Depressive Screenwriter

"Did the screenings increase?"

As soon as he woke up in the morning, Su Yan contacted the distributor of "5 Centimeters Per Second."

Su Yan wouldn't say he's now rich and can do whatever he wants, but he has no problem ensuring his work gets fair treatment during a prime season like the summer movie season.

If others want to suppress him, Su Yan, they can't just talk about it, right? They have to spend money.

But if others can spend the money, can't Su Yan do the same?

So, from the initial promotion to the release today, "5 Centimeters Per Second" basically didn't suffer any losses.

It was much better than when "The Garden of Words" was released last year.

Su Yan got up early and started working with the distributor to hold press conferences and fan meetings in the Tokyo area to promote the movie.

And after the movie's reputation and results came out, the theaters moved extremely quickly.

Early in the morning, major cinemas had already started placing the promotional posters for "5 Centimeters Per Second" in the prime spots in the screening halls, alongside the movie posters for "Windmill."

Moreover, starting on Saturday, casual viewers on forums also chimed in.

"So, can anyone who has seen '5 Centimeters Per Second' tell me if the movie is as exaggerated as the online rumors suggest? Is it truly a breakup masterpiece?"

"Don't listen to the nonsense from those haters of Su Yan, the old fox. What breakup masterpiece? If the plot of this movie was truly bad, would it have a high score of 9.4?"

"Exactly, it's all paid trolls, all haters from other movies coming to bash '5 Centimeters Per Second.' Don't believe them. This movie is full of positive energy, and the ending heals the heart and is deeply moving. I almost cried for the unwavering love of the male and female leads!"

"My daughter and I watched it together in the cinema, and she walked out of the cinema smiling! This morning, she told me she wanted to watch it again!"

"Masterpiece, '5 Centimeters Per Second' is absolutely a healing masterpiece! The male and female leads lived happily ever after and had three children. What breakup story? Don't listen to others' nonsense; it's all lies."

"Why is the word-of-mouth about these two movies so strange on the forums! Some people say the movie is very depressing, while others say it's very healing? Are the premiere audiences suffering from schizophrenia?"

"It's all just trolls; don't bother trying to figure it out. You just need to know that whether they say the ending is healing or depressing, no one says the movie is bad. Everyone is praising the movie as worth watching!"

"That's right, I've seen both 'Windmill' and '5 Centimeters Per Second.' After watching 'Windmill,' I felt it was worth the ticket price. But '5 Centimeters Per Second' far exceeded the ticket price. I've already booked tickets for a second viewing this morning, and if nothing unexpected happens, I'll watch it a third time this afternoon!"

"Go watch it; it's a movie you definitely won't regret! But I suggest you go alone!"

In the morning, the online word-of-mouth for the movie "5 Centimeters Per Second" was vastly different from the night before.

The first batch of fans who were moved to tears had now reached a consensus: trick as many people as possible into going to the cinema to be baptized.

And the new audiences who came out of the theater were also silent.

Seeing the atmosphere in the comment section of "5 Centimeters Per Second" online, although they felt bitter inside, they still followed suit and started a grand campaign to trick new audiences into being moved to tears.

Of course, the moviegoers in Xia were not fools; many could see the reason behind it, but after figuring it out, they became curious.

Why would they give such a high score to a movie that everyone felt was very uncomfortable and depressing?

Why would they scold the screenwriter Su Yan online while posting photos of their second and third movie tickets in another post?

What is the charm of this movie?

Essentially, the worst thing for a movie is when the audience doesn't comment after its release.

As long as there is discussion and buzz, it basically means that fans are helping to promote the work, and only in this way will the movie have staying power.

Why are fan-based movies' box office always extremely high for the first day or two, and then they decline?

Because no matter how many fans a certain popular star has, they are a minority compared to the hundreds of millions of moviegoers in a country.

If they can't get the general public to notice the movie, the box office will definitely not be high.

This is also the case with Su Yan.

No matter how many fans he has, only a portion of his TV drama fans will go to the cinema to support him.

And for a blockbuster movie, the vast majority of people who contribute to the box office are casual viewers. Only when these casual viewers who don't like to talk and comment are willing to talk and comment after watching the movie, forming a self-motivated force to promote the work, will the movie be successful.

Obviously, on Saturday, the public opinion trend for "5 Centimeters Per Second" showed such a trend.

Although today, the screening share for both "5 Centimeters Per Second" and "Windmill" is 22%.

But starting in the morning, the box office trend of "5 Centimeters Per Second" was higher than that of "Windmill."

The occupancy rate of "Windmill" was about the same as yesterday.

