Chapter 205

As the only cross-regional cinema chain company in the country at this stage, China Film Star Beauty Cinema Chain Company certainly puts "Nine-Tailed Fox" in the highest priority.

From the distribution of copies, organization of activities, distribution of promotional materials, arrangement of premieres, to the broadcast of news reports, it created preliminary conditions for the smooth release of the film.

After careful preparation and a lot of preparatory work, several leading actors of "Nine-Tailed Fox" joined hands with China Film Star Beauty to hold many promotional activities in more than 20 cities across the country.

Yes, this time Han Zong attached great importance to it and directly arranged promotions in more than 20 cities.

Of course, it is impossible for all actors to run to more than 20 cities.

The crew was divided into three groups. Li Xiaoran and Gao Yuanyuan each led a group, and then Chen Kun and Pang Bing, who were more famous, formed a group to run these 20-plus cities respectively.

In fact, Li Xiaoran and Gao Yuanyuan could only promote in the country for two days. After that, they would go to North America and Europe for promotion. When they returned, they would also promote in Xiangjiang, the land of the rising sun, and South Korea for two days.

Although the foreign copyrights were sold, this had no effect on the actors. The higher the foreign box office, the more benefits they would get.

Li Xiaoran and Gao Yuanyuan might not be very famous in North America, but the titles of Berlin Best Actress and Cannes Best Actress are still useful and will definitely help the box office.

It is different in Europe; their fame in Europe is very high.

It is the same in Xiangjiang, the land of the rising sun, and South Korea; the titles of the three major European film festival best actresses are equally useful.

Cao Yang would also cooperate and accept several exclusive interviews.

He specifically paid attention to the box office results and news reports today. He also wanted to know how the outside world viewed this "experimental film".

Beijing Youth Daily: According to this newspaper, yesterday at midnight, "Nine-Tailed Fox" was simultaneously launched in 100 cinemas across 14 cinema chains in the country.

In just the one-time screening from midnight to two o'clock, 100 cinemas were full, and the box office reached a new record of 2.2 million.

Among them, the Guangdong cinema chain had an income of 490,000, ranking first...

The highest single-cinema box office was Yangcheng Tianhe Cinema, with a total of 50,000; Shanghai Xintiandi Cinema followed closely with 48,000; Beijing China Film Star Beauty Cinema ranked third with 46,000...

Cao Yang flipped through the Beijing Youth Daily. This news reported yesterday's midnight screening.

"Huh?"

Below, there was also a report about Lu Chuan's "Kekexili".

Beijing Youth Daily: According to this newspaper, yesterday at midnight, young director Lu Chuan's new film "Kekexili" was also simultaneously launched in 100 cinemas across the country. According to informed sources, the box office was gratifying, and it was very likely to exceed 60,000 in total.

That's it?

Cao Yang flipped back, and it was indeed gone. There was only this content about "Kekexili".

Well, the box office exceeded 60,000, and there was indeed nothing worth reporting.

According to the news revealed by Xiao Gangpao, the Huayi Wang brothers did not intend to arrange a midnight screening for "Kekexili" at first.

Later, learning that "Nine-Tailed Fox" had a midnight screening, Lu Chuan might have intended to compete with Cao Yang. Under his strong request, Huayi also arranged a midnight screening. It was said that it was neither more nor less, also 100 cinemas.

Alright, courage is commendable.

There was also news about "2046" in the Beijing Youth Daily.

Although "2046" was chosen to be released yesterday, the film side played a trick.

They started showing it at 20:46 on September 30th, and there was only one screening.

In terms of time, it was a bit better than the midnight screening, which means their large-scale release was also October 1st.

However, I don't know what the film side was thinking; they also set the ticket price for this screening at 2046 yuan!

Beijing Youth Daily did not get specific box office information, only saying that the premiere box office was estimated to be within 200,000.

In this way, "Nine-Tailed Fox", "2046", and "Kekexili" were all released on a large scale on October 1st.

There is also Cheng Long's "New Police Story". This film is indeed a big deal, with an investment of 120 million Hong Kong dollars.

It was released on September 24th.

It created a box office of 16 million in three days of release. By the 29th, the box office had soared to 22 million. The film side specifically held a small celebration banquet in Beijing to celebrate this result.

