Lu Chen still clearly remembered Chen Wenqiang's evaluation of Zhou Yi.
Zhou Yi was a real businessman.
A real businessman knew how to judge the situation. When faced with a choice, he would always choose the one that was most beneficial to him. If he needed to put down his pride, he would never put on airs.
A real businessman could not be a real friend.
Lu Chen would not treat Zhou Yi as a friend, but as a business partner, it would be fine. So after the two sides reached a consensus, he got down to business.
"The number of screenings for our new film is too low. I hope Boss Zhou can put more effort in this area."
The number of screenings for "A Chinese Ghost Story" on the first day was less than 20%. It was not too bad, but it did not meet Lu Chen's expectations. It was the task of Jiayang Pictures to communicate with the cinemas in Hong Kong.
Lu Chen Studio had just established itself in Hong Kong. It needed to expand its channels in all aspects. It lacked connections and resources in the industry, so it needed a partner like Jiayang Pictures.
Zhou Yi smiled and said, "Don't worry, Young Master Lu. I believe that no cinema can ignore our results. I have already sent someone to discuss with Wanli and Deqing. I believe it will not be a problem to increase the number of screenings."
Wanli and Deqing were the two major cinema chains in Hong Kong. They jointly owned more than 60% of the cinemas in Hong Kong and played an important role in Hong Kong's film industry.
The famous Oriental Hollywood Theater was a big cinema under Wanli Cinema.
Zhou Yi said confidently, "Our number of screenings is not high now, mainly because 'The Painted Skin' bought a share of the box office. But if HAGUAN and Star Art can buy a week's box office, they can't buy a month's!"
Buying the box office was an unspoken rule in the industry. The rich and powerful often played it, but there must be a limit.
The scale of Hong Kong's film market was small. Spending a few million could occupy a considerable share of screenings. But unless one was extremely willful, no one would throw money desperately into the water.
In order to support "The Painted Skin", HAGUAN and Star Art bought the box office for four days in a row. In Zhou Yi's view, they were basically close to their limit.
On the other hand, if this kind of cheating exceeded the limit, it would also attract public anger in the industry.
If it went too far, no one would be willing to play.
Therefore, Zhou Yi was very certain that the high box office earnings of The Painted Skin would not last long. Once its true colors were revealed, it would be the day of A Chinese Ghost Story's strong counterattack.
The cinema chains were not fools. They knew very well what was going on, so it was reasonable for them to increase the number of screenings for "A Chinese Ghost Story" in advance.
Most importantly, the surprising peripheral sales of "A Chinese Ghost Story" were undoubtedly equivalent to stimulants. It was enough to stimulate the sensitive nerves of the cinema chains and make them make a wise choice.
The truth was not unexpected. On February 22nd, the number of screenings for "A Chinese Ghost Story" in Hong Kong increased to 22.67%. Many of the screenings were added on that day, and the box office exceeded the 4 million mark.
The box office sales continued to rise amidst the exclamations of the industry, reaching 3.58 million!
At the same time, Painted Skin, which had been holding on for a few days, finally showed its true signs of decline. On the 22nd, the box office earnings were only 3.1 million, completely behind A Chinese Ghost Story.
This was more or less out of the expectations of the industry. Everyone had thought that in order to suppress A Chinese Ghost Story, "The Painted Skin" would continue to buy the box office for a few more days. They did not expect it to admit defeat so quickly.
Then, insider news came out. It was said that because the real box office results were too bad, there was a serious disagreement between Huaguan Pictures and Star Art Entertainment. Not to mention continuing to buy the box office, even publicity was facing problems.
In just two days, A Chinese Ghost Story had completed a beautiful counterattack and was showing signs of soaring!
On the internet, a large number of netizens' comments about A Chinese Ghost Story emerged, including many articles by film critics. Wang Dong was one of them.
As an independent film critic, Wang Dong had a habit of writing film reviews. He would not publish his own film reviews before the official release of the movie, even if he had watched the premiere in advance.
A Chinese Ghost Story was no exception.
After Wang Dong was invited to attend the premiere of A Chinese Ghost Story, he wrote a film review article, but it was not until two days after the official release of the movie that he published it on his blog.
"When I first watched 'A Chinese Ghost Story', I thought that it was a fantasy ghost movie similar to 'Painted Skin'. I even mocked the filmmakers of today for not having any creativity. They changed the story in 'Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio', added some celebrities' faces and special effects, and then brought it to the table to fool the audience. It was really boring."
"However, after watching the movie, I realized that although they were both based on Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio, A Chinese Ghost Story and Painted Skin were works of completely different levels. The two could not be compared at all."
"A Chinese Ghost Story is so much better than Painted Skin!"
"Dressed in a coarse green robe, a shabby little hat, and a pair of worn cloth shoes, this was the image that the protagonist, Ning Caichen, gave to everyone. Life was full of misfortunes. He had a youthful talent, but there was no place for him to use it. As a result, he was ridiculed by the peddlers who sold paintings as having 'high taste but low status'. "
"But even so, he did not lose the loveliness that was in his bones. He was naive, pedantic, but also affectionate, positive, and optimistic. He was born at the wrong time, but he did not feel depressed at all. "
"As for Nie Xiaoqian, she was a ghost who died in a foreign land. She was a female ghost who lived in a barren mountain and specialized in sucking the essence of young men. But this was not her intention. Every time she hurt a passerby, her heart would be tortured by endless self-blame and grief. She was beautiful and kind. Although she was forced by the despotic power of the tree fairy, and although all the demons and ghosts around her were bloodthirsty, she still held on to her conscience alone. She was unique in that dirty and dark world. "
"The meeting of the male and female protagonists was an accident, but it was also fate. A poignant love story connected the whole movie. Even if the ending was not perfect, it was still very touching!"
"The plot of the whole movie was compact, the story was exciting, and the soundtrack and theme song were first-class …"
"There was another character in the movie that left a deep impression, and that was Yan Chixia. He was a little crazy and a little drunk. He was heroic and slayed demons. His laughter and curses were almost humorous, showing us the profound skills of an experienced actor!"
"I dare to say that A Chinese Ghost Story will become a classic among ghost movies …"
Wang Dong's long review blog post was more than 2,000 words long. It was the longest film review he had ever written. It could be said that it was full of praises. The whole post was full of praises, making people wonder if he had received some benefits from the film producer.
However, anyone who had seen "A Chinese Ghost Story" would not have such doubts!
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