Huayu: Starting from joining the mainstream entertainment industry in 96

Chapter 569-567: New Policeman, New Record
Friday, December 24, 2004.

In early autumn, the sky over Beijing is high and the clouds are light, and the sun is warm.

For the average office worker, this is just a regular workday.

However, for the mainland film market, especially for industry insiders who closely follow the movements of the "Shengying Group," this day carries a different kind of expectation and scrutiny.

"New Police Story," co-produced by Jackie Chan's Emperor Motion Pictures, China Film Group, and Shengying Media, and with Shengying Media in charge of distribution and promotion, will be released simultaneously in Hong Kong and across China starting today.

On the subway, a white-collar worker dressed as an employee is holding a copy of the Beijing Youth Daily.

The front page headline prominently featured a giant poster for "New Police Story," accompanied by the eye-catching headline: "Jackie Chan Returns with Hardcore Action, 'New Police Story' Ignites Theaters Nationwide Today!"

The report detailed the film's major highlights: Jackie Chan's life-risking performance, the subversive villain Huang Xiaoming, the tense and exciting plot, and the "S-level" publicity and distribution resources provided by Shengying Media.

The so-called "S-level" publicity and distribution resources are a quantitative evaluation and resource allocation system that Shengying Media uses in the early stages of project initiation, based on factors such as market potential, strategic significance, and the main creative team.

This system was personally promoted and established by Wang Sheng, with the aim of ensuring that limited publicity funds and channel resources can be accurately invested in projects with the greatest potential to become "blockbusters".

Reaching the "S-level" standard is extremely stringent, meaning the project will receive:

Full-channel saturation of traditional advertising: A concentrated advertising blitz will be conducted for at least three weeks, covering mainstream newspapers, subways, buses, and outdoor screens in over 30 key ticket-generating cities nationwide. Television advertising will target prime time slots on CCTV channels and various provincial satellite TV channels, as well as entertainment programs on multiple local TV stations controlled by Enlight Media, a subsidiary of Shengying Media.

A customized online marketing matrix was implemented: topic guidance, viral video dissemination, and interaction with the lead actors were conducted on Tencent QQ, the entertainment sections of major portal websites, and the "Maoyan Movies" community incubated by Shengying. For "New Police Story," key promotional topics included "Jackie Chan's return," "Huang Xiaoming's transformation into a villain," and "the most handsome villain."

Extensive offline roadshow: The lead actors' teams, especially Jackie Chan himself, were required to hold meet-and-greets in cinemas across ten major cities nationwide before and after the film's release. For each roadshow, Shengying's local branches collaborated with cinemas to ensure effective on-site performance and media exposure.

Screening Guarantee and Ticketing Coordination: "China Film Grand Cinema Circuit" and its deep-rooted partners must guarantee "S-level" projects at least 45% of screenings on their opening weekend. Simultaneously, they are collaborating with large enterprises, institutions, and university student unions across the country to offer group tickets and pre-sale ticket discounts, securing a solid initial box office base.

Media and Reputation Management: Multiple media screenings and critic sessions were organized before the release to guide initial public opinion. After the release, the public opinion monitoring team was on standby 24 hours a day to promptly address negative reviews and amplify positive voices.

The fact that "New Police Story" received an "S-level" rating is due to two main reasons. First, Jackie Chan's continued strong personal appeal and the good working relationship with Sheng Ying (the success of "Night at the Museum" laid a solid foundation for this). Second, Wang Sheng and Han Sanping hoped to use this film to further consolidate the "China Film-Sheng Ying" alliance's dominant position in the co-production field and to demonstrate its strong channel control and content promotion capabilities to the market.

At 10:00 a.m., cinemas across the country opened their doors to welcome guests on time.

The “China Film Grand Cinema - Oriental Plaza Store”, located in Wangfujing, Beijing, is one of the flagship stores and is already bustling with people.

A huge sign for "New Police Story" stood at the cinema entrance, and character posters of Jackie Chan, Cecilia Cheung, and Huang Xiaoming covered the glass walls. A short but continuous queue formed at the ticket counter, and the film occupied almost all screenings during prime time on the electronic display screen.

