Every summer, the holiday season marks one of the most important box office periods in the film industry of Great Zhou.
Of course, there are at least a dozen notable release windows throughout the year, but the summer season is firmly among the top three.
During this period, there are usually seven or eight big-budget films, while smaller indie productions number in the teens, all vying for attention.
'Rurouni Kenshin: Trust & Betrayal' barely made it into that big-budget tier — with a budget of over 50 million, it wasn't the highest nor the lowest, ranking ninth overall in terms of investment among all summer releases.
Historically, out of more than 20 films released during this window, 80% flop, 10% break even, and only about 10% turn a strong profit.
Although 'Rurouni Kenshin: Trust & Betrayal' had managed to generate some buzz via promotions aired during 'Dragon Zakura', a breakout hit on Yunteng TV, its competitors barely spared it a glance.
After all, films and TV dramas are entirely different beasts. A drama can push content straight to viewers — if they like the push, they might keep watching.
But with movies, audiences have to part with real cash and carve out time to go see it.
Sure, you can run ads through a TV network, but can you really get people to leave their homes and head to the cinema?
What's worse, 'Rurouni Kenshin: Trust & Betrayal' had one fatal flaw — not a single bankable movie star was in the cast.
Jing Yu and Xia Yining were hugely popular on television, sure. But again, film and television don't operate the same.
In Jing Yu's previous life, even Hu Ge couldn't translate TV stardom into box office hits. Yang Mi was a ratings queen, but her film work was underwhelming. Liu Tianxian had been a top-tier actress in dramas for years — yet what movie had she headlined that actually performed well?
Not to mention a certain former "traffic king" idol with millions of online fans — Big Cannon in the Modo City utterly destroyed his career, turning him from an A-lister into a cautionary tale. The losses were catastrophic.
Fans are willing to argue online for three days straight to defend their idols, burning data and electricity in the process — but they won't spend 40 yuan to support them at the cinema.
That's why none of the competing films took this "TV actor-turned-film-star" movie seriously.
Time and time again, examples from the Great Zhou proved that TV stars crossing over into film rarely work out.
'Rurouni Kenshin: Trust & Betrayal' marked Jing Yu's debut as a screenwriter, transitioning from television to film. If the total box office could hit 100 million, it would net around 30 million in revenue. Add overseas rights and DVD sales, and breaking even on the 50 million budget seemed achievable.
If he could pull that off, it would already be impressive.
But becoming a summer box office smash?
No one was holding their breath.
Even Cheng Lie, by mid-June, was getting anxious. Just how many of Jing Yu's fans would actually pay for a ticket? No one could say.
And this fictionalized samurai period film — would the people of Great Zhou even like it?
Still, he had faith in Jing Yu. The man had proven himself in the TV industry time and again — underestimated by everyone, only to rise to the top.
This time would be no different.
"The numbers are in," Cheng Lie said, handing Jing Yu a report.
Though 'Love Letter' was still in production, Jing Yu had already finished shooting his parts. Most of the remaining scenes were focused on Yu Youqing's role. So Jing Yu wasn't too busy at the moment.
25 films are releasing during the same period. Three of them are kid-friendly tokusatsu (Special Effect) movies targeting elementary schoolers and kindergartners on break. Among the remaining 22, we've got: 3 crime films, 5 romances, 3 arthouse films, 5 fantasy films, and 3 suspense thrillers. Only 3, including 'Rurouni Kenshin: Trust & Betrayal', include historical elements," Cheng Lie said.
"The film with the largest investment is the crime drama 'Original Sin', starring Best Actor Liu Yun and Best Actress Lin Zhi — budget: 270 million. Next is the romance 'Torchlight', with 190 million. Then there's the fantasy film 'Mirror Fish', budgeted at 140 million. These three all exceed the 100 million mark and feature A-list stars with three-month-long promo campaigns already in motion. The rest are under 100 million. Ours, at just over 50 million, ranks ninth."
"Nervous?" Jing Yu asked, glancing at him.
"Of course I'm nervous!" Cheng Lie shot him a look.
"The three of us are okay — but you've bet your whole net worth on these two films. You being this calm is what's weird."
"At worst, I lose it all and go back to working in TV. What's the big deal?" Jing Yu said casually, then quickly added, "But if it comes to that, wherever I go, I'm taking you three with me. No question about it."
He paused. "Still... I don't believe we'll lose money. That thought hasn't even crossed my mind."
Over the past two years, Jing Yu had gotten a solid read on Great Zhou's audience preferences — nearly identical to those of East Asia in his previous life.
Had he arrived in this world to find a mature web fiction or anime industry, he might've written novels or made manga instead of dramas. But unfortunately, those industries were either non-existent or in their infancy.
TV and film were all that was truly viable.
And frankly, the format didn't matter — only the audience did.
The repeated success of his works had proven one thing: Great Zhou audiences loved the same "anime-esque" content as his previous world.
And since 'Rurouni Kenshin' had been a huge hit in Japan, there was no reason to think it would bomb here.
In his past life, the five 'Rurouni Kenshin' movies made nearly 20 billion yen at the Japanese box office — roughly 1 billion yuan. Not earth-shattering over five films, but considering Japan's population of only 100 million, it was an incredible achievement.
Scaled to China's population, that's the equivalent of 100 billion yuan — or 20 billion per film.
For comparison, in Jing Yu's past life, only a dozen Chinese films had ever crossed the 2 billion yuan mark.
Of course, Great Zhou isn't Japan. Even with similar tastes, the numbers won't line up perfectly.
Maybe 'Rurouni Kenshin' won't do as well here. Or maybe it'll do even better.
Either way, Jing Yu was confident: he wasn't losing money on a 50-million-yuan investment.
"Also, the royalty split from 'Initial D' merchandise and licensing just hit my account — 31 million. Plus 13 million in script fees from 'Dragon Zakura'. That's 44 million total. I'm putting all of it into promoting 'Rurouni Kenshin: Trust & Betrayal' and 'Love Letter'," said Jing Yu.
"Cheng Lie, you're in charge of the funds. Spend it however you think best — I'm no expert. Don't save a single yuan. If it brings even one more person to the theater, it's worth it."
He looked him in the eye.
"I don't mind working with TV stations, but I'm not going back to be their employee. A good horse doesn't turn back to graze, right? I know you feel the same."
Cheng Lie stayed silent for a moment.
"Of course, that's the worst-case scenario. Honestly, I believe in these two films. They're going to be hits."
Cheng Lie took a deep breath.
With this 44 million for marketing, they had now invested a total of 150 million into the two films.
And Jing Yu had signed a performance-based contract with Yunteng TV. His work had been a string of hits — not only that, but he was wildly prolific.
Even top writers at the Six Major Networks wouldn't earn that much in a lifetime — let alone in two years.
Jing Yu alone had a 10% royalty share.
At those networks, 2% was already generous. "Take it or leave it," was their attitude.
But with such a massive investment, the two films would need to bring in at least 450 million at the box office just to break even.
For a newbie film team, that sounded impossible.
But then again... Jing Yu wasn't just anybody.
"Yeah... a good horse doesn't graze backwards. I'm with you," Cheng Lie smiled.
"These two movies — they're going to blow up."
The two said no more. They got back to work.
And as June came to a close, the full-scale promo campaign for 'Rurouni Kenshin: Trust & Betrayal' officially kicked off.