Aside from those fraudulent numbers, the box office performance of domestic films in China is actually quite difficult to predict. No director or superstar has ever dared claim they can fully grasp audience preferences, and the factors influencing a film's box office go far beyond the movie itself.
Back in 2015, a major domestic blockbuster with a budget of 350 million yuan and a combination of A-list directors and stars stole the spotlight. The early promotional campaign was full of momentum, and with top-tier theater chains among the investors, people both inside and outside the industry were extremely optimistic about the film's box office potential. The media declared one after another that this would be a record-breaking masterpiece.
Yet, after its release, while the box office figures for the first three days were indeed very encouraging and reaped several hundred million yuan, the film's word-of-mouth reception was terrible. It quickly suffered a cliff-like drop, and by the end of its theatrical run, the total box office barely crossed the 500 million mark—a disastrous financial failure.
Chapter 812