Chapter 131: Battle Against Piracy! (Requesting monthly votes and first subscriptions!)

"Ah!"
"Boom..."

The television was playing scenes from "Emperor Wu of Han." Wu Xiang’s ears were filled with the lines and music of this blockbuster he had meticulously produced, yet there was not a trace of satisfaction or a smile on his face. This was merely the effect of the pirated disc he had just bought for eight yuan.

You really couldn’t blame the guy selling the pirated discs; he hadn’t conned you. The quality of this disc was truly top-notch!

"Look, don't be angry. Why don't we go back and find him?" Hai Qing, watching Wu Xiang’s sour expression from the side, offered some words of comfort.

"I’m not angry, don't worry. It’s useless to go find him anyway. I'm just trying to think of a solution." That was true—Wu Xiang was indeed thinking of a solution, but saying he wasn't angry was just to keep Hai Qing from worrying.

How could he not be angry?

This was piracy. No one can stand to see their own work being pirated. Piracy is a hateful thing. If someone made a knock-off, a "shanzhai" version of my film, I would at least acknowledge it—at least it took some mental effort. But piracy... this is just...

The crucial point was that this wasn't even a "cam" version. It was perfectly watchable. Although it was a VCD with low resolution, it was definitely not recorded in a theater; there was no shaking of heads, and the quality was excellent. Even the discs produced by Hualu wouldn't necessarily have this level of quality.

If it were a cam version, Wu Xiang wouldn't be this frustrated, because that would mean there were no issues on the side of the cinema chain or his own team. But now, it meant that an actual copy had fallen into the hands of pirates. This was a very serious problem.

Connecting this to the recent decline in box office numbers, the situation was clear: the drop was likely caused by the release of this pirated version.

Piracy in China was rampant these days. Wu Xiang had actually done quite well; his previous few films had relatively little piracy, or at least he hadn't seen them while they were in theaters. But this time, "Emperor Wu of Han" had been out for less than two weeks.

When "The Great Flood" was released, there was basically no piracy—perhaps the pirates had a sudden moment of conscience, as Wu Xiang had publicly stated that the box office proceeds would be donated to the disaster-stricken areas. For "First Intimate Contact," there was also very little piracy, or at least Wu Xiang never saw any, because the distribution was handled well: it was released in 20 major cities simultaneously, leaving little room for pirates. But this time, the piracy had arrived far too quickly!

This was a tough spot. The ticket price for "Emperor Wu of Han" was set high at 60 yuan—a rare price for a domestic film back then. Now that a pirated version was out, for eight yuan you could enjoy the same experience as a sixty-yuan ticket. Anyone would know which one to choose.

What to do? What to do?

"Xiao Wu~" Seeing Wu Xiang’s brow knitting tighter and tighter, Hai Qing felt a pang of heartache, so she hooked her foot around Wu Xiang’s.

"Huh?" Hearing the sound and feeling the movement, Wu Xiang felt goosebumps rise all over his body. It seemed his wife rarely acted like this...

"Oh, come on, aren't you going to celebrate?"

"This..." Wu Xiang was laughing internally; Hai Qing was just too interesting. "You little vixen!"

Wu Xiang let out a low growl and lunged at Hai Qing.

"Giggle..."
"Still laughing!..."

***

Forget it, don't worry about it for now; the half-goose leg is more important...

Last night, the troubles were temporarily forgotten, but since the pirated version was already out, a countermeasure had to be found.

"What do you think about this?" Wu Xiang asked this to Yu Dong, naturally while at Bona Film Group.

It was a small meeting, but this time everyone had identified the cause and needed a solution.

"Xiangzi, to tell you the truth..."

Before Yu Dong could finish, Wu Xiang interrupted him.

"I know what you're going to say. I understand. Our film is probably capped here, and the domestic box office will stay as it is."

That’s right. The moment Wu Xiang saw that pirated disc, he understood that "Emperor Wu of Han" would never break the 200 million mark, and it would be hard for it to grow at all. He had already seen countless bloody examples of this before.

If it were a cam version, it would be better, but this was clearly high-definition, uncensored. Who could withstand that?

Going to the cinema cost 60 yuan; buying a pirated disc cost 8 yuan—even if they sold it for 5, they would still make a profit several times over. The key was that Wu Xiang’s film was a massive production, over 150 minutes long. Because of the runtime, cinemas wouldn't schedule many screenings, so the ticket price couldn't be lowered. In other words, lowering prices to compete was useless!

"So, by your meaning, you want to investigate?" Yu Dong asked this. Could there be a problem with just "investigating"?

"I understand your thoughts, but if I don't investigate, I can't swallow this anger!"

Wu Xiang understood Yu Dong’s perspective perfectly. The current domestic film exhibition market wasn't a chain-based system; it was fragmented into "fiefdoms." Investigating this wasn't hard, but it was easy to offend people!

