Huayu: A Commercial Director

Chapter 365 Shura Field

Today's premiere was covered by hundreds of media outlets, with countless independent media outlets rushing to report on it.

Huang Bo ambitiously said he hopes the film can break 2 billion yuan and he also wants to enter the 2 billion yuan director club, so as not to embarrass Chen Shouzhe.

The celebrities present also took to Weibo to promote the film. Jiang Wen even said that his movie premiere tomorrow would not be too bad, and he hoped to join forces with Huang Bo to beat the foreign blockbusters.

Headlines proclaiming that Chinese films are challenging Hollywood blockbusters are appearing on major social media platforms.

There are all sorts of opinions online. Some are optimistic, some are pessimistic, and some even think that foreign films are invincible and will definitely sweep the domestic film market. They have already bought tickets to support them.

Some also expressed their support for Huang Bo and Jiang Wen, hoping they would defeat foreign films.

Take the slogans on the internet with a grain of salt; the actual results will depend on the box office performance.

Chen Shou helped Huang Bo build momentum, so naturally he had to attend Jiang Wen's movie premiere the next day.

Compared to the scale that Chen Shouzhe gave Huang Bola, Jiang Wen's side, despite having Ali's arrangements, was clearly inferior.

Even among internet giants, such as Alibaba, which is currently at its peak, Chen Shouzhe's influence in this regard is not as strong.

Some people gave him face because of Alibaba, but even more so because of Jiang Wen's influence.

When Boss Ma's movie was released last year, many people gave him face, and Wu Jing also starred in it. Chen Shouzhe even asked Wu Jing how she felt about it.

Wu Jing's answer surprised Chen Shouzhe.

Three words.

Very upset.

First, the pay was low. Despite being so wealthy, the pay was meager. Second, I was beaten a lot. The other person was indeed a martial arts fan and even gave himself a nickname from a martial arts novel, but his kung fu skills were really not that great.

It's obvious he's a show-off, and the people around him aren't good people either.

Chen Shou came to the premiere out of respect for Jiang Wen. As for Ali, he didn't like his previous movies either, and he wondered what kind of films Wong Kar-wai could make these days.

"Thanks, bro. Luckily, I've already secured my place." Jiang Wen whispered in Chen Shou's ear.

The movie was playing, and Chen Shou had already watched it. After all, some special effects were added to Xiao Xiaomeng in post-production, so neither of them was paying attention to the movie.

Jiang Wen didn't expect so many foreign films to be included in the Lunar New Year film season, totaling more than ten foreign films. There were very few domestic films. The second installment of China Film Group's "American Dreams in China" was just a rehash with a different director and actors. The audience didn't even know there was a sequel.

The only ones worth watching are Huang Bo and Jiang Wen. They originally wanted to withdraw, but the higher-ups wouldn't allow it and insisted that they compete with Hollywood films.

Jiang Wen's film has a guaranteed minimum return, so he'll make a profit regardless of the box office results. Huang Bo, on the other hand, hasn't. That's why Huang Bo is still putting in a lot of effort on promotion and distribution, appearing on various programs since last month.

They even went so far as to seek out Enlight Media's distribution channels. Enlight Media is a traditional media company in China with many program channels, so Huang Bo was offered a very low price for each program he was offered, considering that Huang Bo's variety show fees are now sky-high.

He wouldn't have done this kind of promotion if it weren't for the movie.

Chen Shouzhe realized the immense pressure Huang Bo was under, which is why he sent him to Enlight Media for publicity. After all, Enlight Media is still very powerful in traditional television media and advertising. Chen Shouzhe naturally provided support on the internet front, such as investing in two short video platforms and some influencer media. For example, the game project invested in by Xiao Wang won a championship last month and was at its peak of popularity. Chen Shouzhe even had Xiao Wang help promote it. And it's worth noting that many young gamers now know about Huang Bo's movie.

Huang Bo even went up to present awards to the players at the game's awards ceremony on December 1st to promote the movie.

The buzz surrounding their victory last month swept the nation, and the film and television industry naturally couldn't miss it. It's said that several companies are already preparing to shoot related movies, TV series, and so on.

"Don't worry, even if the movie doesn't do well at the box office this time, you can still shift the blame," Chen Shou said with a smile.

"Damn, you look down on me like that?" Jiang Wen said.

"We'll see when the time comes. The initial estimate wasn't high to begin with. With so many foreign blockbusters now, in the current film market, a single release window can only reach a maximum of 5 billion. There are over a dozen films vying for 5 billion at the box office. That averages out to less than 300 million. The two foreign blockbusters are expected to take over 2 billion, and Huang Bo's film should easily reach 1 billion. As for your film, I estimate it will be around 500 million. The rest will be distributed among the other films," Chen Shou sighed.

The company's team has calculated that there is a total number of cinemas and the entire consumer market in China, and the statistics can be used to calculate the box office revenue based on this data.

It's like a warehouse that's only so big; the amount of grain released can't exceed the warehouse's capacity.

The same applies to the market. Although the film market has grown significantly over the years, the box office revenue is still limited.

Not everyone likes watching movies, and not everyone goes to the cinema to watch movies; in fact, many cinemas have even gone out of business.

The Lunar New Year film season is a major period, and the overall box office can be roughly calculated.

Based on a one-month run, 50 billion is the highest figure, which is based on the current capacity of domestic cinemas to handle 50% occupancy.

The entire Lunar New Year film season consists of only one New Year's Day holiday, and the total box office revenue that can be generated in a single day is at most 7 million yuan. Therefore, with so many films crowding the market and being evenly matched, the competition comes down to marketing and quality.

If audience reviews improve, then marketing and promotion must be increased; if reviews decline, no matter how much money is poured in, it will only result in a futile effort.

Jiang Wen's expression wasn't very good. After the movie ended, Jiang Wen said a lot on stage. Chen Shou was called out by Jiang Wen, so he could only bite the bullet and say that the movie was good, and that they would see the results next week.

China is now the world's second-largest box office market, and two foreign blockbusters have come to China to promote their films, mainly by saying that the food here is delicious, the Great Wall is very long, the Forbidden City is magnificent, and so on, in order to win favor.

Such recruitment tactics can be paid for by many Chinese people.

While laughing at Indians, looking in the mirror might reveal that you're not much different from them.

Otherwise, someone like Gao Xiaosong could fool so many people, and Luo Taijun could make outrageous statements and still get away with nothing.

As time went by, just as Chen Shou had predicted, the four films were released around the same time. Huang Bo's film was released first, seizing the opportunity and gaining initial positive word-of-mouth. In addition, Huang Bo's participation in the program promotion boosted the film's reputation.

The overseas version of "Alita: Battle Angel" also performed well, giving people a refreshing feeling, but it also had a lot of controversy.

Then Jiang Wen's film flopped first, with many viewers saying they didn't understand it, while others said they liked it, resulting in polarized reviews and her falling behind first.

The most surprising thing is that "Blue Star 2", which is incredibly popular overseas, performed poorly in China.

On New Year's Day, Jiang Wen and her family arrived at the horse farm carrying large and small bags.

(End of this chapter)