The director starts by learning from the abilities of renowned directors.

Chapter 61 Best Opening Weekly Numbers for Chinese-Language Films

In the afternoon, at a hotel banquet hall in Jiangcheng.

The film "Taken 2" held a press conference for reporters.

"Director Shen, hello. I'm a reporter from Sohu.com. As we all know, every one of your movies is a box office hit. 'Taken 2' even broke 2000 million yuan at the box office on its opening day, second only to 'Transformers' and 'The Promise'. Do you have any secrets to making successful movies?"

"Actually, there's no secret. It's just about taking some time each day to figure out what the audience likes to watch, and then taking some time to figure out if you can film what the audience likes to watch."

"Director Shen, hello. I'm a reporter from Sina.com. As you just said, you have to think about what the audience likes to watch every day. But isn't that too much of a pandering to the audience? I noticed that you've never made an art film or won any awards. Now that you've achieved great commercial success, will you be able to dedicate some time and energy to making art films in the future?"

"If you don't please the audience, who do you please? Many people, like you, have a misconception that commercial films are easy, that you can just throw commercial elements in. Try it yourself! See if anyone will invest in you, if any theaters will screen your films after you finish making them, and even if they do screen your films, will there be any audience? Commercial films are actually the hardest to make! Art films are too easy, because art films are just the director's personal expression. Whether you watch them or not, whether you understand them or not, it's because you're not good enough. Commercial films are different. Commercial films need to be universally praised, make money, and still uphold humanistic values. It's actually very difficult."

"Director Shen, what are your expectations for the final box office of 'Taken 2'? Do you expect it to break 1.5 million, 2 million, or even 2.5 million?"

"Why isn't the 3 million option available?"

"Hehehe..."

The room erupted in laughter.

Shen Qing laughed and said, "Just kidding. Actually, I usually try not to pay too much attention to the box office. If you pay too much attention to the box office, you won't be able to tell a good story. If you tell a good story, the box office will naturally be higher."

"Ms. Fan Bingbing, 'Taken 2' opened in 3100 theaters in North America, breaking the record for Chinese-language films. What are your expectations for this? After further expanding your international reputation, will you consider developing your career in Hollywood?"

Fan Bingbing replied, "First of all, I'm very excited. 3100 screenings is an amazing number. Then I'm very proud that Director Shen Qing led us to achieve such a remarkable result. But even if we gain international recognition, I think we still need to focus on the domestic market. There aren't many Hollywood movies that will cast Asian actresses as leads; the opportunities are too few. On the contrary, focusing on the domestic market and connecting with outstanding filmmakers like Director Shen Qing will actually create more opportunities to go global."

……

After the press conference, the two rushed to a cinema in Jiangcheng with high box office revenue to meet with the audience, and then drove overnight to the next city.

On the road, inside the car.

Shen Qing and Fan Bingbing sat side by side.

Fan Bingbing vaguely remembered that the final total box office was roughly the sum of the first day's box office revenue multiplied by 10. "Taken 2" had a first day box office revenue of 2030 million yuan. If multiplied by 10, wouldn't that mean the final box office revenue of the movie could really break 2 million yuan?

"Was it multiplied by 10 or not?"

Fan Bingbing muttered to himself, then took out his phone and started searching.

"How many times did 'Hero's' total box office revenue exceed its opening day revenue? A search for 'Hero's' opening day box office... 1350 million on the opening day, 2.5 million in total box office revenue—18 times the opening day revenue?!"

"What about 'Curse of the Golden Flower'? It grossed 1500 million on its opening day and ultimately 2.5 million—16 times the initial investment?!"

Fan Bingbing excitedly asked Shen Qing, "Hey, 'Hero' ultimately grossed more than 18 times its opening day box office, and 'Curse of the Golden Flower' more than 16 times. Do you think our movie has a chance of breaking 3 million yuan at the box office?"

"What are you thinking about?"

Shen Qing gently tapped her on the head: "Why are you always daydreaming!"

"But 2030 million multiplied by 16 is 3.2 million."

