Back to 1997, I became the originator of online literature

Chapter 551 6000 Million Box Office

"Me, try to win him over? I won't even let him write the script, why would I try to win him over?"

Chen Kaige appeared dismissive.

He didn't want his wife to know that Cao Sheng hadn't contacted him yet.

Chen Hong was puzzled. "They're not letting him write the script anymore? Didn't you really want to work with him before?"

Chen Kaige looked displeased and said irritably, "That was before. I have a better screenwriter to work with now, so I don't need him anymore."

Chen Hong was even more puzzled, "Huh? In our Chinese-language film and television industry, is there a better screenwriter than him? Who is it?"

Chen Kaige's face darkened. "What are you talking about? How come there's no better screenwriter in the Chinese film and television industry? How old is he? How much education has he received? A kid who couldn't even get into university, how much knowledge can he possibly have? At best, he's just an idol in the screenwriting circle, similar to those idol stars in the film and television industry! He may have a lot of fame, but in terms of real talent, there are plenty of people in this industry who are more talented than him!"

Chen Hong was starting to believe it.

Because what Chen Kai said sounded quite reasonable.

Cao Sheng is indeed very young, and he did not get into a university in the college entrance examination. He is also so handsome, which seems to fit the characteristics of an idol.

This was the first time she had ever heard of screenwriters... and idol actors too.

……

June 7.

on Tuesday.

More than 10 o'clock in the evening.

Cao Sheng and Jiang Xiaoshuang arrived at a movie theater and asked Huang Lijun, who was driving, to buy two tickets for "Infernal Affairs". The two of them, each holding a ticket, walked into a screening room one after the other, about ten meters apart.

Jiang Xiaoshuang came in first, and a moment later, Cao Sheng sat down next to her.

Jiang Xiaoshuang was wearing a hat, and Cao Sheng was wearing brown-tinted glasses.

They specifically chose Tuesday night to watch this movie.

This movie has been incredibly popular since its release.

Even though it has been released for almost a month, there are still quite a few people watching the movie on weekends.

Therefore, they specifically chose to watch it late at night on a weekday.

Sure enough, there were only a dozen or so audience members in the screening room for "Infernal Affairs" at that time.

"You wrote this script yourself, and you've managed to wait until now to watch it? The movie's almost out of theaters, right? How did you manage to hold back?"

Jiang Xiaoshuang leaned close to Cao Sheng's face and teased him softly.

Cao Sheng chuckled slightly.

"Have you been busy lately?"

The real reason is that he had already watched this movie many times before his rebirth, so naturally he wasn't in a hurry to watch it again.

If Jiang Xiaoshuang hadn't invited him to see this movie several times recently, he wouldn't have bothered to come.

Jiang Xiaoshuang: "How much has this movie grossed so far? Has it broken 6000 million? When I went online yesterday, it seemed like it was about to break 6000 million."

Cao Sheng nodded slightly and hummed in agreement.

The film's box office in mainland China just surpassed 6000 million yuan today, and he saw someone mention it in the book review section of "The Romance of Chinese Martial Arts".

This gave him a great sense of accomplishment.

He vaguely remembered that the first film in the series didn't seem to have a high box office in mainland China.

However, the box office figures in Hong Kong are quite impressive.

In his memory, when the first "Infernal Affairs" film was released in mainland China, Hong Kong films had been declining at the box office for many years, and audiences generally had no expectations for Hong Kong films. The limelight of Hong Kong films in mainland China had long been stolen by Hollywood blockbusters.

Leaving aside distant examples, just this year, in the first half of the year, mainland China released "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" and "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring".

In addition, Cao Sheng recently heard that Spider-Man and Mission: Impossible 2 will be released in mainland China in the second half of this year.

In the original timeline, Hong Kong films, under the impact of one Hollywood blockbuster after another, began to lose not only the mainland market, but also box office revenue in Taiwan, Southeast Asia, and other regions.

The entire Hong Kong film market is teetering on the brink of collapse.

Therefore, shortly after the release of the original "Infernal Affairs," it was hailed as the savior of Hong Kong films, giving many Hong Kong film professionals hope for saving the genre.

only……

Freezing three feet is not a day's cold.

Even with the quality of "Infernal Affairs," the original timeline couldn't attract many viewers when it was released in mainland China. Cao Sheng vaguely remembered that the first "Infernal Affairs" film in the original timeline only grossed a few million yuan in mainland China, probably not even ten million.

Even the second installment of "Infernal Affairs" only grossed a few million at the box office in mainland China.

In contrast, the film's box office figures in Hong Kong and overseas are quite impressive.

For example, the final box office of "Infernal Affairs" in Hong Kong was more than HK$50 million.

The second and third installments performed very well at the box office in Hong Kong.

However, "Infernal Affairs 3" grossed over 2000 million yuan at the box office in mainland China in just three days.

Why did the third installment perform so well at the box office in mainland China?
To put it simply, although the first two films did not perform well at the box office in mainland China, as more and more viewers saw them through channels such as the internet and DVD market, word of mouth gradually spread.

Word of mouth spread, and it wasn't until the third installment was released in mainland China that it finally garnered a surge in audience interest.

And what about the current time and space?

Hong Kong films did not perform as poorly at the box office in mainland China as they did in the original timeline.

