Chapter 101 2/2

“Even if we only consider entertainment, it can instantly change the current situation.”

Sheng Quan looked at the screen, her eyes shining brightly. She looked up at Gu Zhao and smiled. “The good news is, it’s in our hands.”

As she went through the details and electronic signatures, she handed the laptop back to him. “Now what we need to do is make sure it appears in front of everyone in the most impactful way.”

The intuition of those peers wasn’t wrong. “Polar—Best Player,” the content of the movie, was indeed exciting and attractive, but it wasn’t the focus of this high-budget plan.

The focus was how it would be presented to the audience.

***

Do you remember Yu Miao, the girl who liked the celebrity named Lu and started working at Starlight Entertainment?

Yes, she’s back to watch another movie.

Many people were like her. Over the past few years, Starlight’s productions have refined the audience’s aesthetic, allowing them to blindly buy tickets when Starlight-produced movies are released.

Yu Miao was experienced in ticket buying. She knew that in such a situation where the movie hadn’t been released yet but was already hot, she might not be able to get a ticket.

She noticed that people were already posting online, “Betting 50 cents and a spicy strip, this time I’ll get a ticket.”

The good news was that she was also experienced in ticket-grabbing.

One minute before the presale time, Yu Miao rubbed her hands, checked the network, made sure her computer had exited all other background software, and confidently awaited the ticket-grabbing moment.

With three seconds to go, Yu Miao was about to make her move, but her hand slipped.

When she looked back at the screen, only tickets for the “Special Screening” were left.

Yu Miao: What’s a special screening? And why is it so expensive?

But it was too late to think about it. Yu Miao decisively grabbed a ticket for the special screening. After all, tickets could be refunded.

That was her plan. After buying the ticket, she would check online to see what a special screening was. If it wasn’t good, she could refund it. She would just miss seeing the movie on the first day—no big deal. She could watch it tomorrow or the day after.

After buying the ticket, Yu Miao strangely found that the movie theaters she used to visit had never had such a weirdly named screening as a “Special Screening.”

Contemporary young netizens’ approach to problems: When in doubt, post on social media.

Yu Miao immediately searched real-time Weibo for #BestPlayerSpecialScreening, and indeed, numerous posts from other users with the hashtag were popping up.

“What’s the Best Player special screening? Other movies at the same time don’t have this screening.”

“The most expensive movie ticket I’ve ever bought, Best Player special screening, ticket price $299, is the cinema crazy? Is this the right pricing?”

“Did I buy the wrong ticket? I’ve never heard of a special screening before.”

“299, am I crazy, or is the production company crazy?”

“Starlight has always been conscientious. Did they also lean towards capital this time? But a movie ticket for $299 is too much. Are they taking the audience for fools?”

Yu Miao didn’t make a post; she just scrolled through the new Weibo posts. Some thought it was outrageous, some realized they bought the wrong ticket and were considering refunding it to wait and see, and others, like her, were fans of Sheng Quan. Even if they thought the ticket price was too high, they were hesitating.

As new Weibo posts continued to appear rapidly, even multiple posts per second, Yu Miao guessed that it would soon trend.

Sure enough, #BestPlayerSpecialScreening quickly climbed the trending list.

“What?!!! Best Player has a special screening, and the ticket price is 299? Is Sheng Quan crazy?”

CEO Lu almost choked on the tea he was drinking when he saw this on the hot search. He quickly checked online, found it to be true, and wondered, “Special screening? Could it be an interactive session with the actors? Even if it is, they can’t charge $299 for it.”

“Can I still get a ticket now? Hurry up and buy one for me. I need to see what Sheng Quan is up to.”

—”Special screening?”

Qingniao Entertainment’s Xie Wanzhao looked at the new trending topic. Thinking about the recent mysterious actions of those few cinemas, although he still couldn’t figure out the reason, he called a contact he knew in the theater business.

“Old He, it’s me, Xie Wanzhao. Can you get tickets for the Best Player special screening? I want to check it out.”

“I knew it. Something’s definitely going on here. Even though I don’t know what it is, Sheng Quan must be holding back a big move.”

CEO Liu, making calls to his drinking buddies, was sure: “Just wait and see. Our Chairman Sheng never acts without a reason.”

Many other CEOs felt the same.