"Hero is a special case; why should our film be compared to Hero?"

Shen Qing continued to pour cold water on the situation, saying, "Curse of the Golden Flower officially premiered at 6 p.m. on its opening day, while Taken started at 10 a.m. One is a full day's box office, and the other is a half-day's box office. The value of our 20.3 million yuan on the first day may not be as high as the 15 million yuan on the first day of Curse of the Golden Flower."

After he finished speaking, he continued reading the text messages.

Since the film's opening day box office results came out, countless people in the industry have either sent text messages or called to congratulate it.

Now he saw the text message Yan Danchen had sent him.

The two almost had sex last time, but Yan Danchen demanded that he break off all relationships with other women and only have her from then on. Shen Qing didn't want to lie to her, but he couldn't really cut off contact with other women, so the two didn't have much contact after that.

"Congratulations, the movie box office has broken another key record. Actually, that day I... Time really does change a person's perspective. How about we get together sometime?"

……

three days later.

Yangcheng, Southern Metropolis Daily.

After Huang Heming returned from his wedding, he immediately took over the work from his colleague. Strictly speaking, his colleague had done several issues for him, as he had always been the one doing the movie feature reports.

The issue he remembers most vividly is the one from July of this year.

On July 11, the Hollywood blockbuster "Transformers" officially hit the Chinese film market. Its popularity was astonishing. The film grossed over 100 million yuan in just 5 days after its premiere, becoming the fastest film in history to reach 100 million yuan at the box office.

The feature article about breaking 100 million views in 5 days was written by Huang Heming himself. Thinking back to that time still makes me very excited.

When the movie was first released, the media predicted that its box office would only be 1 million yuan, but it eventually grossed 2.77 million yuan, which was nearly 1.8 million yuan more than expected!

It became the second-best film in the history of the Chinese film market, second only to "Titanic" which was imported in 1998.

Reporting on movies of this caliber is what makes it interesting!

With that thought in mind, Huang Heming casually opened the company's public email.

Southern Metropolis Daily has a long-term cooperative relationship with the State Film Special Fund Office. Whenever a new film is released, its box office data is quickly shared with Southern Metropolis Daily from the China Film News, which is under the State Film Special Fund Office.

What are the box office figures for Taken 2's opening weekend?

"Director Shen Qing's movies are somewhat interesting, much more interesting than reporting on those movies that only grossed a few million at the box office."

He casually clicked on the data.

The box office on the first day was 2030 million yuan.

Huang Heming was taken aback.

2030?

It broke 2000 million on the first day?

Wouldn't that be second only to Transformers' 2241 million and The Promise's 2115 million?

Is Taken 2 much better than Taken 1?

Taken 1 was indeed good, but was it worth the box office?

Huang Heming felt the same excitement he had when he reported on the Transformers feature.

He read the contents carefully and finally discovered the clue.

"I was wondering why. It turns out the official premiere was at 10 a.m. Other movies usually start their premiere at 6 p.m. In fact, the 2030 million figure isn't that much different from the 1500 million figures of movies like 'Curse of the Golden Flower'."

"I knew it! Shen Qing's movies are all pretty good, but they're not that exaggerated, are they?"

He continued reading as he pondered this.

The box office figures for the film on its second day have also been released.

2710 million!

Then there's the box office on the third day.

2805 million!

The cumulative box office for the first three days of the opening weekend...

Huang Heming casually did some calculations on the paper, and the final number he got made the nerves in the corners of his eyes twitch incessantly.

7545 million!

What?

7545 million?!

Even though he knew he couldn't have miscalculated, he couldn't help but do it again.

The second time, it was the same data.

He put down his pen, his expression growing increasingly excited.

"Best opening weekend record for Chinese-language films!"

"Reporting on movies like this is what makes it interesting!"

(Referring to the data of "The Warlords" and "Assembly" which were not yet released in the same year, both of these films grossed over 100 million yuan in about four days, or more precisely, over 96 million yuan in three and a half days.)