The release date of "Time Lobbyist" was set very suddenly, but it was the best choice for the producers after weighing the pros and cons.
Because it is an ordinary digital movie, the post-production editing took less than four months. According to common sense, it should have been released this summer.
However, there was a huge chaos among domestic films during this summer vacation, and there were several sequels of popular foreign films during the National Day holiday, so neither side benefited from the combination.
A niche subject like "The Time Lobbyist" can easily become a "victim" of the holiday season, so the producers are dragging their feet and not setting a release date.
But movies have a "lifespan". If they are not released online or are kept in the box for too long, it is easy for the audience to lose interest in the movie. Even more seriously, it will directly lose the qualification for theatrical release.
If it is delayed to become an online movie, it will basically suffer losses.
So, the producers struggled for a while and finally decided to go ahead and release the film during the New Year's Day holiday.
"There are not many new films scheduled to be released on New Year's Day. Ours is the only youth film. There are no competitors with the same theme, so we should be able to gain a little advantage."
In the office of Chaoying Company, Yu Fuya handed over the latest list of movies that were "confirmed to be released".
As the third male lead, Ji Li actually had little direct correlation with the box office, but he got the script and the role after he argued hard for it.
He still hopes that the film can deliver satisfactory results to the greatest extent possible.
Ji Li scanned the list and asked, "Which movies are the favorites to win on New Year's Day?"
"The favorite to win is 'Flower Demon Who Kills Gods' directed by Xu Cheng."
Baozi helped analyze the situation, "Director Xu Cheng's God Killing series has already entered its third installment, all based on Chinese mythological figures, and the box office for the first two installments was very stable."
This time, "Flower Demon" spent a whole year on post-production alone. The concept Easter egg was given at the end of the second part of "God Slayer", and many fans began to look forward to it early.
"Director Xu said in an interview some time ago that this "Flower Demon" will definitely surpass the performance of the previous two films."
Upon hearing this, Ji Li nodded calmly.
A series of movies like this already has an audience base established by the first two films, and the reputation of the big director is there, so it will naturally attract passers-by.
As long as the plot and special effects of the movie are not bad, the box office will basically not "crash".
"What else?"
Yu Fuya continued, "Song Yonghui's The Wealth of the World was originally scheduled for the Spring Festival, but now it has been moved up to New Year's Day."
Ji Li is also familiar with this light comedy movie.
Before encountering the movie script of "Special Operations", the producer of "The Richest Man in the World" and director Song Yonghui had invited Ji Li to play the male lead.
Baozi obviously remembered this, "I heard that after Brother Ji rejected this movie, the comedian Chen Ming was cast."
Song Yonghui and Chen Ming are a veteran pair and should have an audience base. As for whether the film can become a big hit, it depends on the word-of-mouth feedback from the audience after it is released.
Suddenly, a staff member came in and said, "Brother Ji, the hot milk tea delivered is for you."
"For me?"
Yu Fuya glanced at the name of 'Mr. Qi' on the order form and immediately understood, "It should be early morning in the US, right? Someone is raising a child like that, so worried that they asked someone to order milk tea for you?"
At first glance, it was the milk tea takeaway that Qin Li asked Qi An from China to help order.
Ji Li's eyes lit up immediately, and under Yu Fuya's 'motherly' gaze, he took two sips of the drink happily, "Go on, I'm listening."
Yu Fuya saw his smug expression and shook her head helplessly.
She reached out and pointed to another movie on the list. "There's also this one, which is also very popular."
"Night Walker?" Ji Li read out the title of the movie.
"It's adapted from the popular suspense novel of the same name. Most importantly, the lead actor is..."
Yu Fuya met his eyes and called out a name that was all too familiar, "Cai Yishu."
Baozi tutted in annoyance, "It's too bad, enemies always meet on a narrow road."
When Cai Yishu was the leading male character in "Time Lobbyist", he brought in screenwriter Wang Yongwei, who had no professional ethics. The two of them made random changes to the original script and even had an argument with Ji Li on the crew.
Later, they were kicked out of the crew by the investor Qin Li, and this ridiculous farce came to an end.
