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

Chapter 1433: A 6 million investment only resulted in two terrible films?
Regardless of how the Spring Festival film season ultimately unfolds, the film industry is currently most focused on the upcoming Lunar New Year film season.

This is the first major test of the year's market activity, and also a crucial battleground for films vying for the year-end box office.

Time flies, and it's already December 1st.

On that day, the drama film "Goodbye, Li Kele", produced by Matt Pictures and starring Yan Ni, Tan Songyun, Wu Jing and others, was officially released.

The film, with its story about "love and farewell," kicked off the 2023 Lunar New Year film season.

The story focuses on Li Yan, a girl who lost her father, and her mother Pan Yanqiu, as they gradually overcome their grief after adopting a puppy named "Cola".

The subject matter is well-suited to family viewing needs, and the film generated considerable anticipation even before its release due to the scene depicting the father, played by Wu Jing, passing away unexpectedly.

However, because he was too busy with work, Chen Fei didn't have time to pay attention to the premiere.

The filming of "The Three-Body Problem" is at a critical stage. The scenes in the "Three-Body Game" have extremely high requirements, and the lighting and shadows of every shot, as well as the rhythm of the actors' lines, have to be polished repeatedly.

He now practically lives and eats on set, and has very little time to even look at his phone.

Liu Yifei, on the other hand, accepted Xie Nan's invitation and took half a day to attend the premiere.

In the evening, she returned to the set of "The Three-Body Problem".

As soon as she entered the break room, she saw Chen Fei reviewing the day's scenes in front of the monitor.

The noise behind him caught Chen Fei's attention. When he saw that it was his wife returning, he casually asked, "Is the premiere over? How was the movie?"

Liu Yifei took off her coat and sat down next to him: "It's alright, it feels like a very heartwarming film."

She paused, recalling the plot, and added: "Li Yan, played by Tan Songyun, couldn't get over her father's death. Later, her mother adopted a dog named Cola. The dog was very intelligent and helped her slowly open up her heart. It also helped her and her mother resolve their previous misunderstandings."

Although Wu Jing's portrayal of the father didn't have many scenes, every time a flashback scene appeared, it was incredibly touching; several audience members next to me were moved to tears.

"Sounds like a typical heartwarming film?" Chen Fei stopped what he was doing and turned to look at her.

"It's heartwarming, but not deliberately sentimental," Liu Yifei continued her analysis. "It doesn't amplify the 'sadness,' but instead uses the dog's perspective to delicately portray the bond and reconciliation between family members."

Yan's portrayal of the mother, capturing that struggle between wanting to be strong and being unable to suppress her vulnerability, was incredibly realistic. The scene where she and Li Yan sit at the father's grave at the end, saying that the cola was a gift from her father, was particularly moving.

"Oh? It seems the box office results shouldn't be bad?"

Chen Fei hadn't seen this movie in his previous life, but he was quite impressed with the cast.

“I have a feeling it might not be a good choice.” Liu Yifei frowned, her tone somewhat complicated: “The plot is a bit flat, without a strong sense of conflict. It might be more suitable for parents to watch, while younger people might find the pace too slow.”

Chen Fei nodded, having a general idea of ​​what was going on.

It seems that "Goodbye, Li Kele" is going to take the "emotional resonance" route.

In the early stages of the Lunar New Year film season, this type of movie can easily attract family audiences and female groups, but if it wants to become a blockbuster, it probably lacks the impact of "breaking out of its niche".

...

The following morning, the opening day box office figures for "Goodbye, Li Kele" were released on time.

The revenue was RMB 1495 million.

This result, placed at the start of the Lunar New Year film season, is neither particularly outstanding nor dismal.

But the key point is that online reviews have been lukewarm, neither good nor bad.

Some people think it's "heartwarming and healing, suitable for family viewing," while others complain that "the plot is bland and uneventful, like an extended version of a public service short film."

The film's initial rating on Douban remained at 6.3, hovering around the "passing grade" mark.

Chen Fei glanced at the data during a break on set, but quickly looked away.

He was all too aware of the destructive power of such a reputation for "moderation".

Without enough highlights to attract viewers to spread the word spontaneously, nor bad enough to generate "complaint-style" buzz, it will most likely see its box office decline rapidly as new films are released, ultimately becoming just another background element in the Lunar New Year film season.

Sure enough, the very next day, as the suspense film "Lighting Shop" produced by Enlight Media, the crime film "Ocean's 8" controlled by iQiyi, the Hong Kong film "Burst Point", and the Hollywood import "Wonka" flooded social media with trailers and promotional events, "Goodbye, Li Kele" immediately fell into obscurity.

"Lighting Shop" focuses on "dark suspense + human redemption", and its bizarre art style whets the appetite.

