Chapter 625: 300 Million Yuan in Three Days! 60% Box Office Occupancy Ratio!
Li Runze looked at his watch, it was exactly 7:30am. Then, he took out his notebook and his book and started reading. When he was reading, his face was expressionless, like an emotionless learning machine.
He read and took down notes until 9:40am.
As the second hand reached 12, Li Runze closed the book in his hand, stood up and left the room.
When he reached downstairs, the car that Li Runze had booked the night before was already waiting there. He got into the car and it drove for 12 minutes before arriving at a mall.
Li Runze followed the plan and went upstairs to collect the tickets. At the last minute before the movie started, he walked into the theater.
When they reached the theater, Li Runze realized that there were many seats occupied. Even the first five rows and the most remote seats by the sides of the pre-screening cinema were occupied.
When he reached his seat, Li Runze sat upright.
The screen darkened and the dragon logo appeared. It was the logo of the film company and a list of important actors.
The first to appear were the producers... Su Yang, Lu Jian and Wu Feng.
Right after that, after the leading actor, main actor, screenwriter and a bunch of other names, the second-to-last producers’ names appeared... Lu Jian and Su Yang.
Within the entertainment industry, the ranking of the cast members represented this person’s status in the movie.
The fact that Su Yang was ranked as the first producer and second director in the film proved how important the film was.
Li Runze, who had read up on these rules and information, naturally knew about these things, so he nodded slightly.
Soon, the movie officially started.
The movie lasted for one and a half hours. Li Runze had a cold expression the whole time. He did not speak, did not scream and did not show any expression until the end of the movie and the reveal of the easter egg. Even after everyone had left the cinema, Li Runze still maintained this strange and mysterious state.
It was not until he got back into the car that he had arranged the night before and went upstairs after returning home that Li Runze took out his phone and posted a poster of “Wolf Warriors” on his WeChat with one word included... ‘Nice.’
This was already his highest evaluation of movies.
It was also his personal support for Su Yang.
...
Li Runze was like the microcosm out of the millions of people who went out to watch movies during New Year’s Day.
On that day, there were four movies that were newly released and “Wolf Warriors” was the one with the most screenings. Furthermore, the most popular movie during that time was also “Wolf Warriors”!
Therefore, during this legally declared holiday on new year’s day,, “Wolf Warriors” became so popular that it was almost impossible to get a ticket!
And on the professional box office statistics platform, the box office earnings and box office occupancy ratio for “Wolf Warriors” were rising everyday!
10 million yuan, 20 million yuan, 30 million yuan!
%, 45%, 50%!
The two most important data curves of the “Wolf Warriors” were like a rubber band that had been pulled taut as it soared up!
The other movies were totally suppressed by “Wolf Warriors”! Be it romance, family-oriented, or animated movies, all of them lost miserably at the box office!
Meanwhile, the entertainment circle was also silent.
No one had expected “Wolf Warriors” to become so popular! They also did not expect for its box office earnings to be so strong!
‘Isn’t this just a popcorn movie?
‘Can a popcorn movie be filmed domestically?
‘Isn’t that something that only Hollywood is capable of doing?’
Countless questions started to surface in these workers’ minds.
Following that, the online discussions also started to support “Wolf Warriors”, causing the reputation for “Wolf Warriors” to continue growing. Although it wasn’t as terrifying as it was during the pre-screening, it was definitely not a bad movie! Instead, it was a good movie! And it was a mature popcorn movie which was rarely seen within the country!
This further fueled the box office sales of “Wolf Warriors”! Countless people became curious about this movie that had caused an uproar on the internet and went to watch it.
In the end, when these people went online to book tickets, they realized that there were no good seats available, all that was left were only some seats at the corners! This was unacceptable for people who wanted to watch movies and enjoy themselves! This was no different from not having tickets!
This unintentional thirst for sales made “Wolf Warriors” even more popular!
As a result, when the first day of the new year ended, the 24-hours premiere box office earnings for “Wolf Warriors” was actually fixed at 103 million yuan!
It had managed to receive a box office of over 100 million yuan during its premiere!
The screening rate was 29.8%, but the box office earnings were as high as 57%!
Even though there was a reason for the recent hype online, it still showed how outstanding “Wolf Warriors” was! It meant that “Wolf Warriors” was definitely not a niche movie!
Meanwhile, the cinemas also immediately adjusted the screening schedule for “Wolf Warriors”, from 29.8% to 33.9%!
The next day, Big Beard Liu’s face was completely dark and the crew of “Beautiful Working Class” kept quiet out of fear.
Everyone knew that Big Beard Liu was likely going to lose...
Sure enough, on January 2nd, the box office for “Wolf Warriors” broke 100 million yuan again! 153.6 million yuan! Its box office occupancy ratio was at 62%!
200 million yuan in two days.
On the third day, January 3rd, which was the last day of the legal holiday, the box office for “Wolf Warriors” did not disappoint as it maintained a steady pace and received 83 million million!
It was only day three of New Year’s Day and “Wolf Warriors” was already receiving a whopping 300 million yuan!
This was an absolute shock for everyone’s eyes!
This also meant that “Wolf Warriors” had basically recouped all of its production costs within three days of its release. All that was left was net profit!
Everyone knew that a failed director who had messed up big investments in the past and an unknown producer were about to hit it big!
