Chapter 89: Hot Promotion

Xu Lao Guai wore an expression of reminiscing the past, "I remember it was 1993, when Hollywood's blockbuster Jurassic Park premiered, with a box office of 62 million, defeating Stephen Chow's Flirting Scholar and winning the yearly box office champion of all Hong Kong."

At the time, many industry peers were shocked beyond measure by the dinosaur images in the film, finding them utterly unbelievable.

Believing that audiences worldwide shared that view is what gave it a global box office of over 900 million US dollars!

Now, Pacific Rim, as the world's first true mecha-class commercial blockbuster, delivers a visual impact that is certainly not inferior to that year's Jurassic Park, and I believe its box office performance will not be far off either!

Finding his words reasonable and well-founded, and having drunk quite a bit, the guests were convinced, raising their glasses one after another, wishing Pacific Rim a global box office over ten billion.

Han Sanping was overjoyed, while Jiang Heng felt somewhat torn between laughter and tears.

One billion US dollars! Xu Lao Guai really dares to dream that big!

However, in such an occasion, showing timidity is definitely not acceptable.

If you yourself lack confidence, how can others believe your film is good!

Jiang Heng also followed up with a bout of bold talk, having drunk quite a bit.

As the event ended, an assistant was sending Jiang Heng home when Xu Ke suddenly said, "Um, Director Jiang, would it be convenient to give me a lift along the way?"

The dazed Jiang Heng blinked, then immediately nodded, "Get in the car!"

Inside the car, both Jiang Heng and Xu Ke sat in the back seat; the latter gave a wry smile, "This is the situation, Mr. Jiang—I've just written another manuscript and would like you to take a look at it!"

The over-fifty-year-old Xu Lao Guai also feared being rejected by the twenty-something Jiang Heng, which would be too embarrassing, so he didn't dare directly ask for investment, but instead requested help reviewing the script.

Jiang Heng laughed, saying that over the past year or so, the biggest change in his life has been that more and more film people are coming to him for investment.

There are those from Neidi as well as from Xianggang.

When he comes across something decent that doesn't require too much money, he occasionally invests a little.

Unfortunately, most scripts are not that good, and he basically ends up rejecting them.

On Xu Lao Guai's side, according to the historical timeline, it should be that film claimed to have invested 140 million, polished over four years, yet only grossed over 80 million—namely Seven Swords—which essentially left the investors' pockets empty.

Although Xu Ke used to be an excellent director, during Shu Mountain Legend he already began to falter at storytelling.

This Seven Swords in preparation is the same: bloated plot, loose structure, characters not well established—it's the kind that tanks both at the box office and in reputation.

Jiang Heng would definitely not give such an investment.

Although making money comes easily to him, he also cannot just throw it away.

He said with a smile, "No problem, I'll take a look for you, then later ask others to see if they have any investment interest!"

Upon hearing this, Xu Ke's heart, which had been full of expectation, sank instantly.

He couldn't help wondering, "Have I really fallen to this point?"

He didn't even look at it and just refused to invest!

Xu Ke's expression turned embarrassed; he pretended to search for something and said ruefully, "Getting old, I'm useless—I forgot to bring the script; I'll bring it over later!"

Jiang Heng gave a light smile and said, "Good!"

The atmosphere in the car instantly turned awkward; Jiang Heng also didn't know what to say further, nor could he persuade.

If it were the Di Renjie series, investing a bit of money would be fine!

Seven Swords truly is unbearable to suffer!

Soon they arrived at the hotel; Xu Ke got out of the car, feeling resentful.

People these days really have no sense of morality at all!

Everyone judges others by their own standards; I merely lost more on Shu Mountain Legend, and now there's not a single person willing to invest.

Thinking that fortunes change, perhaps one day Jiang Heng will also experience his predicament.

But then thinking of the online rumors about Director Jiang's wealth, and Pacific Rim's super shocking audiovisual effect, Xu Ke sighed again.

"Heroes rise in every generation, each leading the trend for hundreds of years; it's no longer the old martial world!"

Xu Lao Guai walked into the hotel with his hands behind his back, feeling forlorn.

Jiang Heng returned home, washed his face, lay on the sofa thinking about the box office expectations from the banquet, and couldn't help letting his mind wander.

Let's not talk about the global figure for now; speaking of Neidi's five hundred million box office, it's definitely something to aim for.

In terms of promotion, the Neidi market has prepared ten million in promotion funds, enough to shoot a small-to-medium budget film.

And this money will turn into publicity posters on buses, subways, and outdoor billboards, as well as advertising expenses for radio, television, and websites.

Besides these conventional promotions, this film's promotion also has an innovative move: establishing the Pacific Rim movie official website, where they post super-exciting trailers, causing youths who flock to internet cafes for lodging to have their blood boil.

They watched the one-and-a-half-minute trailer over and over, left and right, and clicked repeatedly on the high-definition mecha images posted on the website.

Besides that, there were advance screenings.

In order to hit a higher box office record, Jiang Heng and Han Sanping discussed and prepared to conduct advance screening promotions in the top ten Neidi cities by box office ranking, so as to build good word-of-mouth before the film's official release.

And the five theaters under China Film Red Banner Line that have been renovated for IMAX auditoriums were all selected for the advance screening city theater list.

After the news came out, the advance screening tickets were all snapped up.

Even scalpers appeared, marking up the advance screening tickets.

Even worse, the theater managers themselves marked up the tickets, attempting to eliminate middlemen.

All kinds of chaos, too many to list.

On the media side, CCTV Channel 6's movie channel gave extensive, long-time coverage of various news about Pacific Rim, and also aired the advance trailer.

As for print media, it was just various press releases.

Some say: Pacific Rim is currently the world's best hardcore mecha sci-fi film; the mechas in the film are tall, imposing, realistic, with great texture, embodying the rise of our country's film industry.

Others say the IMAX viewing effect is superb, with the Wanderer mecha in the film descending like a deity....

And on forums such as MaoPao and Tianya, discussions about Pacific Rim have already reached a super hot level.

In fact, large numbers of netizens spontaneously posted photos of the Pacific Rim crew's advance screening events in major cities onto the relevant forum sections, attempting to conduct 'picture-text live streams,' and indeed attracted many netizens to watch.

"Good heavens, how can there be so many people lining up? Any veterans who've seen it, tell me how the effect is!"

"I can only say it's barely worth the ticket price, because I bought a scalper ticket for one hundred per piece; the difference is about even, so it's really hard to say whether it's a loss or not!"

"The algorithm upstairs actually leaves me speechless!"

The algorithm upstairs actually left me speechless!

"Agree, it's really much better than ordinary movies; no, ordinary movies can't compare to it!"

Agreed, it's really far better than ordinary movies—no, ordinary movies just can't compare!

"I'll give you a piece of advice: you must see it in IMAX, you must see it in IMAX; if you go to a regular theater, watching this movie would be a waste!"

I'll give you a piece of advice: you must see it in IMAX, you must see it in IMAX; if you go to a regular theater, you'll have wasted your time watching this film!

"Upstairs, is it really that good?"

Upstairs, is it really that good?

"Whoever watches it knows!"

Anyone who sees it knows!

(End of chapter)

(End of chapter)