This is the report card of "1942", an epic masterpiece produced by one of the best commercial directors in China, which took two years and cost 200 million yuan.
It only took in 27 million at the box office on the first day, which was a good figure three years ago, but in this era of billions in box office, it's not enough.
Feng Xiaogang looked at this dazzling number and was a little distracted for a moment.
After a busy day, five or six road shows, and a premiere meeting, Feng Xiaogang was already very tired.
I have been watching the box office data since 11 o'clock in the evening, and the closer it gets to 12 o'clock, the more excited I become.
But now, with the first-day box office of 27 million, he was relieved and slumped on the sofa helplessly.
He could never understand that the movie he had carefully prepared only received this number at the box office on the first day.
Every time I went to a road show, the feedback from most of the audience was very good, and almost everyone was moved.
Even some of the professional film critics who had always looked down upon him have changed their attitudes.
I can’t figure it out, but the low-budget love movie “The Stolen Five Years” grossed 23 million yuan on its first day.
A bad movie like "Kuaiben: Happy Home" had 14 million on its first day.
"Little Times" directed by Guo Jinming's first-day sales of 75 million was nearly three times that of "1942"!
A writer made his first movie, earning 75 million on the first day.
The key is that the movie was so bad that Feng Xiaogang couldn't figure it out.
It is simply a huge irony that the first-day box office of Feng Xiaogang's movie was not half as good as that of an outsider!
After lying on the sofa and thinking for a while, Xu Fan walked out of the room.
She sat down next to her and asked, "What's wrong? How much?"
"27 million." Feng Xiaogang's tone showed weakness.
Xu Fan was surprised, "So low?"
Although you can tell from Feng Xiaogang's expression that the box office won't be too high, Xu Fan still couldn't accept the 27 million.
Although "1942" is not 3D and has no ticket price advantage, it has been converted to IMAX and has monopolized the IMAX screen.
And now only "Life of Pi" still accounts for more than 20% of the film schedule, "The Stolen Five Years" only has a little over 10% of the film schedule, and "Kaiben: Happy Home" has 5%.
The theater chain gave "1942" a full 50% of the film schedule, and more than half of the films in the film schedule only received 27 million at the box office, which was too low and completely inconsistent with the grand occasion before its release.
But now is not the time to talk about this. Xu Fan consoled him, "Don't be discouraged. After all, this is a tragic disaster film. The audience may have concerns. As long as the reputation is good, the box office will soon increase."
"I'm fine. Let's go and sleep. We have a road show tomorrow."
Feng Xiaogang raised his head, wiped his face vigorously with both hands, and cheered up again.
"Pi" made more than 10 million on its first day, and it doubled on the second day. There is no reason that "1942" couldn't do it!
After making films for more than ten years, Feng Xiaogang just felt lost for a while and quickly adjusted.
However, as the days passed, the box office of "1942" did not rebound as expected and maintained a tepid trend.
"1942" took in 32 million on Friday, an increase of 5 million or 18% compared to yesterday.
As for the doubling, it is a doubling, but it is not "1942".
"Pi" took in 12 million yesterday, and today Friday it soared to 22 million without any increase in film schedule, an increase of 80%.
On Saturday, "1942" rose to 46 million, breaking out during the holidays, with an increase of 44%.
However, "Pi", which has been in theaters for 10 days, also broke through the 40 million mark for the first time today, earning 42 million, which is still nearly double the increase, and the film schedule is much less than that of "1942".
On Sunday, "1942" surrendered its top spot at the daily box office after three days, earning 37 million in a single day.
"Pi" still grossed 40 million at the box office today, regaining the top spot at the daily box office!
A week has passed, and "Pi" has received 180 million in its second week and is still firmly at the top of the weekly box office.
The much-anticipated war disaster blockbuster "1942" has a weekly box office of 142 million, which is far short of the 1 billion target set by Wang Zhongjun and Feng Xiaogang. It can be said to be completely hopeless.
The media likes to see a big director hit the box office, and if you want to fight till the end, they will fight till the end.
So various media reports came out.
"Director Feng Xiaogang's new film "1942" failed miserably at the box office, and there is no hope of getting back the money!"
"Suffering another setback, how come the former king of Lunar New Year stalls is no longer popular with the audience?"
"Huayi dominates all domestic IMAX screens and shamelessly blocks "Life of Pi"!"
"Emotional marketing failed, what else can Feng Xiaogang do besides comedy?"
"Li Yin defeated Feng Xiaogang, and "Pi" grossed nearly 300 million in two weeks!"
...
A weekend has passed, and the box office has not fluctuated much, so Feng Xiaogang no longer has any expectations.
One billion is no longer possible, and now we can only hope that the box office can make back the cost.
Feng Xiaogang has not been having a good time these days, and he has to bear criticism from the outside world every day.
