Super Zoo

The reactions of professionals and non-professionals to the box office performance of Terror Animal City were starkly different.

Employees of Yangchuan City Zoo had been closely following the film, and it had been the hottest topic of their recent conversations. In many scenes, they even took on the roles of random passersby, and they checked the box office results online as soon as they came out.

However, with a box office of just over a million, it was not only incomparable to the two films that had made over a hundred million but was also pitiful even when compared to the 8 million of Roadside Person A. It was practically a joke, mere background filler.

"How could this be? I went to see the movie last night and I thought it was super cool! I’ve never seen this kind of style before," a female office clerk said, puzzled, "It’s really ’Bai Si Bu De Qi Jie’ (an internet slang term expressing bewilderment)!"

"Anyway, let me tell you guys, keep it down for the next few days. If you see the director, walk the other way, don’t go asking for trouble. I reckon the director’s mood won’t be too good," said Mrs. Tong.

"I don’t get it, after watching it yesterday, all I could think about at night were scenes from the movie. It clearly has appeal, so why is the box office so poor?" the female clerk muttered.

"Maybe it got a low number of screenings?" someone suggested.

"That Roadside Person A also had a low number of screenings. I heard it was only twice that of Animal City. If we go by that ratio, the director’s film should at least have made four or five million."

"Never mind, I’m planning to call a few girlfriends and go watch it again tonight," said the same female clerk.

"Didn’t you say it was scary?" Mrs. Tong asked.

"Sis, there are so many details I didn’t catch, the more I think about it, the more interesting it becomes. There are so many details that seem to embody life’s lessons! Anyway, movies are all fiction, and there aren’t any gory scenes," the young clerk said.

"Hey, it’s a pity it’s too late now, otherwise I’d also take my kids to watch it, to support the director," Mrs. Tong said.

However, the views of professionals were different.

After seeing yesterday’s box office statistics, Mr. Ling was slightly surprised.

The relationship between the number of screenings and the box office is complex. For example, with the same 10% screening rate, the box office can vary greatly depending on the time slots. The screening rate for Terror Animal City was, numerically speaking, 40% of Roadside Person A. However, Roadside Person A’s showings were generally in the afternoon, with a portion during the prime time evening, whereas Animal City was screened entirely in the morning and at dawn.

Based on past data, movies with a similar screening rate and screening times as Animal City had never made over a million on the first day. To surpass half a million was considered quite good, and would warrant extending the screening period from three days to a week.

Most of these films ended up with a total box office of just two or three million in the end.

After its release, Mr. Ling watched Terror Animal City himself. His impression of the movie could be summed up in three words: ’quite interesting.’

The actors were all animals, which was a gimmick; it made you think from a different perspective, switching roles, and integrating horror into seemingly normal daily life, chilling to the bone;

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But he wasn’t quite sure if this film could win over the market, as there had never been a similar model before.

Based on the first day’s performance, it might have been the fan effect, with Yangchuan City Zoo having a significant fan base nationwide;

Another possibility was that the film itself was of good quality. Judging by market reception, it was likely even higher than that of ’I Am Roadside Person A.’

"Mr. Ling, should we increase the screenings for the follow-up?" the assistant asked.

"Hold on, let me check the online reaction."

Mr. Ling thought for a moment. The cinema lineup was tight, and the two films that had broken a hundred million on opening day were the main acts. Increasing their screenings was already a challenge, and it was very difficult for other films to even get an additional one percent screening share.

He did not immediately decide on the number of screenings for Animal City, but instead went online to visit Douban.

Douban is a community website that started with books, films, and music, providing information on these works. It has a monthly user base of over 200 million, with an average daily page view of 160 million. Its movie section is the largest and most authoritative film sharing and review community in Huaxia, including data on millions of films and filmmakers, with over 2500 cinemas participating and tens of millions of movie enthusiasts gathered there.

It can be said that Douban’s movie ratings are the most authoritative in Huaxia. Although it’s not without paid shills and trolls, overall, it’s a relatively objective reflection of a movie’s quality. Many neutral viewers, before choosing a movie to watch, will look for high-rated movies on Douban.

Of course, the quality of a movie doesn’t necessarily represent its box office. According to Mr. Ling’s experience, films with high ratings on Douban usually wouldn’t have too low a box office. As long as the score was over 7 points, making tens of millions in box office was generally no issue, so Douban’s ratings had also become one of the important references for cinema scheduling.

Douban’s ratings range from 1 to 10 points. The higher the score, the better the movie. Above 6 points is considered worth watching; above 7 points, it can be categorized as a ’good movie’; above 8 points, it is considered a classic film;

As for scores above 9, perhaps ’timeless’ is an appropriate description. For example, The Shawshank Redemption at 9.6; Inception 9.4; Life is Beautiful 9.4; Forrest Gump 9.3...

These highly-rated movies may not have the top box office earnings in Mainland China but are not low either, possessing commercial value worth promoting.

The several movies released during the second week of the summer season had mixed reviews on Douban.

The two with the highest box office had the most controversy.

The rating for Tiny Times 4 was currently 4.6 points, like the previous three installments, all below the passing line.

Movies are commercial products, not artworks. A bad reputation does not mean there is no market; sometimes, it’s the exact opposite. Tiny Times is one such example. This purely fan-driven movie had starkly different reviews, with those who love it adoring it to death and haters detesting it completely. There were fans who would give it five stars no matter what and critics who felt "it’s enough to make anyone with normal film aesthetic sense wonder if they were brain-damaged"...

The fiercer the argument, the happier Mr. Ling was. Ideally, both sides’ fans would take to the streets and have a huge fight, bloodied and crippled. That would really set the movie on fire, and the box office would skyrocket. Apart from the beaten fans, everyone else would be very happy.

For a ’literary film’ starring big names, Monk Comes Down the Mountain’s rating was a bit embarrassing at 5.4 points, with almost unanimous feedback: three words: "don’t understand it"; four words: "completely baffling."

Another four words: "washed-up talent."

Overall, it looked like a failed attempt to be deep had been exposed, much to its embarrassment.

Roadside Person A’s rating was moderate, 7.6 points.

Finally, he saw ’Terror Animal City.’

A rating of 9.2 points?!

Huh? Mr. Ling rubbed his eyes. He hadn’t seen it wrong, had he?