Chapter 114 Shock and Release

On February 5, Liu Zhou and Zhong Lifang set out to return to the capital.

While the two were still over the Pacific Ocean, the news that Liu Zhou's new film won the Sundance Film Festival Global Film Award had already been reported in the mainland.

Because the Sundance Film Festival is relatively unpopular in mainland China, some media outlets have kindly provided readers with some knowledge about the festival and talked about the value of the Global Film Awards.

Although readers are still a little confused after reading it, they feel that it seems very impressive.

For a while, before Liu Zhou's flight even landed, his new movie had already set off a craze.

After Liu Zhou and Zhong Lifang returned to Beijing, they couldn't help but smile at each other when they saw that the promotion for "The Tuner" had already started.

This is the publicity strategy developed by the two after discussion.

Although Liu Zhou does not think highly of the Global Film Award, he knows that mainland audiences care more about awards, so he uses this as the first shot in promoting his film.

Some of those media reports were spontaneous, while others were press releases purchased by the publicity department of Zhou Shan Studio.

However, because the Spring Festival is approaching and the attention of the people across the country will be attracted by the Spring Festival Gala, large-scale publicity for "The Tuner" has not been launched.

Now this is just a prelude to leave an impression on everyone.

This year's Chinese New Year's Eve was on February 8th, and Liu Zhou was just able to make it back home to celebrate the New Year.

Because Zeng Li was still filming during the Chinese New Year this year, Liu Zhou returned to Guangzhou to celebrate the New Year.

After spending three days at home with his family, Liu Zhou had to embark on the journey back north on the third day of the New Year.

As Liu Zhou's work became busier after graduation, he spent less and less time at home during the Chinese New Year.

Liu Zhou sometimes feels helpless, but with work on his mind, he simply cannot stay at home.

The only thing that makes Liu Zhou happy is that his parents and grandfather are in good health now, and he will try to spend more time with his family in the future.

After returning to Beijing and the enthusiasm of the Spring Festival Gala faded, the second wave of promotion for "The Tuner" was immediately launched.

Southern Weekend first disclosed that the overseas copyright of The Piano Tuner was sold for as much as US$4 million, equivalent to RMB 35 million.

As soon as this news came out, it immediately sparked even greater heated discussion.

Not only did the southern media follow up with the report, but the media in Beijing, Shanghai and other regions also reprinted the news and commented on it.

The news that Liu Zhou's movie earned 35 million overseas was even more popular than when he won the award.

Liu Zhou was not surprised at all.

Although it is not like ten or twenty years later, most people at this time are still concerned about money.

But now that the reform and opening up has been going on for more than 20 years, the public has also realized the importance of wealth, and the wave of chasing wealth is getting higher and higher.

That’s why the rich list attracts more and more attention every year.

Liu Zhou knew very well that displaying the $4 million profit would quickly attract everyone's attention.

People will definitely discuss this more heatedly.

Liu Zhou is not showing off his wealth, and of course he is not afraid of others becoming jealous and reporting him. These are all his legal incomes, and he will pay taxes according to the law. What's more, this is money he earned from foreigners.

This method of displaying monetary figures as propaganda has become very common in later generations, and the effect has always been effective.

It was just the first time at the beginning of the new century, and the publicity effect achieved was surprisingly good.

It's really too scary for a movie to make 35 million, and it even subverts everyone's cognition.

In the past, we always heard that the film market was not good and that a certain movie had lost money, but if you suddenly come up with news that a certain movie was making huge profits, it would be strange if it didn't attract heated discussions.

Moreover, there are only a handful of movies in the mainland that have box office revenue of over 30 million. Your movie has already earned 35 million before it is released in the mainland, which is a huge shock.

Correspondingly, Liu Zhou once again became the subject of heated discussion, and also aroused everyone's great curiosity about "The Tuner".

What kind of movie can make so much money!
In fact, this news not only shocked ordinary people, but also shocked the industry.

I've heard before that Liu Zhou's movies are very profitable overseas, but I didn't expect it to be so profitable.

This movie hasn't even been released yet, but the film has already made more than 30 million in pockets. Who wouldn't be jealous?
Not to mention others, even Han Shanping from China Film Group felt a little regretful when he heard the news, regretting not participating in the investment.

Liu Zhou was the one who knew best how much money his movies could make. Although he had been mentally prepared for it to make a lot of money, he still felt a little jealous when it really did.

At this time, Wang Zhongjun's office was filled with smoke.

Wang Zhongjun and Feng Kuazi were smoking silently when Wang Zhonglei suddenly walked in quickly.

"Brother, I just checked and confirmed that Liu Zhou was not exaggerating. He did sell the copyright of "The Tuner" for four million US dollars, and that does not include the copyright in Asia."

When Wang Zhongjun heard his brother's words, his heart skipped a beat and he smoked a lot faster.