After Cai Yishu left the crew, he did remain quiet for a while, but later he received the film script adapted from the original novel.
Yu Fuya flipped through the film materials she had collected early in the morning and curled her lips meaningfully, "I took a look and found that Wang Yongwei is also on the list of screenwriters."
Ji Li stared at the male lead Cai Yishu on the movie poster and the three words "Wang Yongwei" in the co-screenwriter column below, and guessed the quality of the script in his mind.
How does the saying go?
It is easy to change the country but difficult to change one's nature, which is commonly known as "a dog can't change its eating habits."
Baozi was a little worried, "Will they cause more trouble?"
"What are you afraid of? Didn't we have some tricks up our sleeves at the beginning?" Ji Li sneered, and his sharp aura suddenly emerged.
After saying this, he lowered his head and drank his milk tea with enjoyment.
The previous second it was a fierce wild leopard, and the next second it turned back into a sweet little leopard cub. The contrast was both hilarious and sad.
Yu Fuya nodded in agreement. "How good can a movie written by Wang Yongwei be? If Cai Yishu really dares to do something behind his back, we at Chaoying will prepare for the previous talk and give him a good slap in the face."
There is always competition between the movies released at the same time.
If Cai Yishu dares to provoke them again, they can just join forces with the producers of "Time Lobbyist" to counterattack.
"Besides that, there are two foreign science fiction films. They are unlikely to win the box office championship, but they may cause a diversion of the box office."
To put it bluntly, "Time Warner" is not the first choice for movie fans during the holidays, whether in terms of audience base or subject matter.
However, their advantages are also outstanding. Theirs is the only youth film released during the New Year's Day holiday. Moreover, the leading actors are all handsome men and beautiful women, and their outstanding looks should be able to attract a wave of audiences to the theaters.
Baozi sighed, "Hey, I'm just afraid that this will become a pure fan movie and people will make fun of it."
Pure fan movies, as the name suggests, are movies that are supported only by the actors’ fans who buy movie tickets. If this is the case, the actors will easily be subjected to mass ridicule after the movie fails at the box office.
After all, for actors in the film industry, box office success always takes precedence over popularity.
Although Ji Li is only the third male lead in this movie, Baozi still hopes that he can gain something from the movie.
It is said that the fans who like actors through their roles in TV dramas only have a three-month love life.
It has been almost a year since the TV series "The Young Masters" was broadcast. If Ji Li doesn't have any new roles to attract fans, it may be difficult for him to get resources in the future.
"Don't worry, I believe this movie won't be bad." Ji Li said, with a strong confidence flashing in his eyes. So far, none of the film and television scripts he has taken a fancy to have failed.
Besides, this movie was invested in by Qin Li himself, which, to some extent, is a double guarantee for the box office.
Yu Fuya has always believed in Ji Li's vision for choosing scripts. "Okay, we have to attend the premiere on the evening of the 30th."
"good."
…
Three days later, New Year's Day movies were collectively opened for pre-sale.
Under the impact of other popular movies of the same period, "Time Lobbyist" had no advantage at all, and the amount of pre-collection was at the bottom. The existing box office pre-sales are almost entirely supported by fans.
On Weibo, some film critics have already "borrowed" to mock -
[“The Time Lobbyist” is obviously a movie designed to please fans. It was invested by Qin Li, directed by Wang Zhang, and written by Ji Mingyue. It looks very impressive, but it is completely a publicity gimmick.
There are five main actors in the cast, except for Ji Li who became a big hit in the first half of the year, the rest of the actors are still in the second or third tier. How can a movie like this break out of the New Year’s Day movie schedule? The probability is zero percent!
I advise passers-by and netizens not to waste their money and watch other movies. 】
Another film and television marketing account took the opportunity to comment:
[Does anyone still remember that when the filming of "Time Lobbyist" started, the male lead Cai Yishu was temporarily replaced? Now it seems that the producers dug a hole for themselves.
