Chapter 125 sequel promotion

  The final investment for the film "One Liter of Tears" was over 900 million yen, roughly approaching 1 billion. This amount is not small, but after deducting personnel and equipment costs, there's not much left. In the final profit-sharing agreement, the film distribution company Kadokawa Eiga and azx signed a 40%/50% contract. As for the rental of the studio from Daiei, since many people in the production team borrowed from them, they were allocated 5% of the box office revenue. The remaining 5% was Zhou Xiao's personal income, although this is only nominal, as azx is essentially his own company.

  This is also why Zhou Xiao wants at least 300 million in box office, logically speaking, if the box office reaches 200 million, it can basically recover the investment, but not making any money at all is not a good thing, after all, everyone has spent so much time and energy.

  After watching the movie and going home, on the second day, Zhou Xiao arrived at the company early, along with several other employees except for Zhang Yu, who was still busy with the Girls Twelve Band's intense training.

  It wasn't until this afternoon that the box office numbers for "A Liter of Tears" which was shown last night were finally announced.

  "On average, 57% of the seats were filled, and there are a total of 37 screens showing nationwide. However, due to the large difference in seating capacity, the final box office is estimated to be around 8 million..." Watanabe Keiko reported, holding up the faxed message.

  "Hmm... is this number more or less?" Zhou Xiao turned her head and asked Jing Shang.

  "It's just average, one screening is 8 million. Yesterday was only one round, and the normal screenings for each screen will be two to three rounds per day, but the attendance rate during the day will differ from the evening, if it screens for two weeks, then the final revenue might be around 150 million..." Mr. Inoue calculated.

  "It seems that this number is not going to work... can only wait and see the ratings for tomorrow or even the day after tomorrow, and see if the word of mouth can get better?" Zhou Xiao asked.

  "Yes, at this pace on the first day, it's not going to work."

  "What if we arrange some publicity urgently?" Zhou Xiao asked.

  "It's not easy anymore, many programs are already pre-recorded." Uncle Inoue shook his head.

  "Hmm... let me think." Zhou Xiao rubbed her chin and began to recall if there were any suitable promotional opportunities in her mind.

  Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck him and he remembered the first subtitle in the movie.

  "Uncle Inoue! I remember!" said Zhou Xiao.

  "Oh? What's going on?" Inoue asked.

  "Take the tickets to some government departments tomorrow and distribute them! Let them take a look. Ask for their recommendations!" said Zhou Xiaodao.

  "Government department?"

  "That's right, a work with such a correct outlook should have the support and recommendation of the government, especially in two areas. One is the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. The other is the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare's social security department. These two places are responsible for education and social security respectively, which are exactly what this movie mainly describes. Their recommendations will definitely be useful!" said Zhou Xiao.

  "Alright, no problem, I'll go prepare now!" said Uncle Inoue.

  "As for me... is there any live program that I can go on?" Zhou Xiao asked Watanabe Keiko beside him.

  "As for live programs, the best choice would be Tamori-san's 'Waratte Iitomo' interview segment every lunchtime, but this segment... to be honest..." Natsumi Watanabe trailed off.

  "I know, my current status isn't enough for this, right?" Zhou Xiao understood the meaning behind Kuwabara Keiko's words and smiled wryly. This interview segment was usually reserved for famous artists or big shots from other industries, even Japan's Prime Minister had appeared on it. As a newcomer who debuted as a "helper" in a group, it wasn't easy for Zhou Xiao to get on the show, even if he had performed at Kouhaku.

  "If it were just a newcomer, it wouldn't be enough, but you, boss, have many topical things on your body now. If this time's recommendation to the government is successful, when sending the news to various TV stations, you can also visit Mr. Tamori along the way. After all, you're not meeting for the first time, and this visit won't be a problem either. And if you visit, the Tamori side will understand the meaning. If they are interested, the program team will send you an invitation." said Watanabe Keiko.

  "I'll just go visit them and they'll understand, then they'll send me an invitation?" Zhou Xiao thought it sounded unreliable no matter how he listened to it.

  "It's actually one of the unspoken rules, 'Xiao Xiao' has a big reputation for interviews, and most artists who want to apply for this show are not suitable, they can only send their latest promotional news to the TV station while waiting for an invitation from the program team. Over time, it gradually formed an unspoken rule that as long as you visited Tamori before the show started, if the topic and level were enough, the program team might send you an invitation. Of course, such participants would definitely be ranked after those big stars."

  "So it's like that, then help me arrange it, and when visiting, should I still bring some small gifts?" Zhou Xiao asked.

  "I'll take care of all these things for you," said Watanabe Keiko.

  On the second day, Uncle Inoue went to the government department requested by Zhou Xiao, while Zhou Xiao himself continued his promotional schedule for the variety show. At night, everyone returned to the company to listen to the box office report. The box office report on the second day showed that the attendance rate was slightly higher than the first day, with a 54% attendance rate barely passing, but the revenue had more than doubled, which is also normal, after all, by the second day, each screen was no longer a single reaction but multiple reactions.

  As for Uncle Inoue's application, on the third day, he received surprisingly good news. The two departments specifically named by Zhou Xiao quickly decided to jointly recommend this film. After all, Zhou Xiao's work is also considered quite positive. This made Zhou Xiao and the entire AZX team sigh, still lacking experience. If they had obtained this application before the premiere, they might have gained more attention. Now, they can only try their best to make up for it.

  Zhou Xiao continued to take Miyazaki Aoi to the TV station to record a program, this time bringing along an explanation of the two government departments' recommended segments. In fact, it wasn't just the TV station, but also radio stations and ordinary cinemas, Zhou Xiao and Miyazaki Aoi ran around quite a bit. For the promotion of this movie, Zhou Xiao, who had been working relatively leisurely or freely for half a year, also put in considerable effort. He couldn't not try hard, as most of the company's liquid funds were invested in the movie, and SMAP's single that was destined to be a big hit hadn't even been released yet. The entire AZX company was now waiting for "One Liter of Tears" to bring in profits.

  It wasn't until the fourth day after the movie's release that some changes began to take place.

  Firstly, the propaganda of the past few days has had some effect, and many media outlets have started to pay attention to "One Litre of Tears" and the girl named Aya who was mentioned 12 years ago. There is also good news from Aya's mother's side, with a publishing house contacting them hoping to re-publish "One Litre of Tears". However, Zhou Xiao did not let Aya's mother make an immediate decision, as he remembered that when Aya's book was re-published in the past, Aya's mother also compiled her recent years' diary entries into a book, and the simultaneous release of the daughter's and mother's books had triggered a wave of public opinion in Japan.

  Secondly, another thing is that on this evening when everyone gathered at the company, the third-day box office revenue from the statistics department showed an increase.

  On the day when the number of screens remained unchanged, the attendance rate reached around 64% throughout the day, which was very encouraging for azx. Although this growth is not significant, having a reverse growth trend itself represents a kind of affirmation from the audience. It's worth noting that in today's well-promoted situation, just like CD sales, the first-day performance often becomes its highest achievement. Cases of reverse growth like "A Little Love" and now "One Litre of Tears" are extremely rare.

  "Is it because of my recent publicity?" Zhou Xiao asked with a smile on his face, holding the fax and looking at Uncle Inoue beside him.

  "There must be some reason why the film's exposure rate has been increasing over the past few days, not just because of the film itself, but also including news about new books and recommendations from the government side have all silently driven market growth. The question now is how long this growth can last."

  PS: Don't mind the specific numbers too much, after all I'm not a professional...

  Today is the last two updates.