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

Chapter 163: Breaking 100 Million Yuan in a Single Day During Previews – An Unprecedented Event

"What do you think of 'The Great Wall'? Is it worth watching?"

After the preview screenings officially began, similar questions appeared everywhere on the internet. The vast majority of people who had seen it would strongly recommend it, but they would all hesitate to comment on the content related to "heartless cannon".

The trailer features a scene of thousands of cannons firing simultaneously, and the audience actually expected the movie to feature firearms. However, the trailer never shows any cannons without conscience; Shen Qing deliberately hid this part of the plot.

As a result, many movie fans who knew the history of this thing were so excited when they saw that the protagonist had actually built a heartless cannon that they trembled slightly.

The fact that firearms, typically seen only in the Liberation War, appeared in the Eastern Han Dynasty is initially absurd, but if you consider the context of the film, you'll find it's actually quite plausible.

First of all, monsters are afraid of sound, especially the sound of shock waves. The setting that the alchemists of the Eastern Han Dynasty accidentally discovered gunpowder in an explosion is not a big problem. It is also logical that firecrackers were invented. So, is there a problem with the Great Wall defenders using iron buckets and firecrackers to subdue monsters?

With iron buckets and firecrackers, and with the act of throwing firecrackers into iron buckets, isn't it only natural to invent the "heartless firecracker"?

It was almost completely unexpected by all the viewers, but upon reflection, it made perfect sense.

As a result, the Eastern Han soldiers bombarded the monster with hundreds of "heartless cannons" on the Great Wall, and the scene was truly shocking.

Later, Mo Ying, played by Liu Yifei, and Shen worked together to improve the "Heartless Cannon" until they upgraded it to something similar to the Hongyi Cannon. From a purely technical point of view, the engineering difficulty was somewhat underestimated, but the direction of the upgrade was correct. A movie is not a documentary, so it can be exaggerated appropriately. The result was the classic scene of the Hongyi Cannon firing thousands of cannons at once and battling the Fei Mei (the fully formed Qiongqi).

"Highly recommended, especially the part where the main character invents something—well, never mind, you'll see when you watch it. I got goosebumps when I watched it."

Many viewers who have already finished watching are tacitly refusing to mention the content of the "Heartless Cannon" scene. Spoiling such an exciting scene beforehand would be too much of a mood killer.

"I want to see it, but the Great Wall was built to defend against northern nomads. It's too far-fetched to turn it into a defense against monsters. It feels fake. It would be better to create a completely fictional world."

"There's absolutely no need to worry. The director's transitions are incredibly smooth. Dou Xian's Northern Expedition and the inscription on Yanran Mountain are all based on real history, making it extremely immersive. The Northern Xiongnu migrated westward, and then the Northern Expeditionary Army encountered monsters on their return journey. The Great Wall was transformed from defending against the Xiongnu to defending against monsters. The combination of historical fact and fiction is brilliant, creating an overwhelming sense of immersion, as if such a hidden story really existed in history."

"It would feel out of place to add a few foreigners to a movie set in ancient China, but it's understandable since it's going to sell at the international box office."

"Alright, I'll give you a little spoiler. Those foreigners didn't just come to China out of nowhere. The backstory is quite convincing. Monsters have appeared in the West, the Northern Xiongnu have migrated west, and news that China has a way to subdue monsters has spread there. Then, Western warriors come to the East to learn from them. It's a pretty logical plot. Also, Matt Damon brought geometry, which allowed Shen Sui and Mo Ying to calculate the trajectory of cannonballs, completing the last link in the artillery's combat effectiveness. The characters are definitely useful; they're not just added for the sake of adding foreigners."

"That sounds pretty good."

"It's definitely good, and most importantly, it's the Flying Demon, which is an evolved version of the Qiongqi that can fly. It's just too cool."

Jing Tian has been ridiculed for some time, especially after the release of "The Warring States" in April this year, which dealt a fatal blow to her career and mentality. During that period, the online mockery was so loud that it almost made her quit the entertainment industry altogether.

Now that "The Great Wall" has been released, she plays the second female lead, Mo Kuai. On the day of the preview screening, the crew held a premiere in Beijing, and the audience's reaction was very strong. In particular, when Shen Qing and Liu Yifei appeared together, the entire audience was completely excited.

She followed behind the two, basking in their glory, and pretended that the audience was also cheering for her.

It's quite heartbreaking.

After returning home from the premiere, Jing Tian didn't even dare to look at the comments from netizens. Since her debut, apart from the occasional compliment on her beauty, there have been almost no good things said about her online. Some of the insults she received still keep her up at night.

It was almost midnight, and unsurprisingly, Jing Tian was having trouble sleeping again tonight. She tossed and turned in bed for a long time before finally putting on a coat and sitting down at her computer.

-

"I feel so sorry for Mo Jue. She was the one who met Shen Sui first, so why did she end up becoming Shen Sui's sister-in-law?"

"They could both marry Shen Sui."

"Is the actress playing Mo Jue Jing Tian? The Jing Tian from 'The Warring States'? She seems to have improved a lot!"

"Director Shen Qing is amazing at training actors; Jing Tian's character is unforgettable."

