During my years at China Entertainment

Chapter 862 New Year's Eve Mahjong Game and the Movie Market Explosion

After four consecutive film premieres, it was finally Lunar New Year's Eve.

Around 10 a.m., Wei Jin was putting up Spring Festival couplets with Dudu and Wei Xu, while the even younger Wei Yang was still being held in Old Wei's arms.

My dad and uncle came to Beijing relatively early this year, around mid-January, after the university holidays started.

In fact, Wei Jin had mentioned to his father last year whether he wanted to come to the university in the capital to teach.

Given his connections, it wouldn't be difficult for him to do this.

Unfortunately, the old man was reluctant to leave his hometown and said that his network of connections was all there, so he ultimately declined.

Fortunately, as the third generation of the Wei family grew, both his father and uncle would come to the capital during summer and winter vacations, which gave Wei Jin the opportunity to fulfill his filial duties.

After putting up the Spring Festival couplets, Wei Jin took the two little ones to set off firecrackers in the courtyard. Because the capital city was under strict control, they could only set off firecrackers during the Spring Festival, which was the only time of year they could do so.

So the two siblings had a great time playing together, and Wei Jin also enjoyed this rare opportunity to spend quality time with his family.

Meanwhile, several Lunar New Year films have come to an end, and media reports began to appear after noon.

"Produced by Shanhe Media, China Film Group, Shanghai Film Group, Fiber Optics, and Wanda Media, directed by Zhang Yimou, and starring Liu Yifei, Pan Yueming, and others;

The fantasy adventure blockbuster "Yunnan Insect Valley," released during the Lunar New Year holiday season, has grossed a total of 23.48 billion yuan as of 12:00 today.

"The Hollywood blockbuster 'Kung Fu Panda 3' has grossed 760 million yuan as of 12:00 noon today, showing a clear downward trend in daily box office."

Starring Zhao Benshan, Yan Ni, and Reyizha, with numerous cameo appearances by industry celebrities, the film "Happy New Year" has grossed less than 30 million yuan in its first seven days of release, casting a shadow over its prospects for the Spring Festival film season.

Although Lunar New Year's Eve and Lunar New Year are adjacent, they mark the dividing line between the two Lunar New Years.

Box office performance on New Year's Eve will be very weak, especially after noon, when most cinemas will be empty, and many cinema chains will even close for the holiday.

But just over ten hours later, on the first day of the Lunar New Year, the film market will present a completely different, booming scene.

The reason for such a huge difference is due to the influence of traditional Chinese values—family reunion is essential on New Year's Eve.

Dinner's ready!

Around 7 p.m., a large table full of freshly cooked dishes was served. Wei Jin, wearing an apron, invited the whole family to sit down, and the television was turned on by his uncle.

—Although they were very disappointed with last year's Spring Festival Gala and didn't even want to go to the live performance this year, the two old men still felt that it wouldn't be complete without the background sound of the Spring Festival Gala on New Year's Eve.

"Hey, Xiao Jin, I heard there's Sun Wukong on this year's Spring Festival Gala?"

"Uncle, there probably isn't any. If you want to watch it, why don't you check out the Liaoning TV Spring Festival Gala rebroadcast tomorrow?"

The uncle frowned upon hearing this. "What's going on? Didn't the reports say there was one? And what kind of nonsense is it that there's no Sun Wukong in the Year of the Monkey?"

"Uncle, the programs for the Spring Festival Gala are reviewed many times. I guess Teacher Liu's program was not approved."

"Is that so?"

My uncle wasn't too bothered by it, just a little regretful and disappointed.

"Come on, Dad, Uncle, Sister Li, Sister Yuanyuan, Liu Yan, everyone pick up your chopsticks and try my cooking."

"Good, good, Xiao Jin's cooking skills are getting better and better, hehehe."

The uncle's attention was quickly drawn to the dishes. After taking a bite, he gave Wei Jin a thumbs up and praised him highly.

Dudu and Wei Xu, too, ate until they were round and full.

The New Year's Eve dinner at the villa in Yanjiao was incredibly heartwarming.

After dinner, the two old men watched the Spring Festival Gala while complaining, while the three ladies took the three children to the yard to set off fireworks.

Wei Jin was also by his side, but he focused more on the various phone calls, WeChat messages, and text messages within the circle.

It has to be said that Huang Xiaoming is truly someone with exceptional emotional intelligence. Not only does he never stop sending greetings during holidays, but his New Year's gifts are also different every year.

In addition to Qingdao's specialty seafood, this year there are also many high-end red wines being delivered by the case.

