Huayu 2014: From Traffic Stars to Superstars

Chapter 13 Misunderstandings of Popularity-Driven Films in the Chinese Entertainment Industry

The mainland Chinese film market in 2014 was at a delicate turning point.

全年票房定格在294亿，比前一年的217.69亿增长了35%，连续11年保持30%以上的增速。

Domestic films grossed approximately 16 billion yuan, accounting for nearly 55% of the total box office, with 66 films grossing over 100 million yuan.

The numbers look very promising.

However, upon closer inspection of the structure, there are quite a few problems.

At the beginning of the year, "The Monkey King" grossed 10.46 billion yuan, while during the summer season, "The Breakup Guru" grossed 6.66 million yuan and "The Continent" grossed 6.3 million yuan.

Which of these movies isn't a big-budget production with big directors and big stars? With a budget of nearly 100 million, a box office return of two or three times is considered passing; no one will praise you as a "miracle."

During the National Day holiday, "Breakup Buddies" was even more impressive, raking in 11.47 billion yuan.

But that was the combination of Ning Hao, Huang Bo, and Xu Zheng, a top-tier box office draw, and it didn't belong to the same category as normal films.

If you scroll through the list from beginning to end, you can count the number of Chinese films that have grossed over 600 million yuan on one hand.

"Havoc in Heaven", "Breakup Buddies", "Where Are We Going, Dad?" (movie), "The Breakup Guru", and "The Continent".

Gone.

Apart from the "Where Are We Going, Dad?" movie, every other film is a multi-million dollar production with a top-tier cast.

In a period when the overall market had cooled down, a low-budget suspense film with a production cost of only 1.7 million yuan grossed over 200 million yuan in just five days.

With the addition of the 100 million yuan guarantee injected by Gao Huan using system points, the total box office is heading straight for 600 million yuan.

Six hundred million.

1.7 million for 600 million.

A 350-fold return on investment.

The industry initially didn't believe it, then fell silent, and finally erupted in uproar.

Theaters reacted the fastest: after the first three days, the national screening share jumped from 21% to 28%.

With high attendance and an average of over 40 people per show, the film received rave reviews on both Douban and Maoyan. Its box office revenue surpassed 30 million yuan daily for the second weekend, defying expectations and demonstrating textbook-perfect stability.

The media followed suit.

Entertainment critic Tan Fei posted a long article on Weibo with a rather intimidating title.

"The Coffin in the Mountain marks a turning point: popular actors + niche genre + word-of-mouth spread, a path that no one dared to take before."

Gao Huan proved three things with a film that cost 170 million yuan.

First, popularity is not a sin; acting skills are the true currency.

Secondly, audiences aren't stupid; a bad movie can't generate 600 million yuan in box office revenue just by relying on fans.

Third, the landscape of film in the internet age is about to change.

There are over 10,000 comments below.

Some say it's "paid trolls hyping it up," others say "show me the data, you can fake it yourself," and still others pull out the Douban rating trend chart line by line to refute it.

They argued back and forth, but neither of them really won.

But everyone was saying the same thing. "The Coffin in the Mountain" showed the Chinese entertainment industry something new: movies that attract viewers' attention.

It's not the kind of "traffic star + big IP = quick money" approach; it's the right path of "traffic actor + good work = critical and commercial success".

This concept was so new in 2014 that many people were already stunned before they even had a chance to name it.

……

When Yang Mi's WeChat message popped up, Gao Huan was looking at the script that Yangyang Jingang had handed him.

"Brother Huan, I heard you turned down the role in 'Fall in Love Like a Star'?"

Gao Huan glanced at it and replied with two words: "The schedule doesn't fit."

The reply came instantly: "Schedule? You've finished filming 'The Left Ear' and 'The Coffin in the Mountain' has been released. You're clearly in a hiatus right now."

Gao Huan did not respond.

