It's reasonable for me, a stuntman, to live a crazy life, right?

Chapter 1337 Data crushing!

How does it feel to be busy following up on the promotion and publicity of a movie and suddenly find out that you are the descendant of a martyr?
When Chen Fei received the call from Zhao Wentao, he was stunned for a moment, but quickly came to his senses.

My heart seemed to be gently gripped by something, but the waves were quickly suppressed into the depths, like a stone thrown into a calm lake, creating only a circle of very faint ripples.

After all, ever since he could remember, his world consisted only of the old rattan chair in the old man's house, the musty old photo albums, and the fields behind the mountain outside the house.

There are always blank pieces of puzzle in my memory about what my parents looked like and the stories about my grandfather.

Those titles that should have filled my childhood were only expressed in the old man's hesitant sighs, and turned into vague answers like "You'll know when you grow up."

Now that I think about it, maybe I didn’t hide it on purpose, it’s just that some scars are too deep! So deep that even the closest people are afraid that touching it will trigger the unhealed pain of the years.

"Mr. Chen, look at this promotional plan...

Zhao Wentao didn’t know what to do now.

In theory, this is a unique emotional trump card.

The descendants of the martyrs of the Battle of Changjin Lake used the camera to recreate the bloody era of their ancestors. Anyone who listens to it will be moved by this inheritance that transcends time and space.

But everything has two sides.

Once the matter is exposed, the eyes focused on the label of "descendant of a martyr" will inevitably be filled with curiosity and criticism, and will burn Chen Fei's private life like countless magnifying glasses.

At the very least, old news will be turned upside down, and at worst... who can guarantee that no one will pursue you relentlessly with the accusation of "consuming martyrs"?

Of course Chen Fei knew what Zhao Wentao was thinking.

After thinking for a moment, he replied: "Just follow your plan. If nothing unexpected happens, "Changjin Lake" should be the last mainstream film work in my directorial career."

"what?"

Zhao Wentao was stunned.

What does this mean? From now on, we will not shoot mainstream films?

"Okay, that's it. I have an event to attend here."

After saying that, Fade Chen hung up the phone.

As far as I can remember, this year was the last glorious period for mainstream films.

The international situation is about to usher in a new round of changes. As the vanguard, the film, television and entertainment industry will naturally be the first to be hit.

Main-theme movies will become increasingly difficult to make in the future, so difficult that no one dares to touch them, until they are completely broken and bleeding!
For example, the currently popular "My Fathers and Me".

When the three-day Mid-Autumn Festival holiday was over, Jiao Hongfen was shocked to find that the movie box office had plummeted!

The single-day box office the day before yesterday was 1.2 million, but yesterday, a working day, it was cut in half, leaving only 5263 million.

"The box office plummeted by nearly 7000 million? How is this possible? How could it collapse so suddenly? Was there an error in the statistics? Or was there something wrong with the ticketing system?"

Voices of disbelief and doubt echoed in the conference room.

Upon hearing this, the marketing director pushed the tablet over with a bitter face and said, "Mr. Jiao, look at this curve, it's like riding a roller coaster. I just asked the distribution department, and although the screening schedule has been reduced, the main problem... I'm afraid the audience's reputation has collapsed."

As he spoke, he opened the Douban page on his phone.

Looking around, the short review area is already dominated by a large number of one-star ratings.

"The story is like a patchwork platter, the acting is like reading from a script, and there is nothing but sensationalism. I don't know what this movie is about."

"Riding the Wind is very messy, Poetry is very empty, and the most puzzling thing is that the two comedy units at the end are paired with them. It's totally out of place."

"It's really average. The funny parts are not funny, and the eulogizing parts are a bit old-fashioned. It's just old wine in a new bottle. There's no novelty at all. It's really boring."

"I can only say that the abilities of these directors are really limited, and the stories are not that good either."

"..."

Looking at the negative reviews one after another, Jiao Hongfen's face looked very ugly.

The marketing director was still saying, "The comments section is full of complaints now, and the ratings on major websites are falling. In particular, the comments that our movie is 'not what it seemed' are flooding all over the major channels."

"Didn't they say the marketing was good?" Jiao Hongfen asked irritably, "The patriotism, the celebrity cast, the story of four generations, which one wasn't going according to plan? How could something go wrong?"

