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

Chapter 179: 8 million in the opening weekend, amazing!

On August 22, 2012, the premiere of the movie "Bad Genius" was held in Beijing. Shen Qing attended the event with Shen Li, CEO of Maoyan Movies. At the premiere, Shen Li officially announced that as of 12:00 noon on the 22nd, Maoyan Movies had sold more than 200 million yuan worth of tickets for "Bad Genius".

That evening, before the premiere had even ended, the news had already spread throughout the entertainment industry.

Before its release, the film had already grossed over 2 million yuan, making "Bad Genius" a huge success.

Countless industry insiders and ordinary netizens have unanimously compared "Bad Genius" to "The Great Wall," whose pre-sale box office had just exceeded 2 million yuan.

How long has it been? And yet another one has been born.

Is "Bad Genius" aiming to break the record set by "The Great Wall"?

The entire internet was in an uproar.

Meituan Movies.

Chairman's Office.

"Bad Genius can't be compared to The Great Wall. The Great Wall sold 2 million yuan in pre-sales in less than 7 days, while Bad Genius sold 10 days. Bad Genius's pre-sales were for the theatrical release, while The Great Wall's were for preview screenings. The number of screenings was incomparable. Most importantly, the 2 million yuan in pre-sales for Bad Genius included tens of millions of yuan in ticket subsidies, while The Great Wall's 2 million yuan in pre-sales was a real 2 million yuan in box office revenue."

Gan Jiawei reported to Wang Xing.

Wang Xing nodded, acknowledging Gan Jiawei's statement. However, none of this changed the fact that Meituan Movies had pre-sold over 4000 million yuan worth of tickets for "The Amazing Spider-Man," and even within that 4000 million yuan, a significant amount of ticket subsidies were included.

The pre-sale for "The Amazing Spider-Man" will continue until the 26th, at which point there is a chance that the sales figures will increase to 6000 million, but in reality, it will be of little significance, as it will only be about a quarter of the sales figures from Maoyan Movies.

"Is there anything else?" Wang Xing asked when he saw Gan Jiawei hesitate.

Gan Jiawei said, "A lot of netizens have been calling for Meituan Movies to lower its prices. On the Maoyan Movies platform, the lowest price for a ticket to 'Bad Genius' is only 9.9 yuan, but on our platform it costs 40 yuan. Even group-buying tickets with bad seats cost more than 20 yuan. Netizens are saying that if Meituan Movies doesn't lower the prices, they will go to the Maoyan platform."

After a moment of silence, Wang Xing said, "Does that mean we still need to subsidize 'Bad Genius'?"

Gan Jiawei said, "Bad Genius is fine, but what about The Martian? When The Martian is released, Maoyan Movies will sell it for 9.9 yuan a ticket, while we'll sell it for 40 yuan a ticket—The Martian is a super blockbuster starring Shen Qing himself, and if the movie becomes extremely popular—"

What will happen if "The Martian" becomes an extreme hit? Yu Jiawei didn't say, nor did he need to say, the matter is obvious. Meituan Movies will then be in a dilemma.

If we don't subsidize "Bad Genius," users will flock to Maoyan Movies.

The subsidy is essentially giving money directly to the producers of "The Martian." Since "The Martian" and Maoyan Movies are managed by the same parent company, giving subsidies to "The Martian" is equivalent to giving money to Maoyan Movies.

As long as Shen Qing continues to produce blockbuster movies, the situation remains essentially unsolvable.

Che Guevara films.

Zhang Xuejing said to Liu Yong, "Users are very dissatisfied. The movie 'Bad Genius' is only 19.9 yuan or even 9.9 yuan on Maoyan Movies, but our platform sells it for 38 yuan."

Liu Yong scratched his head. This 38 yuan was only after Guevara subsidized it by more than one yuan.

Zhang Xuejing added, "I really want to remove 'Bad Genius' from the app."

Liu Yong smiled helplessly, ignoring Zhang Xuejing's angry words.

Guevara sells movie tickets, but since they don't have any popular movies like "Bad Genius," they might as well close down.

The fact that Gewara didn't ban the sale of "Bad Genius" movie tickets is already a huge relief for them.

After the premiere of "Bad Genius," Yang Mi got directly into Shen Qing's car, and the two returned to Shen Qing's home. Yang Mi kept pestering Shen Qing to tell her about the box office subsidies.

"Are they really going to spend 1 million yuan on ticket subsidies?"

"Of course it's true."

"Is the subsidy only for this one film?"

"Let's see how long our competitors are willing to subsidize. I'll subsidize for the same length as them. It's just throwing money at it, right? Let's throw it! Who's afraid of who!"

""

"A single film receives a subsidy of 1 million yuan. Can they even recoup that money?"

"Did you know about Maoyan's previous financing rounds?"

"I know, they say Maoyan Movies is valued at 60 billion after the financing."

"After spending a lot of money, Maoyan Movies' market share increased. It was 60 billion yuan before, it will be 120 billion yuan next year, and maybe 240 billion yuan the year after."

