For fairness and transparency, the data for eleven movies sold on video websites, from statistics to release, was handled by the General Administration.
At ten past midnight, the General Administration logged into their social media accounts to release the data.
"Below are the premiere data for eleven movies on video websites, the ranking is not in order!
The data collection deadline is noon, April 5th!"
Below the text was a statistical image.
Netizens who were constantly paying attention clicked on the statistical image and scrolled down in order.
Global Pictures' "Breaking Through," number of purchases: 5,587,692
Songsong Pictures' "Moment of Truth," number of purchases: 3,249,655
Chenguang Pictures' "The Winds Rage Again," number of purchases: 4,685,542
...
Paiwei International's "The Final Battle," number of purchases: 5,358,291
Feihe Pictures' "Black and White Edge," number of purchases: 13,587,924
...
Initially, each film had only a few million purchases.
But when netizens saw the purchase count for "Black and White Edge" at the end, everyone sat in front of their screens in stunned silence.
With over thirteen million purchases, the volume directly exceeded more than half of the other ten films combined.
The terrifying purchase volume not only shocked netizens.
Even all the film and television companies were equally astonished to see "Black and White Edge" break ten million on video websites.
Amidst the surprise, observant individuals pointed out that the data collection deadline was noon.
At that time, the trending search topic was still about Feihe Pictures making audiences cry, and the movie's adaptation from the novel "The Double-Faced Man" had not yet been revealed.
Before the revelation, "Black and White Edge" had already surpassed ten million purchases on video websites.
This was enough to show that although Gao Fei might not have strong box office appeal, he still reigned supreme in terms of online traffic!
Seeing this crucial piece of information, apart from Gao Fei's fans and Wang He's fans celebrating in the comment section.
The other ten film and television companies, as well as malicious commenters, were silenced by the undeniable data.
...
Paiwei International Pictures.
"Chairman, with the addition of the video website purchase volume, Feihe Pictures' first-day premiere data has already ranked fourth!"
The director of the statistics department looked at the report in his hand and continued, "The second round of pre-sales for 'Black and White Edge' movie tickets sold out in ten minutes. If we add the second round of video website purchase data, it will enter the top three!
According to department analysis, with Feihe Pictures' current momentum and the appeal of the novel 'The Double-Faced Man,' the third round will surpass our company and Global Pictures!"
Hu Yuan, sitting opposite, closed her eyes and leaned back in her chair, gently massaging her temples.
After listening to her subordinate's analysis, she slowly opened her eyes and sighed, "Gao Fei's online traffic is enough to support a vast empire. There's no need to follow the trend with public opinion.
Instruct the teams to proceed according to the original plan. As long as we can secure a top-three position, that will be enough."
Chairman Hu understood deeply that in the online realm, any further actions against Gao Fei were futile.
Now that it had been revealed that "Black and White Edge" was adapted from the novel "The Double-Faced Man," its real-world box office appeal was unstoppable.
During the online public opinion battle, Hu Yuan had maintained a neutral stance, not engaging in any disparaging tactics, only riding the wave of traffic.
Therefore, she only needed to secure the top three positions.
Global Pictures.
Zhang Zhi's grim expression deepened as he looked at the data analysis submitted by his company's departments, his face growing more somber.
The directors of the company sitting in front of the desk all lowered their heads to look at their documents, none daring to speak up and incur his wrath!
After a moment, Chairman Zhang withdrew his gaze, scanned his subordinates, and said angrily, "I didn't call you here to be mascots standing around.
All of you, think of a way to curb Feihe Pictures' current momentum!"
The four subordinates exchanged glances, none immediately speaking.
Everyone now knew that "Black and White Edge" was adapted from the immensely popular novel "The Double-Faced Man."
The novel was estimated to have over ten million fans across the internet, and it was an officially recommended novel.
Why Chairman Zhang was so fixated on Feihe Pictures was something the four of them couldn't understand.
The director of the company's publicity department, seeing the other three look at him, could only speak with resignation, "Chairman Zhang, I don't understand why you are constantly targeting Feihe.
You must understand that 'Black and White Edge' is the leading film with the strongest momentum. How can it be curbed?"
"I have my reasons and the board has its reasons for my targeting!
You just need to strategize and target it. Don't try to brush me off with other issues, do you understand?"
Zhang Zhiwei remained assertive.
However, he did not reveal the truth: his targeting of Feihe Pictures was entirely due to his personal vendettas against Gao Fei and Wang He!
After hearing his explanation, a subordinate with a rather cunning appearance immediately suggested, "Chairman Zhang, how about we find some film critics to review 'Black and White Edge'?"
Hearing this plan, Zhang Zhiwei's eyes lit up. He immediately allocated funds to the subordinate and put him in charge.
But the other three couldn't help but frown. This was smearing the movie, a very despicable act!
Moreover, they were beginning to sense that Chairman Zhang's current actions were not aimed at boosting their company's box office, but seemed to be driven by personal grudges, targeting Feihe Pictures at every turn.
The next morning.
He Song, a well-known film critic in Longguo, posted online, offering his evaluation of "Black and White Edge."
"Dear viewers, it's been a while, I am your old friend, He Song!
Originally, I was planning to do an evaluation of the eleven films recommended by the General Administration.
However, due to the overwhelming enthusiasm of my fans, asking me to review 'Black and White Edge' first, I decided to make an exception for you this time."
"As usual, I will not discuss the plot for now, but let's talk about the actors in the film.
Throughout the entire movie, apart from the internet celebrity Gao Fei, there are only three powerful actors, all directors from the Kyoto Film Academy..."
In He Song's review, Gao Fei's acting was indeed much better than that of domestic young actors, but there was still a significant gap compared to powerful actors!
Furthermore, the three directors from the film academy, who were mentors to several famous actors in Longguo, only had supporting roles, which was enough to show the cast selection by the crew was extremely poor.
After evaluating the actors, he moved on to critique the plot of "Black and White Edge."
In He Song's review, the film accurately restored ninety percent of the novel, but the undercover plot was too excessive, disrespecting the image of anti-drug police officers.
At the same time, he also judged that the film, disregarding the safety of anti-drug undercover police officers in reality, used the movie to widely promote undercover operations, thus putting the lives of real undercover police officers in danger.
Upon the release of He Song's film review, netizens, after reading his final evaluation, immediately stirred up a boycott of the movie "Black and White Edge" online.
Simultaneously.
Gao Fei's schedule for the day was to visit another cinema to meet with fans.
However, a phone call from Kyoto University forced him to abandon his current plans and rush back to school.
This was because he had privately misappropriated 300,000 yuan in startup funds during the holiday, coupled with his nonsensical investment arguments, which had caused dissatisfaction among several startup teams at the school.
Ultimately, the students directly petitioned the dean's office, demanding that Gao Fei return the 300,000 yuan startup fund.