Who are you calling "little fresh meat"? I'm the king.

Chapter 593 Tap Water (13)

"Actually, there's something that wasn't mentioned in the movie: when Guo Zhen went missing in 1997, a little girl was also taken away, but she was released. This shows that the buyer's family clearly needed a little boy, and the suspect was targeting a boy... Moreover, Mr. Guo Gangtang said that there was no hereditary disease in the family, and with the current medical conditions, the possibility of the child developing a serious illness or dying during his growth is almost zero... This strengthened his determination to find his son!"

"By the way, while seeking help from government departments, you should also make use of all public welfare platforms for finding relatives. But be careful, as long as it's a paid platform, the probability of finding them is almost zero. It's not that it's impossible, but they are mainly motivated by profit."

“Guo Gangtang has actually been going out very little in recent years. Now that the internet is so developed, he mainly relies on live streaming and other means to find his relatives. He said that if he were to ride his motorcycle out again like before, it would be a bit of a show.”

"A very down-to-earth Shandong man!"

Not only did the film's creators take the stage to talk about the behind-the-scenes stories, but the Tianya Family Reunification Association was also invited to share many things:

"In response to the fight against trafficking in women and children, the public security system established a DNA database in 2009. The subsequent 'one leader, three responsibilities' long-term mechanism for combating trafficking, as well as the amendments to laws and regulations concerning trafficking, are all very concrete improvements."

"The main thing our Tianya Family Search Association does is to collect information on trafficked women and children, people who have run away from home due to dementia or other reasons, homeless beggars, and people who have lost contact with their families due to natural disasters, and then report this information to the relevant departments to cooperate with their work."

"For example, we received a call for help from a woman who said her 13-year-old daughter had run away from home after she was criticized for her poor exam results. Someone saw her get into a taxi..."

How do we find it?
I posted the message in a taxi group chat. We call taxis "the eyes of the city"—they're always on the road, whether you pay or not, and taxi drivers are likely to spot someone wandering the streets immediately. A few minutes after I posted the message, a driver called me, saying the child was in his car. We gave him the child's mother's phone number, and he took the child home. From receiving the request for help to getting the child home, only 17 minutes passed.

"Personally, I think this is thanks to the existing resources in our society! So there's no need to highlight how great our association is; we still need to rely on the functional departments and make good use of the existing social resources."

……

After attending the premiere, Shen Yan declined the dinner invitation…

Unfortunately, post-production on "Burning" was extremely tight—the film had to be finished before August…

However, he also took the time to check on the box office performance of "Lost and Love".

On its opening day... box office revenue was only 1040 million...

Not very high.

That's understandable, as Zhang Jiayi isn't exactly a movie star; his most famous role is that of Lao Wang in "Love is Not Blind"...

Even with Shen Yan's promotion, it wasn't very effective—only 14% of the screenings were allocated on the first day.

After all, it was released on the same day as "Tiny Times 3" and "The House That Never Dies"!
By the way, let me talk about "The House That Never Dies". The movie itself is actually passable - the core of the story is an out-and-out love story, but it is mixed with supernatural elements such as ghost marriage, reincarnation, reincarnation, bewitchment, and corpse transformation. After all, it is a thriller, so it must pursue sensory stimulation!

The bizarre pregnancy, rumors of a ghost child, and the brutal massacre of the entire family are horrifying enough. Furthermore, scenes such as a rooster wedding ceremony, consummating the marriage with a corpse, the spirit returning on the seventh day after death, the corpse's transformation after a hundred years, and the soul's demise in the cellar are also realistically depicted…

But the filming method was too rough!

Moreover, the director's skill level was insufficient...

The intention was to recreate the feel of "Rouge," but the script was illogical, the dialogue was cringeworthy, and the modern scenes were excessively melodramatic...

The sound effects and music are quite scary!

The director is Yip Wai-ming…

Hong Kong filmmakers!
To be honest, apart from Tsui Hark who has been constantly innovating his techniques and skills, most Hong Kong filmmakers are just resting on their laurels. Their so-called revitalization of Hong Kong films is simply about making filmmakers work so they can earn a living.

In other words, their approach to saving the industry is to produce more movies to create jobs, rather than to improve the film industry, innovate film language, create new story themes, or support up-and-coming talents.

