China Entertainment’s rescue plan is hard to come by

Chapter 824 Buy a Lesson
"Animation? A domestic one? What kind of market can it have? No matter how great Sun Yi and Xingkong are, they can't change the viewing habits of moviegoers."

On the day after the premiere of "The Return of the Great Sage", the scheduling director of Star Cinemas looked at the scheduling adjustment applications sent by theater managers from various places, and recalled his complaints at the relevant scheduling meeting a week ago, feeling embarrassed.

At that time, he received a call from someone in the group company, saying that they wanted to make a certain scheduling preference for this starry sky animation. He disagreed with this instruction from the bottom of his heart.

They couldn’t even sort out the film schedules for their own group, so they assigned them to Star Sky first, and it’s always like this.

If you say it is a live-action movie, then it's fine. After all, Sun Yi has indeed been unique in the circle in recent years and has made money.

But with animated films, that’s not the case.

Especially since the director is not Sun Yi, but an outsider named Tian.

It’s not an exaggeration to say that he is a newcomer.

Although China Film Group and Star Sky have a close cooperation, it should be said that Mr. Han will retire next year. In this case, there is no need to lick his boots anymore.

We should listen to and do what is required of us from above, but there is always the possibility that those below us may have complaints in their hearts.

This is inevitable.

Judging from the results of the movie in the past three days, it is still superficial.

As expected, the superiors have their own reasons.

“Notify theater managers and partners everywhere to double the screening schedule of The Monkey King: Hero is Back!”

Starry sky headquarters.

Sun Yi took a rare break from work and went back to the company. In front of him was the first-day box office data report of "The Return of the Great Sage" - 2670 million. The average screening rate of theaters across the country was only %, but the attendance rate was as high as %, more than twice that of other movies of the same period.

"Brother Yi, there's also this, take a look." Publicity Director Liu Xiaowei pushed over a stack of printed screenshots of major social media outlets.

As early as two years ago, Star Sky began to collect word-of-mouth after the release of movies through the Internet, rather than the previous major offline media.

Sun Yi swept it lightly.

"Douban's opening score is 8.4 points, the Baidu search index for the movie name "The Monkey King: Hero is Back" has exceeded 300 million, and the number of readings of related topics on Renren Weibo has exceeded 5000 million."

Below are excerpts from various major film and television forums, one of which is particularly eye-catching: "The Monkey King: Hero is Back made me believe in Chinese animation again! When Sun Wukong broke free from the Five Elements Mountain, I cried like a dog!"

Sun Yi flipped through the enthusiastic comments and the corners of his mouth rose unconsciously.

Sure enough, it’s not that domestic movie fans don’t like watching animated films, but that the technical level and dedication of the producers are not up to par.

Now with the support of Star Sky technology and funds, coupled with the passion of director Tian Xiaopeng's team, the film was still a success even though it was released three years earlier.

“What has the industry’s response been like?”

Sun Yi looked up and asked.

Liu Xiaowei smiled bitterly and shook his head slightly: "Polarization, young people are praising, but those 'old predecessors'"

As he spoke, he pouted his lips and said, "This morning, Film Business Weekly published an article saying that 'the ceiling of animated films is obvious, and the popularity on the first day is difficult to sustain.'"

Hearing this title, Sun Yi sneered.

"There are always some old stubborn people who can't keep up with the times. Don't pay attention to them. Movie fans will vote with their feet."

"However, we should not relax in the follow-up publicity. We should communicate with Shanghai Film Group again. After all, they are our partners, so they should make efforts where they should."

"Okay." Liu Xiaowei nodded to show that he understood.

"Also, we need to speed up communication on the issue of the film scheduling rate. It is not enough for Star International to raise it alone. We also need to coordinate with other theaters to ensure that it is at least above 20%."

"Starting from this summer, we have projects one after another. Mr. Yang will be responsible for scheduling, scheduling, and related publicity. I'll be thanking you for your hard work."

Sun Yi reminded him again that the company's tasks this year are very heavy, and Yang Fan is very busy. He also has to deal with the post-production of the movie and continue negotiations with Warner, so a lot of work can only be delegated to Liu Xiaowei and Guo Ming. "Don't worry, Brother Yi, no problem, I will coordinate with Director Guo."

Liu Xiaowei nodded in agreement, and when he was about to go out, his cell phone rang. He subconsciously glanced at it and the corners of his mouth curled up.

"Brother Yi, good news from the cinema chain. Starting tomorrow, Star Media and Dadi will increase the screening rate of "The Return of the Great Sage" to 22% and 20% respectively. The number of prime screenings will also double accordingly."

"Yes, I told you, movie fans will vote with their feet."

"The Return of the Great Sage" can be said to have become a milestone in Chinese animated films in the new century.

After earning 2670 million on the first day and 4120 million on the second day, its box office began to rise uncontrollably.

On the third day of its release, after theaters across the country raised their screening schedules, the box office experienced a huge explosion, exceeding 100 million yuan in a single day.

The box office exceeded 200 million in the first weekend.

After two weeks of continuous release, the box office directly exceeded 5 million yuan.

Who would have thought that this was just a domestic animated film.

This number was like a heavy punch, hitting the faces of those who had previously been pessimistic.

The opinions that only children watch such things and adults don’t watch cartoons disappeared instantly.

"The Return of the Great Sage" has even become a popular trend on the Internet.

Not only the lines in the film, but even the animated characters have been made into emoticons by netizens.

Liu Yifei was one of the first people to use it.

Now when she sends WeChat messages to Sun Yi, if she is not satisfied with Sun Yi’s reply, she will hit him on the head with her golden hoop stick.

When he was feeling proud, he would transform into the Monkey King, step on auspicious clouds, wear armor, and have a lot of fun.

Sun Yi felt like he was being bombarded with emoticons in later generations.

Tian Xiaopeng was even busier, with a feeling of "no one cared about me after ten years of hard study, but I became famous overnight and everyone knows me". He brought the main creative team to frequently attend major media events to do follow-up publicity for "The Return of the Great Sage".

During this period, he has become a rising new director in the circle and has been sought after by various media.

Director Tian is now capable of making decisions.

"I believe good works speak for themselves. The success of The Return of the Great Sage proves the Chinese audience's thirst for high-quality animation. This is a victory for the entire industry."

“Because good stories know no medium.”

"Animated films are not just for children. They are for everyone who still has a childlike heart."

After the movie’s box office exceeded 5 million yuan, Chairman Ren of Shanghai Film Group made a special appointment to have dinner with Sun Yi during a meeting in Beijing.

At the dinner party, he specifically called Sun Yi a little fox, which really screwed Shangying over.

They used Shanghai Film Group's people, borrowed its platform, and even took advantage of its cinema chains, but in the end, the profit sharing in the contract was only a bare 10%.

It is true that he lost his wife and lost his troops.

Sun Yi could only play dumb, toast and apologize, saying that there would be other chances in the future.

But changing the profit sharing in the contract is absolutely not acceptable.

That doesn't make sense.

Who made you look down on domestic cartoons in the first place?

Just consider it as a lesson learned.
(End of this chapter)