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

Chapter 364 Breaking another record, Huayi collapses!
On the first day of the Lunar New Year, Chen Jin stayed in her study.

Although he spoke well of Zhang Yimou, and promoted and documented the film in various ways, he himself was actually unsure about the reputation of "Jinling".

It's not that "Jinling" is badly made. Given Zhang Yimou's level of expertise, even the worst film would have received the same rating as in his previous life. Chen Jin still believes in him on this point.

What he was worried about was public opinion.

Will releasing the film on the first day of the Lunar New Year have any negative impact?

So early in the morning, he started refreshing various film review sections and some comments on Weibo.

The result... was truly beyond his expectations.

There were very few negative reviews; most were positive. And, just as Chen Jin had imagined, there were calls to not forget history and not forget hatred.

"The masters will eventually return; the times cannot stop them!"

"Zhang Yimou, the best Chinese director in my mind, has finally made a film worthy of the title of 'National Director'!"

"Never forget history! The Japanese are truly beasts in the guise of civilization!"

"The stark contrast between the brutality of war and the beauty of the cinematography is incredibly moving!"

"Before watching it, I thought the movie would be very cruel, but after watching it... I was speechless!"

"..."

Chen Jin kept scrolling through the movie reviews, but she didn't see a single one that said watching such a movie on the first day of the Lunar New Year was simply awful.

As it turned out, he was worrying unnecessarily.

It can only be said that China currently has the best and most tolerant audience in the world; otherwise, it wouldn't be possible for all sorts of terrible films to gross over 10 billion yuan in the next few years.

Just like the "Tiny Times" series, which has grossed over 15 billion.

In 2012, many young people are going to the cinema for the first time. When they're dating, they may not care what movie they watch; they just want the atmosphere.

The "licking dog economy" has become very popular in recent years.

With the added marketing of the Spring Festival Gala, many viewers will take their parents to see a movie.

After all, this only happens once a year.

"This era is wonderful!"

The golden decade of Chinese cinema, 2012-2021.

It's not about the movie, it's about the audience.

Of course, the turning point actually started with the marketing during the Spring Festival season. The movie "Hot and Spicy" extinguished all the audience's enthusiasm for watching movies.

This leads many people to check movie reviews before going to the cinema.

What's even more absurd is that word-of-mouth might not be of any use anymore, so people simply won't go to the cinema unless a movie really becomes so popular that everyone knows about it, like "Ne Zha 2". Otherwise... audiences will never pay for movies they're not interested in.

Chen Jin could see the future news, so she knew about the various changes in the Chinese film market over the next ten years.

He could only marvel at how fortunate he was to have been born in a good era.

Whether it's the country's economic development or the people's ever-increasing entertainment needs.

"Judging from this, tomorrow's daily box office shouldn't drop too drastically!"

There will definitely be an impact, but it's not as serious as Chen Jin thought.

Contrary to Zhang Yimou's expectations, public opinion did not force the film to change course.

Drip!

The phone next to me rang with a chat notification.

Chen Jin scrolled through the screen, looking at the message Chen Su had sent: "Brother Jin, the first batch of massacre survivors have finished reading!"

"The media is all interviewing and reporting on it!"

"Sure, let's promote it on Weibo. Have all the media from Nanjing arrived yet?"

These weren't invited by Chen Jin, but rather by the media who knew about the screening event and were waiting there specifically.

News about the Holocaust has been a hot topic in recent years.

But it's clearly not generating as much buzz as it is now, thanks to the movie's popularity.

The authorities have always wanted to establish a Holocaust Remembrance Day so that more people and the international community can learn about this history.

"It's here, and the response has been tremendous!"

"I thought I'd take this opportunity to spread the word and let more people know about it!"

"Grandma Zhao Zhenhua also has a Weibo account with several thousand followers!"

"Is it that old lady who had a cameo role in 'City of Life and Death'?"

"Yes, she has been speaking out online!"

"In fact, many people are willing to cooperate. When they hear that it can make more people aware of the crimes committed by the Japanese devils, they all want to help unconditionally!"

Chen Su's words stirred something within Chen Jin.

"In that case, we were going to promote it in this direction anyway!"

"See if you can get these survivors to register accounts on Weibo. We'll handle the promotion and use the movie to generate buzz online!"

"Okay, shall we contact the Holocaust Memorial Hall again and go pay our respects?"

"..."

The two discussed it and quickly determined a direction for their next promotional campaign.

To get more people involved and to let them know what these people went through back then.

You know about the massacre, but you need to really understand it to have a detailed understanding of the crimes committed by the Japanese back then.

Just as more and more people will come to know about Unit 731 in the future.

