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

Chapter 426 exploded! A meteoric rise to fame!
August 9th, office of CETC Film Industry.

"cheers!"

All company employees gathered together to celebrate this rare internet victory.

No one expected that Huayi would encounter such a storm of online public opinion, all because of... Chen Jin's casual lawyer's letter warning.

To be honest, even Chen Su had to admit that Chen Jin did indeed have a bit of luck on him sometimes.

Anyone who knows what happened would think Chen Jin's move was brilliant, but not so brilliant that a lawyer's letter could bring a long-established film industry leader to such a state.

The cause... was that Huayi was unpopular.

This is the most fundamental reason.

The public has long suffered under China's rule, which is why such an ordinary lawyer's letter became the trigger for netizens to vent their frustrations.

Another factor is the reputation of "John Wick".

Because this movie was so well-made, the negative reviews it received backfired, arousing the righteous indignation of many netizens. In this shared outrage, Huayi Brothers, as the opposing party, became the target of criticism.

However, because there was a midnight screening of "John Wick" that night, the employees of the company could not go out for dinner. Instead, they had to have a buffet party at the company, but no one complained much.

First, the overtime pay was sufficient, and second, the boss also worked overtime with them.

"Brother Jin, would you like to say something?"

Chen Su pushed Chen Jin, who was eating, and Chen Jin immediately waved his hand: "What are you saying? Do you really think we're superiors and subordinates? Everyone, eat and drink well!"

Chen Jin is an approachable person, as many people in the company know, and they immediately cheered again.

"This time, Huayi must have suffered a major blow!"

As Chen Su was speaking, Chen Jin sighed, "Brother Su, learn from the mistakes of the past!"

"what?"

Chen Su hadn't reacted yet, because his mind was filled with the thought that they had won this "battle"!
"Huayi's present is very likely to be the future of our CETC!"

"You can offend anyone, but you can't afford to offend netizens. Once a company is labeled as disliked by the public, it's very difficult to remove that label. You might think that the people who criticize you online are just a mob, but little do you know, there's already a problem!"

The proverb "A thousand-mile dike can be destroyed by an ant hole" illustrates this point.

"If you get insulted, never insult back. Look at how many people Xiao Gangpao has offended? He's an artist under Huayi Brothers, how glamorous he used to be?"

"Learning from Director Zhang is the right thing to do!"

Chen Jin is increasingly convinced that Zhang Yimou is quite wise, and people like Chen Kaige are all subject to online criticism.

As a public figure, being criticized is actually quite normal.

Of course, die-hard fans are an exception; there's always a reason why someone criticizes you.

"Is Brother Jin speaking from a moment of reflection?"

Chen Su hadn't expected that Chen Jin, at such a young age, would have such awareness. He always thought that young people should be arrogant after winning a battle, but he didn't expect that Chen Jin would reflect on his actions.

If you didn't know he was the founder of this company, the top figure in China, his level of thinking would be unmatched by ordinary people of the same age.

"I have people monitoring online opinions 24 hours a day, and they will report any problems immediately!"

"However, many people are criticizing you..."

Chen Su gave Chen Jin a strange look, and Chen Jin laughed loudly: "I know, but don't treat these people like human beings!"

Chen Su: "..."

No, didn't you just say not to insult netizens?
Such double standards?

Chen Su was completely dumbfounded.

"Haha, Brother Su, you can't tell the difference between good and bad!"

"Who are the people Huayi is criticizing? Righteous people, the positive camp of public opinion; who are the ones criticizing me? The villains hiding in the shadows, the evil camp!"

“They can’t stand my voice in the Golden Horse Awards. They think I’m pretentious. Why bother arguing with people like that!”

They are not groups at all.

One is public opinion, and the other is a small group of people who dare not show their faces.

"What I said above is all from the perspective of the general public, that is, ordinary people around us. They definitely prefer Huayi and CETC more!"

"Of course, this is not thanks to the China Electronics Technology Group Corporation (CETC), but to the film and the company's 'ethos'!"

"So we have to keep it up!"

Chen Jin's remarks were inspired by her future autobiography, news reports, and film experiences.

In fact, his mental age is much older than his appearance, because he has lived through the lives of many people in the film.

Therefore, Chen Su felt that Chen Jin was very strange.

He understands all these principles, doesn't he?

No, I'm a middle-aged man approaching 40, and you, a young man, are lecturing me?

Even though he was his boss, Chen Su felt that... how to put it, it just didn't feel right coming from his mouth.

Shouldn't such young people be considered impetuous and reckless?