"Alas, it's also our fault for exaggerating the 'feelings of our fathers'. When the audience went to the theaters and saw the fragmented plot and superficial characters, they felt they were being fooled.

Look at these comments, 'I thought it was a full banquet, but it turned out to be a plate of cucumber salad with the wrong amount of sugar', all of which are criticizing us for over-marketing."

Jiao Hongfen stared at the plummeting average number of viewers per show on the screen, and suddenly remembered the few sparse "not bad" sounds of applause from the audience at the premiere.

At the time, he was so busy reading the media's press release about "the whole audience burst into tears" that he didn't notice that when the show ended, many audience members were frowning and muttering "there's nothing memorable".

Grabbing the tablet, he continued to scroll through the comments and the promotional videos on Weibo and Tik Tok.

Looking around, under those "close-up of celebrity crying scenes" videos that once swept the screen, the latest comments are all "It's useless if there is no story just crying, no matter how good the acting is", "The marketing tricked me into buying the tickets, and I regret it so much that I want to refund them."

"Mr. Jiao? What should we do now? Should we quickly find a few bloggers and film critics to publish an 'in-depth interpretation' article, saying that the audience didn't understand the emotional core behind it?"

"Forget it!" Jiao Hongfen sighed, feeling helpless. "If it continues to hype up, it will become a scam. Look at the ratings, which have dropped from 8.9 to 6.2. To put it bluntly, the film is not well polished. It just relies on the presence of stars and topics. The audience is not stupid."

The director of the theater standing nearby murmured and added: "The screening rate will probably be reduced tomorrow..."

Jiao Hongfen put down the tablet and rubbed his aching temples. For a moment he didn't know what to do.

In order to meet the release schedule and create hype, several unit stories were hastily started shooting without being fully polished. They only thought that marketing could "fill in" the plot, but they never expected that it would end up "laying mines".

After thinking for a long time, he sighed and said, "Forget it, don't bother. Given the current situation, no matter how much marketing is done, it won't be of much use. Remember this lesson next time. If the quality of the film can't keep up, it will fail no matter how much you hype it up.

The most urgent task now is to do a good job in marketing "Peak Explosion" and never let this movie follow the same path as "My Fathers and Me."

"it is good!"

Everyone in the conference room nodded, but there was an unrelieved sorrow in their hearts.

"Peak Explosion"?
What this movie needs to deal with is the double encirclement of "Revolutionary" and "Changjin Lake"!

In the face of such an opponent, even if we add the "disaster" theme as a misplaced publicity and marketing method, it is probably difficult to avoid its powerful impact!
……

Overnight, the box office of "My Fathers and Me" was cut in half again.

2369 million.

Faced with this number, Jiao Hongfen was completely desperate and could only pin his hopes on "Feng Bao".

At the same time, at Huanxi Media, Dong Ping was listening to his secretary’s report.

"According to this trend, even if My Fathers and I can successfully obtain the key extension, the final total box office will only be around 10 billion yuan. It is almost impossible to get more than that."

Hearing this, Dong Ping couldn't help but laugh.

"Jiao Hongfen has played his own trick. I'm afraid he won't even be able to get the traffic during the National Day holiday."

"Yes, it is."

The secretary nodded, then changed the subject, "But the traffic and popularity here are very high. As soon as the Reuters photos of Li Yifeng and Han Geng were released, the super topic gained 20 followers in half an hour. The topic of 'Two top stars interpret revolutionary pioneers' is already ranked second on the list."

Dong Ping was spinning his jade bracelet and staring at the list of actors and actresses of "Revolutionary" on his computer with great delight.

He thinks he is very good at using "traffic actors". As long as they are used in the right place, they are more effective than any other sentiment.

For example, right now, the fan base of two popular actors, Li Yifeng and Han Geng, coupled with the contrast of "fresh meat playing martyrs", has skyrocketed their popularity!
"How's the pre-sale box office?" "Excellent!"

The secretary excitedly picked up the tablet and clicked on the data background. "Now the post-00s fans are all saying 'learn about history for my brother'. The B station's edited mashup of 'Li Yifeng's eye acting' has been played over a million times, and the comments are all 'my brother's acting is amazing' and 'I look forward to the revolutionaries'.

