No one expected that "Exes 3", a mediocre sequel to its predecessor, would become the movie that dominated the screen in early 2018.
The first two films showed no signs of success in terms of box office, ratings, or word-of-mouth, and the director was not very famous. The two male leads were a former super idol, and one was famous for his variety shows.
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It's limited to fame, a lot of people know it, and that's it.
If fame is useful, how come "Sky Hunter" starring Li Chen and Fan Binbin, who also participated in "Running Man", became a hit.
Don't talk about outsiders, at the promotional meeting before the release, Huayang Media's youth target box office was 500 million.
Target is just a cut in the middle, and most of the people who say one billion will be satisfied with 500 million.
Once this kind of movie comes out, it will definitely spark widespread discussion, both online and in the industry.
Regarding lovelorn, all young people have lost love, and none of them have an ex. In addition, the two songs "Delete If You Say" and "Decent" are also popular on short video platforms, and they are very popular.
As for the industry, let’s analyze it again, analyze why it is so popular, and then see if we can learn from it and copy it.
Li Qian's company was also analyzing it, and they thoroughly studied the film in just a few days.
"The keywords on the Internet, cry and laugh, appear with almost the same frequency."
"The spread rate of short video platforms is very high. During the screening period, people cried in the cinema until they fainted and were sent to the emergency room. After watching the movie, couples had emotional disputes, fought and jumped off the building. These eye-catching events played a big role."
“Female viewers account for as high as 62%.”
"The market is sinking again. In addition to second-tier cities accounting for the majority, the box office ratio of fourth-tier cities is as high as 28."
"The audience with a bachelor's degree or below accounted for 65%. The audience has completely declined. The explosion of young people in small towns has also had a reverse effect on first-tier cities."
In the conference room, the publicity and marketing department was reporting on a series of factors that determine the success of a movie.
There is nothing wrong with it. Generally speaking, there are only three points. Everyone has it before, the explosion of short video platforms, and the capture of audiences in third- and fourth-tier cities.
Li Qian nodded, "In any written documents from now on, don't mention the proportion of the audience with or below a certain education level. The term "small town youth" is also rarely used. Don't get used to it. It's also said in public. Netizens are very sensitive.
"
"Okay, I understand." The publicity and marketing director nodded, although he didn't quite understand what Li Qian was making such a fuss about.
"Don't be indifferent. When you are making other people's money, you have to take care of other people's moods. If Lei Jun from Rice says in public that he sells his mobile phone to Diaosi, you don't think rice noodles will be in trouble." Li Qian reminded again.
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Although many words are true, it is easy for people to think that they are sarcastic.
Nowadays, the audience for movies is constantly declining. In third- and fourth-tier cities, counties, and even many larger towns, movie theaters are doing very well.
When you call someone a young person from a small town, the word may have a derogatory connotation at some point. When you mention academic qualifications, people think you are mocking the uneducated.
"Exes 3" is a movie that young girls in third- and fourth-tier cities like to watch, but many viewers in first-tier cities don't understand why it is so popular and watched by so many people.
This difference has already been stirred up by some people on the Internet. Some people said that those who watched "The Ex 3" were uneducated, and then those who liked the film criticized it, and finally scolded each other, and the topic came up.
The media loves stirring up trouble.
There is also a huge disparity in the ratio of male to female viewers. Many girls on the Internet were particularly moved, and then some people came out to say they missed their ex.
Then a group of people came to complain about why they missed their exes and wanted to get their exes back, but not the boys.
The antagonism between men and women has been instigated again.
In recent years, gender antagonism has become more and more serious on Weibo, and it can cause trouble at any big event.
It's a big topic and very popular, and it's even more popular online than "Detective Chinatown 2".
The box office finally crossed the 2 billion mark, making it a phenomenal movie.
Throughout January, even blockbusters such as "Star Wars Episode 8", "Wonderful West" starring Zhang Ziyi, Huang Xiaoming, Zhang Zhen and Wang Lihong, the classic remake "A Better Tomorrow 2018", and Aamir Khan's new film "Mysterious Superstar"
, all of these movies were overshadowed by such an inconspicuous movie as "The Ex 3".
It lasted for a month, and then it got cold in February.
In the few days before the Spring Festival, there were no movies. "Moscow Has Fallen" was the only blockbuster. The White House was invaded countless times on the big screen, and finally it was the turn of the capital of another big country.
It's an ordinary blockbuster, so it's not very popular. After all, not many people watch it.
However, I don’t know who are the people on the Internet now, and they come out and clamor that polar bears dare to make a movie about the fall of their capital, and domestic movies are impossible.
