Chinese Entertainment: Starting from 1996

Chapter 475 New First Day Box Office Record
Although there are more and more schedules in China now, the Lunar New Year schedule is still the most popular and largest film market.

It was not until 15 years later that the Spring Festival period officially surpassed the Lunar New Year period to become the country's largest movie period.

In the past, the annual box office champions were born in the Lunar New Year period. Last year, "Avatar" raked in a super high box office of 13 billion.

This year's Lunar New Year holiday is even more anticipated, with the works of four of the mainland's top directors, Liu Zhou, Chen Shishi, Jiang Wen and Feng Kuzi, all scheduled to be released during this year's Lunar New Year holiday.

Therefore, this year's Lunar New Year period is also the most competitive period. Faced with these four big directors, other film companies dare not rush in and have chosen to avoid it.

This also resulted in the fact that apart from the works of these four directors, only one film, "The Laughing Man", was released during the Lunar New Year holiday, which freed up box office space for the four blockbusters.

At midnight on November 30, "Interstellar" fired the first shot of the Lunar New Year box office and began to be shown in major theaters across the country.

As the most anticipated and watched movie in China, with the full efforts of the two giants, Golden Harvest and China Film, "Interstellar" has secured nearly 70% of the screening time.

Even because other movies are temporarily avoiding the spotlight and waiting until the prime time, the screening schedule of "Interstellar" can reach 80%.

So Liu Zhou was serious about breaking the box office record of "Avatar". When his ticket prices could not match those of the other film, he chose to increase the number of screenings.

In order to have such a high screening schedule, Golden Harvest and China Film Group have used some tricks.

Theater chains controlled by China Film Group and Golden Harvest rarely show any other movies except "Interstellar".

Then Han Shanping even used the power of his position to "discuss" with the CEOs of major domestic cinema chains.

In addition, Golden Harvest now produces many blockbuster movies every year, and it has some bargaining power over theater companies.

The two companies worked together to make "Interstellar" have such a high screening schedule.

But such means cannot be used frequently, otherwise other companies will definitely not be willing. What if you do this frequently, then won’t you be the ones who have the final say in the domestic film industry in the future?
After all, just like the recommendations in online articles, the scheduling of movies can also determine the life or death of a movie.

Just like "Avatar", if there were not enough screenings, it would be a pipe dream to get a box office of 1.3 billion.

In the original time and space, Wanda only slightly reduced the screening volume of Feng Kuzi's movie, which made Feng Kuzi a little upset and he cursed in front of the media.

It was because Feng Kuzi knew very well that screening schedule was the most critical factor in determining a movie’s box office revenue, so he was so angry.

However, although Feng Kuzi's reputation was at its peak at that time, Wanda ignored him at all. He could curse as much as he wanted, but the company still didn't increase the screening schedule.

Therefore, what China Film Group and Golden Harvest did was actually somewhat disruptive to the film market, and Liu Zhou and Han Shanping also bore considerable pressure for this.

After all, other film companies and cinema companies are not the kind that can be bullied. Although their strength may not be as good as theirs, there are also considerable connections behind them.

If they unite to complain to the higher authorities, Liu Zhou would be better off, but Han Shanping might be in trouble.

However, in order to allow "Interstellar" to break the box office record of "Avatar", the two of them were determined this time and were willing to take a risk.

And if they only do this once, they should be able to save face.

However, it was worth it for the two to take such a risk. Even though it was already early in the morning, with the release of "Interstellar", more and more movie fans gathered in cinemas across the country.

In important box office cities like Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, long queues formed early on.

Despite such a high screening schedule, almost all theaters showing "Interstellar" are full.

This surprised the reporters who were waiting in the cinema, but they thought it was natural after thinking about it.

Early in the morning on the 30th, most media reported on the film's premiere and the popularity of the midnight show.

"The premiere of Interstellar was a huge success, with thousands of guests and audience cheering in unison!"

"The highly anticipated sci-fi blockbuster was finally released in theaters early this morning amid the anxious wait of fans. The atmosphere at the premiere last night was heated and Interstellar far exceeded expectations."

"It's full! It's full! At midnight today, Interstellar was released in major domestic cinemas. The reporter visited the Wanda International Cinema Anzhen Branch in Beijing. All 13 screening halls, including two IMAX halls, were full. There was no empty seat, and there were many audiences waiting for the next show to start!"

