Chapter 503: Breaking Records Repeatedly, Nominated Again, Not Really Liking It

Perhaps it was the boost from the theater chains' high screening counts, perhaps it was the gold-lettered signboard Wei Jin had established over his many years in the industry, or perhaps it was the support brought by the creative team's frantic roadshows.

Even entering the work week, the box office performance of *Dixing Yinxing* remained ferocious.

On the fourth day of release, it reported 85.8 million; with this, the box office for *Dixing Yinxing* reached 421 million directly, once again breaking the record of 420 million in 4 days set by *Transformers 3*.

People in the industry all had a premonition that this record would very likely not be broken for a very long time.

One must know that although domestic theater construction has expanded quite a bit, the upper limit for a single day's box office is estimated to be around 100 million.

Previously, *Dixing Yinxing* raked in 125 million in a single day, almost sucking the entire market dry.

To break this record, one would inevitably need to occupy about 90% of the market share for four consecutive days during a popular slot.

This is truly too difficult.

At this moment, both inside and outside the circle, all eyes are focused on Wei Jin.

Countless discussions and evaluations regarding the film have sprung up like bamboo shoots after a rain.

The headlines of various entertainment portals, as well as domestic film and television review variety shows, all mention Wei Jin's name.

Even Zhang Yimou, when accepting media interviews, was full of amazement.

"Director Wei's film has brought great surprises to the audience and also brought a lot of food for thought to us filmmakers. From a purely commercial perspective, it should be the most excellent film of the year.

An average daily box office of over 100 million is truly shocking, but this also shows from the side that the domestic film market environment is getting better and better, and the spring of the film industry has arrived."

Hardcore sci-fi fan and *Dixing Yinxing* Executive Director Guo Fan also accepted an interview on the set of *About Time*.

"When the final cut of Director Wei's film came out, I had a premonition it would create an incomparably astonishing result. Now it has indeed come true. There are many related interpretations of the film online, so I won't go into too much detail. There is only one point: sci-fi films are truly very helpful for the industry's infrastructure.

When filming, our technical team could only use some foreign equipment and special effects software, but now it has grown too much. I think this is the reason why Director Wei insists on filming sci-fi blockbusters."

And as the center of the storm, Wei Jin was naturally also the target of frantic interviews by various media outlets.

While attending *Very Quiet Distance* in Shenzhen, Wei Jin was asked about his thoughts on breaking the record.

"To be honest, at first I didn't expect the box office performance to be this good."

Wei Jin looked at the host, Li Jing, who was full-figured yet intellectual, and said sincerely.

"Oh? Then what was your initial expectation, Director Wei?"

Wei Jin shrugged and spread his hands: "In fact, I thought if it could be a little better than *Pacific Rim*, it would be a success. I can only say the audience is too supportive, haha."

"Then Director Wei, do you have any plans for sci-fi films next?"

"Of course I do, but perhaps I'll have to wait a few more years."

Finishing the promotion in Shenzhen, Wei Jin and his party continued to rush to the next stop without stopping.

And *Dixing Yinxing* was also sweeping the entire film market with the momentum of a whale swallowing its prey.

500 million in 5 days, 600 million in 7 days.

As of now, with the film having been released for one full box office week, the cumulative box office in Mainland China has reached as high as 652 million.

It killed the industry peers, leaving them terrified.

In the office, Yang Lao Ban was expressionless, looking at the data fed back from the theater chains handed over by Huo Wenxi.

"Boss, *The Last Supper* has stopped at 62.84 million, and the daily box office is only a few tens of thousands now. I suggest we pull it from theaters directly."

Huo Wenxi's heart was bleeding, but as someone close to the boss, she knew very well how much her boss cared about face.

Rather than having this daily box office of twenty or thirty thousand reported by the media, losing face in the industry, and being mocked by that bunch of idiots in the Hong Kong Circle, it is better to voluntarily pull it from theaters to maintain dignity.

"Then pull it from theaters. I will communicate with Qin Hong about it." Yang Lao Ban nodded and agreed.

He remembered the high-spirited 500 million investment at the beginning; it was a pity that not a single film made money, and this *The Last Supper* directly lost nearly 100 million. It was just too damn painful.

The key is that Emperor Motion Pictures is a listed company, and *The Last Supper* accounted for more than 70%. In these two weeks, the stock market loss even exceeded the total investment of the film.

Thinking of this, Yang Lao Ban raised his head to look at Huo Wenxi.

"Mani, go communicate with Shi Nansheng again. For *The Raid 2* and *Cold War 2*, even if there is a premium, we need a larger share. Also, communicate with Jiang Wen again; the share for *Gone with the Bullets* is too small."

