Volume 4 Crazy Growth 2017 Chapter 837: Buzzing
"I admit that Wolf Warrior 2's first-day box office of over 300 million is impressive, but if I compare it to a Hollywood blockbuster, how would you respond?"
"It's so funny. The first day box office exceeded 300 million. What's so good about it? Who knows how much water is in it? Don't you spend your own money to brag about it?"
"In order not to lose this so-called 1.5 billion box office bet, Zhou Dongsheng really tried his best. He promoted it vigorously and asked his subordinates to sell tickets and book the theater. Could it be that the box office of 300 million is just 100 million?"
"How can you be both a referee and a contestant? It's really unfair that Zhou Dahai lost. As long as he made up the 1.5 billion box office in advance, he not only won face, but also made money. It's like transferring money from one hand to the other, tsk tsk!"
"It made 300 million on the first day, but only 200 million on the second day. This downward trend is too obvious. If it hadn't been for box office increases, I don't think it would have even made 1.5 billion."
"Don't be so mean, 1.5 billion is definitely no problem, but it's definitely not as good as imported blockbusters. There's still a long way to go for domestic films!"
There are naturally countless remarks like these, and Zhou Dahai, as the person involved, will naturally not be absent. At the very least, he is a well-known film critic, right?
"As a party involved in the '1.5 billion box office bet' and a film critic, I couldn't wait to buy a ticket and walked into the cinema when the movie premiered. Even if I lose, I have to accept the loss sincerely, right?"
"But I have to say, after watching the whole thing for more than an hour, I was a little disappointed. This is purely a commercial film that wants to imitate Hollywood but ends up making a poor imitation. It also perfectly fits the rule that sequels made with money tend to be worse."
"Basically, all the money was spent on the big scenes. Although the explosions and special effects have been upgraded, they still can't change the essence of the story. The narrative is even worse. It can be seen that the director is ambitious and wants to make a Black Hawk Down, but at best it is just a The Expendables with a different background."
"My most intuitive feeling after watching the whole thing is that this is purely a work made by the director to satisfy his own selfish desires. He wants to portray himself as an almighty, invulnerable, all-round warrior like in Hollywood blockbusters. He just turns the protagonist's halo to the maximum, and then kills all the way, without considering the rationality of the plot at all..."
"The overall impression is just average. Judging from the current trend, I am not surprised that it can reach 1.5 billion at the box office. After all, so much effort has been put into the promotion and marketing, so it is reasonable that it lost."
As a well-known film critic, Zhou Dahai's film review quickly received a lot of reposts and comments on Weibo, and directly received a lot of recognition. Many people even echoed this evaluation and took the opportunity to belittle the movie "Wolf Warrior 2".
"It's very fair. I always felt something was wrong while watching the movie, but now after reading your review, it suddenly became clear. It turned out to be a poor imitation of Hollywood. To be honest, I only learned a little bit, but you are almost exaggerating."
"From the movie to the publicity, everything makes people feel physically uncomfortable. Regardless of the slogan-like patriotic propaganda or the various performances that seem like chicken blood, it makes people feel uncomfortable as if they were kidnapped. This movie is very disturbing."
"It's a shame for Chinese cinema that such a movie can be so popular, not to mention that there's also a character who isn't even an actor joining in the fun. The film industry is really going from bad to worse, and anyone can get in on the fun."
"It's fine to use the money to please yourself, but I cannot accept the idea of spending money to put it on the big screen and disgust the audience, so I will always hate this movie."
The negative reviews came like raindrops, and in an instant, a torrential downpour swept the Internet. The overwhelming voices were all criticisms and nitpicking of "Wolf Warrior 2", as if this was the worst movie of the year and there was nothing to recommend it at all.
Even if there were some pertinent comments mixed in, they were easily swept away by the wave of public opinion and submerged in the blink of an eye. Many viewers who originally wanted to go to the cinema to watch the film during the weekend were discouraged.
"Is it really that bad? I was planning to watch it this weekend, so I'd better not waste my money. Thanks for clearing the minefield!"
"It's just a 6-point commercial film at best, you can watch it or not..."
