Chapter 618: Equal Sanctions

Such scenes were everywhere in the various cinemas under Crystal United Cinema.

One could also see children walking around everywhere holding "Sun Wukong" figurines; these were distributed by the cinemas and were not yet for sale.

And these children would bring other children along.

Figurines and merchandise are very difficult to sell in this era; once a movie becomes a hit, there will be a huge amount of knock-offs and piracy.

Later on, the merchandise for "Nezha" took several years to sell over a hundred million, and that was just the sales figure; compared to foreign countries, it really lagged far behind.

That was still with the help of Alibaba; domestic merchandise sales were only handled best by Alibaba because it is the largest e-commerce platform.

It can monitor, while other platforms are very difficult to monitor.

Moreover, the costs do not allow for it; if you sue others, not only can they not pay much money, but at worst they will just close their shops and run away—an online shop can be opened at will.

For a time, while a large number of "Monkey King: Hero Is Back" figurines appeared offline, a large number of "Monkey King: Hero Is Back" derivative works appeared online.

The scene where "Sun Wukong" transforms with a cape burning like flames, added with music, was very exciting.

Not only did Bilibili, Douyin, and Chang'e Video have a large number of derivative videos, but even short video platforms like Kuaishou, Satellite TV, and Meipai had them as well.

And they all had high view counts, with a large number of people commenting.

"Wow! So lit!"

"What movie is this? I want to go see it!"

"Those with children at home can take them to see it, there are also figurine gifts {Image}!"

"Monkey King: Hero Is Back! Very good, just watched it!"

"It is very lit, with both funny and tear-jerking moments, though the plot is a bit complex for children."

"Leaves trash films like 'Big Hero 6' hundreds of streets behind!"

As long as there is discussion, there is heat, and with heat, one can attract people to watch the film; this is not just using UGC content for Social Fission.

It is even more of a way to build momentum, giving people a sense of anticipation.

Under such an atmosphere, "Monkey King: Hero Is Back" relied on just 9.5% of the screenings to take 40.06 million in box office on its first day, two or three times more than in the previous life.

It was not very ideal, mainly because "Forever Young" was also very crazy; this movie reached ninety million on its first day.

It was more than twice that of "Monkey King: Hero Is Back".

This movie was directed by He Laoshi, and the promotion focused on it being his directorial debut, carrying emotional baggage.

With the full support of resources from Hunan Satellite TV, Tianyu Media, and others, this movie became a huge hit on programs like "Happy Camp" and "Day Day Up" before it was even released.

Coupled with idol stars like Li Yifeng and their fans flooding social media with positive reviews, whitewashing and controlling comments, and locking in screenings in advance, this movie's screenings reached as high as 33%, directly squeezing the space for other films.

The film circle does not just consist of the Alibaba Group, Tencent, Wanda, but also the Hunan group, Beijing Culture group, and the national team.

There is no need to mention Wanda, as they are building a full industrial chain.

Alibaba and Tencent belong to internet capital intrusion; Beijing Culture is just various capital frauds inflating stock prices, the most fragile, as they have no cinemas or production systems of their own.

They rely entirely on outsourcing—that is, you help me shoot a movie, sell me the share of this movie for a certain price, and I then package it as a commercial product to sell to others.

Later, the capital bubble burst and they were out.

The national team refers to Huaxia and China Film Group, state-owned enterprises that possess the right to distribute imported films.

Yutu belongs to the emerging power group, gathering a large number of new filmmakers and young teams, having its own distribution channels and production systems, and is also building a full industrial chain.

Of course, there are also emerging ones like Huanxi Media and Bad Monkey, but they are not as large-scale as Yutu.

The Hunan group can form a "TV-Network Linkage" promotion closed loop; although the foundation of their films is not very good, their resources are abundant.

Those young boys and girls are the main consumers, which is also the reason for the high box office of the movie "Forever Young".

Although it was actually shot too poorly and was crazily roasted, the fans' whitewashing was still very effective; in this era, fresh meat idols still had a very strong market.

It was not that the audience grew to loathe them later on.

"Tiny Times 4" was the same; although its reputation collapsed, it grossed over a hundred million on its first day of release, and the second day was also around ninety million.

However, "Tiny Times 4" and "Forever Young" were constantly implying and stepping on each other, a "pecking order of losers."

