TL: Hua

Chapter 120: Comeback

Before a movie is released, it relies on marketing; marketing can pull a portion of the audience into the theater and provide a floor for the box office.

However, whether the box office can be stabilized and whether it can have a long run depends on the word-of-mouth after the film’s release.

Although “Becoming an Older Brother Again” only ranked sixth in the daily box office on the first day, its word-of-mouth was the best.

After the first wave of screenings ended, the ratings for “Becoming an Older Brother Again” on various movie ticketing apps did not drop; instead, they rose from an initial 9.6 to 9.8 and 9.9.

The rise in ratings was just a signal.

The subsequent reviews from the first day’s audience were the real focus of the word-of-mouth fermentation.

On Weibo and forums, many people posted the tickets they bought that day along with various passionate recommendations.

Just finished watching @Becoming an Older Brother Again. I’m so moved; it’s really good. I highly recommend everyone go see it.

#BecomingAnOlderBrotherAgain# This movie is truly magical. It’s funny, heartwarming, and full of passion. It doesn’t deliberately preach throughout, but after watching it, I strangely want to study hard, live well, and cherish my family. It’s especially suitable for a zombie like me.

@Yanran #BecomingAnOlderBrotherAgain# Wuwuwu, I really want a brother like Lu Lan—handsome, gentle, and inspirational. Teacher Yanran is the GOAT. His acting is truly too good.

#BecomingAnOlderBrotherAgain# I beg you all, you must buy a ticket and go see it. You’ll regret it if you don’t. The whole theater was bawling when the truth came out at the end. The older brother is truly too good.

#BecomingAnOlderBrotherAgain# I declare this film my best movie of the year. Looking back after knowing the ending, you can probably see a lot of foreshadowing. Tickets are already bought; I’m going for a second watch tomorrow.

Best of the Year! First time seeing Yanran act. I didn’t expect it to be so natural and the acting to be so good.

Seeing these sincere ticket-posting reviews, many netizens who hadn’t gone to the cinema or were hesitating about which movie to watch over the weekend were completely stunned.

Is “Becoming an Older Brother Again” really that good?

Despite the praise being so out of this world, why were the first-day box office numbers so meager?

After years of marketing bombardment, audiences have become much more cautious.

Everyone knows that in the first few days of a release, production companies hire water armies and buy off film critics for false promotion, so they remain skeptical of these glowing reviews.

However, just as some netizens were hesitating and questioning, on another social platform, one where water armies cannot control the narrative but which has a wider reach, the audience’s praise was even more hyperbolic, and their recommendations were even more fervent.

Peaceful Years: “Friends, I sincerely recommend a movie to everyone—’Becoming an Older Brother Again.’ My daughter took me to see it today, and the viewing experience was wonderful. The film is warm, inspirational, and very touching. It’s about studying, family, friendship, and youth… It’s suitable for all ages and perfect for the whole family to watch together. I especially recommend that friends who have children in school take them to see it. I’m not afraid of being laughed at, but after watching it, I actually regretted not studying harder back then. Strongly recommended!”

Gentle breeze has shadow: “My kid kept clamoring to see “Becoming an Older Brother Again”. Initially, I wasn’t supportive, but she said the protagonist gets into A University and that it’s an inspirational film, so I accompanied her. I didn’t expect the movie to be so good; the family storyline is very moving, and both my child and I ended up in tears. After it ended, she told me she wanted to study hard and become an outstanding person like Brother Lu Lan. Five-star recommendation!”

Go With the Flow commented: “My child is the same. Last semester, he hit a bottleneck in his studies and was in a low mood. Today he went to see this movie with his classmates, and he perked up immediately after coming home. He said he had many realizations after the movie and is now at home memorizing vocabulary. I’m planning to take my niece to see it tomorrow.”

Falling Snow replied to Go With the Flow: “This movie is truly impressive. The actor who played Lu Lan actually got into A University after filming. It’s incredibly inspirational both on and off-screen. It’s definitely worth taking the kids to see.”

Lotus Pond Moonlight replied: “Really? It’s that amazing? I’ve already bought the tickets and am planning to take my child to see it tomorrow.”

Within WeChat Moments, such recommendations were countless.

Which parent doesn’t hope their child will study hard and get into a good school?

Seeing everyone in their friend circles and WeChat groups saying “Becoming an Older Brother Again” was good, inspirational, and suitable for children, they all wanted to take their kids to the theater.

After all, the lead actor actually got into A University—a genuine top-tier student.

The top student aspect already earns a lot of goodwill from the audience. Now that this point was tied to a youth inspirational film with a stellar reputation, the entire movie naturally became even more attractive.

Beyond parents and students, young people without children also found themselves tempted after seeing the uniform praise in their friend circles.

One should not underestimate this group of people who usually don’t speak up online; the silent majority is the largest, and when these silent people exert their influence, they are far more powerful than any netizen or water army.

After all, compared to strangers on the internet, a positive review from someone you actually know in your friend circles is much easier to accept.

Thus, after a day of word-of-mouth fermentation, the box office for “Becoming an Older Brother Again” achieved a reverse trend on the second day, rising directly to 69 million, nearly overtaking “Sparrow Feather” to become the third highest-grossing film.

When these box office numbers came out, netizens were stunned.

