The box office on the first day of the weekend was 27 million.

Monday's box office was 12 million.

Tuesday's box office was 9.6 million.

…

It had an explosive holiday on Friday and Saturday, with a box office of 51 million in two days.

The first part of "Three Kingdoms: Red Cliff" took in a box office of 114 million in the first week in the Mainland, making it the third Chinese-language film in the Mainland to break over 100 million in its first week.

It surpassed Lao Mouzi's "The City of Golden Armor" and ranked second only behind "Painted Skin" which had 125 million in its first week.

China Film and other companies are grinning crookedly. Look at the momentum. Although "Three Kingdoms·Red Cliff" is not as good as "Painted Skin", it is still very promising to exceed 300 million.

Don’t think that with the 500 million+ “Painted Skin”, the mainland film market will take off. The data of “Painted Skin” has a certain luck bonus, is non-replicable, and cannot be measured by common sense.

So far, the mainland box office has exceeded 100 million, although it is not uncommon, but it is still a very good result.

In 2006, there were less than double-digit movies with a box office of over 100 million in the Mainland. In 2007, there were only a little over 10 movies with a box office of over 100 million in the Mainland.

This is despite the fact that Fanxing Movies and theater chains have been relatively active in promoting the market, and the data of the original time and space are even more "shabby".

As for the actual box office grosses exceeding 300 million, the only ones with records are "Titanic", "Painted Skin", "The Golden Jacket" and "Transformers".

The last two movies barely exceeded 300 million, and the ones that really hit 300 million were "Painted Skin" and "Titanic".

And because the theater chain had not yet been reorganized when "Titanic" was released, the actual release time of this movie was extremely long. However, considering the ticket prices and theater size in 1997, the film was still very valuable.

In the mainland market in 2008, a movie worth 200 million yuan was considered a big hit, and a movie worth more than 300 million yuan was considered a ceiling-level movie in the industry.

"Three Kingdoms: Red Cliff" is expected to earn more than 300 million at the box office, which is definitely considered a success.

Of course, the investment in this movie is huge, and the total investment is estimated to be about 420 million yuan. If it only takes 300 million yuan in box office in the mainland, even if it is two movies, there is still a certain gap between the return of the money.

However, this movie does not just rely on mainland movies, advertising fees and various developments to make money. The most important thing is the box office in Japan and other Asia.

When we first started preparing for this project, Cao Xuan and others regarded the box office in Asia, especially Japan, as an important profit point.

To this end, Fanxing and Toho, which is responsible for Japanese distribution, started negotiations for nearly a year, and finally won nearly 50% of the producer and part of the distribution revenue, which is more than most Hollywood revenue.

The reason is not complicated. Dongho is indeed very optimistic about "Three Kingdoms: Red Cliff".

There is an exaggerated saying that the Japanese love the Three Kingdoms even more than their own country's Warring States Period.

There was a poll on a Japanese website. Among the list of favorite historical figures (including Japan), Cao Cao ranked fourth and Zhuge Liang ranked ninth.

Of course, it is difficult to distinguish the authenticity of these statements, but the Japanese people's love for the Three Kingdoms is indeed overwhelming, and various animation, game, literature, film and television works emerge in endlessly.

Characters from the Three Kingdoms such as Zhou Yu, Zhao Yun, Cao Cao, and Lu Bu are extremely popular in Japan.

Due to various reasons, Japan is not good at this kind of commercial historical blockbusters, so when China has such a super production of the Three Kingdoms theme, many Japanese audiences are very interested, not to mention that the starring actors are very famous in Japan.

The popular Cao Xuan.

Based on these alone, there are quite a few Japanese film studios that are actually competing with Toho. In order to defeat Toho, they can make huge concessions.

However, the extremely outstanding market prospects and the pressure from these film producers, coupled with Toho's eye on the Chinese market and its intention to establish good relations with the two giants Fanxing and China Film, finally formed this generous contract.

Just a few days before its release in mainland China, "Three Kingdoms: Red Cliff" was released in Japan on July 14, immediately attracting countless Japanese Three Kingdoms fans to go to the theater.

It is worth explaining that the Three Kingdoms are popular in Japan, but it does not mean that they understand the real history of the Three Kingdoms, at least most of them have a partial understanding.

The Three Kingdoms they know are adapted from Japanese magic, and most of them come from games and comics.

