Chinese Entertainment: Starting from 1996

Chapter 483: Consecutive Championships and Competition

"Interstellar grossed $46 million worldwide in its first weekend, surpassing Tangled's $43 million to top the global weekly box office chart!"

"The currently popular domestic science fiction blockbuster "Interstellar" has set off a boom in the Chinese and American film markets in December, and has surpassed a number of Hollywood blockbusters with its strong box office in both places, becoming the global champion!"

"Interstellar grossed 2.53 million RMB in the first three days of its opening weekend in mainland China, setting a new first-week box office record. Its opening weekend in North America grossed 1210 million USD, creating the best opening for a Chinese-language film in North America."

"Just as Director Liu Zhou said, China will also have its own science fiction films. Now, not only that, our science fiction films are conquering audiences all over the world!"

"Domestic blockbusters are not equal to 5-cent special effects. Interstellar dominates the global film market!"

"Liu Zhou has become the first mainland director to top the global weekly box office, and he is undoubtedly the country's top commercial director!"

……

The extensive media coverage and heated discussions among netizens have made "Interstellar" the hottest thing in the country. It is not only popular in the entertainment field, but also very popular across the country.

In addition to reporting on the event, the media will inevitably interview other domestic directors, especially Chen Shishi, Feng Kuzi and Jiang Wen, who all have films released in December.

Among them, poet Chen was asked the most questions, because "The Orphan of Zhao" will be released nationwide on December 15th and the movie has entered the final promotion stage.

Therefore, poet Chen needs to have more opportunities to show up in public. Almost every time he appears in public, reporters will ask him about his opinion on "Interstellar" winning the global weekly box office championship.

Although poet Chen felt unhappy about this, he could only pretend to praise the real data and honors.

It was okay this time or twice, but when he was asked this question so often, poet Chen could hardly control his emotions.

In addition, the popularity of "Interstellar" increased due to its victory in the global weekly box office, which directly reduced the publicity effect of "The Orphan of Zhao".

Poet Chen was already feeling unhappy, and he kept being asked questions that made him feel sad. He then avoided the main questions or simply did not answer, with a gloomy face the whole time.

Other directors such as Feng Kuazi and Jiang Wen are frequently visited by reporters, but they will not get angry easily in public. Most of them just express their congratulations and hope that domestic films will get better and better.

When talking about his own movie, he must not lose confidence. Feng Kuazi started off with great enthusiasm and boasted about the box office of 10 billion yuan.

No matter whether you can do it or not, just blow it out first.

Besides, there is still some time before "If You Are the One 2" is released, and by that time "Interstellar" should have gradually faded away. Maybe there will really be a chance. He is still quite confident in the comedy field.

In addition, Zhang Yimou, the only director in China who can be compared with Liu Zhou, was much more sincere when asked by reporters.

Zhang Yimou first praised Liu Zhou, then talked about how difficult it is for Chinese-language films to be released in North America, and finally expressed his admiration for the film.

Zhang Yimou indeed thought so. He had several films released in North America and he knew even more deeply how difficult it is for Chinese-language films to get high box office in Hollywood.

It is truly admirable that "Interstellar" has achieved such a high box office.

To be honest, Liu Zhou didn't expect that "Interstellar" would win the global weekly box office championship, but he is still happy to see it cause such a big sensation in China.

Whether it is the domestic media or the audience, any achievements or honors achieved overseas will be magnified many times in China.

Especially at this stage when Hollywood movies are highly praised in China, a domestic film can actually surpass a number of Hollywood movies and win the global weekly box office championship.

This made them feel even more incredible, after all, this honor usually belongs to Hollywood movies.

However, Liu Zhou was happy for a while and then didn't take it to heart. Maybe the global weekly box office champion is only boasted like this in China, and it is not an honor at all in North America.

For him, nothing else matters. The most important thing is to break the box office record of "Avatar".

Liu Ye, Fan Xiaopang and others were very happy. They were also in high spirits during the roadshow. When asked this question by reporters, they couldn't help but smile.

With "Interstellar" raking in 5.3 million yuan in box office in seven days, it is now Friday again.

Although the film's screening schedule had dropped to less than eight floors, it still earned 7100 million on that day.

