Chinese Entertainment: Academic Director

Chapter 205 Big Explosion
As the only cross-regional cinema chain company in the country at this stage, China Film Star Cinema Chain Company will definitely give "Nine-Tailed Demon Fox" its top priority.

From the distribution of copies, organization of activities, distribution of promotional materials, arrangement of premieres, broadcasting of news reports, etc., preliminary conditions were created for the smooth release of the film.

After careful preparation and a lot of preparatory work, several leading actors of "Nine-Tailed Demon Fox" joined hands with China Film Star Media to hold many promotional activities in more than 20 cities across the country.

Yes, President Han attached great importance to it this time and directly arranged promotions in more than 20 cities.

Of course, it is impossible for all actors to travel to more than twenty cities.

The crew was divided into three groups. Li Xiaoran and Gao Yuanyuan led one group each, and then the more famous Chen Kun and Pang Bing formed a group of two to visit these twenty or so cities respectively.

In fact, Li Xiaoran and Gao Yuanyuan can only promote the film in China for two days, after which they will go to North America and Europe for promotion. When they come back, they will also promote the film in Hong Kong, Xiao Ri Zi and South Korea for two days.

Although the foreign copyright has been sold, this has no impact on the actors. The higher the foreign box office, the more benefits they will get.

Li Xiaoran and Gao Yuanyuan may not be very famous in North America, but the titles of Berlin Film Festival Queen and Cannes Film Festival Queen are still useful and will definitely help the box office.

It’s different in Europe, they are both very famous in Europe.

The same is true in Hong Kong, South Korea and South Korea. The title of one of the three major European film queens is also effective.

Cao Yang also cooperated and accepted several interviews.

He paid special attention to the box office results and news reports today. He also wanted to know what the outside world thought of this "experimental film".

Beijing Youth Daily: Our newspaper reports that at midnight yesterday, "Nine-Tailed Demon Fox" was launched simultaneously in 14 theaters in 100 cinema chains across the country.

In just a one-time screening from midnight to two o'clock, all 100 theaters were packed and the box office reached a new record of 220 million.

Among them, Guangdong Province’s cinema revenue ranked first with 49 yuan…

The highest single-theater box office was at Yangcheng Tianhe Cinema, which earned 5 yuan; Shanghai Xintiandi Cinema followed closely with 4.8 yuan, and Beijing Zhongying Xingmei Cinema ranked third with 4.6 yuan...

Cao Yang was flipping through the Beijing Youth Daily. This news was reported from yesterday's midnight event.

"what?"

Below is also a report on Luchuan's "Kekexili".

Beijing Youth Daily: Our newspaper reports that at midnight yesterday, young director Lu Chuan’s new film “Kekexili” was also launched simultaneously in 100 cinemas across the country. According to people familiar with the matter, the box office was gratifying, and the total probably exceeded yuan.

No more?

Cao Yang flipped back and found that there was indeed nothing there, only these contents about "Kekexili".

Well, the box office grossed over 60,000 yuan, which is not really anything worth reporting.

According to information revealed by Xiao Gangpao, the Wang brothers of Huayi did not initially plan to arrange a midnight show for "Kekexili".

Later, when he learned that "Nine-Tailed Demon Fox" had a midnight show, Lu Chuan might have deliberately wanted to compete with Cao Yang. At his strong request, Huayi also arranged a midnight show, reportedly in no more, no less, 100 cinemas.

Okay, that's courage.

There was also news about "2046" in the Beijing Youth Daily.

Although "2046" was chosen to be released yesterday, the film producers did something special.

They started showing the film at 9:30 on the evening of September 20th, and there was only one screening.

In terms of time, it is better than the midnight show, that is to say, their real large-scale release will also be on October 10st.

However, I don’t know what the film producers were thinking, they set the ticket price for this show at 2046 yuan!
The Beijing Youth Daily did not get any specific box office information, only saying that it was estimated that the premiere box office would be within 20 yuan.

As a result, "Nine-Tailed Demon Fox", "2046" and "Kekexili" will all be released on a large scale on October 10st.

There is also Jackie Chan's "New Police Story", which is indeed a big production with an investment of 1.2 million Hong Kong dollars.

It was released on September 9.

It generated 1600 million yuan at the box office in just three days after its release. By the 29th, the box office had soared to 2200 million yuan. The film company specially held a small celebration banquet in Beijing to celebrate this achievement.

