novellhall Chapter 58: Roadshow, Box Office, and Celebration Banquet
Chapter 58: Roadshow, Box Office, and Celebration Banquet
The day after the premiere.
Wei Yi was woken up by his phone vibrating.
It's not an alarm clock. It's a cell phone.
It kept shaking, then stopped, then started shaking again, like a mad hornet.
He closed his eyes and reached for the Nokia phone on the bedside table, squinting at the screen.
Twenty-two missed calls. About thirty text messages.
Mu Tingting rolled over beside her, the blanket slipping down to her waist, revealing a section of her smooth, white back. She mumbled something, buried her face in the pillow, and showed no sign of waking up.
knocking.
"Director Wei? Director Wei! Wei Yi, are you up yet?"
It was Li Hua's voice.
Wei Yi put on his clothes and opened the door.
Li Hua stood at the door, holding several newspapers in his hand, his expression a mixture of excitement and disbelief.
"Junior brother," he held the newspaper up to Wei Yi, "you fucking drove that editor at Sina crazy."
Wei Yi took the newspaper.
The top one is the *Beijing News*. The entertainment section's headline is in bold and black.
"One Shot" Premieres to Praise Acclaim; Top-Scoring College Entrance Exam Student's Debut Film Hailed as Best Comedy of the Year
He flipped to the second copy.
The headline of the Yanjing Entertainment News was even more brilliant.
"Chow Yun-fat as lighting technician, Gong Li as makeup artist: This might be the most outrageous film crew of the year."
The third one was an entertainment weekly published in the south.
Wei Yi: A Perfect Scorer, a Darling of the Fashion World, and a Leading Figure Among the New Generation of Directors—His Story Has Only Just Begun
Li Hua then took out a stack of printing papers from his bag.
"This is a screenshot of the webpage from this morning. The Tianya Movies section crashed last night."
Wei Yi took it and flipped through it.
Posts that used to call him a liar and criticize "One Shot" as a bad movie have been dug up and retaliated against.
Some of the people who were the harshest critics before turned around and posted lengthy apology posts, saying that they "didn't recognize a great man."
The top-rated comment at the time, written by someone with the ID "Doesn't Like Cilantro," was over a thousand words long, ending with:
"I apologize to Director Wei Yi. I also want to say that it actually feels pretty good to be made a fool of like a monkey."
Li Hua's old post about "making a living in the industry" has been unearthed.
The latest comments below are all spamming "OP, come out here," "Aren't you supposed to have inside information?" and "I can't even buy tickets now."
At Wei Yi's behest, Li Hua replied in the middle of the night: "...My mistake."
Less than half an hour after the reply was posted, it received more likes than the original post.
"And this too." Li Hua stuffed a sheet of printed paper into his hand.
This is a screenshot of Sina Entertainment's homepage.
The top headline featured Liu Yang's new article, which he had rushed out overnight.
The title was revised three times, and the final version consisted of only one line:
"I was wrong"
Subtitle: "One-shot comedy may be the best domestic comedy of the year."
The first sentence of the text reads: "I am Liu Yang, and after ten years in the industry, this is the first time I have been completely fooled by the marketing strategy of an eighteen-year-old director."
The following three thousand words were a lengthy account, claiming that he was "deceived by Wei Yi and Wei Yi's reverse marketing," and the last paragraph read:
"My colleague asked me what was so good about this film. I thought about it all night and came up with a sentence—you know the first thirty minutes are a lie, but you still want to keep watching. Being able to make you willingly be fooled is a skill in itself."
After reading it, Wei Yi put the printed paper back into Li Hua's hand.
"Is there anything else?"
Li Hua was stunned: "That's all you're going to do?"
Wei Yi took his windbreaker from the coat rack by the door and put it on: "I'm starving. Let's go eat."
She is not called Mu Tingting.
She and he fought until after 3 a.m. last night, based on Wei Yi's understanding of her.
There's no way she could get up right now.
The two went out and randomly chose a restaurant.
Before he could even settle into his seat, Tian Erzhuang called.
"Wei Yi! Are you awake yet?"
"Just woke up."
Do you know how much the box office was on the opening day?
"No one has told me yet."
There was a two-second silence on the other end of the phone.
Then, in a voice strained with all his might, Tian Erzhuang said, word by word, "Fourteen million. First day. Fourteen million!"
Wei Yi paused for a moment with his chopsticks, then picked up another piece of braised pork and stuffed it into his mouth: "Oh."
