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

Chapter 419, "Rapid Pursuit," is now available for pre-order!

The next morning marked the start of pre-sales for "John Wick" in mainland China.

Around 7 a.m., Chen Jin arrived at the company directly. The company has a real-time box office monitoring system from Dida, which can be used to check the box office performance of movies on Dida.

Pre-orders are also available.

This is different from a data port; it's just a data sharing mechanism, so there's no issue of code leakage.

In fact, other companies can also pay to purchase this service, but since CETC is one of Dida's investors, the price is very low, and the service features are definitely more comprehensive than the purchased versions on the market.

"opened!"

Chen Su was also in his office, watching the data that started to jump on the big screen.

John Wick officially opened for pre-sale at 8 a.m. today. Tickets can be purchased through group buying, ticketing websites, apps, and offline retailers across the country.

Moreover, tickets for the premiere and preview screenings will also be available for purchase in advance in a few days.

This is also the first time that Chen Jin's film has adopted the method of preview screenings; however, unlike in the future when preview screenings will last for half a month, the competition in the current Chinese film box office market is not so fierce, so the preview screenings are just a way to let word-of-mouth ferment in advance.

This is generally used for low-budget films that are not very confident about their box office performance, so that word-of-mouth through preview screenings can generate buzz before the film's release.

But John Wick is clearly not like that.

This movie is popular, and it also has a nationwide, extensive online and offline promotional campaign.

Chen Jin decided to start the preview screenings early because she was very confident in the film and wanted more people to know about its reputation.

This fermentation method actually yields better results.

Like previous films such as "Love is Not Blind," as well as films like "The Founding of a Republic" and "Nanjing," they all had built-in popularity and favorable release dates, so there was no need to use preview screenings to gain wider recognition.

The release date alone is enough to draw crowds to buy tickets, and even if the reviews are mediocre, the box office will still be phenomenal.

But now it's the summer movie season, and it's Chen Jin's first self-directed and self-acted film that's expected to be a box office hit. Although Chen Jin is confident, she's not so confident that she can break the record set by "Jinling".

So after discussing with Chen Su and others in the marketing department, CETC adopted this marketing approach of using preview screenings to attract audiences.

If "John Wick" gains widespread popularity, its box office performance will definitely be even more explosive than its current release.

The simplest example is a film with immense popularity versus a film that everyone rates as a 9 out of 10. Audiences would obviously choose the latter.

The clearer their understanding, the more likely they are to make certain choices.

Chen Jin believes that the film "John Wick" is highly regarded by both the general public and foreigners, and its rating will definitely be good once it is released.

The scores will be released sooner or later, so why not release it earlier and let the scores meet the audience in advance, so as to further generate buzz for the movie?

Only in this way could Chen Jin feel that if "John Wick" were to be released and receive rave reviews, it would cause a sensation.

In other words, whether "John Wick" can become a hit will depend heavily on its rating.

These days, even Hollywood commercial films rarely score above 8; commercial films with a score of 7 or higher can actually be big hits. And according to feedback from a recent screening in the US, Chen Jin's directorial debut might just get 8+!

With an 8-point rating and Chen Jin's fame, audiences are still interested in going to the cinema to see what it's like.

Chen Jin was betting that her film would get such a high rating.

"One million, Brother Jin!"

About 20 minutes later, Chen Su, who was standing to the side, said to Chen Jin with some excitement.

On the Dida platform alone, the pre-sale of "John Wick" exceeded 100 million yuan in 28 minutes, which means that more than 3 people placed orders for movie tickets during this period.

As the strongest ticketing website in China, Dida holds a 61% market share.

Based on this calculation, the total pre-sale box office across all platforms, including offline channels, should be around 170 million yuan.

"not bad!"

Chen Jin was fairly satisfied with the result.

This at least proves that he still has some box office appeal.

"Let's see if we can reach 2000 million today!"

"With a week of pre-sales, 1.5 million should be about right!"

Even disregarding phenomenal films like "So Young" and "Nanjing," these numbers already represent the scale of a super blockbuster.

After all, there aren't many films in China that have achieved pre-sales exceeding 1 million yuan.

"Painted Skin 2" didn't even reach 1 million in pre-sales.

Aren't they all aiming to break records now?
It was faked!
"2000 million should be no problem. It's unlikely to surpass 'So Young' and 'The Battle of Nanjing,' but based on the current situation, the final pre-sales should be in the range of 1.5-2 million!"

Chen Su was analyzing the situation; he was certainly very experienced.