"Give me two tickets to 'New Police Story,' the one at 7 p.m.," a young office worker said to the ticket seller.

"I heard Jackie Chan went all out in this fight?" his female companion asked curiously.

"That's what the publicity says, and the villain is Huang Xiaoming, which is quite novel."

Similar scenes were playing out repeatedly in major cities such as Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Hangzhou. Although it wasn't a holiday, the "Jackie Chan film" brand, coupled with a month-long "S-level" promotional campaign, still attracted a large audience, including many people born in the 1970s and 1980s who grew up watching Jackie Chan movies, as well as young female viewers attracted by Huang Xiaoming's "villainous good looks."

Meanwhile, a preliminary statistical report from the data center of "China Film Grand Cinema Circuit" has quietly been placed on Wang Sheng's desk.

The report shows that as of 9 p.m. on September 24, "New Police Story" had easily surpassed 800 million RMB in box office revenue nationwide in less than a day, thanks to its more than 42% screen share and its first-day pre-sale box office (including a small number of previous preview screenings)!

This figure was astonishing in the 2004 mainland Chinese film market, especially for a non-holiday Friday. It directly reflected the extremely high market expectations for this film after receiving "S-level" promotional resources. That evening, during prime time.

Cinemas across the country were packed with viewers who came to watch "New Police Story".

The film opens with a tense and exciting bank robbery and rooftop showdown, with Jackie Chan's signature death-defying stunts and humorous fight scenes instantly grabbing the audience's attention. When Huang Xiaoming's character, "Ah Zu," removes his hood, revealing his handsome yet twisted face, and cruelly tortures the police, low gasps occasionally ripple through the theater.

"Huang Xiaoming's acting is pretty good, he's really twisted!"

"Jackie Chan is really going all out, it looks painful..."

"The plot is quite fast-paced, and it's better than I expected!"

As the plot unfolds, the transformation of Jackie Chan's character, Chan Kwok-wing, from despair to renewed strength, his fatherly and friend-like relationship with Nicholas Tse's character, Cheng Siu-fung, and the ultimate showdown with "Ah-Zu's" gang all captivate the audience's attention.

As the movie ended, many audience members wore satisfied expressions and chatted amongst themselves.

"Worth every penny! Jackie Chan is still got it!"

"Huang Xiaoming has made a great breakthrough; we can't call him a pretty boy anymore."

"The action scenes are great, and the story is coherent. Not bad!"

These reviews from ordinary viewers, spread by word of mouth and quickly emerging short reviews on the Maoyan Movies community, began to form the first wave of positive word-of-mouth.

The following Saturday and Sunday, the box office success of "New Police Story" showed no signs of waning.

Cinemas remained packed with people, with occupancy rates generally above 70%, and tickets for prime-time screenings were in high demand. The data from "China Film Grand Cinema Circuit" showed box office revenue figures jumping wildly, like a runaway horse.

September 27th, Monday, early morning.

This astonishing number dominated the entertainment sections of major media outlets across the country.

"New Police Story raked in 1.02 million yuan in its opening weekend, proving Jackie Chan's star power remains undiminished!"

"Shengying's S-level marketing and distribution demonstrates its power, setting a new benchmark for co-productions!"

"1.02 million! The mainland film market has reached a new high!"

In these reports, in addition to focusing on the film itself and Jackie Chan's box office appeal, one keyword was repeatedly mentioned—the number of screens.

The China Film News wrote in its front-page analysis article: "The success of 'New Police Story' in breaking 100 million yuan in its opening weekend is certainly due to its excellent quality and precise and powerful marketing, but the deeper reason lies in the rapid development of the infrastructure of the mainland film market."

According to incomplete statistics, as of September 2004, the total number of movie screens nationwide had exceeded 4000!
Among them, several major cinema chains, such as China Film Group Corporation, New Film Union, and United Film Group, have expanded rapidly.

More, more modern, and more widely distributed screens mean significantly improved convenience for moviegoers, effectively activating the potential audience. This is precisely the basis for "New Police Story's" ability to generate such high box office revenue in just three days during a non-peak season. It can be said that we are witnessing a market boom driven by channel expansion…

This article expresses the sentiments of many industry insiders.

(End of this chapter)