My Virtual Girlfriend-Chapter 193: Box Office Prediction Has Reached 600 Million Already?

Chapter 193: Chapter 193: Box Office Prediction Has Reached 600 Million Already?

Tiandu, Xu Brothers Film Company, Chairman’s Office.

Xu Zhaorong sat behind the boss’s desk, with his brother and Director Zhang seated on the sofa.

He pondered for a long time, then leaned forward, and said, "Second brother, get me a list of the production crew for ’Love Lost in 23 Days.’"

He paused and added, "Also, go buy the original novel of this movie."

Upon hearing his brother’s request, Xu Zhaoqing did not dare to ask questions and quickly set out to prepare what his brother had asked for.

Half an hour later, the list and the original novel were delivered to the chairman’s office.

After handing the documents and the novel to his brother, Xu Zhaoqing sat back down on the sofa.

Director Zhang glanced at him and then asked Xu Zhaorong in a low voice, "President Rong, isn’t this being too cautious?"

Xu Zhaorong slightly raised his hand, his expression serious as he said, "Never underestimate an enemy."

"Song Chuang and Yang Rou are not fools. Since they have dared to offer such a high box office guarantee, there must be a reason."

After speaking, he tore open the package and started flipping through the original novel of ’Love Lost in 23 Days.’

The novel wasn’t very long, only about 100,000 words. Xu Zhaorong read quickly; in less than an hour, he had roughly finished the book.

After finishing, he frowned, then closed his eyes and began to reflect.

After a while, he opened his eyes, his brow still furrowed, and picked up the list of the production crew.

This time, he read it more carefully, sometimes stopping to ponder for a while.

When he had finished both documents, Xu Zhaorong’s brow remained tightly knit.

At first, when Xu Zhaoqing and Director Zhang had been chatting quietly beside him as he flipped through the book.

But gradually, seeing Xu Zhaorong’s increasingly furrowed brow, they dared not speak, and just carefully watched Xu Zhaorong.

With the book and documents on his lap, one hand under his nose, and the other tapping lightly on the desk, Xu Zhaorong seemed to be considering a critical moment.

After a moment, his brow relaxed, and he exclaimed in admiration, "Indeed, the entertainment industry is full of talented people."

Hearing Xu Zhaorong speak, Director Zhang and Xu Zhaoqing quickly looked over.

Xu Zhaoqing cautiously asked his brother, "Brother, do you mean...?"

Xu Zhaorong gently tapped the book on the desk and said, "This book is very good. Very suitable for film adaptation. Although it’s a chick flick, it has a unique entry point and is particularly innovative."

"Plus, the casting for this movie is exquisite; I feel this movie has the potential to become a major hit."

Xu Zhaoqing looked at his brother in surprise.

Xu Zhaorong continued, "If I were to estimate, I feel this movie’s box office will not be low. Two to three billion yuan is possible. The only ’X’ factors are their lead actor and director."

"That actor is called... Lu Man, right?"

"She seems to be a new generation actress, may not be able to bring out the feel of this movie. Might drag down the entire movie’s effect."

"Also, their choice of director for this movie... I don’t understand either."

"However..."

"We are guessing blindly, but they’ve seen the completed film."

"So, since they dared to shout such a high guarantee, the final product must be good."

Saying this, he smiled at the two, stating, "It seems we have met our match."

Sitting on the sofa, Director Zhang looked up slightly and asked, "Do you mean that this movie might surpass ’Eavesdropping 3’ in box office?"

Xu Zhaorong nodded, "Possibly."

"Even...if not as much as ’Eavesdropping 3’, it won’t be far behind."

His fingers continued to tap lightly on the desk as he analyzed,

"Moreover, don’t forget."

"The production and distribution company for this movie are their own. So, they can share 60%-65% of the profits."

"Suppose the final box office is two billion. Their revenue would be 1.2 to 1.3 billion. After deducting their production and promotion costs, they can still net a profit of sixty to seventy million."

