Huayu: Starting from joining the mainstream entertainment industry in 96

Chapter 449, Section 447: Champagne at Halftime
The Chinese New Year film season in December 2002 was clearly divided by the release of "Brotherhood of Blades" on November 29th.

The first half was a solo performance for this "new martial arts weapon." Until the global simultaneous release of "Night at the Museum" on December 13, it almost single-handedly dominated the entire market, setting a high tone for this year's box office feast.

October 12th, Thursday.

The same news item dominated the headlines of the culture and entertainment sections of many mainstream newspapers across the country, and even some important pages of comprehensive daily newspapers.

After final verification and authorization from the National Film Special Fund Management Office, the cumulative box office revenue of "Brotherhood of Blades" from its release on November 29 to midnight on December 10 (Wednesday) was set at approximately 76.6 million yuan!
This number, like a boulder thrown into a calm lake, has stirred up not just ripples, but surging waves.

"Brotherhood of Blades raked in 7660 million yuan in 12 days, a new wave of martial arts films that is both critically acclaimed and commercially successful!"

"Xu Ke's skills are still sharp, and Sheng Ying is setting a new benchmark for genre films!"

"The first half of the Lunar New Year film season has come to a close, and 'Brotherhood of Blades' stands undefeated, aiming for 200 million!"

The media used a variety of effusive praise and exclamation marks to summarize the first half of "Brotherhood of Blades'" journey.

The report not only listed its strong performance of holding the top spot at the box office for two consecutive weeks and maintaining a screening rate of over 60%, but also cited extensively its high rating of 9.0 from the "Maoyan Movies" platform and a large number of enthusiastic comments from movie fans.

"This is true martial arts! It's flesh and blood, with struggles and helplessness, much more real than those fake martial arts stories that just fly around and talk about love!"

"Shen Lian's sword not only revealed the hardships of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, but also paved a new path for martial arts films!"

"The plot is intricately woven, and the fights are incredibly realistic; I was deeply moved and couldn't calm down for a long time after watching it!"

The continued positive word-of-mouth is the key to "Brotherhood of Blades" maintaining its strong performance even after its second week of release.

Even on December 13th, facing the massive entry of "Night at the Museum," theater managers across the country still reserved more than 25% of screening space for "Brotherhood of Blades"—this was both an affirmation of its excellent performance in the early stages and confidence in its long-term box office success.

Everyone knew that with the 76.6 million yuan box office accumulated in the first 12 days and the still strong word-of-mouth, it was almost a certainty that "Brotherhood of Blades" would break the 200 million yuan mark in total box office.

Following "Shaolin Soccer" (which grossed over 1 billion RMB worldwide, with a huge contribution from the domestic box office) and "Lost in Thailand" (which grossed approximately 210 million RMB during the 2001 Lunar New Year season), it will become the third film under Shengying Media, and the third film in the history of Chinese cinema, to join the "200 million RMB club"!

This achievement would have been almost unimaginable four years ago.

In-depth media reports began to trace the course of Chinese cinema since 1999, which many industry insiders called the "first year of the revival of Chinese films."

That year, Wang Sheng's "The Pursuit of Happyness" burst onto the scene. With its accurate social issues and heartwarming and inspirational core, it not only achieved great success at the box office, but also greatly boosted the confidence of the industry.

Subsequently, films like *A Little Thing Called First Love*, *Happy Family*, *My Sassy Girl*, and *Flying Colors*... Sheng Ying Media consistently expanded the boundaries of domestic film genres with one or even multiple blockbusters per year, repeatedly redefining the market's perception of the box office ceiling for Chinese films. "In four years, from 'revival' to 'prosperity,' from tens of millions to two hundred million, the market size and production standards of Chinese films have undergone earth-shattering changes." — *China Film News* wrote in a front-page commentary:
"The force leading this wave of change is the private film and television industry, represented by Shengying Media, which has always adhered to the market-oriented path, respected the audience, and dared to innovate. The success of 'Brotherhood of Blades' is not an isolated phenomenon. It is a perfect practice of the Shengying model in the martial arts film genre, and once again proves the great power of combining 'content is king' with 'channel is the key'."

The article further points out: "When a well-made, solidly narratived, and three-dimensional genre film meets a market that is constantly expanding and activated by efficient channels (such as China Film Shengshi Cinema Line) and precise marketing (such as Maoyan platform), its commercial value explosion is inevitable. The choices made by the audience with real money are more powerful than any theoretical debate."

This argument directly addresses the widespread controversy surrounding the "commercial value" and "artistic value" of films sparked by the previous televised debate in which Wang Sheng faced off against three other contestants.

Faced with the solid box office success and widespread public acclaim of "Brotherhood of Blades," those voices questioning whether the "Shengying Model" is too commercialized and will damage the artistic quality of the film seem particularly pale and weak.

Sheng Ying Media's public relations department and theatrical film distribution department seized the opportunity and invested considerable resources to guide public opinion to focus on the "unity of commerce and art" of "Brotherhood of Blades" and even the entire Sheng Ying film slate on major media platforms and online communities.

The core viewpoints of the press releases and advertorials are highly consistent: "The highest art is to resonate with and move as many people as possible; the best business is to provide high-quality content that can withstand the test of the market and time."

With its profound themes, exquisite production, and moving performances, *Brotherhood of Blades* achieved a double harvest of commercial and cultural value, which is precisely the direction that Chinese films in the new era should pursue.

Amidst this wave of voices supported by data and word-of-mouth, and amplified by powerful public opinion, the remaining dissenting voices about "artistic compromise" and "cultural inferiority" are further squeezed and confined to a very small circle, making it difficult to form an effective public discussion.

The market, in the most direct way, gave its verdict.

The first half of the Lunar New Year film season has come to a close with the release of "Brotherhood of Blades'" box office results.

The tide has clearly turned in favor of the "Shengying Group," which controls content, distribution channels, and public opinion.

However, everyone knows that the real battle has only just begun.

At midnight on December 13, "Night at the Museum" was released simultaneously on major screens worldwide.

Following closely behind, Zhang Yimou's "Hero" will also be released nationwide in a few days.

The second half of the competition intensified due to the exceptionally high standards set by "Brotherhood of Blades" in the first half and the nationwide attention it garnered.

Moviegoers, media, cinemas, and even the entire industry are all focused on the upcoming box office battle.

"Brotherhood of Blades" has successfully fulfilled its mission of "paving the way" and "warming up" the audience, winning acclaim and strategic initiative for Sheng Ying Group.

Now, the pressure is entirely on the upcoming "Night at the Museum" and "Heroes".

(End of this chapter)