The pre-sale box office of "Night Walker" starring Cai Yishu is more than twice that of "Time Traveler"! The absolute face-slapping male protagonist of a cool novel! 】
[These days, converting popularity into box office is a real skill. None of the current creators of "The Time Lobbyist" have this qualification! Ji Li hasn't appeared in public for half a year, and most of the fans he had accumulated thanks to Xie Yan have left.
On New Year's Day last year, he was named "Dark Horse Newcomer in the Film Circle" for his role as "Song Zhao". Now it seems that he actually took advantage of the role of the dual male protagonists "Qin Li + Yuan Yifei".
Alas, this movie is destined to flop, and even the three big names Qin Li, Wang Zhang, and Ji Mingyue are going to suffer the same fate. 】
Comments like these popped up one after another, and the Weibo IDs that liked them were mostly from Cai Yishu’s fan group.
At the beginning, Cai Yishu lost the role of the male lead in the movie without saying a word, and Cai fans were very angry.
Now that the films of both sides are on the same starting line again, Tsai’s fans took the opportunity to criticize the movie "The Time Warner".
Due to this disgusting operation, apart from the fans of the leading actors, few netizens took the initiative to buy pre-sale movie tickets for "The Time Chamber".
——I’ll watch a few other movies first. After all, the New Year’s Day holiday is only a few days long.
——In fact, the leading actors are all good-looking, but I will wait for the word of mouth after the movie is released before making a decision.
——The title "Time Lobbyist" makes people have no desire to watch it at all.
——Ji Li’s false popularity was fully displayed at this moment, wow.
——If it’s a fan movie, just cut the fans’ wallets. What normal person would cheat?
Passersby were misled, and the black fans and rival fans of the main creators were taking advantage of the situation on the Internet.
Except for the concentrated purchasing effect of fans in the first three days, the pre-sale box office of "Time Narrator" increased very little in the next four days and remained stuck at 26 million.
…
Golden City Pictures.
Cai Yishu finally showed a satisfied expression when he saw the real-time updated movie pre-sale rankings.
Although the movie "Night Walker" starring him is not as good as "The Flower Demon Who Kills Gods" directed by Xu Cheng, it has already won the second place in the New Year's Day box office pre-sale, which is a gratifying result.
"Look at the movie "Time Traveler", the pre-sale box office is almost at the bottom, and it is not even as good as the movies that have already been released overseas. It's so embarrassing."
You Meng came closer and also showed a happy look.
Today, they finally got back at the humiliation they suffered in the "Time Lobbyist" crew with their actual achievements.
"Ji Li and Feng Cheng? What a bunch of rubbish. They are not even worthy of carrying my shoes now."
"How's the saying? A blessing in disguise?"
If Cai Yishu had not temporarily withdrawn from the crew of "Time Lobbyist", he would not have been lucky enough to get this script.
The final trailer of the movie has been released, and fans of the original book have expressed their satisfaction. With the overwhelming marketing, the pre-sale amount of the movie has been rising steadily.
As long as this momentum is maintained, the movie will earn at least 2 billion yuan at the box office before it is taken off the shelves. For a young actor like Cai Yishu, this is undoubtedly an impressive achievement.
"Jincheng No. 1" Zhu Xusheng's reputation and career have been severely damaged since the car sex scandal, and he has not yet made a comeback.
If Cai Yishu can seize the opportunity with this movie, the surrender of Jincheng's number one might lead to a replacement.
Cai Yishu was a little bit elated, and suddenly he had a purposeful thought, "Sister You, I think the crew of "Time Lobbyist" hasn't fallen enough."
You Meng asked, "What do you mean?"
Cai Yishu raised his chin, looking rather arrogant, "Help me do something secretly."
He wanted to completely ruin the reputation of the movie "Time Lobbyist". Not only did he want Ji Li and other leading actors to flop without a sound, but he also wanted Qin Li to not even be able to make back the money he invested!
…
Time flies and it’s already the end of the month, Haishi International Cinema.
The premiere of the movie "Time Lobbyist" was arranged in a theater with a capacity of 100 people, which was only considered average in scale. You know, several other movies released at the same time have already done several rounds of preview promotions.
