Huayu: Starting from Fahrenheit

Chapter 397: First Day Box Office Breaks Record

At noon, the premiere of "Fleet of Time" started on time.

The production team didn't prepare for so many complicated procedures.

Wu Zhuo and director Zhang Yibai went on stage, said a few words, and then left the stage, at which point the film began to play.

As soon as the movie started, screams could be heard from the audience in the theater from time to time.

"Wu Zhuo is so handsome!"

"The female lead is really beautiful."

"Haha, Deng Chao is so funny."

Judging from audience feedback, the movie is good.

However, Wu Zhuo and the others were not overly happy.

The industry has become increasingly commercialized in recent years.

The days when a film's reputation and future box office performance could be predicted at its premiere are no longer likely to be so.

In the past, movie premieres were mostly attended by casual viewers who came for a specific purpose.

Nowadays, the audience at premieres are either hired by film companies or die-hard fans of the celebrities.

No matter how you look at them, these people are unlikely to give you any indication of whether a movie is popular or not.

Whether a movie can become a box office hit nowadays mainly depends on the occupancy rate and box office trend of other ordinary cinemas.

Therefore, Wu Zhuo himself was not really concerned about the audience feedback from this premiere.

The sole purpose of this premiere was to generate buzz.

This is a gimmick used to attract other audiences to the theater.

Amid cheers, the movie came to an end.

After the event, the film crew began giving interviews.

Then they turned the tables and asked the audience for their opinions on the film.

The latter part of the program was added by Wu Zhuo himself.

This kind of thing became very popular in the later Douyin era, where ordinary viewers would praise the movie to the skies.

Or perhaps let your peers brag about it on the spot.

Later generations of viewers, having seen so many of these scenes, naturally stopped believing them.

But the audience in 2009 had never encountered this kind of promotion before, so the effect would be very good.

To achieve the best effect, Wu Zhuo also asked Jay Chou and the other two to praise "Fleet of Time" on the spot.

Then record it as a video and post it online.

In fact, Wu Zhuo's approach was not wrong at all.

There is already a lot of interest online about the Four Heavenly Kings gathering together.

When the video of Jay Chou and his two friends praising him was posted online, it immediately became a hit.

Jay Chou: "This movie is really well made. It makes me feel like I'm back in my student days, especially the love between the male and female leads. It makes me think of my first love."

Wang Leehom: "I grew up abroad and am not familiar with student life in China, but the two are actually similar. Wu Zhuo's movie made me want to cry in many parts. I even had the idea of ​​calling my girlfriend from my student days just now."

JJ Lin: "The quality of the movie is truly undeniable. The themes of youth and love reminded me of my first love."

Wow, all three of them mentioned their first love in unison, trying to resonate with the audience.

The goal was achieved. After the video of the three was uploaded to the internet that day, it immediately aroused the interest of many netizens in "Fleet of Time".

The already somewhat popular film "Fleet of Time" has become the most discussed movie online.

However, because all three of them mentioned their first love, the next day, Jay Chou and the other two became the focus of reporters' interviews.

The reporters were very curious about the love story of the three during their student days.

They frantically chased after the three, asking them related questions.

To be honest, Wu Zhuo found the way things unfolding somewhat amusing.

He simply asked the three of them to come up with some lyrics to sing along to "The Fleeting Years".

Surprisingly, all three of them mentioned their first love. But overall, it's not a bad thing for them; after all, it's not a scandal, but rather gossip.

To some extent, it can also increase the popularity of the three of them.

The help from Jay Chou and his two friends was absolutely invaluable to "Fleet of Time".

The hype surrounding the gathering of the new Four Heavenly Kings, along with the public praise from the three of them, directly or indirectly boosted the box office performance of "Fleet of Time".

Wu Zhuo already had a large enough fanbase, and many people were willing to go to the cinema to watch this movie.

Now that Jay Chou and others have given it another recommendation, the film's box office has naturally been soaring.

That evening, Wu Zhuo was stunned when he received the film's opening day box office figures.

1350 million RMB.

This isn't the first week, but a single day.

Even more terrifying is that "Fleet of Time" actually broke the record for the highest-grossing opening day in mainland China, previously held by "CJ7".

The opening day box office for "CJ7" was 12 million.

"Fleet of Time" surpassed it by 150 million.

This terrifying data not only excited all the main creators of "Fleet of Time," but also drove the outside media into a frenzy.

[Fleet of Time" grosses 13.5 million yuan on its opening day, breaking the 12 million yuan record set by Stephen Chow's CJ7]

[A new record is set: Pop singer Abel Wu's new movie achieves explosive opening day box office results]

A new box office king has emerged: Wu Zhuo becomes the record holder for the highest opening day box office in China.

A large number of reports focused directly on "Fleet of Time".

With the explosion of movie box office data.

The publicity plans of Wu Zhuo and other key members of the production team have also been changed.

The production team, which originally only needed to hold a few promotional events in several major cities in China, directly revised their original plans.

The number of promotional events has been increased to more than ten.

Meanwhile, the production team reached an agreement with variety shows such as "Day Day Up" on the spot, and the "Fleet of Time" crew will appear on four shows in succession.

Aside from the fact that the production team changed their plans due to box office issues.

Because of the explosive box office performance of "Fleet of Time" on its opening day, the cinemas also chose to increase the number of screenings.

The original "Fleet of Time" had 2700 screens and was broadcast three times a day.

Now, the theater chain has increased the number of screens to 3500, and the number of shows per day has also been increased to 5.

There is something to say.

If you eat too much from one bowl, the others will naturally have to eat less.

The sudden success of "Fleet of Time" will naturally influence other films as well.

The two strong competitors, "City of Life and Death" and "Wolverine," which were released in the same period, were naturally the most affected.

In particular, Lu Chuan's film "Nanjing Nanjing" was marketed as a way to restore the truth of what happened back then.

However, after the film was released, many viewers felt that it glorified Japan.

Some people online have even nicknamed him Colonel Lu.

Due to controversy, the box office figures for "City of Life and Death," which was released on the 22nd, have already dropped significantly after a week.

Now, the sudden surge in popularity of "Fleet of Time" has inevitably affected the screening schedule of "City of Life and Death".

On the original date of the 1st, "City of Life and Death" was expected to gross 600 million yuan at the box office.

As a result of reduced screenings, the film's box office revenue plummeted to three million on the 3rd.

It's a direct cut in half.

Faced with this situation, Lu Chuan could no longer sit still.

He stated directly during the interview:
"I don't understand why everyone would watch a melodramatic campus romance. Have we all forgotten history?"

(End of this chapter)