Why are you acting like an old scholar?
It's not that Chen Su thought Chen Jin's words to him were wrong, but rather that they were strange.

So weird.

"Brother Su, don't look at me like that, I just wanted to tell you something!"

Some warning bells still need to be rung. Although Huayi lost this time, it taught Chen Jin a good lesson.

Be careful with your words and actions, and keep a low profile, both for the company and for him personally.

All he really needs to do is make a good movie.

What business is it of yours what else you do—voicing opinions, criticizing, arguing with netizens, or acting superior?
Feng Xiaogang, Lu Chuan, and the like, you two, right?

Chen Jin smiled slightly at each of the employees who came to toast him, maintaining a humble demeanor. If he were just a company CEO, he wouldn't have to do this, but he was a public figure, which meant that... he had to wear a mask when interacting with people.

Celebrities are indeed demanding in some ways, and they also put on a very hard show of it.

The group ate until after 8 p.m. before going about their own business.

Chen Jin and several other lead actors from "John Wick" will have to start their week-long promotional tour in Beijing early tomorrow morning.

The public is already anticipating the release of this film.

Many netizens are already completely impatient.

The tickets for the three-day preview screenings were simply not enough to sell.

With pre-sales and previews, "John Wick" has already surpassed 3 million yuan. While this is not a record, the total pre-sales, excluding the previews, have already exceeded the 2.75 million yuan record set by "So Young".

Second only to "Jinling", which premiered during the Spring Festival!
This is the first time this year that we've tried this release date, and it's unlikely that the pre-sale record will be broken in the short term.

Because it is too special.

The 3.15 million yuan was mainly concentrated in the seven days of the Spring Festival, unlike the summer season, when "John Wick" had less than a month to compete for box office revenue.

This is the biggest difference between the two release dates.

"Let's go, Su-ge, you should get some sleep too!"

Chen Jin greeted Chen Su and then got into the car to head home.

The biggest suspense tonight is the midnight screening of "John Wick". "The Battle of Jinling" started its screening at 8 am because of the Spring Festival release key, so there is no record of a midnight screening; as for "So Young", because of the Double Eleven period, no one dares to touch the 1 million+ yuan midnight screening.

This, along with the pre-sales of "Jinling," represents a formidable barrier for Chinese films at present.

Pre-sale records and midnight screening records belong to "Jinling" and "So Young" respectively!
It can only be said that Chen Jin's previous actions raised these two records to an extremely high level, so much so that even with the recent explosive popularity of "John Wick," it still cannot surpass these two records.

Both slots were chosen by Chen Jin herself.

Therefore, in his view, only he can break these two records.

But it's definitely not John Wick!
The midnight screenings of "John Wick" probably won't reach 1 million, even with the public outcry surrounding the Huayi Brothers incident. Without that, they would be lucky to get 2000-3000 million, because Chen Jin doesn't really have any die-hard fans.

This record for midnight screenings is all for fans.

Several films that are set to break midnight screening records in China are movies with a huge number of die-hard fans.

The Avengers, Slam Dunk...

But now Chen Jin's goal is the film before "So Young" - "Transformers 3"!
This is also a film aimed at fans.

If it breaks its record, then John Wick will have already become a classic.

Moreover, it seems that surpassing "Transformers 3" is practically a foregone conclusion; many viewers who couldn't get tickets for the preview screenings have already switched to the midnight screenings, because online opinions are indeed favorable to Chen Jin's film.

In just a few days, thanks to the Huayi incident, its reputation has completely spread beyond its original circle.

Not only does it have a high rating of 8.8 on Douban, but it also receives rave reviews on Weibo.

This 8.8 rating certainly includes some "brainless praise" from netizens, but such a high score also demonstrates the excellence of the movie "John Wick".

A bad movie will not be accepted by the audience; that's the premise.

Only if the movie itself is very good will netizens vote for him and help him gain more recognition.

This is a cause-and-effect relationship.

"I wonder if I can get 1 million..."

Chen Jin waited on the road for the messages from Dida and the others. At dinner time, the pre-sales for the midnight screening of "John Wick" had reached nearly 6000 million, and it should increase further in the next few hours.

Moreover, this is the period with the fastest growth, because movies start in the early morning, and many people will choose to watch a movie after dinner, either by buying tickets on their mobile phones or by going to a physical cinema.

The closer to the movie's release date, the more tickets are sold.

By the time Chen Jin arrived home, it was 11:55.

Basically, the box office revenue for the midnight screenings has already been roughly estimated.

