CHAPTER 1048: CHAPTER 1048: FIRST DAY BOX OFFICE

"My Wife, the Beautiful CEO" box office: 50 million.

The film starring Park Eun-si box office: 80 million.

Xiao Zheng couldn’t help but be stunned; he hadn’t anticipated the opening day box office, with the film starring Park Eun-si, surpassing "My Wife, the Beautiful CEO."

This immediately stirred up heated discussions online.

Park Eun-si’s agent directly expressed on his personal social media, essentially thanking everyone for their support, and in a roundabout way, mentioned how Xiao Zheng had previously driven him away.

Immediately, under that social media post, there were many comments mocking Xiao Zheng and Qianqiu Entertainment for their lack of judgment, their arrogance, and similar remarks, with a particularly high number of likes.

Anyone with a keen eye could easily see that there were paid trolls behind this.

However, Park Eun-si’s tactics proved effective; many people felt that "Love You Over Ten Thousand Years" could not compare to the film starring Park Eun-si.

For a time, many comments unfavorable to Qianqiu Entertainment appeared on the internet.

Chu Xiaoran was on the verge of tears upon seeing this.

Leng Ruobing also remained silent.

Director Wen Cheng, however, did not say much.

And within this context, a senior executive at Qianqiu Entertainment, named Zhang Ruoting, who was once one of the fiercest opponents of Leng Ruobing, also penned a statement on his personal social media:

It’s truly a pity. When President Leng decided on this project, most of the people in our company meeting were against it, yet President Leng persisted, suppressing all opposing voices. It seems that the Qianqiu Group has reached a very critical crossroads. If we cannot stop the losses in time, Qianqiu is in danger!

This statement instantly triggered a major uproar.

No one expected that a senior executive at the Qianqiu Group would openly oppose Leng Ruobing. The words seemed harmless but were like daggers aimed at Leng Ruobing’s core.

Clearly, Zhang Ruoting was undermining Leng Ruobing’s authority!

Upon seeing this message online, Shen Yuancheng was stunned, then burst into laughter, feeling immense satisfaction, muttering to himself: "Xiao Zheng, oh Xiao Zheng, do you see? Even your people have betrayed you this time, hehe."

Thinking about Xiao Zheng’s disheartened appearance afterwards, Shen Yuancheng couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

And after Zhang Ruoting’s statement, some other executives at the Qianqiu Group also started posting unfavorable remarks about Leng Ruobing.

Some accused her of arrogance.

Some accused her of being power-hungry.

Some accused her of being outdated.

Suddenly, Leng Ruobing was in a very unfavorable position.

In turmoil.

Chu Xiaoran cried and said to Leng Ruobing, "Sister, I’m sorry, it’s my fault."

She felt very ashamed.

If her movie could be a little more successful, this situation wouldn’t have happened.

The 50 million opening box office, though decent, still seemed like a drop in the bucket compared to the support the Qianqiu Group had given to Qianqiu Entertainment.

However, Xiao Zheng laughed and said, "Why are you crying? Didn’t you look at the reviews alongside the opening box office?"

"Huh?" After work, both Leng Ruobing and Chu Xiaoran returned to the villa, looking at Xiao Zheng in confusion.

Xiao Zheng opened a movie rating website, pointed at the scores on the screen, and said, "Look, ’My Wife, the Beautiful CEO’ now has a rating of 8.5, which is considered exceptionally high for a commercial film, whereas the film starring Park Eun-si..."

Xiao Zheng then brought up the page for Park Eun-si’s film, smiled, and said, "It now has a rating of 3.8, and the rating is still dropping. Even though some are madly giving it five stars, they can’t stop this trend."

"But, reviews can’t represent everything," Chu Xiaoran said with teary eyes. She had some understanding of films; nowadays, movies starring fresh actors had such scores, but it didn’t really affect the box office.

On the contrary, those highly-rated movies with scores of 8 or even 9, despite their acclaim, ended up with mediocre box office results.

Xiao Zheng smiled confidently, "Just wait and see, tomorrow’s box office will give you the answer."

Not waiting for the next day, an article appeared online that very night.

"Are Films with Fresh Faces Really Going to Dominate Our Film Market?"

The author of this article wasn’t a famous film critic, just a very ordinary user.

But his language was sincere.

He compared "My Wife, the Beautiful CEO" and the film starring Park Eun-si, noting the rating difference, and expressed his confusion about why excellent films have mediocre box office results while poorly made films are box office hits.

The article was written in straightforward language and provided rigorous analysis, possibly resonating with many netizens. It spread rapidly, going viral on various social media platforms overnight.

In response to the commotion caused by the article, different self-media platforms quickly wrote new media pieces echoing its ideas as if they were cats smelling fish.

In the current age of traffic, self-media content caters to user preferences.

Netizens now detest films featuring fresh actors and call for quality films, which these platforms naturally echo.

Moreover, those moved by watching "My Wife, the Beautiful CEO" felt indignant that its box office was overshadowed by a film featuring fresh actors.

Immediately, many people began promoting the film on their own initiative.

Some even brought their parents and friends along to watch.

Others went for a second or third watch.

This formed a massive grassroots movement.

Under this intertwining influence, the buzz around "My Wife, the Beautiful CEO" skyrocketed to a staggering degree in no time, with discussions flooding the internet.

And the next day, the film’s box office showed significant changes.

It started a surprising upswing!

The box office soared from the first day’s 50 million to 110 million!

Whereas the film starring Park Eun-si began to experience genuine declining numbers, with alarmingly low occupancy throughout the day, bringing in only 30 million in the entire day.

Upon learning the results, Chu Xiaoran was so excited she jumped up; such a turn of events was truly thrilling.

Leng Ruobing secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Xiao Zheng remained very calm, as all this was within his expectations. Wen Cheng was quite like Xiao Zheng; once he finished filming the movie, he knew he was bound to succeed, as he was a director of great talent.

The mood of some others, however, turned gloomy.