Chapter 175 Admiration for Strength [VIP]
Chapter Summary: The Results of the Comparison Between 8 Movies
In late January, with two weeks to go before the Lunar New Year, movie pre-sales began.
On the very first day of pre-sales, likely due to the strong fan base of Mu Zhi, "Escape from the Game" ranked first in pre-sales, followed by the patriotic film "Sparkling Fire" in second place, and the comedy "Double Happiness"...
A week later, as the Spring Festival drew closer day by day.
Watching movies during the Spring Festival is a popular way for many people to enjoy their holiday. Buying tickets early not only ensures better showtimes and seats but also lowers ticket prices, leading to a large influx of passersby joining the ticket-buying queue.
The patriotic film "Sparkling Fire" boasts a star-studded cast, with nearly half of the most popular actors in the entertainment industry participating. It also features a highly sought-after genre that can generate box office revenue, and its pre-sales quickly surpassed others, taking the top spot.
The comedy film "Double Happiness" stars Yue Ge, who is teaming up with an actress he has worked with before in a comedy film. Both of them are very popular at the box office in comedy films.
The title of this film seems tailor-made for the Spring Festival season, and comedy films are family-friendly, which gives them an advantage in the Spring Festival season.
Its pre-sale box office is closely following "Escape from the Game" and is poised to overtake it at any moment.
Offline roadshows are being held, and the creative teams of each film are working tirelessly to promote their movies. Some film teams are even flying to three cities and visiting 810 cinemas in a single day, truly risking their lives.
Mu Zhi noticed the online promotional competition. Recently, she frequently saw various movie promotions trending on Weibo's hot search list. Although she doesn't often watch short videos, she also received push notifications about Spring Festival movies, as well as a large number of press releases.
The films with the most promotional efforts are those that rank among the top in pre-sales.
The production teams behind "Sparkling Fire" and "Double Happiness" are both regulars in the Spring Festival film season, and they are more experienced in promotion than "Escape from the Game," and their promotional efforts are also more aggressive.
If "Escape from the Game" wants to stand out, it can only rely on word of mouth.
At the end of January, there were 10 days left before the release of films scheduled for the Spring Festival.
The movie "Escape from the Game" has announced that it will hold advance screenings in three major cities across the country.
There was one preview screening per city, for a total of three screenings; these were small-scale preview screenings.
Director Xu Kuan: "Everyone is 'selling their own melons, praising their own wares,' shouting loudly, and the audience is so dazzled that they don't know which film to watch. We need to get the audience to help promote our films."
The film's producers hope to secure more screenings by leveraging the film's positive word-of-mouth; only with more screenings can box office revenue increase.
The preview screenings in the first two cities were for movie-going groups, and the main selling point was the special effects.
The last city for the advance screening came to Beicheng. It was an advance screening for book fans, and the 800-seat theater was packed.
After the movie ended.
Director Xu Kuan, along with lead actors Mu Zhi and Bian Wu, and other members of the creative team, attended the post-screening Q&A session to share their viewing experiences with the audience.
At the preview screening I attended two days ago.
The film "Escape from the Game" received many positive reviews from the audience, who praised the film's special effects, plot, actors' performances, and scenes without giving away any spoilers.
Today's screening was attended entirely by book fans. Since they are familiar with the original plot, they are more inclined to focus on whether the film faithfully adapts the novel, such as ensuring the characters' personalities remain consistent, avoiding drastic plot changes, and capturing the exciting scenes. They will be scrutinizing the film from a more critical perspective.
In addition to the main creative team, the production team once again invited the author to the event, which undoubtedly served as a stabilizing force, making book fans give the author some face and be more lenient in their comments.
Before attending the post-screening Q&A session with book fans, to be honest, Mu Zhi hadn't seen the movie in its entirety yet. The production company had organized an internal team to watch it and said it received high praise, but she didn't know if that was biased.