Putting aside the fact that it wasn't a special release period like Singles' Day or the Spring Festival, the fact that "John Wick" had such good pre-sales at the beginning still exceeded his initial expectations.

Chen Su initially estimated the pre-sales of "John Wick" to be 1 million yuan.

A box office exceeding 1 million is already a huge success, proving that Chen Jin has gained influence in the domestic box office arena.

However, he clearly underestimated the impact of Chen Jin's self-directed and self-acted work, coupled with its Hollywood production.

1 million now seems to be a done deal.

2 million could potentially be enough to make a splash.

"Now, let's see how the preview screenings go!"

"Once word-of-mouth spreads beyond the target audience, it can boost pre-sales!"

Chen Jin's goal has never changed. Although it seems difficult to surpass the 17.89 billion yuan that "Jinling" set during this year's Spring Festival, what's the difference between having no goal and being a salted fish?
Of course, it's best to break your own record.

"Painted Skin 2" is on its way to breaking Chinese box office records, and what Chen Jin needs to do is to intercept this record and take it down ahead of time.

You can eventually break 18 billion, but I have to break the record first and reach the 18 billion mark first, so that it's enough to slap you in the face.

At that time, all the press releases that Huayi has bought will become very awkward.

Everyone was watching "Painted Skin 2" break records, but then this unexpected surprise came out of nowhere. This sense of déjà vu is enough to make anyone feel a little uneasy.

"Yes, we held three days of preview screenings. If the results are good, we should get feedback on the first day!"

"The hype will start to build on the second and third days, and by the time the film is actually released on the fourth day, we should be able to see the results from the pre-sales and daily box office!"

Let's start preparing for the premiere the day after tomorrow!

Chen Jin felt a little relieved when she saw the pre-sale announcement.

Take it one step at a time, and the premiere will definitely be the first wave of publicity to boost box office, followed by preview screenings to expand its influence. The official release day will be the key to whether "John Wick" can become a box office hit.

Chen Jin's mindset has undoubtedly been thoroughly honed over the past few years.

More than half an hour later, Chen Jin left the company after finishing the meeting.

One hour after the pre-sale began, "John Wick" grossed over 189 million; across all platforms, it should be around 3.5 million.

Even within the pre-sale records of Chinese films, this achievement would rank among the top five.

It definitely has the potential to become a huge hit.

This was even before the film's ratings were released; simply because of Chen Jin's influence and the promotional efforts of China Electronics Technology Group Corporation (CETC), many people rushed to buy tickets. Audiences these days are truly among the best in the world, and also the most gullible and wealthy.

Many filmmakers have made a fortune during this period. Unless a film is extremely bad, it has little impact on the actors and directors. However, if a blockbuster or a critically acclaimed film is made, the director can become a legend.

Xu Zheng, Ning Hao, and others all rose to prominence in this way.

Chen Jin certainly enjoys that level of popularity now, but she is clearly still some distance away from truly dominating the box office.

Therefore, the success of "John Wick" is a crucial test of whether Chen Jin can achieve box office dominance.

If he succeeds, he will rise to become the number one figure in the domestic film industry, even surpassing the current box office draws of Stephen Chow and Jackie Chan.

If it fails, it's not a big deal. It just means fewer fans for the next film, and we can slowly build up our fanbase by making more great works.

As long as it's not a truly awful movie, there's always hope for the actors.

This was the best era for Chinese cinema, one that offered filmmakers the most boundless tolerance.

……

10 pm.

The first-day pre-sale box office for "John Wick" has already reached a certain target.

Around 2500 million!
Besides the fact that "John Wick" had just opened for pre-sale this morning, which attracted a wave of die-hard fans to buy it, now is also a good time for another round of pre-sales.

When I got home, I checked what movies were coming out recently. I saw that Chen Jin's new film "John Wick" was about to be released, and those who were interested obviously bought a couple of tickets in advance.

Although there are no grand models to predict box office revenue like the future, the market can be analyzed according to its own patterns.

The data curves are there; a little analysis will yield the results.

Huayi also received the news.

"They sold 2500 million on the first day alone. Chen Jin really has a knack for attracting customers!"

Wang Zhonglei sighed and spoke to Wang Zhongjun, who was painting nearby.

"They certainly have appeal, but I feel that the CETC (China Electronics Technology Group Corporation) probably manipulated some of the ticket sales as well!"

"We don't know the actual data, and they're probably buying every day this week!"

This is Wang Zhongjun's analysis.

They often walked along the riverbank, and naturally began to empathize with others.

