Both films in the Spring Festival lineup surpassed 1 billion in box office within their first three days of release. Compared to last year's summer season, this performance was clearly stronger.
Although 'Breaking Formation' didn't have reviews as strong as 'Rurouni Kenshin: Movie', its cast lineup was undeniably far more luxurious.
When Su Yan invested heavily in 'Rurouni Kenshin: Movie', his reputation in the Xia Nation film industry was still fairly average. Many well-known, top-tier stars simply had no interest in collaborating with him.
Even when Su Yan offered salaries 20% higher than those of other directors or investors, they still chose to join other productions.
This clearly reflected his lack of connections and foundation within the film industry.
While 'Rurouni Kenshin: Movie' did gather several well-known actors from the Xia Nation, most of them were famous for playing villains. Compared to the all-star cast of 'Breaking Formation', their overall drawing power was noticeably weaker.
As a result, despite its weaker reviews, 'Breaking Formation' still secured higher screening allocations in its first three days, suppressing 'Rurouni Kenshin: Movie'.
However, starting from the fourth day, no amount of connections could sustain momentum forever. Theater owners weren't running charities—whichever film had better returns would naturally get more screenings.
And the reality was clear: during the first three days, 'Rurouni Kenshin: Movie' had consistently higher seat occupancy rates, and its runtime was shorter than 'Breaking Formation'. These subtle advantages, combined with increased screenings on the fourth day—
Allowed 'Rurouni Kenshin: Movie' to claim the daily box office champion with 305 million, while 'Breaking Formation' showed signs of fatigue, earning only 274 million that day.
Although its screening share had decreased, its box office drop was significantly steeper than the reduction in screenings.
Its momentum was fading!
This was the immediate conclusion of most professionals in the Xia Nation film industry.
It's easy to rely on marketing and hype to secure a high box office in the first couple of days.
But a film's run is a long-term process—word of mouth determines its staying power.
Although 'Rurouni Kenshin: Movie' was still slightly behind 'Breaking Formation' in total box office…
Given the current trend, if 'Breaking Formation' couldn't regain momentum, it would most likely be overtaken.
This situation directly triggered a massive online war between fans of the two films.
Both movies featured large casts of famous actors. With Su Yan—the "King of TV Dramas"—entering the film industry with his fourth movie, the clash between TV drama fans and long-established movie fans quickly escalated.
["What garbage movie. You guys hype up the action scenes like crazy, but I don't see anything special. That Su Yan guy just does parkour, right? You could grab a few parkour experts in real life and easily film the same thing."]
["Not to brag, but I placed fifth in the Hudu Urban Parkour Competition three years ago. I'm not a top master in the country, but I'm definitely not trash. I don't know how 'casually' you think parkour experts can be found, but among the ones I know, after watching the film, everyone in our group chat was calling it insane. While you're typing '666' online, we've already tried replicating Su Yan's moves barehanded—and even without a sword, almost no one can execute them properly at that speed!"]
["The guy above just got slapped in the face. I'm dying 😂"]
["People aren't blind. Whether a work is good or not, you can tell at a glance. What's the point of forced criticism here?"]
["I've seen 'Breaking Formation' too—it's pretty good. But it just doesn't give me that hot-blooded feeling like 'Rurouni Kenshin: Movie'. It's not that 'Breaking Formation' is bad, it's just that 'Rurouni Kenshin: Movie' is too strong!"]
["Su Yan is a legend, I said it. I thought he was going to drop another depressing masterpiece this Spring Festival, but clearly, he kept a clear head this time."]
["Keep hyping it. Time will prove everything. 'Rurouni Kenshin: Movie' just has flashy action—the plot is average at best."]
["As if 'Breaking Formation' has some amazing plot? Isn't it just a fallen prince restoring his kingdom? Old and cliché."]
["'Fallen prince restoring his kingdom'—that cracked me up. This guy summarized the entire movie in one sentence!"]
["Just wait. That trash 'Rurouni Kenshin: Movie' still wants the Spring Festival box office crown? Dream on!"]
["Sure, let's wait and see how long that 20–30 million lead of 'Breaking Formation' can last."]
While fans of 'Rurouni Kenshin: Movie' and 'Breaking Formation' argued fiercely online, reality told a different story.
By the sixth day of release, 'Rurouni Kenshin: Movie' had already surpassed 'Breaking Formation' in total box office.
After one full week, the two films ranked first and second in the Spring Festival box office with 1.817 billion and 1.802 billion, respectively.
As for third place, 'Fake Detective', its total box office hadn't even reached 1 billion yet.
However, neither the producers of 'Breaking Formation' nor Su Yan made any further aggressive moves in marketing.
To put it bluntly, with the current box office results, both films would at most make modest profits after breaking even. Spending heavily on additional promotion at this point would be meaningless.
Since Su Yan had already made it clear that he wanted the competition to be decided by quality, engaging in a spending war would only benefit advertisers.
The investors behind 'Breaking Formation' understood this as well. Although it was a pity to lose the top spot, the film had already exceeded initial expectations—there was no need to stir up more trouble.
As for Su Yan, after confirming that his competitors weren't pulling any tricks behind the scenes, he finally relaxed.
As long as there were no shady practices like box office fraud, ghost screenings, or ticket theft.
Still—
"It's my first time leading by such a small margin…" Su Yan murmured as he looked at the box office data.
In the TV drama industry, once Su Yan gained an advantage, any competitors would be left in despair.
But in the Xia Nation film industry, too many factors influenced box office performance.
It was certain that if not for the system-enhanced transformation that allowed him to perform those outrageous action scenes during the filming of 'Rurouni Kenshin: Movie', its performance this Spring Festival wouldn't have been any better than 'Fake Detective'.
"Alright…"
Su Yan stood up from the sofa in his home and called out to Shen Liqian and Gu Qingyuan as they prepared to head out.
The Spring Festival holiday had ended.
Today, they were flying back to the Tokyo area.
—
Tokyo.
As the group stepped off the plane, light snow was still falling, and the air was cold and damp.
At the airport, Su Yan noticed many of his company employees were also heading toward the exit.
After all, everyone had to return to work after the holiday.
"Hello, boss!"
"Hello, boss!"
"Boss, you're even more handsome now!"
"Congratulations, boss! 'Rurouni Kenshin: Movie' has taken the Spring Festival box office crown. If nothing unexpected happens, it might even become this year's box office champion in the Xia Nation film industry!"
"Not necessarily. Maybe the film we're currently shooting—'Your Name'—could surpass 'Rurouni Kenshin: Movie' when it releases this summer."
"The release window can't compete with the Spring Festival slot!"
Watching the two female employees from the administrative department chatter endlessly around him, Su Yan couldn't help but smile wryly.
He briefly wondered if he had been too approachable at the company, making them overly casual in front of him—perhaps he should act more strictly in the new year to establish authority.
Just then, Shinozaki Ikumi quickly walked up from behind. The two employees immediately stiffened, quickened their pace, and hurried ahead.
"Your employees seem quite afraid of you," Su Yan said with a grin.
"Of course. I hired them," Shinozaki Ikumi replied.
"So they know very well… that if I want to fire them, I don't need to report it to you. You don't handle the company's internal affairs directly."
"Of course, they also know I'm fair when it comes to rewards and punishments."
She paused, then smiled.
"But forget it. It's the first day after Spring Festival—I should maintain the image of a kind leader."
Tonight, I've already arranged a gathering. The entire company will have dinner together. And tomorrow…""
"We start work for the new year."