"Even Stephen Chow has this ability."

"Actually, I used to really dislike Jing Tian. The worse her acting was, the more resources she got. People like her have ruined the film and television industry. But I didn't expect to look at her differently this time. She portrayed Mo Jue so well."

"Jing Tian is so beautiful, and her acting is so natural. She's blessed with natural talent."

"Those who say she was fed by God have definitely not seen her previous works."

Jing Tian turned off the computer, went back to the bedroom, lay down on the bed, and soon burst into tears.

It's not easy.

Surprisingly, so many netizens are speaking up for her.

A few days before the preview screenings, Shen Qing was to lead the main cast, including Liu Yifei, Jing Tian, ​​and Hu Jun, on a nationwide tour of cinemas. The next two—

Tian Shenqing is taking these people to the United States to attend the North American premiere of "The Great Wall".

Shen Qing will be very busy in the next few days.

With the mediation of the Film Bureau, Zhang Weiping and the 13 major cinema chains finally reached a compromise. For the portion of "The Flowers of War" with a box office of less than 800 million yuan, the production company would receive 46%. Referring to the revenue sharing ratio between Shen Qing's "The Great Wall" and the cinema chains, for the portion with a box office of more than 800 million yuan, the production company would only receive 40%.

Both sides compromised, but overall Zhang Weiping achieved more of his goals, so he actually won.

The official release of "The Flowers of War" and the preview screenings of "The Great Wall" were on the same day, with the former accounting for 53% of the screenings and the latter accounting for 25%.

Netizens used a classic scene from the movie "Let the Bullets Fly" to tease Shen Qing, specifically the scene where the advisor's son is eight years old.

"Is this a preview screening?"

"Nobody believes it, not even me. Last year, the screening share for preview screenings was generally 0.1%, but this year it suddenly jumped to 25%."

Ultimately, "The Flowers of War" grossed 6500 million yuan on its opening day.

Zhang Yimou called Zhang Weiping and said after the call connected, "6500 million, this is the highest ever."

Zhang Weiping commented, "Based on past experience, if the opening weekend grosses 6500 million, the total box office will most likely exceed 10 billion."

"Looking at the opening day box office alone, it is definitely the highest. But in terms of market share, it is not as good as 'Hero' or 'Curse of the Golden Flower.' I said before that 'Hero's' record would be hard to break. I didn't expect that in just a few years, the film market has developed like this."

"The preview screening data for 'The Great Wall' should also be released by now. If its preview screening results are too good, it may affect our subsequent screening schedule."

"Let nature take its course. Shen Qing has elevated the status of Chinese films to a whole new level."

Zhang Yimou said to let nature take its course, but Zhang Weiping clearly didn't think so; he kept refreshing the movie box office section of Sohu.com.

After refreshing the page countless times, Zhang Weiping finally saw what he wanted to see.

"It is reported that the film 'The Great Wall' grossed 8720 million yuan on its first day of preview screenings."

Zhang Weiping rubbed his eyes and looked at it again. He wasn't mistaken; it was still 8720 million yuan. He refreshed the page again; it was still 8720 million.

He said 10,000 yuan, and then he closed his laptop.

This joke has gone too far. A movie with 53% of the screenings didn't have as high a box office as a movie with 25% of the screenings, and the director of the 53% of the movies was Zhang Yimou.

That's utterly absurd.

On Saturday and Sunday, "The Flowers of War" grossed 9850 million yuan and 1.01 million yuan respectively.

In other words, "The Flowers of War" grossed 2.64 million yuan in its opening weekend.

It actually broke 100 million yuan in a single day! This is Zhang Yimou's first film to break 100 million yuan in box office revenue in a single day.

However, The Great Wall grossed 1.31 million yuan and 1.17 million yuan on Saturday and Sunday respectively.

Keep in mind that this is during the preview screenings of "The Great Wall".

The preview screenings accounted for about 25% of the total screenings, and the box office exceeded 100 million yuan on two of the three days, with a cumulative box office of 3.25 million yuan over the three days.

Zhang Weiping was amused by the data. He had thought that "The Flowers of War" would not perform as well as "The Great Wall" at the box office, but he never expected it to be in this way.

Zhang Yimou, who previously said to let things take their course, was speechless upon seeing this data.

"The Flowers of War" is not bad, otherwise it would not have broken 100 million yuan in a single day, but is "The Great Wall" really that good?

A single-day box office of 1.31 million yuan during the preview screenings?! Are you kidding me?!

The media, like sharks smelling blood, are reporting on it frantically.

"It is reported that 'The Great Wall' has grossed 3.25 million yuan in its first three days of preview screenings, topping the weekend box office."

"An absurd scene: a preview screening of a film topped the weekend box office."

"With less than half the number of screenings as 'The Flowers of War,' 'The Great Wall' far surpasses it at the box office, demonstrating its dominance."

"Director Zhang Yimou is very talented, but new talents emerge in every generation."

Netizens are in an uproar.

"I thought I was seeing things, so I refreshed the page several times. I didn't expect it to be true. It took the weekend box office crown with only 25% of the screenings during the preview period. It's absolutely amazing."