The next day, Saturday, the box office revenue increased to 8200 million. On the third day, Sunday, it also raked in 8500 million.

The movie took in a total of 5.3 million yuan in box office revenue in the first seven days, and 2.53 million yuan in the first three days, so it took in 2.77 million yuan from Monday to Thursday of this natural week.

Combined with the box office revenue from these three days, "Interstellar" grossed 5.15 million yuan in seven days during this natural week.

The movie grossed 7.68 million RMB in just ten days after its release.

This result once again shocked some people in the industry. People were not only shocked by the data, but also by the fact that the movie's box office hardly dropped in the second week.

In China, the highest box office for a movie is usually in its first week of release. Even in the second week, the box office will drop significantly.

However, considering the recent popularity of "Interstellar", everyone felt somewhat relieved.

Overseas box office statistics were released relatively later, not until the next morning.

During the seven days from December 2160rd to December th, Beijing time, the North American box office continued to soar, grossing a total of million US dollars.

In North America, unlike in China, the 7-day weekend in the second week will not be lower than the 4-day weekend in the first week, and may even be higher.

However, in North America, the box office revenue in the first three days often accounts for one-third or even half of the total box office revenue, but this usually happens with blockbusters like "Spider-Man" and "Transformers".

Especially for blockbusters released during the summer season, because during this period there is a blockbuster released every other week. If you cannot get a high box office in the first week, then your movie is doomed to fail.

However, Hollywood has more long-term screenings of movies, especially some movies that have not been released on a large scale before the Oscars, just to build word of mouth.

If a movie wins an Oscar, its box office will soar once its screening scale is expanded, which is what happened with "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon."

The reason why the Oscars have become the world's top award is not only because Hollywood movies are popular all over the world, but also because the Oscars can bring huge profits.

Not only Hollywood movies are praising it, but the film circles in other countries around the world are also praising it. As for the domestic film circle, it is almost worshipped.

When Yuanshikong.com was selecting the best Chinese director, many people chose Li An because he has won two Academy Awards for Best Director and an Academy Award for Best Picture.

Although Zhang Yimou does not have an Oscar, his role as the chief director of the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics and the Zhangjiakou Winter Olympics is enough to make him a god. So for most people in China, Zhang Yimou deserves the title of the number one Chinese director.

Because "Interstellar" was not very famous in the early stage, more and more audiences knew about this movie a week after its release.

In addition, the number of theaters showing the film has increased to 2800, close to the scale of a blockbuster film, and the film has been released for seven days, so the box office has achieved a substantial increase. The weekly box office is still ranked third, squeezing out "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part Two", which has been released for more than 20 days. However, a new film "The Chronicles of Narnia" was released this week and took the top spot.

The mainland's 5.15 million yuan is equivalent to 2160 million US dollars, plus the million US dollars in North America, the total box office for this week was nearly million US dollars.

Although "Tangled" and "Harry Potter and the Dark Knight" expanded their overseas releases, their total box office this week was still less than the $7 million of "Interstellar."

Therefore, "Interstellar" has retained the global weekly box office championship.

Two consecutive championships!
This caused quite a stir in the country.

However, this time it is no longer "Interstellar" that is the only popular film. On December 12, "The Orphan of Zhao" held its world premiere at the Beijing International Convention Center on the north side of the Bird's Nest.

In any case, poet Chen’s influence in China is still not small, and the film’s premiere will certainly be promoted vigorously.

The premiere was also packed with big names, but the atmosphere was far inferior to that of the previous "Interstellar".

The biggest reaction from the audience was when Tu Anjia threw the child to death with a "bang". Many women at the scene could not recognize the child and burst into screams.

Many well-known film critics and columnists among the guests were also moved by this scene.

But the following plot is a bit slack, just like "Mei Lanfang".

The plot of the murder, coup and the search and rescue of orphans at the beginning is compact, and the fate of the characters keeps leading people forward.

As the movie promotion said, "Even though we all know the ending, we still can't help but feel worried until the last minute."

The magnificence and tragedy of the palace coup scene is definitely no less than any blockbuster. Whether it is the art design, photography, or the exquisite lines and performances, they are all first-class.

