Chapter 154: The Lunar New Year Box Office Season Officially Begins! Do You Know What a Rocket Is? Swoosh~ The Kind That Goes Really Fast (Extended Chapter)

Trending Topic 1: Huaxia Summit Awards
Trending Topic 2: Ghost Blows Out the Light Wins an Award
Trending Topic 3: Xu Jiang's Confidence in Su Mu, HOT!
Trending Topic 4: To Qifeng's Promotion for "Ancient Martial Qilin"
Trending Topic 5: New Year's Eve Holiday Movie Season
Trending Topic... Supertopic: #ThisYear'sBoxOfficeBattleForNewYearsEve?

Overnight, the trending lists were completely dominated.
One had to admit that Xu Jiang's flattery was executed with extreme sophistication.
It seemed like he was talking about sentiment, but in reality, he was expressing absolute loyalty!
Outsiders naturally had no idea that he had already left River & Sea Film & Television and switched allegiance, coming under Su Mu's command.
Although he had been somewhat stubborn about filmmaking in the past, he had after all just joined Mount Liang.
Naturally, he knew how to demonstrate his loyalty.
Unless he was truly clueless, he would never have made any ambiguous remarks.
Given the occasion yesterday,
let alone the host's clever phrasing, even if someone had asked him bluntly whether Su Mu could take down Lin Haoming and To Qifeng,
he would have answered "yes" without a moment's hesitation.
Of course, deep down, he genuinely believed Su Mu would win.
There was no specific logical reason—
it was purely trust in his boss.

...

Inside the studio,
Qian Jida was arranging the upcoming schedule.
Once December passed, the promotional campaign for the New Year's films would officially begin.
Zhang Huaimou had also issued the notice: the first stop was Galaxy City, followed by Shenzhen City, Guangzhou City, Hangzhou City, and several other key cities with massive film theater chains.
The final stop would be the premiere in Beijing City.
After that, the film would release nationwide, and the box office battle would truly commence.

Qian Jida: "The operation department needs to keep a close eye on yesterday's trending topics. The next few months are a critical period, and we can't be sure if our competitors will resort to any public opinion tactics. Once there's the slightest sign of trouble, we need to come up with response strategies and PR as soon as possible. I'll give you the number of a PR firm later."
Sun Liaojun: "Understood, we'll keep watch on this end."
Qian Jida nodded: "Once the promotional tour in Galaxy City wraps up these next few days, Su Mu will follow Director Zhang to various cities, ending up in Beijing City. It will take about a month. Fan Xiaoju and I will accompany them, and the rest of the staff will stay at the studio."
Xu Jiang: "Got it."
Master Zhu: "Mm."
Qian Jida: "Rest assured, everyone. Once this box office competition concludes, no matter when you joined us, your bonuses will not be short a single penny. This is our Boss Su's wish. Am I right?"

Su Mu smiled and then stepped forward: "Manager Qian put it very well, but leaving bonuses aside for a moment, I think I should still say a few words regarding my upcoming movie promotional tour.
You see, in life, money isn't the most important thing. Take me, for instance—I was born without any love for money. I have no interest in money; I'm only interested in the things I want to do.
And what are the things I want to do? ...Make money!"

[Speech Proficiency +1]
[Skill Point +0.01]

Qian Jida: "..."
Sun Liaojun: "..."
Little Orange: "..."
Xu Jiang: "..."
Little Zhang & Little Li: "???"
Master Zhu: "Bravo!"

Su Mu smiled with satisfaction: "Oh, right, Master Zhu, previously we published under your identity. I'll give you half of the digital subscription royalties just as a token of appreciation. There might be a few more books to publish later, but since my identity isn't very convenient, I might have to trouble you again."
Master Zhu: "OK."
Su Mu: "Alright, meeting adjourned! Everyone wait for my triumphant return, for that will be the moment our studio officially enters a new phase!"

Scattered applause echoed through the room.

...
...

This was Su Mu's first time participating in a movie promotional tour.
After all, he had previously only worked on web dramas, so the channels and scale were completely different.
Of course, scripts for films and television shouldn't really be separated.
Yet the track of movie box office returns was, in the end, far too brutal.
Outsiders naturally couldn't feel that intense stench of blood.
But when one was right in the middle of it,
the strong impact could be felt from every single aspect.
The number of media outlets covering the promotions, the explosive atmosphere at the scenes, the theater chain costs, and the true distribution scale were simply incomparable to checking parameters on a web drama's webpage.
Even just looking at the number of media personnel who showed up on the very first day of the Galaxy City promotion, Su Mu felt a bit dazed.
A vast, churning sea of reporters filled the space.
At the same time, this offered a side glance at just how heavy the weight of top-tier film investment companies like Huayi was within the Huaxia film circle.

Reporter: "May I ask Su Mu, are you confident about this comedy? A box office of 500 million is actually quite high already; do you have any prediction for your box office results this time?"

