Chinese Entertainment: Starting from 1996

Chapter 569: 3.28 billion in the first week, a phenomenal movie

That night, not only Liu Zhou, Han Shanping, Yu Dong and others were waiting for the box office of "Aftershock", but Zhang Zhao, the general manager of Golden Harvest Group, was also waiting in his office.

Now Zhang Zhao has put more energy into the affairs of the entire group, and he usually doesn't worry about the release of specific movies personally.

However, there are only two exceptions, and that is the films of Liu Zhou and Zhang Yimou, which he will arrange personally.

Needless to say, Liu Zhou and Zhang Yimou are also one of the top Chinese-language directors. The two of them have already opened up a considerable gap in influence with other domestic directors.

Even Xu Ke and Ning Hao, who are also under Golden Harvest, are far from being comparable to these two.

However, for the publicity department, distribution department and public relations department of Golden Harvest Group, the above four directors will be very busy whenever a movie is released.

So it was already past midnight, and except for Zhang Zhao, the bosses of these departments were all staying in the company, waiting for the movie's first-day box office data while also waiting for the next arrangements.

The three departments' office areas were filled with the sounds of keyboard typing, shouting, and phone ringing.
At nearly a quarter past twelve, when the news of Aftershock's first-day box office revenue of 9,700 was reported to Golden Harvest Group, Zhang Zhao also breathed a sigh of relief.

Although it did not break 3 million, this result is undoubtedly very outstanding. It is only a few million away from the first-day results of "Transformers ". In this way, the two movies still have a chance to compete.

If the first-day results differ too much, it will not only affect morale, but also the theaters' scheduling of the film. In that case, the final box office of the film may not be as good as "Transformers 3".

This will have a significant impact on Liu Zhou and Jiahe.

However, excellent performance on the first day is only the first step to success. Maintaining this box office level in the following days will be considered a true success.

Therefore, even though Zhang Zhao was happy, he did not dare to relax. He sent the box office data to Liu Zhou, other senior executives of the company and employees who were working overtime via group email.

Then he immediately called the heads of the three departments to his office.

"Immediately contact the provincial and municipal teams and ask the local cinema chains to maintain the number of films scheduled and monitor the screening situation!"

"Tell those data companies to quickly send us more detailed statistical data for each province and city!"

“Always monitor the situation on major websites and forums!”

"Confirm the advertising placements on major TV stations and print media!"

……

Zhang Zhao issued orders one by one, and then they returned to their respective departments and immediately summoned all the managers and team leaders under them.

The atmosphere in the brightly lit Jiahe Group suddenly became tense, and the people who were a little tired from working overtime until late at night regained their energy.

Although we are still working overtime, this is the norm for film and television companies when a movie is released. What's more, Golden Harvest Group has never been stingy with its employees and will always pay them enough.

Therefore, they have no complaints about working overtime. Instead, they are full of energy, because in addition to the salary paid by the company, they will also receive a portion of the project bonus. The higher the box office of the movie, the bigger the bonus.

Thousands of employees in the Distribution Department, Publicity Department, and Public Relations Department immediately started working at full capacity without stopping.

Among these three departments, the issuing department has the largest number of people, and they are not all based in Beijing, but are distributed all over the country.

In China, in addition to the large cinema chains, most provinces have a local cinema chain, which accounts for nearly half of the box office in the province.

Nearly 30 teams from the Distribution Department are stationed in major provincial capitals, responsible for coordinating with local theater chains and cinemas, handling emergencies, and conducting surprise inspections of some cinemas to see if there are any violations of regulations.

Today, Golden Harvest Group's distribution team has nearly a thousand people, and its huge distribution network spans across the country.

Golden Harvest Group's strong distribution capabilities in the country were established by them.

The reason why it is difficult to establish a distribution network is not only because you need to establish relationships with theaters in various provinces, but you also need to have enough film sources.

Otherwise, the salaries of these employees alone would be a huge expense that ordinary companies simply cannot afford.

There are even more difficulties encountered overseas. The restrictions and regulations in various regions are not something that ordinary companies can cope with. Even a strong company like DreamWorks couldn't handle it.

This is also why a global distribution network is so rare. Apart from the Big Seven, no other company has this capability. Now there is only Lionsgate, and that’s when they are working with Golden Harvest International.