"Interstellar premiered with great success, and Liu Zhou publicly stated that he wanted to break the domestic movie box office record set by Avatar a year ago."

"Liu Zhou's ambition! A billion box office is just the basics, breaking the 1.3 billion box office of "Avatar" is the goal!"

"Confident or conceited? Liu Zhou vowed to create a new domestic box office record!"

In addition to reporting some eye-catching content, many professional media and film critics also reported and commented on the movie "Interstellar" itself.

Except for some troublemakers and haters, most of the reports are relatively positive.

In fact, after a week of previews, the word of mouth about the film has completely spread, and almost all movie fans have learned from all aspects that this is an absolutely excellent movie.

Therefore, Liu Zhou and Golden Harvest don’t even need to do anything to help some of the internet trolls and those who deliberately stir up trouble. Some movie fans and Liu Zhou’s fans can make them speechless.

It is precisely because of this that when "Interstellar" was released nationwide at midnight, the popularity of the film was comparable to that of some blockbuster films released during prime time.

Although there were many preview screenings before, compared with the huge population base in the country, they were not enough.

So now that the film is officially released on a large scale, the midnight shows in major cities are almost all sold out, and most of the tickets for the next three days have been sold out.

Especially the IMAX theater, which has been packed since the preview. If you don’t buy tickets in advance, you can only watch the movie in some bad seats.

As more and more people watch "Interstellar", there are more and more discussions about this movie on the Internet.

What’s more, wild film critics can review better than some so-called professionals.

"Interstellar, a sci-fi masterpiece that interweaves time and space!

This movie cost 200 million RMB, and the actors' pay was only one-tenth of the production cost. Most of the funds were used in filming, and the huge production effect it showed also stunned us.

In the science fiction world, it has long been rumored that "2001: A Space Odyssey" is the pinnacle of its kind, and the human enlightenment it represents has also attracted numerous film critics around the world.

The science fiction genre has always been a blank in China. Even though director Liu Zhou has previously made high-quality science fiction films such as "The Martian", it still cannot cover up the lack of science fiction films in China.

Interstellar surpasses all of Director Liu Zhou's previous works. This film truly perfectly interprets the meaning of science fiction, human warmth, and doomsday sentiment." On Sina Weibo, a film critic also commented on the film.

"Twelve years ago, Hollywood produced a classic science fiction film, Contact, which brought an extraordinary impact to the audience. This impact was not the fantastic visual disturbance of cliché science fiction films, but the shock and thinking brought by real science.

Now, director Liu Zhou brings "Interstellar" to the Lunar New Year holiday, once again inspiring people to explore and admire science.

When many people are walking with their heads down and in a hurry, how many people can take a moment to look up at the stars?
While we enjoy the countless conveniences brought by technology, how many of us have ever been interested in science?

When many people bow down to the statues of gods, hoping that God and Buddha will bestow blessings on them, how many people will understand that it is better to rely on oneself than on others? "

As the movie was released, more and more comments from the audience came in. Before the evening, there were already hundreds of long reviews and more than 40000 short reviews on professional forums like Douban and the film and television section of Weibo. The number of people who rated the movie on Douban reached a rare .

This is just a few days of previews plus most of the day of the official release, and these data are enough to show how popular the movie is.

On November 30th, Liu Zhou also took Liu Ye, Fan Xiaopang and others on a roadshow in Beijing. They went to five or six cinemas in a row today. They were either in the cinema or on the way to the cinema.

The roadshow is basically just bragging and praising, telling some interesting stories about the shooting, talking about the mental journey during the creation, interacting with the audience, signing autographs and taking photos.

But a day of roadshow is not an easy job, with almost no time for rest.

This is in Beijing. Most celebrities, even if they are not from Beijing, have purchased properties and have a place to stay.

But if I spend another day in Beijing, I will have to travel all over the country, and then I can only sleep in hotels.

Even if Liu Zhou was generous and arranged five-star hotels for him wherever he went, he would still not be able to sleep peacefully at home.