Many people may only know that the Japanese used Chinese people's bodies for experiments and developed biological weapons, but they have no idea that many of them were children, and many were living people... Once you know this, the anger that comes from the bottom of your heart will make you feel the same way.

At the very simplest point, in the past, Chinese people only knew that the Japanese invaded us and knew about their various atrocities.

This is what history books or other people say.

Listening to it won't evoke much of a psychological response, but only by personally experiencing it and seeing it time and time again can you truly understand the suffering your ancestors endured.

"Oh, and Iris Chang too!"

After sending a message to Chen Su, Chen Jin immediately called Pang Liwei.

He planned to take this opportunity to lead the creators of "The Flowers of War" to pay homage to the cenotaph of the female writer who bravely spoke out against the Holocaust on the international stage.

Incidentally, use a portion of the box office revenue to build a memorial hall for her.

Her book, "The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust," became a bestseller, attracting the attention of Japanese people with ulterior motives, and she faced numerous threats and boycotts. In addition, the history she researched was so atrocious, and she was deeply traumatized by the sight of beheadings, burnings, and other horrific scenes, often suffering from insomnia and depression.

Ultimately, a few years ago, unable to bear the pain any longer, he became depressed and committed suicide by shooting himself.

This was a soldier whom Chen Jin respected.

She shouldn't remain unknown; her deeds should be known to people both in China and internationally.

……

The next day, Chen Jin took her parents back to her hometown of Suzhou to celebrate the Chinese New Year.

Incidentally, he had to go to Huaicheng and Jinling next to prepare for propaganda about the massacre; and Zhang Yimou happened to be in Xicheng, next to Chen Jin's hometown.

Within the province, a round trip can usually be completed within a single day.

"The Flowers of War" grossed 2.31 million yuan on its opening day, becoming the second film in Chinese film history to break the 2 million yuan mark in a single day.

The 2.31 million yuan also set a new record for single-day box office.

The previous record was actually set by a product of China Electronics Technology Group Corporation (CETC). "So Young" achieved 2.15 million yuan in sales during Singles' Day!
The entire film industry was clearly stunned by the 2.31 million yuan box office of "Jinling" in a single day.

Most importantly, after the film was scheduled for release on the first day of the Lunar New Year, many people were not optimistic about its prospects. The Spring Festival film season was generally ignored, and no one expected that such a film could achieve such an outrageous box office result on such a day.

Does that mean that if we switch to other genres, the box office would be even higher?

That's what everyone at Huayi thought.

Everyone understands that war films, especially those depicting massacres, are inherently unpopular when released on the first day of the Lunar New Year.

Even so, so many viewers still flocked to the cinemas, which is clearly not just due to Zhang Yimou's box office appeal.

It's obvious to anyone with eyes that this surge in movie viewership is a result of the Spring Festival holiday.

"Damn it, that kid stole another chicken!"

Wang Zhonglei angrily slammed his fist on the table.

When Wang Zhonglei saw that "Jinling" had grossed 2.31 million yuan in a single day, his face turned green.

He certainly knew that the film's pre-sales were high, but he hadn't expected that it would break the record set by the phenomenal "So Young" on the first day of the Spring Festival.

He had always believed that the phenomenal box office success of "So Young" was related to Alibaba's Singles' Day marketing campaign.

In other words, he doesn't acknowledge the marketing capabilities of China Electronics Technology Group Corporation (CETC), believing that films like "Love is Not Blind" and "So Young" originated from Alibaba.

Wang Zhongjun also agrees with this view.

After all, Chen Jin is only a few years old; he hasn't even grown his hair yet.

Of the films he starred in, two were due to luck, one, "The Founding of a Republic," relied on China Film Group, and the only film to win an award, "Life's Big Events," relied on the Venice Film Festival.

It is not shameful to acknowledge the strength of your opponent.

But excluding such a young fellow, the two kings had indeed not taken Chen Jin seriously before.

The internet is flooded with insults and condemnations directed at those cowards who didn't speak up.

But now, Jinling has no help from Alibaba.

This is a genuine promotional message from a company called China Electronics Technology Group Corporation (CETC).

"Next year's Spring Festival!"

"We absolutely have to release one!"

Unlike his younger brother Wang Zhonglei, Wang Zhongjun, although he still felt that this time the electronics company had gotten a bargain, he didn't care too much about it.

Making money is the way to go.

Now we need to figure out if Huayi can secure a spot in this time slot next year.

And you have to bring out your most confident piece.

"Xiaogang's?"

Feng Xiaogang has a film called "Back to 1942" this year, but it hasn't started filming yet. It's a major project that Huayi Brothers started after the new year!

"Xiaogang should still be released during the Lunar New Year season!"

"This is the most suitable and safest time for him!"

