Chinese entertainment starts with idols

Chapter 61 Is this the box office performance expected of an art film?

Lin Feng was really exhausted during the promotion of the movie "Buddha Mountain". He was already tired enough from the daytime roadshow, but he also had to run a "marathon" at night, sometimes several times. It was as if Fan Binbin wanted to drain Lin Feng dry all at once!

With Lin Feng's hard work, the popularity of "Buddha Mountain" quickly rose. Coupled with the previous controversy surrounding Fan Binbin's "I am the rich and powerful" statement, "Buddha Mountain" suddenly received a lot of attention.

"Buddha Mountain" is Lin Feng's first film, and his friends and acquaintances helped promote it, especially Deng Shuang and Yang Mi, who also did their best to help Lin Feng promote the film.

"Wishing my beloved 'Murong Yunhai's' debut film, 'Buddha Mountain,' a huge box office success!"

"Wishing my beloved 'Eighth Prince's' debut film, 'Buddha Mountain,' a huge box office success!"

Meanwhile, as Lin Feng's first film, his "Honeybee" fans were more active than ever before. They helped with publicity and promotion in the early stages, and also helped make various posters. Finally, on the first day of the film's release, they were among the first to go to the cinema.

"This is Feng Feng's first movie, we must actively support him! The best way for us to support Lin Feng is to go to the cinema as soon as possible!"

"Everything we say all this time is just talk; now is the time to test us. Besides, a movie ticket only costs 35 yuan, which isn't even enough for our usual pocket money!"

"A movie ticket represents my love for Nicholas Tse! So I bought ten tickets and invited my friends to watch it together!"

Just then, "Buddha Mountain" officially hit theaters. On its opening day, March 4th, a Friday, a very unpopular release date, it accounted for 27.3% of screenings and 18.8 million yuan in box office revenue, accounting for a whopping 40% of the total box office, making it the absolute box office champion of the day.

This screening efficiency ratio is about 1.5 times, what does that mean!

This means that the next day, as long as the managers of major cinema chains aren't foolish, they will further increase the screening ratio of "Buddha Mountain".

Therefore, on the second day of its release, March 5th, a Saturday, "Buddha Mountain" had a screening share of 29.8% and a box office of 2002 million yuan, breaking the 3 million yuan mark. Its box office share reached 39.6%, and its screening efficiency continued to exceed 1.3, making it the box office champion of the day once again.

On Sunday, March 6, it accounted for 31.8% of screenings and grossed 1965 million yuan, accounting for a high 37.6% of the total box office, continuing its reign as the top-grossing film of the day.

As of now, "Buddha Mountain" has grossed 5847 million yuan in its opening weekend (first three days), a result that far exceeded everyone's expectations and surprised many professional media reporters.

根据专业电影研究统计，电影前3日（首周末）大约占总票房比例平均值为40%；前7日票房占总票房比例约为60%；前14日平均占比85%；前30日（一个月）占比为99%。

In other words, the final box office of "Buddha Mountain" will be around 1.46 million yuan. Perhaps due to the large number of Lin Feng fans in the early stages, but even so, the box office of "Buddha Mountain" will definitely exceed 100 million yuan.

Keep in mind that "Buddha Mountain" is an art film. In an era where a box office of over 100 million yuan is considered impressive, "Buddha Mountain" definitely made a huge profit, even surpassing some commercial films!

Moreover, the total investment in "Buddha Mountain" was only 2500 million yuan, and it recouped its costs in the first weekend, making a profit on the rest. How could this not surprise many people in the industry!

"1880 million on opening day, 5847 million in opening week, what's going on with this film 'Buddha Mountain'?"

"What's going on? An art film is grossing more than a commercial film. This is the first time I've ever seen this."

Even director Li Yu couldn't believe it. She was already very surprised that the film grossed 1880 million yuan on its opening day. She even felt that it was not unacceptable for "Buddha Mountain" to ultimately gross 1880 million yuan. After all, for an art film like this, making money relies more on selling copyrights than on box office revenue.

The truth is: this is the box office performance of "Buddha Mountain" on its first day!

The next day, it reached 2002 million. She went crazy!

With 1965 million on the third day and 5847 million in the first week, she was beyond excited. Is this the kind of box office performance an art film should have? This box office result is too dreamlike!

Not to mention director Li Yu, even the well-informed Fan Binbin couldn't believe that "Buddha Mountain" could achieve such box office results. This is a bit against market rules!

In Fan Binbin's opinion, at least half of the 5847 million yuan box office of "Buddha Mountain" came from other sources, but where did it come from?

The answer to this is easy to find, because it is clear online that many of Lin Feng's fans have posted pictures of their movie tickets, and some fans have checked the tickets more than once.

"This is the first time I've watched an art film like this, because of Lin Feng. It wasn't very good while watching, but I found it quite interesting afterward. The feeling of rebuilding faith lingers in my memory. So this is what an art film is all about!"

"I really can't appreciate this kind of movie. Why are the cameras so shaky? It almost made me dizzy. It was a really uncomfortable viewing experience. If it weren't for supporting Raymond Lam, I definitely wouldn't have watched it! The problem is, I've already bought another movie ticket. Which fan can help me watch it? I'm from Chengdu, Sichuan."

"I don't like this movie. The Lin Feng in it is not Lin Feng at all. He is not good-looking at all. He is decadent, confused and always smoking. This is not the Lin Feng I imagined. I still hope that Lin Feng can always be beautiful and handsome."

"I actually like this movie. Didn't you guys notice how amazing Lin Feng's acting is? It's so lifelike. And with Lin Feng's first movie being so successful, it will be even easier for him to succeed in the film industry in the future."

