Xingning Cinema, ticket gate at the theater entrance.
There were less than five minutes left before the next Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets show, and a long queue had already formed at the ticket gate, waiting to enter. While people were either playing with their phones out of boredom or discussing the plot with people around them, a young girl at the end of the line whispered:
"Are we really going to watch Harry Potter?"
"Why not?" Another girl said, "It's only been five days. 'Respect the Mountains and Rivers' has been released for less than a week, and the next movie has been scheduled. Isn't it obvious that my brother is being used as a tool and kicked out after being squeezed dry? Why?"
"That's right, the company's attitude is so disgusting, I would rather support that Huaying than let them succeed!"
"Besides, Harry Potter is really good, and it's a CG movie, so it's worth watching it in the theater."
…
Not only in Xingning Cinema, as time went by, conversations like this soon took place all over the Blue Star.
This is actually a very normal thing.
Most audiences will not go to the theater to watch the next movie immediately after watching a movie. That is to say, there is often a short interval between two movies released at the same time, even if the audience wants to watch both movies.
It is also for this reason that those audiences who chose movies other than Harry Potter among many other movies only began to gradually become part of the Harry Potter box office until this time.
Day 6.
In an office of Yunsu Group, Gareth sat in front of his computer, handling official business at a leisurely pace. As the vice president of Yunsu Group, the plan for Huaying was only a part of his job. Now that everything was on track as he expected, he naturally didn't need to keep a close eye on the box office.
It was still early, and Gareth was thinking about how to compete with other companies for the ownership of each part of Huaying after the collapse of Huaying, when suddenly there was a hurried knock on the door.
His original train of thought was interrupted like this, and Gareth couldn't help but frowned: "Come in."
The door was pushed open with a click, and then a Yunsu employee ran in hurriedly, saying breathlessly, "Mr. Gareth, something terrible has happened! The Harry Potter box office, which had been sluggish before, suddenly saw a huge increase today!"
Gareth's eyelids twitched, and a bad premonition immediately emerged in his heart, but he remained calm on the surface and said, "Considering the level of Harry Potter in all aspects, it is not surprising that there is a significant increase. It can only be said that the influence of Respect for the Mountains and Rivers and Madhouse has almost reached its peak. We just need to wait until the next batch of movies are released..."
Before he finished speaking, the staff in front of him showed a look of astonishment, and said in a panic: "But the box office of Harry Potter has risen to 350 million today!"
Gareth was stunned.
"What did you say?!"
As if he couldn't believe the truth of the other party's words, Gareth gritted his teeth, turned around and searched for Blue Star's real-time daily box office list on his computer. Needless to say, the Internet speed within the Yunsu Group was very fast. As soon as he entered the URL, the data was displayed accurately and clearly in front of him.
"Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" has a box office of 350 million today and a cumulative box office of 1.37 billion.
Gareth subconsciously grabbed the mouse and refreshed the page again, but no matter how he looked, the data in front of him was always fixed at 350 million. When he refreshed the page again, the page changed this time - the single-day box office of "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" jumped to 360 million, second only to the 410 million of "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone".
But how is this possible
It is clear that until yesterday, the average daily box office of "Harry Potter" was less than 200 million, as if it was deeply influenced by "Respect the Mountains and Rivers" and "Madhouse". How could it suddenly jump to 360 million in just one day
Gareth was shocked and angry: "Then why are you still standing here? What is going on? Where did the huge increase in the box office of Harry Potter come from? Have you found out?"
"According to the results of our investigations from various places on Blue Star," the staff member said with some helplessness, "it seems that many viewers who watched "Respect the Mountains and Rivers" and "Madhouse" a few days ago have also started buying tickets for "Harry Potter". In addition, a considerable number of Lu Ning fans are very dissatisfied with the company's arrangement and have bought several tickets for "Harry Potter".
Lu Ning is a popular fan of the starring actor in "Respect Mountains and Rivers".
Of course Gareth knew Lu Ning.
But even though he knew it, he was not an artist under Yunsu after all, and "Respect the Mountains and Rivers" was not a movie produced by Yunsu. To Gareth, both Lu Ning and "Respect the Mountains and Rivers" were just tools for him to deal with "Harry Potter". Who would care about the feelings of a tool
In his opinion, traffic stars can be mass-produced, and fans are the perfect tool to make money. However, he never imagined that it was such a group of fans who made their plan successful in the beginning, and it was also such a group of fans who caused cracks in his plan.
What the hell is wrong with these fans
Isn't "Respect the Mountains and Rivers" the first movie starring Lu Ning? Logically, shouldn't they desperately boycott "Harry Potter" and spend all their money to support Lu Ning? What's wrong with these fans who turned around and supported Huaying and "Harry Potter"
Gareth was so angry that he called the film and television company that produced "Respect the Mountains and Rivers" without thinking: "Look at what your artist's fans have done! Do you know how much loss this will bring to our company? Is this your attitude towards cooperation?"