To be honest, he feels a little regretful now!
If I had known that Liu Zhou was so capable of making money, I would never have made my relationship with him so strained.

Huayi's current profit for the whole year may not be as much as what he earns from one movie. Wang Zhongjun couldn't help but glance at Feng Kuazi who was sitting next to him, and suddenly felt that he had to compare goods before throwing them away.

Feng Kuzi was of course also very good. Before Liu Zhou appeared, he was the king of commercial films.

But after Liu Zhou appeared, his box office record was broken by others. At the same time, other people's films could be distributed overseas, but his films had difficulty being distributed overseas, let alone in the south.

Seeing Liu Zhou making huge amounts of money overseas, Wang Zhongjun felt more and more that there was a huge gap between Feng Kuazi and Liu Zhou, just like their appearance.

Looking at Feng Kuazi smoking silently, Wang Zhongjun sighed secretly in his heart.

After all, Feng Kuazi is Huayi's trump card at this time. As the boss of Huayi, he still has to appease him.

"Big Shot", which Feng Kuzi had high hopes for, finally reached a box office of just 40 million, which is still a long way from 50 million. When the movie was taken off the screen, there was not much joy on his face.

Feng Kuzi has always wanted to beat Liu Zhou at the box office, but he has never been able to do so. Now he must feel even worse when he sees the news that Liu Zhou is making a lot of money overseas.

"Gangzi, this is no big deal. We have a large group of people supporting you. Sooner or later, you will bring Liu Zhou down. Now you just let him be proud for a while."

"Yes, Liu Zhou's grandson is lucky, but his luck can't always be so good. When the time comes, his true colors will be revealed." Wang Zhonglei continued.

But Feng Kuazi still said nothing, and for a moment, the office suddenly became quiet.

At this time, Feng Kuazi took a deep puff of the half-smoked cigarette, and the smoke was about to burn the filter. He quickly exhaled white smoke and extinguished the cigarette butt with force, then stood up and said:

"I'll go home first and perfect the new script."

Looking at Feng Kuazi's departing back, the Wang brothers couldn't help but look at each other.

After he left, Wang Zhonglei said:

"Brother, do we still need to target Liu Zhou? He is so damn good at making money!"

"We still have to do what we should do, otherwise it will be hard for us to explain to people in the circle, but be careful not to overdo it."

"I understand."

Liu Zhou had no idea what was happening at Huayi.

He has been very busy these days. The heads of both large state-owned factories and private enterprises in the same industry have been calling him, expressing their desire for cooperation in a tactful way.

But Liu Zhou temporarily rejected them all on the grounds that he was busy with the release of his movie.

They were all well-known figures in the industry, and Liu Zhou couldn't reject them rudely, so he always expressed his opinions in a tactful way.

Not only did this take up most of his time, it also made him a little bored.

He was sure that after the movie was released, these people would call again.

Time slowly came to the end of February. When the enthusiasm of 35 million began to slowly cool down, the third wave of publicity for "The Tuner" followed.

The publicity this time is more traditional, mainly just casting a wide net and placing materials in major media.

These three consecutive waves of publicity have thoroughly promoted "The Tuner".

Now a large number of people are waiting for the official release of the movie on March 2nd to see with their own eyes what story the movie tells.

This time Liu Zhou still did not hold a premiere ceremony, and released the film directly after promotion like before.

On March 2nd, "The Piano Tuner" began to hit theaters across the country.

Also on the same day, Liu Zhou started a roadshow with the main creative team.

Road shows are not something that only appeared in later generations. They still exist today, but they are not as extensive as in later generations, where people often travel to dozens of cities.

Now the roadshows will only be held in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and one or two other cities.

Liu Zhou plans to visit two more cities this time. The leading actors are not well-known, so he can only use such a stupid method to increase the box office of the movie.

On March 3, Liu Zhou and his team received the first day box office data of "The Piano Tuner" in Shanghai.

Two million four hundred thousand!
A very outstanding result.

After hearing the box office data, everyone, including Liu Zhou, couldn't help but get excited. This also made them more motivated for the roadshow.

The box office of "The Piano Tuner" did not disappoint their expectations. In the next two days which were weekends, it grossed 3.2 million and 3.3 million respectively.

In the first three days of the weekend, the total box office was 8.9 million, which is close to 9 million. This reminds people of "Only You" from two years ago, which also had such a strong box office performance.

Could this be another movie with a box office of 50 million?

In this regard, various experts have given their predictions, and most people are sure that the box office of the movie "The Piano Tuner" will exceed 50 million.

In addition to reporting on the box office, various media outlets also began to report on the suspenseful and brain-burning plot of "The Piano Tuner", with more and more people discussing it online.

This also attracted more people to want to see the movie.

(End of this chapter)