A banner was also hung, saying that it had broken the box office record of all films released in the country during the same period this year. The examples given were that "The Day After Tomorrow" and "Troy" both had box office revenues of 1500 million yuan in three days, which was less than "New Police Story."

Don't refute the producers for lying.

Although Zhang Yimou's "House of Flying Daggers", which was released in July, had a box office of 7 million on the first day and over 1600 million in three days.

But if you look closely, you will find that the producer also said that it has refreshed the domestic box office record for the same period this year. You must remember the two words "same period".

The box office of "New Police Story" seems to be good, but a careful analysis will reveal that it was 1600 million in the first three days, and only increased by 600 million in the next two days, which is a bit of a drop.

No wonder the distributor specially organized a celebration banquet, which was an attempt to create a "false prosperity" in order to expand its influence and increase box office results.

However, based on the current box office trend, it would be good if the next movie can gross over 40 million.

The box office of "New Police Story" in Hong Kong is not good either. It hasn't exceeded 10 million in a week. It will probably take around 20 million when it is released next week.

It is definitely impossible to make a profit relying solely on Hong Kong and the mainland. It is estimated that it will be difficult to make a profit even if the global box office is included.

The Beijing Youth Daily did not have any real film critics publish reviews on "Nine-Tailed Demon Fox". The reason for saying this is that the film critics invited to the premiere yesterday were paid travel expenses by China Film Corporation, making it difficult for them to give an objective evaluation.

I guess we'll have to wait until tomorrow for the relevant film reviews to come out. Film critics who were not invited and want to write reviews could only go to the midnight show yesterday.

There may be movie reviews online.

Cao Yang opened the "Cao Yang Bar" and took a look. He saw several reviews and took a quick look. None of them could be considered real film reviews.

There is a very interesting review after watching the movie, and one sentence in it caused a lot of discussion below.

"...Men all want to marry a virtuous and gentle woman like Peirong as their wife. But they hope to find a fairy and charming beauty like Xiaowei as their lover...

So, if you ask me, who would I choose between Li Xiaoran and Gao Yuanyuan? Needless to say, who wouldn't want to have both Li Xiaoran and Gao Yuanyuan? I don't know which one of them will be the cheaper one..."

"Li Dabai is mine, no one can take him away!"

"Upstairs, draw your swords."

"You two can probably get a room and have a fencing competition. I won't compete with you for Li Xiaoran, but Gao Yuanyuan must be mine. Her Xiao Wei simply hits all my aesthetic points."

"I still like Li Dabai's style. Gao Yuanyuan seems a bit pure and not as charming as Li Dabai."

"I disagree with the above comments. I like Gao Yuanyuan's pure school beauty look."

"What's the point of earning this? I like both of them anyway."

……

"I want both, but I still want to ask, what is the movie like? Is there anyone who can give an objective review?"

"I won't spoil the plot, I'll just say a few things: there are big scenes, it explores the changes in human nature, the story is fairly complete, and it doesn't drag on like an art film. I personally think it's much better than Zhang Yimou's House of Flying Daggers."

"House of Flying Daggers is a terrible movie. What a ridiculous story, and it doesn't make sense in the end. Zhang Yimou's storytelling skills are really bad."

"A little spoiler, haha, 'Nine-Tailed Demon Fox' is also a story about a love triangle, don't you think it's a coincidence? But Cao Yang's story is well told, and it also explores the complex changes in human nature. As an art film, it is not dragged out, which is the most important thing."

"Cao Yang is really bold. He uses such a high-budget movie as an experiment. This is really admirable.

However, after watching the movie, I feel that Cao Yang has compromised. Although the movie explores the complex and ever-changing human nature, I feel that it is a bit superficial. The whole movie is more commercial and does not dig deeper into human nature. "

"The people above are probably professionals. As an ordinary person, I think it's better this way. If we really dig deeper into human nature, it will be too heavy and the movie will be more boring."

……

Cao Yang couldn't help but sigh. In this era, the authority of the three major European film festivals is still very powerful in China. The Venice Film Festival said that "Nine-Tailed Demon Fox" is an experimental film, and so many people think it is an experimental film. At most, it is just like what someone said in the forum, that this movie did not balance commerciality and artistry, and it was slightly biased towards commercialization and failed to continue to dig deep into human nature.