Backstage in the theater, Ji Li met with other leading actors after a long absence. Although there were new works released, Feng Cheng, Wei Lai and others were not in a very high spirits.
After all, the movie has not been officially released yet, but it has been mocked by netizens. Its competitors at the same time are all very popular movies. Their "Time Lobbyist" is obviously a small shrimp that survives in the cracks and is easily destroyed.
Wang Zhang sat calmly in his seat and said loudly, "Relax and face it. We have done our best for this film. It's not like we didn't make it well. What are you afraid of?"
So what if it can’t compare to big-budget movies? Nowadays, aren’t there many examples of big-budget movies failing or making losses? Anyway, Lixing has invested nearly 50 million, so there will definitely be no problem in getting the return this time.
The first step for all filmmakers is to defeat themselves.
Ji Li curled his lips, fully agreeing with Director Wang Zhang's point of view.
"Director Wang Zhang is right. The competition for movies hasn't even started yet. Today is the premiere. All the fans are here for us. We must at least perform well and not let them down."
Compared to Feng Cheng, who plays the male lead in a movie for the first time, and the second male lead Wei Lai who has never made any waves, he, the third male lead, seems much calmer.
Feng Cheng forced a smile.
Ever since he 'stole' Cai Yishu's role as the male lead, the fans of Feng and Cai seemed to have become enemies, and they would quarrel online every now and then.
Now that the pre-sale results are out, Tsai’s fans feel that they have the upper hand and have been saying a lot of unpleasant things in a sarcastic manner these days.
Feng Cheng felt sorry for his fans and for his boss Qin Li who had valued him in the first place.
"Feng Cheng, you have to believe in yourself, and also believe in Qin..." Ji Li paused for two seconds and changed his words, "You also have to believe in Brother Li's vision. Our movie is really not bad."
The most important thing for a movie is its reputation after its release.
There are so many movies that had great initial momentum, but ended up crashing due to poor word of mouth. How many movies that initially performed poorly at the box office have become dark horses because of good word-of-mouth?
In this rapidly changing film market, everything is possible.
Audiences are not fools, and if a film is presented with care, someone will see it.
Feng Cheng nodded, and the burden in his heart finally lightened a little.
Yes, this is a movie invested by Qin Li, who is known as the "Midnight Gourd" in the film and television industry. What is there for him, an employee, to be afraid of? You should trust your boss!
Wang Zhang continued to encourage, "Okay, everyone cheer up, this battle has just begun."
"Don't forget, you are the first ones to agree with this story. We are going to promote it with the lowest score, and every point we can get will be a good one!"
The last sentence obviously aroused the protagonists' initial feelings for the script, and their responses were particularly loud.
"Okay, Director!"
…
The premiere of the movie "Time Traveler" started with a movie screening, followed by a question-and-answer session for the media and fans.
When Ji Li and other main creators came on stage, they immediately caused screams from fans——
"Jili, baby! Mommy loves you!"
"Come on Feng Cheng! I look forward to your Cheng Yu!"
"Welsh! Welsh!"
Although it was just a small screening room, the packed venue still gave Feng Cheng and others a lot of confidence.
The host came on stage and conducted a simple interview according to the procedure.
Fang Yue, who had already become a big fan of the Yueji couple, sat in the audience, her heart about to explode with excitement - after four and a half months, she finally saw Jili in person again!
In order to match the image of Xiang Sui'an in the play, Ji Li wore a white sweater and black trousers today. It was a very simple outfit, but he looked soft and clean.
Fang Yue immediately picked up her phone to take pictures and brought a 'frontline' report to the star-chasing sisters in the CP group -
"Sisters, it seems like Brother Li is not here today! But Jili is so pretty! So tender!"
Just after typing this line, the host interviewed Ji Li, "I heard Ji Li's fans are all screaming, has it been a long time since you saw him make a public appearance?"
“——Yes!” the fans answered in unison.
Compared to the only fan of Ji Li holding a banner at the preview of the movie "The Kingdom", a year later, now at least one-third of the fans and audience come for him.
Ji Li looked around and smiled touchingly.
The applause and encouragement from fans will always be the greatest motivation for them to move forward.
