Chapter 103: 500

Since then, the entire crew was integrated into Yu Yaoyao’s morning exercise team. The reward and punishment system was also improved. The crew needed to do the shooting in four cities and two countries. The total planned shooting time was originally 60 days.  But after the daily brainwashing, all the shots were completed 20 days ahead of schedule. Even the shooting footage during the period was a rare and interesting one in the industry.

After the filming was over, Yu Yaoyao, who was finally able to return to her life of victory, dragged her luggage and threw herself directly into Shen Yichong’s arms. Shen Rui, who had gotten a tone darker, washed his hands and hugged his sister as soon as he got home.

They finally got it done! As expected, being at home felt the best!

Both mother and son let out a cheerful cry from the soul. That night, the family of four went crazy in the indoor heated swimming pool at home.

***

Near the end of the winter vacation, ‘The Cat and Me’ was released. The premiere was low-key, and the attendance rate was too low. Whether it was the esteemed director Da Fu, or the popular new actors and supporting roles were present this time, the popularity was still weak.

Apart from the invited professional film critics and the crew’s circle of friends, there were very few fans in the audience.  Without the charismatic cast and the hype, the result seemed obvious. Although the cat photos and stories were collected from netizens during the preparation of this film before, the attention of netizens had been reduced to a minimum after a year, due to insufficient exposure. The release also collided with several Chinese New Year blockbusters, and it was inevitable that the premiere and the screening results would be ugly.

When the box office came out on the first day of the official release, even Yu Yaoyao sighed. The box office on the first day was only 15 million, which was too low even for a special effects film.

Even the box office of ‘’Seven Years’,  a noir-themed film, was several times ahead that of ‘Cat’.

“How could it be so miserable?” While Yu Yaoyao helped Little Sweetheart change the skirt for her doll, she raised her head and asked Shen Yichong. “Do you want me to advertise for Da Fu?”

She was a master of traffic, who was well-known throughout the country.

Shen Yichong was setting up a slide for their little girl. Hearing this, he rolled up his sleeves. “Need not,” he merely said.

“Is it really okay to be so heartless, darling? You will lose friends like this!”

Shen Yichong glanced at her helplessly. “We haven’t gone to the cinema yet. It’s normal for the audience not to go. Don’t worry, it’s only the first day.”

“Ah? But I wanted to go! Why did you stop me?” Yu Yaoyao pouted. She lowered her head and helped her daughter tidy up the skirt. “You said it was a weekend and it was winter vacation. There’ll be too many people, so we have to wait until school starts… ah? Does everyone else think so too?” Her eyes narrowed suddenly at Shen Yichong.

Shen Yichong smiled. “Won’t you know if you wait a little longer?”

*

As if to verify his claim, ‘Cat’ experienced a miserable box office for its release on Sunday. However, on the second day, the box office exceeded that of the first day, directly reaching 80 million, more than five times that of the premiere!

Yu Yaoyao was  shocked when she saw the released data.

“Students who are still on vacation naturally have to watch it during the daytime on weekdays. They spend their winter vacation more enthusiastically than office workers,” Shen Yichong explained. “Cat owners, according to the data survey, prefer quietness. When watching such literary films, they prefer a calm environment and don’t like sitting next to noisy children, so mothers avoid weekends and prefer free slots from their work time, or simply wait until the end of winter vacation.”

Yaoyao was amazed. “Ah… then, shouldn’t the box office also be good over the weekend? Wouldn’t there be mothers who’ll bring their children to watch it? They have to go to work on weekdays, after all,” she said.

“Mums of younger children are generally more conservative.” Shen Yichong glanced at Douban’s movie reviews. “They usually wait for reviews to be released and get confirmation from other mothers that the film has no gore, violence or explicit scenes that are not suitable for children. Only then are they willing to take their children to watch it.”

Shen Yichong showed Yu Yaoyao the rating on Douban. “After the premiere, the rating was 8.9, and the comments focused on ‘relaxed’, ‘warm’, and ‘funny’, and special effects animations of little black cats began to appear on the Internet, focused on its cuteness. Next, many mothers who were watching will take their children to watch it next time. This weekend will usher in a small boom at the box office,” he said.

Yu Yaoyao felt like she had an epiphany. Shen Yichong’s words were like god’s prophecy. After the premiere of ‘Cat’, the box office results improved with each day. Usually by the second week, movies experienced a slump. But it seemed that this market phenomenon did not hold true for this movie.

The second weekend box office far exceeded the peak of the first week! The box office on the weekend of the third week remained in the peak range of ​​the first week. It wasn’t until the fourth week that the box office began to drop slightly. It got off to a bad start, but the box office at the back shot up like a rocket. It even exceeded the total box office of some Chinese New Year blockbusters. It became a miracle of domestic special effects films!

‘Cat’ was completely on fire!

It was overwhelming Douban’s comment section, movie review websites, Weibo, and reposts in the circle of friends. Almost overnight, it became a rare, blockbuster, special effect pet film.