The director starts by learning from the abilities of renowned directors.

Chapter 157 The Birth of a Film with Over 100 Million Yuan in Pre-Sales in History

The character of the Mars exploration team commander in "The Martian" is a former military officer and a geologist. Therefore, Shen Qing needed an actress with leadership qualities, who was resolute and decisive, and had the heroic spirit of a female soldier. When she gave orders, the team had to obey them without question. The character couldn't be someone who looked like a beauty pageant winner.

Therefore, no matter how much Shen Qing dotes on Liu Yifei or likes Liu Shishi, he would not choose either of them to play this role. Shen Qing himself subconsciously felt it was unbelievable that the two of them would command such an important Mars exploration mission.

Their appearances and temperaments don't quite match, and their ages are also unsuitable. Both of them are in their mid-twenties, which is fine for playing a recent college intern, but it would be too childish for them to play the commander who directs the entire Earth-Mars spaceship.

Both of them are capable of playing the second female lead. The second female lead is a system operator and a technician in the story. The role is not picky and anyone can play it well.

Gong Li has a strong presence and can play leadership roles, but her downside is her age. She was born in 65, and if the movie starts filming next year, she will be 47 years old. This age is definitely too old for a front-line astronaut commander. Shen Qing's ideal choice for the female lead is someone under 40 years old.

The original film starred Jessica Chastain as the female lead, and she was only 37 years old when filming began. East Asian women tend to age less, so it's not entirely unacceptable if the age difference isn't too great, but being 10 years older than the original actress definitely makes a significant difference.

Li Bingbing was born in 1973. If filming starts next year, she will be 39 years old, which is a suitable age. She has a heroic spirit, a resolute and decisive quality, and decent leadership skills. She does seem to be a candidate who needs to be seriously considered.

Fan Bingbing was born in 1981 and was around 30 years old when the film started shooting, which was a suitable age. Her advantage was that she had a certain degree of fame abroad, but her disadvantage was that she was too glamorous and beautiful. However, Shen Qing did not completely rule her out as a candidate.

In addition, the names of Ma Yili, Chen Shu, Yuan Quan and others all went through Shen Qing's mind. Even Sui Junbo, who played the eldest sister-in-law Hao Dongmei in "The World", passed through Shen Qing's mind. She looked very heroic in military uniform. But in the end, Shen Qing judged that she would most likely have to choose from Gong Li, Li Bingbing and Fan Bingbing. She would probably have to wait until these three wore spacesuits and costumes and took costume photos before she could make a final decision.

With the preview screening date of "Breakup Buddies" drawing closer, Shen Qing, Chen Zhixi, and Shen Li, the newly appointed vice president of Maoyan Movies, seriously discussed the issue of ticket subsidies.

If the Maoyan Movies app subsidizes 8.01 yuan for every movie ticket sold, reducing the price to 29.99 yuan, it wouldn't actually cost much, but it's expected to migrate a large number of web users to mobile devices, which seems like a good deal.

The only concern is that once the ticket subsidy card is played, the situation may no longer be under Shen Qing's and his Maoyan movie platform's control. At that time, the internet giants with massive funds will turn into sharks that smell blood.

Currently, the head office has over 20 billion yuan in cash in its accounts, and nearly 5 million yuan in funds are being repaid. Even if major internet companies engage in ticket subsidies, Maoyan Movies is not entirely without a fighting chance. However, ticket subsidies are ultimately not Maoyan Movies' area of ​​strength.

"If we only subsidize each ticket by seven or eight yuan, and only subsidize the mobile version, what are the chances that major internet companies will be inspired to follow suit?"

Shen Qing looked at Shen Li, the vice president who had just jumped ship from the internet giant Baidu.

"My former employer will probably be out of business within a year, and Tencent and Alibaba will be about the same."

Shen Qing remained noncommittal upon hearing this, and then looked at Chen Zhixi.

"If major internet companies are definitely going to get involved, then it's best if ticket subsidies don't start with us," Chen Zhixi said.

Shen Qing nodded: "Then let's not make up for it yet. Let others make up for it before we are forced to follow suit. This will also give us time to criticize others and make up for our moral high ground."

On October 27th, the film "Breakup Buddies" held a grand premiere in Beijing. Director Ning Hao and lead actors Xu Zheng, Huang Bo, Lei Jiayin, Shen Teng, Gao Yuanyuan, Zhao Liying, Li Yitong, Ma Su, Gulnazar, Dilireba, Mao Xiaotong, Tan Songyun, and others were all in attendance. Shen Qing, Chen Zhixi, Dai Ying, Shen Li, Han Sanping, Wang Changtian, and others also came to the event to support the film.

The film will be officially and exclusively released on the Maoyan Movies platform tomorrow, and it is expected that the film's preview screenings will account for about 18% of the total screenings.

Wang Changtian was very interested in Maoyan Movies. Shen Qing gave him a heads-up, saying that Maoyan Movies would be seeking external financing in the future, and if Mr. Wang was still interested in the first round of venture capital, he could try to invest.