"I heard that Ji Li has been on vacation abroad for the past four months? Can you share it with us?"
"Actually, I'm not just taking a vacation." Ji Li took the microphone from Wei Lai and revealed a little, "I have finished filming a movie, and I believe I will meet you all in the near future."
"Long Island Iced Tea" has been completed, and Ji Li had obtained Cameron's permission in advance to make such a small revelation.
When the fans heard this, their cheers of surprise almost broke through the ceiling of the theater.
What?
They thought Jili was on vacation, but it turns out that he had secretly filmed an entire movie without telling them, his fans?
Sure enough, he is still that career-oriented guy!
Thank you thank you, I received the New Year’s gift!
Seeing the fans' uncontrollable surprise, Ji Li bowed deeply.
"However, I hope everyone will focus on this movie first. I assure you that this movie is worth your time."
"Okay." The fans and audiences responded loudly as always.
Wang Peng is one of the film critics invited today and has more than 300,000 fans on Weibo. He looked at Ji Li who was speaking on the stage, with an indifferent smile on his face.
He didn't come here today to find out how good this movie is or how worth watching it is.
On the contrary, Wang Peng was bribed by Cai Yishu's team and was deliberately looking for trouble with a tinted glasses.
If you want to destroy the reputation of a movie, you can't just make up stories and criticize it at random, but you have to combine the actual content to criticize it. Half-true and half-false stories are the easiest way to increase the credibility of the public.
In addition to Wang Peng, there should be other film critics who have the same sinister purpose.
As soon as the premiere is over, these hired film critics will immediately post "derogatory" remarks on the Internet, which will spread from one person to ten, and from ten to a hundred, causing a complete collapse of word of mouth.
This could very well be a fatal blow to a newly released movie.
Wang Peng admitted that this was unethical, but who could blame the other party for giving him more money?
Among youth-themed movies, only one out of a hundred may become a hit. As for the one in front of him, it doesn't look like a hit at first glance, so it might as well be used as a tool for him to make money.
…
After a brief self-introduction, everyone was led by the staff to the guest seats in the first row.
Soon, the lights in the theater dimmed and the audience seats fell silent.
In the darkness, someone walked in quickly from the side door and sat accurately in the empty seat next to Ji Li.
Ji Li felt the movement around him and subconsciously cast an inquiring glance, but was caught off guard by a pair of deep eyes that he was all too familiar with.
The lover who had clearly been coaxing him on WeChat about not being able to make it back for the movie premiere suddenly appeared in front of him.
Qin Li wore a mask and a baseball cap, which completely concealed his handsome features, but the love in his eyes was still enough to make people blush and their hearts beat faster.
Ji Li suddenly felt happy, and the name that was lingering in his mind almost came out of his mouth.
Qin Li made a quiet gesture and took advantage of the darkness before the show started to lean close to his ear and said, "Baby, I miss you so much."
In fact, as Qin Li is an investor and Feng Cheng is an employee of Lixing, it is completely reasonable for him to attend the premiere ceremony. But Ji Li inexplicably felt a sense of nervousness about starting an "underground love affair", and even his ears turned red.
The lights on the big screen came on.
In order not to be noticed by others, Ji Li had to straighten his body and restrain himself from looking straight ahead.
When Qin Li saw his lover's cautious look, a faint smile welled up in his eyes and he shifted his attention back to the screen.
If the two of them hadn't agreed on the 'rules of dating' from the beginning, Qin Li would have wanted to hug him and kiss him in public.
The pre-sale amount of this movie was disappointing, and some colleagues in the film and television industry were secretly manipulating "ridiculous" public opinion.
Qin Li knew all of this, but he was in no hurry to solve it.
In his opinion, if a movie wants to be truly successful, it must rely on a solid plot and word-of-mouth after its release. As for those bedbugs, sooner or later they will capsize in their own sewers.
This premiere ceremony will be the beginning of the counterattack of the movie "Time Lobbyist".
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#Jili: The third male lead’s counterattack in the movie is about to begin! (Brother Li: I am the one who assists and supports~)
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