While everyone thought that Lu Yuan must be enjoying the box office success and celebrating with beer, Lu Yuan was actually living in dire straits.
Noon on the second day of the Chinese New Year.
It's sunny.
The sun shines on the earth, bringing a little warmth to this cold land.
Lu Yuan woke up from his sleep in a daze. When he looked at the familiar room and furnishings, he suddenly felt a headache.
The clock on the wall has already reached 12 o'clock.
He originally wanted to take a good holiday during the Chinese New Year and not worry about anything else. However, he started to have a fever not long after he lay down in the company after watching a movie yesterday. He quickly found some antipyretic medicine and took it.
Although I felt a little better after taking antipyretics, I was still groggy and fell into a deep sleep.
I caught a cold on the second day of the Chinese New Year, which is really not a good sign.
After getting up and seeing the empty lobby of the company, Lu Yuan felt weak all over and his nose was running non-stop, so he simply ran to the nearby hospital to see a doctor.
The middle-aged doctor on duty was a middle-aged woman.
The middle-aged woman recognized Lu Yuan, but she did not go over to him and ask for his autograph like the other little girls did. Instead, she very professionally checked Lu Yuan's condition.
In the end she came to the conclusion that Lu Yuan had a bad cold.
She gave Lu Yuan two choices, one was to take medicine properly, and the other was to get an IV drip.
One gets better a little faster, the other a little slower.
Lu Yuan chose the faster method.
After all, who can stand having a runny nose every other day? A runny nose often leads to a stuffy nose.
Lu Yuan really couldn't stand the feeling of breathing through his mouth when sleeping at night.
When the drip was halfway through, Lu Yuan felt bored so he took out his cell phone and switched from flight mode to normal mode.
After receiving Zhang Tong’s call yesterday, Lu Yuan was so dizzy that he set his phone to flight mode.
As soon as the signal was connected, Lu Yuan's cell phone rang.
Lu Yuan looked at the phone...
It’s Zhang Tong calling.
"Hey, congratulations."
"Congratulations on what?"
"Still pretending to be confused. I don't believe you are not happy now..."
"Director Zhang, why should I be so happy... I have a bad cold and a runny nose... I don't even have time to cry."
"Tsk tsk, you're still pretending. I know you're a good actor, but you better put away your pretense in front of me. I see that your box office performance today may even surpass 'Alien Killer'."
"Director Zhang, what are you talking about..."
"Tsk tsk, Xiao Lu, do you really have to be so pretentious?"
"Director Zhang, I'm really not pretending, I'm just feeling dizzy right now... By the way, what do you mean by box office?"
"Hey, do you really want me to cooperate with you in showing off? I don't believe you don't know how much your box office is..."
"Director Zhang, I really don't know..."
“Is this true or false?”
"Really, Director Zhang..."
“You didn’t even know that the box office had broken records?”
"I don't know, how much?"
"Haha, you want me to be your background? No, I won't accompany you..."
"Director Zhang, I'm really not the type to pretend. I really don't know how much my box office is. Just tell me and don't keep me in suspense."
"Tsk tsk, I said I don't want to be a background board, okay, I'm hanging up, keep working hard today!"
"???"
When Zhang Tong hung up the phone, Lu Yuan was completely at a loss.
Then he felt very wronged.
He really doesn't know what the box office is, and he never wants to act this weird, right?
This made him feel very unhappy.
However, listening to Zhang Tong's tone...
Could it be that his "Wanderer" became a hit?
Before Lu Yuan could think for long, his cell phone rang again. This time it was Wang Jinxue calling.
"Hello."
"Are you not in the company?" Wang Jinxue's voice on the other end of the phone seemed strange.
"Not here yet."
"In the cinema?"
"No."
"Are you investigating the box office data of major cinema chains with Fatty Wei?"
"No……"
"Then what are you doing? Don't tell me you're going home for the New Year again..." Wang Jinxue's voice became somewhat helpless.
"I'm in the hospital."
"Hospital? What's wrong with you? Which hospital? Are you okay? I'll be there right away..." Wang Jinxue's voice suddenly became tense.
"It's in the hospital next door. It's nothing special, just..."