In recent years, even though Hollywood films have landed in mainland China and raked in huge box office revenues every year, the films written by Cao Sheng have consistently achieved higher box office returns and received better reviews in mainland China.

Therefore, Hong Kong films in this era are not yet on the verge of extinction in mainland China.

Since the preparation of "Infernal Affairs", countless movie fans in mainland China have been looking forward to the release of this movie.

Many of them are fans of Cao Sheng's books.

Most of them are Cao Sheng's fans. Yes!

As the number of successful films he writes increases, more and more people online and in real life are beginning to call themselves his fans.

Even though he is just a screenwriter and has never acted in any movies, his fan base continues to grow.

For example, the original Infernal Affairs 1 only grossed around 200 million yuan at the box office in mainland China.

The film is still showing in theaters, and its total box office in mainland China has already exceeded 6000 million yuan.

On the big screen, "Infernal Affairs" has already begun to be shown.

Cao Sheng looked at the big screen, his right arm was wrapped around Jiang Xiaoshuang's arm, and she would occasionally stuff a little popcorn into his mouth.

As Cao Sheng watched the movie, he munched on popcorn, but his mind wasn't really on the big screen. He was wondering why the movie was doing so much better at the box office in mainland China than in the original timeline. What was the real reason behind it?
As he pondered this, he began to wonder if the huge difference in box office figures between the two timelines was because the film's distribution in mainland China in the original timeline was a complete failure.

Just like those critically acclaimed but commercially unsuccessful films that have appeared in every film market?
Does a good movie always guarantee a high box office?

Historically, films that are critically acclaimed but commercially unsuccessful have repeatedly provided the answer.

--not necessarily!
For example, "A Chinese Odyssey".

When it was released, it was a huge hit.

It was criticized by countless viewers as a terrible movie.

But later, as more and more young people watched the movie online, more and more people considered it a classic.

It wasn't until many years later that the film's reputation was completely turned around.

There are countless similar examples.

And what about Infernal Affairs?

Its quality is not bad.

The film "Original Timeline" performed poorly at the box office in mainland China.

Ultimately, there are probably two reasons: First, Hong Kong films were generally struggling in mainland China at the time, and mainland audiences had lost interest in them. Second, the distribution efforts were very unsuccessful.

Cao Sheng couldn't think of a third reason for a moment.

On the big screen, the plot of "Infernal Affairs" unfolds little by little.

Sitting next to Cao Sheng, Jiang Xiaoshuang's gaze was completely drawn to the plot.

Cao Sheng was still somewhat distracted.

He thought about the film's current box office performance in Hong Kong.

News reports say that "Infernal Affairs" grossed over 6000 million HKD in Hong Kong three days ago.

It also broke the box office record for the original timeline film in Hong Kong.

The film grossed 6000 million in mainland China and 6000 million in Hong Kong. It is still showing in both regions and Cao Sheng estimates that the total box office will exceed 1.3 million yuan by the time it leaves theaters. It may even be higher.

These figures already represent a significant box office success.

In previous years, this box office performance would have secured the top spot at the box office in both mainland China and Hong Kong.

pity……

He knew that "Hero" would be released at the end of this year.

The recent distribution of "Infernal Affairs" in mainland China seems to be very successful, but it can't compare to "Hero" at all.

He recalled that before the release of "Hero" in the original timeline, it was all over the news in China.

The concept of "domestic blockbuster" has been hyped up to the point that it is almost universally known.

The information about the film's cast, including Jet Li, Tony Leung, Donnie Yen, and Maggie Cheung, has also attracted countless viewers.

Cao Sheng remembers that the original timeline's "Hero" grossed over 100 million yuan.

It also performed well at the overseas box office.

Therefore, even though "Infernal Affairs" has grossed over 6000 million yuan at the mainland box office, it still cannot win the title of this year's mainland annual box office champion.

Sorry?
There's definitely some.

But there was nothing he could do.

Even if he personally thinks the plot of "Infernal Affairs" is more exciting, that's just his personal opinion.

People in China today are addicted to Hollywood blockbusters; they have little interest in buying tickets to go to the cinema for anything other than a blockbuster.

People generally don't care much about the plot of movies; they prefer to watch the big scenes on the big screen.

For example, the scene in "Hero" where thousands of arrows are fired simultaneously, raining down like arrows, can shock and excite countless domestic viewers.

However, "Infernal Affairs" did not have such a large-scale scene.

Furthermore, as a Hong Kong film, even if the screenwriter were changed to him, a mainland Chinese, "Infernal Affairs" would not have received a high number of theatrical screenings in mainland China.

And what about Hero?

As a highly anticipated domestic blockbuster, it's not just the audience who are looking forward to it; leaders of relevant departments, cinemas, and many other parties are also eagerly awaiting its release.

Many people hope that this domestic blockbuster will achieve high box office returns.

Otherwise, domestic films would be powerless to compete with Hollywood blockbusters.

Therefore, when the movie "Original Timeline" was released, it had a much higher screen share, far ahead of the competition.

Therefore, Cao Sheng never intended to use any tricks to try to make "Infernal Affairs" surpass "Hero" at the box office.

He knew very well that this was impossible.

The expectations of moviegoers determined the lower limit of "Hero's" box office, while the full support from relevant departments determined the upper limit of the film's box office.

That kind of ceiling is something that "Infernal Affairs" could never reach.

(End of this chapter)