They also hung up a banner, saying that it refreshed the box office results of all films released in the country this year during the same period, and cited that the three-day box office of "The Day After Tomorrow" and "Troy" were both 15 million, which was not as good as "New Police Story".

Don't refute that the producers are lying.

Although Old Mouzi's "House of Flying Daggers", released in July, had a first-day box office of 16 million and more than 40 million in three days of release.

But if you look closely, you will find that the producers also said that it refreshed the box office results of the "same period" in the country this year. You must remember the two words "same period".

The box office of "New Police Story" looks good, but if you analyze it carefully, you will find that it was 16 million in the first three days, and only increased by 6 million in the next two days. The decline is a bit large.

No wonder the distributor specifically held a celebration banquet. This is to create a kind of "false prosperity" in order to expand influence and increase box office results.

However, according to the current box office trend, it would be good if it could exceed 40 million when it is taken off the screen.

The box office of "New Police Story" in Xiangjiang is also not good. It hasn't exceeded 10 million in a week. When it is taken off the screen, it will only be about 20 million.

Relying solely on Xiangjiang and the mainland, it is definitely impossible to break even. It is estimated that even with the global box office, it will be difficult to break even.

Beijing Youth Daily did not have real film critics publish film reviews about "Nine-Tailed Fox". The reason for saying this is that the film critics invited to the premiere yesterday were all given travel expenses by China Film, so it is difficult to make an objective evaluation.

It is estimated that we can only wait until tomorrow for relevant film reviews to come out. Film critics who were not invited wanted to write film reviews, so they could only watch the midnight screening yesterday.

Maybe there are film reviews online.

Cao Yang opened "Cao Yang Bar", took a look, and saw a few post-viewing impressions. Browsing through them roughly, none of them were real film reviews.

There was a very interesting post-viewing impression, in which one sentence caused a large-scale off-topic discussion below.

"... Men all want to marry a virtuous and gentle woman like Pei Rong as their wife. But they hope to find a sprite and charming beauty like Xiao Wei as their lover...

So, if you ask me, who would I choose between Li Xiaoran and Gao Yuanyuan? Does this even need to be said? Who wouldn't want to have both best actresses, Li Xiaoran and Gao Yuanyuan! I don't know which son of a bitch they will be cheap for..."

"Li Dabai is mine, no one can take her away!"

"The one above, draw your sword."

"You two can perhaps open a room and fence to compete. I won't fight you for Li Xiaoran, but Gao Yuanyuan must be mine. Her Xiao Wei simply hit all my aesthetic points."

"I still like Li Dabai's style. Gao Yuanyuan feels a bit pure, not as charming as Li Dabai."

"I have the opposite view to the one above. I just like Gao Yuanyuan's pure, school-flower-like feeling."

"What's there to fight about? I like both anyway."

"I also want both, but I still want to ask, how is the movie? Is there any big shot who can say objectively."

"I won't spoil it. I'll just say a few points: there are big scenes, it explores the changes in human nature, the story is told quite completely, and there is no dragging of art films. Personally, I think it is much better than Old Mouzi's 'House of Flying Daggers'."

"'House of Flying Daggers' is rotten as hell. What kind of dog-blood story is it? In the end, it wasn't explained clearly. Old Mouzi's ability to tell stories is really not good."

"Slightly spoil it, haha, 'Nine-Tailed Fox' is also a story about a love triangle. Do you think it's a coincidence? But Cao Yang's story is told well, and he can also discuss the complex changes in human nature. As an art film, it is not dragging, which is the most important thing."

"Cao Yang is really bold to use a film with such a high investment to do an experiment. This point is indeed worthy of admiration.

However, after watching the movie, I feel that Cao Yang still compromised. Although the film explores complex and changeable human nature, I feel that it is a bit shallow, and the whole film is more focused on commerciality, without digging deep into human nature."

"The one above must be a professional. As an ordinary person, I feel that it is better now. If you really dig deep into human nature, it will probably be too heavy, and the movie will be more dull."

Cao Yang couldn't help but sigh. In this era, the authority of the three major European film festivals is still very awesome in the country. The Venice Film Festival said that "Nine-Tailed Fox" is an experimental film, and so many people actually thought it was an experimental film. At most, it is like what some people said in the post bar, this film did not balance commerciality and art well, slightly biased towards commercialization, and failed to continue to dig deep into human nature.

