When "Those Years" swept the domestic box office with an unprecedented momentum, the Mu Ying ticketing system was also expanding its influence in the cinema industry at a rapid speed.
For the cinema chains, the Mu Ying ticketing system was extremely affordable.
The biggest significance of the Mu Ying ticketing system itself was to reduce the cost of watching movies for netizens and greatly improve their viewing experience. Therefore, it could attract a large number of users who would not go to the cinema to buy movie tickets through the Mu Ying ticketing system. Therefore, it greatly increased the overall box office.
Take Beijing as an example. Out of 10,000 people in Beijing, perhaps only 100 people would have the idea of watching a movie every day, but only 30 people would actually go to the cinema to watch a movie.
However, because of the unprecedented online ticketing system of Mu Ying, at least 500 people out of 10,000 people in Beijing would have the idea of buying a movie ticket through the Mu Ying ticketing system every day. What they actually did was to buy all the movie tickets on the Mu Ying ticketing system.
The users' preference for the Mu Ying ticketing system directly led to the Mu Ying ticketing system's ability to sell tickets far higher than any cinema itself. As long as the Mu Ying ticketing system was connected, the overall occupancy rate of the cinema chain would at least double, which was a real income for the cinema chain.
Moreover, as the platform, the Mu Ying ticketing system provided a self-service terminal for free. It even provided a very practical and powerful terminal management and sales system for the cinema chain. After doing so much, it only took a 5% commission from the box office, which was an absolutely reasonable price.
In the next few days, hundreds of self-service ticketing machines were continuously sent to all parts of the country. In a very short time, all the cinema chains in first-tier cities were covered, and it began to expand to second-tier cities.
The factory received orders for 2,000 self-service ticketing machines again. Li Mu had decided to go all out and popularize the Mu Ying ticketing system throughout the country with the speed of the spread of the virus.
When "Those Years" had been in theaters for a whole week, it had already earned 70 million in the national box office, which was an average of 10 million per day. Moreover, as more cinemas joined the Mu Ying ticketing system, the box office would definitely surge in the second round of box office.
However, on the 14th of December, the seventh day after "Those Years" was screened, Zhang Yimou's "Hero" was officially released in China.
However, at this moment, Zhang Yimou was not happy at all.
If not for the fact that all the publicity work had been prepared, he would have hoped that "The Hero" could be released at a different time, because "Those Years", which was released a week earlier than "The Hero", had too much momentum!
Zhang Yimou even felt that the total box office of "Those Years" could easily break the 200 million yuan mark if it were to be released in a month.
One had to know that ever since the domestic box office statistics began, the first movie to break a hundred million yuan in the box office, which was also the movie with the highest box office to date, was "Life and Death Choices" which was released in 2000. However, this record would soon be broken by "Those Years".
Zhang Yimou was depressed that he had to fight against such a crazy competitor. Now, the media was full of advertisements, news, and trailers for "Those Years". Compared to it, the promotion of his "Hero" could be considered as terrible.
Because the discussion about the movie on television, magazines, newspapers, and even major websites basically revolved around "Those Years". Although "The Hero" had spent a lot of money on media and public relations, the effect was minimal.
Now, in any cinema, the attendance of "Those Years" was obviously higher than that of other movies. In a cinema of the same size, the income of "Those Years" was at least twice that of other movies. There was no need for Makino Image to do anything. The major cinema owners would rearrange the screenings according to this situation, so that the percentage of "Those Years" screenings kept increasing.
Under such circumstances, the entire domestic film and television industry was in a state of nostalgia. Zhang Kexuan's "Those Years" was played on the streets and alleys, and the plot of "The Girl We Chased Together All Those Years" was discussed. Under such an atmosphere, "The Hero", which was based on wuxia and history, had completely lost its potential for growth.
At the New Pictures Company, the producer of "The Hero," Zhang Yimou was furious about the change of the cinema. On the first day of screening, according to the data obtained by the company's employees, the screenings of the major cinema chains were not very optimistic.
Originally, the number of screenings promised by the major cinema chains to "The Hero" was more than 30% of the total number of screenings. Some cinemas even promised more than 50%. However, when it came time for the movie to be released, almost all the cinema chains greatly reduced the number of screenings they promised. Some even cut it by half. Most of them reduced it to one-third or even less of what they promised.