Sometimes, there is not even a bed to sleep in, and I can only sleep in the car or on the plane. When I wake up, it is almost dawn, and I have arrived in another city and have to travel again. I don’t have much time to stay in the hotel.

In order to stimulate the box office this time, Liu Zhou asked someone to formulate a relatively long roadshow plan.

Except for a few major ticket bases where all the main creators of the film will visit together, Liu Zhou will split up with them and continue to visit some second- and third-tier cities.

The entire roadshow will last for half a month and will visit thirty-five cities, which will also create the longest-lasting roadshow with the most promoted cities.

The one who organized such a great time and space roadshow was Wu Jing. He paid a huge price when filming "Wolf Warrior", not only mortgaging his house, but also determining whether he could make a comeback.

At that time, Wu Jingzhen was in a very awkward situation. The Hong Kong entertainment industry was in decline and he couldn't even play supporting roles.

After returning to the mainland, the movie "Wolf Tooth" which he wrote, directed and starred in was a box office failure. Then not many people invited him to act, and in the end he could only act in some military dramas.

But military dramas are a niche genre after all, and it’s impossible to keep performing them forever.

However, it was also because of the role he played in "I Am a Special Forces Soldier" that a new door was opened for Wu Jing, allowing him to find his direction again.

So after three or four years of gestation, "Wolf Warrior" appeared.

If this movie fails again, Wu Jing's career may really hit rock bottom. Just look at the current situation of action actor Wu Yue. Wu Jing's situation will not be much better than this.

So when "Wolf Warrior" was on the roadshow, Wu Jing worked very hard, which prompted later comers to follow suit, and the roadshow also became a big success.

Fortunately, Wu Jing won the bet, and the two "Wolf Warrior" films made him a big shot in the domestic film industry.

Although many people criticized him for consuming patriotic sentiments at that time, almost all the movies he starred in after "Wolf Warrior 2" were very profitable, so people from many film companies were rushing to give him money to make movies.

He was also recognized by the country, and his influence in the industry was higher than that of Xu Zheng and Ning Hao at that time.

However, at this time, Wu Jing was just an ordinary action star who was preparing to shift the focus of his career to the mainland.

When Liu Zhou returned home from the roadshow, it was almost ten o'clock in the evening.

But he can't rest yet, as there are still many company matters that need to be dealt with.

He has two large listed companies under his control, with a total of more than 20,000 employees, so there is a lot to do.

He is not the kind of person who would just sit back and do nothing. The situation where he can just hand over all the company affairs to managers and then sit back and relax as the richest man may only exist in his imagination.

Although Liu Zhou is sometimes busy with movies, he always takes time out every day to understand the situation of his companies and handle some affairs. He may not be able to do every detail, but at least he will have a clear idea of ​​the company.

So after taking over Jiahe and Sina one after another, Liu Zhou finally understood why the richest man Wang got up at four in the morning every day, worked more than 15 hours, and had every minute of his daily schedule packed with activities.

It’s not easy to be the richest man. Even if you have a lot of top professionals and professional managers under you, there are still a lot of things you need to do personally.

Although Liu Zhou does not need to have such a tight schedule as the richest man Wang, it is not easy either. Today, the roadshow took up most of his time, and he had a lot of accumulated tasks.

Especially at the end of the year, the annual summary and some development plans for next year need to be prepared, and all of these need his review.

So things like the premiere time of "The Legend of Zhen Huan" and the film adaptation of the first part of "Ghost Blows Out the Light" are just trivial matters.

As each task was completed, the time came to twelve o'clock, and "Interstellar" had been released for a whole day.

Liu Zhou took a bath and then had some midnight snack cooked by Zeng Li. The two of them also quietly waited for the movie's first day box office.

Before half past twelve, Liu Zhou's computer received an email from Zhang Zhao.

Although he was confident about the movie's first-day box office, Liu Zhou still quickly opened the email.

Sixty-seven million eight hundred and two hundred thousand!

There are some odds and some evens, but it is a new first-day box office record.

Zeng Li also came over and saw the number. She couldn't help showing a surprised expression on her face, and then said to Liu Zhou with a smile:
"Don't worry now."

"It's still too early to feel relieved, but this is a good start, haha."

"You can't even hold back your smile. Go to bed early. You still have to go on a roadshow tomorrow."

(End of this chapter)