It is very normal; these two movies have the same audience, with the core audience being female viewers aged 15-25, especially the student group.

It is just a movie for harvesting fans.

"Monkey King: Hero Is Back" is different; this movie is positioned for children, with children bringing their parents.

Of course, there are also those who want to watch a good movie.

These three movies sucked away the box office of a crowd of films like "GG Bond", "The Taoist Down the Mountain", and the Hollywood movie "Criminal".

This summer vacation was still fierce, with the entire market breaking over three hundred million in a single day.

At this time, the reputation of "Monkey King: Hero Is Back" was the best, with a Douban rating of over 8 points.

It was also on this day that Liu Tianxian, Huang Xiaoming, and many other stars recommended "Monkey King: Hero Is Back" on Weibo, which further triggered the enthusiasm of fans and passersby, further pushing the fermentation of Social Fission.

#Monkey King: Hero Is Back, Rise of National Comics! #

#My Monkey King Sentiment#

Such trending search terms climbed the trending list for a time, unstoppable.

It was mainly because there were more and more derivative videos; this was of course fueled by the creators behind the scenes, and it fermented faster and faster.

Unlike the previous life where it fermented so slowly.

The next day, the screenings for "Monkey King: Hero Is Back" rose to 11%, and the box office also rose, with 65.7 million, an increase of twenty million from the previous day.

Meanwhile, "Forever Young" fell by ten million, with 80.02 million; "Tiny Times 4" also fell by ten million, with around eighty million.

Other movies all had varying degrees of decline; only "Monkey King: Hero Is Back" was rising, mainly because of its good reputation.

Can the others even be called movies? They were just here to harvest leeks.

On the third day, the box office of other movies was still falling, while "Monkey King: Hero Is Back" rose against the trend to 79.52 million.

It was from this day on that the reputations of movies like "Forever Young" and "Tiny Times 4" collapsed across the board.

Even if the fans tried to whitewash and control the comments, they could not stop more and more people from watching, crazily giving low ratings, and crazily cursing.

This is how people are scolding "Forever Young."

"This movie made me want to puke; it's even worse than Tiny Times. At least Tiny Times had a few climactic moments, but this whole film is as bland as plain boiled water."

"This is the worst domestic youth film in history, and it's the kind of awkward, trashy film that leaves you speechless. He Laoshi, who claims to have poured his heart and soul into this, has zero talent for directing."

"It's even worse than the Principal's melodramatic Abortion Trilogy from back then."

The audience still remembers this; they thought everyone had forgotten about Fang Hong making that melodramatic Abortion Trilogy back in the day.

This is how people are scolding "Tiny Times 4."

"Finally waited for this series to end. The endless catfights and the 'Era Sisters' who never stop acting out have finally taken their final bow!"

"I'm only giving it one star because I can't give it zero!"

"Let me tell everyone some good news: this isn't the end. Please look forward to the same cast and crew creating the equally trashy 'L. O. R. D: Legend of Ravaging Dynasties,' hahaha. Guo Jingming really hasn't made any progress at all these past few years."

"To call it trash is an understatement; even the factors outside the film itself are trash—the values are completely twisted!"

And yet, even with such trashy movies, they still tear each other apart.

Regardless, from this day on, the word-of-mouth for both films completely collapsed; on the fourth day, "Forever Young" had a box office of 37.21 million.

That's a drop of about three times compared to before.

"Tiny Times 4" also only had thirty-something million.

The collapse of these two films was as if the audience had awakened; "Monkey King: Hero is Back" had a fourth-day box office of 89.99 million.

On the fifth day, the single-day box office directly exceeded 100 million!

The screening share also increased from the initial 9.5% to 25%, and then again to 28%, which can be described as climbing high.

Because there were pre-sales, the cinemas knew how to schedule the screenings.

The total box office for five days exceeded 370 million; such a result just barely breaks even. This animated film had a production cost of 60 million, plus marketing costs, so it can only be considered a small profit.

Which is to say, this film has shaken off its losses!

The main creators, including Tian Xiaopeng, were excited and held a celebration banquet at a hotel. A big shot also attended this banquet: Jiaozi.

These two had already known each other since '08!

Fang Hong didn't go to this celebration banquet; Chen Zhixi went. Even though he knew Jiaozi would be there, he had no intention of going.

