New Year's holiday had just begun when movie theaters nationwide were packed to the brim.

After being shaken by "Medicine God" during the summer break, the domestic film market had not seen the release of any compelling films in the latter half of the year.

This New Year's holiday, however, the releases of "The Ferryman" and "Wandering Planet" were highly anticipated.

Even without being released, "Wandering Planet" had already faced quality controversies.

But with limited choices available during this period, many still opted to test the waters first.

Compared to "Wandering Planet," "The Ferryman" was explosively popular.

With three Emperors and one Empress in the cast, plus a big director and a big IP, the production was immensely eye-catching.

Thus, most of the audience that day actually went for "The Ferryman."

Only about a quarter to a third chose to support the Chinese sci-fi film.

Two hours later, the mood of the two groups was starkly different.

Viewers of "The Ferryman" emerged from the theaters looking puzzled.

What was this movie exactly?

It seemed to be about something, yet at the same time, not about anything.

It felt like watching a chaotic mix of everything—mysterious and incomprehensible...

Those were some of the more neutral comments.

Some more impatient viewers among the dispersing crowd candidly remarked, "I think... watching these three Emperors and the Empress chat would have been more interesting than this film."

Once this opinion was voiced, many pondered it for a moment and then silently nodded in agreement.

"The Ferryman" was a strange movie, interesting in fragmented pieces, but when put together, it was just a chaotic mess.

Moreover, whether Director Zhang was attempting an experiment or just showing off, the film's disjointed editing only intensified the viewers' sense of disarray.

Nonetheless, many viewers did believe in Director Zhang's claim of "years of preparation." After all...

If it hadn't been "prepared for so many years," it wouldn't have been "such a huge disappointment."

This led to viewers who had been anticipating the movie for months to be filled with complaints and disappointments.

In sharp contrast, the audience of "Wandering Planet" felt entirely different.

After watching the movie for two hours, the theater was momentarily silent.

No one spoke, no one made a sound...

Suddenly, someone began to applaud, and soon sporadic applause and excited discussions followed.

Seeing a production that rivaled Hollywood and completely encompassed the essence of the Chinese Nation in this sci-fi film made everyone who saw it feel immensely proud.

While it wasn't to the extent of a standing ovation, clapping excitedly and discussing with enthusiasm were the most natural reactions.

This led to straight polarization online and offline concerning the two movies.

"Terrible!"

"Refund!"

"No idea what it was about."

"Has Director Zhang run out of talent?"

"So many top actors, even if my grandmother directed it, it wouldn't be this low quality."

"I feel a dog chained on the set might have produced a similar effect."

Those were the comments regarding "The Ferryman."

Comments on "Wandering Planet" were completely different...

"This is what real sci-fi looks like! After watching this movie, I think our Chinese sci-fi movies finally have hope!"

"I think it's not just a sci-fi movie. It's the best Chinese movie I've ever seen in my life, even the best film overall!"

"When I saw that scene of bringing Earth to wander, I must admit I got goosebumps!"

"The effects were very realistic, and that sense of patriotic duty, really moving!"

Besides ordinary viewers, many bloggers and big Vs also unnaturally praised "Wandering Planet" without being paid.

One big V wrote particularly well,

"This movie isn't perfect. But its imperfections indicate that it's not the peak of our Chinese sci-fi films but a milestone marking the beginning of them!"

"With so many sci-fi movies around the world about apocalypse, time travel, AI, etc., survival is often depicted as tough."

"But 'Wandering Planet' is different. When faced with difficulties, our Chinese Nation didn't evade or back down."

"We, like ancient sage Yu the Great facing the great crisis, chose to take responsibility, wandering with Earth."

"This grand concept truly makes this movie a globally produced sci-fi film with a Chinese core!"

"This grand national sentiment, this historical sense of mission, is something foreigners cannot understand!"

Even though "Wandering Planet" didn't perform spectacularly on its first day, the praises showered it like flowers.

Some accolades made Chen Yan blush.

Chen Yan himself turned red, and people like Director Zhang, who hadn't seen "Wandering Planet" yet and were just following public opinion, were even more incredulous...

...

Tiandu, Director Zhang's residence.

Director Zhang, on the phone with his assistant, asked, "How's the box office for both movies now?"

The assistant responded, "Our movie is far ahead, reaching 260 million on the first day, while 'Wandering Planet' only made 110 million."

Hearing his assistant's report, Director Zhang couldn't help but laugh, "We're more than double theirs. Not bad, not bad. It meets my expectation."

Recently, the rivalry with Lu Man had indeed brought much attention to "Wandering Planet."

Most of it was negative, but notoriety is still fame, so it wasn't unusual that "Wandering Planet" had a slightly higher first-day box office than expected. As long as it didn't surpass "The Ferryman," it was fine.

Thus, upon getting the results he wanted, Director Zhang sneered at Chen Yan's tactics and said, "During this time, don't drop your guard. Ramp up the promotion, splash out some money. Our movie is sure to be a big hit."

"With nearly three hundred million on the first day, ours might just be the next 'Medicine God.'"

