I was just thinking about taking the arts exam and you said I've been playing supporting roles

Chapter 318 "We're about to make history!"

September 11, early morning.

"How much?"

Chen Jin looked at the message Guo Fan sent right on time and said speechlessly, "Brother, I'm not the platform, I'm waiting for the data too!"

Chen Jin was also waiting for Song Zhongjie to send her the first day's pre-sale results for "So Young".

The approximate box office figures that Dida can estimate are not as precise as those from Maoyan, which connects to the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television. However, the approximate box office figures are definitely correct.

For example, if the number of visitors on the first day was 1131 million, the actual number is likely to be in the range of 1100-1200 million.

In fact, Chen Jin also had her own judgment regarding today's pre-sale.

It had already surpassed 800 million by the morning, and the subsequent growth was also terrifying.

Unlike the lack of timeliness in the dissemination of information through print media and portal websites, the emergence of Weibo has made many events become trending topics in minutes; for example, the popularity and sell-out of the midnight screening of "So Young" was known to many netizens.

This creates a mentality where everyone is scrambling for it, so I'll join in the fun too.

This led to even better pre-sales in the afternoon.

In the past, a movie's success might have been due to the director's fame or its status as a Hollywood blockbuster. This kind of box office hype would cause pre-sales to be very high on the first day, but then drop on the second day.

The price is expected to surge again two days before the release.

Even with the advent of the internet and mobile app ticketing, this remains the case.

This is a buyer's mindset.

The reason why "Love is Not Blind" saw a continuous rise in popularity for a week last year was mainly due to the initial rise of online ticketing. With a small number of users, the popularity increased every day.

After a year of online ticketing channels being opened, the market has become completely stable.

But "Love is Not Blind" followed a different kind of popular formula.

This is a phenomenal event, relying on Singles' Day, a shopping festival similar to Valentine's Day, which involves nationwide participation. Not only movies, but also merchants, media, and others are all cooperating in the hype, to the point that many young people who blindly consume will follow this trend.

Watching movies has become an essential part of this trend.

It's especially popular as a romantic comedy, which makes it even more appealing to young men and women.

Therefore, the more the ticket-buying frenzy spread, the more exaggerated the pre-sales of "So Young" became.

This is different from the director's inherent box office appeal or the inherent popularity of Hollywood blockbusters. This is a super buff from a special release period, plus the fact that the "Breakup" series is a movie deeply tied to Singles' Day.

Last year's success makes this year even more anticipated.

"Is Old Song asleep?"

Chen Jin waited for 5 minutes but still didn't receive a message from Song Zhongjie, and Guo Fan on the other end was getting anxious.

He was getting anxious waiting for the pre-sale.

Everyone knew that today's pre-sales were phenomenal, but before seeing the numbers, everyone obviously wanted to know the exact box office figures before they could sleep.

Finally, just when Chen Jin was about to give up, Song Zhongjie called.

He didn't send a message.

"Mr. Song, what's wrong?"

When Chen Jin saw Song Zhongjie's call, she knew things weren't so simple.

"I had the data department double-check the calculations several times, because I was afraid of making a mistake!"

Song Zhongjie said with a wry smile on the other end of the phone, "2723 million, not including offline sales. I thought I was seeing things!"

"How much... how much?"

More than 2700 million?!
Chen Jin was stunned by the number.

"Yes, I also asked around offline, and 3000 million should be a sure thing, maybe 3200 million if things go well!"

After all, even though online ticketing has been available for a year, many people still prefer to buy tickets offline for movies a week later; some movie-watching habits cannot be changed in just one or two years.

"Wow, this...this is really too outrageous!"

Chen Jin laughed heartily.

Song Zhongjie was clearly in a great mood, after all, Dida also invested in this movie: "Yeah, nobody expected it. I thought over 1000 million was already outrageous, but I didn't expect it to be this much on the first day!"

"If things go well, the total pre-sales could reach 2 million!"

With pre-sales exceeding 1 million, breaking records is no problem at all.

Transformers 3's pre-sale record was 1.1 million, and its final box office was over 12 billion.

According to feedback from the data department, Song Zhongjie believes that "So Young" is very likely to break 2 million+ in pre-sales.

The main reason is that Singles' Day is such a special holiday.

November 11th, 2011, was a Friday, so the young couple definitely wanted to celebrate.

Shopping, dining, and watching movies have almost become the only all-in-one entertainment option.