Those who wanted to buy tickets have already done so, and many have even gone to the cinema; theaters have also basically stopped selling tickets 5 minutes in advance, so you can only buy tickets for tomorrow's early morning showings.

buzzing-

Just as Chen Jin was waiting for the box office report, her phone rang right on time.

It's Song Zhongjie, the person in charge of Dida.

"Brother Song!"

Chen Jin pressed the answer button and heard Song Zhongjie sigh on the other end of the phone: "It's a bit of a pity, Brother Jin, we were so close, I estimate we were only about 500 short..."

"9500?"

Chen Jin grinned. These numbers aren't good?
The midnight screenings grossed around 9500 million.

To put it in perspective, "So Young" only grossed 1.17 million yuan, which shows what kind of momentum it had.

On Singles' Day, countless couples waited to watch the movie at midnight and then book a hotel room. Even with such a massive scale, it only grossed 1.17 million!
"John Wick" was released during the summer season, and it grossed 9500 million yuan in just one screening in the early morning, which Chen Jin was quite satisfied with.

Although breaking 100 million is a great thing and sounds good, and Chen Jin also hopes for it, he will not do what Huayi did, just to break records for the sake of breaking records.

That's what makes it seem real.

If it's 100 million, people might think that CETC, like Huayi Brothers, is deliberately inflating box office figures just to create a buzz around breaking 100 million.

"It should land around 9500. Our data department predicts that tomorrow, the first day of sales, should break 2 million!"

"If we can't break the opening day box office records of 'So Young' and 'The Battle of Nanjing,' we should be able to compete for the total box office!"

These are all jargon.

"That's good enough. I never expected that 'John Wick' would break 2 million on its first day!"

Indeed, Chen Jin had never expected this.

His box office appeal is actually quite well-known.

Although he has a reputation, he has only been famous for two years. Even though he won the Venice Film Festival Best Actor award, the huge success of "So Young" and "The Battle of Nanjing" was not due to him at all. First, it was due to scheduling conflicts, and second, it was due to Zhang Yimou and Bale.

When a movie or TV series becomes a hit, many people will say that it's all thanks to the lead actor.

Actually, very, very few.

In mainland China right now, there are only a handful of actors with super box office appeal, but Chen Jin is definitely not one of them.

However, things changed after "John Wick".

This time, the public opinion surge, coupled with the promotion of "John Wick," made the public aware that Chen Jin is a director, and this time he brought his self-written, self-directed, and self-acted debut film to mainland theaters.

Hollywood productions don't have the same strong appeal as the other six major studios, but combined with Chen Jin's words, they still have a certain box office boost.

All of these factors led Chen Jin to predict that "John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum" would gross around 100 million on its opening day.

This is only because of the extensive publicity and news coverage.

His ideal scenario is that the positive word-of-mouth for "John Wick" will spread, thereby driving up the box office and creating a trajectory similar to that of the first "Ne Zha" film, letting word-of-mouth speak for itself.

Unexpectedly, things didn't go as planned. This time, Huayi Brothers' "Painted Skin 2" gave "John Wick" a huge boost.

This has resulted in extremely high box office revenue on the first day of release tomorrow.

Many viewers who couldn't get tickets for the preview screenings either chose the midnight showing, or the daytime and evening screenings on the first day, but more often, they chose the weekend, that is, Saturday and Sunday.

So the next three days will be the three days in which the true potential of "John Wick" is realized.

If things go well, we can expect an even bigger uproar next week.

This trend is completely different from the box office explosions of "So Young" and "Nanjing" due to their release dates.

They were a one-off phenomenon. After its initial surge on Singles' Day, "So Young" actually declined day by day, plummeting to 17.31 billion yuan!
The same thing happened with "Jinling". It had a huge surge in viewership during the seven-day Spring Festival holiday, but then it completely failed.

In addition, there's the competitor "Mission: Impossible 4".

Currently, there are no other films affecting the screening schedule and release date of "John Wick" for the next two weeks, so the film's trajectory will definitely follow the long-term development of the summer season.

Even though it was not as good as "So Young" and "Nanjing" in the first few days, its box office performance was still strong in the later stages.

This is because of the added benefit of summer movie season.

"It's done!"

After hanging up the phone with Song Zhongjie, Chen Jin clenched her fist with a slight sense of excitement.

Whether I can truly establish myself in the Chinese entertainment industry, the box office performance of "John Wick" is extremely important.

The significance of this film is actually the same as that of Wu Jing's future film "Wolf Warrior 2".

Become famous in World War I!
When the box office takes off, that's when Chen Jin truly becomes the top star in the Chinese entertainment industry.

(End of this chapter)