This director is vindictive.

In some ways, "Back to the Dream" is also a fan-oriented film.

However, in the past, even if fan-oriented movies were big hits, their success was usually short-lived.

For example, the movie "Tiny Times" from back then!
The opening was incredibly impressive, but the box office performance was mostly concentrated in the first few days before plummeting.

But this time, it's completely different. It seems that the female lead of "Back to Dreams" is Liu Yifei, the fairy sister, and the male lead is Chen Mo.

It seems that at most, only Chen Mo's fans and the fans of the "Fairy Sister" would be interested.

However, because this film is the final installment of the Huayun Wedding Dress series, and because it is related to the collective retirement ceremony of the Seven Fairies, this film can be said to encompass the fans of the seven female celebrities and Chen Mo.

If it's just a single celebrity's fans, then naturally the potential is limited. But when the fans of so many top female stars are combined, the power is quite terrifying!

After its release, "Back to the Dream" achieved an astonishing box office in just a few days, making countless people envious and jealous.

This movie, of course, cannot be viewed through the lens of common sense; everyone knows that, but it's just too exaggerated.

In fact, Chen Mo had also considered that this movie might become a window for fans to vent their frustrations, or, to some extent, the biggest beneficiary of the fanatical desire to leave the entertainment industry.

But I still didn't expect it to be so exaggerated.

After grossing over 1 billion yuan in its first two days, the film will not have many screenings on Lunar New Year's Eve due to the special circumstances there.

Starting from the first day of the Lunar New Year, the Spring Festival film season begins. Although it is now called the winter of the film industry, the Spring Festival film season is still the hottest period.

As a result, after the Spring Festival film season began, "Back to the Dream" once again demonstrated what a dark horse it is!
The performance of "Back to the Dream" during the Spring Festival was nothing short of miraculous, raking in 8.3 million yuan at the box office on its opening day, leaving other commercial blockbusters far behind.

According to data from Maoyan Professional Edition, the film accounted for as much as 62% of the daily screenings, but the occupancy rate remained at a staggering 89% – meaning that almost every screening saw “fans booking out entire theaters” and “watching it two or three times”.

Theater managers stared in disbelief at the real-time data.

The manager of a cinema in Beijing said in a trembling voice during an interview: "I've never seen anything like this in my 20 years in the industry! The 7 a.m. screenings were packed, with audiences holding up light sticks and crying as they watched. The cleaning staff swept up three baskets of tissues in the theater!"

Even more outrageous were the midnight screenings—a period that should have been a slow period for box office revenue—which were packed to capacity thanks to the "farewell vigil" organized by fans. Fans spontaneously wore clothing in their support colors and turned on their phone flashlights when the end credits rolled, turning the theater into a sea of ​​stars.

The media described the dominance of this unique film as a "dimensional reduction attack":
It grossed over 30 billion yuan in five days, breaking the record for the fastest film to reach 30 billion yuan during the Spring Festival season, previously held by "The Battle at Lake Changjin".
CCTV's arts and entertainment channel called it a "phenomenal film and television performance art," and the social discussion sparked by the retirement of seven female stars exceeded that of the deaths of superstars in the past.
The box office performance of "Back to the Dream" can be described as magical realism - while traditional film critics are still using "first-day box office decline rate" and "word-of-mouth diffusion model" to analyze the market, the fan economy has evolved to a dimension that they can no longer understand.

A film critic with millions of followers, known as "Film Judge," published a long article on his public WeChat account titled "I Admit Defeat," accompanied by a comparison photo of an old-fashioned abacus and an advanced mathematics textbook: "When fans are so crazy about their idols that they can buy out screenings at 3 a.m., this kind of martyrdom-like consumption makes us box office analysts feel like we're trying to solve calculus with an abacus—even the units of measurement have become invalid!"

In the article, he mentioned two cases that shocked the industry:

Ticket stub performance art: CCTV footage from a Zhengzhou cinema captured Liu Yifei fans booking all seats in rows 3-7 of the IMAX theater. After the movie ended, they used these ticket stubs to spell out a four-meter-long fluorescent message "Goodbye, Yifei" on the floor and even filmed the process as a vlog and posted it on the fan page.

Even more surreal was the feedback from the cinema manager: "This girl came every day after that, saying she wanted to collect farewell messages in seven different dialects—Shanghainese for 'goodbye,' and Cantonese for 'goodbye'."

Even more outrageous, the first six wedding films in the Huayun Wedding Dress series were urgently re-released in 327 cinemas nationwide, resulting in an occupancy rate as high as 91%. A manager of an old cinema in Beijing complained: "A five-year-old film like 'The Phoenix Brings Auspiciousness' (Jing Tian episode) is now more popular at midnight screenings than new releases during prime time—all the viewers are 'ice cream cones' dressed in Hanfu and blue veils, and when they leave, they all throw flower petals onto their seats, and the cleaning lady swept up two pounds of dried flowers!"

