eyes widened in shock.

“Just talking. I don’t want to be approached by the Steel Camp; I want to live a few more years. What I said during the meeting was just to deceive the other titans into following suit. By then, let them offend Jieke Group and draw their attention. If they get taken out, wouldn’t it be better for us to dominate Hollywood? Plus, by making nice with Jieke Group, we might even be able to cooperate with them. If we could use Jieke Group’s AI glasses technology from Nightmare Park in our Disneyland, that would be a huge boost. You need to think more strategically.”

Arsen revealed a sly smile, and listening, the secretary had an epiphany. So this is how business warfare is played, huh? She had once thought the boss too reckless, offending Jieke Group was not wise, but little did she know the boss was playing at the fifth level.

With a composed smile, Arsen arrived at the PG rating office door and was about to knock when the door was pushed open from the inside before he could do so.

And then Arsen’s smile froze, because a group of people was coming out laughing and talking.

These were none other than the sect leaders of Universal, Warner Brothers, Paramount, 20th Century Fox, and Sony Columbia, the five other titans.

When the few people saw Arsen suddenly appear, they too were stunned for a few seconds, staring at each other.

“Fuck Squid, you bunch of crap, you five have colluded together like this, licking Jieke Group’s boots, huh? Came here to assign a PG rating? Have you no shame as Hollywood titans?”

Arsen gritted his teeth, having seen the approval documents in their hands, clearly for the PG rating approval of “Wedding Dress.”

Little did he know, the titans opposite were rolling their eyes too. Michael, the chairman of Warner Brothers, sneered, “You have the nerve to accuse us, what brings you here, anyway? Weren’t you the one ranting loud in yesterday’s meeting? How come you’re not worried about Nightmare Park stealing business from your Disneyland anymore? Lucky for us, we weren’t fooled. You, you bastard, you were just trying to trap us into provoking Jieke Group so you could sit back and enjoy the show, weren’t you?”

“Aren’t you doing the same? Green with envy over Disney’s profits, wanting to use Jieke Group against us, I’m not that foolish.”

Both parties were equally frustrated. Arsen wanted to trap the five giants, and the five giants were also dissatisfied with Disney encroaching on their market share for a long time, so they too wanted to give their opponent a taste of their own medicine. With hundreds of crafty plots against each other, in the end, no one got the better.

This meeting was destined to end unsatisfactorily. Arsen, his face filled with disappointment, voted to pass the PG rating for “Wedding Dress,” regretting that he couldn’t trip up his opponents.

Ultimately, without any surprises, “Wedding Dress” received unanimous approval for a PG rating release, with no obstacles.

In front of Jieke Group, a new challenger crossing into Hollywood, the supposed Hollywood overlords, the six titans, didn’t dare test whether the knife in the hands of the Genetic Warrior was sharp enough and very genuinely gave Jieke Group the green light.

Without even realizing it, Jieke Group’s name had become influential enough that many major companies felt compelled to give them face.

With the rating approval secured in Beautiful Country, “Wedding Dress” faced no more barriers to its release.

On July 3rd, at the prime spot of the summer season, Hundred Ghost Film Company’s first film “Wedding Dress” premiered globally. The film landed in Beautiful Country, Hua Country, Southeast Asia, Japan, South Korea, and several other countries, bringing to the world an absolutely real horror experience.