Chapter 179 A Premonition of Bad Box Office Performance
Chapter 179
Although "Bloody Memories" is currently ranked last among the four new films, its box office performance is unprecedented for director Yam Mau-hang.
"Is this really an eight-figure sum, or a seven-figure sum?"
Lin Yuan was too lazy to even comment: "You're seriously underestimating yourself."
Ren Maoxing looked at him silently: "The previous game started with a six-figure sum."
Lin Yuan: "..."
He didn't speak, because he was worried that if he opened his mouth, the director's next question would be whether he wanted to continue working together.
In fact, the director still asked that question.
"Please allow me to formally refuse."
"The next one won't be as bitter as 'Bloody Past'."
"I will never be fooled again!!"
Ren Maoxing has no shortage of actors who want to work with him. After the news that the Walt Disney Award-winning actor once again favored Chinese actors, actors who wanted to participate in his new film lined up in a long queue.
Lin Yuan at least received a salary and a prize from the Wall Award; there are plenty of actors willing to participate for free.
As far as Lin Yuan knew, director Ren Maoxing's next film was a theatrical production with a female lead. The director kept asking to work with him, but in reality, there was no suitable role for Lin Yuan in Ren's new film.
The two may collaborate again in the future, but only after Lin Yuan's "Bloody Past" PTSD disappears.
...
Thanks to the addition of two blockbusters, "Sniper" and "Thunderstorm," the film market surprisingly presented a lively scene in mid-September, a traditionally slow season for box office revenue.
First, "Sniper" openly attacked "Grandpa's Courtyard", which greatly increased the attention on this film during the period.
Generally speaking, audiences only care about what new movies are being released during major film seasons like summer vacation and the National Day holiday.
Now, at least the audience knows about the two movies, "Sniper War" and "Grandpa's Little Courtyard".
The feud surrounding "Sniper Wars" has certainly attracted a lot of attention, and Lin Yuan has been following along for quite a while.
"Sniper" had a lot of complaints, but "Grandpa's Courtyard" was not to be outdone. First, they said that the lack of screenings was because the theaters were not optimistic about the prospects of "Sniper", and then they said that "Thunder Hurricane" had more screenings. Why don't they go and fight with "Thunder Hurricane"?
Besides, "Grandpa's Little Courtyard" and "Grandma's Persimmon Tree" have the same cast and crew. The latter made a fortune, so isn't it normal for theaters to prefer "Grandpa's Little Courtyard"?
In short, it is "Sniper Wars" that should be reflecting on its shortcomings.
After the first day's box office results were released, the "Sniper War" production team had even more complaints—
Despite having more screenings than "Sniper Wars," "Grandpa's Courtyard" grossed more than ten million less than "Sniper Wars" at the box office!
It's approaching 20 million!
It's currently September, not summer vacation or National Day. The daily total box office of a movie is only 40 to 50 million, or even less. With this difference between the two movies, if the prime-time screenings were given to "Sniper Wars", "Sniper Wars" could have achieved even greater box office success!
However, the number of screenings for "Grandpa's Courtyard" did not decrease. On the second day of its release, all the films maintained the same number of screenings as on the first day.
The outside disturbances have nothing to do with the "Bloody Past" production team. Due to the small number of viewers, the evaluation of "Bloody Past" is also very limited.
Moreover, from the audience's perspective, it is inherently difficult to write a review of "Bloody Past". Its plot is relatively simple and, to some extent, even leans towards stream of consciousness. To write a good review, one must analyze it from multiple angles, such as survival, human nature, and environment.
It tests not only writing skills, but also the audience's ability to empathize.
For a film like "Sniper," it's enough to analyze whether it's exciting or thrilling.
So the next day, the box office for "Bloody Memories" was still supported by fans.
On its second day of release, it grossed 17.99 million yuan!
The director couldn't help but complain, "If I had known, I would have paid 10,000 myself; the numbers would have looked better."