"It's reached 100 million. How much can the ticket subsidies cover?"

Upon hearing this, Yang Mi covered her mouth in surprise. So that's how it's played?

On August 23, the movie "Bad Genius" was officially released nationwide.

A cinema in Shanghai.

Two young people, a man and a woman, were sitting in the rest area.

The man was handsome and the woman was beautiful, but they didn't look like a couple; both of them had the same serious expression.

"Don't worry, it's just a movie. It's impossible for them to actually know our methods," the boy said first.

"Shh!" The girl gestured for the boy not to say it.

"You're being too cautious," the man said. "Nobody knows what we're talking about."

The girl shook her head.

The boy then said no more.

A few minutes later, the cinema began checking tickets, and the two walked into the screening room together.

At the 50-minute mark of the movie, when the female lead, played by Yang Mi, fixed her gaze on the clock displaying New York time, the expressions of the man and woman in the theater changed drastically.

One entire wall is covered with clocks, each displaying a different time from around the world: New York time, Beijing time, Australia time, Seoul time, Paris time, and Thailand time.

Australian time and Thai time are a full 3 hours apart!

The man and woman in the theater exchanged a glance, and beads of sweat appeared on their foreheads.

This movie actually cracked what they thought was a flawless plan.

At the end of the movie, just as the two thought it was over and were about to get up, another line of text appeared on the big screen: "It is recommended that the SAT exam organizers adopt a 'multiple-paper system' to close the systemic loopholes in the exam."

The young man and woman looked at each other again, and this time they both saw shock in each other's eyes.

It turns out that the film not only filmed their production plan in advance, but also figured out how to plug this loophole. The film even suggested that the government make changes.

As we walked out of the screening room together, most of the other audience members around us were very excited. It was a pleasant surprise that a movie about cheating could be made so engaging from beginning to end.

For the young couple, there was no surprise, only shock.

When the two reached the plaza outside the cinema, the girl took out her phone and dialed a number. As soon as the call connected, she said bluntly, "There's a mole. Let's cancel the plan—"

If there wasn't a mole within the company, how could this movie have depicted their plans in such detail?

Even if we can guess that it was done by taking advantage of the time difference between the two exam venues, what about the specific method of transmitting information? How could they even film that?

What else could it be but an inside man?

Could it be that there really is someone who can predict the future?

The storyboard for "Bad Genius" was drawn by Shen Qing himself. It referenced the original film but surpassed it. Shen Qing's directing skills today are far superior to those of the original Thai director.

The film was directed by Ning Hao, a man of exceptional talent.

The executive director is also quite remarkable; he is Wen Muye, who previously directed "Dying to Survive"—a director who is very skilled at creating films that evoke a sense of passion and fervor.

As a result, "Bad Genius" caused a sensation upon its release, with countless netizens expressing surprise and delight as their first reaction after watching the film.

"To be honest, I went there because of Shen Qing and the Magical Films brand. Before going, I thought it might be an art-house film, but I never expected them to actually make cheating into a Mission: Impossible style film."

"The whole process was highly tense, it felt like I was actually there. I didn't like the ending where he turned himself in, but I understand why it was filmed that way."

"I thought it was a niche film that required me to calm down to watch, but I was captivated within the first 5 minutes, and the rest of the film was full of exciting moments."

"Guys, I just checked, and it seems there really is a 3-hour time difference between the test centers in Thailand and Australia. Does that mean there's really such a huge loophole in the SAT exam?"

"Damn, could a lot of people actually have passed the exam this way?"

"Is it too late to register now? Can anyone organize a group to try this method?"

"I've already called the ETS website to report it."

"Damn, so much trouble."

"Wake up! Even if the methods in the movies really work, now that they've been made into movies, what used to work may no longer work."

Educational Testing Service (ETS) of the United States.

My phone was ringing off the hook.

The comments on the official website are all about the time difference loophole, and the name of the movie "Bad Genius" is mentioned repeatedly.

The SAT exam is a massive test involving over a million test takers, watched by countless eyes worldwide. Now, such a shocking flaw has been exposed, and it's even been featured in a Chinese film, instantly making the topic a huge hot topic.

People keep calling ETS to ask if the kind of loophole depicted in the movie really exists, and whether similar cheating methods may have already been prevalent in previous exams.

Another thing that almost every test taker is concerned about is whether ETS will follow the suggestion at the end of "Bad Genius" and switch to a multi-volume format to close this loophole.

8 month 25 day.

Three days after the release of "Bad Genius," ETS finally posted an official response on its website, officially confirming that it will implement a "multi-reel" reform to close related loopholes.

Furthermore, they firmly denied the claim that similar cheating methods had been prevalent in previous exams.

ETS has actually followed the suggestion made at the end of "Bad Genius" and implemented a multi-volume format reform!

With a loud bang.

The Chinese internet was completely in an uproar.

"Damn! Shen Qing is awesome. He wrote a screenplay, made it into a movie, and actually forced the SAT to change its test rules."

