OBS Chapter 27: That's how they made 10,000!
Chapter 27: That's how they made 10,000!
If it maintains this daily average level for another two to three weeks, the final box office will be between 200 million and 250 million. It's a bit lower than the original, but in this price range, without any marketing budget, achieving this number is already the ceiling for this strategy.
He updated a line in his memo: Estimated final box office: 2 million to 2.5 million, with the production company receiving approximately 7600 million to 9500 million. The settlement period is two months, and the money is expected to arrive gradually before the end of the year.
Starting today, the company can live in a different way.
Three days after the Happy Camp broadcast, the box office figures showed a clear turning point.
The daily box office jumped from less than two million to 430 million, then to 480 million on the second day and 520 million on the third day.
Zeng Hao looked at the real-time data from Maoyan in his office and did some mental calculations. He figured that if this momentum could be maintained for another week, the box office would easily surpass 2 million.
But things didn't go so smoothly.
On the fourth day, the daily box office dropped back to 380 million.
Xu Wen sent a message: The topic's popularity has started to naturally decline. The discussion volume of the CP (couple) hashtag has dropped from 120,000 yesterday to 80,000. Is there anything we should do?
Zeng Hao replied: No need, let it decrease on its own. Artificial intervention will only accelerate the decline.
He knew very well that topics have a life cycle, and forcing it now would only alienate the audience; it was better to wait for the next natural point of dissemination.
This point appeared on the sixth day.
A blogger with three million followers posted a long Weibo post about her feelings after watching "Back to 20". The focus was not on the movie itself, but on how it reminded her of her grandmother, photos of her grandmother when she was young, and those times that can never be returned to.
The comment section of this Weibo post quickly became a confessional space, with thousands of comments sharing stories about their relationships with their elders, the missed opportunities to spend time together, and the things they never had a chance to say.
The discussion shifted from the film itself to a deeper emotional resonance.
The Weibo post was forwarded 80,000 times that day, and the Baidu index for "Back to 20" skyrocketed that evening.
Fang Qing's outline was delivered to Zeng Hao's desk the morning after the box office surged.
She placed the document on the corner of the table. "President Zeng, it's thirty episodes. The plot of each episode is listed. Episodes one through five are written in more detail, and the rest is an outline. These are all the revised results."
Zeng Hao took the outline and started reading from the first page.
Fang Qing stood there, a little nervous, clutching a pen in her hand, and remained silent, waiting for him to finish reading.
Zeng Hao read from page one to page thirty-five in about twelve minutes, then closed the outline and put it back on the table.
"The female lead's first scene," he said, "is where the male lead accidentally discovers her working overtime in the office, right?"
"Yes," Fang Qing said, "this way, the tone of their relationship can be established in the first episode, and the overtime setting can quickly explain her workplace situation—"
"Delete it," Zeng Hao said. "The 'overtime discovery' opening is too overused. From historical dramas to urban dramas, there have been at least 20 or 15 dramas using this opening in the last two years. Viewers can guess the next line at a glance. Instead, change it to her participating in a jewelry industry bidding, where she has her first face-to-face confrontation with the male lead. Winning or losing is not important. The point is to establish her professionalism and the male lead's strength at the same time. Two things in one scene, much more efficient."
Fang Qing wrote this suggestion down: "There's a scene in episode ten where the two are testing their relationship in a restaurant..."
"I saw it," Zeng Hao said. "That scene was cut because it was too slow. This drama doesn't follow the slow-burn route. The emotional pace needs to be pushed forward. The function of that scene was incorporated into the eighth episode, and the tenth episode directly pushes forward to the intensification of the conflict. The audience can't wait for you to drag it out for so long."
Fang Qing paused for a moment, "Wouldn't this make an eighth episode too long? Wouldn't it be too much to handle?"
"We split it into two scenes," Zeng Hao said. "The first half is set in the company, and the second half is outdoors. The scene transitions are natural, and the amount of information is separated, so it doesn't feel cumbersome. Moreover, the difference in atmosphere between the two scenes can create a contrast, making the emotional layers richer than if it were all explained in one scene."
Fang Qing wrote all of this down. "And what about the rest?"
"From episodes sixteen to twenty," Zeng Hao said, "the love triangle subplot was wrapped up too quickly. Episode eighteen directly dealt with the third party's storyline and left it until episode twenty-two. This allowed the storyline to run for a few more episodes, giving the audience more room to process their emotions. When they really started to hate the third party, we wrapped it up, which made the audience feel more immersed and satisfied."
Fang Qing finished writing down this last comment, "The rest..."
"The rest of the framework is basically fine," Zeng Hao said. "You can polish the details yourself, but you have to take the censorship of TV dramas into account in advance. The physical contact between the male and female leads should be restrained. Emotional scenes should be supported by dialogue and eye contact, not by actions. This is a red line, so don't try to cross it."
Fang Qing nodded, "Received, I'll give you the revised version in three days."
"We need to submit it to the State Administration of Radio and Television for filing by the end of this month," Zeng Hao said. "Prepare the filing materials together, don't wait until the script is finished before thinking about this."
Fang Qing picked up the outline, turned around, and left.
Just after the door closed, Sister Liu came in from outside, holding a printed voucher in her hand. "President Zeng, the cinema chain just called to say that the first batch of settlement payments arrived today. I printed out the remittance voucher."
Zeng Hao took it and glanced at it.
846 million.
This is the first theatrical settlement payment since the release of "Back to 20". It corresponds to the box office revenue from September 25 to the end of October. The production company will receive 38% according to the contract. The theatrical companies have received a portion of the payment in this batch, and the remaining payment will continue to be received in subsequent monthly payments.
The numbers on the books have changed starting today.
He put the voucher back on the table. "Enter it into the books, update the financial statements, and send it to me."
"Okay," Sister Liu took it, paused for a moment, "Mr. Zeng, with this payment, the account now..."
"Send me the form, I'll look at it myself."
Sister Liu left.
Ten minutes later, the financial statement was sent to his phone. The balance line read: 1187 million.
This is the first time the company's accounts have exceeded ten million since it survived.
The box office continued its steady climb over the following week.
1.72 million, 1.85 million, 1.94 million.
At 11 PM on November 12th, Maoyan's page was refreshed, and the number jumped from 1.98 million to 2.01 million.
It's surpassed 200 million.
Five minutes later, Xu Wen sent a message: "President Zeng, we've surpassed 2 million! Should we post an official Weibo announcement to celebrate?"
Zeng Hao looked at the number and updated a line on his memo: The final box office estimate is 2.3 million to 2.5 million yuan, and the production company will receive about 8740 million to 9500 million yuan.
Then I replied to Xu Wen: I won't send it.
There was a few seconds of silence on the other end of the phone, then a reply: Okay.
Zeng Hao put down his phone, stood up and walked to the window. It was almost dark outside. Early winter in Qianhu City was getting cold very quickly, and pedestrians on the street were all wrapped up in their coats.
Two hundred million.
This number might be a milestone worth celebrating for many people, but for him...
It was just an expected result.
Zeng Hao did not celebrate. He turned back to the table, picked up another document on the table, which was Xu Kunkun's training evaluation report for this month.