Huayu: The director just wants to save money

Chapter 865 Is this the result an animated film should achieve?
Three hours later.

"Nezha" has finished playing.

When the applause broke out in the theater, Jiaozi felt that all his hard work over the years had not been in vain.

Listening to the praises coming one after another, he knew that the guests were not just being polite but really thought the film was of good quality.

With the recognition from the guests, Jiaozi's subsequent interviews went much more smoothly.

During the interview, he raised his box office expectations for the film a little bit more.

20 billion.

When this number came out, Zhou Mo could clearly hear the discussions around him.

Judging from the viewing experience, everyone has a very good feeling about "Nezha".

But most people think the 20 billion target is a bit far-fetched, and some people even think it is funny.

Yes.

funny.

Many actors in the industry have a very negative view of animated films. This negativity is not only a lack of optimism, thinking that animation is only something for children to watch, but also hostility.

Peers are enemies.

This kind of enemy is not limited to the same profession, but also exists between movies.

In the eyes of many actors, animated films are a very annoying competitor.

No actors or locations are needed, just a good enough script and solid enough technology to complete the production of a movie.

The above logic is why some actors are hostile to animated films.

At this time, Da Tiantian leaned close to Zhou Mo's ear.

"Did you and Director Jiaozi discuss this 20 billion in advance?"

"No, it was his own goal."

Zhou Mo shook his head and quietly watched Jiaozi communicating with the host on the stage.

He did not go on stage this time. He is an investor of "Nezha" rather than the creator. Even if he was interviewed, he would not be able to say much. It would be better to give the opportunity to show up to others.

However, it was obvious that Xie Nan did not want him, the investor, to go over. After interviewing the main creators of the crew, he threw the topic back to Zhou Mo.

"Director Zhou, as an investor, what do you think of this movie?"

Zhou Mo spent a few seconds thinking about his words.

After a while, he picked up the phone.

“In the past, whenever some subversive images appeared in film and television dramas, there would be some unexpected and extreme situations.

It's either very good or very bad.

Just like the image of Yongzheng, in the 1970s and 1980s, Yongzheng's image in film and television was actually very bad. He was sarcastic, tampered with imperial edicts, killed loyal ministers indiscriminately, and there were even movies saying that he invented a weapon called the Guillotines, which was specifically used to carry out assassination missions.

It was not until the broadcast of "The Yongzheng Dynasty" that the TV series showed the audience another image of Yongzheng. The film and television market's view of Yongzheng underwent a huge change. He became positive, hardworking, daring, and even a little stubborn. "The Yongzheng Dynasty" also achieved great success.

I know that after watching the promotional video of "Nezha", many viewers felt that this character was very ugly, and was very different from my previous image of "the third prince with a lotus root body".

Such a big image adaptation is undoubtedly an image subversion, and the result of the subversion is either a huge hit or a failure.

From my current viewing experience, I am more inclined to believe that this subversion of Nezha will be a huge success.”

Zhou Mo's words made Jiaozi and his group on the stage very excited.

They had had similar ideas before.

I just never had the chance to express it.

This time, Zhou Mo not only helped them express their ideas, but also expressed them so beautifully.

Thinking of this, Jiaozi looked at Zhou Mo with more excitement.

Director Zhou, he really understands me!

……

The next day.

While Zhou Mo was eating, he got the specific data from "Nezha".

After hanging up the phone, Zhou Mo looked at other people at the table who had not started eating.

"Everyone, the data is out. The first day box office was 2.8 million."

In an instant, it was as if a silencer was turned on in the room, and every sound disappeared.

The next second, heavy breathing sounds began to sound, and everyone at the table made movements similar to "cardiac arrest and recovery", with their palms on their chests and surprise and joy in their eyes.

Beside Zhou Mo, Jiaozi muttered to himself.

"2.8 million, it's unexpected that it can be that high."

Zhou Mo looked at him. The latter also looked like he was having trouble breathing, and his cheeks were red from breathing.

