On January 30, pre-sales for the Tom and Jerry movie officially began.
Many fans who had been waiting patiently lined up at the movie theater entrance, but the tickets for the two shows from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. were sold out as soon as they came out.
Tickets originally priced at 40 yuan were sold for 100 yuan as soon as they were acquired, and after a night of speculation, they were resold online for as much as 500 yuan, and were still extremely difficult to obtain.
This clearly demonstrates the high level of anticipation audiences have for the first Tom and Jerry movie.
Fans are complaining bitterly about scalpers. Some say they queued for hours, only to find that there were only a dozen or so people in front of them, but the tickets were sold out before it was their turn, with each person buying several tickets.
Such scenes occur in various cinemas with preview screening qualifications. However, Qitian Animation's official team is helpless against scalpers reselling tickets. Even though cinemas stipulate that each person can only buy a maximum of four tickets, as long as there are twenty or thirty scalpers, they can basically book the entire theater.
Needless to say, most of these scalpers are organized; these people are willing to queue overnight outside movie theaters every day in order to make money from reselling.
Clearly, the problem lies in the insufficient number of screenings. Limiting the previews to two screenings per day gave scalpers too much room to operate. Those fans who wanted to see the film at full price will have to wait until the official release during the Spring Festival.
And at midnight on January 31st.
The Tom and Jerry creative team held a grand premiere at a large hotel in Beijing, selecting 500 loyal audience members from various channels, including but not limited to media reporters, distributors, film companies, media outlets, and film critics.
After a series of promotional and interactive activities, everyone watched the first movie together.
Qitian Animation also thoughtfully prepared movie-related gifts for every audience member, invited Qitian Animation's own wind band to simulate the original soundtrack of the animation on site, and Lin Yanwan showcased several piano pieces.
The impressive capabilities of the Tom and Jerry production team are truly remarkable. This series of meticulously planned events provided everyone at the premiere with an immersive, unforgettable, and fulfilling experience.
After the premiere, related content trended on various platforms, further boosting the film's publicity.
By 1 p.m. on January 31, all the preview screenings across the country were packed to capacity.
Qitian Animation even thoughtfully released the actual seating arrangements for each theater and each preview screening online, further building hype for the Tom and Jerry movie.
This animated feature film is a full 90 minutes long, unlike the usual six or seven-minute episodes of animated films. Qitian Animation used a full hour and a half to tell the funny story of Tom, Jerry and a rabbit, which made the audience cheer and laugh non-stop.
The rabbit, symbolizing the Year of the Rabbit, plays a crucial role in the story. It fights alongside Jerry against Tom's capture, bringing the audience an ultimate comedic feast.
There is still no dialogue throughout the entire film, but the picture quality is excellent, and the dubbing and vocals are superb. Lin Yanwan has carefully prepared 12 songs for this storyline, each of which perfectly matches the specific occasion and atmosphere, making the audience feel as if they are in a large-scale musical performance.
At 2:30 p.m., after the first preview screening, many people wrote their reviews online, including a large number of professional film critics. They praised the Tom and Jerry movie for every aspect, from the plot and performances to its entertainment value, storytelling, visual style, voice acting, and music.
It even proclaimed itself the shining light of Chinese animation, the best domestic animated film in the last decade, highly recommended, absolutely worth the ticket price!
Seeing the overwhelmingly positive reviews online and the continued positive word-of-mouth, many people became even more eager and tagged the official Qitian animation account.
"They've already had preview screenings, so can't they open a few more shows?!"
"Aren't you going to make money even if you have the chance?"
"Urgent! I'm so anxious! Why isn't Chinese New Year here anytime soon? The scalpers have already raised movie ticket prices to 800 yuan apiece! Can't those scalpers just give up?!"
"I really want to see 'Tom and Jerry: Good Fortune in the Year of the Rabbit'! Waaah, I can't afford the expensive tickets, so I can only wait until after the premiere. Another day of feeling poor!"
"I have one son and two daughters, and they love watching Tom and Jerry. When the preview tickets went out, I couldn't get any on the day of the screening, so I spent 500 yuan to buy four tickets from a scalper. The price was a bit expensive, but the kids loved it so much. The plot, art direction, and music were all top-notch, so I felt it was worth it!"
"500 is considered a bit expensive? Rich guy upstairs, do you need another kid? I also like watching Tom and Jerry..."
"I'm in Chengdu. Does anyone want tickets for the 3 PM show on February 1st? There are only a few left. DM me if you're interested."
"Aaaaaah, you scalpers upstairs, die!"
Jiang Xia couldn't help but smile as he looked at the trending topics online. Amidst the widespread praise, although Qitian Animation was secretly hiring online trolls to fuel the hype, it was clear that the movie's reputation was truly phenomenal.
The preview screenings alone grossed over 2 million yuan. Over three days, the total box office should be around 7 million yuan. It doesn't seem like much, and it's incomparable to the hundreds of millions of yuan that preview screenings often gross in later years.
However, it's important to understand that in that era, there were only a little over a thousand cinemas nationwide, and many places didn't even have cinemas. Families were also not as wealthy as they are in later generations, which limited box office revenue.
When it is released nationwide on February 3rd, the day of the Spring Festival, Tom and Jerry: Good Luck in the Year of the Rabbit is expected to get no less than 30% of the screenings, and its box office on the first day should easily exceed 30 million yuan.
In previous years, this performance would have been enough to compete for the annual box office champion. It's worth noting that the recently released film "Let the Bullets Fly" only grossed around 30 million yuan on its opening day.
Compared to the extremely low production cost of the Tom and Jerry movie, it's safe to say that Jiang Xia has made a killing this time.
Many people online have begun to predict whether Tom and Jerry will have great luck in the Year of the Rabbit, and whether it will become the biggest dark horse in the film industry this year, surpassing many other films and winning the title of champion of the year.
Given the current trend, it is highly likely.
On this day, the entire film production team was overjoyed. The feature film became an instant success, and Qitian Animation took its first step steadily towards the big screen.
It is believed that in the future, the phrase "Qitian products are always of high quality" will become the industry's default.
"Let's call everyone together and go to the big hotel next door for dinner."
Jiang Xia tagged everyone in the group chat, planning to take this opportunity to hold a simple celebration banquet, give out red envelopes, and reward everyone for their hard work over the past six months.
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