—Because the latter invested in an Australian winery last year, ostensibly to have Wei Jin help with the tasting.

Baoqiang's side is equally impressive, with all the handmade persimmon cakes from his hometown being carefully selected high-quality goods. Although the prices are not high, they are full of sincerity.

In addition, Huang Bai, Zhou Xun, Nazha and others also prepared New Year's goods for the villa in Yanjiao in advance.

It is no exaggeration to say that the New Year's gifts received by the Wei and Jin dynasties each year required a specially arranged room to be placed in them.

It just goes to show that the entertainment industry is full of shrewd people, and they have so many ideas.

Of course, just like the line from "Personal Tailor"—which cadre can't withstand such a test?

But China is ultimately a society based on personal relationships, and Boss Wei couldn't simply ignore it; he would still exchange pleasantries whenever he had the chance.

For nearly an hour, Wei Jin was replying to various messages, and then he was busy making phone calls to the girls around him.

Around 10 o'clock, Wei Jin seamlessly took turns bathing his two sons. However, Dudu was older, so he had to be careful and handed him over to Zeng Li.

After settling the three little ones, Wei Jin led his three wives to the large room on the third floor to begin their mahjong game and discuss the true meaning of life.

Although Zeng Li, Gao Yuanyuan, and Liu Yan have not collaborated since the National Day holiday two years ago;