"Same here. I also thought I was seeing things. And the daily box office during the preview screenings was 1.31 million. The preview screenings can break 100 million. This world is changing too fast."

"If the preview screenings are this amazing, how incredible will it be on the day of the official release?"

On the 21st, Shen Qing, Liu Yifei, Jing Tian, ​​and Hu Jun went to the United States to attend the North American premiere of "The Great Wall".

Meanwhile, on Monday, "The Great Wall's" daily box office dropped to 6352 million yuan, and for the next four days, its daily box office remained around 40 to 50 million yuan. The cumulative box office from Monday to Friday reached 2.536 million yuan.

With the addition of the 3.25 million yuan box office from the first three days of the weekend, the cumulative domestic box office of "The Great Wall" has now reached 5.78 million yuan.

At this point, "The Flowers of War" had accumulated a box office of 4.57 million yuan, which was more than 100 million yuan ahead of "The Great Wall" through its preview screenings.

-

Tomorrow is the official release date of "The Great Wall," and its screening share will inevitably increase significantly.

It's getting a bit scary.

The domestic box office is heading towards 20 billion.

That's not right either, because it seems that even 20 billion isn't enough to stop it.

Of the 5.78 million yuan in box office revenue generated during the seven-day preview screenings, nearly 4 million yuan came from the Maoyan movie platform, which sold over 1000 million movie tickets.

China Film Group.

Han Sanping stared at the relevant data for a while, then looked up and asked his assistant, "Could you have imagined that 'The Great Wall' would sell so well?"

The assistant nodded and then shook his head, saying, "I never would have imagined that Director Shen Qing's movie would be a hit, but it's still quite unexpected that it's become this popular in China."

Han Sanping nodded: "The Greater China market is stable, but I don't know how the North American market is performing."

The assistant said, "That's hard to say. Matt Damon's role seems to be a supporting one, and we don't know if Western audiences will accept it."

Han Sanping said, "Shen Qing's movies aren't too bad domestically, but not every one of them is a box office hit abroad."

Light.

Wang Changtian fell into deep thought as he looked at the news about Maoyan.

Maoyan Movies has officially announced the results of the entire preview screening period for "The Great Wall". A total of 1103 million preview tickets were sold for "The Great Wall", contributing more than 4 million yuan in box office revenue.

The logic of movie ticket sales and distribution is about to undergo a major change, with Maoyan Movies' share of total box office revenue estimated to reach 30-40% next year.

If one or two more blockbuster movies like "The Great Wall" were to be released, and Maoyan Movies continued to have exclusive screenings, its market share would likely reach more than half.

With such resources at its disposal, it's inevitable that Maoyan Movies will venture into the film distribution field.

Lighting has to get involved.

Huayi Brothers Company.

Wang Zhongjun was silent for a moment, then said to his younger brother, "Why didn't we discover Shen Qing back then?"

Wang Zhonglei said, "Even if we find out, we can't keep them. It's not just that we can't keep them; people like that can only start their own businesses. No other company can help them."

Wang Zhongjun said, "How did a native Chinese director suddenly develop into this?"

'

The office fell silent.

A residential house.

Li Bingbing suddenly received a call from his younger sister, Li Xue.

"Sister, The Great Wall has already grossed 5.78 million yuan in seven days of preview screenings."

"I saw it. People online are saying that the domestic box office will break 20 billion."

"7

"I wonder how this movie will fare at the North American box office."

"Some people online are guessing that the box office will be $4 million in Greater China, $4 million overseas, and around $8 million worldwide."

"Let alone $8 million, even if it were $6 million or $5 million, who else in China besides Shen Qing could do that?"

"Absolutely not!"

"Sis, Director Shen Qing is definitely going to make 'The Martian' next. If you want to go international, you can't avoid Director Shen Qing's movies. This time, you have to get a role in Director Shen Qing's film crew no matter what."

"My dear sister, Shen Qing has her own agency. She chooses her film roles from people she knows well. We can't just get roles whenever we want them."

"Sis, Director Shen's reputation with women has always been rather so-so in the industry."

"His reputation is so-so, and although he's a womanizer, he's never short of women."

"We don't lack the common things, but we lack the rare things."

"Scarce?"

"right."

"Little sister, you don't need to."

"Sister, we are one, we share the same fate."

"The Great Wall was such a huge hit in China, will it be a hit in North America too?"

A question suddenly appeared on Zhihu.

"First of all, let me state that I really like 'The Great Wall'; I gave it a perfect score on Douban. However, I think..."

They might not adapt well to the climate and environment in North America.

"It's too realistic. Monsters are killed entirely by cannons. I feel that foreigners still prefer things like 'The Lord of the Rings' with a bit of magic."

"To be honest, the scene of thousands of cannons firing simultaneously on the Great Wall was really well filmed."

"For the North American market, films like 'Gravity' and 'The Martian' are more likely to succeed. I'm looking forward to 'Interstellar'."

And *Inception*.

"What are all these things you're talking about?"

"It is estimated that the comics published by director Shen Qing in the United States will be made into live-action movies in the future."

"I hope The Great Wall doesn't perform poorly overseas. I really love this movie."