He patted Dumpling on the shoulder.

"So, do you still think that the 40 billion box office I told you was nonsense?"

Jiaozi was about to shake his head, but his low-key style still made him restrain his movements. He said cautiously: "It's only the first day, and the 2.8 million result may be due to Shanhe Company's desperate publicity.

Let’s wait for two more days. If the box office performance is good for three consecutive days, then we should be able to confirm it.”

Zhou Mo looked at Jiaozi with some surprise.

It has to be said that the latter's character is indeed steady, and his analysis of the box office on the first day of "Nezha" is indeed quite accurate.

In its previous life, Nezha only earned over 1.4 million yuan on its first day, which was not quite consistent with the 32% film volume on the first day.

The double box office difference was mostly caused by the publicity of Shanhe Company.

However, the box office of "Nezha" continued to rise in the following days, and soon matched the number of screenings it deserved.

"Okay, let's wait for two more days and see how things go. If the box office performance is good by then, you can confidently tell your fans that you are determined to reach a box office of 40 billion+."

A director's confidence not only has an impact on the box office of the film itself, but also a significant impact.

If Jiaozi really speaks out about his expectations for the box office, it will probably attract a lot of audiences to the movie.

Jiaozi did not refuse this time and nodded slightly to indicate Zhou Mo's suggestion.

Seeing him nod, Zhou Mo added, "Also, although we have to wait and see the box office trends for the next two days, I can't stop other media from promoting our movie."

“It doesn’t matter. Let other media promote it. Just consider it as bringing traffic to our movie.” That evening, entries related to “Nezha” once again became a hot search on multiple platforms as expected.

Although a first-day box office of 2.8 million is rare in the entertainment industry, at least more than a dozen movies have achieved this result.

But this is the first time in the field of animated films.

Whether it is practitioners or audiences, the first reaction to seeing this number is all six words:

Is this result authentic?
You know, even Boonie Bears and The Monkey King: Hero is Back didn't even make 1 million yuan on the first day, while Ne Zha made nearly million yuan right from the start. It doesn't seem real no matter how you look at it.

Where there are doubts, there will naturally be disagreements.

Some viewers are fans of Shanhe Company and director Jiaozi. They started celebrating as soon as they saw the data and wished that the box office of "Nezha" would get better and better.

Some viewers questioned this number.

"This number is ridiculous. When will an animated film ever generate 3 million yuan in box office revenue on its first day in China? You might as well believe that I'm Qin Shi Huang. V me 50 and make you a general!"

"Logically, Shanhe Company would never cheat on ticket sales or steal box office revenue, and we haven't seen any news online about Nezha's box office fraud. It's just three small goals, which is too outrageous. Boonie Bears in February this year only grossed 3 million."

"Shanhe Company won't cheat? What are they thinking? Zhou Mo is so good at supporting Nezha this time. Nezha can't fail and it won't fail. Even if it fails, the data must be corrected. Anyway, the audience won't know after the change. So he can say whatever he wants."

Overnight, there were many doubts about the box office of "Nezha" on the Internet.

The doubts gathered together and actually formed a considerable flow of traffic.

The next morning, when Zhou Mo was having breakfast, he saw several members of the crew sitting at the table. They were not eating, but just flipping through their phones with frowns on their faces.

"Why are you sitting here so early in the morning without eating? What's wrong?"

A voice actor looked up, looking a little nervous.

"Director Zhou, there are a lot of people on the Internet saying that our box office is fake."

Zhou Mo glanced at the screen of his phone and waved his hand.

"Hey, what happened to me at that time? It was just some online opinions. There's no need to worry. It will be gone in a couple of days. You should keep the same mood you had yesterday afternoon when you first heard about the first day's box office, and then just prepare for the promotion peacefully."

The member was still a little worried and continued, "But I see they are so confident, as if they have found evidence that our box office numbers are fake."

"Who are they?"

The member took out his cell phone and handed it to Zhou Mo to take a look.

