I'm just trying to ride the wave of popularity!

Chapter 117 A High-Stakes Gamble!

Chapter 117 A High-Stakes Gamble!
Since its debut on Japanese screens in 1959, the monster Glass has remained one of the most iconic and recognizable monsters in the subsequent MonsterVerse.

Its significance is no less than that of the 1987 Hollywood movie "Superman," which laid the foundation for the global sweep of superhero movies.

The birth of Glass not only spawned a brand series that included movies, comic books, TV series and video games, but also spurred the vigorous development of the tokusatsu monster movie genre, and laid a very solid foundation for the later MonsterVerse.

44 years later, in 2003, the huge IP of the Japanese film "King of Monsters" Glass, combined with the world's top Hollywood special effects, transformed into a cinematic behemoth in front of countless Chinese movie fans, bombarding the global film industry!

On October 20th, the premiere grossed over 20 million RMB!

On October 21, the opening day box office did not decrease, but instead surged to 21 million RMB!

On October 22nd, as cinema chains such as Huaying Group, Tianxing Film & Television, and Fengyu International recognized the potential of the Chinese film market and continued to open and integrate new cinema chains, the box office figures for "King of the Monsters" rose again to 22 million RMB...

On October 23, four days after its premiere, the Chinese box office market showed no signs of slowing down. Cinemas across the country were still packed with tickets, with some excited moviegoers even buying two tickets at once. The box office had already reached 23 million RMB.

On Friday, October 24th, "King of the Monsters" dominated the Chinese box office market, its momentum unabated, raking in nearly 10 million RMB. In just five days, its total box office nationwide surpassed 2400 million RMB, reaching an astonishing 5 million RMB. Not only did it break box office records, but it also became the fastest film to reach 1.1 million RMB in Chinese film history!

However, breaking 2400 million in daily box office is not the limit for "King of the Monsters", after all, the 25th and 26th are a weekend!

It was the craziest day of the week for the film market!
Cinemas everywhere are going crazy with screenings of "King of the Monsters"!
Not only were early morning screenings scheduled, but some new cinemas even launched 24-hour weekend services in order to make money from the movie "King of the Monsters"!
...............................

"Our profit figures have fallen behind those of Tianxing Films and Fengyu International..."

[Huaying International]

The executives held a meeting.

The meeting focused on discussing the profit data of "King of Monsters" over the past five days.

On the desk were stacks of data.

In the upper echelons of [Huaying International], almost every department member sat in the conference room, silently staring at the data.

Chairman Li Minghao's gaze swept across everyone, finally settling on Dong Qichang, who had a calm expression.

The box office success of "King of the Monsters" is like a money-printing machine that keeps printing money 24 hours a day, generating millions or even tens of millions of dollars every day.

However, a phenomenal film like "King of the Monsters" doesn't come every year, and for theaters, it's both an opportunity and a crisis!

This year, the three major cinema chains in China were frantically scrambling to collect various financial data in preparation for their IPOs!
Any change in the data will affect the capital market's assessment and judgment of the three major cinema chains, thereby indirectly affecting the stock data of cinema chains that went public around May 2004.

at this point……

Everyone present knew this very well.

The light illuminated the data on the table, each detailed document clearly visible.

Over the past five days, "King of the Monsters" has brought in nearly 60 million RMB in revenue for Chinese cinema chains (the cinema chain and theaters share 55% of the total box office).

Huaying Group's cinema chain received 1300 million!
Tianxing Films and Fengyu International each received 1500 million and 1450 million respectively. The remaining share went to other cinema chains, mostly in the millions, which is negligible.

Premieres of the same scale can have revenue differences of up to 200 million!

Don't underestimate these 200 million yuan; in the eyes of capital data analysts, they are related to the cinema management's control over the market, the direction of future profitability, and indirectly affect capital's confidence in the film.

Why is there a difference of 200 million?
It's because a movie called "King of the Beasts" took up a portion of the screenings of "King of the Monsters"!

In fact, on the 21st, when Dong Qichang rashly decided to defy public opinion and schedule screenings for the low-budget film "King of Beasts," the management already had strong objections.

A film with a total investment of less than 500,000 yuan is taking up the screening slots of a blockbuster with an investment of over 100 million US dollars. This would be a foolish move for any theater chain.

"I've always firmly believed in one thing: an opportunity you can see isn't necessarily a real opportunity! Although 'King of the Beasts' didn't have a high budget, every time it was shown, the theaters were packed, just like 'King of the Monsters'..."