Looking at the investments over these years, only Wei Jin and Jiang Wen had made money for Emperor Motion Pictures, so Yang Lao Ban had to start from these two aspects.

"Understood, Chairman Yang."

The voluntary withdrawal of *The Last Supper* from theaters caused quite a stir in the circle.

After all, the film had been released for less than half a month, and the previous declining model was still fresh in memory; no one expected it to admit defeat so proactively.

However, while the production company preserved its face, Lu Chuan felt he had lost his, and directly shouted to the media:

"A despicable act of suppression and smearing will not make me yield. In the future, I will return strongly with even more excellent works!"

No one in the circle paid any attention to Lu Chuan's words, and even the netizens were too lazy to argue with him; after all, being serious with such a shameless person would only lower one's own class.

It was just that many people were sighing, why did Qin Lan take a fancy to him?

Compared to *The Last Supper* being out early, *Back to 1942* was still persisting due to its word-of-mouth advantage, but the situation was not very optimistic either.

The film had been released for two weeks, and the box office had only struggled to climb to 220 million, but the daily box office had already fallen below 5 million, and the subsequent potential could be seen at a glance.

The industry judged that the final box office result of *Back to 1942* would basically not touch the threshold of the 300 million tier-based revenue sharing.

At this time, looking back at Huayi's behavior of betraying the distribution alliance to exchange for a tier-based revenue sharing contract, it felt very ridiculous and laughable.

However, Huayi Brothers was very decisive and had already tilted all its promotional resources to *Chinese Zodiac* and *Personal Tailor*.

It must be said that in terms of comedy, Feng Dapao's appeal is indeed very strong.

The script for *Personal Tailor* hadn't even been perfected, and the news had only been released for a few days, but Huayi's stock price had already stabilized.

However, regarding the film *Back to 1942* alone, the loss had already become a foregone conclusion.

As of now, the New Year Slot is not even half over, and two blockbusters have already fallen, with countless small-budget domestic films having long since turned to ashes.

The only one with eye-catching data is Li An's *Life of Pi*.

Although due to Han Sanping's interference, the film was released a few days early and did not catch the hottest time of the New Year Slot.

But it was precisely this slight adjustment that allowed *Life of Pi* to reap quite a few dividends.

Currently, it has been released for more than three weeks, and the box office has already reached 570 million.

Although the daily box office is already down to only two or three million, and the possibility of breaking 600 million is slim, a result exceeding 90 million USD is enough to prove the caliber of the great director Li An. Just as *Gravity* was sweeping everything before it and the domestic New Year Slot was running red with blood, several pieces of news from across the ocean once again caused a sensation in the industry.

"On the morning of the 13th, North American local time, Aida Takla-O'Reilly, President of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, together with actors Jie Xi Ka A Ba Er, Mei Gen Fu Ke Si, and Ai De He Er Mu Si, jointly read out the nomination list for the 70th North American Golden Globe Awards for film and television."

"*Life of Pi* received a total of three nominations for Best Original Score, Best Director, and Best Motion Picture - Drama. Meanwhile, the Chinese sci-fi blockbuster *Gravity*, which has been performing wildly in the global market recently, received two nominations for Best Original Score and Best Director. The Mainland China film *Back to 1942*, which participated in the competition for Best Foreign Language Film at the Golden Globes, unfortunately lost, and its hopes of competing for an Oscar are slim."

Once the news broke, it was like a hurricane passing through, instantly sweeping across the entire entertainment industry.

Domestic media and major portal websites reported on the various hot topics, causing another huge uproar.

Because Li An was abroad lobbying for the Oscars and could not be reached by the media, they turned their attention to Wei Jin and Feng Dapao in China.

Feng Dapao had finally managed to get a spot to compete for an Oscar, but he couldn't even make it into the precursor Golden Globe Awards, so he was in a very bad mood; however, facing the reporters, the great director still had to maintain his aura.

"Every time I compete for an award, it's a gamble. You can't say *Back to 1942* is bad; you can only say my luck wasn't very good."

Many people in the circle admitted that Feng Dapao had a point; the reputation of *Back to 1942* was indeed not bad, and one could only say it was not a defeat due to lack of effort.

While on a roadshow in Hunan Province, Wei Jin was also asked about this by the media.

"Hmm, I'm very happy to receive the nominations, and I hope to add two more trophies. Of course, if not, that's fine too, hehe."

The corner of the questioning reporter's mouth couldn't help but twitch. Should this be called confidence? Or composure?