Lin Yuan: "..."
The day before, they were overjoyed that the box office had exceeded 10 million, but after just one night, they felt that 17.99 million was not enough.
As a result, "Bloody Past" successfully surpassed 33 million in total box office revenue, reaching the peak of Ren Maoxing's directorial career.
Director Ren couldn't help but sigh, "The peak is just too high. Is it possible to break through it next time?"
"Director, you need to have confidence in yourself."
“When it comes to money, confidence is useless unless I master new scamming techniques.”
Besides being relatively satisfied with the box office performance, Ren Maoxing also noted that "Bloody Past" has received very few negative reviews since its release.
What impressed the audience most was Lin Yuan's acting skills.
This is the biggest selling point of "Bloody Past" during this release period.
Lin Yuan's excellent acting skills are already widely recognized in the industry. With the release of "Bloody Past", the distributor emphasized that "Bloody Past" showcases Lin Yuan's most breakthrough performance since his debut.
There was little discussion about "Bloody Past" yesterday, and still not much today, but some industry reviews are gradually emerging.
Industry insiders and film critics reviewed the other three new films first, with "Bloody Memories" appearing last.
In terms of presence, the other three new films are more prominent, after all, "Bloody Past" had a limited marketing budget.
[From "Bloody Past": Even a cornered beast will fight.]
In "Bloody Memories," I witnessed the most outstanding performances of the new generation, not just in the Chinese film industry, but worldwide.
[The Bloody Past: The Most Remarkable Lin Yuan.]
Film critics focused their analysis on Lin Yuan's acting skills, describing his portrayal of Wei Liang as "the lament of a beast driven to despair."
"The storyline of 'Bloody Past' is carried by Lin Yuan alone, there is no doubt about that."
"His performance in 'Bloody Memories' reminds me of a saying before 2010 regarding the Oscars for Best Actor and Best Actress: if you want to win an award, you just have to make yourself look ugly."
"So we see beauties from all over the world dressing up as men, bald, homosexuals, eating raw meat, becoming extremely thin or fat... Some people have won awards for this, but their acting is still criticized as overacting."
"When I first saw the character Wei Liang, I had the same thought—did Lin Yuan win the award because he lost so much weight?"
"But as the storyline of 'Bloody Memories' progressed, I gradually changed my mind."
"I guess Lin Yuan's award is mainly because—his whole being, his whole spirit, and that world have become one. The place where he lives completely imprisoned him. He could not escape and could only gradually decay in this oppressive environment."
"If you had seen the despair in his eyes, you would have felt that Lin Yuan deserved all the praise. His award was not based on his weight, but on the fact that he was the real person in that story."
While these reviews won't garner more screenings or box office revenue for "Bloody Memories," they're still much better than reviews like "I don't understand it."
...
During the release of "Bloody Past", Lin Yuan was not idle. He actively participated in promotional tours to help the film gain more box office revenue.
In a way, "Bloody Memories" escaped the fierce competition of three new films in this release window.
As the screening period lengthens, the word-of-mouth for each film gradually emerges.
The real reason why the Hollywood blockbuster "Thunderstorm" skipped the summer release window has been revealed to audiences—compared to previous overseas blockbusters, "Thunderstorm" offers nothing new.
In terms of special effects, it is even inferior to domestic special effects films in recent years.
Domestic audiences have been exposed to Hollywood blockbusters for over a decade, and given the quality of "Thunderstorm," it's understandable that it won't attract a wider audience.
It's not that "Thunderstorm" is that bad, but for the audience, watching it is no different from watching any other blockbuster; they forget about it as soon as they see it.
"Thunder Hurricane" grossed over 100 million yuan on its opening day, but then plummeted. By the third day, it hadn't even reached 30 million yuan, demonstrating the devastating impact of a box office crash.
In contrast, Sniper's performance has been quite stable.