Today's 800 people is a fairly large sample, and it is estimated that it can represent the true opinions and evaluations of a considerable number of book fans after the film's release.
During the interactive session where book fans were randomly invited to participate, here are the comments from five book fans:
"I've brought to life the 'Escape from the Game' that I envisioned. Thank you."
"Stepping out of my identity as a book lover and looking at it from the perspective of a moviegoer, this is a rare gem of a film. The film industry desperately needs fresh blood like 'Escape from the Game' to inject new life into the genre and bring a sense of novelty to audiences."
"It's so good! I beg you to make a sequel with the original cast!"
"I'll go see it again on the first day of the Lunar New Year. It's definitely worth the ticket price."
"Book fans will be satisfied, and audiences will be satisfied too. I am optimistic that this movie will become a dark horse in the Spring Festival film season, and I hope that the second book can be filmed as soon as possible."
The creative team, standing on stage interacting with book fans, smiled confidently after hearing these comments.
The subsequent roadshow went even more smoothly.
The creative team behind "Escape from the Game" started their promotional tour at the end of December and only temporarily ended it on the evening of December 8th, the day before Chinese New Year's Eve.
It was around 10 p.m. on February 8th.
Mu Zhi and her team finished their work and returned to the hotel.
I ran into Byun Go and his team at the hotel elevator.
"Teacher Mu, I'm so nervous. I wonder how the box office will be the day after tomorrow. Are you nervous on the eve of the release of your first starring film?"
Bian Wu clutched his chest with one hand, saying that his heart was racing just thinking about the movie's box office performance.
Mu Zhi recalled that her memory of the release of her first movie was very vague, and she couldn't remember whether she was nervous or not.
But under Bian Wu's gaze, she nodded: "I get nervous too."
"As actors, we have cooperated with the production company for a month and a half of promotional tours. We have done everything we can. Now it is up to the audience to judge."
Director Xu is very confident about making a sequel to "Escape from the Game."
Let Bian Wu relax.
February 9th, Lunar New Year's Eve.
There is one day left until the release of the Spring Festival movies.
The final rankings for movie pre-sales are out:
The war film "Sparkling Fire" sold 400 million yuan in pre-sales on its first day.
The fantasy film "Escape from the Game" sold 170 million yuan in pre-sales on its first day.
The comedy film "Double Happiness" achieved 150 million yuan in pre-sales on its first day.
......
The war film "Sparkling Fire" had nearly 30% of the screenings, while "Escape from the Game" only had 20%. On its opening day, "Escape from the Game" could not beat the number one film at the box office and was only 20 million yuan behind the comedy film in third place. It could be overtaken at any time.
February 10th, the first day of the Lunar New Year.
Mu Zhi sat on the sofa, scrolling through her phone, checking the screenings of "Escape from the Game" at nearby cinemas on a movie ticketing app.
Almost every show was sold out, even the last row of seats were sold out.
Only the corner seats in the first row are left.
You need to wear 3D glasses to watch "Escape from the Game," and sitting too close to the front row will greatly affect your viewing experience.
Mu Zhi was hesitating whether to drive to a place further away to take a look.
I received a message from He Zhiyue.
He first explained that he would accompany his grandfather back to his hometown every year, not in Beicheng, but this year, because He Hongshuo was hospitalized, he was working overtime at the company until the evening yesterday.
I have to visit an important client in another city in a couple of days, so my schedule is very tight.
[He Zhiyue] I'm free today.
[He Zhiyue] Teacher Mu, would you like me to go to a movie and have a cup of coffee?
[He Zhiyue][Image]
He Zhiyue sent over a screenshot of the ticket purchase, which she had bought a few days ago at a cinema near Donghua Mansion.
The 8 p.m. prime time for movie screenings is when cinemas are packed with people.
He Zhiyue bought a movie ticket for the last row.
Mu Zhi wanted to go see it, but didn't want to be photographed with He Zhiyue.
