A writer has arrived in the Chinese entertainment industry.

On the second day of the Lunar New Year, the screening share of "Knives Out" in East China had increased to 21%, while the national average screening share was 15.5%.

When determining whether a movie is profitable, theaters calculate a B value by dividing the day's box office share by the day's screening share.

A B value less than 1.0 means that the box office share is less than the screening share, indicating that the film is not profitable, is taking up screen space, and is wasting screen time.

The screening schedule will definitely be cut the next day.

A B-value of 1.0 indicates no profit or loss; the situation remains unchanged, and we'll see how it goes. A B-value greater than 1.0 indicates high cost-effectiveness, and theaters will slightly increase the number of screenings. If it's greater than 1.2, it signifies extremely high efficiency, and theaters will add screenings overnight, including prime-time shows!

Meanwhile, "Knives Out" maintained an average occupancy rate of 62% on the second day of the Lunar New Year, with a B-value of 1.3! Cinemas in East China hardly needed Shanghai Film Group to exert any effort, and they increased the number of screenings overnight.

Among all the films released during the Spring Festival season, "Knives Out" stood out with its superior word-of-mouth, far surpassing the other three. With the overall market downturn, other films experienced varying degrees of decline in daily box office revenue. Only "Knives Out" maintained a daily box office of around 30 million yuan, not significantly different from the previous day.

Thus, although Fusion Culture's first film wasn't a huge blockbuster, it was still a solid money-maker and can be considered a success.

However, things are never that smooth.

On the evening of the third day of the Lunar New Year, Su Liu and his entourage had just returned to their hotel after finishing their roadshow in Hangzhou when they received a call from Chen Si.

"President Su, something's not right online," Chen Si said gravely.

"What's wrong?"

It seemed to be a problem related to the movie. He invited Mao Xiaotong and the others beside him to his room first, then turned on the speakerphone and placed the phone flat on the table.

"Today, a large amount of negative information targeting our movie suddenly appeared on major platforms. It's all negative reviews and smear posts, and the number is growing very fast. It's not normal audience feedback at all." Chen Si's tone was very serious. In the background, some noisy conversations could be heard, probably her discussing public relations strategies with someone.

Without saying a word, Mao Xiaotong, Dilraba, and Li Xian immediately took out their phones and went online to check.

Sure enough, the internet is already flooded with comments and posts saying that "suspense films are mind-bending, scary, and depressing, and are not suitable for the whole family to watch together during the Spring Festival."

"Who... hired online trolls?" Dilraba stared at the negative reviews on the screen, her brows furrowed tightly.

"It's obvious." Li Xian leaned against the table, his tone somewhat somber.

Su Liu leaned against Mao Xiaotong, looking at her phone screen.

On the page, several recently registered accounts posted almost identical statements attacking every aspect of the film, clearly with a unified guiding tone.

Su Liu frowned as she looked at the document and asked, "Who could it be?"

"It's not hard to guess," Chen Si said. "We can't compete with the box office of 'The Monkey King' and 'Where Are We Going, Dad?' The only direct competitor to us is 'From Vegas to Macau,' and our current screening schedule is almost the same as itss."

"Moreover, during their initial promotion, they mainly focused on family-friendly entertainment and Hong Kong film nostalgia. Now, it's obvious that they're trying to downplay one while praising the other."

"From Vegas to Macau" had a 19% screening rate on its opening day. After the critical failure of "The Monkey King," Bona Film Group originally wanted to make a push to increase the number of screenings. However, "Knives Out," which they initially didn't take seriously, caught up with them with a national average of 15.5% of screenings, and there is still a trend of further increases.

Bona Film Group couldn't sit still any longer.

"Do you have a public relations plan?" Su Liu asked directly.

"I've got it. Our top priority now is not to defend ourselves, but to reverse the definition. Previously, our promotional focus was on 'high quality' and 'reasoning,' but now we need to steer the conversation towards 'family interaction,' 'guessing together, having fun together, and chatting together as a family.'"

"Chinese New Year isn't just about having a laugh; it's about the whole family guessing games together, having fun together, and chatting together, right?"

"That's right. When you're doing your roadshow, you should also adjust your wording and try to align it with this approach."

At this moment, Mao Xiaotong's inherently strong character was revealed. She directly asked, "Is that all? They're hiring online trolls to smear us, and we're just going to put up with it?"

"Xiaotong, are you over there?" Chen Si's voice paused on the other end of the phone.

"Yes, Sister Sisi, Reba and Li Xian are here too."

"That's perfect, you all heard that, right?"

"Understood," all three responded.

Su Liu kept scrolling through the negative posts on her phone screen, then chuckled, "Of course we can't let this go. Their movie, which relies entirely on nostalgia to make money, thinks they can drag us down?"

Upon hearing Su Liu's tone, Chen Si guessed that he most likely wanted to post on social media himself.

She quickly chimed in, "President Su, don't be impulsive. Leave this to PR. Unless Wang Jin personally posts an article to smear you, you'll end up in a very bad situation. We'll find some film bloggers and critics to post about it; their movies aren't even worth scrutinizing."

Thus, the anti-black war in the revival of culture officially began.

First, the online promotional slogan focused on "The real New Year's flavor is when the whole family is still discussing the plot after leaving the movie theater," intentionally guiding the audience to turn "mind-bending" into family interaction and "suspense" into a new kind of fun for the New Year.

Comments such as, "Don't be misled. Knives Out is clearly a light suspense, strong logic, and a heartwarming ending. It's not scary or depressing at all. It can be watched by both the elderly and children. It's much fresher than the same old cheesy comedies."

Comments like "Who says you can only smile like an idiot during the New Year? Stop pretending, you're just spouting the same few lines over and over again." started flooding various platforms.

The opposing navy is also very strong.

If you mention family-friendly content, they'll say: "Don't try to piggyback on the family-friendly label!" If the box office is bad, they'll use it to criticize other films—who gave you that right?

When asked about new fun things to do during the Lunar New Year, the other person retorted: "Don't be fooled! Suspense films = the elderly won't understand them, children will cry, and middle-aged people will get sleepy. The Lunar New Year should be lively and fun, with the whole family laughing together—that's what the New Year is all about!"

Whether it's because the online arguments escalated into real conflict or not, the online war of trolls has continued to intensify.

In the end, they were practically exchanging insults and profanities, leaving onlookers online completely bewildered.

However, the quality of "From Vegas to Macau" is indeed worrying, and this wave of criticism has attracted a large number of casual viewers, with almost all of them giving it negative reviews.

Bona Film Group has truly shot itself in the foot. What was originally just a popcorn movie, something to have some fun and cause no harm, has now been scrutinized under a microscope by the public, criticized relentlessly, and its reputation has collapsed instantly.

On the fourth and fifth days of the Lunar New Year, the attendance rate for "From Vegas to Macau" continued to decline. By the sixth day, its screening rate had been overtaken by "Knives Out".

Finally, on the seventh day, "Knives Out" overtook the competition with a total box office of 1.82 million yuan nationwide.

During the seven-day Spring Festival holiday, "The Monkey King" ranked first with a box office of 6.12 million yuan, "Where Are We Going, Dad?" ranked second with 4.68 million yuan, "Knives Out" ranked third with 1.82 million yuan, and "From Vegas to Macau" ranked fourth with 1.74 million yuan.

Fusu Culture rose to fame overnight, making a name for itself in the film and television industry.