However, in the country, these difficulties are not a big deal for Jiahe Group.

Because Golden Harvest can often produce hit movies, major domestic theaters are begging Golden Harvest for its products.

After all, only blockbuster movies can make theaters earn more money.

After arranging the work, the three department directors also sat together and took time to have a cup of coffee.

"With a box office of 97 million, our big boss is really amazing. But it's a pity that we are only 3 million away from breaking 100 million."

"Haha, it's a pity. If it had exceeded 100 million, it would have been easier to promote it."

"Don't take it lightly. Transformers 3 is not a pushover. If our poor promotion leads to Aftershock losing to it at the box office, you should be prepared to leave."

"This is the Big Boss's film, and Mr. Zhang is personally in charge of it. Who dares to take it lightly?"

"By the way, I noticed that someone on the Internet deliberately posted bad reviews. We still need to deal with this."

"We have already dealt with it today, but the other party seems to have planned it, so it is a bit difficult to deal with."

"Just do your best to handle it first. If you can't handle it, report it to Mr. Zhang. Such a premeditated smear is definitely not simple."

"I'll try it in the next two days. If I still can't handle it, I'll report it to Mr. Zhang."

The director of the distribution department drank the coffee in the cup in one gulp and then wiped his face under the faucet.

"Get to work."

"Okay, I've finished my coffee, let's get to work!"

……

At the same time, major media outlets also learned of this data one after another. Media outlets across the country were also busy preparing various press releases and subsequent interviews.

Television stations and self-media are also not idle. They are the ones who know best how popular "Aftershock" is at the moment.

Not long after, major media outlets published box office information.

Until early morning, all entertainment media headlines were about the same news.

"Liu Zhou's new film "Aftershock" earned 9700 million on its first day, breaking the first-day box office record in the history of Chinese-language films!"

"With 9700 million on the first day, Aftershock has pushed the summer box office to another peak. The 2011 summer box office is expected to surpass last year's Lunar New Year box office and usher in the biggest box office peak of the year,"

"Aftershock set a record with a box office of 9700 million yuan on its first day. Who can stop Liu Zhou from dominating?" "Liu Zhou strongly defended his position as the top commercial director in China and officially began to challenge Transformers 3!"

"Liu Zhou's new film "Aftershock" set a record at the box office on its first day, with 9700 million surpassing "Interstellar" to become a new first-day box office record for Chinese-language films!"

"Aftershock had a great start, taking over 60% of the box office with 85% of the screenings, and becoming the box office champion of the day!"

"Aftershock will live up to expectations and take on the challenge of Hollywood blockbusters."

The next day, not only was the media reporting extensively on the film, but as the film was released on a large scale, many netizens were also discussing the film online.

"I cried. It was the first time I cried while watching a movie in a cinema."

"Liu Zhou really didn't disappoint. The quality of the movie is beyond reproach. I waited nearly two years for it."

“Although Aftershock tells the tragic reality of the disaster at that time, I always feel warm after watching it.”

"Yes, I have the same feeling. I can't explain it clearly, but it makes me feel that the people of Tangshan will definitely be able to overcome this disaster."

"This movie is very different from previous disaster movies and mainstream movies. It does not deliberately exaggerate the collectivism, nor does it always emphasize self-sacrifice. Every character in it is very real."

"It's a pity that the box office only reached 3 million. It would be great if it could break the first-day box office record of Transformers ."

"It's only a few million short. The box office should be over 100 million today."

"Of course I can. I'm going to watch it for the second time today and I'm going to take my parents with me. They will definitely resonate with this movie."

"For domestic films, we still have to rely on Liu and Zhou. Other summer films were hyped up before they were released, but in the end they all flopped. "Wuxia" was even a terrible movie."

"That's right, The Warlords was so well made. I was looking forward to Chen Kexin's The Swordsman, but I didn't expect it to be such a mess in the end."

"It seems that so far, the only directors whose films have not failed are Liu Zhou and Zhang Yimou, right?"

"Ning Hao probably didn't flip the car over, right?"

"The two art films he made at the beginning did not do well at the box office and did not win any awards."

"You know what, it seems that only Liu Zhou and Zhang Yimou didn't fail. I was going to add Feng Kuazi, but The Banquet is really bad."