"Try it!"

"It's mainly the last day!"

"Yes, the countdown to the gala event hosted by Didi and Alibaba should help with pre-sales!"

Song Zhongjie's words were quite tactful.

It's actually very helpful.

Just like live-streaming e-commerce, TV and the internet broadcast the countdown to pre-sales, showing milestones like 1 million and 1.5 million, giving everyone a sense of participation, and many people will subconsciously buy tickets to join in.

This herd mentality is exploited very well on the internet.

Mr. Ma is now the biggest "pyramid scheme leader"!
"The cinemas are also working on a plan urgently. In addition to the midnight screenings, they should be able to expedite a few more late-night screenings!"

This is foreseeable.

Because there were too many people buying tickets.

Of course, cinemas wanted to capitalize on this surge in viewership. Since the midnight screenings were all sold out, they added screenings at 3:30 AM and 1:00 AM. If all else failed, some cinemas would stay open all night. When "Ne Zha 2" became a hit, cinemas were packed at 4:00 AM.

That's how exaggerated it is.

"More than 3000 million..."

After finishing her phone call with Song Zhongjie, Chen Jin felt a little dizzy.

This number did indeed have a significant impact on him.

Even someone like him, who knows about the future of the mainland box office market, feels that this number is too unrealistic, let alone the general public who are not so clear about it.

Song Zhongjie, being a returnee from overseas, has a certain level of mental resilience.

Guo Fan... well, he simply couldn't handle it.

Chen Jin dialed Guo Fan's mobile phone number.

You'd better prepare yourself mentally!

After the call connected, Chen Jin spoke to Guo Fan, who was urging her on the other end of the line.

Guo Fan quickly replied, "Say it! I know it sold out!"

"Old Song offline said there were several million..."

"on-line!"

These days, who still looks at offline data? Everyone buys movie tickets with their phones and computers.

"Offline, there's only Dida!"

"2723 million!"

After Chen Jin finished speaking, there was no sound from the other end of the phone.

He could almost picture Guo Fan's dumbfounded expression, which was quite comical.

"More than 2700 million?"

"Big brother, you're not kidding, are you?" What does that even mean?
Transformers 3's pre-sales on the first day didn't even break 1000 million. It was only in the last three days of its release that everyone knew it was going to be released and rushed to various websites to buy tickets. The total sales for the three days reached 7000 million!
That is, in the first four days, the pre-sales amounted to less than 40 million.

Now, a domestic film, a domestically produced romance film with a relatively low budget, has achieved the same effect in its first day of pre-sales as the other film did in four days.

How could Guo Fan not be astonished!
While Transformers 3 may not have reached the groundbreaking level of Avatar, it is still the pinnacle of Chinese cinema, breaking various records in Chinese film history in terms of box office, pre-sales, and daily sales.

This is a behemoth, an insurmountable barrier blocking mainland Chinese films.

With Avatar grossing over 13 billion yuan, a prevailing opinion online at the time was that no domestic film in China would be able to break this record for at least 10 years.

As for "Transformers 3," many people on Weibo say that probably only a Hollywood blockbuster can break its record.

No one is optimistic about the future of domestically produced films.

Because many people don't like watching it on their own.

But now, Guo Fan's blood was starting to boil.

It seems... these records, which seem completely unbreakable in the eyes of the Chinese people, are about to be broken.

Moreover, it was easy for Transformers 3 to break its record just two months after it was taken off the screens.

The myth of Hollywood's invincibility is about to end.

"No kidding!"

Chen Jin spoke very seriously, word by word, and Guo Fan suddenly took a deep breath and laughed heartily: "Hahaha, how much will this sell on the first day?"

"do not know!"

Any phenomenal film is unpredictable.

For films like "Wolf Warrior 2" and "Ne Zha 2," big data predictions have failed several times; especially the latter, which even AI couldn't estimate, and predictions have been repeatedly broken. Chen Jin, who knows the future, is even more aware of this unknown.

"Awesome!"

"Brother Jin, we're about to make history!"

Guo Fan only ever wanted to make science fiction films; he never imagined he could create such a legend in the Chinese mainland market.

Is this something a half-baked director who only started out in his career could accomplish?

Of course not!

Guo Fan is well aware that the current situation of "So Young" is not only due to his filmmaking; it is also largely due to Chen Jin.

The sole mastermind behind the film.