But the occupancy rate of "5 Centimeters Per Second" was much higher than yesterday.

After 2:00 PM, the daily box office of "Windmill" had exceeded 30 million.

But the daily box office of "5 Centimeters Per Second" had approached 40 million.

Now, the peers in the film industry were a little restless.

Although the cast of "5 Centimeters Per Second" wasn't bad.

But "Windmill," starring a movie king and queen, was definitely better, and the investment was much higher.

How could it be suppressed by "5 Centimeters Per Second" in box office on only the second day of release?

Fan-based movie?

Bullshit?

Which of the two movies' stars doesn't have fan support!

But if so, given that the investment, cast, and publicity were slightly better for "Windmill," how could this movie still achieve a box office reversal?

The media also started to move now. Before, they were still a little hesitant. Su Yan's "The Garden of Words" last year only achieved the third place in the box office ranking for the season, and the total box office did not exceed 600 million.

In this year's highly competitive summer season, it was impossible to surpass "Windmill," a top-notch big-budget movie, right?

But the result was so magical.

Since that's the case, these media outlets were not polite!

"New movie by genius screenwriter Su Yan receives rave reviews. Likely to become a strong contender for the summer box office champion!"

"'5 Centimeters Per Second' likely to take the daily box office crown on its second day of release!"

"The king of the TV drama industry transitions to the film industry, as strong as ever. The 'Windmill' production team releases multiple statements, calling on fans to enter the cinema to support the movie!"

"'5 Centimeters Per Second,' a masterpiece that portrays love with deep insight! Love doesn't have so much fantasy and beauty; it's an emotion that gradually fades with time! If the time is long enough, you may even forget what the person you once loved deeply looked like!"

"Latest masterpiece by the genius screenwriter! '5 Centimeters Per Second,' a love movie that moved a group of people in Xia!"

"'5 Centimeters Per Second,' which should have been a niche art-house love movie, becomes a strong contender for the summer box office champion with the support of Su Yan's fame. Will Su Yan's rise in the TV drama circle be replicated in the film circle?"

"Sleepless night after watching the movie last night. I dare say that '5 Centimeters Per Second' is the best and most profound love movie in Xia in the last decade, bar none."

"Breaking away from the vulgar happy ending. Pleasing the audience is only a lower-level approach. An unforgettable love will eventually dissipate with time. '5 Centimeters Per Second' is not trying to tell us about depression, but to teach us not to dwell on the past for too long. Like the protagonist Takaki, after understanding everything, turn around, look away, and continue forward with a smile!"

To many of Su Yan's peers.

Su Yan is a person with magic.

Like a natural center of the media storm.

TV dramas too, movies too.

Before "5 Centimeters Per Second" was released, no one thought the movie would flop.

Su Yan's screenwriting ability goes without saying.

The investment of over 200 million for the movie's investment and distribution was also there.

But "The Garden of Words" had a box office of less than 600 million last year. Even if "5 Centimeters Per Second" has some growth, with such intense competition this year, a box office of 700 to 800 million would be considered good.

Making back the cost of the movie through box office revenue, and then profiting through streaming, DVDs, and overseas rights sales, the movie's final profit would actually be considerable.

Before this, most people in Xia thought this way.

But no one expected.

"5 Centimeters Per Second" had an opening day box office of 83 million.

And the opening rating would be as high as 9.4.

And by Saturday night.

The movie's second-day box office was like this, exceeding everyone's expectations, soaring to 131 million!

With only a 6% increase in screenings, the total box office increased by 57% compared to the 83 million box office on Friday night.

Of course, Saturday is a weekend, with daytime screenings, so the box office increase is understandable.

But for "Windmill," a movie with bigger stars and a bigger production, to lose the daily box office crown on its second day of release, and with the same screening share, the box office was so much lower than "5 Centimeters Per Second," only 110 million, it really left a group of film industry peers speechless.

Beyond ridiculous!

A dark horse isn't this dark!

"Windmill" has a total box office of over 200 million in two days. Is that a bad result?

According to this trend, its total box office will definitely exceed one billion.

But even so, it was still suppressed by "5 Centimeters Per Second."

And what's even more terrifying is that Su Yan has another movie in this summer season, waiting to be released next month.

Originally, everyone thought that the movie "Like a Bouquet of Love" was just for show, and that Shen Liqian, the TV drama queen who had never acted in a movie, would definitely not have the appeal. The competitors in the same time slot who thought "Like a Bouquet of Love" would be lucky to break even were all panicking.

Something's not right!

It seems the situation has changed.

Moreover, the summer box office champion can't be taken by Su Yan, right?