Selling tickets for $299, whether from the audience’s perspective or the perspective of these filmmakers, could be described in two words: insane.

Obviously, Sheng Quan wasn’t insane.

As discussions among moviegoers and non-moviegoers gathered on social media, they realized that the $299 special screening might be a marketing activity.

Haven’t you seen even those media outlets that don’t cover entertainment news start reporting on this “sky-high movie ticket” now?

And because the movie was also released overseas simultaneously, the two giant cinema chains were selling tickets for the special screening at similarly exorbitant prices. So now, it had created a feeling that the whole world was discussing how “special” the special screening was.

CEO Liu felt that Sheng Quan’s move was too unconventional.

“If what’s in the special screening isn’t special enough and it flops, the word of mouth can instantly reverse.”

Movie tickets are usually only a few dozen yuan. Sheng Quan is making people spend hundreds to watch, and this is an official action. If the content inside doesn’t satisfy the audience, it will definitely backfire.

Liu Zong was secretly pleased, eagerly waiting to see the show. Well, that’s impossible.

As the saying goes, it’s easy to add flowers to brocade but difficult to send charcoal in snowy weather. Sheng Quan has a profound background. A single movie can’t bring him down. CEO Liu certainly wouldn’t foolishly make an enemy.

He even happily called to express his concern, attempting to send some support in case it was a promotional mistake by Starlight Entertainment.

Sheng Quan thanked him for his kindness and then smiled, saying, “Thank you, CEO Liu, but I believe the content in the special screening will satisfy the audience.”

CEO Liu: “…”

So confident?

Even if it’s special, isn’t it just watching a movie?

299 yuan to watch a movie—how must the audience be entertained to justify this price?

His determination to personally go see it became even stronger.

Many people shared the same thoughts as CEO Liu, including some of the audience members who had bought special screening tickets. Some were just curious, while others were approaching it with a mindset of “if you dare to fool me, I’ll definitely scold you.”

Some thought, like the CEOs, that since they spent money on a ticket and Starlight Entertainment was thriving without needing to raise funds through this, they would undoubtedly provide a worthwhile viewing experience.

Some even speculated that there would be gifts on the cinema seats, and the value of these gifts must exceed $299.

As for Yu Miao, her reason for not refunding the ticket was similar to the last group of viewers. She didn’t believe Chairman Sheng would swindle the audience’s money.

With trust in Sheng Quan, Yu Miao reluctantly accepted the $299 ticket price and, on June 21, entered the cinema.

Waiting, ticket checking, entering—only this time, the cinema seemed to have added a Hall 10.

“Polar—Best Player” was playing in Hall 10.

Was it because of the special screening? Was it specially arranged?

Sure enough, Chairman Sheng was so good. He wouldn’t let them spend 299 yuan for nothing. Maybe there was something like an Easter egg!

With a bit of curiosity, anticipation, and a little excitement, Yu Miao stepped into this theater that appeared in public for the first time.

Once inside, she was stunned.

The time hadn’t arrived yet, so the bright lights were normal. But what wasn’t normal was why there were so few seats.

Even more surprisingly, no matter how Yu Miao looked around, she couldn’t find the movie screen.

“Where’s the screen?”

Other viewers who entered around the same time were also surprised and looked around. “Why are the seats arranged so strangely?”

“Where’s the screen?”

“Could the special screening involve live performances? No way, I just want to watch a movie, not deal with these extra things.”

“Maybe a celebrity is coming? Ah, ah, ah, if it’s Hua Qing, that would be great! I really like her!”

“Maybe it’s Yan Hui! Yan Hui!”

The viewers were discussing, but under the guidance of the staff, who wore an expression of “a big surprise is waiting for you,” they reluctantly sat in their assigned seats.

Their current attitude was probably: Let’s see what kind of surprise you can come up with.

Yu Miao sat down, and her excitement and anticipation increased even more.

—Bang!

The entire theater went dark, and it was time to start the movie.

A beam of light appeared in front of Yu Miao, like beautiful stars floating in space, slowly drifting in mid-air.

A prompt sounded: “This movie will be presented in holographic projection. Please watch quietly. If you are startled, you can contact the staff.”

Yu Miao: “…”

Other viewers: “…”

They all widened their eyes in unison, with expressions of confusion and disbelief.

Holographic…

Holographic projection?!!!