r18novel Chapter 15 Beating Zhou Xun
Chapter 15 Beating Zhou Xun
A bespectacled man who looked like a producer from Zhou Xun's team took the microphone first, a reserved yet slightly disdainful smile on his face, as he adjusted his glasses:
"Heh, that's an interesting question."
He cleared his throat, raising his voice a few decibels: "Our film, 'Baby in Love,' is an art-house blockbuster with an investment of tens of millions, featuring top stars from both sides of the Taiwan Strait and Hong Kong, and supported by international music masters!"
"Our goal is to reach the heights of 'Hero'! To take a film like... well, I heard the budget was only tens of thousands of yuan? And the lead actors are complete newcomers? Oh, right, the boss himself had a cameo role in 'Crazy Stone'... is that the kind of film we're comparing ourselves to?"
"baffling!"
The spokesperson looked around as if to say, "Do you even understand art?"
"This is an insult to our labor of love! That 'ghost film'? Sorry, it's not on our radar, much less a competitor. Our journey is to the stars!"
Huang Jue and Chen Kun, standing to the side, crossed their arms, pursed their lips, and remained silent, but their expressions clearly said: Compared to that makeshift troupe? That's beneath them!
A burst of laughter erupted from the audience, and flashbulbs went off at them.
Zhou Xun herself didn't say much, but maintained a polite smile, and her eyes revealed a calmness that said, "I'm a powerful actress, I won't stoop to the level of a small workshop."
As soon as the premiere ended, the media outlets started praising it like they were on steroids:
"Love Baby" aims to rival "Hero," but low-budget "creepy" films may become cannon fodder!
"Watching horror movies during the Lunar New Year? Unlucky! 'Love Baby' is the way to go—warm and healing!"
"A stark contrast in cast! Zhou Xun, Huang Jue, and Chen Kun lead a blockbuster production that completely overshadows newcomer director Ling Yuan!"
Several other films were actually released on the same day:
For example, "Big City, Small Things": starring Li Ming, Wang Fei, Chen Jianbing, and Jiang Yihong, is an urban romance.
"The Moon Shines Brightly": Starring Yeung Chin-wah, Richie Jen, and Chung Chun-tao, this is a Hong Kong-style Lunar New Year comedy.
"Sunny Courtyard": Starring Huang Hong, Tian Yumin, Geng Mei, Chen Jianbing, Cai Guoqin, etc., a heartwarming family film.
When the screening schedule was released, "Love Baby" secured the most screenings due to its big name and high budget, almost monopolizing the prime time slots.
And what about Ling Yuan's "The True Story of Ghostly Shadows"?
Well, poor thing, it's at the bottom of the list in terms of screenings, and the shows are either early in the morning or late at night, it's like a joke.
The crew of "Love Baby" even prepared a champagne tower, just waiting for the box office success on the first day so they could pop the bottle open in celebration and enjoy the victory bubbles.
Zhou Xun's team members all wore relaxed smiles and were full of confidence. They were determined to make two or three hundred million yuan at the box office this time! A stunning success!
As a result, when the box office figures for the first day came out, the entire industry was stunned!
Despite having the fewest screenings, "The Haunted Cop Shop" still managed to gross 360 million yuan, topping the box office charts!
The highly anticipated film, "Baby in Love," sold for 150 million.
"Big City, Small Things" 80 million.
"A Perfect Match" grossed 60 million.
"Sunny Courtyard" is even worse, at 0.3 (you read that right, three thousand yuan!).
pat!
In the film crew of "Love Baby," someone dropped a champagne glass on the carpet because they weren't holding it properly.
It wasn't broken, but golden liquid was gushing out, much like their feelings at that moment.
"How...how much?" The producer, a man with glasses, snatched the box office slip, his eyes practically popping out of their sockets.
"360 million? 'The Ghostly Shadow'? This... how is this possible?!" His voice cracked, and his previous composure and sense of superiority shattered completely.
Zhou Xun's smile froze, and the tips of her fingers holding the wine glass turned slightly white.
Huang Jue frowned, repeatedly checking the data, with a look of utter disbelief.
Chen Kun remained silent.
The relaxed and cheerful atmosphere that everyone had just been in instantly plummeted to freezing point.
Champagne ready? Forget about opening it! Opening it now, the bubbles sound like a mockery!
……
The phones of cinema managers were immediately ringing off the hook!