Offending people? It sounded strange. If something went wrong, why would investigating it offend anyone? Wasn't this just following the law?

These domestic fiefdoms were actually controlled by provincial film companies. The power to schedule screenings was theirs. Even if you were an individual cinema, you just had a choice to make: here were the films available, you picked from these, and if you wanted others, sorry, there were none. At its core, it wasn't a market economy; it was all managed by bureaucrats.

If you started investigating the piracy of "Emperor Wu of Han," you would inevitably have to look internally. Didn't that imply you suspected a mole within their ranks? Where would that leave the face of the officials?

In this business, it's all about "face." If you slight someone, you offend them. Later, when you want to release a film in multiple cities and hundreds of theaters, it would become difficult.

This also involved the interest chain of piracy. Initially, piracy involved using small camcorders in theaters. But when the profits became large enough, the cam versions couldn't satisfy the pirates' appetites. They began looking for better sources—the original copies.

At first, pirates would use bribes and various means to get their hands on a copy. But soon, they realized the situation had changed: cinema chains would sometimes actively cooperate with pirates to make money together. "Why not share some of the profits with me?"

It sounded unbelievable, but sometimes reality is crazier than fiction. Such cases of internal theft were by no means isolated.

For Wu Xiang’s current film, "Emperor Wu of Han," which had just been released, a cam version would have been normal. But now, it was certain that the high-definition discs on the market were the result of internal theft, as there were no other channels—the film hadn't been released abroad, and no official discs had been produced.

Therefore, it was actually easy to track down; it was definitely an internal issue within the cinema chains. Once investigated, the culprit couldn't escape. It was extremely simple.

But with all the relationships and interest chains involved, it was complex to the point of making one's scalp tingle. Thus, a simple matter was no longer simple!

"Xiangzi, we’ve already broken 100 million; the film is already a success. If you ask me, let's just let it slide. Otherwise, how are we going to work with them next time?" Yu Dong’s words were reasonable. He dealt with those people often, and he knew the ins and outs...

"Investigate! We must investigate!" Wu Xiang was incredibly serious, so serious he seemed like a different person. "No matter what happens in the future, this time they’ve crossed me. I won't just let it go!"

Watching Wu Xiang’s expression, Yu Dong felt a jolt of alarm. Wu Xiang was usually easygoing and acted like a "nice guy," but this time, it was as if his "reverse scale" had been touched.

"Xiangzi, are you sure?" Yu Dong wasn't a spineless man, but there were too many factors at play. "Even if we investigate, one, we might not get a result, and two, we’ll offend people without any benefit. I hope you think this through."

Wu Xiang thought to himself, "Actually, this damn piracy is exactly how they’ve been spoiled!"

"Brother Dong, I am very sure. If you find it difficult to handle, I can do it myself. I’ll go straight to the police, or I'll sue everyone suspected in court. I must pursue this!"

Seeing that Wu Xiang had made up his mind, Yu Dong didn't try to dissuade him anymore. He said, "Xiangzi, I’m just giving you some advice as your older brother. Since you’ve made your decision, I have nothing more to say. We’ll investigate this to the end. We won't let these bastards get away with it. We’ll fight these pirates to the bitter end!"

"Thank you, brother!" Wu Xiang didn't say anything else. In this matter, he couldn't back down!

Why was Wu Xiang so insistent on pursuing this? There was a reason.

Last night, after carefully studying those "exquisite techniques" with Hai Qing, she had asked him why he seemed so bothered by the piracy this time.

Wu Xiang’s answer was interesting. He didn't start with the piracy; he talked about why he made "Emperor Wu of Han" and why he risked such a huge investment.

The reason lay in two previous events: one had made Wu Xiang a student leader, and the other involved a hero sacrificing himself in the South China Sea. In both, they had felt somewhat humiliated. Their strength wasn't enough yet, so they could only endure the humiliation. But were they to endure it forever?

Never!

Temporary forbearance was for the sake of future victory, for the sake of the great rejuvenation of our country and our nation!

And through "Emperor Wu of Han," Wu Xiang wanted to tell everyone—preferably everyone in the country—what we should do now. History had already provided the answer!

The story of Emperor Wu of Han fit the current era perfectly, to an astonishing coincidence. As for whether there would be a conflict later, no one knew, but Wu Xiang found that this period of history was the most illuminating. That was why he chose this subject, made such a blockbuster, and took such a risk.

Wu Xiang’s idea was that he could make money while telling everyone how to act—a total win-win!

But now, with the piracy out, why was Wu Xiang so upset?

Actually, the money wasn't the point anymore; the box office was already quite good. But the piracy disgusted him. It felt as if he had been betrayed by his own people!