Huayu: Starting from joining the mainstream entertainment industry in 96

Chapter 453, Section 451: Surrender and You Lose Half

The chill of the winter night in Beijing seemed to freeze entirely in the office of the general manager of New Pictures Film Company.

Zhang Weiping sat listlessly behind his large desk, with more than a dozen fresh newspapers, still damp with ink, spread out in front of him.

The media outlets that should have brought him good news now seemed to have a unified voice, with their front pages and headlines all celebrating the opening day box office figures for "Night at the Museum"—that glaring "1292 million."

“1292 million… on the first day…” he murmured to himself, his voice hoarse, as if it had been sanded by sandpaper.

Only one desk lamp was on in the office, and the dim light made the deep wrinkles on his face appear even more pronounced.

He was born in 1958 and lived through the era of "concentrating resources to accomplish major tasks." He knows firsthand the overwhelming power that can be unleashed when a consensus or a sentiment is successfully mobilized.

Right now, Night at the Museum is doing something big—something that all Chinese filmmakers have kept hidden in their hearts for years but dared not say out loud: challenging the box office monument of Titanic, which was as tall as a mountain and once made the entire industry feel suffocated!
"Reclaim the market top"—this slogan itself carries unparalleled inflammatory and nationalistic sentiment.

In the face of such a "grand event" that attracts nationwide attention, anything that stands in the way will be mercilessly crushed by this torrent.

His film "Hero" was originally expected to be recorded in history as an artistic masterpiece that "ushered in the era of Chinese blockbusters," but now it has sadly been discovered that in the frenzy of the market and audiences voting with their feet, even the qualification to play a supporting role is in jeopardy.

The strong opening of "Brotherhood of Blades" has already stolen a lot of attention and screen time from the martial arts genre, and the arrival of the monster "Night at the Museum" has completely drained the market of all its oxygen and enthusiasm.

With both films vying for dominance, how much room for survival is left for "Hero"?
He could almost imagine that once "Hero" was released as originally planned, it would be difficult to maintain even 20% of the screenings on the actual schedules of theater managers, and it would only be able to survive in the gaps between screenings dominated by "The Museum".

The red telephone on the table suddenly rang sharply, breaking the deathly silence.

Zhang Weiping seemed to be startled awake. He took a deep breath before reaching for the receiver.

"Hello?" His voice was filled with undisguised exhaustion.

"Mr. Zhang, it's me, Jiang Zhiqiang." The calm yet solemn voice of the head of Hong Kong Edko Films came from the other end of the phone.

Jiang Zhiqiang is the main person in charge of the overseas distribution of "Heroes" and also one of the important partners and financial supporters of the project.

"Jiang Sheng," Zhang Weiping tried to keep his tone calm, "have you seen the reports in China?"

“I saw it.” Jiang Zhiqiang said succinctly, “It’s a massive and unstoppable force.”

Those eight simple words pierced Zhang Weiping's heart like an icicle.

Even Jiang Zhiqiang, who is far away in Hong Kong Island and has seen many storms, used the phrase "unstoppable".

“Mr. Zhang,” Jiang Zhiqiang paused, his tone becoming more serious, “I’m thinking…whether we could consider adjusting the release schedule for ‘Hero’?”

Zhang Weiping's heart sank: "Adjustment? Jiang Sheng, you mean..."

"Withdraw the release." Jiang Zhiqiang uttered these two words clearly, as if he had weighed the matter for a long time, "to temporarily avoid the strongest edge of 'Night at the Museum'."

"Withdrawal?!" Zhang Weiping's voice rose instantly, trembling with excitement. "Jiang Sheng! Our initial publicity investment has already exceeded ten million!"
Materials, advertising, offline events… now that the show is canceled, all that money is wasted! And what about the media outlets and partners with signed contracts? How are we going to explain this? How are we going to quell the market's expectations? This…”

He felt a sharp pain in his chest, as if real money was dripping blood.

"I know, Mr. Zhang, I know everything." Jiang Zhiqiang's voice remained calm, carrying a rationality unique to businessmen. "The publicity and marketing expenses invested are sunk costs, and I regret it."

But please think about it calmly. What will be the result if you force it now?

With both "Brotherhood of Blades" and "Night at the Museum" crowding the market, how many screenings will "Hero" get? What will its occupancy rate be? How much will it ultimately recoup at the box office?

Before Zhang Weiping could answer, he continued his analysis, speaking faster: "We have already sold the North American distribution rights of 'Hero' to Miramax for $1500 million. With this alone, we have already recovered most of our investment costs!"
This means we still have cards to play and are far from being at our wits' end.

The withdrawal of the film's release date may seem to represent a loss of initial marketing and promotional investment, but it preserves the film's market potential.

Once the hype surrounding "The Museum" has died down and the market is quiet, or once it has achieved some success overseas or at awards ceremonies, we can release it at a more opportune time. We have a real chance to recoup our losses, and might even gain greater attention because of the "good things come to those who wait" approach.

Jiang Zhiqiang paused for a moment, then threw out a more crucial bargaining chip: "But if we grit our teeth and release it now, with extremely low screenings and attention, the box office will inevitably be dismal."

That would be a complete loss, and it would severely damage the film's long-term value and our future partnership with theaters.

The withdrawal now is not a fault of the production company, and the theaters can understand; they also want to make a fortune with "Night at the Museum."

Zhang Weiping gripped the receiver, his knuckles turning white from the force.