"By then, taking this money and compensating the theaters wouldn’t be a problem, right?"

Seeing the surprised and puzzled expressions on his brother and Director Zhang’s faces.

Xu Zhaorong slightly shook his head, explaining, "You have to understand their purpose for making this movie."

"They aim to carve out a path under our blockade."

"What they need is to win a spectacular victory and secure their place in the industry."

"In this situation, whether they make money or not is actually secondary to them. Their prime objective is to win this crucial battle."

"So, even if they don’t make money, if they win this battle, they still achieve their goal."

Hearing Xu Zhaorong’s words, Director Zhang and Xu Zhaoqing finally understood the whole picture.

Xu Zhaoqing asked, "Then... what should we do? Keep up? Also negotiate a guarantee with the theaters to squeeze them?"

Xu Zhaorong shook his head smilingly, "They can afford not to make money, but we need to. We can’t afford to forego tens of millions in profits to compete with them. It’s not worth it."

Xu Zhaoqing seemed somewhat unwilling as he said, "Then, are we just going to admit defeat?"

"Admit defeat?" Xu Zhaorong shook his head slightly, "How could that be possible."

Xu Zhaoqing was puzzled, "Then..."

Xu Zhaorong stood up and walked to the window.

His office was on the 16th floor of the Xu Brothers Film Building, overlooking the bustling scene of the capital.

He slowly said, "Since they dare to go all out, we as their competitors, must also respect them. For example, creating some momentum for them..."

He then called out, "Zhaoqing."

Xu Zhaoqing quickly approached, "Brother."

Xu Zhaorong spoke slowly, "Arrange for somebody to hype up the fact that Chenlu Film Company announced a six-billion-yuan box office guarantee with the theaters. And say it’s information from the theaters themselves, that Chenlu Film directly negotiated a six-billion guarantee with them."

Hearing his brother speak thus, Xu Zhaoqing exclaimed in surprise, "Six billion?"

Xu Zhaorong glanced sideways at him, a hint of disappointment in his eyes, "Yes. Otherwise, what? Just promote it as they declared?"

"Do you understand? If we can’t suppress them, let’s ’praise them to death.’"

"Normally speaking, for their first movie to pull in two or three billion would already be an impressive achievement."

"But we’ll set a target for them first: six billion. Once everyone accepts that, if they only make two or three billion, they will still lose face in the industry, seen as overly confident."

"Then, it will still be tough for them to establish themselves."

Hearing his brother’s words, Xu Zhaoqing was still a bit puzzled and asked, "Then why don’t we...set it even higher? Like eight billion? Ten billion?"

Xu Zhaorong: ....

Xu Zhaorong didn’t speak, but Director Zhang understood.

He explained, "It’s probably because, if set too high, Chenlu Film and the theaters would come out to refute it."

"We’re claiming six billion for them, just a bit more, yet it hits right on their psychological bottom line."

"If they don’t refute it, it becomes tacitly accepted as six billion."

"If they refute, it’s equivalent to acknowledging a five-billion guarantee."

"The rumor of six billion is just a rumor, but once they confirm five billion, it becomes a fact. The impact would be even worse."

"So, they most likely won’t refute it and will just let it cool down."

Xu Zhaorong nodded slightly, and with a look of frustration glanced at his brother.

Seeing that both Director Zhang and his brother said so, Xu Zhaoqing finally stopped asking questions, then hurriedly left the office to handle the "praise to death" affair.

Watching his retreating figure, Xu Zhaorong shook his head slightly.

Ah, this brother of his...

He sighed inwardly and turned to Director Zhang, asking steadily, "How’s the preparation for Lao Zhang’s new play coming along?"

That play was the one Lu Man was previously set to partake in.

Director Zhang smiled and said, "Not bad, I just had some new ideas I wanted to discuss with you..."

