Chapter 277: Firmly Rejecting Warner

Things were different now from when Phantom was first established. Back then, Xiao Ran’s focus was on making money through filmmaking. But now, with his changed status and influence, his horizons had expanded greatly, and all he had to consider was strategic matters.

He had achieved everything possible in a mature commercial market, a well-developed film industry system, and effective talent acquisition strategies. Hong Kong cinema not only avoided a crisis but also, under his leadership, successfully seized a significant portion of Hollywood’s overseas markets, becoming the world’s second-largest film production center.

If he simply stepped back now, he could consider himself completely fulfilled—at least he would know he had no regrets. Yet he knew there was still one thing left unfinished: getting Chinese-language films to break into the North American market and developing the mainland market fully.

But these were not things that could be accomplished in a day or two; they required time to develop. What he could do was do another thing to help Chinese-language films break into Hollywood—something that would cost Hollywood a lot of its overseas markets and push it into chaos for a while.

Xiao Ran gazed at the sea. Over a decade in business had left him utterly exhausted. He knew he had forced himself to do all this. What he wanted was a life of freedom and unrestraint, just like feeling out at sea now. Yet he firmly told himself: Two years. He must resolve everything within two years.

In Lei Kaitai’s office, an interesting scene was unfolding. A man sent by Warner was trying to persuade Lei Kaitai: “Mr. Lei, Taihang is one of Asia’s most powerful film companies. Why submit to Phantom? I think you can tell yourself that you don’t need to be led by a tyrant like Xiao Ran.”

Lei Kaitai looked at the man with an unusual smile. Unfortunately, the man still hadn’t grasped his meaning and continued talking nonsense: “Warner Pictures will open a branch in Hong Kong. If Taihang cooperates with Warner, your films will be able to be distributed worldwide without any obstacles…”

“Wait a moment!” Lei Kaitai looked at the man as if he were a rare animal. He picked up the phone, dialed a number, and called out a name that made the lobbyist tremble: “Xiao Ran. Warner sent someone to try to recruit me. They want me to join their side to fight against you, this ‘tyrant’. What should I do?”

Xiao Ran was currently discussing some sensitive strategies with Wei Dongling on the ship when he received this call. He couldn’t help but burst into laughter: “Then agree to it. Haha, I really want to see his face right now!”

Lei Kaitai smiled at the fool and said, “No problem. I’ve decided to join the side fighting against Xiao Ran. What benefits can you offer me?”

Sweat poured down the idiot’s forehead as he wished he could burrow into a hole right away. Suddenly, Lei Kaitai’s expression changed drastically. With a dark look, he roared, “Get lost! How dare Warner even think about interfering in our affairs!”

“What bastards! I never thought those guys would be so insensitive!” Turner couldn’t help but get angry after receiving that idiot’s reply. It made sense—Warner was the largest film company in the world, undeniably extremely powerful, and yet someone dared to reject him.
It wasn’t Turner’s fault;the whole of Hollywood was proud like this. It was Hollywood, or rather, Americans, who were too proud, always thinking they were the center of everything. Even though they faced competition from Hong Kong films, they still failed to fully recognize their strength. But if they could visit Hong Kong or conduct investigations around the world, they would understand the true power of Hong Kong films.
What to do next? Turner thought quickly. He figured he might really need to open a branch in Hong Kong—at least it didn’t seem like a bad idea, did it?

In February, while everyone was busy preparing for the Spring Festival, Fang Xiaoqiang, along with his capable assistant, took action in the U.S. stock market with $4 billion. It would be perfect if they could acquire Fox. But that seemed unlikely, so Fang Xiaoqiang simply aimed to drive down the stock prices of Fox and its subsidiaries.