Attacked a wave of domestic movies, and then attracted a large group of scoldings, and then exchanged insults.
This is what happens online all day long.
Just in time, the Spring Festival is about to arrive, and the connection is seamless and never stops for a moment.
The super-seeded contestant "Monster Hunt 2", Lam Chiu-hsien's new film "Operation Red Sea", three blockbusters "Journey to the West: Daughter of China", and "The Nineteenth Generation" directed by Guo Deguang who joins the fun.
When "Monster Hunt" broke 2 billion, this second movie is also the most popular movie during the Spring Festival.
However, there is not much difference between the other two blockbusters. After all, Lin Chaoxian's last step "Operation Mekong" exceeded one billion, and the first two parts of the "Journey to the West" series also exceeded one billion.
Three films that easily exceeded a billion dollars collided together. It would be an exaggeration to say that it was a fight between gods.
At the same time, behind such a huge market will be a fierce collision among ticket purchasing platforms.
Strictly speaking, the ticket purchasing platform is not an incidental industry to the film industry, but is more similar to the Internet industry.
Many of the new Internet industries have been fighting until all other competitors are eliminated, and one company has a monopoly.
Even if this is not the case, there will at most be only two, very few, and three pillars of the situation.
The three-legged confrontation means that any two companies that merge can easily crush the remaining one. This triangle is very unstable.
Just like life service websites, Meituan is the dominant one, two food delivery platforms exist side by side, taxi-hailing software is the only dominant one, and bike sharing is almost the same.
Three heavyweight blockbusters will have countless ticket-buying audiences behind them, and these people are the targets of the four major platforms.
During the previous Lunar New Year period, it was clear that the other three platforms would first join forces to kill Future Movies, and then decide whether to merge or continue to compete.
Of course, Li Qian must also be prepared. The company's attention to these three movies is not even lower than the previous "Detective Chinatown 2".
"According to the current analysis, "Monster Hunt 2" has a conservative estimate of 3 billion in box office. "Journey to the West: Kingdom of Daughters" compared with "Three Strikes of White Bone Demons" has added a love scene and is more suitable for young people today. 20
Billion should be fine."
Based on the research and statistics of various departments during this period, Du Yang gave rough expectations for the three blockbusters, but when it came to the next movie, he was a little hesitant.
""Operation Red Sea" is a modern military film about the Marine Corps performing a rescue mission in Africa. "Wolf Warrior 2" has a box office of 5 billion in the top spot. Needless to say, Lin Chaoxian's ability, but"
"But what?" Li Qian asked.
"It's like this. Some time ago, Bernard held a movie viewing party. Although the reviews were very high, everyone felt that some parts of the movie were too bloody and not suitable for the Spring Festival. Some people even thought that this was another movie.
The movie "1942" lacks quality and is in the wrong schedule." Du Yang expressed his worries.
"I heard that the other three major platforms also focused on "Monster Hunt 2" and "Journey to the West: Daughter's Kingdom". The votes received by "Operation Red Sea" were less than half of "Monster Hunt" and less than "Monster Hunt: Journey to the West".
"The Kingdom of Women" is also much less."
"The three major platforms alone gave "Monster Hunt" 200 million in ticket subsidy? "Her Country" also received 140 million, and "Operation Red Sea" only received 80 million?"
Li Qian looked at the rough estimates on the document. From these figures, it can be seen that the three major ticket purchasing platforms attach great importance to the three movies.
This ticket subsidy is just an estimate of the platform, and the producers and distributors themselves will also pay it. If it costs several hundred million, the Spring Festival movie will be extremely popular, unless these three movies are so bad that they can't even attract the audience with subsidies.
the point.
"In that case"
Li Qian thought for a while and then said a few figures lightly, "Give "Operation Red Sea" 100 million, "Girls' Country" 20 million, "Monster Hunt 2" 50 million, and future movies will focus on promoting "Operation Red Sea".
"
“Give Operation Red Sea 100 million?”
Everyone was a little stunned. They only gave 50 million for "Monster Hunt", which is equivalent to putting all their treasure on "Operation Red Sea".
"That's right, this is just an initial investment. We can add more at any time depending on the situation. If we want to fight, we can fight. We can still afford a small amount of several hundred million!"
Li Qian said quite proudly that during the Spring Festival, 200 million yuan in ticket subsidy was actually not much.
The 2 billion that Brother Xiao Ma previously gave to fare evaders has been burned. Now everyone is in the money-burning stage. Once one more person is killed, they will probably be able to stop.
Of course, the money was not given in vain. The heroine of "The Kingdom of Girls" is Zhao Liying. I don't know what Xing Hao and Zheng Baorui thought. Therefore, Li Qian also participated in the entry and jointly distributed it.
