The audience was engrossed in the movie, and the online discussion about it was just as lively.
"The box office numbers are out today, and I'm speechless. I can't believe people are actually going to watch such a trash film as A Chinese Odyssey."
"Exactly! Watching A Chinese Odyssey once is like watching two movies. It's not that I don't support Stephen Chow, it's just that my wallet is a bit thin. I'll definitely support his movies next time, no matter how bad, I'll make it up then."
"Seeing these box office figures, tears just stream down my face. I never thought our domestic films were twenty years behind foreign ones. Look at their production and design. When will China ever rise up?"
"Don't be sarcastic. How bad can Zhang Yimou's movies be? It's just that one is an action film and the other is a tragedy. Can the box office be the same?"
"After all is said and done, I'm still optimistic about 'Star Wars Prequel.' Their cast is just too powerful, and their box office overseas is absolutely stellar. It's not that I'm unpatriotic, it's just that there's a real gap in the movies."
"A Chinese Odyssey is not far behind fourth place, which is truly beyond my expectations. It seems some people are willing to pay for these three and a half hours. But it's only for today. If tomorrow's box office exceeds today's, I'll perform a stunt for everyone: stew myself in a cast iron pot!"
"We've got a daredevil here! Everyone, bear witness. But I think the cast iron pot is ruined, and there's no way we'll get to see it in use. If nothing unexpected happens, A Chinese Odyssey will be the first film among these five to be taken down."
Guo Jiajia read the online comments and couldn't help but laugh and cry at the same time.
They were all trolls who knew nothing. Seeing the day's box office, they felt they had the real scoop and could judge what was good and what wasn't. She wondered who gave them the courage.
She couldn't speak for other places, but in Zhonghai, Guo Jiajia had investigated firsthand.
The cinemas were giving A Chinese Odyssey very poor time slots and not good locations. The large halls were all occupied by Star Wars and Entrapment. It seemed domestic films still had a long way to go to beat foreign blockbusters at the box office.
Zhang Yimou's movies were indeed touching and moving, but the box office simply couldn't surpass Star Wars and Entrapment. Even the animated film Lotus Lantern had better box office than Zhang Yimou's movies.
It seemed the road ahead was long and arduous; the film industry had a long way to go.
Yan Ruyu thought for a moment and then said to the staff at the Lobster Hotpot:
"Given everyone's performance recently, our customer traffic has increased, mainly due to the word-of-mouth from our repeat customers. I've decided to treat everyone to a movie."
Since A Chinese Odyssey's box office was linked to Zhang Tianxing's wallet, Yan Ruyu decided to support it. It could also be considered a company team-building event.
The money was company money anyway, and she was just doing a favor.
The employees cheered.
"Long live President Yan!"
"President Yan is generous!"
"President Yan, I want to introduce my brother to you!"
"Alright, stop with the chatter. I'll go buy your movie tickets."
Yan Ruyu was in a great mood. It seemed Lobster Hotpot was not facing any major problems. The price-cutting tactics of the surrounding restaurants didn't seem to matter much.
She had completely forgotten her earlier flustered expression. Zhang Tianxing was right; just focus on what you can do and play your cards well.
Do your best, and leave the rest to fate.
Things had returned to normal at the store recently. Although it wasn't as bustling as it was during the opening days, Yan Ruyu believed that day would come. They were making money, while the surrounding restaurants were losing money to attract customers.
She wondered how long they could sustain it. Yan Ruyu didn't believe they were all banks.
The bosses of the surrounding restaurants knew their own struggles. Now, they were just waiting for the day when the employees of Lobster Hotpot would get their salaries.
It was a fight to the death, and they had to hold on until payday.
Yan Ruyu went to the largest cinema: "Give me seventy tickets for A Chinese Odyssey, please?"
"Sorry, beauty. You're asking for too many. We only have a few left."
Yan Ruyu was stunned by the ticket seller's reply. It was only ten in the morning, and there were only a few tickets left. This was too exaggerated.
"How many tickets do you have left?"
"Only two left. The ten o'clock showing tonight, do you want them, beauty?"
Yan Ruyu shook her head. Only two tickets. Forget it. This place claimed to be Zhonghai's largest cinema, but it was a lie. They didn't even have tickets for A Chinese Odyssey. A bad review, I'll go somewhere else.
A couple behind her changed their expressions upon hearing that only two tickets were left, as they also wanted to watch A Chinese Odyssey.
Seeing that Yan Ruyu wasn't buying, they both breathed a sigh of relief.
"Two tickets for A Chinese Odyssey."
"Okay, here are your movie tickets."
The ticket seller was also a bit puzzled. A Chinese Odyssey was selling so well, yet it was only being shown in small theaters, or at early morning and late-night shows.
Even so, every showing was packed.
The ticket seller shook her head, thinking she must be too tired. It was probably just a lot of people. These movies seemed to be selling quite well.
She had never encountered so many strong films clustered together before.
She didn't know what was going on.
Based on past experience, there would only be two strong contenders among concurrent releases, with the rest being runners-up.
This time, for some reason, all five films were strong contenders.
The film studios would probably lose a lot of money this time. With so many strong films competing, no one would have an easy time. When two tigers fight, one must be injured, let alone five tigers fighting.
Actually, strictly speaking, it was four tigers, as A Chinese Odyssey was a re-release and was just there to make up the numbers.
After running to several cinemas, Yan Ruyu still couldn't buy tickets for A Chinese Odyssey.
What was this all about? She had come with good intentions to contribute to Zhang Tianxing's box office, only to find that all the tickets were sold out.
With no other choice, Yan Ruyu had to book a ticket for the next day's late show at one location.
"Guo Jiajia, what's going on with your movie? It's either early morning or late night shows. What kind of garbage times are they scheduling? And it's so hard to buy tickets, I had to run all over Zhonghai to get a ticket for tomorrow."
Hearing Yan Ruyu's complaint, Guo Jiajia smiled.
"Thank you for your support, Boss Yan. My dear, you've worked hard." Hearing the news Yan Ruyu brought, Guo Jiajia felt reassured, unlike her initial panic.
"It's not hard, just tiring." Yan Ruyu complained. Damn it, she had never encountered such an absurd situation before, having to run halfway across Zhonghai just to buy a few movie tickets.
It's a good thing the tickets are hard to buy. If they were easy to buy, it would mean the box office was poor, and the cinema would likely take the film down early. If it sells well, the cinema will try to schedule it for better time slots.
Everything is for profit. Whichever film can bring profits to the cinema will receive preferential resources from the cinema.