Originally the movie had a very good reputation, but as it failed at the box office, many people subconsciously thought that the film was not good, and gradually the reputation was also affected.
When I was promoting in a movie theater today, I was harassed by reporters for more than ten minutes.
Various tough questions were asked, the billion-dollar goal was slapped in the face, and Li Bian defeated him with a movie starring an Indian.
"Director Feng, Director Tang An previously predicted that the box office of "1942" would not exceed 500 million. Now it seems that this prediction has come true. Did you expect this situation before?"
Many people were waiting to slap Tang An in the face. After all, 500 million seemed easy.
Unexpectedly, it would now be used to slap Feng Xiaogang in the face.
In full view of the crowd, with so many spectators present, Feng Xiaogang could only suppress his anger and deal with the reporters.
"At present, the movie has just been released, and the box office is still unpredictable. Everything has to be left to the audience." He said solemnly.
""1942" has dominated all IMAX screens since its release, and not a single one is left for "Pi". Is this kind of malicious competition too much?"
A reporter asked about this again because Huayi had previously signed a priority screening contract with imax Huaguo Branch, and it was exclusive.
Since the release of "1942" on Thursday, "Pi" has no longer screened the IMAX version.
"Imax signed the agreement half a year ago, and did not expect that "Pi" would air-drop into the November schedule. This matter has nothing to do with us!"
...
"It is said that the production cost of "1942" alone is as high as 200 million. Judging from the current situation, it may not be able to recover the cost. This will become Director Feng's first loss-making film..."
"I can make back the money I lost in my next movie!"
Feeling a little impatient at being scolded, Feng Xiaogang left the scene early without saying a word with an expressionless face.
This week, the reporters were also happy, and they asked enough questions anyway.
I quickly followed and took a picture of Feng Xiaogang’s back, having already thought of the news headline.
""1942" failed miserably at the box office, and Feng Xiaogang left the show angrily!"
...
It can be said that the achievements of "1942" were unexpected by most people. As an investor, Huayi may not be able to recover its costs even if it includes distribution income.
Wang Zhongjun has no smile on his face since Friday.
With a production cost of 200 million, it is already Huayi's most expensive film after "The King of Kung Fu".
He absolutely trusted Feng Xiao who dared to invest so much money just now. After all, Feng Xiaogang's movies have never lost money.
The original investment of 100 million "The Night Banquet" only sold a little over 100 million domestically, and it only made money by cheating Colombia.
Who else can "1942" fool now?
Only a fool would buy the overseas distribution rights of a Chinese-language war disaster film!
Wang Zhongjun frowned as he listened to the people below reporting the company's stock market information.
The original market value of less than 10 billion fell by 18% in just four days, and the market value evaporated by 1.8 billion!
At the same time, the public relations department is also reporting.
"Chairman, the number of people who gave one-star ratings on Douban yesterday accounted for 58% of the people who rated that day. Among the ratings of users who did not purchase tickets on the Guevara ticketing website, 46% gave 0 points and 10 points.
Accounting for 16%..."
One after another bad news made Wang Zhongjun upset.
But there is nothing he can do, all methods are based on the quality of the film.
With Huayi's strength, if the movie sells well, these methods will be insignificant.
But the box office was a hit, and the numerous negative reviews coupled with the ultra-low box office could easily affect the choices of moviegoers who had not purchased tickets.
It doesn't matter which side did it, we have to get through this first.
After ordering emergency measures one by one, Wang Zhongjun took a breath after all departments left.
He made up his mind that Feng Xiaogang couldn't be so willful in his next movie, and he had to make a low-cost comedy to regain his health!
...
Hantang Media, Tang An has not paid attention to "1942" these days. After watching the premiere, he knew that this film was basically like this.
There is a market for disaster and misery films, but "1942" only has misery and despair, with no emotion, no warmth, and no hope.
But a week passed, and Tang An also looked at the data of "1942" in the office.
There is nothing surprising about the box office performance, except that some trolls are frantically giving "1942" bad reviews.
Originally it was supposed to be produced by Star America, but now Star America's "The King's Feast" was released a few years ago.
Tang An didn't delve into it. You never know how many ghosts are staring at you in the dark.
After reading the last news article titled "The Fallen Famous Director", Tang An shut down the computer.
The title is quite attractive, but it’s still too early to talk about its demise. Next year it will be ignored and it will still earn 700 million at the box office!
"Pi" has been released for more than half a month, and "1942" has hit the streets.
"The Mystery of Longling" will hardly encounter any resistance, and that's it for the Lunar New Year release.
It’s time to start working on other things. Renren has faced its biggest crisis in recent years and is in urgent need of cutting off part of its business in exchange for a large amount of cash.
The Investment and Development Department contacted the other party several times, and finally negotiated the acquisition of Nuomi.com.