Audiences are not idiots. Nobody wanted to spend their money to watch a movie that was nothing but a big waste of time.

  The Ultimate Battle had a massive amount of advertisement at the early stage and their showy scenes rivaled those from Hollywood. Those from the media raved about it after the first viewing, and they were short of saying that this movie had set a new milestone for domestic films. These advertisements had drummed up the audiences’ expectations for this movie. Nevertheless, when they actually stepped foot inside of the theaters, they were presented with just a mediocre movie, meeting barely half of the audiences’ expectations. This made them feel very discontent.

  They had nothing good to say about the move after the huge letdown.

  Contrarily, Qinhuai’s Riverbank only had normal advertisements before the show date, and none from the media talked about it ahead of them. That and with the water army talking down about the movie made the audiences have no expectation at all when they went to see the movie. In fact, many went to see how bad it really was.

  Many internet influencers posted a few messages on Weibo some 10 or so minutes before the start of the movie, and then nothing else until the two-hour movie was over.

  “OMG!!!!! I was so wrong!!!!!! I am kneeling down to the director!!!!!! Couldn’t you have said something beforehand so I could at least bring some tissues with me?! I’m a guy and this was the first time I cried like a dog at a theater. That was so embarrassing!! What an amazing movie! Qinhuai’s Riverbank was truly great. I felt that I had still come out ahead even after my investment of money, time, and tears! A friendly reminder: Bring enough tissues with you!!!”


  After the launch, reviews on Qinhuai’s Riverbank came pouring in on the internet, all of them positive. Its rating on a specific social network site had already reached 9.1.

  Naturally, they were still those who were skeptical and didn’t care for the movie.

  On the launch date of the movie, the box office for The Ultimate Battle exceeded 100 million yuan. That of Qinhuai’s Riverbank only reached 5 million yuan.

  Day two, The Ultimate Battle’s daily box office was 50 million and Qinhuai’s Riverbank’s was 30 million.

  On day three, the first day of the long weekend, The Ultimate Battle’s daily box office was 35 million when Qinhuai’s Riverbank’s was 90 million.

  On the fourth day, The Ultimate Battle’s daily box office was 40 million and Qinhuai’s Riverbank’s was 150 million.

  While The Ultimate Battle’s box office continued to decline, Qinhuai’s Riverbank’s, on the other hand, had completely flipped to the other end and became the biggest dark horse.

  Positive reviews on Qinhuai’s Riverbank came flooding in. Attentive netizens raved about every detail from the story plot to post-production and from lighting to costumes. It was said that the production team was a considerate one and that Chaoxun Entertainment was a considerate company. For sure they were willing to spend money on these details.

  Both the box offices and reviews of Qinhuai’s Riverbank had flipped 180 degrees toward the end.

  As the box offices and word of mouth for The Ultimate Battle continued to decline, many fans found it difficult to remain silent any further. They started buying tickets and went back to the movies 3 ~ 4 times and hired as many water armies as they could afford. They were able to up the rating on the specific social network site from 6.7 to 8.0 and filled the screen with fake positive reviews in order to bring up their rating. That, however, did not do much good.

  Many comments from before stating that Qinhuai’s Riverbank would be crushed by The Ultimate Battle were dug back out by the netizens. There were reasonable ones who had apologized but then there were also those who maintained that they were right. Those who maintained their positions were bashed repeatedly until they were silenced.

  The Ultimate Battle ended with declining box office. For a director that was renowned domestically and internationally and a well-known cast, this was a flop.

  Qinhuai’s Riverbank’s box office past 100 million. As a young director’s very first work and a cast that nobody had heard of, this was certainly the first underdog this year.