Before "A Chinese Ghost Story", peripherals were basically a minefield for domestically-produced movies, including Hong Kong and Taiwanese movies.
Movie peripherals were almost exclusive to Hollywood movies in the United States. The sales of peripherals in movies adapted from novels, comics, and games could even exceed the box office. The huge profits were really enviable.
It was not that domestic filmmakers and film investors had not tried it before. They also wanted to eat some cake from it, but they were often beaten black and blue. In the end, they were all discouraged.
The reason for this was rather complicated. The maturity of the market, the audience's acceptance, and even the peripherals themselves were all related. The popular IP of domestically-produced movies also lacked the creativity and willingness to produce peripherals. They often relied on posters and the like to make up the numbers.
In the past, domestically-produced movie peripherals sold the best, claiming to have sold tens of millions of copies. However, the data was questionable and very exaggerated.
"A Chinese Ghost Story" had sold 25.98 million yuan of peripherals on the first day. Although there was the fan effect of Lu Chen and Chen Fei 'er, it was still very unbelievable in the eyes of the industry.
Doubtful, the circle fell silent.
However, the reaction of Lu Chen's fans was completely different. When the official Weibo of "A Chinese Ghost Story" released the first-day box office and peripheral sales results, countless fans ran to Wang Xiaoxu's blog to mock it.
Didn't you say that the box office of "A Chinese Ghost Story" was not good? It was nearly 40 million on the first day!
Didn't you say that the peripherals of "A Chinese Ghost Story" were fake? It was more than 25 million on the first day!
Wang Xiaoxu, who had always refused to admit defeat, chose to remain silent for once. He did not retaliate tit-for-tat.
That was because he was not sure if his previous judgment and prediction were accurate. The box office results of "A Chinese Ghost Story" on the first day could not be determined. The movie's early publicity and hype were good, and with the popularity of two popular celebrities, it was natural for the box office to be high.
Some movies had a high box office on the first day, but after a few days, they would reveal their true colors. As the number of people watching the movie increased, their reputation would rapidly decline, resulting in a dismal ending.
Could "A Chinese Ghost Story" be one of them? Wang Xiaoxu was not completely confident. Even though his previous prediction was based on his understanding of the market, the sales of "A Chinese Ghost Story" were too dazzling.
It was really unbelievable!
As a well-known film critic in the industry, Wang Xiaoxu had his own information channels and sources, so he more or less knew the inside story.
The first-day box office and peripheral sales of "A Chinese Ghost Story" might very well be completely real!
This made Wang Xiaoxu feel as if his common sense had been subverted. He shut himself at home for an entire day, stationed in front of the computer, browsing the web, and smoking two packs of cigarettes.
In the end, Wang Xiaoxu decided to go to the cinema to watch A Chinese Ghost Story and understand the situation.
Without investigation, he had no right to speak. He was prepared to seriously write a review of A Chinese Ghost Story!
The movie tickets that Wang Xiaoxu had booked online were for the night of April 4th.
He was also free the night before, but perhaps because it was too late, he didn't manage to book the tickets to the nearby cinemas. The tickets for the night show were all sold out!
At 8 pm on April 4th, Wang Xiaoxu finished watching the movie that he had once questioned in Hall 3 of the Mother Earth Cinema in Beijing's Third Ring Road.
It was exactly 9: 30 when he finished watching the movie. Wang Xiaoxu was squeezed in the crowd and looked a little ugly.
Then he went to the movie and souvenir shop on the right side of the hall.
In a cinema where every inch of land was worth its weight in gold, the area of the surrounding shops was, of course, not large. The large space was reserved for the ticket office, drinks, and food — the sales of popcorn could account for 20-30% of a cinema's revenue!
When Wang Xiaoxu arrived, there were already more than ten to twenty customers in the shop. They were all young people, and most of them were couples.
The place was filled with large movie posters, and several display counters were filled with all kinds of movie peripherals. There were figurines, sets of accessories, props, costumes, daily necessities, and so on. It was a dazzling lineup under the spotlight.
Wang Xiaoxu noticed that the goods on the display counter of the Mother Earth Cinema were almost divided into two parts. Half of them were peripherals of "The Showdown of Vulcan", such as spaceship models, cartoonish versions of the male and female protagonists, alien monsters, and so on. They were full of technology and were quite expensive.
It was said that most of the peripherals of Hollywood movies were processed and manufactured in the United States, so these things were basically imported. It was normal for them to be expensive.
The other half was filled with peripherals for "A Chinese Ghost Story". There were figurines of different versions of the movie's characters, movie posters, soundtrack albums, and a commemorative set that included accessories. Wang Xiaoxu even saw a shining sword — the model of Chiyan Xia's magic sword.
The sword hanging on the wall was a real thing made of metal. Although it did not have a sharpened edge, it was very well made. The details were as gentle as in the movie. Eight dark red seal scripts faintly appeared on the surface of the sword — Heaven and Earth Infinite Borrow the Power of Heaven and Earth!
Wang Xiaoxu was very familiar with these eight words. In the movie, Chixia Yan was crazy and infatuated. When he cast spells, he chanted the incantation, which made people's blood boil.
In Wang Xiaoxu's opinion, Chixia Yan was the most distinctive and dazzling character in the movie, and it had been a long time since such an impressive character had appeared in a domestic movie!
He casually picked up a Chixia Yan doll that was placed on the glass cabinet. It was only the size of a palm, but it was made to look lifelike. Its form, spirit, and intent were all in place. It was not inferior to the dolls in "Showdown with Vulcan" at all. In fact, it even surpassed them in terms of characteristics.
Wang Xiaoxu knew very well that such a thing could not be produced in a day or two. The design, mold, and production all took time. The film had undoubtedly started planning very early on.
And its price was only half that of its competitors!
How bold!
Wang Xiaoxu secretly sighed in his heart. He put the Chixia Yan doll back, but after hesitating for a moment, he picked it up again and walked toward the cashier.
58 yuan was really not expensive, and he really liked it.
There were already two couples lining up in front of the cashier, and they bought more than Wang Xiaoxu.
Wang Xiaoxu waited patiently. After paying, he did not stop.
When he returned home, he put the doll he had just bought on the desk and smoked three cigarettes.
Wang Xiaoxu was not a heavy smoker, but he had smoked very fiercely since yesterday.
After he finished smoking, the smoke was still lingering in the study. Wang Xiaoxu seemed to have made an important decision in his heart. He suddenly straightened up and began typing quickly on the keyboard with both hands.
On the computer screen, a line of black title text was quickly forming: A solemn apology to "A Chinese Ghost Story" …
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