"Time to eat. Come and taste how the dishes I made today are. You always said that my taste is heavy and the food I cook is too salty. During this time, I specifically learned some Cantonese cooking methods. You come and try it."

Dong Xuan was dressed as a cook, holding a soup bowl on the table, and then "S-ha"ed, quickly shaking her hands.

When she put down the bowl, she was accidentally splashed by the soup stewed inside.

Cao Yang hurriedly stood up, pulled Dong Xuan's hand over to look at it; it was red, but no blisters.

"Be careful, does it hurt?"

Dong Xuan grinned, "It's okay."

"Alright, you sit down, I'll do the rest."

Cao Yang pressed Dong Xuan into the chair and asked again, "Do you want to apply some medicine?"

"No, it doesn't hurt anymore."

Dong Xuan watched Cao Yang busy in the kitchen serving dishes and rice, and her heart was instantly filled with sweetness. If this kind of life could continue, how good would it be!

!

After eating, Cao Yang took the initiative to wash the dishes, and then said to Dong Xuan: "I will live here for this period of time, but I may not have time to accompany you. During the day, I have to deal with the post-production of 'District 9', and I also have to find time to write the script."

"Do you have ideas for a new movie again?"

Dong Xuan asked with some surprise. The post-production of "District 9" had just begun to be processed. If he made a new movie so quickly, would it be too urgent, too rushed, and too tired?

"I do have ideas. I want to write two scripts, one for Old Tian and one for myself to shoot. The one I shoot myself is not urgent, as long as I catch up with Venice next year."

Dong Xuan couldn't help but be more surprised when she heard that Cao Yang was going to Venice again.

"Don't you have a 1+1 plan with Columbia? Are you not shooting Hollywood movies next year?"

"Haha, that's even less urgent. Wait until 'District 9' is produced and released, see how the box office is, and then decide whether to work with Columbia on a second movie."

Cao Yang stood up, rubbed Dong Xuan's head, and said with a smile: "Regarding the 1+1 plan, Columbia has the right to choose, and of course I have it too. It's not that I must cooperate with them. Alright, I'm going to the Qingying Studio."

In the next few days, Cao Yang was busy with the post-production of "District 9" while paying attention to the situation of "Nine-Tailed Fox".

"District 9" is a co-production. Columbia found a very famous editor, the kind that comes with a team, which also saved Cao Yang a lot of effort.

He only needs to explain to the editor what he wants, supervise from time to time, and see if it meets his wishes.

This time, because "Nine-Tailed Fox" is a big investment, and it has the blessing of the Venice Best Director, and two best actresses acting, it was hyped as Cao Yang's first "experimental film". The heat added together is unusually large.

What is a big director in the minds of ordinary people in the country now? That is, one who can also explode at the box office in Hollywood and win awards at the Oscars.

Cao Yang's previous film "Milk" won the Oscar for Best Picture, with a North American box office of 146 million US dollars and a global box office of 273 million US dollars, making him the well-deserved number one Chinese director.

His influence in the country is even greater than Old Mouzi's.

The thing Dong Xuan likes to do most these days is to observe around the many cinemas in Beijing, and she will pretend to queue up to buy tickets in order to understand the relevant situation.

And then she was surprised to find that almost everyone queuing to buy tickets was going for "Nine-Tailed Fox".

She had thought that "Nine-Tailed Fox" would be very popular.

After all, this is Cao Yang's first Chinese-language film after winning the Oscar for Best Picture. The influence is definitely different from before, but she didn't expect that this film would be popular to this extent.

On October 2nd, Cao Yang was still hugging Dong Xuan to sleep when Han Zong called early in the morning. The box office was out.

"Nine-Tailed Fox" led the second place by a cliff-like margin with a box office of 18.36 million.

"2046" got a box office of 4.2 million, ranking second. It is worth mentioning that among these 4.2 million, Shanghai alone contributed 2 million. It seems that there are more petty bourgeois in Shanghai, and there are also more who like Wong Kar-wai.

The box office of "New Police Story" had a small rebound compared to yesterday, getting 3.6 million and ranking third.

As for "Kekexili", although Lu Chuan promoted that this is a commercial film, the audience who bought it was not many, and it only got a box office of 680,000.

On October 3rd, Cao Yang was still hugging Dong Xuan to sleep when Han Zong called again early in the morning, this time even more excited.