“Beep, beep, beep.”
Wang Jinxue hung up the phone quickly and came over quickly. When Wang Jinxue arrived at the hospital and saw Lu Yuan hanging on the hospital bed with a look of despair on his face, she was at a loss whether to laugh or cry.
She thought something had happened to Lu Yuan, and even thought that Lu Yuan had a car accident. It was only after she arrived at the hospital that she found out that Lu Yuan had a bad cold.
She let out a long sigh, and the worry in her heart disappeared immediately.
"You have a cold again?"
"Ahem, ahem, yes..." Lu Yuan was embarrassed.
"It seems like you need to exercise. I didn't expect your physical condition is so poor... You've caught a cold twice in less than a month."
"Ahem..." Lu Yuan continued to feel embarrassed.
"Let's hold the celebration party after you recover from your cold."
"What celebration party?"
"A party to celebrate the record-breaking box office."
"By the way, how much are our box office?"
"you do not know?"
"I really don't know, and I'm not pretending. Well, I'm really not the kind of person who pretends to be cool. Do you believe me when I say these words..." Lu Yuan looked at Wang Jinxue and said it out loud.
"I didn't say you were a pretentious person... Is it necessary for you to be so sensitive..." Wang Jinxue suddenly laughed after looking at Lu Yuan's aggrieved expression.
For some reason, Lu Yuan's frustrated expression is so funny.
He looked like a weak person who had been bullied and misunderstood but was unable to fight back.
"Okay, okay, guess how much the opening night box office of 'Vagabond' was?"
"I can't guess..."
"Eighteen million."
"What!" Lu Yuan was stunned after hearing this number.
Eighteen million?
Is it that strong?
…
The box office rankings for the premiere are out.
The top four opening box office hits were "Planet Days" with $35 million, "King Kong: Genesis" with $32 million, "The Killing" with $20 million, and "Nomadland" with $18 million.
There is no doubt that the appearance of "The Wanderer" has given a very good start to Chinese films during the Spring Festival.
Netizens have very high hopes for this part of "Nomadland". Not only has it received rave reviews online, but its popularity on Tomato.com has even completely surpassed the third-place "Slaughter Alien" and is approaching the second-place "King Kong 1: Genesis".
Of course, the premiere box office is only a temporary data and does not represent anything. There are many movies whose premiere box office was not so good but made a comeback the next day. The representative movie "Buried" is a vivid example.
No one was optimistic about "Buried" at first, but "Buried" ended up slapping everyone in the face with its box office results!
So even though Shen Lianjie's "Butterfly Lovers" was at the bottom, not many people were stepping on this movie.
The key is to look at the subsequent development...
Many directors refuse to admit defeat.
Li Mingrui is such a person who never gives up.
He was waiting for the next day's results.
To be honest, he doesn't have eyes for Chinese movies, he only has eyes for Hollywood movies.
He felt that his film "Blood War" was not bad, and it was full of action elements, and even incorporated countless passionate science fiction elements.
These elements are what young people love to watch the most.
After considering the ratings of this movie on the Internet, he felt that he had full confidence in making a comeback.
Early morning of the third day of the Lunar New Year.
"Is it out?"
“It’s out.”
"How are your grades?"
"We've broken 18 million!"
"How much is "Killing Alien"?"
"It's the same as ours, eighteen million."
"Haha, it seems there is still a chance for a comeback. By the way, where is Zhang Tong's "Bloody Age"? "
"The box office has dropped to 15 million."
"Oh, then it looks like we've secured third place."
"No, we are not the third one."
"Who is that? Is there anyone else who has made a comeback?"
"That... that movie 'Vagabond' has surpassed 24 million, and is currently ranked third."
"What, third place? Is the gap so big?"
When Li Mingrui saw the box office performance of "The Wanderer" on the second day of the Chinese New Year, he was a little bit unbelievable for a moment.
This movie…
Exploded again?
…
The box office results on the second day of the Chinese New Year once again shocked people in the industry.
They thought Nomadland had a chance to surpass The Killing Alien.
But they didn't expect that "Wanderer" would completely surpass them on the second day and reach a box office record of 9 million.
