At twelve o'clock noon that day.
Seven cinema chains, capitalizing on the surging popularity of "The Tale of the Ghost Mountain," immediately released announcements on their official websites.
"After deliberation, we have decided to move the screening of the film 'The Tale of the Ghost Mountain' to daytime slots. Midnight screenings will still be available, but with limited tickets, only 10,000 tickets will be sold daily.
Audiences can purchase tickets through both online and offline channels."
The announcements from the seven cinema chains were largely consistent.
They all adjusted the screening times to daytime slots, while midnight screenings remained open but with a limited ticket quota.
Once the announcements were released, entertainment media, which had been closely following "The Tale of the Ghost Mountain," immediately took screenshots and posted on social media.
There was no need for the seven companies to promote further.
Upon seeing the adjusted screening times for the movie, netizens immediately recalled the large viewing group from the previous night.
The forty thousand-plus members of the viewing group understood that the change in screening times was a direct result of their collective performance.
Noticing the netizens in the comments section who hadn't seen the movie and were making sarcastic remarks,
The forty thousand-plus viewing group immediately stepped in, using various enticements and persuasions to encourage other netizens to watch.
Perhaps it was the persuasion of the viewing group, or perhaps it was the netizens' curiosity about "The Tale of the Ghost Mountain."
Today, the twenty-eight cinemas once again welcomed new audiences.
Preliminary statistics showed that the number of people who came to watch "The Tale of the Ghost Mountain" had reached over 800,000, nearing one million.
Throughout the history of Hong Kong cinema,
"The Tale of the Ghost Mountain" had directly created many unprecedented memorable scenes.
For example, this film was the first to feature audiences being admitted to hospitals after watching it.
Simultaneously, there were various memorable scenes of audiences fainting at the cinema, being sent to ambulances on-site, and medical personnel being on standby.
In addition to innovation, "The Tale of the Ghost Mountain" had also broken various records in the Hong Kong horror film series.
Among the broken records, the box office was the most noteworthy.
Before the appearance of "The Tale of the Ghost Mountain," the box office for horror films did not exceed ten million, with the highest being just over nine million.
However, now, on the seventh day of its release, "The Tale of the Ghost Mountain" had a total box office exceeding ten million.
Another record broken was the film's screening time.
Before the release of "The Tale of the Ghost Mountain," horror films were generally scheduled for midnight slots.
Regardless of whether the film was directed by a renowned director or starred big names, it was impossible for the film to appear in prime time daytime slots.
After the release of "The Tale of the Ghost Mountain," and following a week of public discourse and tens of thousands of people being admitted to hospitals,
This film became the first in Hong Kong's horror film history to be moved to daytime slots and to have its midnight ticket sales limited.
It could be said that the emergence of "The Tale of the Ghost Mountain" had directly shattered the rumor that horror films were a niche genre.
....
Guobin Hotel.
"Boss, there's the latest news from Xu Yuejin. The box office for 'The Tale of the Ghost Mountain' surpassed twenty million today."
Jin Qiqi shouted with joy.
After all, when the movie was first released, the dismal attendance and box office revenue had made her feel that simply breaking even would be a miracle.
But after a week of viral memorable scenes and online buzz,
Today, the film had become a massive hit in Hong Kong.
Although it became famous through news of viewers being sent to hospitals,
At least, the movie was no longer just breaking even but was now making a substantial profit.
Noticing that Gao Fei was not excited by the movie surpassing twenty million at the box office,
Jin Qiqi put down her phone and looked at him curiously.
She saw Gao Fei typing rapidly on his computer, a smile of triumphant scheming on his face.
She tiptoed closer and suspiciously looked at the laptop screen.
On the screen was a forum webpage, predominantly black and red, with six white Chinese characters above it.
"Hong Kong Horror Forum."
Jin Qiqi saw the forum's name and then shifted her gaze downward.
A row of red text in a size three font was very striking.
It was the title of a post.
"Second round of voting begins, friends who dare to rewatch 'The Tale of the Ghost Mountain' please press 1, those who don't, please leave!"
Posted by "Arsonist of Hearts."
Identity: Forum Administrator.
After reading the post, Jin Qiqi looked back at Gao Fei, who was typing, and her gaze shifted to the continuously appearing text in the message box.
"Damn it, it's just a horror movie, what's there to be afraid of rewatching? It's been three days, I've long forgotten about Sister Chu's flop. Rewatch the movie, huh? I'm in!"
*Click!*
Gao Fei's fingers tapped on the keyboard, and the post was quickly replied to.
Then, he rapidly switched webpages and refreshed. His comment appeared at the top.
The next second, he typed eight characters in the message box.
"Recorded. See you at six this afternoon."
The message was sent, and the replying account name was 'Arsonist of Hearts.'
Seeing this, Jin Qiqi was stunned.
She suddenly remembered that the "The Tale of the Ghost Mountain" trending topic that suddenly appeared on social media yesterday was created by horror forum enthusiasts.