In the impression of most Japanese Three Kingdoms fans, Cao Cao is a young/middle-aged man who is ruthless but has great ambitions.

Liu Bei is a Holy Mother, not a derogatory Holy Mother. She is a truly benevolent person. Guan, Zhang, Zhao and Zhuge Liang were all inspired by his benevolence and righteousness, so they followed him wholeheartedly.

Lu Bu is a big devil who lives day and night, and he and Diao Chan are in true love, a bit like a domineering president and his little wife.

Zhou Yu and Sun Ceji are so in love that even Big Qiao is a bit like a light bulb.

Sima Yi is a feminine demon, Sun Quan is a passionate young monarch, Zhang Jiao and Zuo Ci are both yin and yang old magic sticks, and Yuan Shao is a very proud nobleman.

In fact, these characteristics are not wrong, but they are exaggerated and can clearly feel that they have a strong comic secondary color.

For details, please refer to the game "Dynasty Warriors" series. The characters in the card game "Three Kingdoms" are also somewhat influenced by the Japanese Three Kingdoms game animation.

Under such circumstances, when they walked into the theater to watch "Three Kingdoms·Red Cliff", the impression they brought was subversive and shocking.

The climax of the whole movie is Zhao Yun's appearance, Cao Cao marching his army south, Zhou Yu and Zhuge Liang's battle of wits, and the last two land and water battles.

Whether it is familiar but somewhat unfamiliar characters from the Three Kingdoms, a charming literary drama, or a huge and spectacular fight scene, many Japanese audiences have shouted "Si Guoyi".

If "Three Kingdoms: Red Cliff" still has a lot of controversy in China, in places such as Japan and South Korea, it is almost unanimously praised.

Japan's "Asahi Shimbun" claimed: China has already produced Hollywood-level commercial films. Japan should not be obsessed with "One Piece" and "Pokémon". We also want to produce Japanese commercial blockbusters.

Some Japanese film critics also believe that with the extraordinary war scenes and historical shaping, the Chinese have found a path to successful movies.

The Korean media exclaimed: One of the best historical movies in Asia!

Similar to Japan, South Korea also has a special love for the theme of the Three Kingdoms. A certain female president once claimed that her first love was Zhao Yun...

The reason why "Three Kingdoms: Red Cliff" has aroused heated discussions among the media and movie fans is not only the influence of the Three Kingdoms itself, but also the fact that these countries have almost no experience in historical commercial large-scale movies.

How should I put it? They have seen blockbusters, and the big scenes related to several Hollywood epic war blockbusters may even be more spectacular than "Three Kingdoms: Red Cliff".

However, those movies were all made by Westerners, and they are completely different concepts from this history and historical figures that are very oriental and are relatively familiar to them.

In addition to the media, Japanese and Korean netizens' praise for "Three Kingdoms: Red Cliff" online was nothing short of disgusting.

[Whether it is the scenes or the acting skills, I am particularly touched, and it beats those Dahe dramas (historical dramas)]

[Shocking movie, when Cao Xuan...Bu Zhou Yu became the head coach and countless generals and soldiers paid homage, I felt excited]

[Can someone tell me the name of the actor Zhao Yun? He is so handsome]

[I don’t like that part, so I should throw Adou to death. He ruined the foundation of Liu Bei’s people and I hate him]

[I like the actor Zhuge Liang, he has a mature and gentle charm, but it’s a pity that Cao Cao is a bit old]

[It is a little different from the Three Kingdoms in my impression. After reading the comments on the Internet, it seems that this is the real history. I want to read the original work]

[The war drama is so spectacular. How much does it cost to produce? It seems to be Cao Xuan’s company. He is so rich]

[Are you not a fan of Cao Xuan? He is the richest artist in China and probably the richest artist in Asia]

[Yes, he alone donated nearly 15 billion yen to the disaster in China some time ago]

[Oh my god, he is so rich. Kenji Kasahara (known as a young rich man), the founder of Mixi (Japan’s largest social network), probably can’t compare to him]

[European and American authoritative financial media estimate that Cao Xuan’s assets conservatively exceed 15 billion US dollars, which is richer than the boss of Nintendo, the richest man in Japan, and is one of the richest people born in the 1970s in the world]

[I declare that he will be my male god from now on. Mom, I will marry him]

【……】

Although the subsequent reviews were a little skewed, "Three Kingdoms: Red Cliff" still has a high reputation in Japan and South Korea, and the box office is also extremely good.

