Caught in Affairs with Superstar

Chapter 752 - 510: Box Office Miracle (Part 2)

For instance, there was a singer turned director who made a movie, and during the promotional tour, the audience suddenly burst into a collective rendition of the singer’s hit song. The video was uploaded online, leading to tens of thousands of shares, achieving the promotional impact that not even millions in advertising spend could have bought.

You Jiang, Zeng Lili, and Wang Jing were also always in the thick of the promotional tour.

After hitting 19 million at the box office on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday all maintained around 15 million, and on Thursday the film officially announced it had surpassed 100 million at the box office.

Those who had previously criticized Zhou Yun as box office poison after the first weekend’s figures were now silent.

For an artistic film to surpass 100 million at the box office, no one would dare say "only just over 100 million" unless they knew nothing about the industry and just liked to show off their presence.

Zhou Yun posted a celebratory image of the box office milestone on Weibo with a sense of exultation.

Friday marked a critical time for "Behind the Scenes," as its ability to further advance would depend on whether it could withstand the onslaught of several new releases that day.

Generally speaking, art films like "Behind the Scenes" tend to have strong staying power, following the model of a steady stream. However, considering that "Behind the Scenes" had been hot for the entire previous week, no one knew whether the film still had the potential to tap into a larger audience.

But the movie indeed sparked significant discussion online.

Each character brought about extensive analyses.

Topics that get people talking usually touch on the issues of values.

"Behind the Scenes" sparked conversations about commonplace and practical issues such as celebrities acting like divas and male chauvinism, as well as more abstract ones like self-pursuit and perseverance.

The film resonated deeply with many working professionals.

One Weibo post became a popular meme: "After watching ’Behind the Scenes,’ my takeaway in a nutshell is that we are all lost dogs at the world’s end, indistinguishable corporate slaves, whether you or me or anyone else."

Who hasn’t had to swallow their pride like the director played by Zhou Yun, just to keep a project moving forward? Who hasn’t encountered colleagues who, like You Jiang and Zeng Lili’s characters, constantly cause trouble because of their status? Who hasn’t imagined spitting in their faces in the silence of the night like Zhou Yun did?

Herein lies the social resonance of "Behind the Scenes."

Of course, that’s not what it aims to convey.

But any creator must accept this: the moment your expression is complete, it no longer belongs to you; it belongs to every individual who is free to interpret it.

On Friday, Zhou Yun posted on Weibo at five in the evening: "If you don’t have a date tonight, why not treat yourself to a ticket for ’Behind the Scenes’? Let’s take off the masks we’ve been wearing all week together in the dark of the cinema and take a breath with me in the film."

Zhou Yun’s Weibo followers had already reached over ten million, and to draw traffic, major platforms processed her post and pushed it as news to everyone’s phones.

The click-through rate was quite impressive.

All social media platforms closely tracking the online data knew that any post containing Zhou Yun’s name drew high traffic.

Perhaps many aren’t her fans, but out of curiosity from the recent hype, many started paying attention to Zhou Yun, wanting to know her latest updates—it’s a natural human curiosity. When it centers on someone, that person becomes the so-called idol and celebrity. People pay attention to and care about their every move, even if it’s just drinking a glass of water, wanting to know what water they drink.

On Friday night, Zhou Yun made surprise appearances on three social media platforms, interacting with netizens.

The three platforms promoted her with pop-ups and push notifications, leading to significant traffic inflow.

Zhou Yun simultaneously answered questions from fans across all three social media platforms.

This move shocked many artists in the circle.

Everyone knows that if you collaborate with A, you can’t collaborate with competitor B. Zhou Yun was simultaneously collaborating with A, B, and C, all three granting her top-tier promotional resources.

This action caused more buzz and discussion within the industry than externally.

Even a brand manager commenting on the matter bluntly stated, "Zhou Yun’s move is completely breaking our current business rules. As it’s widely known, the unwritten rule is that one can only collaborate with one brand or company within the same field and avoid competitors. However, Zhou Yun, relying on her fame and traffic, got all three platforms to collaborate with her simultaneously. If this kind of practice is indulged, the market will become celebrity-driven in the future! That’s very unhealthy!"