Yang Mi added another comment: "I came here with sincerity. If you and I play a couple again, what great buzz that would generate. 'Ancient Swords Reunited' is a guaranteed trending topic."

Gao Huan's lips twitched slightly, and she typed a few words: "Sister Mi, I'm not suitable for this role..."

There was a pause of a few seconds on the other end: "Why aren't you suitable?"

"It's not suitable for me to be involved in scandals..."

Yang Mi sent a long string of ellipses, followed by a row of eye-rolling emojis.

"You just don't want to work with me, right?"

"no."

"Then why don't you come? Do you think the pay is too low? I'll increase it for you."

"It's not about the pay."

"What is that?"

Gao Huan thought for a moment and typed two words: "Script".

This time, there was a long silence on the other end.

Then Yang Mi sent over a voice message, his voice tinged with laughter, but clearly laced with anger:

"Brother Huan, what kind of script do you expect for a romance film?"

"So I'm not taking it," Gao Huan typed. "Sister Mi, you make romance movies, I don't."

"Then why did you still make 'The Left Ear'?"

"The Left Ear is a coming-of-age drama, not a romance film."

Yang Mi was speechless at his words, and said in a voice message, "Excuses! You're just as stubborn as me. Fine, fine, I'll go find someone else."

Gao Huan did not reply.

About half an hour later, Yang Mi posted a message on her WeChat Moments.

"Some people get arrogant after becoming famous, humph (just kidding~)"

A long string of comments immediately appeared below.

Zhu Xudan grabbed the sofa: "Who is it, Sister Mi? I'll go and scold him for you."

Yang Mi replied to him from below: "You can't out-argue him, you're too clumsy with words."

Zhu Xudan replied instantly: "...Thank you for your accurate strike, Sister Mi."

Dilraba also responded with a question mark.

Yang Mi didn't explain, but immediately sent screenshots of her chat with Gao Huan to Dilraba, along with a message:

"Dilraba, look at this guy, he's so good at making excuses. I asked him to act as my lover, but he wouldn't come."

……

Dilraba was curled up on the hotel sofa at the time.

She hadn't removed her makeup yet, was wearing a loose sweatshirt, and was sunk into the cushions.

The phone screen showed a screenshot sent by Yang Mi.

She stared at those lines of dialogue for several seconds, then saved the screenshot.

I kept it to myself, but I couldn't explain why.

Then she opened another WeChat account.

The profile picture is pure black, and the nickname consists of only two words: Justice.

Later, we started chatting on QQ and then on WeChat, and the "God of Justice" became just "Justice," and we chatted for several years.

At the end of 2013, she joined the cast of "Swords of Legends" and played the role of junior sister Fuqu.

Gao Huan played Baili Tusu.

Dilraba Dilmurat acted in a few scenes with him, but not many, because her role was small.

But every time she acted with someone, she felt something she couldn't quite put her finger on.

The way Gao Huan looked at her wasn't the kind of "have we met somewhere before" kind of look; it didn't seem like they were just acquaintances.

And he knew what her favorite food was.

Once, she was sitting in a corner of the set waiting for her scene when Gao Huan came over and handed her a piece of yogurt curd.

"Here, some yogurt curds."

Dilraba was stunned: "How did you know I like to eat this?"

Gao Huan glanced at her, a slight smile playing on her lips: "Just a guess."

Turned around and left.

Dilraba stood on the set with that piece of yogurt curd in her hand, with only one thought in her mind.

You call this a guess?

That night, she chatted with "Justice" on WeChat for a few minutes.

After hesitating for a while, I sent a message: "Is there anything you particularly want to say today?"

It took quite a while for them to reply, just two words: "No."

She stared at those two words for a long time, then locked the screen and placed the phone next to her pillow.

What can I say? We've been chatting on QQ and WeChat for years, and it seems like she and "justice" have never crossed that line.

Now, she nestled on the sofa in the dressing room, looking at the screenshots sent by Yang Mi, and then opened the chat box with the black profile picture.