This attempt, and this result, further confirms just how exaggerated the impact of these seven female celebrities retiring from the entertainment industry truly is.

What truly defied industry expectations was that "Back to the Dream" saw a 12% surge in box office revenue on the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, raking in a staggering 4.6 million yuan!
After analyzing the data, the team discovered that this was thanks to the "romantic attack" campaign launched by the fans of the Seven Fairies:
Fan clubs used big data algorithms to screen out rural cinemas with less than 5% of the national screening share, and specifically chose to buy tickets collectively during "low-grossing times" such as 10 am and 23 pm on weekdays, turning originally unpopular screenings with an average of 3 people per screening into "blue ocean support screenings" with full seats!
At the same time, it was launched that each participant had to shoot a comparison video of "empty venue turning into full house".

The fans of the seven actresses even created topics that resembled competition among themselves.

#IceConeReclamationProject#
#OperationFireflyNight#
#FamilyReunionNight#
#IcePoplocketMeltingOperation#
#TheHeartwarmingTouchOfBeesReturningToTheHouse#
The release of topics like these spread exponentially, like a virus!

Such a grand occasion even caught the attention of overseas media.

Variety magazine devoted a full page to this epic event in the Eastern entertainment industry, with the headline: "This is not watching a movie, but a pilgrimage—the emotional miracle created by China's marketing master, director Chen Mo, through seven weddings is more shocking than Marvel's ten-year plan."

The article makes a detailed comparison of two cultural phenomena: the superhero universe that Marvel built over ten years and 23 movies resonated with Chinese audiences, but it couldn't match the cinematic sentiment that Chen Mo created by stringing together seven lavish weddings.

The reporter exclaimed in amazement: "When Avengers: Endgame sparked a global craze, who would have thought that someone in the East could create an even more fervent cultural phenomenon with a wedding advertisement?"

The report focused on analyzing Chen Mo's "time-space stitching technique"—he perfectly replicated the film and television characters (such as Wang Yuyan and Xiaolongnu) from Liu Yifei and others over the past twenty years using special effects technology.

The event visualized the youthful memories accumulated by fans into a tangible wedding scene, cleverly combining the commercial IP (Huayun Wedding Attire) with collective nostalgia.

The article concludes sharply by pointing out: "This is clearly the most sophisticated consumerist trap—audiences know full well that they are paying for nostalgia, yet they still rush to the cinema. When the 'double happiness' fireworks light up the screen at the end of the film, what they have bought is no longer a movie ticket, but a ticket to say goodbye to their youth."

Even Chen Mo himself was caught off guard by the skyrocketing box office revenue.

A netizen posted a picture jokingly saying: "A poster for 'Back to the Dream' has been photoshopped into a money printing machine, with the caption 'The audience isn't casting votes, they're casting donations.'"

What started as a joke on Weibo unexpectedly went viral, giving rise to the meme culture of "offering tributes to Chen Mo"—fans spontaneously added a "merit +1" watermark to their ticket stubs, and some even actually placed a Q-version incense burner of Chen Mo at the cinema ticket office!
As the box office surpassed 40 billion yuan, an even more absurd phenomenon emerged: non-fan groups began to spontaneously participate in this carnival.

A college student wrote on Douban: "I never watch Chinese dramas, but my roommate cried and said 'Fairy Sister is gone,' and I suddenly felt that I had to witness this history."

This anxiety of "fear of missing out on the times" propelled the film into becoming a nationwide event.

When the hashtag #I was isolated by colleagues for not watching Dream of Light and Shadow appeared on Weibo, this wedding promotional video had already been transformed into a totem of social identity.

However, an incident occurred during this time that cast a shadow over this seemingly perfect retirement ceremony.

Let's go back to before Lunar New Year's Eve.

As mentioned earlier, the premiere of "Back to the Dream" and the retirement ceremony of the Seven Fairies led Tianjin to promote the slogan "Come to Tianjin for the New Year with your whole family".

And indeed, Tianjin has become a popular destination for many young families to spend the Spring Festival.

Therefore, hotels in Tianjin were fully booked on New Year's Eve this year, and many fans even spent the New Year together on this day.

Ten or twenty years ago, people would go home for the Lunar New Year, regardless of whether they were rich or poor.

Back then, it was unimaginable for the whole family to go to another place for the Spring Festival, or for the children in the family to go to another place specifically for the Spring Festival.

However, this concept has changed with the development of the times.

