Wan Xiaoquan's surprise was not without reason.
People in Xiangjiang liked watching movies very much. According to statistics, every Xiangjiang person spent more than 300 yuan on movies every year, which was a box office of three to four billion yuan, not including other expenses in the cinema.
However, at least 60% of the box office of three to four billion yuan was taken away by foreign blockbusters, leaving Hong Kong film companies at most a few billion yuan, and the number of films participating in this cake was as high as two to three hundred!
Oriental Hollywood was not an undeserved reputation. Many small and medium-sized film companies could often make a movie in a few weeks. At the craziest time, there was the so-called "Seven Days of Fresh", which meant that it took seven days to complete a new movie, which was simply shocking.
Such a high-speed production of a movie was bound to be a shoddy work. In order to ensure profits, these fast-food movies were basically of the third-level violence, bloody horror, and so on. With the advantages of low cost and sensory stimulation, they also seized part of the market.
As a result, after being squeezed by foreign blockbusters and low-budget films, it was not easy for Hong Kong blockbusters to survive. Although there were a number of blockbusters with box office of over 100 million since the 1990s, they suffered more losses.
For example, "Special Mobile Police", which was released in Xiangjiang last year, had an investment of 75 million yuan, and the publicity cost was over 100 million yuan. It had a strong cast of stars, but the box office was less than 50 million yuan in four weeks. After deducting the high percentage given to the cinema, the investors suffered a huge loss.
The investment for "The Painted Skin" was higher than that of "Special Mobile Police", which was not a big problem. After all, it was mainly aimed at the mainland market. However, it was a bit too much to spend more than 10 million yuan on publicity in Xiangjiang.
The publicity budget for "A Chinese Ghost Story" was 20 million yuan, of which the Xiangjiang part was only 3 million yuan. Most of the budget had to be invested in the mainland media.
Publicity was actually a bottomless pit. No matter how much money was invested, it was necessary to do what one could.
Chen Wenqiang said, "Looking at their publicity posture, 15 million yuan is not enough."
Television, newspapers, magazines, bus stops, mobile advertising, multimedia … and the Internet. The current publicity campaign for "The Painted Skin" could be said to be in full bloom, and the investment must be amazing.
This kind of aggressive advertising offensive undoubtedly brought great pressure to competitors.
It should be known that "The Painted Skin" and "A Chinese Ghost Story" were not the only films that were rushing to be released in the New Year. The number of films that had signed up for the 20 support spots had already reached as many as 200. Many of them would participate in the box office competition at the same time, and some films had already started publicity.
For a movie, publicity was the most important thing. The competition in the market was fierce, and if the publicity was not in place, it would mean a 90% failure.
But books that burned money like Painted Skin were few and far between. Wan Xiaoquan really couldn't understand it.
"Hwa Guan is probably trying to expand into new markets through this movie …"
Lu Chen said, "Spending a lot of money on publicity is Cui Xingxian's usual method. Last year, he proposed the so-called strategy of going north and south. Xiangjiang is equivalent to the bridgehead, so it is not strange that he spent a lot of effort to promote the new film."
At present, the competition for the domestic box office was extremely fierce. Although the market was big, there were many big shots who wanted a piece of the cake. Among them, Huaguan Pictures was not the strongest.
Therefore, Cui Xingxian intended to expand into emerging markets. The so-called north and south referred to entering the film market of Japan, South Korea and Southeast Asia. Hong Kong was undoubtedly a strategic location.
Taking advantage of Xiangjiang's film support policy was only a part of Cui Xingxian's ambitious plan. His goal was very big. If "The Painted Skin" suffered a setback in Xiangjiang, how could he continue in the future?
Ever since he knew who his opponent was, Lu Chen had asked Lu Xi to inquire about the relevant inside information of Huaguan Pictures through various channels. He tried to know himself and his enemy as much as possible.
Therefore, compared to Wan Xiaoquan, he knew Cui Xingxian's intentions better.
Wan Xiaoquan asked, "Then how should we deal with it? Should we increase the investment in publicity?"
Although his name was not in the subtitles of "A Chinese Ghost Story", Wan Xiaoquan had poured countless efforts and hopes into this movie. He did not want to drop the ball at the last stage.
Lu Chen smiled and said, "It's not a big deal to increase publicity. The problem is that we can't follow the rhythm of our opponent."
The publicity of "The Painted Skin" was already ahead. If "A Chinese Ghost Story" wanted to catch up, it would have to pay a higher price. This was not what he wanted to see.
"I'm going to postpone the release of" A Chinese Ghost Story "to February 21st."
Originally, "A Chinese Ghost Story" was planned to be officially released on February 14th, which was Valentine's Day. However, since it was going to clash with "The Painted Skin" head-on, it was undoubtedly a wise choice to avoid the enemy.
This was because that would be the time when the publicity for "The Painted Skin" would be at its fiercest. It would be much better after a week.
In Hong Kong, the arrangements for the cinema chain were much more flexible than in the mainland. If it were in the mainland, it would definitely not be so easy to change the schedule at the last minute. This was because many movies were arranged a long time in advance.
Wan Xiaoquan was a little unwilling. "Then we can only see how happy they are."
"An extra week will also give us more time to prepare …"
Lu Chen comforted him. "The one who laughs at the end is the winner. This way, we don't have to rush too much in the later stages."
He said to Chen Wenqiang, "Uncle Qiang, regarding the cinema chain, I'll have to trouble you to communicate with Jiayang and arrange it as well as possible."
The cinema chain was equally important. In this aspect, it would be arranged by Lu Chen Studio's partner, Jiayang Pictures. Although the latter's connections and resources were not very big, considering the requirements of the change, there would probably be some twists and turns.
There was not much time left.
Chen Wenqiang nodded. He suggested, "In fact, we have an advantage in terms of publicity. Young Master Lu and Miss Fei 'er's TV series is currently being broadcast on satellite TV. We can take advantage of it for publicity."
He said regretfully, "There were so many interviews and program invitations a few days ago. It would have been great if we could have accepted them all."
In the eyes of this studio director, Lu Chen was simply wasting God's gifts.
Lu Chen smiled and said, "Uncle Qiang, don't worry. I know what I'm doing."
It was not that he did not want to take advantage of it, but that the time was not ripe yet. However, it would be soon.
On February 5th, Lu Chen Studio and "A Chinese Ghost Story" released new stills of the movie on the official V of Waves Blog and Hong Kong Blog at the same time. There were a total of 20 photos.
Chen Fei 'er Studio reposted these stills, and the publicity for "A Chinese Ghost Story" in the mainland and Hong Kong officially joined the movie's promotional war for the New Year.
As Lu Chen and Chen Fei 'er were currently very popular, these beautifully designed stills immediately caused widespread discussion among fans on the Internet!
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