On September 24, a netizen on the social platform XiaoHongShu accused the Mainland Chinese top film company that produced “Wolf Warrior”, “Hengye Films,” of owing over 10 million yuan (RMB) in salaries to more than a hundred employees.
The post titled “Unable to Pursue Over 100,000 Owe Wages, Now Depressed” revealed that “Hengye Films,” which has produced well-known films such as “Wolf Warrior,” “Accidental Killing,” “Chinese Ping Pong: Counterattack,” and “Locked Door,” has been withholding salaries since last year, involving at least ten months’ total salaries of over tens of millions of yuan for hundreds of employees.
The netizen expressed, “In the face of capital in the hundreds of millions, the over ten thousand yuan owed to me personally might not even count as an ant, but it is like Mount Tai crushing me.” The post mentioned that earlier this year, the netizen resigned peacefully with understanding and signed an agreement with the company for salary repayment. However, after several unsuccessful attempts to claim wages, the netizen decided to sue “Hengye Films.” Although the case has progressed to the court’s enforcement stage, the feedback received by the netizen is that the company has no enforceable assets, leaving the owed employees with almost no recourse.
Meanwhile, “Hengye Films” is preparing a new movie about debt collection. Based on the public information shared by the netizen, the film titled “Day of Prosperity,” written by Zhong Wei, is registered under “Hengye Films” and another company under CEO Chen Hui, “Hengye Mustang Films.” The synopsis of the movie indeed revolves around debt collection.
Although the authenticity of the multi-million yuan salary owed by “Hengye Films” cannot be verified, it was found that “Fujian Hengye Co., Ltd.” and its holding company “Hengye Films (Beijing) Co., Ltd.” are listed as dishonest debtors and debtors. The “Fujian Hengye Films” is associated with keywords such as “equity pledge,” “dishonest debtor,” “debtor,” “high consumption restriction,” “equity freeze,” and “judicial case.”
Of particular interest is a debt amounting to over 33 million yuan, with the company’s founder and general manager, Chen Hui, facing five restriction orders and one historical restriction order. The most recent “consumption restriction order,” initiated by “Shanghai Tongyue Culture Media Co., Ltd.,” was filed on February 18 this year, and published on July 11 this year.
At one time, “Hengye Films” enjoyed immense success. Founded in 2007 with investment in horror films, from early works like “Haunted Mansion” to 2021’s “Locked Door,” almost every movie was profitable. For instance, the 2011 release “Zone B No. 32” had a budget of only 1 million yuan but earned over 14 million yuan, resulting in a return of over 800% after deducting other expenses. In 2017, the company was valued at 3 billion yuan. Not content with being labeled a “horror film specialist,” boss Chen Hui’s proudest moment was co-producing and distributing the praised by CCP officialdom film “Wolf Warrior.”
Regarding the mentioned “Accidental Killing 2,” with box office earnings exceeding 1.1 billion yuan, “Hengye Films” ranked second among the production companies. However, the current reality of the Chinese film market is that merely investing in a film may not yield much profit, but a single failed movie could jeopardize a company.
According to reports in mainland media, “Hengye Films” has been on a downward trend since releasing “Accidental Killing 2” in 2021. The Lunar New Year release of “Chinese Ping Pong: Counterattack” last year only earned 100 million yuan at the box office, with the studio taking 34 million, possibly not enough to cover promotion costs. Following that, the action movie “Desperate Pursuit” with a production cost of 100 million yuan only made 29 million yuan at the box office, with the studio taking 10 million, resulting in significant losses.
Chen Hui had previously warned that “We often see companies disappear overnight because of one movie not doing well.” Looking back now, it is evident just how brutal the Chinese film market can be. As for the accusations against “Hengye Films” by the netizen, Chen Hui’s earlier words seem prophetic.