Back to "The House That Never Dies," the movie's promotion was really well done—the first thriller to be promoted on such a large scale, with a bunch of self-media and big V's talking about No. 81 Chaoyangmen Inner Street in Beijing.

This also proves that a lot of capital has indeed poured into the film industry in recent years, and even Hengye Films (the production company of "The House That Never Dies") has money to spend on marketing!
Later… during the film industry downturn, audiences stopped buying into bad movies, and Chen Hui of Hengye owed wages to over a hundred employees… then, under the guise of BJ Meilin Films, they co-produced the film "Sheep Without a Shepherd 3"…

Okay, the main problem is that the heavily invested film "Chinese Table Tennis" suffered huge losses, and even their main business of low-budget horror films couldn't be sold...

In the original timeline, "The House That Never Dies" grossed over 400 million yuan!
However, this time it's highly unlikely, because on July 21st, a weekday, "Lost and Love" grossed 14.8 million yuan in a single day. Although it didn't surpass "Tiny Times 3" (31 million yuan) and "The House That Never Dies" (27 million yuan) in box office revenue, it was still far behind...

But "Lost and Love" has taken over the niche of "The House That Never Dies"—compared to fan-driven films!
In the original timeline, the huge success of "The House That Never Dies" was due not only to promotion but also to its release date selection…

No matter what kind of movie it is, as long as it is released at the same time as "Tiny Times 3", it will have a natural advantage!
You dare to call "Tiny Times 2" a bad movie if you haven't even seen "A Sentimental Story"...

Gao Qunshu felt a strong sense of superiority when facing Guo Jingming…

Of course, "A Sentimental Story" was so bad that it only grossed 2200 million at the box office...

But this criticism elevated Gao Qunshu's industry standing, and he later joined forces with a large group of directors and screenwriters to support "Mr. Six" and launch a fierce attack on "The Villain Angel"...

This time, "Lost and Found"... the word-of-mouth marketing really took off!
The film "Lost and Love" has a high rating of 8.8 on Douban, and a group of moviegoers who have seen the film have spontaneously promoted it...

Weibo, WeChat Moments, and even Baidu Tieba are all filled with their recommendations for this movie—claiming it's an excellent film that shouldn't be overlooked!

A group of people were enthusiastically recommending this movie, even sending Shen Yan private messages asking him to write a review praising "Lost and Found"...

Shen Yan didn't take it seriously at first...

I subconsciously thought this was a marketing tactic.

As a result, on its third day of release, Tuesday, "Lost and Love" grossed 24 million yuan, successfully overtaking "The House That Never Dies" and only 2 million yuan behind the top-grossing "Tiny Times 3"...

Shen Yan couldn't sit still any longer and immediately posted a film review: "Actually, in my opinion, 'Lost and Found' is a good movie, a rare high-quality domestic film, and a refined and sincere domestic film. However, it is a serious film. Logically speaking, a serious drama film, especially one with a realistic theme, is unlikely to achieve high box office!"

"I feel that the box office and word-of-mouth advantages of 'Lost and Love' benefited from 'revenge viewing'. From 'My Old Classmate' to 'Tiny Times 3', the audience was stunned by the emotional torment. When 'Lost and Love' came out of nowhere, it was naturally what they wanted. After waiting for so long, they could finally eat. It's a great thing."

"I'm not saying that 'My Old Classmate' and 'Tiny Times 3' are bad, it's just that relatively speaking, they're not as... cinematic! Fan movies are ultimately just a subculture's celebration, what mainstream audiences still need are refined, sincere works!"

"Thank you to the many viewers who recommended the movie. We didn't prepare any marketing plans for this. Many people said they were paid trolls, but even if they were, they were genuine fans. Their behavior was like that of martial arts heroes."

But we can't rob the rich to help the poor, nor can we save women who have fallen into prostitution; we might not even be able to save ourselves. However, there will always be an opportunity—millions of tap water can save a movie. And so, we became heroes, and fulfilled our own potential.

"This is the movie 'Lost and Love'. Go see it, you won't be disappointed!"

"Thank you all for liking 'Lost and Love'. Your enthusiasm has made me feel the long-lost dignity of a filmmaker. Thank you all!"

(End of this chapter)