Su Mu smiled: "Box office figures are hard to predict, but I'll repeat what I said before: undefeated so far, with modest expectations!"

"!!!"
"!!!"

Su Mu's response to the reporters during the promotional event was utterly domineering.
This once again made many people on the internet feel that he was being overly confident.

[I admit Su Mu is no ordinary person, but this 'undefeated so far' business is probably him digging a grave for himself.]
[To Qifeng is exceptionally good at choosing scripts. Thinking back on his works, there hasn't really been a truly bad one, so this one probably won't be bad either.]
[Lin Haoming hit 500 million; To Qifeng will bottom out at at least 700 to 800 million.]
[The promotions have already started, and after waiting a whole year, let the fights begin already!]

Comments online were already overwhelming.
Some people still held a somewhat skeptical attitude toward Su Mu.
Even though he had previously won a comedy certification through his livestream, a movie was ultimately not a livestream.
Moreover, Su Mu's remark about being undefeated still stirred up quite a bit of controversy.
In reality, most stars facing such questions would choose to be modest,
even terrified that a single wrong word might cause public discomfort.
Yet Su Mu did the exact opposite.
To be fair, most of the time he would also choose to avoid standing out like this.
But this time was different.
After all, he was receiving a 70 million salary, and even had a share of the box office profits.
Therefore, for this price, the service Su Mu provided was an aura of unquestionable dominance!
The pressure was indeed real.
But having accepted this money, it was something he had to bear.
And this kind of arrogance and confidence weren't meant for the general public to look at—they were a response to the investors and the production team.
He wanted to tell all the investors:
as long as the money was in place, it warranted a corresponding performance from him.
Everything was determined by the price.

Reporter: "With Lin Haoming's 500 million in the past, and now To Qifeng, along with other works in this New Year season such as Director Wu Aihua's 'Departure' and Zhou Da's 'Little Tian's Diary' releasing simultaneously, the competition must be fierce. Do you have anything else to say to everyone?"

Su Mu thought for a moment: "Shall I go grab a stool and sit down so I can explain slowly..."
Reporters: "???"

...

An entire month of promotional duties followed.
All the New Year season films held their premieres back-to-back.
The stars were busy this month.
The reporters were busy too.
Online trending topics were busier than ever.
Today it was Su Mu accepting an interview; tomorrow it would be To Qifeng's domineering retort; and the day after that would be Lin Haoming updating his Weibo status with the words, "Waiting for you to come challenge."
Since things had already reached the point of genuine swords and spears drawn,
there was no longer any need to hide or cover things up.
Everything that needed to be said had been said.
Everyone online was geared up and raring to go,
ready to kick off this box office war that had been brewing for an entire year.

...
...

January drew to a close.
The New Year holiday season officially began.
Huaxia's major theater chains—Huayi, Aolai, Wanmeng, Jiahe, Jingchao, and others—simultaneously began scheduling screenings and releasing trailer announcements on a massive scale.
Yet right at this moment, something unexpected happened.
To Qifeng's "Ancient Martial Qilin" turned out to be a feint.
It was released a full week earlier than the scheduled premiere date.
This caught many people completely off guard and by surprise.
Originally, most people assumed it would release around the same time as Su Mu's "Goodbye, Mr. Losers".
At that time, they would likely fight for prime time slots.
As a rule, theater release methods, aside from arrangements based on negotiated screening proportions,
also allocated screenings differently according to the theater's own revenue performance.
Profitable movies would naturally secure more and more screenings over time.
Unless capital forcefully intervened or backroom operations were used to switch ticket stubs and steal box office numbers, that was another story.
Of course, manufacturing high box office figures to reap other benefits was something that had happened before.
In most cases, however, films still spoke through their actual results.
During the opening week, the volume of screenings was roughly the same for major contenders, with only time slots varying. Prime time slots—such as 8:00 to 9:00 in the evening or 4:00 to 6:00 in the afternoon, periods with the highest traffic—were usually given to the movies with the best hype.
The rest had to be queued up afterward.
Unless you could suddenly emerge as a dark horse and make local theaters a profit, adjustments would definitely be made to reschedule the more lucrative films into better time slots.
However, the advantage of releasing earlier than scheduled, besides harvesting an extra week of box office revenue, was that it allowed audiences to review the film sooner, generating word-of-mouth publicity.
This posed no small amount of pressure on the subsequent films.
If the word-of-mouth was poor, it wouldn't matter much.
But if the word-of-mouth exploded, it would invisibly amount to preemptively seizing the box office market.
Thus, this move could only be described as exceptionally shrewd.

Within a few days,
rave reviews for "Ancient Martial Qilin" had already flooded everywhere.
The benefit of launching a week early lay right here.
Moreover, the audience reception seemed exceptionally good.