In recent years, Fujian Province has been promoting tourism by encouraging people to come to Fujian to celebrate the Chinese New Year and experience local customs. Especially after the popularity of the "God Parade" culture, it can be said that many people have made a special trip there every year to celebrate the Chinese New Year.

This year, spending the Spring Festival in Tianjin has become a very fashionable thing to do.

Many young people even went there in groups for "sightseeing"!
To welcome this surge in visitors, Tianjin's cultural and tourism sector mobilized a significant number of people to keep Qixian Lane brightly lit on New Year's Eve.

Meanwhile, many businesses have also launched various related New Year's Eve dinner themes, making a fortune.

Spending Chinese New Year's Eve away from home is fashionable for young people. Nowadays, with advanced transportation and communication, it's easy to send a message of safety via video call.

Moreover, people are generally quite confident about public security in China, so they haven't worried about safety issues.

But as it turned out, something still went wrong.

While the entire internet was still reeling from the box office miracle of "Back to the Dream" and the grand occasion of the Seven Fairies retiring from the entertainment industry, an explosive news item suddenly topped the trending search list:
[Breaking News] Three Zhao Liying fans, affectionately known as "Fireflies," went missing during the Spring Festival! Their families are desperately seeking help: their last known location was in Qixian Lane, Tianjin!
Due to the public outcry, Tianjin police quickly released details of the incident.

Three female fans (aged 19-23) went on a pilgrimage to Qixian Lane in Tianjin on the third day of the Lunar New Year. Before setting off, they posted photos of the movie ticket stub for "Back to the Dream" and a handmade paper-cut of Zhao Liying's character in a fan group.

At 23:17 PM that night, one of them posted on WeChat Moments: "Found the same streetlight that Zhao Liying used in the movie 'Boss & Me'! (Photo: Starry Sky Theme Area in Qixian Lane)"

Since they were all adults and traveling together, their families were not too worried.

As a result, the eighth day of the Lunar New Year was the first day back to work.

One of the oldest female fans, who was already working, did not go to work that day.

My colleague can't get in touch with the other party.

Finally, a close colleague contacted the person's family and was shocked to discover that the person had been out of contact since that day.

The parents of the other two fans also couldn't contact their children, so they called the police.

The local police took the matter very seriously and immediately launched an investigation.

However, some strange details were discovered.

The last location data of the three people's mobile phones was concentrated in the unopened area of ​​the western section of Qixian Lane (the ruins of the original Phase II project). The police retrieved the surveillance footage and found that at 23:42, the flashlights of the three people's mobile phones suddenly went out at the same time in the surveillance footage!
Witnesses testified that they heard girls exclaiming, seemingly shouting, "There's Yingbao over there!", but that direction was actually a closed construction site!

After extensive investigation, the police found that the three women did not leave Qixian Lane afterward.

However, surveillance cameras captured the appearance of a suspicious vehicle.

Police report: A case has been opened for investigation on suspicion of illegal detention, with a focus on the following areas:

Construction team at the Phase II construction site of Qixian Lane!

A group of "sasaeng fans" who have been active in the scenic area recently.

A gray industry chain that exploits fan psychology to commit crimes
However, to date, there is still no useful information. At the same time, according to the police's speculation, the three women were most likely manipulated by criminals using the psychology of fans.
This happened.

Zhao Liying was naturally the most nervous.

We immediately contacted the families of the three missing fans. When we saw Xiao Zhang's mother showing her daughter's bedroom: the walls were covered with Zhao Liying posters, and under the glass of the desk was a copy of a line from "Boss & Me": "Effort will bring miracles".

Seeing the youngest fan, Xiao Wang's father cried, saying, "My child wrote in her notebook, 'I want to be brave like Xue Shanshan,' but now I just want to ask her, where did she get her bravery?"

When Xiao Li's father showed her daughter's diary, he saw the inscription on the first page: "Becoming a firefly is the brightest light in my youth"—the handwriting was next to ticket stubs from Zhao Liying's works over the years.

She was extremely anxious.

Meanwhile, the fireflies also sprang into action.

The hashtag for Zhao Liying was flooded with 100,000 "missing person" posts in an instant. Fans spontaneously organized a search and rescue team, and some even carried pictures of "missing person talismans" from the TV series "The Journey of Flower" to pray for her.

Because this retirement from the entertainment industry was already generating a lot of buzz, this incident has garnered nationwide attention.

The well-known mystery blogger "Criminal Investigation Master" analyzed: "Qixian Lane has an average daily flow of over 10 people, but there are as many as 17 blind spots in the western area's surveillance system. It cannot be ruled out that someone is using fans' nostalgia to set up a trap."

But as the saying goes, "There are all sorts of birds in a big forest," and upon seeing this, some netizens even questioned, "Could this be a self-directed and self-acted extreme act of idol worship?"