And it was initiated by the forum administrator through a vote.
Forum administrator, Arsonist of Hearts!
Jin Qiqi's eyes narrowed. The boss was orchestrating things behind the scenes!
Gao Fei, having finished replying to the post, turned around, only to see two bright lights shining in front of him.
He was startled and let out an awkward cough, instinctively reaching to close his laptop, but was immediately stopped by Jin Qiqi.
"Alright, Boss, no need to hide it. I saw the whole process of you acting as the administrator and using an alt account! I was wondering why those horror forum enthusiasts were charging forward for our movie, turns out you were pulling the strings from behind the scenes."
Exposed, Gao Fei no longer hid his actions and explained, "I had no other choice, this was a last resort.
With the paid trolls online who came out of nowhere to stir up trouble, if I didn't find a way to clarify for the movie, netizens would continue to be misled and incited by them.
If I hadn't led our friends on the forum to gather evidence, do you think our movie would be this popular today?"
"That's true!"
Jin Qiqi nodded in agreement, then furrowed her brow and asked, "But, Boss, I'm a bit curious. There aren't many new movies being released in Hong Kong right now, so why is our movie being attacked by trolls?"
"What's so curious about that? Just think about Zero Degree Films.
Facing a company with an unknown origin and background, but with astonishing film quality, how did people in the industry deal with them?
Didn't they also use trolls, baseless rumors, and gossip to smear them?"
Gao Fei leaned back in his chair and explained, "Although Gao Yue Films' startup isn't as high-profile as Zero Degree Films, being able to invite Hank right from the start, the operational methods behind the scenes are no different.
Facing a company like Gao Yue Films that suddenly appeared and has a film with great potential to explode, could the big players in Hong Kong's film industry just ignore it?
They would definitely try to create scandals and narratives, using trolls for attacks.
If we hadn't survived that stage of being slandered and hyped, this movie would most likely have flopped completely!"
Jin Qiqi nodded thoughtfully and chuckled, "They all say that Hong Kong's film and television industry is very inclusive and friendly to entertainment companies from all regions and countries.
Now it seems, it's the same as the mainland industry, all crows are black.
It would be great if we could find out who is suppressing Gao Yue Films. I'm quite looking forward to seeing you go head-to-head with them."
"Don't worry, eventually, whoever is behind us will surface.
Hong Kong is such a small place, if they're locals, where can they go?"
"That's true!"
Jin Qiqi chimed in, glancing at the vindictive Gao Fei, and looked forward to the emergence of those who were targeting Gao Yue Films.
"Boss, you mentioned becoming the box office champion in September, when can that be achieved?"
"Soon!"
Gao Fei smiled mysteriously, picked up his laptop, and returned to his room, saying no more.
Leaving Jin Qiqi standing alone, blinking in confusion.
....
"The Tale of the Ghost Mountain" became a huge hit, surpassing twenty million at the box office on its seventh day of release. Subsequently, the box office began to decline slowly.
However, the drop was not significant, with it maintaining over ten million for three consecutive days.
It wasn't until the eleventh day of its release that it finally fell below ten million.
Before the daily box office dropped below ten million, the total box office, excluding fractions, reached eighty-nine million.
After dropping to the ten million mark, the box office experienced a significant decline almost every day.
By the fifteenth day of its release, the box office had dropped to just over two million.
The decline in "The Tale of the Ghost Mountain's" box office did not surprise Gao Fei.
After all, it was a horror film, and one that could cause psychological shadows and require viewers to see a psychologist.
Not everyone had a morbid curiosity, enjoyed thrills, or liked watching horror movies.
Therefore, it was bound to be rejected by a majority, who would choose not to watch it.
This was all within expectations, as Gao Fei had long foreseen it.
Currently, "The Tale of the Ghost Mountain's" total box office revenue was over one hundred million.
In the history of Hong Kong horror films, this was the highest record.
Gao Fei's earlier boast to Jin Qiqi about achieving the September box office championship was not an empty promise.
Although September had passed and the total box office for each film had been released,
"The Tale of the Ghost Mountain" was released in mid-September, giving it fifteen days to break box office records.
Therefore, Gao Fei still had time to fulfill his promise to the box office authorities.
......
The next day.
On mainland China's three major social media platforms.
A group of netizens, identified as being from Hong Kong, with millions of followers, suddenly stormed the three platforms.
They created a hashtag community named "The Tale of the Ghost Mountain."
Nearly a million people discussed and posted in the community, and with the platform's push, the hashtag community also climbed to the trending list.
"A Hong Kong horror film sends tens of thousands of people to the hospital!"
"An unprecedented super horror film frightens people into mental breakdown!"
"Hong Kong witnesses its first case of someone dying from being too scared by a movie!"
Three trending topics appeared on the hot search list, each sensationalizing the emergence of a super horror film in Hong Kong.
Instantly, it attracted the attention of millions of netizens in mainland China.