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

Chapter 716 Public Relations Strategies (33)

Mainstream films...are hard to make at the box office!
Especially the orthodox mainstream themes…

"Operation Mekong" sounds very serious!
To date, the highest-grossing film is "Wolf Warrior" with 8.46 million yuan…

Oh, this box office performance is generally considered to be due to luck—it was released in the same period as "Fleet of Time" and "The Crossing"...

This year is different!
Four movies were released on the same day: "Point Break", "Oh My God", "The Unbelievable", and "Go Lala Go 2".
"From Heaven" marks Zhang Yixing's first foray into acting;

"The Unbelievable" is even more amazing, produced by Zhang Ziyi, starring Wang Baoqiang, Xiao Shenyang, and Dapeng, who just broke the 1 billion yuan box office record!
According to the distributors' boasts, both films are expected to gross at least 500 million yuan at the box office…

"Go Lala Go 2" stars Vic Chou and Ariel Lin, and also includes Korean actress Nana (Im Jin-ah)...

Nana Lim is hailed as having unparalleled beauty—a three-time winner of the World's Most Beautiful Face award…

It was a ranking by a website called TC Candler, and it's basically dominated by Koreans—dozens of them are Koreans in the global top 100. Do you think that's reasonable? Are there no other people in the world out of 90 billion?

Uh, Hong Kong's top star Keung To is also ranked third in the world's 100 most beautiful people list...

But Nana (Im Jin-ah) has many fans in China.

In short, "Operation Mekong" faces many competitors. Secondly, Shen Yan recently clashed with Wu Fan, offending his fans and becoming the target of various rumors…

People are not very optimistic that "Mekong River" will achieve high box office returns!

Of course, after its release, it proved to be a complete misrepresentation!
On December 3rd, "Operation Mekong" was released, grossing 170 million yuan on its opening day, 210 million yuan on the second day, 2.46 million yuan on the third day, and 2.17 million yuan on the fourth day…

That's right, it grossed 8.43 million yuan in its first four days!
It directly broke the opening weekend box office record of 7.31 million yuan set by "Life's Big Events".

The other four parts received absolutely no attention!
Well, that's not entirely accurate either. Apart from Point Break, the other three movies received ratings of 3.4, 3.5, and 5.3 on Douban, respectively!
A whole bunch of terrible movies…

Shen Yan's Weibo post didn't even mention the other movies released in the same period. He only thanked the audience for their support and casually revealed some news: "La La Land" had a limited run in five theaters and grossed $85.5 in its first three days, averaging $17.1 per theater, creating a not-so-small record!

……

"La La Land" follows the typical release strategy for award-contending films: start with limited screenings, spread the word through word, gradually expand the theaters, and aim for a screening in over 2500 theaters a month before the Oscars...

Then gradually reduce the number of venues for the screening.

After the Oscars, let's expand the screening scale again!
I never expected that in just three days, "La La Land" would achieve such a phenomenal level of popularity...

It opened in five theaters in New York and Los Angeles last week, grossing a total of $85.5, averaging $17.1 per theater, setting a new box office record for a limited-release film in the United States. The previous record was held by Wes Anderson's "The Grand Budapest Hotel," which took in $20.2 in its opening weekend in four theaters.

Meanwhile, La La Land raked in $400 million at the South Korean box office last weekend, which is quite an impressive achievement for an art film!
As expected, La La Land will expand to 200 theaters this week, and will also be released in 40 overseas markets. Further expansion is expected around Christmas.

IMDb rating: 8.8, MTC rating: 89, Rotten Tomatoes rating: 96%.

The Guardian gave it a perfect score: "I was completely captivated by the passion of the storytelling and the outstanding performances of Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, especially Stone, who delivered her best performance ever."

The Telegraph: "La La Land reminds us of how wonderful those almost forgotten dreams were back in the day, (and all it took) was simple expressions, music and movement."

Variety: "La La Land is not a masterpiece (though it aspires to be in some ways), but it is an exciting film, full of passion and emotion, passionate and sophisticated."

The New Republic magazine: "La La Land is as delightful and magical as its name suggests. It is a grand celebration of old-school Hollywood musicals, but it is smarter and more melancholic than its moonlit trailer."

……

In New York, Shen Yan is attending a party…

Uh, it was Emma Stone hosting a lavish buffet dinner at the famous Rainbow Hall at 30 Rockefeller Plaza… a traditional event during awards season: celebrities promoting nominated films.

Most importantly, it's for my own promotion!
In fact, not only Emma Stone, but Cate Blanchett also hosted a tea party at the Leopard Hotel in New York—Carroll;
Bryan Cranston presented a salon at the Hibiscus Club in New York—"Trumbo";
Jennifer Lawrence attended a food festival at Le Cirque in Las Vegas.

Shen Yan estimated that this event would cost at least several hundred thousand US dollars…

That's seriously spending money!

Well, so far, La La Land's public relations efforts have cost $600 million—most of which has gone into producing DVDs, greeting cards, and small gifts!
His public relations manager, Cynthia Schwartz, sent out more than 13000 DVDs when Crash launched its Oscar campaign. In addition to Academy members, the DVDs were sent to members of other relevant unions and associations in Hollywood. It was a case of "better to send a bunch of the wrong DVDs than to miss one".

Ultimately, "Crash" won Best Picture that year.

However, she has recently been thinking of another idea: to use Shen Yan's Chinese identity for public relations!
At the party, she told Shen Yan directly about her plans!
"Chinese identity? Are you sure?" Shen Yan frowned. "I heard that Hollywood hasn't even gotten Black equality sorted out yet!"

"...This year's situation is quite special...Have you seen the latest edition of The Hollywood Reporter?"

"without…"

"So far this year, there hasn't been a single Black film worth mentioning!" Cynthia Schwartz retorted. "Do you know what that means?"

What does it represent?

"It's highly likely that the old guys at the Oscars won't nominate any Black films!"

"...Isn't this how it should be?"

Shen Yan didn't quite understand...

Your movie is terrible, why should it be nominated?
“NO! NO! NO!” Cynthia Schwartz shook her head: “Shen, you’re Chinese, you don’t understand Hollywood, those black guys will definitely cause trouble!”

Shen Yan thought for a moment, then said, "...Actually, 'Sheep Without a Shepherd' should be able to get a nomination..."

"Sheep Without a Shepherd" also premiered last week, opening in 2789 theaters. A24 has pushed it to its limit—its opening weekend box office was $4829 million, which doesn't seem like a huge amount, but the reviews are phenomenal, with a 92% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
This week should see a turnaround and a surge in box office revenue...

By the way, the American version of "Sheep Without a Shepherd" is also scheduled to be released in China.

I reckon the box office won't be too high!

The final box office was $1.5 million in North America and approximately $3 million worldwide…

"Is it possible to win an award?"

Shen Yan was very honest: "It's hard to say... I probably won't be able to get it!"

Cynthia Schwartz waved her hand: "That's the same, those black people will definitely protest against it for not being diverse enough!"

"…Then what?"

“Then… we’ll emphasize that you’re Asian… and that voting for you is the right choice…” Cynthia Schwartz became more and more excited as she spoke: “Then let’s see what those black guys have to say!”

Shen Yan couldn't help but cough: "Ahem... Keep your voice down!"

As soon as she finished speaking, Emma Stone led a middle-aged woman over: "This is our director, Shen... Shen, and this is Julia..."

Shen Yan was immediately surprised: "Julia Roberts...my idol!"

Uh… that’s such a convincing performance!
(End of this chapter)