To him, this banquet was at too low a level. Even if those people were talented, they should be the ones coming to see him, not him going to see them.

This wasn't arrogance, but rather a way to maintain a sense of dignity and mystery; only in this way could he better manipulate the hearts of men.

Sun Tzu's Art of War says: "Those who are skilled at making the enemy come to them do so by offering them an advantage!"

The meaning of this sentence is that you must make the other party come to you voluntarily, rather than you going to them, or else you will fall into a passive position.

Even if they could be big shots in the future, that's a matter for the future!

"Jiaozi, if you want to produce Nezha, I can help introduce you to General Manager Fang and have him invest in you." Tian Xiaopeng patted him on the shoulder.

"What if it loses money? I don't have much confidence." Jiaozi said dejectedly.

"How will you know if you don't try? It's fine, go for it boldly. As long as you've put in the effort, you won't have any regrets." Tian Xiaopeng encouraged him.

Jiaozi was silent for a moment, feeling tempted. After all, the Principal was a founding father figure of Chinese animation, having spent four years sharpening his sword, and his "Big Hero 6" had broken into the international market, won the Hollywood Best Foreign Language Film award, and raked in billions at the box office.

This time, the success of "Monkey King: Hero is Back" made him feel moved again, wanting to create his own big animated feature film!

"I just don't know if the Principal would invest in me," he said.

"You'll only know after you try. How can you know if you don't try? Don't be discouraged; the Principal is a man of great courage and is very easy to talk to," Tian Xiaopeng said.

Just as the two were chatting, Chen Zhixi walked over and asked them, "What are you two chatting about here?"

"Oh, we're talking about the next animation production," Tian Xiaopeng said.

"No problem, as long as you have an idea, our Jade Rabbit will invest," Chen Zhixi said, patting her chest.

The box office for this "Monkey King: Hero is Back" is estimated to be at least one billion—a huge profit!

"It's not me, it's him," Tian Xiaopeng pointed to Jiaozi in front of him. "His name is Jiaozi; he has an idea to produce an animated film, but he's lacking funds."

"Oh!" Chen Zhixi paused and looked at this person.

Tian Xiaopeng was an animation director who had already succeeded, but she didn't know the person in front of her at all.

The prejudice that "domestic animation equals childish" still exists in the animation film track; it's not like the success of "Monkey King: Hero is Back" made this prejudice disappear.

It is indeed like that; for decades, only Tian Xiaopeng and Jiaozi have succeeded, while others haven't done very well.

"Hello, General Manager Chen!" Jiaozi noticed the hesitation in her expression.

"Hello, hello. As long as you have a good idea, you can tell me about it." Chen Zhixi didn't say she would definitely invest, leaving room for maneuver.

Who knows if the other party really has a good idea.

When she invested in "Monkey King: Hero is Back," she also felt it was feasible before introducing it to General Manager Fang.

"He has an animated short film called 'See Through the Watermelon' that he produced himself. General Manager Chen, you can take a look; I think it's quite interesting," Tian Xiaopeng helped say.

To find the Principal, one also has to pass the test of the person in front of him; this person is also the Principal's executor.

"Alright then, I'll take a look." Chen Zhixi nodded; as long as there is a work, it's easy to talk.

One can see a person's level and ideas through their work.

Jiaozi was silent; this matter could be considered to have a glimmer of hope, an intention.

He wasn't discouraged either; it's definitely difficult at the beginning. With investments of tens of millions or hundreds of millions, every company has to be cautious.

Moreover, animated films are inherently time-consuming, and it takes years to see any results.

Of course, if even Jade Rabbit won't invest, other companies will have to be even more cautious.

In fact, the previous success of "Big Hero 6" allowed some people to see the potential of animated films; it's something worth doing.

For example, Wang Zhangtian of Enlight Media saw the opportunity and is currently seeking projects, and other film and television companies are the same.

The renewed success of "Monkey King: Hero is Back" this time has made some capital flock to it; in fact, it's definitely easier for Jiaozi to raise investment now than in his past life.

But Jade Rabbit is the benchmark; seeing the success of "Monkey King: Hero is Back," more animation companies have come to seek cooperation.

Nothing else, because Yutu has technical support, experience, and channels, including overseas channels.