"You see how many bots Chenlu Film hired to hype up 'Wandering Planet.'"

"Just look at how much money they threw at those big Vs spouting praises."

Director Zhang clicked his tongue twice and said, "You know, we often work with those big Vs too, why can't they produce such 'boot-licking' remarks."

"If you didn't know better, you'd think we shot a 'Titanic.'"

Hearing Director Zhang's words, the assistant on the other end had a weird expression.

After a moment, he whispered, "Director Zhang... Uh... I asked around. Those big Vs apparently didn't take any money."

Hearing his assistant's words, Director Zhang laughed.

He laughed loudly twice and said, "Xiao Huang, don't be fooled by these people. Is there anyone in this world who would promote you for free?"

"They must've been paid a lot, including a hush money not to speak out."

"Don't be too naive."

"With such one-sided opinions, if there aren't any hired guns behind it, I won't believe it."

Although the assistant felt it wasn't as Director Zhang assumed, since his boss had voiced his opinions, he couldn't contradict him, so he simply agreed along with Director Zhang.

At the end of the call, Director Zhang instructed his assistant, "Find some bots to counter the narrative, then sprinkle some 'one-star' ratings across major platforms to pull down 'Wandering Planet's' reputation."

"Since they want to surge by inflating their reputation, let us counter by deflating them, keep them from rising."

The assistant nodded quickly in agreement.

After ending the call, Director Zhang scrolled through several articles praising "Wandering Planet" and shook his head.

"All these agency-written pieces are different, even the writing styles vary greatly. This is much harder than standard articles. No idea how much Chenlu Film spent to have so many diverse articles written."

"Back in the circle, many said Chen Yan was good at marketing, I didn't believe it. Now seeing it, they were right."

"Such tactics are indeed clever. Almost got caught in the trap."

Thinking thus, Director Zhang picked up a pen and jotted down a few notes in a notebook, deciding to employ this method for promotion when his next movie was released...

...

What Director Zhang didn't know was that as "Wandering Planet"'s reputation kept exploding, its box office also continued to climb steeply.

If calculated by the hour, "Wandering Planet"'s revenues were a steeply rising curve.

On the contrary, the reputation of "The Ferryman" was a continually declining curve.

This led to a situation where, on the second day, when the box offices for both films were announced, Director Zhang was taken aback.

"The Ferryman" made 160 million in a day.

"Wandering Planet" made 310 million.

In just one day, their revenues almost completely reversed.

With "Wandering Planet" alone, it increased nearly three times!

And it didn't stop there; as the viewership increased, "Wandering Planet's" reputation wasn't much affected.

The whole internet was advocating, praising, acting like 'tap water,' calling everyone to watch it.

When Director Zhang checked a few movie rating sites, he found "Wandering Planet's" score to be a terrifying 9.7.

He immediately called his assistant.

In the call, he angrily shouted, "Didn't I tell you to go disrupt their reviews and bring down their scores? Why is there no effect?"

The assistant was almost in tears as he explained, "Director Zhang. I organized people to give it lots of one-stars and negative reviews. But... it was useless."

"There were too many five-stars and positive reviews. Our efforts were too weak. As soon as the negative reviews went out, they were drowned out, having no effect at all!"

Hearing this, Director Zhang first thought: Did Chen Yan really spend so much just to control the ratings and reviews?

How much money would that take?!

But then, he had another thought—

Even if they had the money, it wouldn't usually be spent like this.

Director Zhang pondered... In all likelihood, these positive reviews and five-stars were mixed.

Perhaps one-third were fake, one-third were from netizens voluntarily, and another third followed others in giving positive reviews, creating the current situation.

But, to have such a scenario, the movie's quality must be exceptionally good.

Could it be... had Chen Yan really made a decent sci-fi movie?

Thinking this, Director Zhang became a bit eager to see "Wandering Planet."

However, not wanting to contribute to his competitors' box office or risk being embarrassed by being photographed by the media, he suppressed the urge.

He decided to wait a few days for the hype to die down before going to the theater to see the movie.

However, things obviously didn't develop as per his wishes.

On the third day, when the new box office data was released, Director Zhang got anxious.

"The Ferryman's" box office had further dropped to 80 million.

And "Wandering Planet" continued to surge, from 310 million to 450 million!

Just in three days, there was a complete one-hundred-eighty-degree turnaround between the two movies!

Initially, on the first day, "The Ferryman" was more than twice the box office of "Wandering Planet." But by the third day, it was merely one-fifth!

Moreover, that wasn't the important part.

The crucial aspect was that in just three short days, "Wandering Planet" had broken 900 million in box office, and the curve was still upward, indicating that "Wandering Planet" might just be another multi-billion RMB movie!

Another multi-billion box office movie!

Which film had produced and released the last one?

It was Chenlu Film!

Could it be, another fantastic film was rising?

Could it be that Chenlu Film was really blessed by the heavens? Did all good movies come from them?

Filled with disbelief, many in the industry, including Director Zhang who initially didn't want to see the film, went to watch it on the fourth day...

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