Chapter 386 No. 1 In The Box Office!
‘In fact, I’m not bothered if some audiences are fooled by “Xu Qingling”.
‘All I care about is the attitude from the online movie industry and iQIYI.
‘Ever since the box office performance of
Fighting The Buddha’ was unsatisfactory last week, there have been rumors in the online movie industry that it’s all caused by my film crew’s last minute change. Coupled with all the terrible things that happened to the film crew, a good movie is ruined.
‘Even Bubbles’ identity had been made up, saying that she’s a 16 or 17 year old girl with connections with the investor.
‘I would not have cared if it was just an article or some news. However, now that it’s information within the industry, I have to take it seriously. ‘After all, my film and my company relies on this industry to survive.
If this kind of news were to spread, it would be very difficult for my film company to carry on in the future. I won’t even be able to cast anyone if that happens.
“Of course, I know who the source of this information is, it’s obviously Director Wang and Chu Hong ‘Director Wang had openly accepted an interview with a well-known public account in the industry and told them about what he had experienced on set.
‘Of course, he didn’t dare to openly criticize the crew. Instead, he used a very ‘objective’ perspective to say that he had been fired after filming for only one day and the movie was completed in a week.
‘But, if one read in between the lines, what he meant to say was that the film crew is unprofessional.
‘This is also the reason why everyone in the industry is looking down on my company. They feel that it’s no wonder that the production team couldn’t produce a decent film when such a makeshift crew and director had been put in place.
‘Plus, a movie that had 5 million yuan invested in it only to receive 1.9 million yuan on its first week isn’t something to look forward to.
‘There’s even statements from veteran producers saying that this is probably the worst S-rank online movie project this year and that it’s a disgrace to all S-rank movies.
‘His comments have obviously garnered the support of many people in the industry. Many people posted on their WeChat to mock “Fighting The Buddha” stating that this movie is bad and was a piece of trash.
‘IQIYI have also turned cold because of this, despite knowing the actual situation better than the rest of the industry. They knew that the reason why “Fighting The Buddha” isn’t producing any positive results is because there is no recommendation and no traffic flow for this movie.
‘However, people tend to be easily influenced by data.
‘In the face of a movie that could earn 2.25 million yuan a day and a movie that could earn 1.9 million yuan a week. Although they are well aware that it’s due to the lack of recommendations, the people at iQIYI are still worried that the quality of “Fighting The Buddha” isn’t good and would still fail even if they put in more resources.
“They panicked even more when the movie’s box office plummeted after “Xu Qingling” had remained at the top for 3 days in a row..
‘Summer break is the hottest period for online movies. Normally, the box office for online movies that are released during the summer break wouldn’t be bad.
‘However, looking at it now, this month’s movies did not perform well. Out of the 2 big S-rank movies, one started high and ended low while the other remained low all the way…
‘Currently, iQIYI isn’t the only platform dominating in the country, there are three other tier-one online video platforms. Now that iQIYI has come out with 2 under-performing movies, their competitiveness in the market is deteriorating.
‘This has also led to many new movies or projects that were planning to collaborate with IQIYI to hesitate, thinking that iQIYI’S popularity and audience isn’t what they expected.
“This will put a lot of pressure on the iQIYI’s online movie department.
“They’ve already spent all their resources in recommending “Xu Qingling” and it’s impossible for them to take it back now. However, the resources for the “Fighting The Buddha” have not been given out yet, so they definitely can’t help but want to take back their resources. By doing so, they can use all the combined resources on another S-rank online movie which was meant to be released next month and bring up their overall competitiveness.
‘If I had not asked little bun to go to the Imperial Capital to negotiate with them and sign the legal agreement for getting their resources for the recommendation in advance so that they haven’t got the right to rearrange it as they pleased, we would probably be in a disastrous position now.
‘After all, agreements would only have legal effect if it’s done on paper rather than verbally which is worth nothing. ‘That way, IQIYI can’t do anything but follow everything as agreed despite how much they refuse to.’
In the end, because the two parties could not come to an agreement, the broker for iQIYI directly said, “If the movie isn’t good, it doesn’t matter if we promote it everyday, it will not become popular! Since you guys are determined to not give up on getting it recommended, let’s see what “Fighting The Buddha” becomes!”
‘Obviously, this broker has been heavily pressured by iQIYI due the underperforming box office.
‘Of course, I’m not the one who experienced all these. Producer Zhao was the one who told me all the news within the entertainment industry while little bun’s the one who has to deal with the pressure from the negotiations with IQIYI.
‘When our movie wasn’t doing well, they had to bear a lot of pressure.’
Of course, Su Yang had kept all those words to heart. This was also the reason why he was so focused on the movie despite his recent popularity on TikTok!
Su Yang looked at the defaming articles and screenshots of people who criticized the movie for being lousy. Plus, he looked at his competitor’s wanton defamation and the increasing distrust from IQIYI. All of these made him really unhappy!