"It's time to eat. Come and try the food I cooked today. You always said that I have a strong taste and the food I cook is too salty. I have learned some Cantonese cooking methods recently. Come and try it."

Dong Xuan was dressed as a cook. She held a soup bowl and placed it on the table. Then she made a "huh" sound and quickly shook her hands.

When she put the bowl down, the soup inside accidentally splashed on it.

Cao Yang quickly stood up, pulled Dong Xuan's hand over and took a look. It was red, but there were no blisters.

"Be careful. Does it hurt?"

Dong Xuan grinned, "It's okay."

"Okay, sit down, I'll do the rest."

Cao Yang pushed Dong Xuan onto the chair and asked again, "Do you want to apply some medicine?"

"No, it doesn't hurt now."

Dong Xuan watched Cao Yang busying in and out of the kitchen serving dishes and meals, and her heart was instantly filled with sweetness. How wonderful it would be if this kind of life could continue forever!

After dinner, Cao Yang took the initiative to wash the dishes, and then said to Dong Xuan: "I will live here for a while, but I may not have time to accompany you. I have to deal with the post-production of "District 9" during the day, and I also have to find time to write the script."

"Do you have an idea for a new movie?"

Dong Xuan asked in surprise, "The post-production of District 9 has just begun. If we start a new movie so soon, wouldn't it be too hasty, too rushed, and too tiring?"

"I do have an idea. I want to write two scripts, one for Lao Tian and one for myself. There's no rush for the one I'm going to shoot myself, as long as it's in time for next year's Venice."

Dong Xuan was even more surprised when he heard that Cao Yang was going to Venice again.

"Don't you have a 1+1 plan with Columbia? You won't be making a Hollywood movie next year?"

"Haha, there's no need to rush for that. Let's wait until District 9 is finished and released, and see how the box office performs. Then we can decide whether to make a second movie with Columbia."

Cao Yangzhan came over, rubbed Dong Xuan's head, and said with a smile: "Regarding the 1+1 plan, Columbia has the right to choose, and of course I have the right to choose too. It's not that I have to cooperate with them. Okay, I'm going to Qingying Studio."

In the next few days, Cao Yang was busy with the post-production of "District 9" while paying attention to the situation of "Nine-Tailed Demon Fox".

"District 9" is a co-production. Columbia found a very famous editor who came with his own team, which saved Cao Yang a lot of effort.

He only needs to tell the editor what he wants and supervise it from time to time to see if it meets his wishes.

This time, because "Nine-Tailed Demon Fox" has a huge investment, has the blessing of the best director in Venice, and has two film queens performing, it has also been hyped as Cao Yang's first "experimental film". The combined popularity is extremely high.

What is a great director in the eyes of ordinary people in China? It is a director who can make a big hit in Hollywood and win an Oscar.

Cao Yang's previous film, "Despicable Milk," won the Oscar for Best Picture, with a North American box office of $1.46 million and a global box office of $2.73 million, making him the undisputed No. Chinese director.

His influence in the country is even greater than that of Zhang Yimou.

Dong Xuan's favorite thing to do these days is to observe the surroundings of many cinemas in Beijing. He even pretends to queue up to buy tickets in order to understand the relevant situation.

Then she was surprised to find that almost all the people queuing up to buy tickets were there to see "Nine-Tailed Demon Fox".

She thought "Nine-Tailed Demon Fox" would be very popular.

After all, this is Cao Yang's first Chinese-language film after winning the Oscar for Best Picture. The influence is definitely different from before, but no one expected that this movie would become so popular.

On October 10, Cao Yang was still sleeping with Dong Xuan in his arms when President Han called him early in the morning to tell him the box office figures were out.

"Nine-Tailed Demon Fox" has a box office of 1836 million, far ahead of the second place.

"2046" received 420 million box office, ranking second. It is worth mentioning that of the 420 million, Shanghai alone contributed 200 million. It seems that there are more petty bourgeoisie in Shanghai, and more people like Sunglasses King.

The box office of "New Police Story" rebounded slightly compared to yesterday, earning 360 million and ranking third.

As for "Kekexili", although Lu Chuan promoted it as a commercial film, the box office showed that not many audiences bought into it, and it only earned 68 yuan.

