I am a Big Player
Chapter 601 - 595, Exorbitantly High Scheduling Rate (First Update)_1

Chapter 601: 595, Exorbitantly High Scheduling Rate (First Update)_1

For the entire entertainment circle, December 17 was a day that attracted everyone’s attention, as "Crazy Stone" was released on this day.

New movies are released every week, either selling well or poorly; there are only so many paths to take, so the release of a new film usually doesn’t garner much attention. People who pay attention to a film are typically just the investors and the production team itself.

However, "Crazy Stone" seemed to be different. The overwhelming promotion prior to its release was shocking enough, and coupled with the expected resource tilt from Luohe Film and Television towards "Crazy Stone," the movie should at least make its money back.

But what they were even more curious to see was to what extent the gangsters from Qinghe Group were going to take this movie and what new tricks would they play?

Originally, some had scheduled to release their films the day before "Crazy Stone," but after Qinghe Group sprang into action, they rescheduled to January 17th, hoping to avoid Qinghe Group’s edge in that one month’s time.

They sneered, saying, "How can any decent movie come out with an investment of merely 9 million?"

In this era, many people are superstitious about the investment in movies, as if the larger the investment, the better the special effects, the better the movie will turn out.

And what was the result? Wasn’t it just a pile of rotten films? Ren He had seen big-budget movies costing hundreds of millions and starring big names flop miserably in his past life.

Even those in the circle waiting to laugh at a trainwreck wouldn’t pick a fight with Qinghe Group under such circumstances; the promotional campaign was a bit too aggressive! Everyone said they weren’t afraid when eating and drinking, that the movie market wouldn’t be monopolized by one company. Yet, the release dates around December 17th nearly became a void!

They said they didn’t want it, but their actions were quite honest.

Ren He wasn’t worried about the box office of "Crazy Stone" at all. Even without proper promotion in his previous life, it had won the national box office championship. In fact, not many people went to theaters to see it; many watched it online or on DVD. Yet it was still the champion of the year, which was indicative of its success.

In this life, with an even more developed entertainment economy and widespread promotion, with countless people looking forward to its release, it was hard to say what heights "Crazy Stone" could achieve, but at least it wouldn’t do poorly.

On the day "Crazy Stone" was released, everyone was taken aback by the booking rate in the major theater chains—it was a staggering 64% for Luohe Film and Television! What the hell, was this some kind of joke? Did they have no shame at all?

For years, even the highest booking rate for foreign blockbusters didn’t exceed 54%, but now they went straight to 64%!

In theaters that usually had six to nine halls, more than half were showing "Crazy Stone"!

And then, looking at the attendance rate, Luohe Film and Television had an attendance rate of 91% by 10 PM that day. Such high booking and attendance rates were practically the same as full houses!

Only those inside the entertainment circle knew exactly how terrifying this was.

Moreover, on that very night, "Crazy Stone" went viral on Weibo, with most people praising it. Now with such positive reviews, high booking rates, and aggressive promotion, it was impossible for the film not to be a hit.

Many people, influenced by friends, went to the cinema to see the movie, and very few came out saying it wasn’t good.

"I really love the character Heipi. Not as domineering as Dao, he’s silly, like a tragic character born for this era. Well played!"

"Haha, the plot is cleverly arranged and amusing; I laughed throughout the whole movie. So entertaining!"

"Director Zhang Ming’s transformative work. Previously, Director Zhang never directed a comedy, and to think his first attempt is so successful, I look forward to his next work!"

"After a good laugh, on the way out of the cinema, I even did a bit of reflection. That’s what I think makes this movie excellent: the small characters have their own desolation but also show their perseverance—it’s the story of all of us ordinary people."

"The character of the real estate boss is played by a newcomer, right? Really well done, brought the character to life. Initially I was worried that Director Zhang’s use of newcomers would affect the viewing experience, but surprisingly they all performed brilliantly—the factory owner’s son, that assassin, they’re all great."

Without a doubt, Liu Erbao’s character Heipi really took off, igniting a classic case of a supporting role’s breakthrough. Master Li, playing the role that Xu Zheng had in the previous life, also received recognition, as did Zhang Jinglin as the assassin and Yang Runrun as the factory owner’s son.

In his past life, all four prominent characters from the movie became hugely successful, with established names like Guo Tao and Xu Zheng, as well as grassroots actors like Huang Bo and Liu Hua who weren’t previously well-known. Liu Hua had acted in movies for so long, and it seemed that it was indeed with "Crazy Stone" that he first rose to fame, although Ren He wasn’t so sure, as he didn’t pay much attention to these things.

Yet the fact that a movie could be this popular was already a success.

Master Li and the other two were ecstatic. For each of them, appearing on the big screen as main actors for the first time, with such high praise, was novel.

However, it was a bit annoying that those assistant directors and investors Master Li had previously interacted with, while congratulating him, did not discuss future projects and had a bit of a sarcastic tone—congratulating him on clinging to powerful coattails.

Master Li suddenly realized that although no one dared to provoke Qinghe now, trying to exert capital and forces outside the entertainment circle to touch the interests within the circle had aggravated many. Of course, someone at Master Li’s level was still unaware of how powerful Jiang Wensheng was in the entertainment industry.

And the people who spoke most disrespectively to Master Li were precisely this group.

But Master Li suddenly felt indifferent. Indeed, he had attached himself to a big leg. Director Zhang had already shown him a script for a movie called "No Man’s Land," where he would be the lead actor, and the script was actually much better than "Crazy Stone."

Qinghe Group had money, people, resources, and good scripts, and the big boss was his brother. Did he still need to desperately run around movie sets?

No, not at all.

Having spent so much time with Chen Da, Master Li knew that Chen Da had been suppressed before, although he didn’t know the details. But Director Zhang had once said: Everyone should focus on acting at Qinghe, as long as you don’t indulge in vices, you don’t have to worry about being suppressed or banned.