In today's era of material desires, Wang Dong was undoubtedly a rather unusual existence. He wrote articles and film reviews and only spoke according to his own wishes instead of being driven by profits.
Such people were rare, so Wang Dong was respected by many people. He had his own influence in the Hong Kong literary and film circles. His blog articles and reposts had always been very high.
Wang Dong had written a lot of film review articles, mainly focusing on the movies produced in Xiangjiang. Due to the fact that Xiangjiang's movies had gone from prosperity to decline in the past ten years, he criticized more and praised less, leaving a strict impression on others.
Therefore, when Wang Dong's long film review article praising A Chinese Ghost Story was released, it inevitably caused a small sensation both inside and outside the circle. Even those who did not usually watch movies were interested in this film — was it really that good?
Some people were amazed, some were curious, and some were skeptical. However, on Hong Kong blogs, there were many people who supported Wang Dong's views. They were all Hong Kong netizens who had watched the film.
"A Chinese Ghost Story is a good film. I strongly recommend it!"
"It's been a long time since I've seen such a sincere ghost film. The characters and plot are first-class. At least 9 points."
"The special effects are also good. Although there are not many scenes, it's very exciting. I like Yan Chixia very much!"
"I took my girlfriend to watch it tonight. The 70 yuan was well spent. Then, when she came out, she saw the peripherals and insisted on buying a set. She spent another few hundred yuan. Her wallet is crying."
"Compared to A Chinese Ghost Story, The Painted Skin is simply trash!"
In the era of the Internet, everyone was a netizen. Freedom of speech had reached an unprecedented level. Anyone could speak freely and express their opinions after registering an account on a blog forum.
The same was true for film reviews. In the past, ordinary people could only watch film critics express their opinions on newspapers or television. Now, they could participate in it themselves. Everyone could be a film critic.
Although the comments of ordinary netizens could not compare to Wang Dong's film review article in terms of content and depth of thought, their feelings were the most intuitive and real, and their influence was more extensive.
The praise for A Chinese Ghost Story spread from Hong Kong blogs to Hong Kong forums, especially in the film and television section, where it became a hot topic.
Unlike the fake reviewers who were paid to post, the commenters of "A Chinese Ghost Story" were mostly experienced IDs. Their posts were more meaningful and credible.
It was very rare to see such a one-sided wave of praise in the Hong Kong Forum Film and Television section.
Even if there were critics of "A Chinese Ghost Story", most of them would use the words "the flaws do not obscure the brilliance." They felt that the movie's flaws could not cover up its strengths, and that it was worth recommending.
Many people believed that this was one of the best Hong Kong films in the past decade. The story, background, special effects, and soundtrack all had strong local characteristics.
These praises and recommendations from the Internet affected many ordinary netizens. Naturally, it played a good role in promoting the box office of "A Chinese Ghost Story".
The power of reputation was powerful!
On the 23rd of February, the box office of "A Chinese Ghost Story" reached 5.77 million yuan, rising for two consecutive days. Furthermore, the number of online ticket bookings increased greatly. On the 24th, most of the primetime tickets in the cinemas were fully booked.
Under such circumstances, coupled with the full public relations of Jiayang Pictures, by the 24th, the number of screenings of "A Chinese Ghost Story" soared to 35%, showing a blowout trend.
The market was very sensitive, and the market was very realistic. Whether it was a large cinema chain or a small or medium-sized cinema, they were naturally willing to leave their precious audience seats to those popular films, regardless of what kind of film it was.
Not only did "A Chinese Ghost Story" have excellent box office sales, but it also had a good reputation. It was also a Hong Kong co-production, and the peripheral products were also very popular. In the eyes of the cinemas, it was like a hen that laid golden eggs.
In the past, the shops in the cinemas sold Hollywood blockbusters. Although they sold very well, the cost of these peripherals was very high, and the profit left for the cinemas and cinemas was low.
In contrast, the peripheral products of "A Chinese Ghost Story" gave the cinemas a much higher share.
No one would say that money was too hot. Therefore, there was no need for Lu Chen Studio to communicate with Jiayang Pictures. Many cinemas took the initiative to place the peripheral products of "A Chinese Ghost Story" in the most conspicuous position, and also put up large advertisements so that the audience would not ignore it.
On the 24th of February, the box office of "A Chinese Ghost Story" continued to rise with the increase in the number of screenings, reaching 7.24 million, completely crushing other films that were released at the same time, including a Hollywood blockbuster that had been released for three weeks.
"A Chinese Ghost Story" was popular, and it was going to be very popular. Even those who had prejudices could only remain silent and could not criticize it — this film did not even buy a single yuan in the box office.
As for "The Painted Skin", which had a vigorous publicity campaign and had bought a lot of box office tickets, under a lot of bad reviews, the box office fell below one million on the 23rd, and only 580,000 on the 24th. It was simply terrible.
Moreover, the screening rate of "The Painted Skin" had dropped to less than 10%.
Anyone with a discerning eye knew that the producers of "The Painted Skin", Huaguan Pictures and Star Art Entertainment, had already given up. They had invested too much in the early stages of the film, and the high box office that came from the high cost was just a flash in the pan. If they continued to hold on, it would be equivalent to throwing money into a bottomless pit.
Therefore, as long as the leaders of the two companies were not too stupid, they should make a wise decision. "The Painted Skin" had already suffered a huge loss in the Hong Kong market, and there was no way to turn it around. Moving to the mainland market was the only choice.
According to the judgment of the industry, "The Painted Skin" was very likely to be removed from the Xiangjiang cinema chain in advance.
In late February 2017, the fiasco of "The Painted Skin", which had invested more than 100 million yuan, became one of the reasons why "A Chinese Ghost Story" soared to the sky, sweeping the market unstoppably!
On Monday, the 27th of February, the official blog of "A Chinese Ghost Story" in Hong Kong announced that the film had accumulated a box office of 45 million in six days, becoming the well-deserved box office champion. It had also greatly broken the previous record set by "The Painted Skin".
In addition to the extremely beautiful box office, "A Chinese Ghost Story" also sold another 24 million yuan of peripheral products.
The former was fine, but the latter was simply blinding the eyes of the people in the industry.
This kind of peripheral sales was completely not inferior to many Hollywood blockbusters!
How much was the investment for "A Chinese Ghost Story"? It was only 30 million yuan. After a week of screening, it would almost recover its cost. After that, it would all be profitable, and there was an even larger mainland market.
Therefore, many Xiangjiang film companies were envious and planned to follow the trend to make a profit!
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