novellhall Chapter 46: 10,000 views in the first week!
Chapter 46: 10,000 views in the first week!
When a woman starts putting on makeup before going out with you, it means she's interested in you.
Before meeting Gu Qing, Jing Tian would never wear such everyday makeup.
Although the company provides a personal assistant, they can't teach you how to do makeup.
When a group of women get together, they start to compete in beauty. Once the first woman starts putting on makeup, the other four basically know how to do it too.
Gu Qing wasn't clueless about romance; she wouldn't foolishly drag him straight to the movies. Instead, they strolled around the capital.
September is the perfect time to visit Beijing, with clear skies, crisp air, and pleasant weather.
In Beijing, the word-of-mouth for "Triangle" continues to grow, and all the costs and expenses of the film are transparent.
Nine million to make a sci-fi movie is a bit risky, but if you watch it as a suspense film, it's a huge success.
Inside Huayi Brothers, Wang Zhonglei stared at the documents in his hand, secretly amazed. Several directors from within the company sat next to him, who also took the documents and began to read them in silence.
A new director made a film on a niche subject and it did so well. When did movies become so easy to make?
"Hey, with these results, you can only call them pretty good."
Feng Xiaogang, standing to the side, lit a cigarette, glanced at the survey paper with a sidelong look, and said nonchalantly.
"It's called a science fiction movie, but it's really just a superficial version; it's nothing special."
"The filming technique is a bit immature, but the storyline is good; it can only be considered above average."
"Why are the male and female leads both our people? We should have brought them over for us to film."
When Feng Xiaogang spoke first, everyone chimed in with their own teasing remarks.
"I called you here to ask if there's any possibility of a replica, not to critique other people's movies."
Wang Zhonglei tapped the table and asked impatiently.
Although the film may not have a high box office, the cost is there, so the return on investment is probably incredibly high.
This kind of high-quality project is exactly what Huayi Brothers needs right now.
"There's no problem filming this, but we can't write the script."
The directors hesitated to speak. The filming techniques were not difficult, even somewhat ordinary, and not too difficult for those of them who had formal training. However, the script was a major problem.
Techniques are important for a movie, but the core plot is its soul. No matter how good the surface is, it can only trick people into going to the theater once.
There are very few good scripts in China. If there are any, they've already been pre-ordered. There are very few scripts that can be written in China, like the one for the movie "Triangle".
"Alright, alright, you can all leave."
Feeling frustrated, Wang Zhonglei waved his hand, signaling everyone to leave.
Looking at the data in front of him—five million in three days—Wang Zhonglei remained silent for a long time.
"Mr. Wang, this is a pretty good result for a newcomer. Our company doesn't need that much, does it?"
"Well... let's see if we have a chance to get to know each other later, and maybe I can buy some scripts."
Wang Zhonglei thought to himself, "This is completely different. With an investment of nine million, the box office will probably catch up in a week. Everything after that is profit. Even for Huayi Brothers, there aren't many projects that can achieve this rate of return."
This year, Huayi Brothers only invested in one film, "Assembly," with an investment of 80 million yuan. It needs to gross at least 240 million yuan to break even.
Although they won't lose money, it doesn't look good on the surface.
For companies aiming to go public, their performance is also an important factor to consider.
In the artist department, a few artists who were still with the company were chatting and gossiping.
Although Huayi Brothers is the top film and television company in China, not everyone can get access to resources directly. Most of those who have acting offers are still reduced to serving drinks.
"Sister Xun, have you seen that movie lately? It's really good."
"The one where Huang Xiaoming was the male lead was really good, and the response was great."
The crowd was chattering and making a ruckus, and there was quite a bit of discussion about the movie.
The main male and female leads are both from Huayi Brothers, um... Fan Binbin was one of them before.
Moreover, everyone had seen the movie script at the time, so who knows, maybe Director Gu will ask them to act in it in the future?
Although Fan Binbin snatched the female lead role, Li Binbin didn't sign a contract either, right? If they didn't sign a contract, how can it be considered a hijacking?
"Yes, I watched it. I really like suspense films. If I had the time, I would have partnered with Xiaoming."
Zhou Xun smiled, a hint of regret in her eyes. She doesn't discriminate when it comes to movies, but it's true that she doesn't have the time.
"Oh, what a pity. This drama is all about the female lead. I'll ask Director Gu to write a drama with a male lead for me sometime."
Huang Xiaoming listened to the flattery and pleasantries from everyone, and he also looked a little smug.
Although the film's success had little to do with him, didn't it still demonstrate his keen eye for talent? He recognized at a glance that this was a good film.
Sitting to the side, Li Binbin felt uneasy. Oh no, could it be that Fan Binbin really ran into him?
She was initially offered the role in this film, but Fan Binbin snatched it from her due to a dispute over her salary.
If the movie flops, that's fine, but if it's a box office hit, she'll be so frustrated she'll want to vomit.
Fortunately, Fan Binbin's contract was long enough and she didn't renew it, otherwise, given how often they would run into each other, she couldn't guarantee she wouldn't beat her up.
At this moment, Li Binbin was thinking that he should invite Gu Qing to dinner to reconnect the broken thread.
Meanwhile, after the first three days of trial screenings, cinemas immediately began to heavily promote "Triangle".
The movie posters were immediately moved to the most prominent places, and the movie's screenings were immediately increased to 60%.
Although the film scheduling was agreed upon beforehand, once it reached the theaters, it was ultimately up to the owners to decide.
Who doesn't want to make more money? A 60% screening rate is already giving other movies face.
It's just that times have changed now; otherwise, it would be too easy to cheat on box office revenue by using fake tickets.
A week later, Gu Qing received a notification from Han Sanping that the first-week box office statistics for "Cruise of Destiny" were in.
The box office reached 18 million in its opening week!
Those who had inside information and heard the news were shocked. "Wait, when did movies become so easy to make?"
The movie had a budget of nine million, and in just one week it's already reached eighteen million?
When a movie is released, the box office won't be very high in the first week, as most people are in a wait-and-see state. The second week is when most casual viewers go to the cinema to watch the movie, and that's when the box office will be at its highest.
"Ah Qing, I must congratulate you first. The box office is almost 20 million in the first week. Our industry has another young director."
Han Sanping was on the phone, also sharing the good news with Gu Qing.
There was nothing we could do but wait for him to call back.
"We also have to thank President Han for his discerning eye; otherwise, the project wouldn't have been able to proceed."
Gu Qing listened with amusement to Han Sanping's rambling on the other end of the phone: with ten million in the first week, the movie's total box office would basically reach fifty million.
That's quite a lot. Although there are many films that gross over 100 million yuan each year, the number of domestic films that can reach over 50 million yuan is less than a handful.
What's more, this is a movie with a budget of nine million!