Huaqiang Fantawild wanted to have Yutu take a stake through a private placement, which is a type of financing involving the non-public issuance of shares.

This is the company that produced the Xiong Chu Mo IP.

It is not a company purely focused on animation as its main business; they also have their own theme parks, and later their theme parks spread all over the country.

Just like Disney, it is an enterprise with a very specific strategy of its own.

They want to raise 1.2 billion for theme park construction and Xiong Chu Mo IP development; Meng Jun will go to negotiate this.

In addition, Zhuiguang Animation also came looking; they didn't just look for Yutu, but also Chang'e Technology, wanting Chang'e to provide content distribution and IP linkage support.

They just want to cooperate with Chang'e Video and Bilibili to conduct streaming media content distribution.

After these animated films finish their theatrical run, they all need to be played online; having a good platform to promote them again can also earn more money.

Meng Jun and Gao Zhun are handling this matter, so Fang Hong won't worry about it; it doesn't matter how much they invest, he knows it won't lose money.

It's just that these animation enterprises have only just developed, and the market has only just started to improve; it is the time for great development, and this era is just like this—riding the east wind of mobile internet has allowed many industries to develop.

It is not just these; there are many other animation companies seeking cooperation with Chang'e Technology, or wanting investment.

It is just to get money and share the benefits of Chang'e Technology's novels.

For example, Fuxu Film, which produced the first season of Fighter of the Destiny, including other works like Battle Through the Heavens and The King's Avatar, will also be developed one after another.

This is the benefit of having an IP library; everyone comes looking, and it can be said that Fang Hong pushed the development of the animation industry.

Because he took the lead, he let others see the potential.

The summer box office competition remains fierce; there is still Monster Hunt waiting behind, and on the 16th, which is the day after tomorrow, this film will be a formidable rival.

Other films have basically all collapsed, and the box office will only be lower day by day; there is no chance of a comeback, as they were poorly made to begin with.

The films competing in the market are basically gone, and after they are gone, the corresponding online traffic diversion for Wanda's cinemas has been restricted.

Because Rabbit Tickets has placed Wanda cinemas further down the list, meaning when people buy tickets, they are first recommended other cinemas and will not be recommended Wanda cinemas first.

This makes people subconsciously buy tickets for other cinemas and not buy tickets for Wanda cinemas first.

Naturally, the foot traffic for other cinemas is higher, and the foot traffic for Wanda cinemas is lower; once the foot traffic is low, the revenue is low, and it may even lose money.

Cinemas only make money for a few months a year, and once that time passes, it's gone.

Lao Wang Zong discovered that the Principal was playing tricks when he looked at the report, but he didn't make a scene; he also restricted showtimes for them, just a reciprocal sanction.

But Wanda is hurt more; on Rabbit Tickets, there is not only Monkey King: Hero is Back, but also all the films currently in theaters.

All films have tickets for sale on Rabbit Tickets.

"We still need to have our own films; it won't work without our own films." Lao Wang Zong felt a sense of urgency.

Wanda has no way not to connect to the Rabbit Tickets system; now that it is regulated, all major ticketing platforms are connected to the national ticketing management system.

Their cinema ticketing system interface is also connected to the Special Fund Office.

If their cinema does not connect to the ticketing platform, resulting in incomplete data reporting, then the authorities will come looking for you.

The authorities have been pushing for the transparency of box office information.

And if you don't connect to Rabbit Tickets, you miss out on blockbuster films and pre-sale information, making it difficult to even schedule showtimes.

Rabbit Tickets now occupies half of the market share, with a GMV exceeding 30 billion, ranking first in the industry.

Compared to the past, although the market share has declined, there is no way around it; Taobao Film and Weying Technology have caught up and occupied the share, and Baidu Nuomi is shrinking and will soon exit the market.

Although the share has declined, the sales volume has surged, occupying 68% of the total output value, mainly due to the market reaction brought by every hit from Yutu Film.

With an output value of tens of billions, how could Wanda possibly give it up? Even with traffic restrictions, it is not completely without traffic.

There will still be many people who specifically buy tickets for Wanda cinemas and recognize the Wanda brand.

Undercurrents were surging on both sides; on the 15th, which was the sixth day, the box office for Monkey King: Hero is Back was 108 million, and the total box office exceeded 400 million.

With such results, the news media reported the good news one after another!

(End of this chapter)