Director of Photography Department of Huayu

Chapter 561 Showy Operation

Calgary, Canada.

The July sunlight here loses its restlessness and becomes clear and lingering.

The Interstellar film crew is currently in the midst of a busy filming schedule.
While Wu Chen was focused on filming, the box office frenzy of "Inception" continued to sweep the globe.

Liu Yifei, along with the publicity team, traveled from the Champs-Élysées in Paris to Ginza in Tokyo, pushing the film's popularity to new heights amidst countless flashes and interviews.

Meanwhile, in the mainland film market, a seemingly unequal "battle" was being sensationalized by the media, creating a highly charged atmosphere.

The low-budget romantic comedy "My Beautiful Boss" will be released on July 30th, ready to withstand the storm!

Jing Tian and Peter Ho team up for a showdown on the same day as Feng Xiaogang's "Aftershock"!

【.】

It must be said that the media is always adept at finding the most conflict-ridden topics.

In the office of Starlight Brilliant Film Company in Beijing, Lu Zheng's face was so gloomy it could drip water. He gritted his teeth and growled:
"Damn it, Huayi Brothers and Feng Xiaogang are shameless!"

What angered him was not the sensationalist headlines in the media, but Huayi Brothers' almost frantic publicity campaign.

With the strong support of the local government, the propaganda materials for "Tangshan Earthquake" covered almost all official channels, including television, newspapers, and outdoor billboards.

This competition was unfair from the very beginning.

"Uncle Lu, it's alright, we'll just do more roadshow events," Jing Tian comforted him softly, a hint of reluctance on his face.

"How can this be allowed!" Lu Zheng slammed his fist on the table, furious. "So Huayi can get official media to work, but I can't? I refuse to believe it!"

In contrast to Lu Zheng's fury, Feng Xiaogang of Huayi Brothers, upon seeing these reports of "extortion," curled his lips into a disdainful sneer.

What trash movie is this? How dare it be compared to him?

Is he in the same time slot?
What grade?
In his office, Wang Zhonglei looked at the excellent situation before him and became increasingly confident.

He felt that there was still room for improvement.

He then summoned Vice President Xu Li.

"Mr. Wang, you wanted to see me?"

Xu Lizheng was so busy with the publicity and distribution of "Aftershock" that he was constantly on the go. When he was called here, his heart skipped a beat, knowing that his boss probably had some new instructions.

“Hmm,” Wang Zhonglei leaned back in his chair, tapping his fingers lightly on the table, his tone leaving no room for doubt, “Here’s what we’ll do: you immediately negotiate with the major cinema chains to raise the price of each ticket for ‘Aftershock’ by five yuan.”

"Huh? Mr. Wang, isn't this... a bit too sudden?"

Xu Li was dumbfounded on the spot.

“Just do as I say,” Wang Zhonglei waved his hand, looking like he had everything under control. “Strike while the iron is hot. Adding 5 yuan isn’t much.”

He calculated very clearly that, given the current hype, theaters would certainly not refuse in order to maximize profits.

Thanks to his efforts, the film has been deeply integrated with local publicity. When the film is released, Huayi Brothers will then vigorously promote the idea of ​​various organizations booking screenings. Huayi Brothers is sure to make a fortune from this.

Huayi's shrewd maneuver went exceptionally smoothly.

Previously, the ticket price for domestic blockbusters was generally around 60 yuan.

However, after Huayi temporarily raised the price, many cinema chains not only accepted it, but even raised it by another five yuan on their own.

In some first-tier cities, cinema tickets have reached 70 yuan.

This operation truly taught the industry a lesson.

Some people despise his ugly behavior, while others secretly admire his clever methods.

"My god, that guy can do this!" "Huayi must have racked their brains to make money."

Wu Chen, who was far away in Canada, also learned about Huayi's operation from the report of Xu Dong, the head of the cinema department of Star Cinema.

He just smiled faintly.

Huayi is currently on a rapid upward trajectory, with its soaring performance masking all its problems.

But all accounts are accumulated one by one, and sooner or later someone will settle them, whether it's the audience or someone else.
He ignored the disturbances, clapped his hands, and signaled for the filming to continue.

The massive production crew was instantly back in operation and running efficiently.

Inception's strong performance remained undiminished in its second week.

The cumulative box office in North America easily surpassed $170 million, and the box office in mainland China also successfully crossed the 300 million mark, steadily moving towards the goal of 500 million.

The premiere of "Aftershock" was also held amidst great anticipation.

On stage, Feng Xiaogang passionately proclaimed, "The Great Earthquake is not a product that exploits national sentiments," and "I believe that kindness also has power," bringing the atmosphere to a climax.

The film was officially released, and its screening rate unsurprisingly exceeded 40%.

When Lu Zheng learned about the film scheduling from his subordinates, his face turned extremely grim.

In some cinemas, "My Beautiful Boss" only has one showing in the morning and one in the evening, and the time slots are extremely bad.

The entire industry is holding its breath, waiting for the opening day box office figures for "Aftershock".

With such intensive promotion and high ticket prices, this figure will directly determine the film's potential.

However, when the box office figures were released the following day, both industry insiders and audiences were somewhat confused.

In the morning, media outlets were the first to report that "Aftershock" grossed 3400 million yuan on its opening day.

This box office figure is good.

Just a few hours later, another report emerged: "According to the latest statistics, 'Aftershock' grossed 3620 million yuan on its opening day."

By noon, Huayi Brothers finally released the revised final figures and issued a press release to major media outlets.
3800 million.

The press release also specifically emphasized that this figure broke the record of 3780 million yuan set by "1939" for the highest opening day box office for a domestic film not long ago.

However, the constantly changing box office figures have caused many industry insiders to frown and have also sparked much discussion among audiences.

"How much exactly? Why are they keeping changing it?"

"3800 million is too neat, it's like it was decided on a whim."

"Hehe, I dare say Huayi's move will teach the industry another lesson."

"."

However, Huayi Brothers directly used their final revised data for promotion, highlighting the record-breaking opening day box office for a domestic film.
At home, Han Sanping frowned slightly as he read the report, then called his secretary.

What was the exact box office figure for "Aftershock"?

The secretary gave a wry smile and shook her head: "Chairman Han, China Film Group doesn't handle statistics, have you forgotten? Huayi Brothers took on the task of compiling the statistics themselves."

"That official..."

Han Sanping had just spoken when he suddenly thought of something and said, "Never mind!"

The authoritative statistics on film box office revenue come from the Film Special Fund Office of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, but the office does not disclose the box office data to the public or the media, and only authorizes the China Film News to publish it.

The latest issue of this weekly report was yesterday, Friday.
It happened to be the day "The Great Earthquake" was released.
(End of this chapter)