For a time, the side effects of investing a lot of energy in early publicity and promotion seemed to have gradually emerged. The movie seemed to have suffered a backlash in word of mouth and was in danger under the overwhelming negative reviews, like a lone boat.
The clash of opinions in the public opinion field is often like this, like a war without the smoke of gunpowder. Most people have no time to pay attention to the full picture of the matter, and they hastily make their own judgments based on just a little information.
Once an overwhelming advantage in public opinion is formed, the truth is no longer the focus of public attention. After all, "they will help whoever wins."
Even though the public has sharp eyes, they are sometimes blinded by one thing. After all, the problem of information asymmetry is still ubiquitous even in the Internet age.
Back to the movie itself, from a purely cinematic perspective, "Wolf Warrior 2" may not be a top-notch work. Even though it is adapted from real events, the idea of imitating the personal heroism advocated by the West and creating a Chinese version is indeed unremarkable.
Although the idea of learning advanced foreign skills in order to defeat them is widely circulated, history has also told us that the results of this approach are not ideal.
However, on the road of development, there will always be people who have to be pioneers, and it is inevitable that some people will go astray. Only by solving the problem of whether there is a way or not can we solve the problem of whether it is good or not.
Just as food must be eaten one bite at a time, the road must be walked one step at a time. This may be one of the reasons why this movie has a role beyond the movie itself.
As for facing the almost one-sided trend of public opinion, Zhou Dongsheng was not panicked at all. Instead, he calmly made himself a pot of tea and let the bullets fly for a while!
…
As time approaches the weekend, although the Internet is full of negative comments about "Wolf Warrior 2", the real world, although separated from the Internet by a line, is completely two different worlds.
Reality is the focus of most people's lives, and not everyone will choose to focus on the Internet.
It is a rare weekend off and it is summer vacation, so many parents have time to spend with their children. Taking children to the movies is an economical and affordable option for many parents.
In addition, weekends are the peak season for movie-watching. Whether it is a date or with friends, watching movies is the first choice for many people. A movie ticket can give you a brief experience of escaping from reality, which is truly worth the money.
When walking into the cinema and faced with a dazzling array of summer vacation film lists, most viewers will make choices based on their own preferences.
In fact, sometimes success not only requires the combination of the three elements of "right time, right place and right people", but also depends on the support of peers.
The sluggish performance of domestic films in the first half of 2017 actually continued into the summer vacation. Looking at the works produced during the same period, there were blockbusters such as "The Founding of an Army" and the ever-present comedies.
There are also a series of works such as "Knife of the Assassin" and "The Monkey King 3" adapted from the famous novel. Most of them have been released for more than 10 days. Although they are still in theaters, they have basically passed the explosive period of their audiences.
In the subsequent word-of-mouth fermentation stage, the performance was generally mediocre, and it was naturally difficult to attract audiences other than its own target audience. Therefore, as the summer vacation was halfway over, a vacuum period of transition appeared in the theaters.
The emergence of "Wolf Warrior 2" undoubtedly fills this gap well. The release of a fresh work also gives many audiences a reason to go to the cinema.
In addition, this weekend happened to be the first weekend of the release of "Wolf Warrior 2", and the audience of the movie itself has not been exhausted. For a while, the theaters were very busy and everyone chose this movie without any prior agreement.
As a result, the audience who were originally undecided and simply wanted to watch a movie but didn't know which one to watch, under the influence of the herd mentality, would subconsciously buy a ticket and watch it.
It's just like when you're waiting in line at a restaurant. You're originally wondering what to eat, but then the name of the dish mentioned earlier sounds delicious, so you start thinking, why not try it?
Therefore, under the influence of various factors, the attendance rate of "Wolf Warrior 2" is unprecedentedly high, far surpassing other works in the same period, with an average of more than 70 people per show!
When the cinema chains and theaters saw the attendance rate, they couldn't sit still. After all, who can resist money?
To put it bluntly, cinema chains and theaters are in the business of selling movies. Whichever movie sells well will be promoted as the main attraction, and the promotional materials for the movie will be placed in the most prominent position.
Not only can it increase sales, but it can also find a name to ask the producer for some publicity fees, which is a win-win situation, not to mention other ways to generate income...
For a market with peak and off-seasons, how to make full use of the peak season to increase profits and spread the off-season costs is naturally a major consideration for cinema chains and theaters.
