Our efforts in promoting our work were met with equal dedication from Revenge in promoting theirs.
After all, it’s a 300-billion-won production, right?
For D-Pictures as well, this was a project where they had no choice but to stake everything.
They were doing everything they could, and with promotional battles heating up on both sides, the box office was thriving day after day.
After all, clapping requires two palms, and fires grow stronger when fanned from both sides.
As the rivalry between the two works became firmly established, the fandoms of each respective actor also began to actively mobilize, merging with the existing movie audiences and rapidly filling up the count of viewers.
Had the works been sub-par, the flames would have quickly died down, but since both were acknowledged as well-crafted pieces, the fervor did not easily subside.
Thanks to this, we managed to secure three million viewers quite early.
“But every beginning eventually reaches its end.”
Revenge had premiered three days earlier than us.
Additionally, they had been allocated more screens than us, so naturally, they reached the milestone of three million viewers before us.
However, just like any festival eventually comes to an end, after surpassing three million, the hidden problems began to slowly surface.
The crack began with Tae-kyu’s fandom.
During filming, we waged a public battle with D-Pictures.
D-Pictures tried to rock our boat by leaking a scandal about some dubious connections involving the cast and triangular rumors concerning me, Moon Suyeon, and Heavenly Yuah.
And in response, we countered by aggressively promoting Tae-kyu.
Because of that, Tae-kyu’s fans were eagerly anticipating Revenge.
Tae-kyu, who doesn’t fall short against Korea’s top male actor, Yoon Ju-won, carrying the entire movie with his acting—this was likely what the fans wanted to see.
“But it wasn’t like that. Granted, his character wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t what the fans wanted. In fact, he didn’t even have any lines.”
Director Sun Juhong is certainly talented; she skillfully made Tae-kyu’s character, even sans dialogue, quite impressive. That’s why Tae-kyu’s fandom didn’t explode from the start. Though he didn’t have lines, his character was quite convincing.
But now, even this has reached its limits because Tae-kyu’s fans had expected something far grander.
– How did it turn out like this?
– What? Our brother doesn’t even have lines?
– Our brother’s voice tone is fantastic.
– Yeah, but the character was pretty badass, right?
– It’s just because our brother is badass.
– Lately, our brother seems pretty gloomy.
– Could he be restricted?
– Restricted? By who? Yoon Ju-won?
– Maybe the director is restricting our brother too?
At first, the fandom’s uncertain mood gradually started to veer into unsettling territory.
Had the situation been judged rationally, they would have realized that for a freshman like Tae-kyu, just acting alongside Yoon Ju-won and Jin Seo-hee was already a commendable achievement.
Excessive fandom often clouds one’s judgment, especially in situations like this one, where expectations soared only to come crashing down.
With their hope turning into disappointment, Tae-kyu’s fandom began to express their frustrations in distorted ways—specifically by criticizing other actors and the director.
It was the usual kind of smear campaign seen on online forums, where everything and everyone other than “our brother” was torn down.
– I’ve heard Director Sun Juhong has issues with her personality.
– Is Yoon Ju-won really good? He acts like he’s a big shot normally.
– Jin Seo-hee? All she does is romance in every movie. So this time it’s Yoon Ju-won?
“This is truly…”
“Ultimately, when throwing punches at others, one should expect to be hit back.”
“Yeah, sure.”
It’s incomprehensible to rationally understand fans of a work who end up discrediting it themselves.
But human beings are not always rational, and if there are malicious forces pushing them from behind, it’s even more likely.
Of course, lurking behind this abnormal thinking was Flame’s sinister backstage plot.
Our promotion of Tae-kyu and our attack on him during the preview were all premeditated groundwork for this operation.
Flame is always skilled at making people seem bad and was exceptionally capable in these behind-the-scenes manipulations.
Now that the opponent had attacked first, we had no qualms about reciprocating.
Why start unfounded rumors before even trying to start properly?
“This is all self-inflicted.”
In truth, this level of negative publicity wouldn’t significantly impact a successful hit movie.
A well-received film would usually shrug off such negativity and keep stacking up viewers.
The problem was that the film, Revenge, belonged to the noir genre, which is a relatively minor category in our country. Moreover, it was an exceptionally atmospheric noir.
Generally, for blockbuster hits to gain momentum, repeat viewings are almost essential, but this was difficult for a heavy noir film.