However, this statement was immediately met with fierce rebuttal from the fans: "No one would use their parents' heartbreaking tears for publicity!"

Zhao Liying made the decision that very day, announcing a reward of one million yuan for clues.

Zhao Liying posted a million-yuan reward notice on Weibo: "Anyone who provides valid clues about the three missing 'fireflies' will be rewarded with 100 million yuan!"

The hashtag #FireflyDisappearanceCase# instantly went viral and became a trending topic.

The studio's publicly available email address received 5 emails within 30 minutes, causing the server to crash three times.

When technicians urgently expanded the capacity, they discovered that 70% of the email titles contained keywords such as "absolutely genuine" and "exclusive insider information".

There were absolutely no truly useful clues.

Even false clues abound. One netizen sent over surveillance footage from a supermarket in Tianjin, claiming to have captured what appeared to be a certain figure—but the footage turned out to show three female students cosplaying as Zhao Liying.

The whistleblower, who claimed to have "witnessed the kidnappers' vehicle," provided a license plate that was verified to be a still from the TV series "The Thunder."

The most outrageous "clue" was a photoshopped map of Qixian Lane, labeled "Alien Teleportation Point".

Some fraudsters even use bounties to commit fraud. Police have discovered multiple paid QQ groups that teach "bounty-hunting tutorials," including how to fabricate details and circumvent legal risks, with an entry fee as high as 888 yuan.

In response to this chaotic situation, criminal investigation experts pointed out: "Public rewards need to have a professional filtering mechanism, such as requiring the provision of specific time coordinates of surveillance or biological evidence, otherwise it's like looking for a needle in a haystack."

Zhao Liying was so anxious that she paced back and forth in the living room.

"Don't worry, Xiaodao, the police are taking this very seriously. They'll definitely be found!" Fan Binbin reassured her.

"What's wrong with these people? Not only do they not help, but what kind of nonsense are they sending out?" Zhang Yuqi said angrily, looking at the overflowing inbox filled with so-called "clues".

"Such a reward might be somewhat useful, but it's very difficult to find any truly useful clues!" Chen Mo sighed and shook his head.

As the saying goes, money can move people's hearts. Zhao Liying's immediate million-dollar reward was indeed very attractive, but at the same time, it could also arouse the greed of many people with ulterior motives.

Therefore, since such a reward only requires clues, there are no barriers to entry at all.

In addition, Zhao Liying is a public figure, so naturally all sorts of strange and monstrous things suddenly appeared.

"Then what do you suggest we do?" Zhao Liying looked at Chen Mo with a pleading gaze.

Chen Mo pondered for a moment and said, "According to the information revealed by the police, the three female fans were most likely lured and deceived by criminals, and there is even a high probability that they have already left the country."

"You mean telecom fraud?" Zhao Liying frowned.

"Not necessarily, it could also be...the human body." Chen Mo didn't finish his sentence, but Zhao Liying and the other women understood what he meant.

"How about this, let's be direct and offer a 'huge' reward, but not for clues, we'll just ask for the person!" Chen Mo said.

In fact, this approach is not very suitable for public figures.

However, for now, this is the best and most direct solution Chen Mo can think of.

Soon after, Chen Mo posted a "huge reward" on his personal Weibo account!
The reward offered differs from the clues solicited by Zhao Liying.

Instead, it was blatantly stated: "A ten million reward to bring the fireflies home!"

Content: If the three girls appear safely, the money will be transferred on the spot!

Provided valid location information and successfully rescued the victim, worth 500 million!
At the same time, please do not engage in any behavior that hinders the investigation; otherwise, you will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law!

This Weibo post instantly caused a stir, with #ChenMoOffersRewardForSavingPeople# trending at number one on the hot search list.

The comment section instantly split into several camps:
Fans burst into tears:

"That's a real boss! No gimmicks!"

"I cried. May the fireflies stay safe!"

"That's how it should be, and Chen Mo always keeps his word! I hope the fireflies return home safely!"

However, Chen Mo's Weibo post still sparked considerable controversy.

First, industry insiders were shocked.

A director of an entertainment company reposted the comment: "This is outrageous."

The police's official Weibo account quickly followed up: "We appreciate your enthusiasm for public welfare, but please cooperate with the official operation!"

In fact, Chen Mo soon received a call from the relevant department, mainly because his reward this time was a bit too outrageous.

Although it wasn't explicitly stated, it was practically a direct declaration that even if you were a kidnapper, you would still get the money as long as you released the person!
Moreover, this huge reward of tens of millions also serves as a blatant warning.

After all, ten million could be used to find someone, but the person being found might not necessarily be the missing firefly.

Sometimes money can't solve all problems, but it can solve many!
This is why Chen Mo was summoned for questioning! (End of Chapter)