The limited release of "Killing Life" in Rong City was remarkably successful.
The audience present gave exceptionally high praise, and to avoid spoiling crucial plot points, they only offered one suggestion—
"Make sure you stay for the post-credits scene!"
"The post-credits scene has a major twist! Don't miss it!"
Even Tiger Brother, known for his sharp tongue and harsh critiques, posted videos across all his platforms—
"The highest quality crime film in the past two years—'Killing Life'! You must watch it! Absolutely unmissable!"
In the footage, Tiger Brother wore his signature tiger headpiece with the character "King" on its forehead, enthusiastically discussing his viewing experience while particularly praising the film's plot and the actors' performances.
"Brothers, 'Killing Life' is undoubtedly the most worthwhile film to watch this May Day season! Especially the post-credits segment—don't miss it, you'll witness this production team's ultimate sincerity!"
Tiger Brother's concluding remarks were meaningful, successfully piquing many people's curiosity.
[Not that serious, not that serious. At least wait until after watching 'Killing Life' before deciding whether to unfollow.]
[To be fair, the limited release reviews for 'Killing Life' have genuinely been quite positive.]
[Brothers, I spotted someone who looks somewhat familiar—Xiao He, who got cyberbullied by Su Shengxi's fans last time, seems to have a role in this too.]
[? Well now I have to go watch it. For no particular reason, just feel bad for the guy and want to support him.]
[Hahaha, what's going on? Suddenly feeling persuaded. Definitely need to go support this dude, if only to spite Su Shengxi's fans.]
As the "Killing Life" production team ramped up their promotional efforts, online discussions about the film grew increasingly heated.
Unsurprisingly, the name Xiao He once again entered public view.
Thanks to Su Shengxi's fans, many people recognized Xiao He's name. While they might not know exactly who he was or what works he'd acted in, most were aware of that absurd cyberbullying incident that nearly got him canceled. Upon confirming it was the same Xiao He, they instinctively began feeling sympathy for him.
Of course, such sympathy didn't necessarily mean they'd go to theaters to support him, but comments about Xiao He started multiplying, and his popularity gradually rose again.
However, no one could have predicted what happened next would take such a bizarre turn—
After the second limited release ended, "Killing Life" opened advance ticket sales.
But then something shocking occurred—
The advance ticket sales for "Killing Life" skyrocketed at an incredible pace, breaking one million within the first hour and continuing to climb steadily.
By the end of the first day of advance sales, "Killing Life" had surprisingly reached eighteen million in single-day presales!
This completely defied everyone's expectations.
After all, "Killing Life" was somewhat limited by its genre, not being the type currently favored by the market. Among the main cast, only Liu Zehang had significant fan appeal. The other veteran actors, while having broad general audience recognition, didn't possess the same crazy box office draw power compared to the younger generation, mostly relying on accumulated reputation to gradually build word-of-mouth after official release.
But no one expected the first day alone would exceed their predicted total!
This bizarre growth curve truly baffled everyone.
It particularly stunned other films scheduled for the same May Day season.
As China's golden period for films, the May Day holiday always features fierce box office competition. This year, ten films were scheduled around May Day, covering action, romance, comedy, mystery, and animation genres.
Based on current audience interest, four strong contenders were emerging for the top box office spot: the comedy "Gentleman's Rhapsody," the action film "Wind Rises Over Cloud Harbor," the romance "Missing You 365 Times," and the crime film "Killing Life."
Before the first day's advance sales came out, public ranking had "Killing Life" and "Missing You 365 Times" alternating last place, with "Gentleman's Rhapsody" and "Wind Rises Over Cloud Harbor" competing for the top position.
But now... things looked quite different.
The director of "Missing You 365 Times" stared at the numbers and couldn't help cursing Hou Rongxuan: "Holy shit, seriously? Director Hou Rongxuan must be buying tickets, right?"
"Killing Life" had neither a top idol carrying ticket sales nor legendary big production IP backing. Where did this sudden surge in advance sales come from?
Even the directors of "Gentleman's Rhapsody" and "Wind Rises Over Cloud Harbor," who had been confident of victory, huddled with their respective producers whispering: "They're buying tickets, right? During May Day season? Seriously? Should we buy some too?"
"Buy what? Their numbers are too fake—they'll definitely get exposed later. Just wait and see!"
Even Xiao He, who had returned to the academy, couldn't help asking Liu Zehang in their group chat: "Mr.Zehang, your fans are going all out this time! They're really spending big to support you."
Liu Zehang quickly clarified: "Not my fans. My fans are pretty laid-back, and I didn't specifically ask them to buy advance tickets."
While modern film box office is inseparable from fan economics, Liu Zehang knew his own situation well. He estimated his fans accounted for at most thirty percent of these sales, with the rest coming from "general audience."
But as they had previously predicted, interested general audience members would contribute at most thirty percent of advance sales—and that was only because their limited release reviews were excellent, with various bloggers and reviewers voluntarily promoting it.
So the question remained: who was responsible for the remaining forty percent?
Could Director Hou have actually compromised his integrity and hired people to buy tickets?
Even Director Hou himself couldn't figure it out.
With his phone constantly bombarded by industry colleagues, Hou Rongxuan reluctantly posted a new update on his social media:
[Hou Rongxuan: I really didn't buy tickets.]
[Colleague 1: Yeah right, even ghosts wouldn't believe you.]
[Colleague 2: Hey, Old Hou, when did you start selling yourself? Better be careful about hygiene—wouldn't want to lose bowel control in your old age.]
[Colleague 3: Whose order are you fulfilling? Share the wealth—I can help buy tickets too.]
Looking at his colleagues' sarcastic comments, Hou Rongxuan snorted coldly: "They're just jealous!"
Hmph, just because his box office numbers were good, they assumed he was cheating?
These trash—they had no idea how excellent his "Killing Life" truly was.
Still, Hou Rongxuan felt vaguely uneasy deep down.
These box office numbers... they should be legitimate, right?
But soon, Hou Rongxuan breathed a sigh of relief.
Because the answer came to him voluntarily—
[Su Shengxi's Fans Strongly Support Xiao He's New Film!]
[Su Shengxi's Top Fan Claims Responsibility: We Were Wrong First, This Is Our Apology to Mr. Xiao He!]
Everyone: ?
The Production Team: ?
Su Shengxi Himself: ?
My dear friends, what are you doing?
Why are these all people, yet I can't comprehend them?