The director starts by learning from the abilities of renowned directors.

Chapter 161 Madness, the Great Wall!

As December arrives, the most anticipated event for Chinese moviegoers is undoubtedly the preview screenings of "The Great Wall".

With a production budget of $1.5 million, when has China ever made a film of this scale?

The production cost of the phenomenal film "Gravity" was only $7000 million.

"Gravity" grossed 14.6 billion yuan in China and 15.83 billion US dollars worldwide, ranking third in global film history. It is director Shen Qing's masterpiece. Now, the production budget of "The Great Wall" is more than twice that of "Gravity", which is simply crazy.

The latest trailer has been released, featuring the Han Dynasty, the Northern Expedition, the inscription on Yanran Mountain, the Great Wall, gunpowder, the mythical beast Qiongqi, and the deafening roar of cannons—it's enough to get your blood pumping.

The preview screening date has already been set for December 16th, an ordinary Friday.

It's not just active moviegoers who are paying attention to "The Great Wall"; even those who might not watch a movie for two years are also following it closely. Even those who have never been to a movie theater before are eagerly planning their first trip to the cinema.

The exclusive preview screenings on Maoyan Movies are being frequently mentioned by movie fans across the country.

The official release date is December 23, but you can buy advance tickets online as long as you download or log in to Maoyan Movies.

The date for the preview screening tickets to go on sale has been set for December 9th.

The movie fans were ecstatic.

"Wait for the theatrical release? Are you crazy? If you buy tickets offline for the theatrical release, you'll have to wait in line for two hours at the theater!"

"Regular tickets are fine, you can definitely buy them by queuing. But if you want to see it on the giant screen, just go online. Don't you remember scalpers selling 'Gravity' giant screen tickets for over 1000?"

"Buying online is convenient and cheaper, there's really no need to go offline."

"Maoyan Movies belongs to Shen Qing. If you get ripped off, just tag him on Weibo."

"There are a lot of exclusive behind-the-scenes footage and beautiful photos of celebrities on Maoyan, which are actually quite interesting."

Of the more than 3,000 cinemas across the country, some are happy while others are sad.

Only the first two thousand cinemas that allowed Maoyan Movies to access their ticketing system were permitted to participate in the preview screenings of "The Great Wall." Those that reluctantly agreed at the last minute were excluded from this preview screening of "The Great Wall."

Many cinema managers and theater chain managers flew to Beijing to petition Shen Qing, and he also persuaded many bigwigs in the industry to act as intermediaries.

However, the vast majority of people returned empty-handed, and only a few lobbyists with enough influence were granted temporary keys.

Liu Yifei's search volume across the internet has increased rapidly, much to the delight of her fans.

"I'm saying that from now on, Liu Yifei is the number one Chinese actress. Who agrees? Who disagrees?"

"I can't wait! The fairy sister's look this time is so cool!"

"After this, she should be a world-class actress, right? Shen Qing's movie is a Sino-US co-production, so the global box office shouldn't be too bad."

"After The Great Wall, its international influence will definitely surpass that of Fan Bingbing."

"Liu Yifei is decisive and signed her agency contract with Jumei Entertainment. Director Shen Qing is also very generous, giving her this kind of resource right away."

Liu Shishi's fans were also in an uproar, but their uproar was one of anger.

"Besides exploiting Shi Shi, what else can Tangren do? Shi Shi just became popular and attended more than 30 events in a month, so much so that she was hospitalized. They treat Shi Shi like a cash cow, but when it's time to provide resources, all they can offer is garbage."

"Tangren Film's resources are extremely poor. Don't waste Shishi's time. Hurry up and let Shishi jump to Jumei."

"Jing Tian's character in the trailer for 'The Great Wall' isn't unpleasant. If Shi Shi were a Jumei artist, this role would at least be hers."

"What a loser. If Shi Shi were really a Jumei artist, the female lead Mo Ying could have been Shi Shi. In fact, Shi Shi is Shen Qing's true love."

"I heard they're casting for 'The Martian,' but Shi Shi's contract doesn't expire until January 2013. Is it definitely too late?"

"It's not too late. As long as Shishi publicly declares that she will not renew her contract when it expires and promises to transfer to Jumei, it's fine. It doesn't say that she has to sign a contract before she can get resources."

The entire industry, including directors, producers, actors, and behind-the-scenes staff, is watching "The Great Wall".

With a production cost of 1.5 million US dollars, only Shen Qing in China could handle such a large project.

Everyone is talking about "The Great Wall" and Shen Qing.

"Do you think Shen Qing will be able to capsize this time?"

"It's unlikely. The hype is too high. My kid keeps insisting on going to the IMAX theater to watch it, and he won't even watch my movies."

"My daughter is the same. She insisted on going to see it three days before the preview screening, saying that if anyone hadn't seen it by the fourth day of school, they wouldn't be able to greet their classmates."

"It certainly doesn't look like it'll capsize, but whether it can reach the level of 'Gravity' is hard to say."

"There's hope domestically, but not globally. Gravity grossed $15 billion worldwide."

