1982 Started from Hong Kong

Chapter 40 The Five Hundred Thousand Dollar Millionaire

On the second day after the movie was released, as Zhai Yuan expected, other theaters began to come to discuss cooperation.

There are a total of nine cinemas in the three major districts of Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and the New Territories.

The movie "Jennifer's Revenge" was officially released simultaneously in Hong Kong, Kowloon and Singapore.

This was the first time that a Western film was shown simultaneously in new cinemas in Hong Kong and Kowloon since the 1980s, following the decline of the former foreign film joint cinema chains such as the Shanghai International Theatre, the Paramount Theatre, the KTV Theatre and the Lee Theatre.

Time soon arrived and it was the last day of cooperation with Jin Mau Ping Theater.

Zhai Yuan came to Xiaoguang Street again.

"Mr. Zhai, this is today's movie viewing record, take a look."

As soon as he entered the theater, Qian Maosheng, the manager of Jinmaoping, came forward and handed the third day's account book to Zhai Yuan.

He has also figured out the character of this young man in the past two days.

He came every time a movie was shown, and after looking at the data, he turned around and left. I don’t know whether he slept or not, but his eyes were red from staying up all night.

Huang Shiren of the new era!

Zhai Yuancai ignored other people's prejudices. If other theaters were not too far away, he would have gone to each one of them.

I have done so many false accounts, and yet I still don’t understand you guys?

If you don't pay close attention, you would dare to tell me that the 90% occupancy rate is only 30%.

I watched the movie for three consecutive days.

Jennifer's movie had a terrifying 97 percent attendance on the first day, but it dropped to an average of 85 percent on the second day, and only 70 percent on the third day.

However, this 'only' is compared with the first day.

A movie is shown throughout the day and can still maintain a 70% attendance rate on the third day, which is a pretty impressive result.

Even the new films by two top stars, Xu Guanjie and Cheng Shilon, could only achieve an attendance rate of 70% to 90% at most, which shows the success of this marketing.

“Can we continue to play it?”

Zhai Yuan looked at the record, looked up and asked.

This kind of marketing is done less and less each time, and the audience will gradually stop being fooled, so of course all the profits must be squeezed out.

As it stands, Jennifer's Revenge will be available for at least another two weeks.

"Of course, but from now on we can only play it according to the normal schedule."

Qian Maosheng explained: "After all, theaters are for the general public, and they can't just show one movie."

Zhai Yuan nodded in understanding: "Okay, then we'll schedule it as normal and keep the profit margins the same as before."

Qian Maosheng hummed, paused, and looked as if he wanted to say something but hesitated.

Zhai Yuan asked curiously, "Anything else?"

Qian Maosheng looked embarrassed: "My boss asked me to inform you that your movie will not be scheduled for a high number of screenings in the future."

Zhai Yuan was stunned.

That shouldn't be the case. Even though the popularity has dropped a bit now, this movie still has good profit margins. Why would the number of screenings be reduced?
This question was quickly answered by Qian Maosheng.

"Bluebird and Yicheng, two production companies, released two new movies simultaneously. Theaters will give them priority in scheduling screenings."

"Because I brought in a foreign film?"

Zhai Yuan was a little surprised, but he reacted quickly.

Oh my god! What is this Domestic Film Protection Month?

Seeing Qian Maosheng nodded regretfully, he agreed.

Zhai Yuan blinked and asked helplessly, "What's the name of their movie?"

"One is the witty comedy "The Young Man Is Scared", and the other is "Boat Man" directed by Ann Hui."

Qian Maosheng answered quickly, obviously having done his homework in advance.

From the theater's perspective, he was actually a little dissatisfied with the production company's behavior.

It is an unspoken rule that local companies reject imported films, but this time it was a little too obvious.

He also received inside information that the two films, which were originally scheduled to be released around the end of October, have now been moved up a full month.

“What a huge investment!”

Zhai Yuan said this while gritting his teeth.

He has seen both movies. Although he doesn't know how their box office revenue is, he is sure that they will leave a good reputation in the future, so they are likely to perform well.