In the conference room.

That data was extremely jarring.

But Dong Qichang's gaze remained calm. Facing everyone's gaze, he stood up and looked around at everyone without flinching or avoiding them.

“Tell me, what opportunities? One ticket costs 12 yuan, the other costs 35 yuan. Don’t tell me the 12-yuan ticket is better than the 35-yuan ticket! Don’t tell me that those kids’ spending power can beat adults…” Someone stood up in the meeting room, a sneer on their face.

Dong Qichang's expression remained unchanged as he faced the man's smile: "Children may not have money, but adults do! 'King of the Beasts' and 'King of Monsters' are completely on different tracks. While ticket sales are undoubtedly the core revenue source for theaters, there are also hidden revenue streams from popcorn, cola, and related toys..."

"Haha, Mr. Dong, I don't know if you've seen the global box office figures for 'King of the Monsters'? In China alone, it has already surpassed 1.1 million RMB in 5 days, and globally, it has exceeded 8000 million USD... Hollywood film critics, the chairman of DC, and analysts from markets including the US and Australia, as well as all North American box office markets, all agree that this is a milestone in global film history... Mr. Dong, don't tell me that after releasing merchandise, this movie won't be able to beat a movie with a budget of 50 RMB?"

"..."

As yet another person stood up, the entire conference room erupted in a brief burst of laughter.

Almost everyone's eyes were fixed on Dong Qichang, this visionary manager. What are Hollywood movies?
It is no exaggeration to say that Hollywood movies are the king of global cinema, and the Oscars are the hall of fame for commercial films worldwide, a place that countless filmmakers dream of.

Moreover, [DT] Films has created box office miracles for many superhero movies. Although "Superman 2" flopped at the box office, its various merchandise items still sold very well, not only indirectly making up for the box office difficulties of "Superman 2" in the Chinese market, but also making a considerable profit...

When Dong Qichang heard this, he remained silent, but his gaze fell on Chairman Li Minghao, who was at the head of the table.

Li Minghao remained an observer throughout, watching the scene with an inscrutable expression on his face.

After seeing Dong Qichang's expression, he finally smiled and said, "The upcoming weekend movie season is a very important battle for us. What do you all think? Should we temporarily pull 'King of the Beasts' from theaters and release 'King of Monsters' instead?"

"Mr. Li, I think we should not only not give up on ending the run, but also add a few more screenings!"

"..."

Upon hearing Dong Qichang's words, the entire conference room erupted in an uproar.

Immediately afterwards, a cacophony of table-slamming sounds erupted, and everyone stared at Dong Qichang, some even on the verge of cursing!

Dong Qichang stared intently at Chairman Li Minghao: "Weekends are when children are most free. We've partnered with [Bingbing Yang Cola], and the profits they give us are several times higher than those from beverage companies like [Coca-Cola]. Furthermore, our partner toy company will also be launching 'King of Beasts' merchandise this weekend… If we want to stand out in the competition between [Tianxing Films] and [Fengyu International] in the cinema market, we must seize the youth market… This is the key to our comeback!"

"..."

"Mr. Li, give me two days this weekend. If I fail, I won't take any salary for the next year! I'm even willing to make up for the company's losses!"

"..."

Dong Qichang's words were so powerful and resounding.

Suddenly...

This caused the entire conference room to fall into a deep silence.

Looking into Dong Qichang's resolute eyes, the executives were momentarily speechless, and in the end, everyone fell silent.

Li Minghao stared at Dong Qichang with a smile.

A moment later...

Nodding at him, he said, "I'm giving you the authority. You decide the weekend screening schedule for [Huaying International]. However, I'm under immense pressure from shareholders and investors. You don't have two days over the weekend; you only have one day. If the screenings don't meet our expectations within one day, we will proceed as requested and screen 'King of the Monsters' for all the films..."

"can!"

Dong Qichang remained silent for a long time.

Finally, he gritted his teeth and nodded.

....................................

After leaving the conference room.

Dong Qichang heard countless whispers from those around him.

Lin Chaoyang, the head of the cinema department, came to Dong Qichang's side with a complicated look in his eyes.

"President Dong, this time, you've really taken a huge gamble!"

"..."

Dong Qichang smiled.

He then narrowed his eyes, did not respond, and silently left the company alone.

After getting on the bus...