"Ocean's 8" attracted attention with its good-looking cast of Greg Hsu and Janine Chang and its plot of "murder in a locked room".

The main marketing focus of "Burning Point" is its acting skills, with Zhang Jiahui and Chen Weiting forming a "bursting" cast.

Wonka, with its own IP halo as a "prequel to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," targets families and young audiences with its sweet style.

The promotional campaigns for several films were increasingly heated, instantly overshadowing the popularity of "Goodbye, Li Kele".

However, just when audiences and industry insiders thought the Lunar New Year film season would enter a "battle of new films," a sudden incident completely disrupted the entire rhythm!
The Mayday "lip-syncing" scandal suddenly broke out!
The incident began when a netizen posted a video on social media comparing live clips from multiple Mayday "I Really Want to See You" tour concerts. The netizen discovered that lead singer Ashin's lip movements, gestures, and even breathing rhythms were almost identical when he sang the same song in different shows, leading to suspicions that he was "half-live" or even "lip-syncing the whole time."

The video quickly caused a huge uproar after it was released!
In a short time, hashtags such as #MaydayLipSinging# and #MaydayConcertLipSightComparison# trended on social media.

The criticism is growing stronger.

A music blogger analyzed the video frame by frame, pointing out that the lip movements and sounds were misaligned in certain high-pitched sections.

Some audience members said that at the time they thought the sound quality was perfect, but now that they think about it, something was definitely wrong.

Faced with the controversy, Mayday's management company initially responded that "they sang live and the video was maliciously edited," but they did not provide any substantial evidence, which only fueled the doubts.

Some netizens even dug up old interview clips of Mayday emphasizing their "insistence on singing live," creating a stark contrast and causing public opinion to completely turn against them.

Subsequently, the China Association of Performing Arts also issued a statement saying that it was "paying attention to this matter and will handle it in accordance with regulations," further pushing the incident to the forefront.

Under pressure from public opinion, Mayday's team had to urgently suspend some promotional activities. Under pressure, they eventually released a long article admitting that in some shows, due to the lead singer's physical condition, they did use a "half-live" method to enhance stability, but it was by no means lip-syncing throughout.

The team also promised to offer full refunds for subsequent shows.

Even so, the accusations of "deceiving the audience" have not subsided, many fans have expressed their disappointment, the number of concert ticket refunds has surged, and related topics have dominated the trending searches for nearly a week.

As the heat of the lip-syncing scandal gradually subsided and the incident finally came to a close, the calendar had already quietly turned to mid-December.

The public discourse, which was originally filled with promotion for the new film, was thrown into disarray by the controversy surrounding the concert.

The promotional schedules of several films scheduled for release were disrupted, resulting in dismal performance.

"Light Up Shop" only grossed 7562.4 million at the box office this week, "Ocean's 8" grossed 6971.8 million, "Blowpoint" only grossed 5179.8 million, and "Wonka" fared even worse with only 2324.9 million.

Clearly, all of these films failed miserably during the Lunar New Year holiday season.

……

Before we knew it, it was December 15th.

Produced by Wanda Pictures and now distributed by Feiyue Films, "The Third Brigade" has been officially released and has become the most anticipated new film in the middle of the Lunar New Year season.

The distribution of this film was originally to be handled independently by Wanda Films.

However, since Wanda Cinema was acquired by Longxiang Capital and its business was integrated into Feiyue Film & Television, the subsequent publicity and distribution, as well as the overall scheduling coordination, have all been handed over to Feiyue Film & Television's professional team.

This adjustment has also raised industry expectations for the film's market performance.

Just looking at the lineup, "The Three Great Teams" exudes a sense of "stability"!
Zhang Yi, Wei Chen, Cao Bingkun, Wang Xiao, and Zhang Zixian are all solid actors with strong acting skills. Without the support of popular celebrities, they bring their own "quality assurance" label.

The plot breaks away from the traditional crime film framework, and the story adapted from a true story is extremely compelling.

In the 90s, Cheng Bing (played by Zhang Yi), the captain of the Third Brigade, led his team to investigate a vicious home invasion robbery and murder case. However, due to an accident during the interrogation, the suspect died, and the team members were all imprisoned.

Years later, after serving his sentence, Cheng Bing discovered that his accomplices in the case were still at large. In order to seek justice for the victims, he gave up his peaceful life, gathered his former teammates, and embarked on a multi-province manhunt as an ordinary person.

Unlike the typical crime films that focus on the satisfying "police catch thieves" narrative, "The Third Brigade" focuses more on the obsessions and redemption of ordinary people.

From law enforcement officers in uniform to prisoners in shackles, and then to manhunters who make a living by doing odd jobs...

The transformation of Cheng Bing and his teammates' identities reflects the marks of the times and the complexities of human nature.

