Chapter 256

In reality, Xu Can felt the sting of pain as Emma grabbed his arm and applied just a little force.

"It's a kiss scene the story needs, what are you jealous about?"

"You two were clearly kissing very seriously."

Emma Stone has never had a kiss scene with anyone other than Xu Can, including the male lead of *Twilight*, Robert Pattinson.

The *Twilight* series, which should have reaped harvests across the globe, was filmed for two installments and then vanished without a trace.

The biggest reason was not that the story was bad, nor that the performances were poor, but that there was simply zero couple chemistry between the male and female leads!

No kiss scenes, no intimate shots between the two — it was like watching siblings! Even more emotionally flat than siblings!

Fans watched the *Twilight* film series to indulge in sweet moments — the sugar of a vampire and an ordinary woman was such a treat to ship!

But the film was essentially zero sugar, zero calories — even a sparkling water from Genki Forest was ten thousand times sweeter than *Twilight*. So what was even the point of filming it?

Therefore, ever since Stone Sister became an actress, the only male lead she had any couple chemistry or interaction with was Xu Can.

This would be the only on-screen couple and real-life partner of her acting career; Stone Sister had no intention of taking on intimate scenes with anyone else.

Yet in the film, Xu Can kept switching partners,

Earlier, he had a restricted-rated scene with Anne Hathaway that was so steamy it made people's faces flush.

Now he was sharing a French kiss with Taylor Swift,

Of course Stone Sister felt it was unfair.

"Stop making a scene here. Tonight when we get home, I'll make it all up to you."

"So improper!"

Stone Sister simply had no temper left to deal with him; looking at Xu Can's burning gaze, her body inevitably grew a little flushed.

Having apparently pinched Xu Can's arm a bit too hard, Stone Sister's heart softened, and she rubbed his arm again.

Xu Can, meanwhile, was secretly delighted — his arm muscles were very solid and didn't hurt at all.

It was entirely an act put on with god-tier acting, deliberately making Emma feel sorry for him.

It had to be said that as long as one's acting was good enough, dealing with women was simply unstoppable.

……

At the very moment the male lead Coulter kissed the virtual girl Christina, the female Captain Goodwin pressed the death button.

Coulter's remaining body died completely,

But in the memory world, Coulter did not return to the "encirclement," did not reincarnate again!

He had actually endured the 8-minute memory and could continue writing the story that followed!

Could the "Source Code" the doctor spoke of not be mere memory?

But rather a truly vast virtual space?

At the end of the film, at the point in time before the "Source Code" plan had been implemented, Captain Goodwin actually received a text message!

The male lead Coulter had warned the real world in advance about the train bombing,

Using foreknowledge to prevent the tragedy that should have occurred, truly saving the people on the train!

"You think you created an 8-minute memory world, but that's not the case…"

"You created a new world, a parallel universe."

"Please pass the message to Captain Coulter Stevens of your world, tell him in the film already."

The film came to an abrupt end!

【A Xu Can Directorial Work】

【Starring Xu Can, Emma Stone, Taylor Swift】

"Bravo!!!"

Xu Can's new work—a low-budget, small-scale suspense sci-fi film—nonetheless brought the audience new thoughts and shock.

At this 2009 time node, the infinite-restart loop model had not yet been played to death.

*Reset*, *Edge of Tomorrow*, and *Triangle* had not yet been released,

And *Groundhog Day* was only a light comedy about love and life.

A film like *Source Code*, possessing a certain suspenseful sci-fi flavor, was simply brimming with novelty!

The audience was thrilled with this film again and again!

Sure enough it was Xu Can — sure enough, he never disappointed!

【includes 【47】 Even after the film ended and the premiere concluded, the audience was still discussing the movie on their way home.

Even after the screening ended and the premiere concluded, the audience was still discussing the film on their way home.

Was the world the protagonist sat in real or virtual?

How did he travel through time and space to warn of the bombing in advance?

Would there be limits in the new world, would it be the same as the real world?

The film gave no clear answers to these questions, leaving the audience ample blank space for imagination.

Apart from this, the topic the audience discussed most after watching the film was Taylor Swift's acting.

"TayTay's acting is absolutely amazing! First time I knew she could act in films!"

"The interaction with Xu Can was so sweet — a new on-screen couple is born!"

"I'm a die-hard Emma fan! It's such a shame the male lead didn't end up with Captain Goodwin!"

"Exactly!! Clearly Captain Goodwin liked the male lead too!"

"Too bad in the real world the male lead only has half a body… he's better off in the virtual world."

"Looking forward to TayTay's new films, hope Xu Can brings her along to shoot more!"

On the opening day of *Source Code*, the IMDb opening score had already come out — an 8.9/10 was already very high for a small-scale sci-fi film.

The subsequent score was expected to hold steady around 8.5.

After all, this was just a spur-of-the-moment idea Xu Can came up with to solve the New Year's Eve problem for two women—a temporary measure.

Making a movie was just a side benefit; getting results like these was already a pleasant surprise.

His film was made on a budget of less than $10 million. Stone Sister, Taylor Swift, and himself all acted for zero pay, which drastically cut costs.

It only needed $40 million to break even—$100 million would be pure profit!

But when the box office results came out! Xu Can got a shock!

$37.5 million in the North American market on its opening weekend!

In one fell swoop it crushed Nicholas Cage's *Knowing*, which opened at 3.3, and took the weekend box office crown!

It broke even in just 3 days; the remaining box office was pure profit!

As for how much it earned, Xu Can didn't care.

In any case, his *Dying to Survive* had already made a killing!

Right after *Dying to Survive* finished its theatrical run, it raked in a total of $850 million worldwide!

The Huaxia market alone brought in $250 million, equivalent to 1.8 billion RMB!

It looks like Xu Can's version of *Dying to Survive* at 1.8 billion is far less than the original's 3.1 billion,

but this was early 2009!

Prices and inflation hadn't yet become as exaggerated as later on.

100 yuan at this time was equivalent to over 280 yuan in 2018!

The 1.8 billion in box office Xu Can created was the equivalent of 5 billion later on!

That was on par with the box office of *Wolf Warrior 2*, *The Battle at Lake Changjin*, *Hi, Mom*, and *Ne Zha*!

The original 2009 box office champion was *2012*, at 456 million!

*Avatar*, which swept the globe in early 2010 and took the global box office crown, had a mainland China box office of 1.4 billion before its re-release.

That was Cameron's era-defining special-effects blockbuster with a tidal wave of publicity!

Yet this timeline had been completely hijacked by Xu Can!

*Dying to Survive*, amplified by the "Lu Yong case," and further amplified by *Xinwen Lianbo*, *Jiaodian Fangtan*, and provincial satellite TV media, newspapers, and magazines,

became a household name across the land of Huaxia!

On top of that, with the film's quality holding up—an IMDb score steady at 9 and a Douban score steady at 9.5,

*Dying to Survive* became the pioneer of the Huaxia film market!

It ushered mainland Chinese cinema from the "barbaric era" into a new epoch!

The era of the 1-billion box office has begun!.