Chapter 44: He Can't Possibly Kill Us All

Although Shoichi had acquired a theater chain, it was still far too small.

Currently, the Japanese film market was dominated by a chain alliance system controlled by the three major giants: Shochiku, Toho, and Toei.

Through exclusive contracts, they bound a vast number of independent cinemas to their respective groups, strictly controlling sources and screenings.

If one wanted to secure good box office numbers for a film, bypassing them was simply impossible.

Shoichi scheduled a meeting, gathering the key decision-makers from all three companies to discuss the details of screenings and revenue splits.

The three men exchanged glances.

They decided to show some respect to the Sumitomo family.

"When is your film scheduled for release?" asked Takeshita of the Shochiku Company.

"On Halloween," Shoichi replied.

The three looked at each other. None of their companies had any major films scheduled for Halloween, meaning there was no direct competition with Shoichi.

"No problem. Our theater chains will allocate more than enough screening time for Mr. Shoichi," Takeshita said with a smile.

"Good." Shoichi nodded and said, "I'm not very familiar with the entertainment industry, and I'm not sure what a normal box office split looks like. How about I give your theaters 30%?"

The three men looked at each other once again.

This young master truly knew nothing about the entertainment industry. A rookie director paired with a female idol, and a script written by the young master himself—

Allowing your movie into theaters is already doing you a massive favor, and yet you dare to demand 70% of the box office revenue?

Did he think he was shooting a Hollywood blockbuster?

"Ahem." Takeshita finally spoke up. "Mr. Shoichi, the standard box office split is 50%. However, since this is a script you penned personally, we are very optimistic about your film, so we've decided to offer you a 60% share."

Shoichi ignored him and continued on his own terms, "Let's talk about the screening schedule now."

Takeshita's face darkened.

They hadn't even settled the matter of the revenue split yet.

"The screening share on opening day cannot be lower than 50%, and it will increase daily depending on the situation," Shoichi stated.

The expressions of the three men grew even darker.

If you take all the prime screening slots for your movie, what are our company's films supposed to do?

They had never encountered anyone so brazenly greedy.

"Mr. Shoichi, you..."

"What? Can you not do it?" Shoichi asked.

"That is indeed impossible," Takeshita said with an ugly expression.

A 70% revenue split and 50% of the opening day screenings—had he lost his mind? Did he expect them to crawl on their knees and beg for scraps?

Having traversed the Japanese entertainment industry for so many years, they had never been subjected to such humiliation.

Shoichi didn't get angry after being rejected; he simply placed the newspaper he was holding onto the table.

Takeshita casually glanced at the newspaper.

He saw it was that newly rising publication, the *Justice Daily*, and faintly caught sight of a headline stating that Shoichi had murdered so-and-so due to commercial competition.

He swallowed hard, though he refused to back down.

Behind him stood the Shochiku Motion Picture Company; even if Shoichi was a scion of a major financial clique, he still had to care about Shochiku's reputation.

"I said, I don't understand the entertainment industry, nor do I understand film distribution," Shoichi remarked.

Takeshita forced a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "You don't need to understand these things. Just hire people who do to work for you. Why would a matter like this require your personal attention?"

"Yet here I am, negotiating it personally," Shoichi replied.

Takeshita wiped the sweat from his brow and said, "Mr. Shoichi, this really is the absolute limit of what we can offer."

Shoichi stared at him unblinkingly.

Takeshita returned a forced, awkward smile.

Finally, Shoichi sighed, appearing to give up on pushing further, which brought a relieved smile to Takeshita's face.

Even if you are a powerful outsider, you still have to bow down in the film industry.

Without the support of theater chains from our three companies, your movie won't make a dime at the box office, no matter how good it is.

If you want to survive in the movie business, you'd better lower your head.

"Since we can't reach an agreement, let's wait a little longer," Shoichi said as he stood up.

The smile on Takeshita's face froze, and a sudden sense of foreboding washed over him.

Without wasting any more words, Shoichi turned and walked out of the restaurant.

It seemed impossible to move these greedy bastards with sincere negotiations.

Since sincerity didn't work, Conan would just have to handle it.

It appeared the world's misunderstandings of him were about to deepen once again.

Back inside the restaurant, after Shoichi's departure, only the representatives of the three film companies remained. They looked at each other in silence as the atmosphere grew heavy. Yamana of Toho spoke up first:

"Did that guy pay for the meal?"

"Is this really the time to be talking about that?" Takeshita shot him an irritable glare.

Yamana glanced at the dishes left on the table.

This meal had not been cheap.

Takeshita picked up the newspaper Shoichi had left behind, scanned it briefly, let out a cold snort, and tossed it to Yamana and Yamamoto.

"That guy is an unadulterated grim reaper. Since we didn't agree to his demands, won't he send someone to wipe us out?" Yamana worried aloud.

Takeshita sneered. "We are all people of standing and repute. Would he really dare to commit outright murder?"

Yamana shook his head.

Hard to say.

"What about Takeda in the construction industry before? He was a person of high status too, wasn't he taken out by Shoichi? Shot eight times in the back, nearly ruled a suicide. Even though it wasn't ultimately classified as suicide, his son ended up in prison as the murderer," Yamana said with lingering fear.

It was simply too brutal.

"That was just a special circumstance," Takeshita stubbornly insisted.

"And what about Fujiwara? That guy was also considered a respectable figure, yet wasn't he 'suicided'? Even his theater chain was snapped up by Shoichi at scavenger prices."

"Fujiwara was already on the verge of bankruptcy anyway; how could he be considered a person of standing?" Takeshita said with utter disdain.

Did Fujiwara even deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as them?

Although they were merely high-ranking executives of the three companies rather than shareholders, their firms controlled 80% of Japan's box office.

Would Shoichi really dare to risk offending all three major companies just to assassinate them?

"Then what about Yotsuji and Matsumoto Kiyonaga?" Yamana pressed on.

An administrative官 of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, poisoned right at his own daughter's wedding.

The Yotsuji Group was also a hugely influential conglomerate in Tokyo, yet someone was drowned alive right at his daughter's birthday party.

Was there anything this guy didn't dare to do?

Moreover, even after growing this brazen, absolutely no one had been able to punish him.

If he were Shoichi, he would only become even more arrogant.

Takeshita persisted in his stubborn denial, saying, "Well, he didn't actually kill Superintendent Matsumoto or Yotsuji; he merely issued threats."

Yamana and Yamamoto cast grim, piercing looks at Takeshita.

What? Do you really think you're some kind of formidable person?

Eliminating us wouldn't that just serve as a convenient way to threaten the film companies standing behind us?

Takeshita seemed to realize this as well, and could only offer a final, desperate defense: "What are you afraid of? He surely can't kill all of us."