Jiang Zhiqiang's every word was like a heavy hammer, striking the scales of his reason. How could he not understand these principles? It was just that the investment of tens of millions of yuan felt like a piece of his heart being ripped out.

More importantly, "Hero" carried too much ambition and expectation for him and Zhang Yimou. How could they save face by retreating without a fight?
“The theaters…” Zhang Weiping began with difficulty, “We had already reached a preliminary agreement on the screening schedule, but then they changed their minds at the last minute, and there are the penalties for breach of contract and damage to our reputation…”

“I’ll handle the cinema chains,” Jiang Zhiqiang replied immediately, his tone confident. “I’m familiar with my Broadway Cinema Chain, as well as major partners like Beijing New Film Union, Shanghai United Cinema Chain, and Guangdong China Film Southern Cinema Chain.”

In the current situation, they're even more eager than we are to schedule more screenings of "The Museum" to make money. Our initiative to withdraw from the release schedule is essentially doing them a favor, which they'd be happy to accept. Later, when "Hero" is re-released, I'll step in to fight for a reasonable number of screenings for everyone; they'll still give us that much face.”

A brief silence fell between the two ends of the phone, broken only by the faint hissing of the electrical current.

Zhang Weiping could hear his own heavy heartbeat and feel the pressure of Jiang Zhiqiang's patient waiting on the other end of the phone.

He closed his eyes, and his mind flashed back to the hardships of filming "Hero," the magnificent scenes and the dedicated figures of the stars, and Zhang Yimou's focused expression behind the monitor... In the end, all these images were mercilessly covered and crushed by the huge headlines in the newspaper: "1292 million" and "Challenging 'Titanic'."

Survival, or dignity? Or rather, is it about preserving the flame for the future, or rushing forward now to become tragic cannon fodder destined to be crushed?

After a long silence, Zhang Weiping seemed to have all his strength drained away. He slumped back in his high-backed chair and spoke into the microphone in an almost inaudible voice:

"Okay... let's do as Jiang Sheng says."

……

Tuesday, April 2002, 12.

After the weekend's frenzy and Monday's data accumulation, the opening weekend box office results of "Night at the Museum" exploded like a thunderclap in the Chinese film industry.

According to the final verification and authorization from the National Film Special Fund Management Office:

12月13日（周五）： 13，288，542元（约1329万元）

12月14日（周六）： 19，854，109元（约1985万元）

12月15日（周日）： 16，702，331元（约1670万元）

Total for the first three days: 49,844,982 yuan (approximately 4984 million yuan!).
Although there were slight adjustments compared to the previous preliminary figures, the opening weekend results, which approached the 50 million mark, were still like a giant peak that suddenly rose from the ground, shocking everyone inside and outside the industry!
Major media outlets spared no praise or admiration for this phenomenal film, calling it a "miracle," a "myth," and a "coming-of-age ceremony for the Chinese film industry."

On the Maoyan movie platform, "Night at the Museum" has maintained a stable rating of 9.3. The short review section and forums are full of calls for "second and third viewings" and heated discussions about its final box office surpassing "Titanic".

The entire film market seemed to be ignited by this movie, with all eyes and topics focused on it.

However, amidst the overwhelming reports about the box office miracle of "Night at the Museum," a brief statement jointly released by New Pictures Pictures and the film crew quietly appeared in the corner of the entertainment section of some media outlets. Due to the abruptness of its content and the implications behind it, it was quickly captured and amplified by the media with a keen sense of smell, becoming another highly discussed news item after this explosive weekend.

The statement was official and restrained, roughly meaning: "In view of the significant changes in the film market environment recently, in order to seek better release results and longer-term market performance for the film 'Hero,' the production and distribution parties have decided, after careful consideration, to adjust the release date of the film 'Hero,' which was originally scheduled to be released soon. The specific time will be announced later."

We sincerely apologize to the audience and partners who have consistently supported and anticipated "Heroes," and thank you for your understanding and patience.

Although it wasn't explicitly stated, everyone knew that "the recent major changes in the film market environment" referred to the sudden emergence of "Night at the Museum" and its terrifying box office siphon effect.

"Hero has been pulled from release!"

These four words, like an ice cube thrown into boiling water, instantly stirred up a new wave of discussion.

"My God! Hero was pulled from its release date? Are they afraid to go head-to-head with Night at the Museum?"

"Those who know when to yield are the heroes; going in now would only make you cannon fodder."

"Zhang Yimou has suffered a huge loss this time. All his previous publicity efforts were for nothing, weren't they?"

"It seems that 'The Museum' is too powerful, even Zhang Yimou's film has to temporarily give way to its edge!"

"Is this the first time in the Chinese film market that a top-tier blockbuster has voluntarily withdrawn from release due to market reasons? A landmark event!"

In the public sphere, surprise, understanding, ridicule, regret... all kinds of voices are intertwined.

However, the withdrawal of "Hero" undoubtedly further confirms the unparalleled dominant position of "Night at the Museum" in the current market, as well as the ruthless and precise business judgment and market competition of the "Shengying Model" led by Wang Sheng.

The fierce competition of the Lunar New Year film season seems to have dissipated much of its intensity early due to the withdrawal of the strongest challenger.

The only remaining question seems to be: how high will the raging fire of "Night at the Museum" ultimately push the box office record of the Chinese film market to? Can it really accomplish that seemingly impossible mission—to lift the Titanic, the giant ship that sank four years ago but whose shadow still lingers, off its throne?
(End of this chapter)