Chapter 114: box office hit
After more than half a year of post-production and film review, "Hometown" finally decided to premiere in Los Angeles, USA on July 12. A week after its release in North America, it will premiere domestically on July 19.
Whether a movie can be successful at the box office, publicity is one of the most important factors. Basically, it can be said that the marketing strategy affects the amount of the box office. In the production cost of a film, publicity should normally be one-third of the total cost, and this ratio alone shows its importance.
"Hometown" has been confirmed to have two versions in Mandarin and English from the very beginning. As a co-production film that is set to premiere in two countries, its promotion should cover both countries in the first place. The publicity in North America has been fully handed over to 20th World Fox, and Lu Yan Studio is mainly responsible for domestic publicity. The marketing team began to plan suitable marketing strategies long before the film started.
After the film entered the post-editing stage, various promotional videos and posters appeared one after another on the Internet, subway and bus booths in major cities and other places where advertisements can be placed, and even planted on popular online games. Into advertising, and strive to achieve comprehensive coverage. In the month before the film's release, the publicity has reached a fever pitch. The marketing team produced a total of 43 promotional short films to broadcast on the Internet, and 39 types of posters covered all the cities with theaters. You can see the short films and posters of "Hometown" almost wherever you look up. In the face of huge production costs, publicity must keep up.
"Hometown" chose the summer season, which can be said to be the golden period of movie release. There are many films released in the same period, including many imported blockbusters, but "Hometown" is not afraid of challenges. Whether it is the quality of the film or the strength of publicity, there is enough confidence. Coupled with the combination of 3D technology, which has become quite popular in recent years, it has attracted great attention.
However, when the situation is very good, there are crises that quietly breed. At first, several posts appeared on some websites, expressing annoyance at the overwhelming propaganda of "Hometown". Some people soon echoed, from dissatisfaction with the film's promotion to dissatisfaction with the film itself, and finally to dissatisfaction with the starring Lu Yan's homosexuality. These posts are not particularly long, but the density of publication is quite high. Similar posts can be found on every large portal website. Many homophobic and anti-homophobic people jump out in the posts, saying that homosexuality hinders the reproduction and development of human beings. I will never go to the movies made by gays, and I call on everyone not to.
Originally, such posts with obvious traces of naval forces would not attract much attention. Many netizens were passing by, and they were not even interested in clicking on them. However, soon, some formal media issued such a draft, "90% of netizens think that being **** is so high-profile and disgusting. They said they would never go to the cinema to watch "Hometown"."
Qin Feng walked into Lu Yan's workshop with today's newspaper and put it on his desk, "Look at it."
Lu Yan picked up the newspaper and looked at the place where Qin Feng made the crease, and smiled, "Normal people would not believe such a low-end black."
"Although that's what I said, it will have some impact." Qin Feng said helplessly.
Lu Yan put down the newspaper, clasped his fingers on his chin, "Of course there will be an impact, I already thought about it when I decided to come out publicly. But isn't this normal, someone will make waves when there is no wind, What's more, I have such a big stain in the eyes of my opponents, it's strange that I don't make good use of it."
Qin Feng said again, "Then have you ever thought about who did it?"
"Do you still need to think about it? There are a lot of movies released at the same time as "Hometown", and many of them are big productions. Someone doing this shows that "Hometown" poses a great threat to them, and also shows our success, which is a good thing. "Lu Yan smiled.
Qin Feng was comforted by his determined tone, and relaxed, "You are really, a new born calf is not afraid of tigers. It was the first time to invest in a movie so generously, to be honest, don't talk about others, sometimes I wonder if you are not. It’s too much. It’s an investment of hundreds of millions of dollars, do you really never worry about losing money?”
"Of course I also worry, but is it useful to worry about it? It's better to do things step by step and try to avoid bad results."
"Asking a personal question, you can leave it alone." Qin Feng said, "Don't you think it's too early for you to go public now? It might be better if you wait a bit longer. Anyway, Dong Su doesn't mind..."
"But I don't mind." Lu Yan smiled, "I said that I don't like to hide, and I don't want him to avoid it again and again for me. I want to walk in the sunshine with him openly. Although it's not very good now. It's a good time, but the information is so developed that no secret can be kept for a long time. Instead of waiting to be accidentally discovered to be exposed, it is better to take the initiative to confess while you are most influential. As long as you are sincere, most People can still accept it.”
Qin Feng said with a smile, "I knew you wouldn't do anything you are not sure about. But when are you going to announce that Su Dong is that person? Do you know that there has been a lot of noise on the Internet, and everyone is speculating about that Lu Yingdi's identity? Who are **** lovers?"