"Oh? You only have one 'oh'? Do you know how much 'King Kong' earned on its opening day? How much did 'Fearless' earn at the same time? With your opening day box office, you've basically broken the record for domestic comedy films!"
"Teacher, I'm still eating breakfast."
"Eat your head, my foot! Han Sanping just called you, and said your phone was off!"
"That's because your line is busy."
"Stop talking nonsense! Call Han Sanping back right now! He's waiting for you at China Film Group!"
After hanging up the phone, Wei Yi lowered his head and finished the remaining half bowl of rice.
I had just put down my chopsticks when my phone rang again.
This time it was Han Sanping himself.
"Wei Yi, fourteen million on the first day."
Han Sanping's voice was relatively calm in comparison, but beneath that calmness was a taut string, a string that was desperately trying to restrain itself but could snap at any moment.
That's absolutely outrageous.
Not counting the favors Wei Yi made, the total investment for this play was two million.
The box office on the first day was a whopping 1400 million...
Han Sanping had a premonition.
China Film Group is going to make a killing this time!
"Third Master, I heard you."
"Today is the second day, and the movie ticket sales data from various places is very good, and it is still rising. I expect the box office in the first week to break 100 million."
Han Sanping said, "Your marketing this time was a huge success. Perhaps you could consider setting a precedent for Titanic."
Wei Yi suddenly spoke:
"Third Master, don't get so excited. Let's not talk about whether it can surpass Titanic. But I'm still a student, and I've heard some rumors that some companies and some cinemas are particularly good at stealing box office revenue."
There have always been many shady practices in the mainland box office, and box office fraud still existed before Wei Yi's time travel.
Wei Yi was subtly hinting at Third Master Han—
If you want the box office to be better, or even surpass Titanic's 3.81 million, then don't let certain people steal box office revenue, or at least don't steal it so badly.
Who is Han Sanping?
He's a true veteran, still working within the system.
He could certainly understand Wei Yi's subtext.
"I'll keep an eye on it. But you should also keep up the good work."
"How can we continue our efforts?"
"A promotional tour—it's a must. Starting today, get all the main actors in the cast together. Strike while the iron is hot."
"Third Master, the New Year is almost here."
"It doesn't matter where you spend the New Year, right?!"
Han Sanping's voice suddenly rose, "Let me give you a heads-up. As long as your film breaks that big ship's record, the government will make a comprehensive adjustment to the policy on domestic films. This isn't just about you, or even just about China Film Group. It's about the entire industry."
He paused, then his voice returned to normal: "I've already arranged the roadshow. You'll set off this afternoon."
Wei Yi put down his phone and glanced out the window.
New Year approached.
It hasn't snowed in Yanjing yet this year.
December 21st. Shenzhen.
At 3 p.m., several hundred people gathered outside the cinema where the first roadshow was held.
Not the kind of fan group that holds up light sticks.
They were ordinary audience members who had bought their own tickets and were carrying milk tea in the dead of winter, crowding the square in a dense mass.
Just as Han Sanping said, the reverse marketing of "One Shot" was a great success.
The main reason is that netizens haven't seen this kind of play before.
It appeared almost ten years ahead of schedule, causing the entire internet community related to film, television, and entertainment to be filled with "One Shot" within half a month.
The nanny van door opened, and Wei Yi was the first to get out.
Bao Qiang is second. Then it's Fan Binbin, Mu Tingting, and Huang Xiaoming.
When Chow Yun-fat and Gong Li got out of another car, the noise level at the scene doubled.
Wei Yi took the microphone from the host, but before he could speak, someone in the crowd shouted, "Director! Aren't you the one who makes bad movies?!"
The whole place burst into laughter.
Wei Yi laughed, raised the microphone, and replied with two words: "Pretending."
Another burst of laughter followed.
This interaction was captured by onlookers and spread across major portal websites that same evening.
The title is very internet-savvy: "Wei Yi responds to controversy over bad movies: It's all an act."
The 22nd day of the twelfth lunar month. Guangzhou.
Winters in Lingnan are not cold, and the old street in front of the cinema is crowded with people.
On stage, he spoke Cantonese, Hakka, his native Chaoshan dialect, and Leizhou dialect, which is similar to Chaoshan dialect and belongs to the Minnan dialect group.
For Wei Yi, returning to Guangdong Province was like going home.
The 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month. The capital city.
The marathon in eighteen cities officially began on this day.
December 24th. Shanghai.
The 25th day of the twelfth lunar month. Nanjing.
December 26th. Jiangcheng.
December 27th. Chengdu.
One city a day, sometimes two shows, sometimes three. I'm either on a plane or in the car on my way to the cinema.