Obviously, having money isn't enough to invest in Maoyan Movies. Shen Qing also wants to see what resources you can bring to Maoyan Movies. Just having money isn't enough to get venture capital funding. Of course, Enlight Media has the resources that Maoyan Movies needs.

Han Sanping is more concerned about the preparation of "The Martian". He still vividly remembers the glory of "Gravity".

As the premiere was drawing to a close, Shen Qing asked Ning Hao about his plans for the future.

"I have a script for a robbery set in the Republican era, but I'm not entirely satisfied with the script yet. I'm thinking of polishing it up a bit more and hopefully starting filming by the middle of next year," Ning Hao asked Shen Qing with keen insight. "Does Senior Brother have any other scripts suitable for me?"

Shen Qing nodded; he wanted to hand over "Bad Genius" to Ning Hao to direct.

"Then let's film your script first, which will give us more time to polish the heist movie. By the way, I haven't raised enough funds for my movie yet. Senior, please support me, considering how hard I worked on 'Breakup Buddies.' Even if I didn't get credit, I still put in a lot of effort."

"I'll have Dai Ying contact you."

A Republican-era heist drama script, isn't that "The Golden Era"? That movie was actually pretty good.

The movie premiere was filled with beautiful women, making it a truly pleasing sight.

That night, Shen Qing and Gao Yuanyuan slept together.

The following day, multiple media outlets reported on the premiere of the previous day. At the same time, Maoyan Movies officially launched exclusive preview tickets for "Breakup Buddies".

Shen Qing posted multiple Weibo posts promoting the Maoyan platform and the movie "Breakup Buddies". Almost all the creators and actors of "Breakup Buddies" reposted them, and a large number of celebrities in the entertainment industry forwarded them, making "Breakup Buddies" a new hit.

However, many viewers are still unaware of the Maoyan Movies platform, leading to a surge in related discussions online.

"Didn't someone say yesterday that tickets for 'Breakup Buddies' were on sale? I went to several cinemas and they all said they didn't have any. Who on earth can get tickets for these preview screenings?"

"Isn't it possible that this movie has a particularly high number of preview screenings, basically equivalent to an early release? Why are tickets still so hard to buy?"

"Open the Maoyan website or download the Maoyan Movies APP. These are the only two places to buy advance screening tickets. Five days later, offline cinemas will sell the remaining tickets that were sold online. If you don't live in a particularly small city, you can usually watch it. Advance screenings account for nearly 19% of the total screenings."

"This Maoyan platform is selling tickets 7 days in advance? Is that reliable?"

"Don't worry, it's definitely reliable. Maoyan Movies is a company founded by Shen Qing."

"I just bought three tickets for the November 4th preview screening of 'Breakup Buddies.' It's so convenient! No need to queue, and you can choose your seats online. Just pick up your tickets at the ticket machine at the cinema on the day of the screening."

How do I collect the tickets? Is it complicated?

"Don't worry, there will be people on site to show you how to get your ticket."

Shanghai, Gewara Company.

CEO Liu Yong browsed through movie-related forums and online communities, but the more he browsed, the more disheartened he became.

Last month, "Sewing Machine Band" taught Guevara a lesson, making Liu Yong realize just how difficult it is for a content king to enter the online ticketing field.

Now, with Maoyan platform officially and exclusively pre-selling tickets for the preview screenings of "Breakup Buddies," Liu Yong has once again realized that a Weibo account can generate 1000 views.

How terrifying is it when top celebrities and super directors with tens of thousands of fans promote online ticketing platforms?

Shen Qing's fans are everywhere online promoting the Maoyan Movies platform. Shen Qing's fan base is so huge, encompassing all sorts of niche circles, that even the most obscure forums are flooded with Maoyan Movies-related topics.

"Choosing seats online at Maoyan Cinemas is so convenient!"

"It's much better than Meituan. With group-buying tickets, the seats you get are random, and if you get a bad seat, you have to sit there awkwardly for two hours."

.

"You can buy movie tickets online and even choose your seats? That's so thoughtful!"

"Shen Qing's movies always have long queues. What's most frustrating is that after queuing for half an hour, all the tickets for the day are sold out by the time it's your turn, or there are only very bad seats left. But now that we have Maoyan Movies, we don't have to queue at the cinema anymore."

"You can buy it on the website, but it's best to download the app, which has lots of exclusive behind-the-scenes content."

Liu Yong couldn't help but feel a little disheartened. It was clearly Gewara that launched the online seat selection system first, but everyone on the internet was talking about Maoyan Movies, and very few people mentioned Gewara, the pioneer.

He had long noticed netizens' wariness of buying movie tickets online, with many even regarding online ticketing platforms as scams. It was a very difficult process for Gewara to gain the trust of netizens, but because Shen Qing was a big star and director, many netizens naturally trusted his Maoyan platform.

Even if Guevara had more money than Maoyan Movies, let alone less money, this battle would still be difficult to win!

On October 28th, Maoyan Movies sold 400,000 movie tickets, generating over 15 million yuan in box office revenue.