The last chat history was two days ago.

She texted "That's awesome!", and he replied "Thank you," then added, "Don't you have an event tomorrow? Go to bed early."

She rolled her eyes in response.

She read Yang Mi's rant on the screenshot at least ten times, but in the end, she couldn't resist switching WeChat and sending "Justice" a new message:

"I just heard someone turned down a role with Yang Mi. That's pretty arrogant."

The moment she pressed send, she hesitated again. She added a commonly used emoji: a cat rolling its eyes, just to cover it up.

There was no reply from them.

Dilraba looked at it for a few seconds, then tossed the phone aside and sighed.

Forget it.

It's only a matter of time.

……

Fan circles.

As soon as the news broke that "The Coffin in the Mountain" had grossed over 200 million yuan, the fan groups of Happy Star went wild.

The cause is very simple.

A user posted a screenshot of Maoyan Professional Edition on Weibo with the following caption:

"Gao Huan's 'The Coffin in the Mountain' had an investment of 170 million yuan, and box office predictions suggest it will reach 6 million yuan. In terms of return on investment, who in the industry can compare?"

This Weibo post was forwarded more than 10,000 times, received over 10,000 comments, and garnered over 50,000 likes.

The reeds were the first to get restless and began frantically spreading out Lu Han's data in the square.

In August 2014, that Weibo post set a Guinness World Record for "Most Commented Weibo Post," with over 13.2 million comments, making it the first world record ever set by a Chinese social media platform.

There are also Baidu Index peaks, magazine covers, and so on.

They were posted one by one, properly and carefully.

Megni followed suit, announcing that Kris Wu had graced the cover of Esquire magazine.

He is the first male star born in the 90s to appear on the cover of this magazine.

It also serves as a sarcastic jab at Happy Star for not even having a decent cover.

……

Happy Star got even more excited after being ganged up on.

The messages in the fan group were flooding in like a waterfall:

"Sisters! They're panicking!"

"The bees say we're trying to scam them? Using data to talk is considered scamming? I'll show them the Douban rating trend chart, who's afraid of who?"

"Megni is in Esquire magazine, and our Huan-ge will be in it sooner or later, what's the rush?"

"The most hilarious thing is that Lu Han's Guinness World Record didn't stop his movies from not even breaking 500 million at the box office."

The most popular slogan in the group was copied over and over again.

"Gao Huan slaps XO fugitive!"

Right below these eight characters, someone posted a screenshot of "The Coffin in the Mountain" having just surpassed 200 million yuan in box office revenue into the group, with the caption:

"Huan Shen slaps XO fugitive!"

These eight words were like a fire thrown into a pot of boiling oil, going viral on Weibo and infuriating fans from all sides.

Lu Wei cursed in the square: "What kind of movie is 'The Coffin in the Mountain'? It dares to try and piggyback on Lu Han's fame? What's the use of a high rating on Douban? Will it even gross over 600 million?"

Meghanie sarcastically remarked, "A film with a budget of 1.7 million is boasting about a return of over 300 times. Is your brother short of money or short of popularity?"

Bee's comment: "The male lead of 'Gu Jian' doesn't even have any decent follow-up projects. He's destined to be popular for three months and then fade into obscurity."

The yelp added insult to injury: "What's so great about the second lead role in 'Left Ear'? Even our chosen Jia Baoyu didn't say anything."

The square was ablaze with activity, and every Weibo post about Gao Huan was met with a chaotic online battle.

The fans of Huanxing (a popular Chinese entertainment company) joined forces to mock Huanxing, using the slogan "Huanxing hasn't even taken the top spot yet, but the fans have already gone crazy" as their unified motto, and spamming Huanxing with comments about its "disgusting" nature.

The members of the "Happy Stars" actually smiled when they were criticized. This is their constitution; raised by anti-fans, they become more united the more they are criticized, and more energetic the more they are mocked.

