Zhou Ming and Tang Ran sat in the cinema, like the domestic cinemas in later generations, they put a few advertisements before the movie started, or preview other movies in the cinema, etc., I don't know when this arose and who came up with it, but it is undeniable that this is indeed a very effective way to increase income and let the audience relieve time.

Sitting in the seat, Tang Ran took Zhou Ming's hand: "Brother Ming, don't worry, I believe this is just an accident, after all, it's still early, I heard that it is usually seven or eight o'clock in the evening, which is the time when the number of moviegoers is the largest." ”

Zhou Ming also shook Tang Ran's small hand with his backhand: "Ran Ran, don't worry, this situation is within my expectations, making an animated movie in twenty days, with a publicity cost of 200,000 US dollars, I am already very satisfied if people can enter the cinema, and the most important thing now is whether they will recommend their friends to watch it after they leave the cinema." ”

"It's like eating crabs, only when someone eats crabs and tells other people that the crabs are delicious, then there is a chance to promote it, otherwise it's self-entertainment. Zhou Ming said.

Tang Ran's hands were folded: "I believe that this animated movie will definitely evoke their innocence!"

For Tang Ran's prayer, Zhou Ming could only shrug his shoulders and smile meaninglessly, and when the two of them were chatting, time passed quickly, and when it was time for the opening of the movie, Zhou Ming subconsciously looked around the audience again, the number of people was still small, and there were less than twenty people sitting in this small screening hall.

I hope Jobs is still the same Jobs who created the miracle of Epai!

Zhou Ming thought so, and at the same time looked at the big screen with the others, like other movies, at the beginning of the movie, first the Pixar Animation Studio and Disney logos, and then the main film of the movie.

The first thing that appears in the camera is a home full of toys, and then a child is holding these toys to act out a robbery, and finally Sheriff Woody comes out and puts the robber in a prison with a bed.

This is just a movie title before the subtitles appeared, but when he saw this scene, Zhou Ming could hear bursts of chuckles in the theater, obviously this title evoked the purest memories in their hearts, after all, when everyone was a child, they would have fantasized about many things through toys, and of course more people would fantasize that they were the sheriff who subdued the bad guy and saved the beauty.

Later, when the more handsome and tall space policeman Buzz Lightyear appeared, and shouted that he was a messenger of peace from an alien galaxy and came to save the earth, etc., these middle two words that made Sheriff Woody mad made the theater laugh constantly. And when Buzz Lightyear accidentally fell out of the window, everyone gasped again.

Later, the sheriff and the space cop meet at the gas station, and they try to find a way to get home, and the sheriff is constantly slapped in the face on the way, and the thrill and Chaplin-esque comedy switch makes people laugh and scream again. When the Space Warrior sees an advertisement about himself on TV, he still refuses to believe that he is a toy, and he still insists on flying and finally breaks his hand, which undoubtedly has a Hamlet-esque black humor.

Finally, on Christmas Day, as the toys keep an eye on the owner's progress in dismantling the new toys, the movie finally ends, and the Pixar Animation Studio and Disney logos return to the big screen once again.

At this time, when the audience came back to their senses, emotions and discussions rang out, after all, they were the first people to come to see Toy Story, which also means that they are the ones who believe that play has a soul the most, so the impact of this movie on them must be the strongest.

Zhou Ming and Tang Ran were still sitting in their seats, trying to listen to the words of the audience, and some of them exclaimed: "My God, although this is just a cartoon, it also makes me believe that toys have souls, otherwise the toys at home will not change positions every day!"

Some sighed: "But seriously, this cartoon seems to be too short, it's not enjoyable to watch at all, Woody's little guy I feel really similar to me, the same smart and able to conquer chicks!"

There were even people who philosophized: "Oh my God! The space cop is really pitiful, he has always thought that he is destined to be a big hero who is going to save the earth from the beginning, but he didn't expect that he was also a mass-produced plastic toy, at that moment I even had to cry for him, because it reminded me of myself, I used to be invincible, but now I have become an idiot who goes to work at three o'clock every day, it is really sad!"

These words made Zhou Ming breathe a sigh of relief, because these reviews were very favorable to the movie, which also meant that they were likely to sell this Toy Story to their friends after leaving.

As the audience left the seats one by one, Zhou Ming and Tang Ran also left.