The man on the other end snorted coldly, and his tone was not much better: "Mr. Gareth, shouldn't I be the one asking you this? It was you who made this plan, and our artists have come out to appease the fans as promised. We have done everything we should and can do. What else do you want from us?"
"Now that things have developed to this point, isn't it your Yunsu Group's own problem?"
In the face of Gareth's questioning, the attitude of "Madhouse" was even colder.
"If I remember correctly, this should not be within the scope of our contract, right?" The director of "Madhouse" said calmly: "I hope Mr. Gareth will not forget the shares he promised me, and the full compensation for the losses caused by "Madhouse".
Gareth was so angry that he threw the phone on the table!
Gareth was furious, while others who were also watching the real-time box office cheered:
“370 million!”
"It's getting up! The box office of Harry Potter is back! Huaying is finally safe!"
"Beautiful! I was wondering how a Harry Potter movie of this quality could have such a low single-day box office. The previous movie, The Philosopher's Stone, had a single-day box office of over 400 million. No matter how much the sequel falls, it can't fall below 200 million. Now the box office is finally back to normal."
"Huaying, go for it!!"
"Don't be too quick to celebrate. This is only the first day of the single-day box office counterattack. Don't forget that Yunsu's plan is to encircle and suppress it! If the following movies are at the same level as "Respect the Mountains and Rivers" and "Madhouse", the box office of "Harry Potter" will definitely be affected..."
Thinking of this, many fans who were originally very happy couldn't help but fall silent.
Yes, this is only the first day that the Harry Potter box office has returned to normal. Judging from the time, this may just be a sign that the potential of "Respect the Mountains and Rivers" and "Madhouse" has been exhausted. When new and good movies are released next week, "Harry Potter" may be beaten back to its original state!
For Harry Potter, which has been released for a week, the more time passes, the more it will suffer. Even if the next movie released is not as good as Madhouse and Respect for the Mountains and Rivers, it will be enough for Harry Potter to suffer.
Is it a sign of a box office comeback, or a last gasp in its death throes
No one answered this question.
Even the news media, which always loves to hype, chose to remain silent this time. Everyone's eyes were focused on "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets", watching where this animated film, which will indirectly determine the fate of Huaying Animation, will go.
While everyone's minds were focused on the current Lunar New Year holiday, at the same time, in a reception room of the Blue Star Culture Bureau in Huaijiang City, there was a different scene.
Three middle-aged men were sitting on the sofa in the center of the room, and another middle-aged man who was obviously a guest was sitting on another single sofa with a teacup in his hand. He didn't treat himself as an outsider at all and looked at the people opposite with a smile.
The room was quiet.
Except for the middle-aged man who was drinking tea with his head down, the other three people's eyes were fixed on the school application form in their hands without blinking.
There is no other reason, the list of professors listed on this school application form is so luxurious that it is frightening.
For an existing liberal arts university on Blue Star, picking any one of the names on this list to teach would be enough for the school to brag about for a while. However, such a group of bigwigs that other schools cannot invite appeared on the same application form.
To put it bluntly, with so many bigwigs in charge, even if the person in charge of the school is a fool, this school will definitely be a top-notch university in the arts in the future.
What's more, the company that will be in charge of this school is a large company in the Blue Star industry that has both technology and integrity.
This is no different from being admitted by recommendation.
After reading the form in his hand, and then looking at the person opposite who still had a lingering smile on his face, what else did Minister Shen not understand? He curled his lips and smiled immediately: "Congratulations, congratulations, when the school is built, I think your Ministry of Education will not be afraid of not being able to produce any results in the next few years."
—Wait for the school to be built.
After Minister Shen said this, the middle-aged man who was still holding the teacup in his hand was obviously in a better mood. He curled his lips and even the smile on his face became more genuine: "Minister Shen, you are joking. I heard that The Old Man and the Sea, which was launched at the Muse Art Festival not long ago, seems to have entered the Hall of Famous Works?"
Minister Shen smiled but said nothing.
As the highest-level art event on Blue Star, the Muse Art Festival has achieved such unprecedented success this time, and as the organizer, he naturally has a lot of credit. What's more, the winning work "The Old Man and the Sea" has passed the evaluation and directly entered the Hall of Famous Works.
Not only that…
Minister Shen thought of the Huaying Theme Park which was still under construction and a certain document sent to him, and the smile on his lips suddenly deepened.
The man was slightly startled, then he understood, and immediately said, "Minister Shen is smiling so happily, it seems that good things are coming."
Minister Shen waved his hand and said, "What good news is there? The bureau held a meeting today and said that the Blue Star entertainment industry has been in a bad state in recent years and it's time to clean it up. I'm afraid we'll have to work overtime."
It sounded like a complaint, but there was no trace of annoyance in his expression.
Everything is implied.