Maoyan Movies held an internal meeting on the 29th.

"As of yesterday, Maoyan Movies has partnered with over 2200 cinemas nationwide. The data is updated daily, and cinemas are approaching us every day to discuss cooperation. No cinema wants to be excluded from the preview screenings of 'The Great Wall'."

Shen Li, Deputy General Manager of Maoyan Movies, reported to the leadership.

Chen Zhixi said, "Viewers who have tried buying tickets online can hardly tolerate the time cost of queuing offline. Once Maoyan is connected to all cinemas across the country and more and more viewers have experienced the advantages of buying tickets online, I'm afraid that at least 8% of the box office revenue will be sold on the Maoyan platform in the future. This is almost equivalent to monopolizing the ticketing interface. The logic of film distribution has changed, and Maoyan will become more and more powerful in the future."

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Yesterday alone, Maoyan sold 40 movie tickets, generating over 1500 million yuan in box office revenue. This huge achievement made Chen Zhixi a little too optimistic, and her mindset unconsciously became inflated.

Shen Qing said, "Maoyan's box office sales data may indeed account for 8% of the total box office for a period of time in the future, but it is impossible to maintain such a near-monopoly share in the long run. Maoyan Movies is not Tencent's QQ, nor is it a winner-takes-all social software. Users will not have any loyalty. They will go to whichever platform offers the cheaper tickets. In the long run, it will be very difficult to maintain half of the market share of online ticketing platforms."

November 3rd is here, and the preview screenings of "Breakup Buddies" will officially begin tomorrow.

截至11月2日24时，猫眼电影平台共售出270万张电影票，为电影《心花路放》卖出1.1亿元票房，预计整个预售期间预售总票房将超1.2亿元。

Ning Hao was drinking tea when he unknowingly drifted off into a daze, making everyone in the office laugh. Ning Hao felt very embarrassed after realizing what had happened.

In 2009, Ning Hao directed "Crazy Racer," which grossed 110 million yuan at the box office with a production cost of 10 million yuan. He became famous as a result and successfully joined the 100 million yuan box office club of directors.

Just two years later, his latest film, "Breakup Buddies," has already reached 1.1 million yuan in pre-sale box office before any screenings have even taken place. The film has sold so much before audiences have even seen the content. The world is changing too fast, and he can't keep up with the changes.

The pre-sale and preview screening box office exceeded 100 million yuan, which is a truly astonishing figure.

There has never been a movie with pre-sale box office exceeding 100 million yuan before, but now there is, and it was during the preview screenings that it exceeded 100 million yuan.

The media gave this extensive and detailed coverage.

"Did 'Breakup Buddies' gross 1 million yuan at Maoyan Movies? Production company partners with e-commerce platforms to inject promotional stimulant."

"Breakup Buddies' advance ticket sales surpass 100 million yuan, Maoyan Movies becomes an industry disruptor."

"Maoyan Movies is making great strides, with 'Breakup Buddies' surpassing 100 million yuan in pre-sales."

Almost all directors and producers in the industry are discussing this.

"The movie has preview screenings tomorrow, and it's already grossed 1.1 million yuan today! It's utterly baffling!"

"Pre-sale and preview screening box office exceeded 100 million yuan. What a novel news! Preview box office exceeding 100 million yuan is novel, but pre-sale box office exceeding 100 million yuan is unprecedented. Now, pre-sale and preview screening box office has exceeded 100 million yuan."

"Why is Shen Qing so troublesome? Can't he just stay quiet for a couple of years?"

Shen Qing announced the good news on her Weibo account.

"Thank you all for your support of 'Breakup Buddies' and the Maoyan Movie platform. As of 24:00 yesterday, the pre-sale and preview box office reached 110 million yuan. It is estimated that the box office will exceed 120 million yuan before the official preview screenings. Thank you everyone! *bowing in gratitude*"

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The Weibo post was widely reposted within the industry, and countless netizens left comments below it.

"That's amazing, it's unbelievable."

"Breakup Buddies' pre-sale and preview screenings have surpassed 100 million yuan in box office revenue. How much is 'The Great Wall' aiming for in pre-sales next month?"

"With a script written by Director Shen, directed by Ning Hao, and starring Huang Bo and Xu Zheng, this movie looks very promising. Normally, it's bound to be a hit. You can buy tickets with your eyes closed. There's no need to wait for reviews after the release. It's perfectly normal for the preview screenings to gross over 100 million yuan."

"I like all of Director Shen's movies. Director Shen himself confirmed that the humor level is no less than 'Lost in Thailand,' so I will definitely buy a ticket to support him."

"Online seat selection is very convenient. I just placed an order and bought 5 movie tickets at once."

"Previously, the media generally predicted that the final box office of 'Breakup Buddies' should be around 600 to 700 million yuan. However, the box office has exceeded 100 million yuan before the movie was even released. Judging from this, the final box office will most likely exceed 1 billion yuan."

"Online seat selection is indeed convenient, but it's more than 2 yuan more expensive than offline. It would be better if it were cheaper."

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