On the way home, Tang Ran said to Zhou Ming: "Brother Ming, do you want me to buy a few stories at night and come back to tell you stories? It is said that this will also help you fall asleep." ”

Zhou Ming replied with a smile: "Forget it, I think it's just an animated movie, and it's not enough to make me so excited that I can't sleep, just wait for tomorrow morning to get up and watch the box office statistics." ”

Zhou Ming said this, thought for a while, and then said: "But so, I think our computer technology business should be able to do it in theaters, because this movie makes me feel that it is too troublesome for them to rely on manual counting of tickets every day, if it is changed to every ticket sold, it can be recorded immediately, so that real-time box office statistics can be calculated at any time." ”

Tang Ran felt a sudden light in front of her, and she suddenly realized: "This is really a number, I believe they will definitely agree, Brother Ming, you are really amazing!"

Zhou Ming and Tang Ran talked very lively in the car, but the result was that after they all returned home, Zhou Ming told Tang Ran a good story before coaxing Tang Ran to sleep.

Although Toy Story is an animated film for teenagers, and their screenings are only two in the afternoon, the counting of votes was not completed until noon the next day.

"Mr. Zhou Ming, I need to tell you a very bad thing, that is, in yesterday's Toy Story screening, the average attendance rate was only nine percent, which is a very poor result, so the company decided to reduce some screenings, otherwise once the box office is not ideal, then the loss will be the distributor and the theater chain. ”

At noon, when the box office of the first day of theaters was calculated, Disney's distribution manager Iger called Zhou Ming.

From the data given by Iger, Zhou Ming quickly calculated, although he could not know the exact amount of each theater, but the rough estimate would not exceed $10,000, and according to his previous contract with Disney, if the first week of screenings did not exceed $100,000, then the follow-up screening plan would have to be rescheduled.

Zhou Ming can understand that this so-called rearrangement is to further reduce the screening plan, and you must know that they originally only had 30 cinemas that would be screened first.

Thinking of this, Zhou Ming said to Egger: "This is just the first day of screening, I don't think you need to be in such a hurry, right?"

Egger was not in a hurry: "I'm sorry, I'm just here to remind Mr. Zhou Ming, after all, it's a screening, but it can also reflect the box office situation of the screening to a large extent." ”

"Then let's wait until the real box office comes out. ”

Leaving such a sentence to Egger, Zhou Ming hung up the phone, but it didn't take long for Zhou Ming's mobile phone to ring again, only this time it was no longer Egger who called, but Jobs.

"Mr. Zhou Ming, I am very sorry for the box office situation, if there is any request from Disney in the future, you can tell me, I have a definition of this matter!" Jobs said.

From Jobs's words, it is obvious that he already knows the results of yesterday's Toy Story, and the reason why he made such a phone call was that he didn't believe in the result, and more importantly, he felt that he was a little sorry for Zhou Ming, so he thought of helping Zhou Ming recover his losses as much as possible by letting the screening stay in the cinema.

Regarding Jobs's thoughts, Zhou Ming shook his head helplessly and said: "You are Jobs, not a person who was pulled out casually, can you have a little confidence in yourself?

"Mr. Zhou Ming's confidence is still sufficient......"

Without waiting for Jobs to finish speaking, Zhou Ming said: "It can be regarded as my blind confidence, although I don't know why Jobs is so unconfident in your works, but I am very confident in my investment, I know that I will make money on this investment!"

Jobs on the other side of the phone was stunned, he never thought that Zhou Ming would be so confident, but at the same time, he felt that Zhou Ming was very much like himself when he was young, very confident, and dared to do anything.

Three more days have passed, and the time has soon come to the day of the official release of Toy Story, compared with the previous screening, Zhou Ming also specially prepared a Toy Story premiere, not only all the main creative staff participated, even Jobs came to participate, colleagues in Jobs's suggestion, this premiere was also held as a drama mode, and the actors were found to perform a drama before the movie started as a warm-up.

Zhou Ming and Tang Ran naturally also came to the theater, as the time of Toy Story approached, Zhou Ming and Tang Lin walked into the theater, Tang Lin excitedly told Zhou Ming: "Zhou Ming, you see that there are so many people today, it seems that the virus propaganda you said last time is still very effective!"

Following Tang Ran's words, Zhou Ming looked around the theater, and sure enough, the number of people in this theater today was very large, and almost half of the hall was about to be filled.

But even so, Zhou Ming still didn't dare to take it lightly, just waiting for the final statistics of the box office tomorrow.