After the Divorce, I Could Hear the Voice of the Future-Chapter 346 - 343: The Box Office That I Can’t Understand

This summer, many movies were hitting the screens simultaneously, but only two of them truly had substance.

One was another masterpiece from Mahua Team, "Shameful Iron Fist" starring Mary, and the other was Wu Jing’s "War Wolf 2."

Benefiting from external and internal challenges in recent years, the public’s patriotic sentiments had continued to rise. Despite Iron Fist holding the advantage with a higher percentage of shows on the first day, its box office lead was just eight million more than War Wolf.

Although both movies broke a hundred million on their opening day, Iron Fist’s screening rate soared to 43.2%, while War Wolf’s was only at 28%.

Suddenly, public opinion boiled over.

To the public, this summer movie season should have been an unbeatable run for Iron Fist, with War Wolf meeting a crushing defeat.

How could a sophomore director’s second film, especially one with a military action theme, compete against the Mahua Team, whose two movies had already grossed four billion at the box office?

This was a battle of mismatched strength, and if Iron Fist couldn’t steamroll its competition like a bulldozer, it would equate to a loss.

As night fell, all netizens concerned about the box office were eagerly anticipating the next day’s figures.

Liking a movie or a star could create a special sentiment, with hopes of its increasing success as a testament to one’s good taste.

Friday’s box office cannot ascertain the true strength of a movie; the real surge typically comes on Saturday and Sunday.

Suddenly, Lu Liang, who hadn’t been active on Weibo for a long time, updated his status with "Good looking, love watching," accompanied by two pictures: one of a movie ticket and another of a bullet covered in threading.

Over the years, there were quite a few people with a head for business.

The movie had only been released yesterday, yet today merchandise of the main props in the movie were already being sold at the mall entrance.

Li Manli joined the hype and spent 58 yuan on one, which Lu Liang then used for his photo.

"Does it look good?"

After posting the update, Lu Liang prepared to find a spot with Li Manli for some late-night food before heading home to sleep.

"It looks good."

Li Manli smiled sweetly, her simplicity endearing. She didn’t like this genre of films, but she enjoyed spending time with Lu Liang.

Even though they wore masks to avoid drawing attention, they could both feel the sweetness of their romance.

Watching movies, shopping, eating, and drinking.

"What shall we eat?"

"Hot pot?"

"You navigate."

While dining together, the news that Lu Liang was the biggest investor in "War Wolf 2" spread among the netizens.

"52% ownership?"

"I thought there’s no smoke without fire."

"To be fair, Liangzi always seems to have a good eye for things."

Some netizens recounted that investing in movies is often a hit or miss affair; out of the 165 movies released this year, no more than ten could turn a profit, most would end up losing money.

Lu Liang seemed to be the exception; whether it was web series or movies, breaking even was an insult to his judgment. At the very least, he always doubled his investment.

"Good eye my foot; he just chose Mahua, which happens to be very capable."

Some people were disgruntled and immediately countered, suggesting Lu Liang just got lucky by investing in Mahua.

"Cool fact: Xia Luo was Mahua’s first movie when they couldn’t find investors until they approached Lu Liang."

"Another cool fact: The hit series ’The Rise of the Crown Princess Consort’ from that year was a script personally picked by Lu Liang."

"And here’s a hot fact: Iron Fist is a Mahua production with Lu Liang’s investment, yet he didn’t help promote it."

Some people explained that Lu Liang owned 15% of Iron Fist but held a 52% stake in War Wolf. The better War Wolf’s box office, the more he stood to gain.

Others disagreed; as the First Rich, Lu Liang owns 15% of Iron Fist, yet he both starred in and attended its premiere.

The combined investment in the two movies, First Rich Iron Fist, was two hundred million, with Lu Liang’s share being 15%, amounting to a thirty million investment.

However, War Wolf 2 alone had a production budget of 230 million, with Lu Liang’s stake at 52%, which equates to an investment of 120 million.

If one were to gauge enthusiasm for a film merely by the percentage of shares held, the logic clearly falls flat.

Liangzi wasn’t that shameless.

Over the years, although he had been teased for endorsing advertisements and only recommending his own investments, his recommendations were never off the mark. At least he didn’t blindly praise or boost numbers indiscriminately.

Lu Liang’s lack of promotional efforts for Iron Fist only meant that between Iron Fist and War Wolf, he was more optimistic about War Wolf.