An account posted some seemingly plausible screenshots of chat content, which was about a group discussion on the topic of "box office guarantee," and it seemed to be plausible.

Zhou Mo handed the phone back.

"Typical behavior of a cyber-troll army. I can produce hundreds of pictures like this for you in a few minutes and spread them freely on the Internet. I will give more traffic to the most popular picture."

The member was stunned for a moment, then said as if he had suddenly realized something: "So there is such a thing. No wonder I saw so many growth-related pictures last night."

Zhou Mo smiled, not too surprised by this man's reaction.

Many basic and routine operations in the entertainment industry are like dimensionality reduction attacks to some people outside the circle or those who have just entered the circle. They can easily distort and subvert a person's thinking.

Only after seeing it more times and experiencing it more times can you understand the routines of these saturation information attacks.

At this time, Jiaozi also came over with breakfast.

Seeing that several members looked unhappy, he was somewhat confused.

"What's wrong? You were too excited last night and didn't sleep well?"

Zhou Mo glanced at him and said jokingly:
"It's because you, as a director, are too low-key and didn't immediately come out to refute those who questioned our box office, so many people really thought that our box office was fake."

Jiaozi's expression froze when he heard this.

"Is it the public opinion that appeared last night?"

Zhou Mo saw the change in Jiaozi's expression and instantly understood something.

"You didn't sleep well last night because of this incident."

Jiaozi pursed her lips and nodded after a while.

“It did have some impact.”

Zhou Mo spread his hands.

"Well, I can only say that you are indeed a crew. The reactions are almost the same. You got the first day box office figures from me. Do I have any reason to lie to you? Why do you believe the dazzling things on the Internet?"

Everyone looked a little embarrassed when they heard this.

In the end, it was Jiaozi who stood up and explained:
"Director Zhou, the main reason is that everyone has little experience, and they won't be able to do it again in the future."

Zhou Mo waved his hands and said, "Forget it. I understand you. Internet information can easily confuse people, but even if it confuses people, it won't be confused for a few days. When the single-day box office of Nezha comes out in the next few days, you will naturally know whether the movie's performance is fake or not."

In the next few days, the situation was indeed as Zhou Mo said. The box office of "Nezha" was rising every day. It directly exceeded 4 million on the second day, approached 4 million on the third day, and exceeded 3 million on the fourth day. It did not return to the level of million until the fifth day.

In four days, the total box office exceeded 10 billion yuan.

Based on this box office trend, Zhou Mo can basically announce that the total box office of "Nezha" is set to reach 40 billion yuan, and even the box office target of 50 billion yuan is not impossible.

At the same time, the mentality of the entire creative team of "Nezha" has gradually changed from being worried and self-doubting at the beginning to being confident.

They no longer pay attention to the news on the Internet about "Nezha's box office fraud". Such news has disappeared without a trace as proven by the box office performance of the movie in recent days.

What they are concerned about now is what level "Nezha" can reach at present.

On the last day of July, Zhou Mo saw that the crew was in extremely high spirits, so he simply booked a hotel during the day and waited until the evening to celebrate.

At this time, everyone at the dinner table was discussing their expectations for the movie's box office.

“I think there’s a chance of 45 billion.”

"Then I'll give you a number. 48 billion."

"Too stingy, 50 billion directly, one movie every five years, one movie will directly make five years of income."

On one side of the dinner table, Zhou Mo looked at everyone cheering and turned to look at Jiaozi.

“How does it feel to break through the box office of domestic animated films in six days?”

"Like a dream."

Jiaozi also looked at the cheering members, his face flushed from drinking.

The two clinked glasses, and Zhou Mo continued to ask, "Do you have a production plan for Nezha 2? Are you planning to take a break for a year or two before starting, or will you wait until the buzz around Nezha is over and then start production right away?"

Jiaozi thought for a while and made a decision.

"Next year, we will start making Nezha 2 next year. There are many ideas from Nezha 1 that have not been completed. We should put them into Nezha 2 as soon as possible so that we don't forget them."

(End of this chapter)