Chapter 408 - 403: Advance Screening

Chapter 408: Chapter 403: Advance Screening

On January 30th, pre-sales for the Cat and Mouse feature film officially began.

Countless fans who had been waiting for ages lined up outside the theaters. However, the tickets for the two showings, at 1:00 PM and 5:00 PM, were snapped up the moment they went on sale.

Tickets originally priced at 40 yuan were being resold for 100 yuan almost immediately. After brewing overnight, the price online had been driven up to a staggering 500 yuan, and they were still incredibly hard to come by.

This was a clear indicator of just how much audiences were anticipating the first Cat and Mouse feature film.

Fans complained bitterly about the scalpers. One person said they had painstakingly queued for hours, and even though there were only a dozen or so people ahead of them, the tickets were sold out before they could get to the front. It was all because single individuals were buying multiple tickets at once.

Similar scenes played out at every major theater authorized to hold advanced screenings. Qitian Animation was helpless against the scalpers. Even with theaters limiting purchases to four tickets per person, it only took twenty or thirty scalpers to buy out an entire showing.

Furthermore, the vast majority of these scalpers were organized. To make a profit from reselling, they were willing to camp outside theaters and queue overnight, day after day.

Clearly, the root of the problem was the limited number of showings. With only two screenings per day during the advanced screening period, scalpers had too much room to operate. Fans who wanted to buy tickets at face value would just have to wait for the official release during the Spring Festival.

「At the stroke of midnight on January 31st.」

The main creative team for Cat and Mouse held a grand premiere at a large hotel in the Imperial Capital. They had selected 500 loyal fans from various channels, along with media reporters, distributors, film company representatives, media personalities, and film critics.

After a series of promotional events and interactive sessions, everyone gathered to watch the film’s debut screening.

Qitian Animation also thoughtfully provided every guest with movie-themed merchandise. They even brought in their own wind ensemble to perform a live rendition of the animation’s soundtrack, and Lin Yanwan showed off her skills with several beautiful piano pieces.

It left everyone marveling at the formidable resources of the Cat and Mouse production team. This series of meticulously planned events created an immersive, unforgettable, and perfect experience for all who attended the premiere.

After the premiere, content related to the event began trending on major platforms, once again boosting the film’s promotional hype.

By 1:00 PM on January 31st, every seat at the advanced screening locations across the country was filled. Every showing was completely sold out.

Qitian Animation even thoughtfully posted the live seating charts for every theater and every screening online, further fanning the flames of the Cat and Mouse movie’s explosive popularity.

Unlike the usual six-to-seven-minute episodes of the animated series, this was a full 90-minute feature film. Qitian Animation used an hour and a half to tell a hilarious story about Tom, Jerry, and a rabbit, leaving the audience roaring with laughter and thoroughly entertained.

The rabbit, symbolizing the Year of the Rabbit, played a pivotal role. It joined forces with Jerry to fight off Tom’s attempts at capture, treating the audience to an ultimate comedic feast.

The entire film was still completely without dialogue, but the animation quality was exquisite, and the sound design and score were nothing short of masterful. Lin Yanwan had meticulously composed 12 pieces for the movie, each one perfectly suited to its specific scene and atmosphere, making the audience feel as if they were immersed in a grand musical performance.

At 2:30 PM, after the first advanced screening concluded, many people took to the internet to post their reviews. Among them were numerous professional film critics who heaped praise on the Cat and Mouse feature film, lauding every aspect from its plot and entertainment value to its story, art style, sound design, and score.

Some even hailed it as "a beacon for Chinese animation" and "the best domestic animated film of the last decade." They gave it their highest recommendation, declaring it was absolutely worth every penny!

Seeing the wall-to-wall positive reviews online and the rapidly spreading word-of-mouth praise, many people were itching with anticipation and began tagging Qitian Animation’s official account.

"You’re already doing advanced screenings, can’t you just add a few more showtimes?!"

"Do you guys not like making money or something?"

"I’m dying of anticipation! Why isn’t it the New Year already?! The scalpers here have jacked up the price to 800 yuan a ticket! Can’t those scalpers just drop dead?!"

"I really want to see Cat and Mouse: Lucky Rabbit Year! BOOHOO! I can’t afford the scalper prices, so I’ll just have to wait until the official release. Another day of being crushed by my own poverty!"

"I have a son and two daughters, and they all love Cat and Mouse. I couldn’t get tickets when they were first released, so I ended up spending 500 yuan to buy four from a scalper. The price was a little steep, but the kids absolutely loved it. The story, art, and music were all top-notch. It was totally worth it!"

"’A little steep’ for 500? Hey, rich guy upstairs, are you looking to adopt? I love Cat and Mouse too..."

"Location: Rongcheng. Anyone need tickets for the 3:00 PM show on February 1st? Only a few left. DM if interested."

"ARGHHHHHH, DIE, YOU SCALPER UP THERE! DIE!"

Jiang Xia watched the trending topics online, a smile playing uncontrollably on his lips. Amidst all the praise, even though Qitian Animation had secretly hired some online shills to fan the flames, it was clear that the movie’s word-of-mouth reputation had truly exploded.

The box office from this single day of advanced screenings had already surpassed 2 million yuan. Over three days, it was projected to reach around 7 million. It might not seem like much, and it certainly couldn’t compare to the advanced screening box offices of later years, which could easily reach hundreds of millions.

But one had to remember that in this era, there were only just over a thousand theaters in the entire country. Many places didn’t even have a single cinema, and households weren’t nearly as affluent as they would be in the future. All these factors limited the potential box office.

Once Cat and Mouse: Lucky Rabbit Year was released nationwide on the day of the Spring Festival, February 3rd, and secured at least 30% of all showtimes, it was very likely its opening day box office would easily surpass 30 million yuan.

In any previous year, a performance like that would have been enough to contend for the annual box office crown. After all, the recently released Let the Bullets Fly had an opening day box office of only around 30 million.

And considering the extremely low production cost of the Cat and Mouse movie, it was safe to say that Jiang Xia was making an absolute killing this time.

Many people online began to speculate whether Cat and Mouse: Lucky Rabbit Year would become the film industry’s biggest dark horse this year, surpassing numerous other films to seize the title of annual box office champion.

And given the current trend, it seemed highly likely.

The entire film production team was ecstatic that day. The movie had been an overnight success, and Qitian Animation had taken its first steady step onto the big screen.

He believed that in the future, the phrase "If it’s from Qitian, it’s a masterpiece" would become an accepted truth in the industry.

"Get everyone together. We’re going to the big hotel next door for dinner."

Jiang Xia tagged everyone in the group chat, planning to use this opportunity to hold a small celebration banquet, hand out some red envelopes, and reward everyone for their hard work over the past six months.