On this basis, fans are very enthusiastic about buying tickets, and the current pre-sale box office results have risen to more than 5000 million. "

Dong Ping thought for a moment and continued to instruct: "Let the marketing department focus on the line of 'Appearance is justice', and then create a topic of 'Celebrities wear the same revolutionary outfits'.

Young people like to follow the trend, and they made the octagonal hat worn by Li Yifeng and the coarse cloth long gown worn by Han Geng into peripheral previews, which can not only stir up the heat, but also appear to be "down-to-earth."

"Okay!" The secretary nodded and was about to turn around and walk out, but hesitated.

"Is there anything else?" Dong Ping looked over.

The secretary frowned slightly, and after a moment of hesitation, he asked directly: "Boss Dong, wasn't the failure of Fathers because marketing overshadowed the quality? What I am worried about now is whether the script of our film is well polished enough? I hope that the fans will feel that the product is not what it said, which will be troublesome."

Dong Ping waved his hand and said casually, "Don't worry. Nowadays, when young audiences go to the cinema, they almost always check to see if there are any stars they like, and then see if the pictures are good. Who would care about the logic of the plot?

As long as Li Yifeng has enough roles and Han Geng's handsome image clips are screened on short video platforms, the box office will be able to stay in the top three during the National Day holiday."

This is a world where traffic is king!
Dong Ping strongly believes in "using traffic to create popularity, and using popularity to attract attention". He thinks this is much more effective than forcing the main theme to emerge.

Using traffic as a platform and letting fans perform can not only earn box office revenue but also win word of mouth. Why not do it?

For a time, with the support of Huanxi Media, the popularity of "Revolutionary" skyrocketed!
Li Yifeng and Han Geng, two popular actors, have sparked a lot of discussion online.

On the other hand, China Film Group was not to be outdone.

You know, Zhu Yilong is in "Peak Explosion".

Although he cannot be compared with the traffic stars of the “Four Big and Three Small” level at the moment, he is not much weaker either.

In addition, Wu Yifan has been banned completely, and Cai Xukun has not yet gained popularity in the film and television circles. This is the time for Zhu Yilong to rise strongly!

In an instant, the two sides were inseparable in the fight, with the fighting going back and forth, it was so lively!
At the same time, Xiying's "Memoirs of Veterans of the Battle of Changjin Lake" was officially released and began to be bundled with the movie "Changjin Lake" for promotion.

At first, many people just regarded this as a very common marketing promotion method.

When the official Weibo account of Xiying released the first chapter of "Memoirs of Veterans of the Battle of Changjin Lake", there were only a few hundred messages of "Salute to the Veterans" in the comment section.

No one expected that this seemingly ordinary propaganda would explode like a spark thrown into a gasoline barrel!

Until the interview video titled "Chen Weiguo: A survivor of the Battle of Changjin Lake, his comrade said "Please take good care of my son" before his death" popped up, the number of views exceeded 3 million in 5000 hours!
In the camera, the old man is describing what happened on the battlefield:

"There were 129 people in our company, and in the end only I and a deputy squad leader survived. When Xiaofei's grandfather died, he was holding a cloth tiger that he had sewn for Xiaofei's father when he was just born..."

When many netizens heard this, they thought it was just an ordinary interview with a veteran recalling his past.

It was not until the old man said that the Xiao Fei he was referring to was actually Chen Fei that the netizens who watched the video suddenly realized it!

"Oh my god, no wonder this video has so many hits, it turns out this old man is Director Chen Fei's grandfather?"

"Wow! I'm shocked! My comrade entrusted his son to me on the battlefield, and after returning, the old man never married and raised his comrade's son and grandson. This is true benevolence!"

"No wonder director Chen Fei chose to film the story of 'Changjin Lake'. It was originally to commemorate his grandfather."

"I have to watch this movie. I just want to know what happened during the Korean War."

"It turns out that Director Chen had such a rough life. His grandfather died on the battlefield, and his father and mother left him when he was very young. Isn't this too difficult?"

Along with a lot of heated discussions online, netizens followed the interview video and found out what Chen Fei said when he was interviewed by the media when the filming of "Changjin Lake" started:
"I make mainstream films not for sentimentality, but because I'm afraid that future generations will forget the footprints in the snow!"