"This movie is great in every way, except for that one-minute kissing scene between Raymond Lam and Fan Bingbing. Wasn't that a bit too long? I was so envious! It almost gave me an orgasm!"

One of them, Zhang Ruonan, born in 96 and a high school freshman from Wenzhou, Zhejiang, also went to support her idol Lin Feng's first film.

She became a fan of Raymond Lam because of the TV series "Palace," and she also really liked the movie "Buddha Mountain," a film about finding oneself and rebuilding dreams.

She hopes that when she grows up, she can pursue her own dreams instead of always listening to her family's opinions.

Of course, as the eldest daughter, she will definitely take good care of her three younger brothers and sisters while pursuing her dreams.

"Lin Feng, keep it up! I'll continue to support you!"

Another woman, Zhou Ye, born in 98 and a junior high school student from Huizhou, Guangdong, became a fan of Raymond Lam because of the TV series "Meteor Shower." She disliked the movie "Buddha Mountain."

However, she really liked the kissing scene between Lin Feng and Fan Binbin in the movie, and being very beautiful since childhood, she had already decided to pursue a career in the arts at a very young age.

She hopes that she can get into Yenching Film Academy in the future, so that she can not only become her idol's junior, but also film a kissing scene with her idol.

"Lin Feng, you can do it! I'll save my first kiss for you, wait for me!"

Besides his own fans, Lin Feng's performance has also received considerable recognition from other moviegoers and film critics.

"Lin Feng's acting is very good. He holds his own against Fan Binbin. I used to think that he was just an idol who could only show off his good looks. I never expected his acting to be so good. He doesn't break character at all."

"It's been a long time since I've seen such a surprising actor. Lin Feng is the first actor in all my years of watching movies who has managed to surprise me. Chinese cinema has a bright future!"

"I didn't expect Lin Feng, this young idol, to have such amazing acting skills. It turns out that the previous comments about Chen Daoming and Tang Guoqiang being 'young heartthrobs' were true. The reason why veteran actors are veteran actors isn't just because they've gotten older; they had acting skills even when they were young!"

As word-of-mouth for "Buddha Mountain" continues to grow, it further boosts the film's box office. At the same time, the higher the box office, the greater the proportion of screenings it receives, which inevitably squeezes out the survival space of other films.

The film most affected by this is "Eternal Love," starring Xu Jinglei, which has been in theaters for over half a month.

The film's box office revenue was halved, dropping from tens of millions to millions. Keep in mind that "Eternal Love" is a commercial film, and also a film with a strong emotional appeal.

Moreover, its box office performance had been consistently stable. Many professional box office prediction agencies had given it a box office forecast of 1.93 million yuan, and it was even expected to challenge the 2 million yuan mark.

As a result, after the release of "Buddha Mountain", the box office of "Eternal Love" was far from challenging the 2 million yuan mark. It would be considered a success if the film's box office performance could reach 1.5 million yuan.

This really upset Xu Jinglei. "When did Lin Feng suddenly appear out of nowhere? Does he really have that much box office appeal?! Are his fans stupid? What's so great about this kind of art film?!"

Meanwhile, because "Buddha Mountain" is an art film, its release period is relatively long, lasting two months. Its abnormal box office performance has even affected "The Warring States" which was released on April 12, and "A Chinese Ghost Story" which was released on April 19.

The film "The Warring States" had previously invited Lin Feng to participate. This was a big-budget film with a 1.5 million yuan investment and a star-studded cast. Jing Tian wanted to use this film to teach Lin Feng a lesson, making him reject her twice in a row.

Although the film "My Beautiful Boss," released last July, only grossed 12.5 million yuan, Jing Tian is very confident about "The Warring States." Moreover, with the participation of big-name stars from China and abroad, including Sun Honglei, Wu Zhenyu, and Kim Hee-sun, she's confident it will crush Lin Feng.

As a result, "The Warring States" flopped as soon as it was released. On its opening day, it accounted for 33.8% of screenings, but its box office was only 650 million yuan, almost failing to beat "Buddha Mountain", which had been in theaters for more than a month.

In the end, "The Warring States" only grossed 7597 million yuan, half of "Buddha Mountain", and its Douban score was 3.6, also only half of "Buddha Mountain".

Jing Tian was a little dumbfounded by this result. Why did this happen? Why did all the movies Lin Feng rejected fail? Why does Lin Feng always bully me? Why does he always target me?

Jing Tian didn't understand, but then it suddenly occurred to her that if she could get Lin Feng to star in the next movie, it would be a box office hit. "Hmm, let's invite him again!"

As for the other fantasy romance film, "A Chinese Ghost Story," starring Gu Tianle and Liu Yifei, its release date was much later than "Buddha Mountain," so it wasn't greatly affected. However, it still couldn't escape its fate of becoming a flop.

With a total investment of US$2000 million (approximately 1.4 million yuan), "A Chinese Ghost Story" only grossed 1.4 million yuan at the box office. If it weren't for overseas copyright revenue, it would have been a complete flop.

The two main actors in "The Legend of the Feast at Hongmen," Lin Feng ("Buddha Mountain") and Liu Yifei ("A Chinese Ghost Story"), also had a virtual dialogue.

Total investment: Guanyin Mountain 2500 million << A Chinese Ghost Story 1.4 million.

Box office: "Buddha Mountain" 1.52 million yuan > "A Chinese Ghost Story" 1.4 million yuan.

Reputation: Guanyin Mountain >> A Chinese Ghost Story

"A Chinese Ghost Story" took a different approach by adding a romantic subplot between "Yan Chixia" and "Nie Xiaoqian". This melodramatic love triangle relegated the male lead "Ning Caichen" to the second male lead, which did not resonate with the audience.

In short, Lin Feng completely outmaneuvered Liu Yifei!

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