‘I refuse to believe this! I’ve planned for so long and have put in so much effort into the post-production! Not to mention the amount of Bronze abilities and special items used, plus all the little monsters’ help in order to make this movie! Could it really be so unpopular?!
‘I refuse to believe it, after all the effort I’ve put in for the Silver mission, I’d end up losing everything because of a movie?!
‘Didn’t “Xu Qingling” defame my movie deliberately through bribery?
‘Didn’t iQIYI lose their trust in my movie?
‘Aren’t all my peers looking down on my movie?
‘In that case, let’s see how my movie’s box office ends up being, I’ll see this to the end!’
Su Yang had become so stubborn that no one could stop him from going on a rampage. He was hellbent on seeing if his movie could surpass “Xu Qingling”! He wanted so desperately to have that disgusting movie grovel at the bottom of his shoes!
Su Yang spent the whole day reading the comments online.
‘These comments seem to be completely different from the movie review.
‘Although the audience didn’t have a high evaluation of the movie, they actually said that the movie wasn’t too bad and was worth every cent. They specifically emphasized on how good the special effects were which felt like it was done by a reputed studio instead of those cheap ones.
“The audience’s comments are more than enough for me to be confident in my movie!’
At 7 pm, according to the agreement with iQIYI, the promotion for “Fighting The Buddha” had finally arrived!
First on the recommendations page! Advertised on the main webpage! Exclusive interview! Exclusive webpage! All the resources iQIYI had for an S-level project were thrown out in an instant!
Many existing iQIYI users were surprised when they saw the overwhelming publicity. ‘What? What movie is this? Has it just been released? Why haven’t I heard of it?’
Some users could not help but be attracted by the movie’s cover. ‘Hang on? Is this Sun Wukong? Wait? Could it be Chen Min? Anyway It seems very interesting.’
Some of them saw the movie through an interview. ‘What? Lin Cong? The highest ranking actor for a supporting role in Hong Kong drama? Interesting.’
Some even saw it through the advertisement of other movies. “What the f*ck! This special effect is really great! This movie has been made locally? You’ve gotta be kidding me!”
No matter what the reason was, with so many recommendations, “Fighting The Buddha” became popular instantly!
Of course, this type of popularity was just abstract.
People were only attracted by the title, cast and special effects. The actual quality of the movie was still crucial! Plus, Could people watch the movie for more than six minutes? Would they pay to become a member?
However, Su Yang was very confident of himself in these aspects!
“The first 10 minutes of the movie is absolutely amazing, especially with the special effects that were enhanced by my various abilities. The movie is as good as the best domestic productions could churn out.
‘Thus, this will be enough for the audience to be able to watch the movie smoothly for at least six minutes. After six minutes, they would become paid users for the movie!
‘Even though the storyline after that is a little melodramatic, it is still something that is worth watching thanks to Bubble’s filming skills and my outstanding post-production.
‘After all, apart from (Director’s Ability), Bubbles also had [Photographer’s Ability). Hence, her ability to capture beauty is much stronger. ‘She’s slightly similar to a low-end version of Zhang Yimou who’s an experienced photographer, so the images she produces are extremely exquisite.
‘In the end, Bubbles increased the choreography of the fight and its explosive drama to a whole new level. It allows the audience to be left with a good impression on the movie after watching it, increasing the chance for them to recommend it to their friends.’
The truth was just as Su Yang thought.
Most of the audience were attracted by the exquisite special effects and became excited after watching the first 10 minutes of the movie.
Although after 10 minutes, the fantasy movie suddenly turned into a melodramatic urban drama unexpectedly.
However, after Bubbles utilized her [Photographer’s Ability) including the beautiful use of colors, the audience couldn’t help but continue watching the movie.
In the end, after the melodrama had ended, the audience got the chance to relive a fight scene equivalent to the first 10 minutes before the movie. The explosions and the special effects involved were the pinnacle of domestic online movies and left the audience craving for more.
Thus, more and more viewers recommended the movie to their friends after they had finished the movie themselves.
Of course, they were very tactful when they recommended it. ‘Well… this is a movie worth watching. The scenes are very beautiful, the special effects are very good, and the fight is very exciting. Also, the movie is played by Chen Min and Lin Cong which is very nostalgic.
‘But… the plot’s a bit melodramatic. You’ll just have to sit through it.’
After their interests were piqued by their friends, they would be attracted to watch the movie and the number of audience grew exponentially
After 7 pm, Su Yang had been paying attention to the data from behind the scenes. When he saw that the data was climbing steadily and was on a completely different level from the previous data, he could not hold it in anymore.
He directly asked Little Deeny to send the poster of this movie to the FindMe app. Not only did he ask for her to give it a little boost, he also made it the most trending search on the FindMe app’s information stream. He was prepared to continue making this movie even more popular!
‘This movie is definitely going to explode under my influence!’
The truth was not out of his expectations!
The next day, the IQIYI’s box office rankings were updated!
“Fighting The Buddha” reached No.1 with a box office earnings of 3.13 million!