"It's been made into a movie. How did Director Shen Qing know about this loophole? It means that there must be quite a few people who know about this loophole. Surely no one really believes that no one has ever used this loophole before?"

"Where did Shen Qing get this information?"

"Where are the people who said this movie was fake? Come out and show yourselves!"

-

"Awesome, I've never seen such an awesome movie."

"I used to give this movie a maximum of 90 points, but after ETS changed the rules, it's worth 110 points!"

"I thought it was an art film, but after entering the theater I found out it was a commercial blockbuster with no dull moments. Now ETS has urgently changed the rules and says that this is actually a realistic documentary."

On Thursday, the 23rd, the first day of its release, "Bad Genius" grossed 1.734 million.

Friday, the 24th, 1.872 million.

Saturday, the 25th, 2.06 million.

On Sunday the 26th, public opinion erupted completely, reaching 2.35 million.

The film grossed 8.01 million yuan in its first four days.

Undeniably, a large portion of the 8 million yuan box office revenue came from ticket subsidies, and the figures were significantly inflated.

However, even if the figure is inflated, 8 million is still 8 million.

"That movie 'Bad Genius' is really popular, otherwise how would we go see it?"

"No, it's 80 yuan for two people and 120 yuan for three people. It's better to go out and have a nice meal."

"Who told you it was 40 yuan a ticket? You're a sucker! It's already 9.9 yuan a ticket online now."

"9.9 yuan? Really? Don't be fooled, are those seats all in the most remote corners?"

"Really, they're all good seats, but you have to buy them early, or they might be gone. Been scammed? Maoyan Movies is owned by Shen Qing. If you really get scammed, let's go to Maoyan's company and demand an explanation from Shen Qing!"

"What does that mean? Is Shen Qing selling discounted tickets?"

"I guess so, but they were just promoting Maoyan Movies!"

"Really only 9.9 yuan?"

"real."

"Then what are we waiting for? Buy the tickets!"

Similar discussions are happening all over the country. With the first large-scale ticket subsidy appearing in China, Maoyan Movies has finally become a household name. Even people who have never been to a movie theater have heard that buying tickets on Maoyan Movies is very cheap, with the lowest price being only 9.9 yuan.

The same ticket for "Bad Genius" costs 9.9 yuan on Maoyan Movies, but 40 yuan on Meituan Movies and Gewara.

For every 30 yuan ticket, the audience who wants to see "Bad Genius" can save nearly 30 yuan. A family of three or four can save 100 yuan. Is there any suspense in how the audience will choose?

Downloading a safe and secure app with a simple tap can save you nearly 100 yuan. In the early days of mobile internet, most viewers would choose to download such apps.

And this is just one instance of saving so much money; will they save another 10% when Shen Qing's "The Martian" is released?

0 yuan?

In a very short period of time, Maoyan Movies experienced explosive growth in its user base.

In a short time, more and more people began to try this new way of buying tickets online.

"Didn't Meituan say group buying was cheap? How come tickets for 'Bad Genius' are 38 yuan each? Maoyan next door only has them for 9.9 yuan!"

"Guevara is selling for 38 yuan too? That's amazing! Their market share is far worse than Maoyan Movies, yet they dare to charge such a high price? I'm leaving, I'm going to Maoyan Movies!"

"Just finished watching it. I bought the ticket on Maoyan for 9.9 yuan, it was a great deal!"

"I could tolerate the terrible movie even though it cost 9.9 yuan, but I didn't expect the quality to be so ridiculously high."

The Amazing Spider-Man is priced at 9.9 yuan on Meituan Movies.

The third installment of The Batman Begins is priced at 9.9 yuan on Gewara.

On Maoyan Movies, the ticket price for both movies is 38 yuan.

In fact, Maoyan Movies sold tickets for these two imported blockbusters at a higher price.

However, the combined box office of these two films couldn't match the success of "Bad Genius" alone.

So, are people criticizing Maoyan Movies?

Of course! Meituan Movies sells tickets for 9.9 yuan each, and you sell them for 39 yuan. Wouldn't you get criticized?

However, on the 27th, two imported blockbusters premiered simultaneously: "The Amazing Spider-Man" grossed 46.3 million yuan on its opening day, and "The Dark Knight Rises" grossed 47.9 million yuan on its opening day.

The two films combined didn't even reach 100 million, while "Bad Genius" earned a peak of 2.35 million in a single day.

Both "The Amazing Spider-Man" and "The Dark Knight Rises" are good movies, but unfortunately, Chinese audiences have become increasingly skeptical of Hollywood blockbusters, and these two films don't quite suit the tastes of Chinese audiences. It seems like they'll be lucky if they break 400 million.

And "Bad Genius" actually looks like it has a chance to break the 20 billion mark.

"Since they've already started a ticket subsidy war, let's not hold back and put in another 5000 million to continue the ticket subsidy."

Shen Qing had been preparing for this day for a long time.