"Nine-Tailed Fox" led by a cliff-like margin again, with a small increase in box office compared to yesterday, getting a box office of 20.2 million.

Compared with this, whether it is "2046" or "New Police Story", the box office has fallen to varying degrees.

The current domestic market is too small and will only be a winner-takes-all, with box office sucked away by big-hit movies.

There is also Lu Chuan's "Kekexili", because the first day's box office was too bad, the screening was cut by more than half, and it is not worth mentioning now.

The total box office will definitely be lower than the 6 million in the previous life, and even whether it can get 3 million is a problem.

He became the first cannon fodder. Let alone competing with Cao Yang, he couldn't even see his taillights.

On October 4th, the box office of "Nine-Tailed Fox" fell, only getting a result of 15.8 million. "2046" and "New Police Story" were also falling, and the box office of the latter had fallen below 2 million.

Cao Yang estimated that the total box office of "2046" and "New Police Story" would definitely be much lower than in the previous life, and their screenings were taken away a lot.

On October 5th, the box office of "Nine-Tailed Fox" fell slightly, getting 13.4 million, and "2046" also fell below 2 million.

On October 6th, Cao Yang was doing morning exercises with Dong Xuan when Han Zong called again. He excitedly stated that through the box office of these few days, he found that the trend of "Nine-Tailed Fox" was very similar to that of "Hero" at the beginning.

When hanging up the phone, he was still excitedly chattering that even if "Nine-Tailed Fox" could not reach the box office of "Hero", it should not be too different.

"Nine-Tailed Fox" got a box office of 12.6 million today.

On October 7th, Han Zong called on time. Today, "Nine-Tailed Fox" passed 10 million again, getting a result of 11.2 million.

On October 8th, the seven-day National Day holiday ended. Cao Yang thought Han Zong would not call so early, but he didn't expect Han Zong to call as punctually as ever, and he could hear that his tone was even more excited.

On the last day of the National Day holiday, the box office of "Nine-Tailed Fox" fell below 10 million, only getting a result of 9.78 million.

However, in the entire seven days of the National Day, "Nine-Tailed Fox" got a box office of 101.34 million, plus the 2.2 million from the midnight screening, which is 103.54 million.

This result has exceeded the box office of "Hero" in the first seven days. "Hero" was 100.71 million in the first seven days.

Afterwards, Han Zong couldn't help but sigh. If "Nine-Tailed Fox" was changed to the summer vacation or the He Sui's Eve, relying on a longer holiday, it might be able to catch up with the box office of "Hero".

Cao Yang understood what Han Zong meant. After the holiday ends, the box office is expected to fall significantly. It is estimated to be difficult to exceed the box office of "Hero".

"Senior brother, do you think if it was placed in this year's summer vacation, and we were released together with 'House of Flying Daggers', would both sides be hurt?"

Han Zong thought for a while and sighed, "You are right. 'House of Flying Daggers' also has a box office of 150 million. The current market simply cannot accommodate two films with over 100 million at the same time."

Cao Yang thought of the He Sui's Eve this year, which has "A World Without Thieves" and "Kung Fu Hustle". Both of these films have a box office of over 100 million.

Xiao Gangpao should have a lot of opinions about Zhou Xingxing at that time, and he didn't expect his movie to exceed 100 million.

He didn't expect even more that just two weeks after the movie was released, Zhou Xingxing's "Kung Fu Hustle" also exploded, blocking his "A World Without Thieves", at least taking away tens of millions of box office.

Han Zong is actually right. The current market is difficult to accommodate two big-hit movies at the same time. As long as one explodes, the movies in the same period will be heavily sucked of box office.

This point can be seen from the cliff-like decline in the box office of "A World Without Thieves" after "Kung Fu Hustle" exploded.

Therefore, later Xiao Gangpao accused Zhou Xingxing in front of the media, saying that he was not kind, had poor character, and would not cooperate in the future... The reason for this is that this time the movie was blocked is a very big reason.

When hanging up the phone, Han Zong said in a very sincere tone: "Junior brother, congratulations, your experimental film is very successful. Whether it is from the awards or the box office, it can reflect this point."

Hanging up the phone, Cao Yang patted Dong Xuan's butt, "Come, celebrate the box office exceeding 100 million, you go and put on the Goddess Dragon clothes."

(End of this chapter)