"I don't think it's possible either. Gravity benefited from being the world's second true 3D film, and at that time it was almost irreplaceable, but the Great Wall is not like that now."

"It's really unlikely to surpass Gravity."

"To be a director like Shen Qing is truly worthwhile."

Both China Film Group and Enlight Media, the distributors, have made ensuring the successful distribution of "The Great Wall" their top priority in recent times.

The Film Bureau held multiple meetings with China Film Group, Enlight Media, and major cinema chains across the country, with only one objective: to provide comprehensive support for the release of "The Great Wall."

On December 3rd, Shen Qing went to hold a mobilization meeting for the employees of Maoyan Movies.

When he stepped into the conference room, all the dozens of employees at Maoyan Movies fell silent, and all eyes were on him.

Maoyan Movies is about to face a tough battle. Once tickets for "The Great Wall" go on sale, the instantaneous traffic may overwhelm the system, so Maoyan Movies must make adequate preparations in advance.

"Comrades, this will be the first real test for Maoyan Movies since its establishment. If we succeed, we will be one step closer to going public. If we make a big mistake, our dream of going public may be delayed for several more years. I won't say much more. Everyone will receive double pay this month and next month, and year-end bonuses will be distributed according to level and performance."

The staff on site were instantly fired up.

It's the end of the year, a time when people spend money.

After the mobilization meeting, Shen Qing called Chen Zhixi, Shen Li, and Zhu Wenjia to his office.

-

"It's not enough to just do our own job well. Can the cinema's IT system handle the possible surge in traffic?"

Can we optimize this in advance? We need to think about these things ahead of time.

Zhu Wenjia said, "The cinema chain can implement a buffer at the interface layer."

Shen Qing nodded upon hearing this and said, "Since you've thought of it, let's communicate with the theaters in advance and optimize as much as possible."

This exclusive preview screening of "The Great Wall" is different from previous movie preview screenings. In the past, Maoyan Movies sold tickets seven days in advance, and after selling tickets online for five or six days, offline pre-sales were allowed. This time, however, only online pre-sales are allowed, and offline sales can only be done for tickets on the day of the screening. This time, Maoyan Movies has truly achieved exclusive pre-sales.

Shen Qing is under a lot of pressure this time. The film has a huge investment, and the plot is basically original, with little to do with the original "The Great Wall".

However, he is not entirely without support. He has been photographed with Zhang Yimou, Jackie Chan, Stephen Chow, and Steven Spielberg, possessing the strength of these four at their peak. Spielberg, in particular, can handle almost any subject matter and is ranked No.0.1 in the global director's commercial dominance.

Without this cheat code, Shen Qing would probably be too nervous to sleep right now.

As the preview screening date of "The Great Wall" draws ever closer, the number of users on Maoyan Movies has seen a rapid increase.

Both Shen Qing and Liu Yifei have repeatedly promoted Maoyan Movies on platforms such as Sina Weibo and Tencent Weibo, explicitly stating on multiple occasions that Maoyan Movies is the exclusive online pre-sale platform for "The Great Wall," and that those who want to buy "The Great Wall" in advance or online can only choose the Maoyan Movies platform.

Celebrities such as Fan Bingbing, Liu Shishi, Zhao Liying, Chen Xiao, Zhu Yilong, Li Yitong, and Wan Qian successively reposted the content, significantly boosting the exposure of Maoyan Movies and causing an explosive growth in the number of app installations.

Online and offline, many people are discussing whether or not to register for Maoyan Movies.

"I don't really want to register. It's too much trouble to register a Maoyan account and have a payment channel. I'll just wait until the day of the preview screening to go to the cinema and buy tickets."

"Go to the cinema early to buy tickets? You're dreaming!"

"Is that not allowed? Didn't you say tickets would be sold in theaters on the day of the screening?"

"It's true that tickets will sell, but think about it. If you go to the cinema to buy a ticket for the 16th, everyone else can buy tickets online for the 16th from the 9th to the 16th. This is a movie starring Shen Qing himself, with a production budget of 150 million US dollars. Ask the people around you, don't they all want to see it? The movie's popularity has exploded. It's not that you definitely won't be able to buy tickets in person on the 16th, but at least the good seats will definitely be gone, right?"

"This is a preview screening, and the average attendance per screening is much higher than that of the theatrical release. It also went on sale online a week in advance, so it's not surprising that you can't buy it in stores."

"But buying online is indeed quite troublesome."

"It's only troublesome once, and then it's super convenient. If I want to watch a movie, I can just take out my phone, lie in bed, and buy the ticket. I can also choose the seat at my leisure. It's much better than buying it offline."

"That makes sense. Maybe I should register a Maoyan Movie account too."

"Just register, it's only a matter of time. Shen Qing said online ticket buying will definitely become the mainstream in the future, and I trust his judgment."

.

Maoyan Movies' daily active users have soared to 500 million, and the total number of users on its website and app has exceeded 3000 million. The traffic-driving effect of "The Great Wall" can be described as powerful.