He Zhiyue, on the other end of the chat box, seemed to have figured out what Mu Zhi was thinking.
[He Zhiyue] We won't go in together after getting our tickets checked, and we won't leave together.
[He Zhiyue] I bought three tickets, but we didn't sit together; there was a seat between us.
Mu Zhi: ...He Zhiyue went to such lengths just to watch this movie with her.
After sending the message, He Zhiyue did not receive a reply from Mu Zhi for a long time.
She thought she was going to be rejected by Mu Zhi.
Five minutes later, I received a reply from Mu Zhi.
[Muzhi] What kind of coffee would you like to drink?
At 7:40 p.m., Mu Zhi arrived at the mall.
She came to this same cinema last time, and that's when she was discovered.
I'm being stubborn again today.
She wasn't wearing a hat, one of the essential disguises for celebrities when going out. Instead, she tied her long hair into a bun and wore a white down jacket over a light pink hooded oversized hoodie, black trousers, and black knee-high boots.
I bought two coffees at the coffee shop on the first floor, and then took the mall's electric escalator up to the cinema on the 8th floor.
Many eyes fell on her along the way. Although she was wearing a mask and looking down at her phone, so her face could not be seen, her outstanding figure and temperament still caught people's attention.
Mu Zhi successfully picked up her ticket, bought a pair of 3D glasses at the front desk, and checked the time—it was just in time to enter.
She walked smoothly through the crowd into the theater, went to the last row (she was one of the first to enter and there was no one there yet), and found her seat without any trouble.
One minute into the game.
He Zhiyue, wearing a black embroidered baseball jersey over a black hoodie, entered the venue. He seemed to have run all the way in against the cold wind, bringing a chill with him, yet he also seemed to have run out of sweat, with a faint warmth wafting through the air from across the seats.
The movie started, and it was very dark inside.
Mu Zhi calmly handed over another cup of warm coffee.
He Zhiyue turned slightly towards Mu Zhi, reached out to take it, and whispered, "Thank you."
Mu Zhi noticed the watch she had given He Zhiyue on his wrist. She looked at him for a couple of seconds, then looked away, sat up straight, and stared intently at the screen in front of her, focusing on the movie.
He Zhiyue lowered her head and took a sip of coffee. Hmm, it must have been sweetened; it was very sweet.
During the movie viewing.
Mu Zhi keenly sensed several times that there seemed to be eyes fixed on her from the side. When she turned her head, she saw He Zhiyue's handsome profile, staring intently at the big screen.
As soon as Mu Zhi turned around, He Zhiyue, who was intently watching the movie, turned her head slightly to glance at Mu Zhi out of the corner of her eye.
Actually, his motives weren't pure; going to the movies was just an excuse, he just wanted to see her.
Unable to see Mu Zhi in person, he relieved his longing by reading her works.
When Mu Zhi's works and Mu Zhi are both around, one can rewatch the works another day, but it is rare to see Mu Zhi. So, when other actors' scenes are being shown on the big screen, he secretly turns his head to look at Mu Zhi.
He Zhiyue turned her gaze back to the large screen in front of her.
Every role Mu Zhi plays touches his heart, and this time is no exception.
In "Escape from the Game," Wu Xi has short hair, red lips, wears transparent goggles with special effects, and a black tight leather outfit with leather boots. She rides a heavy motorcycle through a cyberpunk world.
His appearance immediately drew "Wow!" from the audience, who exclaimed "So cool!"
Furthermore, Wu Xi's action scenes in the movie, where she takes on several opponents single-handedly, are beautiful and her movements are fluid yet powerful. In the scene where she draws her bow and shoots an arrow while surrounded by zombies, the series of actions are executed in one go, and the specially made arrow shoots straight towards the audience with the thunderous force of hitting a target from a hundred paces away, so realistic that it seems to be about to penetrate the screen.