The furious Zhang Yimou scolded in his office, "These theater chains have no integrity! They cut the screenings just like that, without even telling us! "
Zhang Yimou's best partner, Zhang Weiping, said helplessly, "It can't be helped. Makino Image's" Those Years "is too strong. The attendance is high, and the box office is growing at a shocking speed."
"That's ridiculous!" Zhang Yimou said with a livid face, "How can such a bad movie have such a high box office? It's nothing more than a love story. It has no foundation at all!"
Zhang Weiping shrugged his shoulders, "The problem is that it chose a good theme! Although historical and martial arts themes are big and deep, the problem of these themes not being down to earth is also very serious. Most of the audience actually likes to watch themes that are down to earth. 'Those Years' happens to be a very down to earth modern theme. Compared to it, we have innate shortcomings. It's reasonable for the theater chains to reduce our screenings. "
Zhang Yimou said indignantly, "Our cast and production team are so strong. How can the audience not buy it? These theater chains are simply following the trend and short-sighted. Otherwise, they wouldn't have rushed to give 'Those Years' their screenings! "
Zhang Weiping said, "I believe that the audience's eyes are sharp. Our movie lineup is indeed strong. Even if the current number of screenings is not high enough, as long as our attendance rate can be guaranteed, the major cinema chains will definitely gradually increase the number of screenings."
The most important basis for a cinema chain's scheduling was the attendance rate. The movie with the highest attendance rate would naturally have a higher rehearsal volume. The boss of a cinema chain wouldn't work for a single film company or even a single director. What they pursued was to maximize their profits. Therefore, if the attendance rate of "The Hero" could exceed "Those Years", the cinema chain would definitely increase the attendance rate of "The Hero".
Zhang Yimou was very confident in his new movie. He said to Zhang Weiping, "Don't worry. Just wait and see. The attendance of our movie will definitely surpass' Those Years'!"
Zhang Weiping reminded him, "Yimou, 'Those Years' has a 100% attendance rate online for seven consecutive days. That is to say, from the day of its screening until now, all the movie tickets sold online have been sold out …"
Zhang Yimou was a little stunned. After a moment, he said, "I think that since the tickets for 'Mu Ying' are in the hands of Makino Image, they can say whatever they want. I don't believe that a movie can have a 100% attendance rate for seven consecutive days. It's simply impossible."
Zhang Weiping said, "But as far as I know, it's still very credible."
Zhang Yimou waved his hand and said, "Wait and see the first-day box office data and the average attendance rate tomorrow!"
…
The next afternoon, the box office data from the previous day was released. Because it was a Saturday, and the percentage of online screenings for 'Those Years' was increasing, the box office rose again after a week of screening.
On this day, the box office of 'Those Years' rose against the trend after a few consecutive days of slow decline. It earned 20 million in the national box office, of which more than 5 million came from the ticket system of 'Mu Ying'. It set a new record for the box office of a Chinese movie in a single day. The previous record was set on the second day of 'Those Years', which was 18 million.
Zhang Yimou also received the box office data for the first day of screening of 'The Hero'.
"2.6 million?!" Zhang Yimou looked at the data given by his staff and was stunned.
"Why is it only 2.6 million? What's the attendance rate? "
The staff in front of him handed him another piece of paper. On it was written the attendance rate of 'The Hero' in cinemas all over the country yesterday. The highest number for a single primetime screening was only about 50%, and most of them were below 20%.
In addition to the attendance rate of each cinema and screening, there was another more important data in this data report: the average attendance rate.
The average attendance rate determined the commercial prospects and potential of a movie. Therefore, the director attached great importance to this data.
For Zhang Yimou, whether or not 'The Hero' could make a breakthrough in the middle and later stages depended on the average attendance rate. If the average attendance rate was high, then it was only a matter of time before the movie made a comeback. But if the attendance rate was too low, then there was nothing he could do.
When Zhang Yimou received the data that he had been thinking about for a long time, he felt as if a bucket of ice water had been poured over him. His heart went cold from the inside out!
On the first day of screening, the average attendance rate of 'The Hero' across the country was only 19.1%.
What did 19.1% mean? In a cinema that could accommodate 200 people, the average attendance rate was less than 40 people. Most of the remaining seats couldn't be sold, so the cinema chain didn't make a single cent.
What made Zhang Yimou vomit blood even more was that the average attendance rate of "Those Years" was also released. It actually reached an average of 6-70%, which was three or four times higher than "The Hero" …
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