This is where poet Chen’s writing is always outstanding.

But unfortunately, the film dragged on in the second half and became mainly lyrical. The wonderful performances of Ge You and Wang Xueqi were dragged down by the deliberate lyricism and became useless.

The fighting scenes are even more horrific!

The main reason was that poet Chen found the wrong martial arts director. The martial arts director from Hong Kong didn't understand military formations at all. The two scenes of fighting against the Hu cavalry and Tu'anfu's revenge were too bad.

The premiere ended with applause, and poet Chen began to show some mysterious confidence again. When asked by reporters about the movie's box office target, he blurted out 10 billion.

A billion-dollar box office seems to have become the goal that more and more big directors want to achieve.

When asked if he could surpass the performance of Liu Zhou's "Interstellar", poet Chen was unusually humble and said that he would set it as a goal to catch up with, because only with a goal can there be motivation to move forward.

But in the end, he couldn't help but say a few words in a sarcastic way.

Another movie will be released during the Lunar New Year holiday, so the media will have more topics and news to find.

After all, whether it's pulling down, hype, or comparison, the two movies can allow them to report better.

Moreover, judging from the past, the relationship between Liu Zhou and poet Chen did not seem to be so harmonious. The media loves this kind of grudge game the most, and now it is the best that they are competing on the same field again.

To be honest, it has been almost a month since mid-to-late November, and "Interstellar" has been the only show in the world, and the media is a little fed up with it.

Even if the movie has a lot of things worth reporting, they feel that if they continue to report on it, the audience might get tired of it.

"Interstellar" has entered its third week of release and has also entered the working week, so the box office has inevitably dropped a lot.

From December 1.2th to December th, "Interstellar" only earned million yuan at the box office, which was a halving of the previous week.

This also shows that the first ten days have already attracted Liu Zhou's early fans and fans who have been looking forward to this movie to the cinema.

In fact, to be honest, the initial box office success of "Interstellar" was so strong that it somewhat overdrawn the box office potential of the film.

However, if you want to break the box office record of "Avatar", you can't just rely on the basic base. Even all the audiences in the mainland who are accustomed to going to the cinema to watch movies may not be enough.

It is necessary to attract some audiences who rarely watch or do not watch movies into the cinema.

So in the future, it will depend more on how many such viewers "Interstellar" can attract.

In the early morning of the next day, the second blockbuster of the Lunar New Year holiday, "The Orphan of Zhao", was released in major theaters across the country.

Relying on the reputation of Shanghai Film Group and poet Chen, "The Orphan of Zhao" snatched a lot of screenings from "Interstellar" and was released with 38% of the screenings.

The screening share of "Interstellar" also fell below 50% for the first time since its release, but it still surpassed "The Orphan of Zhao" and competed with it with 43% of the screening share.

As for the remaining screenings, they are divided up among some new and less famous movies and previously released movies.

Poet Chen was still somewhat indignant about the fact that the film was scheduled for a lower screening than "Interstellar".

Even though its box office is good, it has been released for half a month after all, while "The Orphan of Zhao" has just been released.

Poet Chen was also holding his breath. He needed an outstanding data to justify himself and prove his ability as a great director.

However, even if he was angry, he had to hold it in. The theaters also had to make money. Even though poet Chen was famous and had a good background, he could not get the theaters to give up more screenings in the face of absolute interests.

In the eyes of theater companies, even if "Interstellar" has been released for half a month, its box office may still be higher than that of "The Orphan of Zhao".

The fact that they were able to give "The Orphan of Zhao" nearly four floors of screenings was already enough to give face to poet Chen and the Shanghai Film Group. Moreover, 38 percent of the screenings is not a small number. If there were more movies released, blockbusters would be treated similarly.

In the early morning of the next day, poet Chen received the first-day box office data of "The Orphan of Zhao" in nervous anticipation.

Thirteen million!

Poet Chen stared at the screen with disappointment on his face for a long time, without saying a word. The box office was completely below expectations, especially since it was only on a Saturday.

He couldn't understand why the box office was so low.

If it were four or five years ago, this first-day box office would be considered normal, but now it is considered very low, not to mention compared with "Interstellar".

(End of this chapter)