Zhai Yuan didn't know what to say when two blockbusters were used to attack his own movie.

Alas, capital! This finally turned into a critical sigh.

……

Two weeks later, "Jennifer's Revenge" was withdrawn from major theaters.

The film didn't even stay in theaters for a full month.

The last few days even set a record of one show a day.

The original discussion about this movie suddenly disappeared without a trace at a certain point in time.

All print media refused to mention it and no longer provided any attention, as if they had all taken the money.

"It's like bullshit! It's just fucking money!"

Zhai Yuan slammed a newspaper on the table, praising "Young and Frightened" for creating unprecedented fright and comedy effects in Hong Kong films and being the undisputed king of comedy films this year.

"You are really good at suppressing the popularity and creating new topics. I guess the Chinese entertainment industry learned this from you guys."

Zhai Yuan was furious and helpless. The double suppression from local producers and theaters made him lose a lot of money.

Although Jennifer still brought in a lot of profits, she still felt like she was losing out on the part she didn't get.

It's like you know a stock will skyrocket, but it just goes up 5% and you are forced to sell it.

In the next few days, this stock hit the daily limit, but you could only watch helplessly.

孽 孽!
Mr. Zhai was very angry, but sadly he couldn't find anyone to vent his anger on.

I could only sit in the room alone, counting over and over again how much money I had earned from the movie "Jennifer's Revenge".

The cold numbers appeared on the paper without a trace of warmth.

Including Jinmaoping, there are a total of ten theaters.

The film was screened 372 times in total, with a total audience of over 21 people and a total box office revenue of over HK$390 million.

How can we describe the box office? Let’s make a simple comparison.

This year's box office rankings are almost out. In the 4 million range, there is a movie called "The Pawn Shop", which is currently ranked 35th.

However, the movie's total box office of 3.9 million does not mean that Zhai Yuan can take it all.

Of the 3.9 million miles, the theater will first take 60%.

There is still more than 150 million Hong Kong dollars left.

The Hong Kong government will collect 50% tax on these 1.5 million miles.

Including but not limited to, when a movie ticket is sold, a 17.5% entertainment tax is collected first. You use film for promotion, right? Then you have to pay a profit tax. If you distribute the copyright of the film, you have to pay a value-added tax... For imported films, your entertainment tax is not as low as 17.5%~
So there is still more than 70 Hong Kong dollars left.

From this 700,000 yuan, we deduct miscellaneous items such as film copies, distribution advertisements, etc.

In the end, Zhai Yuan had more than 500,000 yuan left in his pocket.

"Damn it! I could have become a millionaire with this movie, but now I'm only half a millionaire!"

Zhai Yuan slammed the table, feeling full of resentment.

If there had been no suppression from local production theaters, he felt that if Jennifer's Revenge had stayed in theaters for a full month, the box office would have at least doubled.

"But let's be honest, the film market is really a red ocean right now."

Zhai Yuan had looked at last year's box office rankings. Based on the performance of four million, it should have been in the top fifteen of the overall rankings last year.

But this year it has dropped to around 35th place.

This is the data for this year's box office as all statistics have not been released. If a few dark horses emerge in the remaining months, a box office of 4 million may not even make it into the top 40 on the list.

"It's not bad. After all this hard work, I didn't get nothing. Five hundred thousand Hong Kong dollars is considered financial freedom now."

"So do you want to go to the club tomorrow?"

Zhai Yuan put down his pen and paper and started thinking about another crucial matter.

Just then, the plastic door panel was pulled open.

Zhai Yao poked her head in and asked, "Brother, how much did you earn? Can you take me out to play?"

"Tens of thousands of dollars."

Zhai Yuan said calmly, "But this money will be paid to the video tape factory as a deposit soon. Didn't you make a few thousand yuan by selling scalped tickets? You have to spend money to go out and play..."

"I haven't been in here before. It was just an illusion!"

Zhai Yao closed the door with a swipe, and the sound still lingered in the room.

(End of this chapter)