In particular, the haters who had mocked Lin Yanran on the first day for flopping couldn’t help but rub their eyes, wondering if they were seeing things and had added an extra zero.

However, no matter how much they rubbed their eyes, the zeros following the 69 were still there, and the film was firmly ranked third on the box office websites.

Haters who hadn’t followed the box office during the day began to question their reality.

What on earth happened? It was so lackluster yesterday; how did it suddenly surge so high after just one night…

The first thought of the haters was that capital was involved in buying and locking up screenings of the movie to launder money.

Although the haters thought this way, the general audience gave “Becoming an Older Brother Again” immense recognition.

As the number of viewers increased that day, the reputation fermented even more intensely than the day before.

Everyone wanted to discuss the movie after watching it; therefore, discussions regarding the plot, the actors, and even the entire crew increased.

Not just in friend circles, but also on Weibo, forums, short video platforms, and more, many viewers began recommending it spontaneously.

Because the character of the brother, Lu Lan, was so well-written and his acting was recognized by everyone, Lin Yanran was trending on the hot search list again.

Topics like “I want a big brother like Yanran,” “Yanran, from today on you are my real brother,” “Yanran’s acting is great,” and “Yanran, why are you so excellent?” emerged one after another…

Lin Yanran’s big-screen debut directly won the recognition of the entire country.

With a good reputation and the second-day box office reversal, theater chains finally noticed the potential of “Becoming an Older Brother Again.”

They immediately shifted most of the third day’s screenings and prime-time slots toward it. Since the total number of screenings in a theater is fixed, if the proportion for “Becoming an Older Brother Again” rose, the screenings for other films had to be cut.

Among them, the one cut most severely was naturally “Sparrow Feather,” whose reputation and box office had collapsed the hardest.

Despite a first-day box office of 97 million and frantic marketing and trash-talking of competitors, “Sparrow Feather” saw its second-day box office drop sharply to only 71 million, even though its screening count remained the same.

The theater chains saw this trend and knew what was happening. Unless a miracle occurred, the subsequent box office for “Sparrow Feather” would only get worse.

It was one thing for the heavily hyped “Sparrow Feather” to fail to meet box office expectations, but having its screenings cut starting from the third day made the entire crew and investors go frantic.

Everyone knows that screenings equal box office; losing screenings is a slow death.

They had invested so much in the early stages, and now they couldn’t maintain their screenings while their ratings on various platforms had dropped to 9.1. If the reputation of “Becoming an Older Brother Again” exploded further the next day and suppressed them heavily, it would be difficult for them to break even.

The first week’s box office is simply too important.

Therefore, the film’s promotion team couldn’t sleep at midnight. They stayed up all night hiring various water armies to boost their own film’s scores, write positive reviews, and promote it in various ways.

Additionally, they hired water armies to smear “Becoming an Older Brother Again,” claiming the movie was ugly, the recommendations were fake, and so on…

However, on the third day, despite the sudden appearance of many malicious negative reviews online, the box office of “Becoming an Older Brother Again” remained as steady as a rock, rising directly and even breaking the 100-million mark!!

A poor production with a tiny investment that was not favored in the early stages had achieved a box office reversal for three consecutive days. This box office trend made the audience feel incredibly inspired and pumped up.

[Who would have thought that watching a small, low-budget film would lead to a dramatic turnaround in the actor’s level and also a box office success?]

[This is so satisfying! The next-door neighbor was trash-talking us before and was so arrogant; now our little film has overtaken them. I’m so happy! I’m buying a ticket for tomorrow for a third viewing to celebrate.]

[Sisters, if you want to watch a prime-time screening, I advise you to buy quickly. The prime-time slots here are packed; there aren’t even corner seats left.]

[Same here! The morning screening here is almost full.]

[The little film deserves to be seen by more people; it was made with real heart!]

The malicious smears from competitors did not have any negative effect on the reputation of “Becoming an Older Brother Again.”

Consequently, on the fourth day, when the pre-sales for “Becoming an Older Brother Again” had already reached over 10 million, netizens discovered that high-definition pirated versions of the film had appeared in many places, with many accounts distributing them.

It is common for cammed versions or theater recordings to leak after a movie is released.

But for a high-definition source to leak while the movie is at its peak was extremely rare and exceptionally malicious.

Not everyone has an awareness to support official releases; therefore, the prevalence of pirated versions has a huge impact on a film’s box office.

The leak of a high-definition source is even more damaging than a theater recording; it was a move intended to utterly kill off “Becoming an Older Brother Again.”

The production crew was just a small team with no background and no connections.

Suddenly faced with such malicious competitive tactics, they panicked and didn’t know how to handle it.

Fortunately, Lin Yanran’s fans were very capable.

They worked together to patrol the entire internet, helping the crew report sources and take down links.

At the same time, Siyu’s side helped investigate the leak while their legal counsel actively coordinated with the crew. They had the official social media account issue a statement online, which, in addition to strong condemnation, stated they would pursue legal action to the end.

The production side was exhausted by the leak incident.

However, they didn’t expect that while one group was attacking the crew, another began attacking the film’s lead, Lin Yanran, who was currently attending a charity gala.

Someone dug up a photo of Lin Yanran riding a bicycle and slurping noodles on the roadside and then started making a fuss about it.

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