"Mr. Faaris, please rest assured, this is only the first day of box office sales. There will be some superstitious Laila fans who want to see what kind of movie she has made this time. But things will be different in a couple of days. Once more people realize that it's a 'bad film,' its box office will naturally plummet!" Joseph forced a smile and spoke with an ambitious tone that even he didn't fully believe.
"How can I rest assured?" Faaris sneered. "You said that with enough funds and sufficient power, you could make a better movie than her. And what happened? How can I trust you?"
The result was that their box office was only a third of Laila's! How could he, who was always proud, bear such a situation?
Joseph wiped the cold sweat off his forehead. "I believe it's because she's too good at publicity. You see, every time she releases a movie, there are so many discussions surrounding her. She doesn't even need to spend money on promotion; there are plenty of media outlets helping her with the hype."
"So, are you accusing me of not providing enough money for promotion?" Faaris dangerously narrowed his eyes, implying that if Joseph answered "yes," he would strangle him.
Joseph knew very well that unless he had gone mad, he would never answer like that.
"Of course not! Our investment is substantial. It's just that they have more favorable conditions. The Moran Media Group alone can do a lot of promotion for her!"
The Moran Group, which owned multiple media outlets including TV stations, newspapers, and magazines, had no shortage of ways to promote. Other movies had to spend a lot of money on publicity, but Laila just had to open her mouth, and she would immediately get the best coverage and the hottest time slots for her promotions. Others couldn't compete with that.
However, Faaris didn't quite agree. If promotion was so effective, then why wouldn't other major film production companies have media support? But now wasn't the time to discuss this. If they didn't want to be completely crushed, they had to find a way to defeat the other side!
"Contact those people. I don't want to see any more reviews praising her." Faaris waved his hand impatiently, dismissing Joseph.
Joseph felt very unhappy that a "great director" like himself had to be treated like a grandson. But unfortunately, before him was a powerful figure. These big investors in Hollywood were not to be messed with. Money ruled everywhere, and it was perfectly fine for someone like Faaris to be treated like a god! "I understand. I'll contact them right away." He forced a couple of dry laughs before leaving the office.
The so-called "those people" referred to individuals who were paid to write negative reviews, similar to a water army. They were tasked with two things: tarnish Laila's movie and praise Joseph's movie!
In fact, this was not an uncommon practice. Laila had already become numb to the attacks from Cooper's "greetings from the dark side." She only found it amusing whenever she encountered such things. As for the water army, she had never been afraid of them. With her experience from the future, she had already established her own exclusive water army when the internet was just starting.
Did anyone really believe that those people who helped promote her on major websites, forums, and chat rooms were doing it voluntarily? The main reason she hadn't attracted much attention was that her talent was enough to make people believe in the praises of the water army. But if it were a bad film, it wouldn't take long for people to see through it.
Nowadays, it wasn't like a few years ago. Anyone accustomed to the internet would be able to see through such shallow tactics.
The people Joseph contacted were quite efficient. That very night, the internet was flooded with posts criticizing Laila's movie.
"Poor Hype: Can a children's movie surpass Star Wars?"
"A story devoid of substance, only filled with falsehoods."
"Why would I waste over an hour watching such a boring film?"
"Does anyone truly think Harry Potter is good? It put me to sleep."
Various posts of criticism and attacks appeared one after another. They targeted two main points. Firstly, they claimed that the opening day box office numbers were fake, as a children's movie managed to defeat "The Phantom Menace"! Who directed Star Wars? George Lucas! Laila was talented, but could she be compared to the great director Lucas? To put it bluntly, when Lucas was making movies, she wasn't even a single cell yet!
The second point was regarding the film's genre. They believed that no matter how much money a children's movie made, it couldn't possibly achieve such high numbers. Over 30 million, which was more than the combined box office of many movies during their entire run.
Louise received the news shortly after these posts appeared. She immediately informed Laila, "Shouldn't we do something about this?"
"No need." Laila smiled and waved her hand. "Don't worry, things haven't gotten bad enough for us to intervene."
"But..." What if they were successfully blackened, and people genuinely believed their movie was terrible?
Laila smiled. "Do you think their words are true?"
"Of course not! Our movie is great!" The first day's box office was enough to prove that!
"That's right. Since their words aren't true, do we really need to respond? How many people do you think will believe them?"
Louise sighed. She couldn't grasp Laila's carefree attitude. Every time she saw Laila being unconcerned while she was in a mess, she felt embarrassed. But when faced with such a situation, wouldn't ordinary people want to clear their name? Why was Laila so unconcerned?
Yes, the words of those ill-intentioned people were fake, and many would see through their deliberate smear campaign. But what if some people believed them? Wouldn't they lose out on box office sales?
Seeing Louise's dilemma, Laila knew she had to comfort her and offer some advice, otherwise, she wouldn't know how to proceed.
"Let me put it this way. When people see these kinds of posts, they will fall into three categories: 'believers,' 'non-believers,' and 'don't care.' The non-believers will make up the majority since frequent internet users are well aware of these tricks. Among the believers, there are two types: those who think, 'It seems like this movie is bad, so I won't watch it,' and those who think, 'Is it really that bad? I should go watch it and decide for myself.'"
"So?" Louise felt like she understood something.
Laila shrugged. "So, we don't need to do anything. Why not let the audience find their own answers? Isn't that better?"
How would they find those answers? By seeing it for themselves, of course!