In this way, a virtuous cycle is naturally formed. Of course, a virtuous cycle alone is not enough. Naturally, a vital external force is needed to promote this cycle.
What all movies value most is word of mouth.
As the saying goes, word of mouth speaks louder than words, and collective opinion can melt metal. The power of an individual in the field of public opinion is often very limited, but once a consensus is reached, it will form a considerable force.
This force is often well reflected in things that have universal values, and perhaps the most direct manifestation of it is the word "patriotism".
At the same time, this consensus may be one of the few undisputed consensuses in the minds of the general public.
Although the overwhelming negative reviews on the Internet are also part of word of mouth, they are not all of it. The vast majority of the audience in the market are also the silent majority.
However, after watching the movie, when they realize that the dominant view in the public opinion field is greatly different from their own cognition, they will naturally find ways to correct this deviation.
Some people will choose to speak out and raise their own objections, while others will remain silent and choose to silently support opinions that match their own cognition...
After a weekend, "Wolf Warrior 2", which had shown polarized reputation, bucked the trend and its box office growth trend increased instead of decreasing, earning 700 million yuan in box office in two days, and the cumulative total box office exceeded 1.2 billion!
Unconsciously, the one-sided public opinion in the public opinion field began to reverse quietly, with more and more audiences speaking out from their own experiences, acting like tap water and starting to set things right.
"When I first saw the overwhelmingly negative reviews online, I thought the movie was terrible. But my friend bought a ticket and forced me to watch it with him. I was mentally prepared to watch a terrible movie, but I was pleasantly surprised!"
"It was a very enjoyable movie that lasted for more than an hour. Although there was a puzzling scene of using a spring bed frame to block a bomb, it did not affect the enjoyment of the whole movie at all. Compared to watching a foreigner killing people on the screen, this pure Chinese tough guy style is not bad."
"I just want to say one thing, it's so exciting, so cool, so exciting! Why bother talking so much? As a commercial film, isn't it enough to just be exciting?"
"Indeed, it was a great experience from the beginning to the end. As a descendant of the Yellow Emperor, I felt a sense of national pride. Anyone who offends China will be punished no matter how far away they are!"
For a time, reviews of the film itself began to develop in a mixed and polarized direction.
In fact, any work has its limitations, so it is naturally impossible for everyone to like it.
To use a common saying that has been proven time and again, even the RMB cannot be loved by everyone, let alone a movie?
Therefore, there are both good and bad reviews, some people like it, some people hate it, and even some viewers are not interested in it.
This is all part of the normal discussion about the movie itself.
After all, film, a popular art form, is no different from opening a restaurant business. Spiritual food is also food.
As long as you come to our store, you are a guest. If you don’t like the food, you can express your feelings freely.
But you insist on having 10 kilograms of fat meat, without even a lick of lean meat on it, and you also want to cut it into pieces to make sauce…
It’s not impossible to make it, but after that, they have to ask for another ten pounds of lean meat, without any fat, and cut it into sauerkraut again…
Doesn't that mean he came here just to cause trouble?
Commonly known as finding fault with everything.
As the popularity of "Wolf Warrior 2" continues to rise and its reputation gradually improves, such comments suddenly emerge like mushrooms after rain.
It also demonstrates a professional quality of being orderly and knowing when to advance and retreat.
While laymen may just watch the fun, experts can see the tricks in it, especially for Dongsheng Media.
Similar tactics are commonplace to them, but this time they are so aggressive that it is obviously not as simple as just taking advantage of other people's interests.
At the same time, Zhou Dongsheng also called Master Wu.
"Congratulations to Director Wu! Congratulations to Director Wu! The box office of this second movie has successfully surpassed the original and has even paid for itself. If this trend continues, it will be enough for Director Wu to gain both fame and fortune!"
Master Wu on the other end of the phone was not happy. "Jay still has the leisure to joke with me. Now the turmoil outside has belittled the movie to such a level?"
"I'm confused. How can making a movie be so exaggerated?"
Zhou Dongsheng said : "The reason is very simple, of course others can do it, but we can't."
"How about, Master Wu, let's fight back together?" Zhou Dongsheng said excitedly.