"Hey? XX Cinema? 'The Haunted House'! Immediately! Right now! Add more screenings! Allocate all prime time slots to it!"
"What? No more copies? Hurry up and urge them! Borrow some! Steal some!"
"Screening schedule? Tear it up and start over! Now! Immediately! Push 'The Haunted' to 40%!"
The next day, screenings of "The Haunted House" skyrocketed! Box office revenue followed suit: 480 million!
The word-of-mouth is absolutely amazing! Everyone who's seen it is raving about it online:
"Holy crap! That scared the hell out of me! I didn't see any ghosts the whole time, but it was even more terrifying than Sadako crawling out!"
"The scene where Tang Yan wears a bellyband... ugh... both beautiful and terrifying! Director Ling Yuan is awesome!"
"My legs were shaking when I left the movie theater! It was totally worth the money!"
"This is a real horror movie! What is 'Love Baby'? I don't understand it!"
On the third day, the box office hit a new record: 560 million! A meteoric rise!
Zhou Xun's team was completely dumbfounded.
The champagne tower sat silently deflated in the corner, ignored by everyone.
The media frenzy shifted 180 degrees, with reports on the box office miracle of "Paranormal Activity" becoming increasingly sensational:
"A dark horse in the horror genre sweeps the Lunar New Year box office! 'Paranormal Activity' grosses over 20 million in its opening week!"
"Zhou Xun and Huang Jue's big-budget production suffers a major setback! This low-budget 'creepy film' teaches a lesson!"
"Ling Yuan writes, directs, and stars in this film! Xinghan Pictures creates another box office miracle!"
The internet exploded with discussion.
The Xinghan online army, who had previously received ten times their usual paycheck and been frantically posting on various forums, were stunned by this terrifying box office performance.
"Brothers...did we take this money...too easily?"
"All those posts we made... were completely useless! The video just went viral on its own!"
"President Ling is awesome! Tang Yan is awesome! This movie is absolutely amazing!"
Many people go to the theater with the mindset of "I want to see how scary/good it is," and come out pale-faced (from fright) or excitedly dancing (from thrill), spreading the word: "Go see it! You'll regret it if you don't!"
Ultimately, "Baby in Love," a "big production" with an investment of over 40 million yuan, barely managed to reach a total box office of 12 million yuan, leaving it with nothing.
"Big City, Small Things" 570 million.
"A Perfect Match" grossed 550 million.
"Sunshine Courtyard" has created a "miracle," with a total box office of 1.3 yuan nationwide. It is said that it only sold 1900 yuan in a certain cinema in Guangdong Province. Without a doubt, it will most likely "claim" the bottom spot in this year's box office, which can be described as an epic disaster.
Huang Hong, a renowned comedian and frequent performer on the Spring Festival Gala, looked utterly bewildered: "What the hell? A horror movie beat up my meticulously crafted heartwarming art film, 'Sunny Courtyard'? What's wrong with people these days? They only care about lowbrow entertainment and have no taste for anything refined?!"
"Fine, I'll just go perform my skit!" I feel restless.
Meanwhile, Ling Yuan's "small, shabby horror film" "The Haunted Cop Shop," which only cost 50,000 to 60,000 yuan, was filmed in a week, had little promotion, and was looked down upon by everyone, is now soaring to the top of the box office with an unstoppable momentum, crushing Zhou Xun's team and their champagne dream, as well as several other films released at the same time!
Final box office record: over 8600 million!
Li Ming, Wang Fei, Yang Qianhua, Richie Jen, Chung Kenny Bee, and others were all astonished: Wow, amazing! A new generation of talent has emerged from the mainland?!
You know, they're all superstars, movie stars, and movie emperors, how could they be no match for a small, insignificant film?
Meanwhile, the bigwigs at the State Film Administration were still in a meeting discussing how, with the opening up of the market, imported and Hong Kong films would enter the domestic market and cause an unprecedented impact on genuine domestic films. They needed to come up with ways to protect and support domestic films.
"How about reducing the import of foreign revenue-sharing blockbusters from June to August each year? Hmm, let's call it the Domestic Film Protection Month."
The discussion had barely concluded when news broke that Xinghan Pictures had become a box office hit.
Wow, the big shots were all stunned, wondering if they had misheard.
Hey, he's so fierce and good at fighting, is there any need to protect him?