Who said this top flow is crazy! This top flow is awesome!

Chapter 242 shows Ikeno's "reputation".

"Fourth? 'Girl' surpassed us? Are you talking about audience attendance or box office?!"

Even though they already had the answer in their hearts, everyone's first instinct was to ask another question, and then they realized what was going on.

—Box office figures my foot! Box office figures can be viewed in real time. Although there may be slight discrepancies with the detailed data, these discrepancies are definitely not too large.

The messenger nodded slightly: "Attendance rate."

Uncle Li Qian breathed a sigh of relief and exchanged glances with the others.

"...The attendance rate is also not good."

The lead actor, a renowned film star, frowned: "With so few screenings but such high attendance... our screening share will be eaten up sooner or later."

"Unless 'Girl' is an art film."

Unless "Girl" is an art film.

This is also a secret that's not exactly a secret within the industry.

Because there are exceptions to the concept of occupancy rate; it's not a straightforward rule that a higher occupancy rate will automatically lead to more screenings for a movie.

If the films with high attendance rates are art films, then the formula of fewer screenings + high attendance rates will be formed.

This can be simply understood as moviegoers who like this art film watching it a second, third, or even fourth time without thinking, thus increasing the film's attendance figures.

But it was useless.

Such a low attendance rate holds no appeal for ordinary viewers. The high attendance rate of art films only proves that they have captured their rightful share. Even if cinemas increase the number of screenings for them, their box office performance will remain dismal.

Is "Girl" an art film?

—Ikeno has never made an art film!
Therefore, this is the reason why everyone is feeling uneasy and even "fearful".

"It's not an art film, but it has high attendance + low screenings... What does this formula equal?"

evening.

The cinema in the capital city that gave "Rock Solid" the highest number of screenings.

It was the same manager from the premiere.

His expression was one of surprise and uncertainty, as if he felt that his judgment this time might have been flawed.

嗏

Should we increase the number of screenings for "Girl"?

While he was hesitating, the deputy manager walked in: "China Film Group and Stellar Media have already adjusted the screening schedule for 'Girl'."

"So fast?!"

The manager paused, then asked, "Whose food did you eat? Were there many adjustments?"

"Well... 5% of 'Rock Solid' was cut, but the main problem is 'Youthful Days,' which was cut in half and is basically finished."

"The Rock has lost 5% of its content? That can't be true! That's outrageous!"

The manager was taken aback.

Even if "Girl" had a higher attendance rate than "Rock" that day, how could a theater give away 5% of the box office so quickly? Is that theater the best friend of Ikeno?

The deputy manager explained, "We haven't touched the other big productions."

The manager then realized what was happening, nodded, and wasn't surprised.

The second of the three blockbuster films released during the National Day holiday, it has maintained high box office revenue and mixed reviews after three days of release, but... cinemas don't care, as long as the box office is high.

If your box office is high and your attendance is high, I'll give you screenings, and I'll make money.

He merely sighed and remarked with a hint of melancholy: "Is this just like the fight between Jia Duo Bao and Wang Lao Ji, or He Qi Zheng?"

“…Yeah, about the same.”

"Let's raise the price of 'Girl' a bit and see how the box office and attendance are tomorrow."

"it is good."

……

It is exactly like its original form.

Oh no… it’s more like “So Young”.

"So Young," starring Du Ou and Ling Han and invested in by Zhang Guowen and Wu Yibo, seems even more miserable than Zhao Si's father.

Despite doing nothing, they were heavily criticized from the very beginning of their release for their melodramatic plot, superficial content, and stiff acting. By the third day of release, their screenings had been completely taken over by the other three top films and "Girl".

Du Ou was very puzzled, as were the producers and investors of "So Young".

They were actually quite convinced that they were beaten by the other three god-tier films, but you, with the same investment as me... or even less investment than me, a youth film of the same genre, why are you taking away our screenings?

Ikeno has been looking for someone, right?
Well… he certainly doesn’t have that kind of influence in the film industry. Even if he did, given his own poor performance, cinemas wouldn’t lose money to promote him – cinema chains are the most pragmatic end-user organizations in the industry.

They only care about money, not people.

"Their attendance rate is not right."

Zhang Guowen, one of the investors, also received the news. When he saw that the audience attendance of "Girl" exceeded that of "Rock Solid", he felt a sense of unease and had a bad feeling.

When I learned that "Girl" had taken a large share of screenings from "So Young," my bad feeling turned into anger and heartache.

The money, the money, it should have been his money all along!
"Brother Zhang, you have to protest to the theaters! Anyone can take our screenings, we're going to lose a fortune!"