In its first week of release in Japan, it earned more than 2 billion yen, or RMB 134 million.

During the same period, it was second only to the insanely popular animated film "Ponyo on the Cliff", also known as "Ponyo on the Cliff".

This animated film directed by Hayao Miyazaki is very important in Japanese film history. At its peak, it consistently ranked in the top ten box office in Japanese film history. In 2022, it is still ranked in the top twenty in film history.

In Japan, the three words Hayao Miyazaki are equivalent to the "King of Box Office". Even Hollywood blockbusters can hardly compete with his movies.

"Three Kingdoms: Red Cliff" did not intend to compete with Hayao Miyazaki. There is a certain schedule space between the two parties, and the genres are different. One is a commercial historical masterpiece, and the other is animation, and the mutual influence is relatively limited.

The box office in South Korea was also good, with US$4.5 million in the first week, which translates to just over 30 million yuan.

The box office is expected to reach US$15 million, or more than RMB 100 million.

It seems that it is far inferior to Japan and the Mainland, and the total box office is not as good as the first week box office of the two places.

However, considering that South Korea’s domestic market is relatively small and has been seriously invaded by Hollywood, the data of "Three Kingdoms·Red Cliff" can basically be ranked among the top 20 of the year, and it is aiming to be in the top 10.

In Japan, with the current performance of "Three Kingdoms: Red Cliff", the championship is difficult enough to beat Hayao Miyazaki, but there is absolutely no problem in the top three of the year.

On July 28, "Three Kingdoms: Red Cliff" was released in Japan for two weeks, earning a total of 4.42 billion yen, a total of almost 300 million yuan.

This result also officially surpassed Lao Mouzi's "Hero" and "Shaolin Temple" with questionable data, becoming the highest-grossing Chinese film in Japan.

Not long after, the box office of "Three Kingdoms: Red Cliff" in South Korea surpassed the US$10.77 million of "Hero", becoming the highest-grossing Chinese film in South Korea.

At the same time, it became the highest-grossing Chinese-language film in Japan and South Korea. The news spread back to China, and the box office of "Three Kingdoms·Red Cliff" increased in the second week.

In fact, Cao Xuan's "Hurricane Rescue" performed very well in Japan and South Korea, but it was basically overshadowed by North America.

And it's just good. Just like the previous North American Kung Fu movies, Cao Xuan's appeal is still inferior to Cheng Long and others in modern kung fu movies.

In fact, it is not bad. Jet Li's "Fearless" only grossed US$2.4 million in Japan and US$1.83 million in South Korea. Cheng Long's "Baby Project" grossed US$3 million in Japan and South Korea combined.

In April, "The King of Kung Fu", a collaboration between the two, had a combined box office of about 14 million US dollars in Japan and South Korea, which is almost the same as Cao Xuan's "Kung Fu".

Even if the two brothers are outdated and the quality of the movie is poor, it can be seen that Cao Xuan has clearly replaced the two in Asia and become the spokesperson of the new generation of Chinese film industry.

The emergence of "Three Kingdoms·Red Cliff" completely turned this bud into a towering tree.

The two teamed up with "The King of Kung Fu" and failed to break into Hollywood. Compared with Cao Xuan's success in Hollywood this year and the box office explosion in Asia, many people have reached a consensus.

Cheng Li is old and Cao Xuan is in power.

If you are in Wuzi, your Chinese language will be auspicious!

Even Cheng Long, who had always avoided talking about these matters, now admitted for the first time that Cao Xuan's film influence in Asia has now surpassed his.

You must know that although Cheng Long has a very good relationship with Cao Xuan, he had only said something like "young people are to be feared" or that the future of Chinese-language films is Cao Xuan, and he acknowledged Cao Xuan's achievements and popularity in the international music scene.

But in the film industry, Cheng Long refuses to accept his old age, and he has never said that he is not as good as Cao Xuan. It is rare that he lowers his head this time. Although he is only from Asia, it is commendable.

As for Jet Li, he did not respond. He is currently busy filming "Munay Yin 3" and becoming a Singaporean citizen...

Although the outside world and movie fans have been debating the achievements of new and old superstars, in the eyes of companies such as China Film and Television, box office is the most important.

The mainland box office is expected to be 300-350 million yuan.

The Japanese box office is also aiming for 450 to 500 million yuan.
To be continued...