The camera zoomed in on Mu Zhi's face; her face was stained with blood yet perfectly clean, and her eyes shone like stars in the sky.
It seemed as if the arrow had truly pierced through the screen and struck his heart.
Lanxing Media has made multiple additional investments in "Escape from the Game". After the film was edited, He Zhiyue, as one of the important investors, was invited to watch it as soon as possible.
After the screening, director Xu Kuan asked He Zhiyue for her impressions.
He Zhiyue answered seriously: "...The movie's special effects are very good, creating a magnificent game world for the audience. The immersion is also quite strong, making the audience feel as if they have become a game player, adventuring alongside the protagonists and gradually uncovering the final truth..."
In fact, his attention was on Mu Zhi the whole time.
Tonight's second viewing was the same.
Fortunately, Mu Zhi wouldn't test him on his thoughts after watching the movie.
The movie has ended.
Because He Zhiyue and Mu Zhi's seats were inside, it wasn't convenient for them to bypass the other audience members and leave early. They could only wait until most of the audience members had left before they could leave.
The two were sitting in the last row, so when they got up to leave, there were hardly any people left in the theater.
To avoid being photographed together, the two walked separately.
He Zhiyue pointed to the door, indicating that he would go first, and Mu Zhi nodded.
He Zhiyue had prepared a gift for Mu Zhi and placed it in the car. He suggested leaving first so he could reach the parking lot ahead of time, retrieve the gift, and give it to Mu Zhi when she arrived.
A few minutes later, when Mu Zhi arrived at the parking lot, she was followed by a group of fans.
He Zhiyue, who had just gotten out of the car and was about to walk towards Mu Zhi, had no choice but to turn around and get back into the car, where she watched Mu Zhi drive away.
He Zhiyue shook her head helplessly and sent a message to Mu Zhi.
[He Zhiyue] Happy New Year, Teacher Mu. Please drive safely on your way home.
Back to Donghua Mansion.
Mu Zhi only saw the message from He Zhiyue when she took the elevator upstairs, and replied with "Happy New Year".
As she walked out of the theater, she was almost bumped into by a little girl. Seeing that the little girl was about to fall, she reached out to help her up and also looked up.
Coincidentally, the person she helped was one of her own fans, and that's how she got recognized.
Mu Zhi was "bumped into" twice, and thought to herself: I can't go to that cinema again next time.
It was almost 10:30 when I got home.
Mu Zhi took a bath first, and when she came out, she saw that it was past 11 o'clock.
Today's box office figures are out.
Before Mu Zhi could even check, Min Min had already sent it over.
[Quick-witted and eager to learn] Sister Zhizhi, [picture] you were spotted at the movies again 2333, fans all praised your cute bun hairstyle and said they'd like to book out the entire theater near your house when your next movie comes out! (smirking)
[Quick-witted and eager to learn] The box office figures for the first day of the Lunar New Year are here!
Mu Zhi opened the screenshot sent by Minmin.
The box office on the first day of the Lunar New Year this year was extremely popular, with over a billion yuan in box office revenue in just one day.
1. The war film "Spark" grossed 700 million yuan on its opening day.
2. The fantasy film "Escape from the Game" grossed 350 million yuan on its opening day.
3. The comedy film "Double Happiness" grossed 310 million yuan on its opening day.
......
The market was completely drained by these three films and one animated film.
[Quick-witted and eager to learn] Today I took a group of my relatives' older children (all over 14 years old) to see "Escape from the Game". The screenings were sold out in our small county.
[Quick-witted and eager to learn] They all say it's very good, the special effects are amazing, and they want to recommend it to their classmates.
[Quick-witted and eager to learn] Our film's screenings are not as high as "Sparkling Fire," with 10% fewer screenings and far fewer shows. Otherwise, the box office would definitely be higher!
The fact that "Escape from the Game" achieved this box office result on its opening day, without being overtaken by comedy films, suggests that as long as the word-of-mouth is good, positive reviews will spread widely in the following two days.