Du Ou is in a terrible mood right now—he doesn't care about making money because he didn't invest at all, but... he does care about the box office!
For a man with a net worth of 10 billion yuan to act in a youth film for the first time, this is the result?
How is he supposed to market his amazing acting skills and outshine those popular celebrities in the future?

Zhang Guowen remained silent with a gloomy face, while Ling Han next to him tapped the floor with her toes out of boredom.

Well... how should I put it? Anyway, she doesn't rely on popularity. Even without this drama, she still has no shortage of big-budget productions to film.

Seeing this, Du Ou became even more anxious.

"Don't worry, how can I, as an investor, communicate this with the cinemas?"

Zhang Guowen frowned, feeling that Du Ou was too unpredictable, and besides... he really needed to take some action.

We can't let this movie that Lao Wu and I invested in go down the drain. Lao Wu even has a producer credit... Isn't this a pure "stain" on his career?

He took out his phone, just about to contact Xu Yingying, the "Magneto of the Film Industry".

Unexpectedly, the other party called first.

They directly added him to a WeChat group chat and made a video call.

Why did China Film Group increase the number of screenings for "Girl"?

Some people were impatient to get up there because China Film Stellar Media had always been managed by Xu Yingying.

"I'm handling this, mainly because its attendance on the third day was indeed quite good... a significant increase."

In the video, Xu Yingying wore a tank top, which unintentionally revealed her cleavage, arousing the hearts of a group of previously "dissatisfied" older men in Beijing's elite circle, who almost experienced a second spring on the spot.

"...I'm not trying to criticize you, Yingying, but you were the one who started this whole thing with Chi Ye. We were all just helping you out. Other theaters saw that its numbers were a bit high, so they gave it some screenings as an experiment, which is fine. But you were the first to 'kneel down' in terms of connections. Isn't that a bit like playing us for fools?"

Director Lu, adopting an air of authority and behaving like a big shot, asked, "I think you need to give us an explanation for this matter."

Xu Yingying: "..."

She really wanted to throw a glass of water on Director Lu's head right now, because... Director Lu had been incredibly annoying lately. Director Lu was the kind of person who would get cocky even before achieving anything significant, and had "Kunlun Mountain" achieved any results yet?
Judging from its investment scale, cast, and total spending on publicity and marketing, it definitely doesn't count.

Even so, Director Lu has already claimed the title of "the only big shot in the Beijing circle in the past five years," and during this period he has often been "arrogant" and bossy towards them.

I never noticed before. This person is really clueless. He even said that Ikeno became arrogant after gaining power... Compared to you, Ikeno is as humble as a saint.

After all, Ikeno has truly achieved results, but you…

Okay, Xu Yingying now hopes that "Kunlun Mountain" will be a success, because her company has invested a lot of money, and at the same time... she feels that with the current momentum, "Kunlun Mountain" does have a chance to become a hit.

This is the reason why she has always "tolerates" Director Lu.

"Oh dear, I'm so sorry everyone, this is my fault. I've already contacted Xingmei, and I even talked to their vice chairman. Don't worry, the 'Girl' issue is easy to resolve."

Xu Yingying smiled brightly: "Let's not talk about that. I'll go and urge them again later... The reason we brought everyone in this time is because of competition with 'Climbing One'..."

“My team has been observing the situation these past few days and found that the reviews for ‘Climbing One’ are more negative than positive… I think this is an opportunity.”

"Everyone, can we surpass Wu Jing? This guy is really annoying. He bows to us on the surface, but in reality, he keeps delaying the start of the Wolf Warrior 3 project... Who is he guarding against? Everyone knows the answer."

“This time, I think we should teach him to face reality.”

Upon hearing this, everyone's hearts stirred, especially when they heard about the "Wolf Warrior 3" project being initiated... they became itchy.

"Okay, remember this later. Let's talk about surpassing 'Climbing One' first... Actually, our team has also been..."

The group started talking about the negative reviews of Wu Jing and the marketing of "Climbing One".

……

at the same time.

"Climbing One" roadshow.

"I'd like to ask Mr. Wu, why did you adapt such a wonderful and inspiring story into this?"

In the audience, a movie fan who appeared to be an ordinary audience member stood up, took the microphone, and questioned Wu Jing, Teacher Zhang, and the others above.

Everyone's expressions froze, and Teacher Zhang frowned slightly, glancing at the host below.

Who found this audience?
Why would you ask such a question?
It was premeditated, wasn't it?