From the start of filming and casting to the release date, schedule, and marketing strategy, he steered the course and policies step by step.

In other words, the success of this film is entirely due to Chen Jin's efforts. Although the efforts of the team, the main creators, and others are inseparable, Chen Jin deserves 90% of the credit.

"No champagne at halftime!"

"The final pre-sale and first-day prices haven't been released yet, so let's just wait patiently, there aren't many days left!"

Chen Jin smiled. Although she was very optimistic about "So Young", it was indeed not time to celebrate yet.

All he knew was the opening day and pre-sales figures, so the movie should be pretty good.

"I'm hanging up, I'm going to sleep!"

Chen Jin pretended to hang up the phone, and Guo Fan was speechless: "How can you still sleep?"

"Going out for a couple of drinks? I'm so excited!"

"Is that all the grit you've got...?"

Chen Jin laughed and scolded, "It hasn't even been released yet, so we don't know the specific reviews..."

"I don't care, how old am I anyway?"

"This is my second movie!"

"I'm going crazy, okay?"

Guo Fan was indeed extremely excited. For a 31-year-old director, he was definitely a newcomer to the directing world.

Globally, a 31-year-old director can only be considered a "young director".

It's normal for him to tremble all over.

Two years ago, he was nobody. How long has it been? His current status and achievements are something that he could never reach in his lifetime.

These two films achieved a level that many directors spend their entire lives trying to reach, a level that many directors never reach in their entire careers.

He was already showing restraint by not going out and shouting three times.

"Then go ahead, I'm too lazy to change my clothes!"

Chen Jin was definitely much calmer than Guo Fan.

First, he has experienced so many films and has a wealth of knowledge; second, he has won an international Best Actor award, and the record-breaking box office of "So Young" was within his expectations, but he didn't expect it to be even more popular than he imagined.

"Look at you, anyone who didn't know better would think you were older than me!"

"You're only 21! Come on, let's go out and grab a drink!"

What's the point of me just drinking alone?

In the end, Chen Jin was still dragged out by Guo Fan.

The two found a barbecue stall, and Guo Fan's eyes reddened halfway through his drink. Whether he was drunk or just too emotional, it was hard to tell. He hugged Chen Jin and burst into tears.

Young people really can't handle things.

Chen Jin recorded this scene, which is definitely a dark chapter in Director Guo's career.

If you ever fall out with him, Chen Jin can bring it up.

After sending Guo Fan home, Chen Jin washed up and went to bed.

When Chen Jin woke up the next day, she indeed received many congratulatory messages from friends.

The first day of pre-sales for "So Young" has already been reported by major portal websites.

This is a great opportunity for publicity and promotion, and CETC certainly won't let such an opportunity pass by.

This will also help the pre-sales in the next few days, and many netizens will pay attention out of curiosity after seeing it.

Laymen watch the spectacle, while experts see the intricacies.

Wang Zhongjun looked at the pre-sale reports for "So Young" and sat in front of his computer for a long time without saying a word.

Zhang Yimou also learned of this news from Pang Liwei, and he was somewhat incredulous; the internet is changing so fast that he felt he couldn't keep up.

"This kid's personal value has increased even more now!"

Han Sanpin saw further than many others.

If "So Young" can break the record of "Avatar", Chen Jin will gain real box office appeal, just like Wu Jing in the future "Wolf Warrior 2".

This is the boost brought by a phenomenal film, just like "The Wandering Earth" for Guo Fan.

Almost everyone in the film industry is paying close attention to the future direction of "So Young".

A film that raked in 3213 million yuan on its first day of pre-sales—what kind of box office record will it create when it's released on Singles' Day? This is something that even Han Sanpin and others want to know.

This is no longer just a movie.

It concerns the entire industry, the entire mainland box office market, and is crucial to the rise of domestic films.

In the original timeline, Chinese films did not launch this battle to defend their rights until 2015; "Monster Hunt" also surpassed the box office of "Furious 7," which broke the record in mainland China that year, through despicable manipulation!
That's an extra 1000 million.

What's going on? Not to mention industry insiders, many netizens know the inside story.

Now, "So Young" can be said to have the perfect timing, location, and people!
"It hasn't even been released yet, and they're already setting up loan records and all sorts of things?"

Looking at the blessing messages that kept coming in from time to time, Chen Jin suddenly felt a lot of pressure.

The attention from the entire industry seems to have even alarmed the Film Bureau...

(End of this chapter)