On that day, at the strong invitation of Dragon TV, Liu Zhou had to go south and participate in the recording of the program with other main creators of the crew.

Then, several actors shot for a magazine, and Liu Zhou accepted an exclusive interview with a large local print media.

Now that he has come to Shanghai, Liu Zhou might as well participate in more promotional activities. Shanghai is currently the second largest film market in China.

We gathered at the cinema at 6 o'clock in the evening and went to three cinemas in a row.

The last stop, Wanda International Cinemas in Jiangqiao, Shanghai, received the same warm welcome from movie fans as before.

Interviews, interactions, group photos.
The whole process continued and I rushed to the airport exhausted both physically and mentally.

However, Liu Zhou returned to the capital, while the others rushed to the next roadshow city, Jinling.

I visit several major ticket hubs in the country one by one every day, working around the clock and catching flights overnight.

Ever since Liu Zhou started the crazy roadshow, it has almost become a standard feature of big-budget movies, because roadshows can really boost box office sales.

On July 29th, Saturday, the cinema chain once again increased the screening schedule of "Aftershock" to 65 percent.

"Aftershock" lived up to expectations and grossed 1.09 million yuan on the second day of its release, becoming the third domestic film to gross over million yuan in a single day.

Seeing this result, some people in the circle became even more silent, because they knew that "Aftershock" was a complete hit.

The audience was even more excited. Except for some fans who were still talking about "Transformers 3", % of the netizens were discussing "Aftershock".

Then they discovered a problem. Although the box office of 1.09 million was high, it still did not break the single-day box office record of 3 million set by "Transformers 1.15".

So the next day, Sunday, everyone's enthusiasm for watching movies remained unabated, and the movie took in 1.22 million yuan at the box office, breaking the single-day box office record set by "Transformers 3" not long ago.

They felt it was a bit of a pity, as if the first day had been better, it would have broken the first-day box office record.

However, "Aftershock" raked in 3.28 million yuan in box office revenue in its first three days, which is in no way inferior to "Transformers 3" which raked in million yuan in four days.

This makes everyone more confident that the movie will eventually surpass "Transformers 3" at the box office.

At this time, "Transformers 3" also ended its third week of screening, but its box office revenue had obviously dropped a lot.

After earning 4.25 million yuan in the first four days and 4.1 million yuan in the second seven days, "Transformers 3" only earned 1.9 million yuan in the third week.

However, eighteen days after its release, the total box office of "Transformers 3" officially broke the billion mark, reaching 10.25 billion, becoming the third domestic movie to break the billion box office after "Avatar" and "Interstellar".

This news also brought "Transformers 3" back into the public eye amid the overwhelming publicity of "Aftershock".

However, despite this, the box office potential of this movie has almost been exhausted, and it can only earn about 100 million yuan at most in the future.

Therefore, the final box office of "Transformers 3" in the mainland is about 11.5 billion. It should be impossible to break the box office record of "Interstellar", and it is even impossible to exceed the box office of "Avatar".

Next it will be up to "Aftershock". Will "Transformers 3" have the last laugh, or will "Aftershock" be able to withstand the pressure from Hollywood blockbusters and turn the tide? It all depends on whether the movie performs well at the box office in its second week.

Although "Aftershock" could be shown for a longer period of time, the main box office revenue was still concentrated in the first two weeks of the film's release, so the box office revenue in the second week was crucial.

However, considering the current popularity of "Aftershock", Liu Zhou is still quite confident that it will surpass the box office of "Transformers 3".

From the current perspective, "Aftershock" can be considered a phenomenal movie.

The box office of phenomenal movies cannot be measured by common sense. For example, on the third day of its release, with only 1.22 screens, % of the screenings grossed million yuan.

Under normal circumstances, this result cannot be achieved.

However, phenomenal movies, family-friendly movies, and movies that have sparked social topics can all see significant box office increases.

For example, "The Mermaid" and "Wolf Warrior 2".

The former is a comedy screened during the Spring Festival, with an added touch of sentimentality.

Needless to say, the latter
At this time, "Aftershock" is in a similar situation, so Liu Zhou doesn't know what the final box office of this movie will be.

(End of this chapter)