Wei Dongling was now playing with Xiaoqing at Xiao Ran’s empty house. After a while, he looked up and asked, “Is it time? All the preparations are done!”
Xiao Ran thought silently for a moment, wondering if there were any gaps. After some deliberation, he picked up his mobile phone and called Fang Xiaoqiang, who was waiting for news in the U.S.: “Xiaoqiang, start acting as soon as the market opens. Remember, don’t affect the stock prices of other companies, or they might turn against us!”
Fang Xiaoqiang chuckled and agreed. The next day, as soon as the market opened, he instructed his assistant to carry out the plan. On the same day, Murdoch, who was in the U.S. working, suddenly had his secretary enter anxiously and say, “Mr. President, it seems our stocks are under attack by professional speculators!”
Murdoch’s expression changed slightly. The first person who came to mind was Xiao Ran, whose smile hid endless malice. What he had been worried about all along had finally happened. Everyone knew News Corp. was facing financial difficulties. If they wanted to engage in a battle in the stock market, they needed huge amounts of money—but where could they get that?
That afternoon, Murdoch raised $1 billion from Wall Street. Adding his own $1 billion, he gradually invested it in the stock market. The next day, he suddenly found all his money trapped there. Gritting his teeth, he eventually turned to bankers among his shareholders for financing.

On the tenth night, Xiao Ran reluctantly opened his sleepy eyes and picked up the phone. Fang Xiaoqiang’s voice came through: “Brother Ran, I couldn’t complete the task you assigned. That scumbag Murdoch must have found some money somewhere. I had no choice but to withdraw.”
Xiao Ran immediately became alert. But this wasn’t unexpected. It was rare to be able to operate on such a large scale without the support of bankers. “It’s okay, Xiaoqiang. It’s better you pull back now.”

He went to the bathroom to clear his head. Xiao Ran closed his eyes and thought quietly. This failure was within his expectations; it was even one of the pitfalls he had anticipated by changing his plans.
The next morning, Wei Dongling pushed open Xiao Ran’s office door with a smile and said loudly, “You guessed it again, kid! Warner’s Asian branch was registered just ten minutes ago. And that old guy Turner is really generous—he immediately offered Liu Hua and the others a deal, raising their salaries to twenty million!”
Xiao Ran nodded. Warner surely couldn’t ignore the Hong Kong market. With such huge profits at stake, Hollywood companies would definitely want a piece of it. Moreover, if it could also cause some trouble for Shadow, Turner and the others certainly wouldn’t mind.
But now, Xiao Ran wasn’t opposed to Warner entering Hong Kong. Times had changed. He fully accepted Warner’s presence—after all, they were useful. A smile gradually appeared on his face. “No matter how much they raise theirs, we’ll raise ours too. In fact, we’ll ask Universal to raise their salaries as well, at the same ratio!”
Wei Dongling was stunned. Ask Universal to raise salaries across the board? That would really slash profits. Xiao Ran clearly understood his thoughts and smiled cheerfully. “This is our revenge. Isn’t it right?”
Xiao Ran smiled softly. No one knew his true intentions. What was the cancer of Hollywood in the future? It was the stars. Their salaries were too high—so high that even films costing over 100 million dollars rarely made a profit, often yielding less than some low-budget movies.
What would happen if stars’ salaries rose to an extreme level? It would be clear if we compared it to Hong Kong movies in history. The rapid decline of Hong Kong movies in the past was largely due to the soaring salaries of stars, which led to sharp cuts in production costs in a small market, resulting in increasingly shoddy films—something everyone could see.
This was Xiao Ran’s killer move, or rather, his ace in the hole. Nothing could collapse Hollywood faster than this. If, under his orders, Universal raised top stars’ salaries to 50 million dollars, Hollywood would be on the verge of collapse.
At a ratio of one to four, a film starring a top star would then cost at least 200 million dollars. In the U.S. market, only four or five films per year earned over 200 million in box office revenue, and overseas markets had shrunk significantly due to the rapid expansion of Hong Kong movies.
At that point, that dangerous tightrope would eventually break, and the U.S. film industry would surely collapse. The collapse would last at least two years—time enough for Hong Kong movies to invade the North American market unchecked. That would be the moment when Hong Kong movies completely replaced Hollywood.
The problem was that raising salaries for no reason might provoke hostility from the other six companies, just like Columbia under Sony’s control. So, Xiao Ran let Warner enter because he knew Turner would definitely use money to attract people. This way, he could raise Hollywood’s salaries in the name of revenge without suspicion—at least his intentions remained completely hidden.

