```
The film market on the island has its unique rules.
According to official statistics, the annual box office on the island is only about 300 million Huaxia currency.
Follow curr𝒆nt nov𝒆ls on fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com.
Of course, the 'official' sources of the island have always been unreliable—while the mainland might fake statistics on purpose, the problem with the island's officials is a lack of ability, making accurate statistics difficult to come by.
Based on relatively authoritative civilian statistics, the island's annual box office definitely exceeds 300 million, at least not less than that of the Philippines, and even far surpasses it. Considering that the Philippines has a population of one hundred million and the island only has over twenty million, it's clear that the latter's film industry is much healthier and more mature than the former's.
The problem is that the tastes of audiences on both sides of the strait are not quite the same, and it's rare for works to cause a huge sensation in both places simultaneously. It's either a Taiwanese blockbuster that flops in the mainland or a mainland box office hit that meets its Waterloo in Taiwan, with huge disparities in box office takings between the two.
For example, "Cape No. 7," hailed as the rise of Taiwanese cinema, created a super box office record of 130 million Huaxia currency in its domestic market, defeating a host of Hollywood blockbusters, but in the mainland its box office was a mere 30 million, less than some local low-budget films, with virtually no impact at all.
On the flip side, mainland movies that are box office hits are often even more tragic when they arrive in Taiwan; even big-budget productions costing hundreds of millions find it hard to escape this fate.
Jiang Wen's "Let the Bullets Fly" earned nearly 700 million Huaxia currency in the mainland, but when it was released in Taiwan, the total box office was only 200,000 Huaxia currency;
"Lost in Thailand," which broke the Chinese-language box office record with nearly 1.3 billion Huaxia currency in the mainland, in its first week in Taiwan earned a pitiful 20,000 Huaxia currency, and the estimated total box office was so 'embarrassing' that it was simply not recorded.
It's not just mainland movies that suffer in Taiwan; Hong Kong movies fare just as poorly. "Don't Go Breaking My Heart," a film that sold well in both Hong Kong and the mainland, made only 1.2 million Renminbi in Taiwan.
In the top 20 highest-grossing films in Taiwan's movie market, not a single mainland film is to be found, and only Stephen Chow's "Kung Fu Hustle" represents Hong Kong films. A few other Taiwanese films make the list, with the rest occupied by Hollywood and other foreign films.
"So you see, taking on the distribution rights for your film over there is a big risk," Long Wu shrugged. "Being able to offer a price of 750,000 is already full of sincerity."
"In that case, I shouldn't get my hopes up for these two places," Suming said, a bit sullenly. "But that's not right."
"What's wrong?" Long Wu asked.
"According to what you said, although the policy for importing mainland films to the island has been relaxed, there are still restrictions on the number, right?" Suming inquired.
Long Wu nodded, "No more than 20 films."
"Then there's no need for them to take the risk of importing an unremarkable small production and occupy a precious slot. If they are coming to negotiate, they must see potential in 'Animal City' to fit the island's market, right?" Suming said, still uncertain.
Hearing this, Long Wu thought for a moment.
"It's very possible that your analysis is correct." He nodded solemnly. "I remember now, some films did well on both sides of the strait, like 'Love is Not Blind' and 'The Stolen Years,' both of which performed well and made it into the annual top ten box office on the island. Just a moment..."
He said this as he operated the computer.
From Suming's perspective, Long Wu's mouse-handling was extremely rigid. His grip was so tight that the veins on the back of his hand were popping out.
"Bro, do you need to be so forceful? It's not like operating a computer is the same as chopping people," Suming said with a wry smile.
"I don't understand high-tech stuff. It's usually my wife who handles it. She's out shopping, so I'm a bit nervous doing it myself," Long Wu said, his gaze fixed on the computer screen as he awkwardly manoeuvred the mouse, not lifting his head.
Suming: "..."
After fiddling around for a while, Long Wu finally found and opened an Excel file from a folder, then took out a pair of reading glasses and stared at the screen for a long time.
"Hey, don't fall asleep..." Suming was almost dozing off when Long Wu's voice finally came through the speaker.
```
"Oh, oh, oh, Brother Ten, did you find anything?" Suming jolted alert.
"I checked, and in the past five years, the mainland films that grossed over ten million at the box office on the island all have a few things in common, low production, not involving politics... and one more thing."
Long Wu looked up, dead serious, and said, "Don't talk about life and dreams."
Every time he saw Long Wu's serious and stern expression, Suming wanted to laugh.
"Ah? Without life and dreams, what's the difference from a salted fish?"
Startled for a moment, he then understood.
It's not about not talking about them, but the life and dreams discussed in mainland movies are generally a bit unrealistic and confusing. Like that movie about the Taoist descending the mountain.
Otherwise, they are too heavy, like 'Love for Life,' directed by Gu Changwei, featuring Zhang Ziyi and Aaron Kwok. The audience on the island prefers movies that don't talk about grand principles but about small, relatable life stories close to reality.
"So that means Animal City probably has a market on the island, and that's why they're coming to talk," Suming said.
"That should be the case, but even so, the price can't be too high."
Long Wu nodded, "I suggest you can look a bit broader, Asia is far more than just these two regions, Japan, India, Singapore, Malaysia, oh, and Xiangjiang, can all contribute to the box office, especially Japan, which has a very big market. Back when my company exported movies to Japan, they were priced almost 1:1 with our domestic box office, and they still made a profit."
Hearing the words "my company," Suming glanced at Long Wu, who remained expressionless, unsure of what he was thinking.
Suming pondered for a moment, perhaps overinterpreting Long Wu's meaning, or perhaps not.
But either way, it was not yet time to discuss it, so he said, "I roughly understand, Brother Ten, shall we talk after Animal City is off the screens and we have the total box office?"
"OK," Long Wu nodded.
"Oh, I almost forgot, Guo Zijian and his team have already gone back, Brother Ten, can you tell them for me, when the box office comes out, I'll send them a big red envelope."
"Why don't you tell him yourself?" Long Wu shrugged and said.
"Brother Ten, they're your people, it wouldn't be right for me to say it directly," Suming smiled.
"Young people think too much, be careful or you'll turn white-haired young. But it's also good, it saves Guo Zijian the awkwardness," Long Wu also started to smile.
The next day, through various channels, it was learned that the film scheduling for this week's several movies was finally settled. Continue reading at Freewebnovel
I Am a Passerby, this kind of word-of-mouth movie has advantages and disadvantages that are just as obvious, the box office won't skyrocket, nor will it plummet, it might instead steadily increase, after losing to Animal City in a fierce battle, its scheduling actually improved by one percentage point, approaching 9%;
Tiny Times 4, after an explosive first week, began to weaken in its second week, and its scheduling dropped to 25%; but that was still a horrifying number;
Monk Comes Down the Mountain, the more it was criticized, the happier it seemed, with scheduling remaining stable;
The various stories told by Zhang Zhen about ghosts were already insignificant.
Terror Animal City, the national average scheduling, reached 18%.
In addition, after this week, a series of long-promoted summer blockbusters will be released sequentially: The White Flowers Bloom, Monster Hunt, Shaun the Sheep, Pancake Man, and an excellently reviewed domestic animated movie, Great Saint Returns.