Chapter 102

In the previous life, "John Wick" had Keanu Reeves at the helm, yet the global final box office was only 88 million.

Now it has surpassed that in just three days?

Sure enough, scrolling through netizen comments, most were there for Spider-Man.

He still had no concept of how explosively popular he had become.

Plus, the film subverted the cookie-cutter tropes of past action movies,

whether it was Xu Can's fluid, realistic action or the director's cinematography, every fight scene was crafted into a unique style!

Standing alone in Hollywood!

Drawn by the title of "Most Satisfying Action Film of the Year," many who weren't Spider-Man fans came out of curiosity and left thoroughly satisfied.

As for the fans, they went crazy recommending it to everyone around them.

……

At Jiazhouligongxue Academy, the quartet of Leonard, Xie Erdun, Howard, and Raj were a typical example.

These past few days, whenever a colleague spoke to them, they couldn't talk about anything other than "John Wick" within three sentences.

"Leonard, have you seen my dog? Just finished an experiment, and the dog ran out of the cage."

"Dog? I think I saw one in the garden. By the way, have you seen Xu Can's new movie? There's a dog in it too; the protagonist kills his way through everything to avenge him..."

……

"... Xie Erdun, is there something wrong with your formula? The experimental data doesn't match."

"Hmm? My formula couldn't be wrong. Just like John Wick, would you question his aim?"

"Who is John Wick?"

"Hmph, I won't discuss the plot with someone who hasn't seen "John Wick". Wait until you've seen this remarkable work before we talk."

"Ah?"

……

Just like "Spider-Man," the first audience members to leave the theater went crazy recommending it to everyone around them,

plus the internet buzz surrounding "John Wick" remained sky-high,

face feeds were filled with GIFs of John Wick,

or clips of the unique Gun Kata from the movie.

Two shots to the body, one to the head, fluidly and professionally changing magazines, unlimited hand-to-hand combat combined with Gun Kata close-quarters fighting,

many film fans spontaneously used content from the trailer, paired with cool electronic music melodies,

to create a series of excellent fan-made works!

Content related to "John Wick" spread rapidly in a viral, fractal manner!

In the previous life, in 2014, the production company hadn't yet formed advanced internet thinking,

yet many shots from the movie still garnered hundreds of thousands of likes on short-video platforms as late as 2023.

How could Xu Can bear to let such an outstanding work be buried?

Utilizing the advanced thinking of the mobile internet era,

Xu Can gradually guided from behind the scenes, and in this Internet 2.0 era dominated by PC networks, launched a wave of online marketing dimensional strike!

Therefore, the box office for "John Wick" far exceeded the standards of the previous life,

currently marching toward 200 million USD in the North American region!

……

Besides the carnival of ordinary film fans, "John Wick" also created a sufficiently large shockwave within the Hollywood industry!

On the day of the film's release, hardcore film critic Luo Jie Ebert updated his column overnight:

"Before this, we were already very familiar with Hollywood's individual heroism action stories; a retired assassin usually marks the end of the film."

"But this film goes against the grain, starting the story from the assassin's retirement, using dazzling action choreography, bold and avant-garde camera design, and Xu Can's unique performance... injecting a powerful stimulant into this anti-hero story!"

"First, let me praise Xu Can, this 24-year-old Chinese actor. He shattered my impression of Asian actors; with two films so far, he has already demonstrated strength comparable to Jackie Chan."

"Spider-Man is sunny and youthful; here he becomes numb and cold-blooded... I thought only a 40-year-old veteran actor could successfully portray this, but I didn't expect Xu Can in his 20s to portray it even more perfectly!"

"Regarding the action shots in the film, they have formed an absolute challenge to the industrial assembly-line action films of the past! They will lead a new trend!"

"This film has formed a unique action aesthetic; yes, this is a work of art! Worth enjoying repeatedly."

"Finally, the worldview hidden behind the story is also worth pondering carefully; it seems there are more unsolved mysteries waiting to be unearthed... I hope a sequel can be filmed soon to bring John Wick back to the big screen..."

Luo Jie Ebert gave two thumbs up again, the highest praise, which is enough to show how excellent "John Wick" is in the eyes of professional critics.

The New York Times, Daily Movie, Los Angeles Times... numerous film criticism media and columns made their evaluations.

This film is not perfect,

and the media also used sharp eyes to pick out quite a few problems.

But even with flaws, even with insufficient plot depth, even without grand scenes or big productions, it doesn't stop this from being a phenomenal movie.

In professional media ratings, everyone gave high praise.

In the latest Rotten Tomatoes rating, professional critics gave an 88% approval rating; the tomatoes are quite fresh!

After "Spider-Man," Xu Can successfully created a brand new IP!

The "John Wick" universe looks to have great development potential!

Filming "John Wick 2" next only requires maintaining the current standard; anyone could figure out with their feet that it's a guaranteed profit!

Most crucially, "John Wick" is a film Xu Can financed entirely himself; his earlier gambler behavior of going all-in with his fortune has now become the image of a confident genius filmmaker in the eyes of Hollywood!

So much so that just a few days after the film's release, assistant Vanessa's phone was blown up again.

"Boss, someone wants you to make a movie again; this is already the eighth one today..."

Vanessa made a cameo as the protagonist's wife in the film, and the two shared a simple kiss scene.

Now, facing Xu Can, she still wore that same dutiful, all-business expression.

"Who's it this time?"

"It's a big director, Lu Kebeisong… Also, Kevin Feige has already arrived at the company. Should I have him come to the office now?"

Good lord, Kevin Feige couldn't wait any longer?

Looks like *Iron Man* should be put on the agenda!.