As the two of them stared at each other, the voice of the new secretary came through the phone: “President Xiao, President Yang from Tianluo is calling for you!”
Xiao Ran glanced at Wei Dongling, a smile in his eyes. Yang Qi’s call was clearly related to Warner’s entry into the market. He picked up the phone and said, “Yang Qi, you really do have time. You’re still working instead of going to eat—impressive!”
“Xiao Ran, stop acting. I don’t believe you don’t know about Warner’s entry.” Yang Qi was both annoyed and amused. Xiao Ran would definitely be the first to know about such things, yet he still spoke like this. “Let’s go to Junyue Hotel for dinner and discuss how to deal with that guy!”
After hanging up, Xiao Ran couldn’t help but laugh and shake his head. “Those guys still can’t control such a small matter.”
“Do you think others are like you, with everything under control? Brother, it’s Warner Company after all.” Perhaps because Li Jiaxin had given birth, Wei Dongling’s tone no longer carried as much mockery toward Xiao Ran. Sometimes he still couldn’t resist teasing him harshly. “Let’s go together. I’m hungry too!”
Junyue Hotel was invested in by Mingxuan Real Estate and had just been opened. It was extremely luxurious, a place only the elite would dare to visit. Upon arriving at the restaurant on the seventh floor, Xiao Ran and Wei Dongling glanced around and spotted Yang Qi and the other two by the railing. They walked over and said with a smile, “It’s the rich who can afford this. Of course, you’ll be paying for the meal!”
Lei Kaitai and the others were at a loss whether to laugh or cry. Xiao Ran really didn’t care about such trivialities sometimes. After ordering food, Xiao Ran picked up his knife and fork to deal with the damn pepper steak on the table. “Well, since I’m doing this, I should say something, right?”
“You already know what we mean. There’s no need to say more,” Pan Di said with a shrug, taking a sip of wine before turning to Xiao Ran. “What’s your opinion? All these years, it’s been you leading us. It now depends on you!”
“Better to look at me than him…” Wei Dongling immediately protested, complaining, “He’s not as handsome as me!”
Xiao Ran chuckled, put down his knife and fork, took a sip of water, and then said calmly, “What do you all think about this? It’s very important!”
“Of course not. Hong Kong is our territory. No one is allowed to interfere!” Yang Qi wiped his hands before adding, “And even if they try to interfere, it can’t be a North American company. Warner is already very strong in North America. If they get involved too, it won’t end well!”
“Then just don’t let them in. It’s that simple!” Wei Dongling forced down a piece of lobster meat before saying nonchalantly, “This isn’t Hollywood. Turner can’t decide anything here. It’s us who matter.”
Yang Qi and the others wholeheartedly agreed with Wei Dongling’s words. But they knew well that the real decision-maker was still Xiao Ran, so they immediately turned their attention to him. Xiao Ran was also hesitant. Theoretically, more investment meant a more prosperous film industry, so it clearly made sense to let Warner enter.

Moreover, Warner’s entry will only enhance the influence of Chinese-language movies. However, Warner is indeed very strong, and most importantly, the market for Hong Kong movies is currently huge. Once Warner tastes success, other companies will follow suit. If the mainland market, which serves as the foundation now, is not under control by then, it is highly likely to destabilize Hong Kong movies. The fundamental condition for allowing Warner to enter is that the mainland market must be stable—at the very least, domestic distribution rights and theater chains should be in the hands of local companies. The current conditions seem suitable. Nevertheless, the partnership between China Film Group and Warner does make Xiao Ran somewhat cautious.