Wei Yi always wore that windbreaker.
Everyone is operating at their limit.
Baoqiang fell asleep while eating his boxed meal on the plane, with chopsticks still in his mouth.
Huang Xiaoming, running a low-grade fever, completed his journey to Chengdu, and the next day he appeared at the entrance of a cinema in Chang'an.
Fan Binbin's voice was as hoarse as sandpaper. Before going on stage, he put two throat lozenges in his mouth and still interacted with the audience with a smile.
Mu Tingting doesn't talk much, but she's present at every event.
She stood two steps behind Wei Yi, always holding a glass of warm water, which she prepared for him.
Chow Yun-fat followed for four stops, then stopped. Before leaving, he patted Wei Yi on the shoulder and said, "Little Wei, I've acted my whole life, and you're the first person I've ever seen run around like this on promotional tours."
Gong Liqiang insisted on following him to the sixth stop. She didn't say anything sentimental, but at the airport, when they parted, she slipped a pack of Changbaishan slim cigarettes into Wei Yi's coat pocket. "Smoke them sparingly," she said, "You've been smoking too much lately."
The eighteenth stop on the roadshow was Chang'an.
Wei Yi was shaving in front of the mirror backstage when he noticed that his eyes were bloodshot.
I haven't been using the system's auto-clicker much lately because I don't need it. The real strain is on my body, not my spiritual energy.
Fan Binbin pushed open the door and came in, carrying two cups of coffee: "Director, it's time to go on stage."
Wei Yi took the coffee and took a sip.
"And you?"
"I don't need it." Fan Binbin smiled, her voice still hoarse. "I'm only keeping going with adrenaline."
Wei Yi put down his coffee cup and walked out.
Fan Binbin suddenly called out to him from behind.
"director."
"Um?"
"The roadshow must be so tiring, do you want to relax a bit?"
She stood next to the dressing table, her eyes crinkling with laughter.
The stage lights outside were already on, and the sound of the host announcing the program could be heard coming in waves.
Wei Yi glanced at her: "We'll talk about it after we get in the car."
Fan Binbin's mouth... oh no, his eyes suddenly lit up.
On the twelfth day of the first lunar month, the total box office reached 300 million.
The 18th day of the first lunar month. 350 million.
On the evening of the 22nd day of the first lunar month, just after the penultimate stop of the roadshow had ended, Han Sanping called.
"3.82 million."
Han Sanping's voice was calmer than ever before.
It wasn't the tense calm, but the calm on the sea surface after a storm, without a single ripple.
"You sank the big ship!"
"Third Master, can we record a video?"
"What are you recording?"
"Repeat what you just said. I'll post it online."
"...You little brat."
January 24th. The last stop of the roadshow: Beijing.
This station was not originally in the plan.
It was added by Han Sanping at the last minute. "You have to start from where you end; that's called being meticulous."
The cinema at Yanjing Station was the same one that hosted the premiere.
After the screening, Wei Yi led the entire cast and crew onto the stage for a curtain call.
On the large screen behind, a mosaic of photos of all the audience members from the first stop in Shenzhen to the last stop in Beijing was projected.
There were several thousand faces.
Fan Binbin stood to his left, and Mu Tingting stood to his right.
Bao Qiang was grinning from ear to ear in the left corner. Huang Xiaoming covered his forehead with one hand, his eyes a little red.
This guy is really dedicated and also really considerate.
I've been sick lately.
He was ill even while sick, which made Wei Yi look at him with new respect.
That evening.
China Film Group booked a clubhouse in a hotel, and Han Sanping personally hosted a real celebration banquet for the entire crew.
After several rounds of drinks, Han Sanping stood up and said something to everyone that quieted the private room down:
"3.82 million. This is not just a number. This is a new record for domestic films."
He raised his wine glass to Wei Yi.
Everyone stood up.
Wei Yi also stood up, raised his glass to the others, and drank it all in one gulp.
His phone vibrated at that moment. He glanced down at it.
It's Yang Mi.
"Director Wei, congratulations on the box office success! All four of us in my dorm bought tickets, it's so good!"
Wei Yi casually replied, "How did you know I happened to have time to read text messages?"
Yang Mi replied instantly: "Know what?"
"Do you know when I have time to check text messages?"
Yang Mi: "...Because I'm studying you."
Wei Yi turned off his phone screen, looked up, and met Fan Binbin's gaze.
The two people stared at each other for a second, separated by a room full of people.
Fan Binbin raised her glass to him silently, mouthing a few words.
I'll ride you to your death tonight.