"Uh-huh," Xu Zhaorong agreed, "Let’s sit down and talk it through slowly...."

...

With the boost from the Xu Brothers, it didn’t take many days for almost the entire entertainment and film industry to know that Chenlu Film Company’s first movie ’Love Lost in 23 Days’ was exceptionally well-made. In order to schedule it, they directly offered the theaters an impressive six-billion-yuan box office guarantee!

After knowing this news, everyone who had been watching Chenlu Film Company was stunned.

In various groups, among the crews aware of this matter, they all discussed it...

"Did you hear? The company Lu Man established herself completed their movie production. It’s going to be released next month."

"I heard, I heard. They say they’re extremely confident, thinking they can make six billion."

"Ha ha. I also heard. Do you think Lu Man has lost her mind? Does she think she has such strong fan support?"

"I don’t know. Probably just overconfident." ...

...

"Did you hear? Chenlu Film Company’s movie actually promised the theaters a six-billion box office guarantee."

"Six billion!? Has Chenlu Film gone mad?"

"I also feel they’re insane. That’s way too much. Supposedly they just made a chick flick."

"Chick flick? I remember the highest box office was only 1.3 billion, right? Who gave them such confidence?"

"I don’t know. It feels like they’re going to lose big this time." ...

...

The entertainment industry is small, and these rumors quickly reached the ears of Song Chuang, Yang Rou, Mei Li, and Lu Man.

The first three were alright, having weathered many storms, but Lu Man was a bit restless.

She called Mei Li over to her villa again, holding up her phone displaying the group chat, somewhat anxiously saying, "Sister! What should we do? Look, rumors about us are everywhere!"

Mei Li, somewhat aware of the situation, coughed and said, "Actually... they’ve exaggerated a bit, but they didn’t lie. We did give a guarantee to the theaters."

Lu Man looked surprised as she widened her eyes, "Really? How much?"

Mei Li whispered, "President Yang said it was five billion."

"Five billion?!" Lu Man’s voice trembled.

She looked at Mei Li and swallowed, "Who gave the guarantee?"

Mei Li said, somewhat helpless, "Who else?"

Lu Man: ....

She somewhat incredulously said, "Chen Yan?"

Mei Li nodded.

Lu Man: ...

Lu Man felt a mix of emotions inside.

She couldn’t decide whether to call Chen Yan foolish, or to say that he... really trusted her too much.

Lu Man couldn’t help but recall the promise she and Chen Yan had made at the villa’s door.

So, he had always kept it in mind?

But... when she said those words back then, she hadn’t intended to actually fulfill them. Yet he had taken them seriously...

For a moment, Lu Man felt weird.

...

Meanwhile, Chen Yan was also on the phone with Song Chuang, "Six billion? Are they ’praising us to death’?"

Chen Yan furrowed his brow, then took out the photo recording the projections for ’Love Lost in 23 Days’ from a drawer and looked at it.

Upon looking, Chen Yan exclaimed, "Eh? I remember last time it was estimated at 4.5-5.6 billion in box office, how did it change to 4.9-6.1 billion now?"

Mei Li nodded.

Lu Man felt a mix of emotions inside.

She couldn’t decide whether to call Chen Yan foolish, or to say that he... really trusted her too much.

Lu Man couldn’t help but recall the promise she and Chen Yan had made at the villa’s door.

So, he had always kept it in mind?

But... when she said those words back then, she hadn’t intended to actually fulfill them. Yet he had taken them seriously...

For a moment, Lu Man felt weird.

...

Meanwhile, Chen Yan was also on the phone with Song Chuang, "Six billion? Are they ’praising us to death’?"

Chen Yan furrowed his brow, then took out the photo recording the projections for ’Love Lost in 23 Days’ from a drawer and looked at it.

Upon looking, Chen Yan exclaimed, "Eh? I remember last time it was estimated at 4.5-5.6 billion in box office, how did it change to 4.9-6.1 billion now?"