"1942 is similar to Nanjing, it's a disaster film, so it's not really suitable for the Spring Festival!"

"To be on the safe side, let's choose one between Jackie Chan and Stephen Chow!"

Wang Zhongjun adjusted his glasses, while Wang Zhonglei frowned slightly: "Even if these two films are big hits, they won't make much money..."

Because they are all collaborations with others, not exclusive to Huayi.

"Why not try 'Painted Skin 2'? They spent a lot of money on the special effects!"

"Not safe!"

Wang Zhongjun sighed: "Let's take Jackie Chan and Stephen Chow as an example. Based on the audience numbers during the Spring Festival, next year's figures will only be higher, not lower. Normally, it might be around 5 million, but I feel it could double during this period!"

"If it's 10 billion, we can make a profit!"

"Then let's go with Stephen Chow, his movies are more popular than Jackie Chan's!"

Wang Zhonglei immediately said, "Jackson Yee's '1911 Revolution' is too hurtful!"

If you had to choose between Jackie Chan and Stephen Chow, everyone would choose the latter, because Stephen Chow's productions have never been a flop in mainland China.

Moreover, Stephen Chow's public image is currently unmatched.

Many netizens are clamoring that they owe him a movie ticket.

"I think so too!"

"It's a comedy again, this is the natural audience. We'll take a loss, give up some market share, and tell Stephen Chow to hurry up and do the post-production!"

"This guy is dawdling too much; he's trying to make us bleed a little more..."

He's just a money-grubber.

The current "Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons" was filmed last year, but post-production has been delayed. Wang Zhongjun didn't urge him before, but now that it's for next year's Spring Festival release, he definitely has to rush it.

"At this rate, 'Jinling' might just break 15 billion!"

"I thought the internet was full of negative comments, but I didn't expect such good reviews. This time, Zhang Yimou's attempt to win Berlin has a good chance!"

Wang Zhonglei was filled with envy, jealousy, and hatred.

I still keep "Jinling" in my heart.

He thought Zhang Yimou would flop again, but at least there was the precedent of "A Simple Noodle Story," and it was a Sino-US co-production.

This usually gives off the vibe of a really bad movie.

Surprisingly, Hollywood superstar Christian Bale blended in very well in a film like "The Battle at Lake Changjin"; there was none of the awkwardness that often comes with casting foreign stars in films.

Huayi Brothers has tried inviting Hollywood stars to film movies in China before.

It can be said that Huayi Brothers pioneered the practice of hiring Hollywood to make movies in China.

The earliest one was of course "The Forbidden Kingdom," where the battle between Jackie Chan and Jet Li was hyped up worldwide. Although it didn't do well at the domestic box office, Huayi Brothers made a small profit by working with Relativity Media in the United States.

Having tasted success, Huayi decided to start her own business.

The first film I made was also about the Holocaust—"The Diary of John Rabe," but unfortunately... it flopped spectacularly.

It only grossed over 900 million at the box office.

This is Hollywood's go-to team, a combination of Hollywood directors and stars.

After much agonizing reflection, Huayi Brothers realized that perhaps their fame wasn't enough, so they brought in Oscar-winning actor John Cusack, along with Gong Li, Chow Yun-fat, and even Ken Watanabe from Japan, who was then deeply in love with Weinstein.

Two companies invested together and eventually produced "Shanghai," which was released in 2010 and grossed over 4000 million RMB at the domestic box office.

Overseas, needless to say, North America alone has 4.6.

Yes, 46,000, not 100 million!
I rushed to my grandma's house again!
At this point, Weinstein and Huayi Brothers had completely broken ties, and Feng Xiaogang even publicly criticized the guy. In any case, it was a case of dogs fighting and getting all worked up.

Therefore, after suffering several major losses, Huayi Brothers completely gave up on Sino-US cooperation and instead focused on finding domestic directors to make films. Now, the success of "Jinling" can be said to be a huge slap in the face to Wang Zhonglei in some respects.

Why is it that Huayi Brothers couldn't make it work, while Zhang Yimou succeeded?

Moreover, it was Zhang Yimou, who was previously thoroughly despised by Huayi Brothers for making "A Simple Noodle Story".

Wang Zhonglei once publicly stated that hiring Hollywood stars to make movies is the most unprofitable business, as foreign monks are hard to chant sutras... But now, "The Flowers of War" seems to have been a success.

Bale fulfilled his role admirably in the film, and his performance was outstanding.

This was undoubtedly something that made Wang Zhonglei even more furious.

"Tomorrow, 'Jinling' might not have such a box office performance!"

Wang Zhongjun said to his younger brother, still holding his opinion that "Jinling" was not suitable for the Spring Festival season!
(End of this chapter)