One longtime fan remarked in the group, "Now I understand why Lu Han was so crazy before. It wasn't because Lu Han was too popular, it was because the haters were too hardworking."

Below it was a row of emojis of people nodding frantically.

……

Gao Huan himself has never posted a single Weibo post.

Since the release of "The Coffin in the Mountain," his Weibo account has been as quiet as a zombie account, with the only activity being his studio reposting two promotional posters.

Not a single unnecessary word, not a single unnecessary expression.

The fans, however, love him even more now, with one long post after another flooding his fan page:

"Gao Huan never uses words; he proves everyone wrong with his works."

"Your brother posts on Weibo every day, and his fans say they're going to sue the haters, but they also say it's just a long post."

Gao Huan didn't say a word; the novel "The Coffin in the Mountain" was right there.

That's the difference.

"You can criticize all you want, we'll keep hyping it up. Box office numbers don't lie, word-of-mouth doesn't lie. Happy Star Rush! Huan Ge deserves it!"

There's a post on Douban's Group 8 titled "[Latest Battle Situation: Gao Huan Square Has Fallen]".

The main post was quite sarcastic: "Meigeni is promoting Lu Han's Guinness World Records and endorsements, while Luwei is promoting magazine covers. What is Huanlexing promoting? The daily box office curve of 'The Coffin in the Mountain'."

The replies below were filled with laughter.

That's so mean.

"The problem is that they are indeed breaking new highs, and their trend is even more stable than that of 'The Continent'."

Someone posted the latest box office data: after 19 days of release, the cumulative box office reached 2.78 million yuan, and the box office in the second weekend increased by 8% compared to the previous week.

Underneath this post, someone remarked: "Honestly, despite all the criticism, Gao Huan has truly exploded this time. And it's not the kind of hype-driven explosion; it's the kind of explosion supported by solid work."

No one replied.

It's not that I don't want to refute it, it's just that the data is there, what can I use to refute it?

Another reply was pushed to the top of the comments:

"Stop arguing, ladies. No matter how loudly you argue, 'The Coffin in the Mountain' is still heading for 600 million. Save your energy."

Someone downstairs sarcastically remarked, "Six hundred million? You guys actually believe that?"

Below that, a screenshot of a prediction from Maoyan Professional Edition was displayed.

The predicted numbers are highlighted at the top:

Final box office forecast: 6.07 million.

The comments below that post remained silent for quite a while.

……

night.

Gao Huan had just returned to the hotel when Yangyang Jin pushed open the door carrying a stack of scripts, placed them on the coffee table with a dull thud.

"Brother Huan, here are the new notebooks. I've already checked them all, and these few are of decent quality."

Gao Huan walked over, sat down on the sofa, and picked up the top book to flip through it.

The movements were neither hurried nor slow.

"Fleet of Time"

It's a youth campus film with a large IP and a strong readership of the original work.

The box office numbers will definitely look good, but it doesn't match his excuse of "not making romance films" that he just told Yang Mi.

Also, director Zhang Yibai is a drug addict, PASS!

"Brotherhood of Blades"

It's a period martial arts film with a solid script and a clear genre positioning.

The word-of-mouth is likely to be good, but director Lu Yang is not well-known in the industry, so it's questionable whether he can secure enough screen time in theaters.

Gao Huan, however, was very confident that the film would be of good quality.

Gao Huan flipped through all the books and leaned back on the sofa.

"What about 'Brotherhood of Blades'? When can we see Director Lu Yang again?"

Yangyang Jin opened her notebook and quickly scribbled a few lines on the paper: "I'll arrange it for next week, the specific time and place are yet to be determined. Why are you so optimistic about this new director Lu Yang? You made an appointment with him so early, and even made a bet."

Gao Huan hummed in agreement and said nothing more, his gaze returning to the revised version of the "Brotherhood of Blades" script.