Without intense gunfights or chases, it touches people's hearts with its perseverance in "a decade-long manhunt"!

This story setting stands out remarkably well in a market saturated with crime dramas and plagued by homogenized plots. More importantly, Feiyue Films' tailor-made marketing plan for "The Third Brigade" precisely addressed the audience's pain points:
The documentary "Ten-Year Roadmap for the Murder Case" was released earlier, which reconstructed the process of the real case.

The joint initiative between the central government and the public security system to "pay tribute to ordinary heroes" has resonated with the public.

On the day of the release, the real-life figures who were the inspiration for the case (whose identities were protected) were invited to participate in a post-screening video call to further enhance the film's realism.

In conjunction with the marketing hype, Longxiang Cinemas has given "The Third Brigade" preferential screening support.

On its opening day, it accounted for 32% of screenings, far exceeding other new films released at the same time.

What's even more noteworthy is that this time, the screening of "The Third Brigade" also utilized Longxiang Cinema's self-developed "intelligent screening system" for the first time.

This system can monitor key data such as occupancy rate, refund rate, and audience profile of cinemas nationwide in real time, completely changing the previous model of scheduling films based on experience.

For example, the system detected that the attendance rate of male audiences in third-tier cities in northern China for "The Third Brigade" was as high as 78%, far exceeding that of other regions. So, within two hours, the system automatically adjusted the screening schedule in that region, changing the originally unpopular 2 pm screening to the prime 7 pm screening.

For example, the system responded positively to audiences of art films in first-tier cities such as Shanghai and Shenzhen, so it increased the number of screenings in art cinemas accordingly.

In the words of local cinema managers, "This system achieves 'zero error, zero waste, and zero mismatch.' Wherever the audience is, the screening schedule follows, ensuring that good screenings are not left empty and popular screenings are not hard to come by."

Meanwhile, Chen Fei also received feedback data from theaters one after another on the set of "The Three-Body Problem".

On its opening day, the film grossed over 6000 million yuan, with an occupancy rate of 89%. It received an opening score of 8.1 on Douban, with audience praise focusing on "good acting", "realistic story" and "strong staying power".

Such results undoubtedly far exceeded expectations.

He looked at the real-time updates of the regional film scheduling records in the system backend, nodded in satisfaction, and immediately sent a new message to the cinema team:

"Continue to operate according to this logic, and increase the data update frequency to ensure that every film scheduling decision is supported by data."

In fact, no one knows that the functions of this "intelligent scheduling system" go far beyond this.

It can not only collect real-time data from cinemas, but also connect with data streams from Maoyan, Douban, and Douyin.

Maoyan's pre-sale data can predict popular screenings in advance, Douban's short reviews can capture changes in audience opinion in a timely manner, and Douyin's trending topics can pinpoint potential moviegoers.

For example, when the video "Zhang Yi's Ten-Year Pursuit of the Murderer" on Douyin surpassed 5 million views, the system immediately linked with local cinemas to play an extended version of the video before screenings, further boosting attendance.

True film scheduling is not about 'setting a fixed schedule and never changing it,' but about 'adapting to audience demand'!
During the video conference, Chen Fei emphasized: "The core of this system is to let data make decisions for us, so as not to waste any screening slots or let down any good work."

After three consecutive days, "The Third Brigade" successfully surpassed 200 million yuan at the box office.

Such achievements have allowed the industry to fully appreciate Feiyue Film & Television's full-chain advantages in "content + channels + technology".

Good films need good distribution, good distribution needs good technology, and only by combining the three can a film gain a foothold in the highly competitive cinema market.

While other companies were still fighting tooth and nail for screen time, Chen Fei had already built a barrier of "dimensional reduction attack" with technology.

This is just the first step in his efforts to integrate the film and television ecosystem.

……

Another day later, on December 17th, "The Angry Tide," the second main-production film of the Lunar New Year season, produced by iQiyi, was officially launched.

This crime action film, which brings together three Hong Kong and Taiwan actors—Zhang Jiahui, Ruan Jingtian, and Wang Dalu—attracted considerable attention in its early stages with its promotional gimmicks of "violent aesthetics" and "two heroes facing off."

The plot follows the classic formula of "gang infighting + police undercover agents".

Zhang Jiahui plays a gang boss who seeks revenge for his brother and engages in a fierce battle with Ruan Jingtian, an ambitious second-in-command of the gang. Wang Dalu plays an undercover police officer who infiltrates the gang and attempts to crack a major drug trafficking case amidst the chaos.

From its subject matter to its cast, "The Angry Tide" seems to be the kind of "exciting" film that audiences prefer during the Lunar New Year season.

However, after the film was released, its reputation suffered a major setback!