This sentence was directly pushed to the top of Weibo's hot search list!

Compared with the "celebrity close-up marketing" in various popular movies nowadays, his words are simply a poke in the spine of "Revolutionary" next door!
The comment section was once again filled with an uproar.

"It turns out that Director Chen always says 'the main theme should be down-to-earth' because he has the blood of martyrs flowing in his veins."

“It’s better to watch a veteran smile than to watch a star frown. Those wrinkles are full of real stories.”

"I'm calling out The Revolutionary here. Your marketing is bullshit! You think you're awesome just by finding two popular stars and making some crying scenes? Do you know what real acting is? Tears have to burn blood first! Only then can they burn the hearts of the audience! Do you understand?"

Chen Fei did not speak out because he felt that this interview video was enough and there was no need to continue marketing his identity as a descendant of a martyr.

He understands the principle of "too much is as bad as too little" better than anyone else.

But even so, the "data crush" still caught everyone off guard.

After the interview video of the old man went viral, the number of new fans on the official Weibo account of "Changjin Lake" exceeded one million in a single day, and the pre-sale link was so stuck from being clicked.

In contrast, the activity of the Weibo super topics for "Revolutionary" and "Peak Explosion" plummeted by 60%. The comments of "Brother's acting is amazing" controlled by fans were directly drowned out by the message of "Suggest to schedule screenings for veteran documentaries".

China Film Group responded quickly and immediately changed its publicity strategy, reducing its marketing for Zhu Yilong and focusing on the "disaster" strategy.

But the Revolutionaries had no time to react!

Promotional press releases are all decided in advance, and many are even released on a scheduled basis.

In this case, it is too late to completely revise the publicity strategy.

Helplessly, Dong Ping had no choice but to bite the bullet and launch the premiere of "Revolutionary", ready to give it a try and see how it goes.

On the other hand, China Film also launched the premiere of "Peak Explosion".

Only "Changjin Lake" did not hold a premiere, but was released directly in theaters on September 9th.

The reason is very simple. On October 10st, the 1rd Longteng Shengshi International Film Festival will kick off at Shanhe Film and Television City, and the official premiere will be held together with the opening ceremony.

Even though there was no premiere, "Changjin Lake" still had the highest number of screenings on the first day of release!

"On the first day of its release, the main theme/war/historical film "Changjin Lake", which was controlled by Feiyue Films, co-produced by Xiying, Shanghai Film, Bayi and other companies, co-directed by Chen Fei, Kang Honglei and Guo Fan, and starred by Wu Jing, Zhang Yi, Peng Yuchang, Liu Ye, Hu Jun, Zhu Yawen and others, had a high screening rate of 56% on the first day!"

"The disaster/action film "Peak Explosion", produced by China Film Group, directed by Li Jun, and co-starred by Zhu Yilong, Huang Zhizhong, and Chen Shu, had a comprehensive screening rate of 20.3% on the first day of its release."

"The main theme movie "Revolutionary", produced by Huanxi Media, directed by Guan Hu, and starring Ma Shaoan, Li Yifeng, and Han Geng, had a comprehensive screening rate of 14.7% on the first day of its release."

"White Snake 2: Rise of the Green Snake" was officially taken off the screen yesterday, with a total box office of 23.66 billion yuan."

"boom--"

Looking at the screening data, Dong Ping was so angry that he smashed the ashtray on the table to the ground!

In just a few days, the situation suddenly took a turn for the worse!

You know, with the help of the popularity of Li Yifeng and Han Geng, "Revolutionary" had the highest traffic and attention before!

But he never expected that before the movie could make a fortune after its release on the Internet, it would be completely ruined by "Changjin Lake"!

All their marketing hype was regarded as disrespecting the martyrs by those self-media bloggers and netizens!
This is simply bullshit!

"Boss Dong, please don't be angry. As of now, the attendance rate of our movie is still very high, about 85%. As long as we have the support of those fans, I think there should still be a chance to raise the screening schedule."

Hearing this, Dong Ping calmed down a little.

As the secretary said, there will still be opportunities next time.

As long as... as long as the box office growth of "Changjin Lake" is not too outrageous, then "Revolutionary" can fight back and grow against the trend!

However, his expectations were completely shattered when the National Day holiday officially began the next day...

(End of this chapter)