[Net Review:
As expected of To Qifeng, this film is quite decent overall.
Went to watch it with friends yesterday, still has To's signature style, very good.
Spending a few years developing abroad and returning to maintain your original form is worthy of a thumbs-up.
Quite good-looking, didn't expect it to be an action flick, exactly the kind I'm willing to spend a movie ticket on. Recommended.
To Qifeng is awesome! Feels like he'll definitely be this year's New Year box office champion!]

The comments didn't seem fanatical,
yet criticisms and negative reviews were scarce, which was the best possible outcome.
Normally, people in the film circle understood that as long as a film or television work lacked fatal flaws, it was practically guaranteed to be a hit.
Allowing audiences to watch comfortably, even without reaching an unprecedentedly explosive craze,
as long as everyone agreed it was good, it would inevitably secure a decent rating.
Meanwhile, the box office practically had a baseline guarantee and wouldn't be too shabby.

And just like the usual pattern,
one week after "Ancient Martial Qilin" premiered,
the box office rankings released their first-week statistical data.

Week 1 Box Office:
"Ancient Martial Qilin": 240 million!
"Goodbye, Mr. Losers": TBD
"Departure": TBD
"Little Tian's Diary": TBD
"...": TBD

A single week had passed.
Furthermore, it had launched ahead of schedule, defying its own release announcement.
Before many viewers could react in time, it had raked in 240 million at the box office in just one week!
Everyone who saw this number let out a direct gasp of amazement.
As expected of To Qifeng's box office drawing power.
One had to keep in mind that this was only the first week; as the New Year season stretched onward, the absolute peak usually hit around the third week.
Therefore, the box office figures for subsequent weeks would only grow higher and higher.
If this momentum kept up, the final tally would likely reach one billion!

The internet directly exploded.

[Holy crap! To Qifeng's comeback is truly aggressive!]
[Good grief, one billion? How are the concurrent films supposed to survive this?]
[Hahaha, once next week ends, it'll catch up to Lin Haoming's total box office. I told you they weren't in the same league? Why did people insist on comparing them?]
[Lin Haoming couldn't cut it, so Su Mu can? The two of them combined probably wouldn't even be enough.]
[Su Mu might not even hit 500 million this time. 'Ancient Martial Qilin' is good; given the same theater time slots, I'd probably choose 'Ancient Martial Qilin'...]

Comparative voices had already begun.
At a time like this, even Su Mu's fans couldn't really find much to say.
After all, Su Mu's movie hadn't even premiered yet.
Good or bad could not yet be evaluated.
But looking at To Qifeng's current results, it was truly enough to make one break out in a cold sweat.

The next day,
all the films of the New Year season held their premieres one after another.
Long awaited, they finally arrived.
"Goodbye, Mr. Losers" finally welcomed its theatrical release.
This was also Su Mu's first step into the box office battlefield.

...

Beijing City.
Huayi Building, Office.

Wang Jun looked at the data on his computer screen and smiled helplessly: "As expected, those old foxes at Beijing Media still have tricks up their sleeves. To think they actually thought of releasing a week early."
Zhang Huaimou: "They could only pull that off because they were confident enough in the work; otherwise, once the word-of-mouth tanks, it's basically a death sentence in advance."
Wang Jun: "Judging by the current situation, their reviews aren't bad at all. Today is our premiere day—did that kid Su Mu say anything nervous or the like?"
"Him?" Zhang Huaimou smiled: "I really can't tell he's nervous. He was still messaging me on WeChat just now."
Zhang Huaimou handed over his phone.

Wang Jun curiously lowered his head to look, his mouth twitching as a dark line crossed his brow.
Displayed were two photos taken by Su Mu.
One was a sheet of A4 paper covered in a massive mess of calculations:
1,000,000,000 multiplied by 33%... 1,500,000,000 multiplied by 33%, then divided by two... **&……%4*... and so on.
It was blatantly obvious that he was sitting there calculating box office revenues and figuring out how to split the profits.
With a single glance, Wang Jun spotted a whole bunch of formulas that were entirely calculated wrong.
Even more speechlessly, the second photo showed a giant-sized calculator placed right beside the paper.
And yet, in the end, he had still calculated it wrong.

Wang Jun was speechless: "No wait, the movie just premiered and he's already thinking about splitting the money? Does he have no idea about the momentum To Qifeng has got going?"
Zhang Huaimou: "He probably knows."
Wang Jun: "Then..."

Ding-dong!
Just as Wang Jun was about to say something,
his WeChat suddenly chimed.
Seeing that it was a voice message sent by Su Mu,
Zhang Huaimou smiled and tapped it open.

[Su Mu: Director Zhang, do you think my calculations are correct? Though the final box office will definitely be higher than this. Have President Wang find an accountant; you've got to make sure my figures are accurate when the time comes.]
[Su Mu: Oh right, do you know what a rocket is? The kind that goes *whoosh* straight up into the sky.]

Wang Jun: "..."
Zhang Huaimou: "..."

(End of this chapter)