It received a low initial rating of 5.2 on Douban, with the short review section filled with negative comments.

"The plot logic is broken. One minute it's gangster revenge, the next it's undercover investigation. The two storylines are intertwined. By the end, I still didn't understand what the villain's purpose was."

"The violent scenes are bloody for the sake of bloodshed, without any aesthetic appeal, and instead make people uncomfortable. They are simply ruined."

"Why is Zhang Jiahui expressionless the whole time? Ruan Jingtian was overacted, and Wang Dalu's undercover role was like a tool. Holy crap, the three actors have absolutely no chemistry. I've never seen anything like it before. I wonder if iQiyi didn't pay them enough?"

"The ending was forcedly sentimental, and the undercover agent's sacrifice was completely unforeshadowed, making it incredibly awkward to watch!"

"Can iQiyi just focus on being a good platform and stop causing all this trouble?"

Negative reviews from the audience were directly reflected in the box office.

On its opening day, the box office was only 2800 million yuan, less than half of that of "The Third Brigade", and the occupancy rate was only 52%.

The next day, box office revenue plummeted to 15 million, and the theaters urgently reduced the screening share to 1500%.

This result is undoubtedly adding insult to injury for iQiyi!

Previously, the film "Ocean's 8," which he controlled, barely broke 100 million yuan at the box office after its release, but received mediocre reviews and failed to meet expectations.

The fact that "The Rage" has now flopped both critically and commercially means that both of the films that iQiyi primarily invested in during this year's Lunar New Year season have been wasted.

It's worth noting that the total investment for these two films exceeded 6 million yuan, and with marketing and distribution costs added, they will most likely end up losing everything.

At this moment, the conference room at iQiyi's headquarters was completely silent.

Gong Yu sat in the main seat, clutching the box office data sheet for "The Angry Tide" in his hand, his face so gloomy it could drip water.

The production manager next to him lowered his head and dared not speak.

The marketing plans and box office forecasts scattered on the table seemed to be silently mocking iQiyi's failure in the film market.

"A 6 million yuan investment, and all it got was a reputation for two 'bad movies'?"

Gong Yu finally broke the silence, her voice filled with barely suppressed anger: "When 'Ocean' was released, you said, 'Wait a little longer, word of mouth will build up.'"

Now that "The Raging Tide" has flopped, you're saying it's because of 'thematic clashes and audience fatigue.' I don't want excuses, I want results! Understand?

The producer could only grit his teeth and explain: "We did market research beforehand, and crime action films are very popular during the Lunar New Year season. Who knew that 'The Third Brigade' would suddenly emerge and have such strong word-of-mouth would directly attract all our audience..."

Furthermore, there were some issues with the post-production editing of "The Angry Tide," and the director changed the ending at the last minute, resulting in a disjointed plot..."

"The editing was problematic? Why wasn't it addressed before the release?" Gong Yu slammed his fist on the table. "You always talk about 'accidents,' but didn't 'The Third Brigade' have any accidents? They can adjust screening schedules based on data and move audiences with real stories. What about us? Besides piling on celebrities and throwing money at marketing, what else can we do?"

These words struck like a heavy hammer, leaving everyone present unable to lift their heads.

They understood that iQiyi Pictures' problem wasn't "bad luck," but rather a lack of respect for content from project preparation to production and distribution.

They choose scripts based solely on the popularity of the subject matter, ignoring the logical integrity of the story.

Making movies relies solely on star power, neglecting acting skills and plot development.

The publicity team only knows how to spend money to buy trending topics, but doesn't know how to accurately reach the audience.

In contrast, Feiyue Films accurately targets market demands with each of its works, and coupled with technologically advanced distribution channels, its success is already assured.

"It's too late to say all this now." Gong Yu took a deep breath, her voice full of exhaustion. "The publicity for 'Raging Tide' has to be scaled back immediately, we'll cut our losses as much as we can. As for subsequent projects..."

He paused for a few seconds, a hint of helplessness flashing in his eyes: "Let's suspend all major investment projects for now, and re-screen the scripts we have. Let's stop thinking about betting on box office success by relying on stars and subject matter."

Look at how Feiyue Films does it; they tell a good story first, then talk about everything else.

Silence fell over the meeting room again, with only the clock on the wall ticking.

Night had fallen in the capital city outside the window, with neon lights flashing, but the conference room at the headquarters of iQiyi seemed to be completely dark.

For Gong Yu and iQiyi, this Lunar New Year film season not only cost them a fortune, but also eroded their competitive edge in the film industry.

The losses can be hundreds of millions; who the hell can afford to play that game?
More importantly, the poor box office performance directly impacted the stock market, leading investors and shareholders to question iQiyi's future development.

That's what's fatal!

(End of this chapter)