Almost instantly, the seasoned teacher Zhang guessed that there must be other troublemakers behind this issue.

The host below remained expressionless, but the female audience member's question resonated with many people.

Originally, everyone just complained in their hearts, but when they actually met the celebrities face to face, they were still too embarrassed to ask them out loud.

But at this moment, they all started shouting.

"Yes, Ms. Wu Jing, Ms. Ziyi, and the director, I'd like to ask, have you seen the negative reviews about 'Climbing One' online?"

"Is it really called 'Climbing One'? Shouldn't it be renamed 'Everest Love Story'?"

"Why do you always force a romance scene into such serious subjects? Some people say it's Zhang Ziyi's request, is that true?"

Teacher Zhang's face darkened, Wu Jing frowned, and the other main creators couldn't control their expressions.

"...Please sit down, audience member. It's not time for interaction yet."

At this point, the host finally stepped off the stage to smooth things over, but everyone on "Climbing No. 1" knew that this guy was the biggest mole.

The scene quickly descended into chaos.

……

Half an hour later, backstage.

Teacher Zhang's face was ashen: "Who brought in those 'audience members' who asked the questions just now?!"

Everyone inside trembled with fear, and no one dared to speak.

"Investigate! You must find out the truth! Someone is definitely trying to frame us..."

"Could it be Ikeno?"

Suddenly, a popular figure among the creators asked a question.

Everyone was startled.

Then, one by one, they looked at him and began to hesitate.

Seeing this, Wu Jing couldn't help but exclaim, "Look, this is what reputation is all about!"

Everyone: "..."

On the same day, the creators of "Climbing One" and the investors behind it began to investigate who was deliberately sabotaging them.

Actually, there's no need to investigate. The group that's targeting them must have a conflict of interest. So, we can first exclude "Girl" and Ikeno, leaving only two other circles.

Northwest Circle, Beijing Circle.

Considering that the Northwest circle has always been relatively weak, while the Beijing circle is very domineering and constantly embroiled in internal strife, it is highly likely that it was orchestrated by Xu Yingying's group.

Therefore, the information is not difficult to find; the difficulty lies in how they will retaliate.

Just as the Climbing One team was thinking about how to counter their competitors, a sudden piece of news caught them off guard.

Or rather, it caught everyone in the industry, both inside and outside the industry, off guard during this year's National Day holiday.

"Girl"... This "Girl" is not right!

On the fourth day of the National Day holiday, the box office battle has reached a fever pitch.

"Climbing No. 1" and Wu Jing continue to maintain their "dominance", with box office revenue approaching 700 million yuan and the highest occupancy rate.

"Kunlun Mountain" is showing signs of decline, with only a little over 6 million yuan in box office revenue so far, and its occupancy rate ranks second.

Third is "Girl," which surged in yesterday's box office with 450 million yuan and the third highest occupancy rate.

Fourth is "Rock Solid," which was just surpassed by "Girl," with a box office of 560 million yuan and the fourth highest occupancy rate.

"So Young" barely broke 140 million yuan, and its total box office during the three-day National Day holiday was even lower than that of "Girl" on its opening day.

The ones that followed were all even more tragic than the last.

In this situation, the eerie atmosphere was already evident, and many people who are sensitive to the box office performance during the National Day holiday have already sensed that something was amiss this year.

The box office... the box office is extremely strange.

At the beginning of this year's National Day holiday, the overall box office trend, media predictions, and even the enthusiasm of moviegoers were all extremely exaggerated.

In other words, with such a hot market, if a truly dominant blockbuster product were to emerge, it shouldn't be in this mess now!
Take "Climbing No. 1," which has been hyped by the public as the "top film of the National Day holiday," for example. During the four-day National Day holiday, the box office did not even break 700 million yuan, averaging only 150 to 600 million yuan per day.

Compared to those blockbuster hits, and Wu Jing's own breakthrough film "Wolf Warrior 2," which grossed anywhere from 2 million to 3 million or even 4 million yuan a day, the difference is simply indescribable.

Besides "Climbing No. 1", other films with loud slogans such as "Kunlun Mountain" and "Rock" are all the same.

No one is much better than anyone else.

Everyone was clamoring about a battle for the National Day box office champion, but looking back, the average daily box office per person was only a little over 100 million, and none of them even reached 200 million…

Everyone inside and outside the industry was stunned: Is this the National Day holiday film season? Are you sure it's not some obscure period like the Dragon Boat Festival?!

Even during the Dragon Boat Festival season, there was a blockbuster like "Big Boss" that grossed over 30 billion yuan!

(End of this chapter)