On the afternoon of December 8th, Shen Qing went to Maoyan Movies again. Tickets for the preview screening of "The Great Wall" would officially go on sale the next morning, and many technical staff would be working overtime all night.

At the same time, many netizens were also discussing becoming the first viewers of "The Great Wall".

"I saw that Shen Qing posted on Weibo again. Tickets for 'The Great Wall' will officially go on sale after midnight tonight. I've decided to stay up until midnight tonight."

"Together, together."

"I'm so excited! The Great Wall, Qiongqi, and cannons—it's going to be really interesting."

"What's there to get excited about? Tickets only go on sale at midnight, and there's still a week until the preview screenings."

"I'm so excited! I've been waiting for this for almost two years, and it's finally going to be released."

"I have a bad feeling. Have you all seen the trailer? Jing Tian is in this movie too. The Warring States period was so memorable."

"What's there to worry about? Shen Qing's skills in training actors are amazing."

"Haha, his skill in training actresses is even more amazing."

"Don't listen to those rumors. The rumors even say that Fan Bingbing is willing to sleep with other women. Is that possible? Bingbing is a world-class superstar. Would he do such a thing? Just listen to those rumors that he's promiscuous."

Many of the online criticisms of "The Great Wall" have involved Jing Tian, ​​who is also under a lot of pressure and feels very guilty.

This movie is so important to Shen Qing. If she affects the box office because of this, then she would be letting Shen Qing down.

"If you really feel bad about it, come over and help me relieve some stress."

Shen Qing responded to her on the phone in this way.

"Help you relieve stress? I don't know how!"

"You don't need to know how, just lie down and relax. You yourself are the best stress reliever."

Jing Tian:

-

When Maoyan Movies officially started selling tickets for the preview screening of "The Great Wall" in the early hours of the morning, Jing Tian was at Shen Qing's home helping him relieve stress.

The following morning, Shen Qing went to Maoyan Movies again.

"Jinyi's IT system crashed, and many users reported that they were unable to complete the online ticket purchase."

"That's good. The audience will be even bigger after the preview screenings start, and the problems that surface first can be solved first."

"Our people have already gone there."

"How's the data?"

"More than 30 copies have already been sold."

Shen Qing nodded. In less than half a day, nearly 30 tickets had been sold. This was already a very impressive number.

Meituan.

Following the instructions on the app, Wang Xing quickly purchased a giant screen ticket for "The Great Wall" on the Maoyan Movies platform.

"Meituan Cinema must also have this online seat selection system; we'd rather postpone its launch than not do it."

Xu Wu nodded and said, "The online seat selection system is easy to implement, but the difficult part is integrating it with the systems of cinemas and theater chains. What's disadvantageous for us is that almost all cinemas are already integrating with Maoyan Movies, which gives Maoyan a significant advantage. What's advantageous for us is that with Maoyan Movies paving the way, cinemas are already very familiar with this system, so there will be much less resistance."

Wang Xing asked, "The exclusive tickets for 'The Great Wall' are a real problem. If Shen Qing does one or two of these every year, how will you compete?"

Xu Wu said, "Shen Qing isn't the only one in the world who can make blockbusters. Hollywood is the originator of blockbusters. I plan to do it in two steps: First, invest heavily in cooperating with Hollywood imported blockbusters and do exclusive pre-sales for imported blockbusters; second, throw money at it. Maoyan hasn't raised any funds yet, so it's definitely no match for us in terms of money. Users are all looking for bargains. If Meituan Movies sells tickets for only 9.9 yuan, and Maoyan Movies sells tickets for 38 yuan, Maoyan's first-mover advantage will be exhausted very quickly."

Wang Xing nodded.

Alibaba.

During an internal group meeting, Ma Yun purchased a preview ticket for the movie "The Great Wall" using Maoyan Movies' online seat selection feature.

After the executive finally finished speaking, Ma Yun showed everyone the interface of the purchase he had just completed.

"In the future, the vast majority of ticket purchases will shift online. Shen Qing's Maoyan Movies is doing quite well. Let's see if we can acquire it. If not, we'll do it ourselves."

Tencent.

Ma Huateng bought three tickets for "The Great Wall" on Maoyan Movies. His daughter is a fan of Shen Qing, and the three of them will go to see it together.

"Maoyan is a good company. Shen Qing understands young people and the Internet. He is making movies using Internet thinking."

The film and television industry is a very special industry. Its output value may not seem very large, but its impact is huge, and ours is significant. We also want to get involved in this area. Let's contact Shen Qing and see if we can invest."

From December 9th to 15th, a total of seven days, Maoyan Movies sold 5.2 million tickets to "The Great Wall".

The total pre-sale box office for preview screenings has exceeded 2 million yuan.

Preview screenings, 2 million yuan in box office revenue, pre-sales—many people in the industry are going to have their brains atrophy.

This doesn't mean the 2 million yuan was sold during the entire preview period; it means the 2 million yuan was pre-sold even before the previews started.

How much box office revenue do we need for the preview screenings?

How much will the box office be after the theatrical release?

Everyone was staring at "The Great Wall" and Shen Qing.

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