On the first day of the Lunar New Year, Tom and Jerry grossed 73 million yuan, outperforming many other films released during the Spring Festival and taking the top spot at the box office.
On the second day of the Lunar New Year, driven by positive factors from all sides, the box office of Tom and Jerry did not show any signs of decline and continued to rise. On the second day of its release, the total box office exceeded 150 million yuan.
It also became the fastest domestic film to break 100 million yuan at the box office since 2010.
On the third day of the Lunar New Year, perhaps after everyone had finished visiting relatives, netizens reported that local cinemas were still packed to capacity for screenings of Tom and Jerry. In just three days, the box office revenue strongly exceeded 200 million yuan, becoming another milestone for domestic films.
Although many people guessed before its release that Tom and Jerry would be the dark horse of this year's Spring Festival film season, no one expected it to be so popular.
Once it takes off, it's unstoppable.
On its seventh day of release, the film officially surpassed 500 million yuan at the box office, becoming the most popular domestic animated film in history.
Numerous directors and industry professionals sent their congratulations, and many more celebrities stood by and praised the animation's excellence.
Meanwhile, the official Qitian Animation team also released a Tom and Jerry themed poster to celebrate the 500 million yuan box office.
More and more people want to see how far this film, touted as a beacon of Chinese animation, can go, and whether it can surpass Cameron's sci-fi blockbuster after its theatrical run, becoming the first Chinese film in history to break the 1 billion yuan mark at the box office.
To achieve this goal, Jiang Xia led the production team around every day to promote the film and participate in events. With the Lantern Festival approaching, the cumulative box office was getting closer and closer to one billion yuan. The daily filming rate was still over 40%, and the occupancy rate was astonishingly high, with an average of over 50 people per screening.
This scene left countless people speechless.
It's hard to believe that this movie has such magic that it has attracted people all over the country to willingly pay to go to the cinema to watch an animated film.
It may seem unbelievable, but it's true.
More and more people online are chanting the slogan "Tom and Jerry, go!" and finally, on the 17th day of its release, the box office broke the 1 billion yuan mark for the first time.
In the previous timeline, this achievement was made by Disney's "Zootopia" in 2016.
The Tom and Jerry movie produced by Qitian Animation was released a full five years ahead of schedule, and it was entirely made in China, which made many people feel proud and honored.
Who says there aren't any excellent domestic animation companies? Qitian Animation is one!
Tom and Jerry truly deserve the title of the shining light of domestic animation.
However, some people feel that Chinese films are doomed, and the hope of foreign films leading the box office has been dashed, with an animated film being the only way to achieve this.
For a time, the cat and the mouse became the only hope for the entire village.
However, since the box office broke the 1 billion mark, the daily box office curve has gradually slowed down, with a daily increase of just over 20 million. In a few more days, it may only be around 10 million.
There's still a gap of over 300 million yuan between Avatar's box office and its current performance; it will take at least 20 days to a month to catch up.
This also depends on whether the box office continues to decline. It has to be said that in the current domestic film market, a box office of 1 billion yuan is about the limit, and going any higher depends on luck.
By then, the children who form the core of the film industry will have mostly started school, and the daily box office revenue will likely decrease until the film is taken off the screens.
Just when Jiang Xia felt at a loss, the box office saw a brief resurgence over the next three days, maintaining a box office of 30 million. It was during this opportunity that the total box office of Tom and Jerry broke through 1.2 billion.
After taking some time to study it carefully, Jiang Xia discovered that many parents took their children to the cinema for the second or third time before the start of the school year, which brought another wave of traffic.
So, Jiang Xia struck while the iron was hot, and Qitian Animation released a poster with Mount Everest as the background, featuring Tom and Jerry climbing the mountain. The movie that came closest to the summit was none other than James Cameron's "Avatar".
Anyone with a discerning eye can see Qitian Animation's ambition: to make Tom and Jerry surpass Avatar and become the number one film in Chinese film history.
But it must be said that this tactic is very effective. It has inspired patriotism in many people, and only domestic films can become the highest-grossing domestic films.
More and more people are going to the cinema to watch it repeatedly. Some wealthy people even buy tickets out of respect for Qitian Animation's reputation as a reputable company, just to help this shining example of Chinese animation climb the charts.
As the film neared its end of its run, Tom and Jerry's total box office revenue continued to rise slowly.
Now the gap is less than 100 million.
The more urgent the situation, the more intense the reaction of the Chinese people becomes. They all turn into enthusiastic advocates, wishing they could drag all their relatives to the cinema to watch it.
At this crucial moment, major official media accounts also began to exert their influence, even saying in the news that Tom and Jerry will have great fortune in the Year of the Rabbit and is the pride of domestic animation. They sincerely hope that children can have a happy childhood with Tom and Jerry by their side.
For a time, the scene of domestic films vying for the title of the highest-grossing film in history became the fuse for the clash between civilizations at home and abroad.
Nobody wants to see a foreign film constantly dominating the domestic film market.
Jiang Xia has done everything he could. Now, whether he can break Avatar's historical record depends on luck.
Fortunately, the support from netizens was even more overwhelming than Jiang Xia had imagined, with box office revenue steadily increasing by ten million every day.
We are getting closer and closer to the final result of 1.34 billion.
However, the one-month theatrical run eventually came to an end. Tom and Jerry earned a total box office of 1.32 billion yuan, undoubtedly becoming one of the top domestic films of the year, only overshadowed by the sci-fi masterpiece Avatar.
Jiangxia felt somewhat unwilling, but there was nothing she could do.
Just then, Li Weiya brought good news—due to the outstanding performance of Tom and Jerry, major cinemas agreed to extend the screening for another month.
Upon hearing this, Jiang Xia smiled happily.
It seems like he's following the script of Nezha. Back then, Nezha also achieved excellent box office results, experiencing two extensions of its screening time totaling three months, and ultimately grossing nearly 5 billion yuan.
In this era, Tom and Jerry, as the only domestic film to surpass 1 billion yuan in box office revenue, is about to surpass Avatar and take the top spot. Naturally, theaters are happy to extend the run and earn more money.
At the end of March, the two-month run of Tom and Jerry ended, and the film ultimately grossed 1.77 billion yuan, becoming the highest-grossing film in Chinese film history!
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