Lu Yan pursed his lips and smiled, "If it goes well, soon."
"Okay, what do you want to do with this matter?" Qin Feng pointed to the newspaper.
Lu Yan thought for a while, "Let's take a look. If the negative impact is further expanded, we can do an interview or put on a show or something."
"Okay." Qin Feng nodded, "Then we'll stick to the original plan. Keep up with all kinds of publicity, don't stop."
Lu Yan and the others decided to ignore it for the time being, but not everyone ignored it, and the next development of things became very interesting.
The next day, a post appeared on TY. The landlord expressed his dissatisfaction that he was inexplicably represented, the unscrupulous media forced public opinion, and a handwritten photo was uploaded. The content was "Lu Yingdi: Homosexuality is not shameful, true love is invincible! Always support you! TY netizen XX". At first, there were very few people who responded, but later more and more netizens joined in. They supported Lu Yan and the movie "Hometown" in handwriting, which only represented their own wishes and would enter the theater to support them. Later, the influence was further expanded. In addition to TY, there were also netizens from large portal sites such as DB and MB in support of handwriting, and some netizens made these handwritten videos into videos on major video sites. In the end, even the People's Daily issued a statement expressing support for netizens.
This incident was quite a big deal. Afterwards, 8 netizens came out. In fact, a distribution company that collided with "Hometown" hired sailors and some media to attack their opponents. In fact, it would be fine if it was just one black and one black Lu Yan. After all, apart from fans, most passers-by were just watching the fun. The key is that the unscrupulous media dared to make up lies like "90% of netizens" when they reported maliciously. Netizens exploded in an instant, and everyone decided to pick up the pen to express their thoughts, express their positions, and refuse to be represented.
This was an accidental event, but it was a rare opportunity for Lu Yan and the others.
Originally, the film was scheduled to premiere in China a week after it was released in North America. I was worried that it would not have enough influence in China, and I wanted to show it abroad for a while first, giving people the feeling of a foreign monk.
However, this accidental incident became an opportunity. On this basis, the marketing team stepped up and pushed the promotion of "Hometown" to its peak, and more people expressed their support for this movie with full expectations. Therefore, the domestic schedule has also been adjusted, and it is ready to be released simultaneously with North America. The premieres were held the other day in B City and Los Angeles.
Because of the strong publicity, the attendance rate of "Hometown" on the first day of its release in both places was as high as 90% or more. The wonderful story itself and the dazzling 3D technology make the fans who have seen it all hooked. Some people even watched the IMAX version after watching the 3D version, and then posted their viewing experience on Weibo and other places, making those fans who do not have the IMAX version in the theaters in small and medium-sized cities feel a great pity.
The first-week box office in North America reached 90 million US dollars, and the domestic first-week box office also reached 80 million yuan. It can be said that this has created a miracle. And then, it won the weekly championship for ten consecutive weeks in North America and 13 consecutive weeks in China, far surpassing other films in the same period, even more than half of the second place.
When it was finally painted, the box office of "Hometown" in North America was as high as 630 million US dollars, while the domestic box office reached 1.3 billion yuan, and the total overseas ticket sales excluding the two places was 1.29 billion US dollars, and the global box office was 1.29 billion US dollars. more than $2.1 billion. This does not include the distribution of DVD and peripheral products revenue.
It's a box office myth, it's a miracle!
Since the release of "Hometown", good news has been reported frequently, and friends in the circle have also congratulated Lu Yan on the big box office on Weibo. Lu Yan, who has been questioned since the beginning of the film's preparation, finally let out a sigh of relief. He proved his vision and courage with facts, and also relieved his fans and friends who cared about him. To the feet of those who doubted him.
Next is the box office split.
According to the domestic box office accounting practice, after deducting the film funds to be turned over, taxes, the share of the theater chain, and the distributor's share, the producer can finally get about 35% of the box office share.
In North America, the percentage is much higher, somewhere between 45 and 50 percent.
Basically, the global box office of a film can be equal to three times its investment. Hometown's total investment was $300 million, while its worldwide box office hit $2.1 billion. At the box office alone, there is already a lot of profit, not to mention the income from the distribution of DVDs and peripheral products.
In short, investing in the film "Hometown" not only brought great influence to Lu Yan's studio, but more importantly, brought huge practical benefits.
Because it is a joint venture film, "Hometown" also won the qualification to compete for the Academy Award.