As negative opinions continued to flood social media communities, the rapid rise of viewership began to slow down.
Due to the film’s atmosphere, the number of repeat viewings also started to decline, causing the growth in audience count to stall.
Thus, the chaos initiated by Tae-kyu’s fans ended up being the fatal blow that doused the fading spark of Revenge.
Meanwhile, the actress from our film Pentaring, Ha Young—known by her stage name Mojiri—was receiving enthusiastic support from fans.
Her performance, which I personally found lacking, resonated well with the audience because the character suited her, and fans familiar with my relationship with her found our sibling roles charming.
When we also released a video of her roaring while donning a tiger mask, that sealed the deal—it had long become a movie that fans couldn’t possibly miss.
– I’ve collected five tickets.
– I’ve got ten tickets. I’ve mobilized all my friends.
– Ah, I want that roaring Ha Young.
– This is the only unique figurine in the world? How can I resist this?
Here’s an interesting point: fans accustomed to buying N albums for idol signings have high purchasing power.
For the sake of Mojiri, they watched N-repeat screenings without hesitation.
Among the lotteries we revealed, one included a version of Mojiri who’s half-human, half-animal.
For die-hard goods collectors, the allure of an exclusive product was irresistible.
Moreover, Mojiri was the most popular core member of Pentaring, and her figurine was a must-have for any Pentaring fan.
Objectively, it may seem foolish to burn money for a single piece, but many people went for multiple screenings, or even collected friends’ movie tickets, just for that one item.
The stoney community is always extraordinary in its own world.
-Better yet, if I win a Luna figurine, that would be great.
-Heavenly Yuah would be appreciated too.
-I also like Gothic Lolita.
-I want Jangsan.
-Eureka!!
Moreover, the prizes were of excellent quality. It was a celebration atmosphere whenever someone won any of the many “wow!” figurines.
Although the absolute number of such passionate fans might not be overwhelmingly large, their presence alone significantly boosted our box office performance, especially against the unfavorable buzz surrounding Revenge.
We were also drawing attention from a more niche audience.
-I particularly enjoy this film. How many fluffy characters can I count?
-This proves that our film industry is heading in the right direction.
-And I’ve seen it three times already. The appealing nine-tailed fox is my favorite.
-Is that all? The hybrid beast Jangsanbeom is truly the pinnacle!
-I prefer hybrids. The Gumiho and Lycanthrope characters all appeal to me.
The charm of our film, filled with unusually soft characters, struck a deep chord with a specific fandom.
Among them were fervent fans who repeatedly watched it, and our film was favored by these special fans as well as Pentaring’s enthusiastic fanbase.
Combined with our likable and upbeat characters despite the dark themes, it catered well to all audiences, making our movie soar like a turbo-charged jet.
During this time, cameos from our drama were released.
With all projects receiving great reviews, it further fueled our box office success.
The conniving staff at Flame somehow connected the dots between our movie’s success and the drama’s popularity and used that to fuel the media hype.
Thus, “Breaking through the 4-million mark…”
Our movie surpassed Revenge at around the mid-3-million mark and broke the 4-million mark quicker than Revenge did.
“At which point, we suggested the audience count pledge event…”
For our movie, including contracts with Finesse, around 4 million viewers represented the breakeven point.
We proposed an audience count challenge at this point, with requests made directly via our Youtube channel, ‘Everyday, Flame.’
While my cameo appearance in the series ‘Absolute Taste: Yoo Taewoo’ gained unexpected popularity, the lively knife skills I showcased in the drama became a topic of conversation.
Due to this, many requested a creation tied to the audience count challenge, and the episode in ‘Everyday, Flame’ where harvested sweet potatoes were mentioned got fans excited. This culminated in our decision to offer sweet potato fries made from sweet potatoes we had harvested ourselves.
“Never had I ever sliced so many sweet potatoes in my life.”
Though it wasn’t a particularly challenging request, company actors participated enthusiastically, with everyone pitching in.
While I spent all day slicing sweet potatoes (with Junsik wielding two knives), fans who witnessed this live and those who received sweet potatoes personally from Heavenly Yuah and Moon Suyeon couldn’t have been happier, though it was quite a tiring event.
As one topic led to another, creating continuous positive feedback loops, we embarked on the same path of success trodden by blockbuster hits of the past.