"Yes, I think so too!"

"This kid shouldn't have that much influence. 'So Young' only made a little over 3000 million on its first day, and that was only because it rode the wave of Singles' Day!"

"There's nothing going on during the summer movie season right now. As long as it's CETC's marketing and distribution, they should manipulate the box office figures in the same way. That way, the numbers will look better after the movie is released. We're at a disadvantage with Painted Skin!"

Huayi Brothers didn't manipulate the pre-sales or opening day box office figures for "Painted Skin 2".

After all, they weren't sure if the movie would be a hit.

It wasn't until the film had been a box office hit for several days that Huayi Brothers finally intervened, creating the illusion that it had broken the Chinese box office record.

Now, according to Wang Zhongjun's speculation...

John Wick will definitely start manipulating box office numbers from the very beginning.

At least, if "John Wick" were a Huayi Brothers production, with Chen Jin and so many gimmicks involved, they would definitely make a splash.

It's a sure-fire way to make money!
Because Huayi thought this way, she also assumed that CETC was the same.

"On the contrary, I think we didn't buy enough tickets for the box office!"

"If it were me, I'd just throw in 2 million and break the pre-sale record first!"

"With this momentum, it'll be a hit as soon as it's released!"

This is Huayi's approach, and it will be their strategy for the next few years.

Record-breaking pre-sales and ubiquitous press releases were used to create the illusion that Huayi products would be a huge success, thanks to the funds invested in publicity and operations.

This strategy has been successful for Huayi in recent years.

"Then there's no need to analyze this movie, right? Just look at the opening weekend box office and we'll know the answer!"

If Wang Zhongjun's prediction is correct, the pre-sales of "John Wick" will definitely be good, and people will definitely buy it.

However, the box office revenue during the opening weekend is real money. Whether a movie is good or not still depends on the audience; the more you watch it, the more money you waste if no one watches it.

"Let's see what happens tomorrow and the day after. If it's still like this, I think either the movie won't get much funding, or it'll flop and nobody will be willing to pay for it!"

"In that case, it will be difficult for this movie to break 10 billion at the box office!"

Wang Zhongjun looked up and saw that the portrait of Liaozhai in front of him was finished. This was a painting he specially painted to celebrate the success of "Painted Skin 2", and he had been working on it for several days.

"Let's see what CETC does next!"

"Besides the premiere, they also held a preview screening, haha, they clearly lack confidence in the film!"

"I reckon Chen Jin's first time directing a movie probably wasn't very good!"

These days, films that are screened in advance are not really taken seriously by Huayi Brothers.

If you've already held a preview screening, doesn't that mean you lack confidence in the film?
Huayi Brothers never holds preview screenings; instead, they conduct comprehensive promotion and release films on schedule.

Ultimately, it's the Wong brothers' confidence in the director they chose.

"The preview screening was actually a terrible move!"

"If this reputation collapses, all the money invested will be wasted... I don't know what CETC is thinking. Chen Jin's reputation shouldn't be so bad as to dig his own grave. Can't he sell it for another 5 million?"

Wang Zhongjun never underestimated his young rival, Chen Jin.

Although he hated the Electronic Science and Technology Corporation to the core, Chen Jin still had to be realistic, because they did have a little bit of strength.

"It's also possible that he thinks the movie is good and wants to use it to gain wider recognition?"

"There's no need for that. If the movie does well on its opening day, it can still be a big hit and go viral!"

Anyway, if it were Huayi, they definitely wouldn't do that.

Bad movies have their own way of making a name for themselves, and a good movie can also gain momentum as quickly as "Painted Skin 2" if it is released on time.

Actually, both the Wang brothers' and Chen Jin's plans were correct, but Chen Jin's plan was more precise than the Wang brothers' in that he wanted to break the record, and the sooner he established a good reputation, the more advantageous it would be.

The two kings clearly hadn't considered Chen Jin's point; they were only thinking about the problem from their own current perspective.

With pre-sales for "John Wick" soaring, the film has finally reached its most sacred moment—its world premiere!
At 7 p.m. on August 5th, "John Wick" held its earliest global premiere in Beijing!

In addition to Chen Jin herself, he also invited several foreign actors who starred in the film, as well as Wan Qian and Wu Jing to support him!
Sina, Tencent, Weibo, and other media channels all accepted the invitation from CETC to broadcast the event live.

Countless film critics, journalists, and others also participated.

In an instant, the popularity of "John Wick" swept across the internet!

(End of this chapter)