There's no claim that it will surpass "Sparkling Fire," but if cinemas increase the number of screenings, the box office can surge.
Mu Zhi checked the trending topics on Weibo and found that they were dominated by topics related to the Spring Festival movies. She saw that she and the movie "Escape from the Game" were among the trending topics.
Clicking into the trending topic #EscapeFromTheGame#, I saw many netizens mentioning "my relative's child", "my brother", "my sister", and "my classmates" in their real-time comments, indicating that there are indeed many young people among the moviegoers.
The most common phrases used to describe the film's content were "good special effects," "novel subject matter," "interesting," "good ending twist," and "looking forward to a sequel." The film's plot was also used to jokingly refer to the male and female leads as a "#both-intelligent-and-martial-skills#" couple, meaning one is intelligent and the other is highly skilled in combat.
Many book fans only learned about the movie adaptation after reading reviews or seeing it trending on social media, and some were even recommended it to see it today...
After browsing the trending topics, Mu Zhi also went to "lurk" in her own fan page for a while.
Seeing fans writing all sorts of long posts praising her portrayal of "Wu Xi," expressing their love for the character, with comments like "So beautiful and so cool," "Sister Xi is so handsome she's captured my heart," and "Does Sister Xi need any followers?"...
Some fans even reminisced about Mu Zhi's short hairstyle, thinking that she looked better in this look as "Wu Xi".
A fan held a poll for the characters, and the newcomer "Wu Xi" received more votes than A Ying from the beloved "The Bell Ringer", ranking second, only behind A Sang, the female lead of "Countdown".
The main reason fans voted for A-Sang was because Mu-Chi won the Best Actress award for this role.
Mu Zhi: ...It seems that the fans really admire strength.
On its opening day, the film received overwhelmingly positive reviews online, solidifying its reputation.
Mu Zhi glanced at the pre-sales and screening schedule for tomorrow, both of which had increased. Director Xu Kuan was in a good mood today and sent out a red envelope of nearly 10,000 yuan in the main creative team's roadshow group.
It seems that everyone is at least half relieved of their worries.
On the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, the creative team behind "Escape from the Game" continued their promotional tour.
The fourth day of the Lunar New Year is the 13th, and tomorrow, February 14th, is Valentine's Day.
This roadshow and promotion plan was finalized before the Lunar New Year. Three new romance films are set to be released on Valentine's Day. In order to stabilize the subsequent box office performance, the production company is using roadshows and promotions to maintain the buzz and aims to boost box office revenue during the holiday.
Because Muzhi has a lot of personal schedules piling up and her schedule is tight, she can only make it for 3 days.
Bian Wu's roadshow schedule lasted a week.
February 14th is Valentine's Day.
At 10 p.m., Mu Zhi and her team returned to the hotel after finishing their roadshow, marking the end of an "early shift".
Just as Mu Zhi entered the hotel room, the doorbell rang.
As soon as the door opened, Mu Zhi saw Minmin holding a long, rectangular gift box and immediately guessed that it contained roses. The scene looked familiar.
Minmin chuckled and squeezed in, placing the gift box on the coffee table.
"Sister Zhizhi, this is a gift from President He. I'll put it here." After placing the gift box, she quickly slipped away.
Mu Zhi: "..."
On February 16th, Mu Zhi flew back to Beicheng after finishing her roadshow.
Bian Wu and the other actors accompanied director Xu Kuan on a four-day roadshow, which ended on the 19th.
As of the evening of February 19th, the Spring Festival films had been released for 10 days, and the results of the competition among the 8 films were basically determined.
[Author's Note]
Yuege: Luckily we walked separately, otherwise we would have been photographed. Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants between 23:46:50 on 20221008 and 23:55:55 on 20221009!
Thank you to the little angel who watered the nutrient solution: Jiu 1 bottle;
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