However, as people close to Wei Jin, the three of them were very clear about the man's preferences, and they cooperated quite well.

~~~
As expected, after a night of fanfare, the Spring Festival Gala production team was criticized and became a trending topic on social media.

The reason for this is that the hype in the early stages was too high-profile, but in the end, Teacher Liu did not appear on the Spring Festival Gala stage. Isn't that treating the audience like fools?

It can only be said that the current program production team has really become detached from the grassroots audience, and their joys and sorrows are completely uncommunicated with each other.

The more viewers want to see something, the less likely they are to see it, and the stricter the censorship becomes, to the point that Liu Cixin's program was rejected! Of course, for the entire film and television industry, the Spring Festival Gala is ultimately just a joke; what everyone is more concerned about is the box office performance on the first day of the Lunar New Year, because that will represent the box office potential of the entire Spring Festival film season!

However, it must be acknowledged that the more competitive the release period, the more crucial the screening rate becomes.

In situations like these, the competition comes down to the cast, production costs, film subject matter, and the connections of the production company.

Without a doubt, "The Mermaid" is a film co-produced by Star Shine Pictures, Shanhe Media, China Film Group, and Shanghai Film Group, written and directed by Stephen Chow, and starring Deng Chao and Nazha.
With the added appeal of nostalgia, it has the highest popularity, and theaters are very optimistic about it, with an average screening rate of 27% on the first day, which is the highest in the Spring Festival film season!

Following closely behind was "Detective Chinatown".

With strong support from Shanhe Cinemas, Wanda Cinemas, Shanghai New Film Union, and Golden Harvest Cinemas, it ranked second with an average screening rate of 24%.

"The Monkey King 2" was also favored by theaters due to its star-studded cast and production cost of 500 million yuan, averaging 22% of screenings and ranking third.

As for "From Vegas to Macau III", the situation is not so good.

Although this film also had the gimmick of being a series, and the production company, director, and even the cast were not bad, it ultimately only got 16% of the screenings, ranking fourth.

Of course, this is not the worst case; the worst case is the animated film "The Great Battle of the Year Beast," which was co-invested by Bad Monkey and written by Xing Aina.

With four blockbusters occupying over 90% of the screenings, this film also had to compete with previously released films such as "Kung Fu Panda 3" for screenings, resulting in dismal performance figures!

Sure enough, around noon, Ning Hao called, mainly to complain to Wei Jin, in addition to wishing him a Happy New Year.

"Since 'Incense,' so many years have passed, I've almost forgotten what it feels like for a movie to lose money, but this time I'm afraid I can't escape it."

It's clear that Ning Hao has given up all hope for "The Year Beast Battle," given that its screening rate is less than 5%.
"Alright, senior, who told you investors to be so stubborn and insist on choosing the Spring Festival film season? Now you know the pot is made of iron, right? Good luck, hahaha."

Over the phone, Wei Jin didn't offer any words of comfort; instead, he started teasing her.

Although the film's investment was close to 60 million yuan and the main production company was Bad Monkey, the largest investor was Beijing Juhe Film Union.

This company has the background of a listed company in Beijing, and has been engaged in the downstream distribution work of the film industry chain. It has cooperated extensively with China Film Group and has a particular fondness for Hollywood blockbusters.

This company was involved in the domestic distribution of films such as Sony's "RoboCop" and "The Amazing Spider-Man 2".

In the past two years, with the film market becoming increasingly prosperous, many distribution companies like Beijing Juhe Culture have expanded their business upstream, with investment and production flourishing.

However, it is clear that the risks faced by distribution companies and production companies are completely different. These people are like leeks rushing into the stock market to make money, and most of them end up failing.

"Damn it, don't you have any compassion? It's over ten million!"

Ning Hao was cursing and swearing on the phone, but Wei Jin didn't seem to care. They chatted for a while before finally getting down to business.

"Senior, when are you going to Berlin? Is Sister Na coming with you?"

“I’m leaving on the fourth day of the Lunar New Year. Your sister Na isn’t going this time; she’s going to Mount Putuo to pray and get rid of bad luck.”

Wei Jin was startled upon hearing this. "Good heavens, senior brother, a loss of over ten million doesn't have to be explained by metaphysics, does it?"

"Oh, it's not just over ten million. Last year, she secretly invested in the stock market and lost over twenty million."

"."

Well, Wei Jin couldn't respond to that, since Xing Aina controlled the finances of Ning Hao's family.

The loss of nearly 40 million yuan is probably a bit painful for Ning Hao, even though he has earned a lot over the years and has a considerable fortune.

As the sun rises and sets, a new day begins, and major portal websites and Weibo are already flooded with movie information for the Spring Festival.

That series of astonishing data shocked and stunned the entire film and television industry!

Because the film market has ushered in a new starting point and a new stage, the entire market has doubled!
"The Mermaid, a science fiction comedy and romance film co-produced by Star Overseas, Shanhe Media, China Film Group, and Shanghai Film Group, directed by Stephen Chow, and starring Deng Chao, Gulnazar, and Zhang Yuqi, grossed 2.68 million yuan on its opening day!"
The film has broken and surpassed the opening day and single-day box office records previously held by Zhang Yimou's "Yunnan Insect Valley".

"Produced by Shanhe Media, written and directed by Wei Jin, directed by Yan Fei and Peng Damo, and starring Wang Baoqiang, Ni Ni, Liu Haoran, Xiao Yang and others, the suspense comedy film 'Detective Chinatown' grossed 2.13 million yuan on its opening day, ranking second in the Spring Festival film season!"

"Starring Guo Fucheng, Gong Li, Feng Shaofeng, and Xiao Shenyang, the fantasy blockbuster 'The Monkey King 2' raked in 1.58 million yuan on its opening day, ranking third in the Spring Festival film season!"

"Produced by Berna and Huaxia Star, directed by Wong Jing, and starring Chow Yun-fat, Andy Lau, Cheung Hok-yau, Zhang Jiahui, Lung Wu, Xiang Zuo, and Li Yuchun, the Spring Festival blockbuster 'From Vegas to Macau III' grossed 1.43 million yuan on its opening day."

"Bad Monkey's animated feature film 'The Great Battle of the Year Beast' only grossed 860 million yuan on its opening day, facing a difficult road ahead."

"On the first day of the 2016 Spring Festival film season, the domestic film market grossed nearly 8 million yuan, representing a year-on-year increase of almost 200% compared to the same period last year and the previous year's Lunar New Year film season. The film industry is experiencing an unstoppable boom."

"."

The box office success of several films and the explosive growth of the film market have completely excited the entire film and television industry, especially the film circle.

This means that there will be a constant stream of high-grossing movies in the future, and as long as you can seize the opportunities of the times, you can make a fortune!

However, amidst the excitement, countless companies in the industry also cast envious glances at "The Mermaid".

After all, in the fierce competition where wolves are all around, it is simply unbelievable that "The Mermaid" could still achieve such box office results!
There's a consensus in the industry that this film will definitely break 20 billion at the box office, and even 30 billion isn't an unattainable goal.

As the director, Stephen Chow immediately called La Peikang, his voice filled with excitement.

"Mr. La, is this data enough to apply for a key extension?"

"of course."

Without a second thought, La Peikang agreed, "Don't worry, I'll personally bring the documents to the bureau and make sure we get the extension!"

"Okay, then I'll leave it to Mr. La. I will continue to follow up on the subsequent promotion and will make sure that the movie's popularity remains high."

"Yes, as long as we work together, breaking 30 billion in box office revenue is definitely not a problem."

La Peikang became more and more excited as he spoke. If the first movie to gross 30 billion yuan was produced in his hands, his achievements would definitely shut everyone up.

Moreover, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon 2 is coming out in ten days, which will add another achievement to his political record!
(End of this chapter)