The ticket subsidies provided by other platforms are basically involved in the distribution, which can recover some costs. The producers are also willing to make a small profit, and they also receive the support of huge ticket subsidies.
After Li Qian and Yu Dong talked about the 100 million given to "Operation Red Sea", they also renewed a distribution contract. As a joint distributor, Future Films will be able to get some of the 100 million back by then.
After signing the contract, Yu Dong, who had been frowning all this time, had a simple and honest smile on his fat face.
"Thank you so much, Director Li. This 100 million is a timely help." Yu Dong held Li Qian's hand tightly, very excited.
"You're welcome, Dong Yu. "Operation Red Sea" is completely worth the 100 million ticket subsidy." Li Qian took out his palm without leaving a trace.
Damn, so greasy!
Yu Dong didn't notice, and said to himself, "You don't know, all the money from their three platforms was spent on "Monster Hunt 2". I ran around a lot, but I couldn't even negotiate how many tickets to reimburse.
, Director Li still has a good vision."
Not only was Yu Dong in a good mood because of the 100 million ticket subsidy, but also because Li Qian was optimistic about it. In the past few years, every movie that Li Qian liked was a hit. This was a reassurance for Yu Dong.
"A bunch of people playing with capital know nothing about movies." Li Qian said disapprovingly.
"Yes, that's right. Director Li is absolutely right. How do they understand movies?" Yu Dong agreed.
"By the way, Director Yu is still cooperating with Ximihua?" Li Qian suddenly asked.
"The cooperation is quite good. I have invested in a few movies." Director Yu said truthfully. They have been cooperating for several years. However, I heard that Xi Mihua's subordinates encountered a problem with Li Qian. Li Qian was not sure for a while.
What's the meaning.
Li Qian thought for a while and said, "After all, Xi Mihua is a business that blocks the market. Mainland China is not Hong Kong and Macao, so it won't sound good if we say it out loud."
Yu Dong's face changed slightly, and he laughed dryly, "Is it possible that there are still people who are taking advantage of this to attack Bernard?"
Li Qian said with a kind-hearted reminder, "It's not impossible. There are just some media on the Internet who are looking for trouble all day long. They just watch the excitement and don't think it's a big deal."
Seeing that Li Qian only said this, Yu Dong breathed a sigh of relief and said with an upright face that he was not afraid of slanting shadows or any dirty water.
If only it was as simple as picking up girls as a little kid who runs a sex show and invests heavily in the film industry.
Li Qian also noticed something, although it was not big, but as a member of the industry, he just mentioned it more. As for what they were going to do, it was out of his control.
After finalizing the contract with Bernard, the 100 million vote subsidy from Future Movie APP quickly came into play.
Countless low-priced movie tickets were released, which also attracted the attention of the industry.
Obviously, everyone knows about this platform dispute, and Li Qian is betting on "Operation Red Sea".
This made Xinghao, the investor of "Journey to the West: The Kingdom of Daughters" very dissatisfied. Li Qian, as the distributor, actually supported other films.
The producer of "Monster Hunt" doesn't matter. With the previous film holding back, coupled with the joining of Tony Leung, and the support of 200 million votes from the three major platforms, the film is even thinking about hitting the box office record of "Wolf Warrior 2".
As for Penguin Pictures, Chen Wu was greatly surprised by Li Qian's approach.
When it was clear that the three major platforms were going to join forces to kill him, they were still willing to put all their money on the most inconspicuous movie. This was no different from gambling.
However, despite being surprised, Chen Wu was still very excited.
This is an excellent opportunity. As long as "Monster Hunt 2" and "Journey to the West" are big hits and "Operation Red Sea" box office is not as expected, those three major platforms will definitely attract a large number of users.
Li Qian's Future Pictures did not give enough ticket supplements to "Monster Hunt" and "King of Women", but gave them all to "Operation Red Sea", and the users naturally flowed to their side.
Due to the ebb and flow of one another, maybe the three major platforms can gain 5 points of market share from Future Movies and suppress Future Movies' market share to less than 15%.
If the same situation happens twice more, future movies will follow in the footsteps of Grava and Baidu Nuomi!
If the three major platforms achieve a monopoly on online ticketing, they can achieve absolute control and review!
Striking while the iron was hot, Chen Wu contacted Fare Escape and Maoyan, and the three parties once again increased their investment in ticket subsidy for "Monster Hunt 2" and "King of Women".
The three major platforms have increased their investment, and Li Qian has also kept up. Anyway, such a small amount of money can still be spent. This is also the advantage of the film industry. With its scale here, no matter how much capital there is, it will be useless. The most you can do is spend it.