300 million at the box office! What does that look like?
It would land them a spot in the Top 20 of last year’s box office earnings!
Moreover, “Wolf Warriors” only took 3 days to achieve this result!
No one doubted whether Su Yang would win the bet anymore. They were only looking forward to the heights that “Wolf Warriors” could reach!
Seeing this situation, some celebrities who were originally just joining in the fun secretly deleted the Weibo posts they had forwarded earlier. ‘Becoming enemies with a lousy director and becoming enemies with a popular director are two completely different concepts.’
Just then, Su Yang received a call...
“Hello? Little Ying? Why are you looking for me all of a sudden?” Su Yang asked Guo Xiaoying on the other end of the phone.
Guo Xiaoying said, “Congratulations, Senior. The movie you invested in has actually exploded!”
Su Yang was confused.
‘Why does this sound so weird? What do you mean by “actually”? It’s a little weird...’
Guo Xiaoying said, “Actually... I have an uncle who loves drawing. He made a movie last year and it hasn’t been released yet. Yesterday, he watched the movie you invested in and found that the wolf scenes were really vivid! He has always been interested in special effects, so he wanted to talk to you.”
Su Yang was taken aback by Guo Xiaoying’s words. ‘Loves painting ever since he was a child who’s now a director and later developed an interest in special effects?
‘Is this the new era’s way of saying that “a soldier who refuses to be a general isn’t a good soldier”?’
Even though Su Yang was complaining in his heart, she couldn’t turn down Guo Xiaoying’s offer.
However, he still asked tentatively, “Is he... looking to see me because of special effects?”
Guo Xiaoying said lazily, “I think so. When he found out that the special effects of “Wolf Warriors” were all done by your company, he was so excited that he almost went crazy. He has been wanting to make a movie for the past two years, even in his dreams. Plus, this movie requires a very high standard of special effects. Such special effects are impossible to achieve with the current standards of the country. And if we go to Europe and America, the expenses will be too high.”
“Oh,” Su Yang replied and asked, “What movie is he filming that requires Hollywood’s special effects?”
Guo Xiaoying thought for a moment and said, “I think it’s a sci-fi movie. A story about bringing the Earth with him as he runs? I think it’s a retake on a science fiction short story. It’s called... “Wandering Planet”?”
Su Yang blinked.
‘Wandering Planet?
‘What kind of name is that? Can planets wander?
‘Why does this name feel like it’s the same as “Wolf Warriors 2”? They both seem like a failure just from the way their names sound...’
historical
However, since Guo Xiaoying had brought it up, Su Yang agreed since he had nothing to do. They agreed to meet the day after tomorrow afternoon.
After hanging up the call with Guo Xiaoying, Su Yang did not keep this matter in his heart. His focus was still on the screening of “Wolf Warriors”.
‘Today is the first day after the New Year’s Day holiday. Whether “Wolf Warriors” is able to continue its previous miracle is going to be very important today. So, I’m going to have to focus my attention on “Wolf Warriors”‘s box office.
‘Thankfully, all the cinemas in the country are now selling tickets online and the data is presented in real time. Thus, I’m able to see the data “Wolf Warriors” every second.’
By 8pm, the box office for “Wolf Warriors” had already exceeded 40 million yuan. ‘From the looks of it, 50 million yuan shouldn’t be a big problem today.
‘Although Big Beard Liu has miscalculated the standards and box office for “Wolf Warriors”, he’s right about one thing. It’s indeed very difficult for someone to watch a popcorn movie like “Wolf Warriors” twice.
‘Therefore, the first two weeks of the movie’s release had taken up more than 80% of the total box office earnings during the entire movie’s release period. It was a big hit back then, but it’s now died down.
‘However, with the decline of the current box office for “Wolf Warriors”, it shouldn’t be a huge issue to achieve 600 million yuan. In fact, I could even aim for 700 million yuan. I suppose I can be satisfied with that amount.’
Perhaps it was because Wu Feng’s box office results were good that the pressure on him was gone. Therefore, he would bring his actors to the roadshow every day and did not have time to “complain” to Su Yang. Hence, Su Yang did not disturb him.
Two days later, it was time for Su Yang and Guo Xiaoying’s uncle, Guo Fan to meet.
Over the past two days, the box office for “Wolf Warriors” had been very stable. The final box office on Monday was 513.2 million yuan and the box office on Tuesday was 32.86 million yuan. Its momentum was considered to be quite good. That week, the box office exceeded 500 million and It would not be a big problem to get close to 600 million yuan. Hence, Su Yang’s goal could be considered to have been completed.
Therefore, Su Yang went to a cafe near the school in a relaxed mood. He was going to meet Guo Xiaoying’s uncle.
Su Yang ordered a cup of coffee and found a seat by the window. He looked around the cafe.
Probably because it was close to the exam, there were not many people in the café. There was only a man wearing a checkered shirt and black-rimmed glasses sitting in the corner.
The man had a square face with a bit of stubble. Judging from the stubble, it should be a beard. There was coffee and a few pieces of paper on the table. He had one hand on the paper, and the other was holding a pencil. He was scribbling on it like a teacher or student at an art school.
Su Yang retracted his gaze and looked at his watch. There was still more than half an hour before they met. They had arrived early. He looked out the window and waited patiently...