On the Internet, the popularity and praise rate of "Wanderer" have been rising, while the data of "Killing Alien" has been declining...
After all, Chinese movie fans are not fools. They can at least distinguish good movies from bad movies. There is no way your shoddy work can beat those carefully crafted ones, even if those carefully crafted ones are art films.
This time the box office battle has lifted the spirits of all the movie fans!
For the first time, a Chinese film actually beat a Hollywood film during the Spring Festival and ranked third.
Moreover, the box office of "Blood War" also started to soar, and it directly ranked fourth!
This has to be said to be a feat!
This undoubtedly made everyone happy.
All netizens on the Internet regard this moment as a sign of the rise of Chinese films!
They felt they saw hope!
Of course, compared to the progress of "The Wanderer" and "Blood War", other Chinese films have begun to show signs of decline.
Zhang Tong could still accept his box office the next day, but Shen Lianjie was stunned after looking at his box office.
"Six million?"
"Six million the next day?"
"Instead of increasing, it dropped by three million?"
In Joaquin's office, Shen Lianjie sat heavily on the chair...
He once again began to doubt his career as a director.
This blow is indeed heavy.
"Look at the third day! Phew, maybe it's just temporary!"
…
The fourth day of the Lunar New Year.
People in China have begun to visit relatives and friends to wish each other a happy new year.
Everything looks harmonious and warm.
But the box office battle during the Spring Festival has just begun.
All the stars started advertising and canvassing for votes crazily, and even organized countless various activities.
"The Wanderer" is more Buddhist.
Lu Yuan has not appeared in any entertainment, advertisements, or even held a press conference...
Netizens found it very strange.
Later, when netizens saw someone secretly took a photo of Lu Yuan in the hospital hanging an IV drip and said that Lu Yuan had been hanging an IV drip for two days and his severe cold was still not healed, they suddenly laughed.
At this critical moment, others are sharpening their knives to take their box office to a higher level, but you are just staying in the hospital with a cold...
This cold came at a really bad time...
But!
Even though there were no activities or news about "Wanderer", the box office of "Wanderer" exploded again.
On the third day, the box office of "Nomadland" exceeded 27 million, and the gap with the second place "King Kong 1: Origins" was 7 million, and the gap with the first place "Planet Age" was only 10 million!
In fact, on the third day, the box office of almost all movies was dropping. "Blood War" dropped from 18 million to 14 million, "Red Age" dropped from 15 million to 12 million, and "Alien" dropped directly to 10 million. As for Shen Lianjie of "Butterfly Lovers", he almost cried when he saw the box office of 5 million.
The good things didn't come as expected, but the bad things came as expected...
The only one that went against the trend was "Wanderer"!
"The Wanderer" seems to be unreasonable, sucking all the luck of Chinese Spring Festival movies dry, and rushing towards the second place ** fiercely...
At this moment, everyone was staring at "The Wanderer", staring at this terrifying dark horse that suddenly rose up!
Maybe……
Can this movie create a great miracle in the history of Chinese cinema?
The fourth day arrived quickly.
Day 4…
The single-day box office of "Nomadland" reached 29 million, and the box office of "King Kong 1: Origins" was also 29 million!
Is it equal?
Netizens are waiting with their eyes wide open!
"this……"
"Is it so terrible? This..."
"Oh my god, what a day!"
"this……"
"It's possible... this 'Wanderer' might even surpass 'King Kong 1: Origin'!"
"It's impossible, right? This 'Wanderer' can't be that crazy, right?"
"this……"
"It's just a Chinese film. What a joke! Why are the box office of other films decreasing, while his film's box office is increasing every day? This is unscientific!"
“Just check Weibo.”
“Weibo?”
"Well, the relevant department's Weibo specifically promoted this movie..."
"What, there is such a thing?"
"Um!"
…
"What? I want to reduce the number of screenings? To make room for 'The Wanderer'?"
"What? Is this what the higher-ups mean?"
"this……"
Shen Lianjie's eyes widened after he hung up the phone.
At this moment, he instantly understood what it meant to make matters worse.
Is it possible to play like this?
Make way for "The Wanderer"?
Why should we give way to "The Wanderer"?
Why?