In the midst of these debates among netizens, platforms like Maoyan updated the next day’s box office in advance.

"Iron Fist" achieved a box office of 1.25 billion yuan, extremely eye-catching figures, with a total box office forecast of 23.52 billion yuan.

However, the box office for "War Wolf 2" made people want to rub their eyes and take a good look, to see if it was real or fake.

1.52 billion in box office, with 28% of showings, surpassed "Iron Fist’s" 43.2%, claiming the crown for today’s champion.

"Those who offend China, no matter how far, will be pursued and punished!"

"This passport may not ensure you can go to any country in the world, but it can ensure you from any country back to the motherland."

Online bravado, after all, is only a minority, most people are silent.

The incident in July last year was vivid in memory, and the lines in the movie were not empty words.

They made their choices with care.

At this moment, at the Mahua Headquarters in Beijing.

Zhang Chen’s scalp was tingling with regret.

He should have listened to Lu Liang, not to clash head-on with "War Wolf 2," it would have been best to avoid the same release date.

Although there was also 1.25 billion in box office today, the 43.2% of showings allocated to them by theaters were definitely not safe anymore.

"War Wolf 2" could, with 28% of the showings, forcefully come from behind to top today’s box office, which meant the occupancy must have been high.

Given the same venue, roughly the same duration, yet earning more money, theaters too would make their choices carefully.

Moreover, "War Wolf 2" also had a 3D version, with even higher ticket prices.

Zhang Chen suddenly felt melancholy, "Iron Fist" should not make a loss, but Mahua could not go public, and the fact of having offended Lu Liang was set in stone.

He thought of Zhang Tian’ai and wondered if he could slightly ease the tension between Mahua and Lu Liang through her connections.

Although Mahua was well-known and not lacking in investment, it was still best to maintain a good relationship with Lu Liang.

At the same time, Little Wang, as one of the film’s investors, was also helping to promote it on Weibo.

It was foreseeable that with Lu Liang and Little Wang stepping in, the theaters would increase the number of showings, and tomorrow’s Sunday box office would be even more remarkable.

Early the next day, Wu Jing called, speaking excitedly incoherently; professional media like Maoyan had pushed their box office forecast to 2.75 billion.

Lu Liang said with a smile, "Only 2.7 billion? Why not be a bit bolder?"

Wu Jing was astounded, "Mr. Lu, how much do you think it’ll be?"

When the movie premiered, Lu Liang was on a business trip abroad and couldn’t invite him to attend, and not being able to predict the final box office for "War Wolf 2" was his greatest regret.

After all, when "First Rich" was released, Lu Liang predicted 2 billion, and Shen Teng, to save Lu Liang’s face, bravely predicted 2.5 billion.

In the end, to everyone’s amazement, when "First Rich" finished its run, the total box office reached 2.756 billion.

Both Lu Liang and Shen Teng had predicted wrongly.

So for "War Wolf 2’s" premiere, if Lu Liang had made even a slight boast, he could have definitely increased the box office expectations by another one or two billion.

"How about we double it?"

"..."

Wu Jing was taken aback, swallowing hard, and said dryly, "Mr. Lu, you’re joking, right?"

"Director Wu, do you not even have that much confidence?"

"Mr. Lu, I want to have confidence, but I don’t dare."

Wu Jing gave a bitter smile, at one point doubting that Lu Liang understood the concept of a 5.5 billion box office.

The total box office market for this year’s Spring Festival was only 4.5 billion, one movie taking all the box office of an entire period, plus another ten billion.

He didn’t dare to even think about it.

"Let’s just say I was joking," Lu Liang said with a wry smile.

"Mr. Lu, you must come to the celebration banquet," said Wu Jing.

After asking if there was anything else and there was not, he ended the call with Lu Liang.

"2.75 billion doubled is 5.5 billion. Is it possible for a single movie to have a 5.5 billion box office?"

He asked himself, and the probability he came up with was infinitely close to zero.

"Where exactly is such a high box office coming from?"

Lu Liang’s face showed contemplation; even though the movie had been released, he still couldn’t understand it.

Maoyan might often change their predictions, but they were professionals; their total box office predictions were calculated using big data.

As long as there were no external influences, 2.75 billion, at the most not exceeding 3 billion, would be the final box office for "War Wolf 2."

But to double their prediction, what external factors could have influenced such an exaggerated increase?