"Sniper Wars" features a thrilling gunfight scene lasting over ten minutes, where the actors performed their own stunts, giving it their all. While captivating audiences, "Sniper Wars" also boasts strong dramatic scenes, with a storyline far more engaging than that of "Thunderstorm."
It features both dramatic scenes and hand-to-hand combat, along with a thoroughly engaging gunfight sequence, which has even attracted the attention of some gun enthusiasts.
In this situation, "Sniper" earned more than 40 million yuan at the box office on its first day, and surprisingly rose against the trend on the second day. With "Thunder Hurricane" and "Grandpa's Courtyard" both having more screenings than its own, "Sniper" took the top spot at the box office that day, earning more than 67 million yuan.
"Grandpa's Little Courtyard" is mediocre.
Viewers found that although it had the same cast as "Grandma's Persimmon Tree," the story itself was far inferior to that of "Grandma's Persimmon Tree."
"Grandma's Persimmon Tree" emphasizes the warmth of childhood life. Although "Grandpa's Courtyard" tells a similar story, the audience feels that the protagonist's childhood is not warm and there is not much to reminisce about. Although the protagonist escapes city life and comes to the countryside, he gives people a sense of incongruity.
To some extent, this is because Chen Cong doesn't have the kind of appearance that makes him very appealing to audiences.
The story itself is not bad, it is just slightly inferior to "Grandma's Persimmon Tree", but even if it is only slightly inferior, the ending is completely different.
33.82 million, 29.56 million, and 27.64 million respectively are the figures that "Grandpa's Courtyard" achieved in the past three days.
Of the four new films, it has consistently ranked third at the box office.
Breaking 100 million yuan is not a big problem, but "Grandpa's Courtyard" is not a movie aimed at breaking 100 million yuan. With the success of its predecessor "Grandma's Persimmon Tree", the production team obviously has higher expectations for it.
But for "Grandpa's Little Courtyard" now, this is not the key point.
The dissatisfaction of the "Sniper War" crew was not initially met with much agreement, but now it is growing louder every day—given the performance of "Grandpa," they should indeed give back the extra screenings they received!
"The contrast is too stark. If we gave this screening slot to 'Sniper Wars,' 'Sniper Wars' could earn tens of millions more per day."
"Gentlemen, to be honest, 'Grandpa' should have had its screenings given to 'Bloody Past' instead. Everyone says 'Bloody Past' is a fan film, so it's given only some minor slots. But 'Bloody Past' has less than half the screenings of 'Grandpa', yet its box office is already close to that of 'Grandpa'."
Netizens discovered that this was indeed the case.
On its fourth day of release, "Bloody Past" had a 10.1% screen share, finally breaking the 10% mark. Meanwhile, "Grandpa's Courtyard" had a slightly lower screen share, but still stood at 21%, exactly twice that of "Bloody Past".
However, on this day, the total box office of "Bloody Past" exceeded 19 million.
"Grandpa's Little Courtyard" cost 22 million.
The difference in screening schedule goes without saying, but in terms of release time, "Grandpa's Courtyard" is far superior to "Bloody Past".
Regarding this release date, some film companies have stated in their press releases that "Bloody Past" is a film supported by Lin Yuan's fans.
Logically, it should possess all the characteristics of a fan film, such as rising quickly and falling sharply.
But "Bloody Past" is surprisingly stable.
Before the production team of "Bloody Past" could express any opinion on the screening schedule, the hashtag #ComplainAboutScreeningSchedules# unexpectedly became a trending topic.
"Please have pity on our Xiaolin! This award-winning film by the newly crowned Wallace Award Best Actor is not to be missed."
"You're amazing, 'Bloody Past'! Who knew you were so capable?!"
"Breaking 100 million is just around the corner, so could you please give us more screenings?"
Lin Yuan: "..."
He had a bad feeling that another argument was about to break out soon.
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Author's Note: It's here!! [Sparkling eyes]
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