On October 10, Cao Yang was still sleeping with Dong Xuan in his arms when President Han called again early in the morning, and this time he was even more excited.

"Nine-Tailed Demon Fox" once again took the lead, with a slight increase over yesterday's box office, and earned 2020 million.

In comparison, the box office of both "2046" and "New Police Story" have declined to varying degrees.

Today’s domestic market is too small, and it will only be a winner-takes-all situation, with box office revenues being sucked away by hit movies.

There is also Lu Chuan's "Kekexili". Because the box office on the first day was too poor, the screening schedule was cut by more than half, and now it is not worth mentioning.

The total box office will definitely be lower than the 600 million in the previous life, and it is even a question whether it can reach million.

He became the first cannon fodder. Not to mention arm wrestling with Cao Yang, he couldn't even see the taillights of the car.

On October 10, the box office of "Nine-Tailed Demon Fox" fell, earning only 4 million. "1580" and "New Police Story" also fell, with the latter's box office falling below 2046 million.

Cao Yang estimates that the total box office of "2046" and "New Police Story" will definitely be much lower than in the previous lives, as many of their screenings have been removed.

On October 10, the box office of "Nine-Tailed Demon Fox" dropped slightly, earning 5 million, and "1340" also fell below 2046 million.

On October 10, Cao Yang was doing morning exercises with Dong Xuan when President Han called again. He excitedly said that based on the box office results over the past few days, he found that the trend of "Nine-Tailed Demon Fox" was very similar to that of "Hero".

When he hung up the phone, he was still chattering excitedly that even if "Nine-Tailed Demon Fox" could not reach the box office of "Hero", it should not be too far behind.

"Nine-Tailed Demon Fox" earned 1260 million at the box office today.

On October 10, President Han called on time and said that today "Nine-Tailed Demon Fox" once again exceeded 7 million and achieved a score of 1120 million.

On October 10, the seven-day National Day holiday ended. Cao Yang thought that President Han would not call so early, but he called on time as usual, and it could be heard that his tone was even more excited.

On the last day of the National Day holiday, the box office of "Nine-Tailed Demon Fox" fell below 978 million, earning only million.

However, during the entire seven-day National Day holiday, "Nine-Tailed Demon Fox" earned 1.0134 million yuan at the box office, plus the 220 million from the midnight show, a total of 1.0354 million yuan.

This result has exceeded the box office of "Hero" in the first seven days, which was 1.0071 million.

Afterwards, President Han could not help but sigh again. If "Nine-Tailed Demon Fox" was moved to the summer vacation or New Year's Day schedule, with the longer vacation time, it might be able to catch up with the box office of "Hero".

Cao Yang understood what President Han meant. After the holiday, the box office would probably drop significantly. It would be difficult to surpass the box office of "Hero".

"Brother, do you think that if we release it together with House of Flying Daggers this summer, will both of us lose?"

President Han thought about it and sighed, "You are right. House of Flying Daggers also had a box office of 1.5 million. The current market simply cannot accommodate two movies with a box office of over million at the same time."

Cao Yang thought of this year's Lunar New Year films "A World Without Thieves" and "Kung Fu", both of which have box office revenues of over 100 million yuan.

Little Cannon will probably have a lot of opinions about Stephen Chow by then, as he didn't expect his movie to gross over 100 million yuan.

What he didn't expect was that just two weeks after the movie was released, Stephen Chow's "Kung Fu" also became a huge hit, which blocked his "A World Without Thieves" and caused him to lose at least tens of millions of box office revenue.

Actually what Mr. Han said is right. It is difficult for the current market to accommodate two blockbuster movies at the same time. As long as one of them is a big hit, the box office of other movies released at the same time will be sucked up heavily.

This can be seen from the fact that the box office of "A World Without Thieves" plummeted after the huge success of "Kung Fu".

So, later on, Xiao Gangpao accused Stephen Chow in front of the media, saying that he was dishonest and had bad character, and that he would never work with him again... The reason for this was that the film was blocked this time, which was a very big reason.

When hanging up the phone, Mr. Han said in a very sincere tone: "Junior brother, congratulations, your experimental film is very successful, both in terms of awards and box office, which can be reflected."

After hanging up the phone, Cao Yang patted Dong Xuan's butt and said, "Come, let's celebrate the box office exceeding 100 million yuan. Go and put on the goddess dragon clothes."

(End of this chapter)