But thinking about it, Wei Jin had already won the Golden Globe Award for Best Director 6 years ago, so perhaps he really didn't care.

"Then Director Wei, may I ask what your thoughts are on *Gravity* breaking multiple records for Chinese films one after another?"

"I am grateful for the audience's love."

Unlike the Golden Globe Awards, Wei Jin was quite obsessed with the box office this time, so he appeared very humble: "Without the support of the audience, the film's box office could not have performed so well. Thanks again to everyone."

"Then Director Wei, may I ask if you have any plans for your next film?"

"Hmm?"

Wei Jin looked carefully at this reporter. Could it be that Han had possessed them? *Big Shot* hadn't even been released yet, and they were already starting to urge for the next one?

Facing Wei Jin's surprised gaze, the reporter felt a little embarrassed.

"Director Wei, I am your fan, so I am quite concerned."

Alright, if it's a fan, Wei Jin can indulge them a little, so he answered kindly: "Currently, the main focus is still on doing a good job with the promotion. I will head to North America early next year to film my award-contending film."

Wei Jin placed the final stop of this promotion on Mango TV's *Happy Camp*.

By the time it airs, it will be the release time for several other films, which can also generate another wave of heat.

In the familiar backstage area, Wei Jin met his old friend He Laoshi and the other members of the Happy Family.

"Wei Jin, it's been many years since you last came."

Because of their collaboration on *Keep Running*, the relationship between He Laoshi and Wei Jin was already very familiar, so he gave him a hug as soon as he came up.

"Haha, no choice, ordinary promotions don't need me."

This bit of "Versailles" left He Laoshi speechless, and he then looked at Ceng Li and Cheng Long.

"Big Brother, Li-zi, long time no see, you've worked hard on the journey."

"It has been a long time. We'll have to trouble He Laoshi this time."

Ceng Li had been here before for *Painted Skin* and *My Love from the Star*, so she was no stranger to He Laoshi and returned a smile.

"Eh, no trouble at all. You coming here is a 'King Bomb' combination; the ratings for this episode are definitely secure."

"Haha, if that's the case, I'll have to ask your station leaders to add some more appearance fees."

Cheng Long laughed and interjected from the side. Although he rarely appeared on variety shows, he had been here before in '04 to promote *The Myth* and in '10 to promote *Little Big Soldier*, so he was also very familiar with the Happy Family.

"Sure, I'll write a report on it later. I'll definitely make Big Brother satisfied, haha."

After some pleasantries, the recording of the program began.

It must be said that after so many years, *Happy Camp* had made some progress, but only a little bit.

After all, the tropes of indoor variety shows are set in stone, relying entirely on a few MCs to crack jokes to support it.

However, in terms of fan culture, the Happy Family did a good job, especially in the Hunan region, where there were many die-hard fans.

Coupled with the crossovers with Mango TV's own variety shows like *Super Girl* and *Super Boy*, they could barely maintain good ratings and remained firmly on the TOP 20 variety show list.

It's just that with the opening up of variety show paths by various TV stations, *Happy Camp* was inevitably affected and no longer held its former dominant position.

After the recording ended, Cheng Long returned to Beijing first, because the premiere of *Chinese Zodiac* was imminent.

Wei Jin and Ceng Li stayed behind and attended a banquet hosted by the senior management of Mango TV.

After all, for such a long time, whether in terms of TV dramas or variety shows, the cooperation between the two sides had been very pleasant.

The place for dinner tonight was a private kitchen restaurant. Besides Station Chief Ouyang and the two deputy station chiefs, there were also the person in charge of Tianyu and some of their artists.

Of course, He Laoshi, as the "Big Brother" of Mango TV, and the newly rising pillar Wang Han were also there.

The atmosphere during the meal was very enthusiastic, and the person in charge of Tianyu brought their artists over to toast frequently, but Wei Jin's interest was not very high.

"Xiao Jin, you seem to have a not-so-good impression of Tianyu?"

Back at the hotel, the great beauty, having drunk a little light wine, had a slightly flushed face and asked with some curiosity.

"Hmm? Is it that obvious?"

Wei Jin held the beauty's slender but excellent-feeling waist, feeling a bit surprised.

He didn't consider his temper to be very good, but he basically did a good job in official settings; even if he didn't like someone, he kept it in his heart. He didn't expect Ceng Li to have noticed it.

"It's not exactly obvious, but I can feel it."

"Is this what they call an old married couple, with hearts beating as one?"

Wei Jin wore a smile on his face, sat the beauty down on the sofa, took a deep sniff of her proud cleavage, and then continued to answer: "I really don't like them very much."

"Why?"

(End of this chapter)