Chapter 439: God Descends to Earth, Sweeping Everything

No one in the industry expected that just when everyone was still shocked by the opening day box office results of *Gravity*, Lu Chuan, who had been quiet for two days, would actually jump out again.

But this time it was different; Lu Chuan was not fighting alone—he called for his parents.

The seventy-something Lu Laotou was on the internet, righteously supporting his own unfilial son, and quite a few old men and women joined in the excitement.

In their words, *The Last Supper* was full of artistry, and it was only because of malicious competition that it attracted all sorts of smears.

Moreover, they spoke with a preachy tone from the very beginning, relying on their seniority to lecture the world.

Furthermore, because of the release of *Gravity*, the screen allocation for *The Last Supper* was squeezed, so this group of people also called on theater chains to allocate screens as fairly and impartially as possible, covering all bases, instead of favoring some over others.

Even more ridiculous was that this group of brain-dead people actually called on the audience to walk into the theaters and truly feel the core of the film, not to be blinded by "a small handful of people."

In their words, film review websites were too unprofessional and had absolutely no reference value; professional evaluations should still be left to professional film critics.

People in the industry were almost all watching the fun, and no one bothered with the Lu Chuan father-son duo at all, but the netizens were not going to put up with it and directly launched a major mockery.

"Is this fucking brain-dead? Does it mean the audience doesn't know a damn thing about movies, and they should just buy tickets to watch the movie and stop yapping online? Fuck that."

"My worldview has been refreshed. Lu Chuan is in his forties, and he still needs his seventy-something-year-old dad to come out and help hold the fort; it's just a fucking joke."

"Does this mean that if Lu Tai-lang's movie is trash, we can't say it? If we say it, it's unprofessional? Truly, they are remnants of the old era."

"The theater chains aren't stupid. If they show *The Last Supper*, I'm afraid they won't even make enough to cover the electricity bill after one screening. Who are they showing it to, ghosts?"

"Old men, the times have changed."

"Everyone, say less. Those old stubborns have one foot in the grave already. What if they get so angry they have a health scare and we get framed for it?"

"."

The joke of the Lu Chuan father-son duo was just a joke, after all. The industry was discussing *Gravity* more; this opening day box office was truly too explosive.

Han Sanping sat in his office, listening to his secretary's report, and the curve of his mouth was so wide that even an AK couldn't suppress it.

He had a premonition that another phenomenal film was about to be born.

As it currently stood, the potential of *Gravity* might even head toward the 2-billion mark.

"By the way, what is the situation with the overseas box office?"

The well-proportioned secretary bowed slightly: "Chairman Han, the data statistics from Warner have not been completed yet; it is estimated that we won't know until the end of the opening weekend."

Speaking of this, the female secretary paused slightly, as if recalling: "However, according to the previous emails from Summit Entertainment, it opened on over 3,400 screens in North America, so the data shouldn't be bad."

Han Sanping nodded: "Hmm, keep a close watch. Once there is news, release it immediately. In addition, increase the promotional efforts for *Gravity* and tilt all resources toward it."

"Understood, Chairman Han."

On the other side, Ye Ning was also very happy. Although Wanda's share in this film was not large, only 10%, being able to participate in such a project meant that their strength was recognized by the industry.

At this moment, Ye Ning also had the same premonition as Han Sanping that this film might create a new history, so he immediately summoned his secretary.

"Send out the notice: increase the screen allocation for *Gravity* by another 3 percentage points."

"Very well, President Ye."

Just as happy as the producers were the theater chains; no matter how much Wei Jin earned, he still had to share a portion with them.

Thus, major theater chains all adopted the same strategy as Ye Ning and adjusted their screen allocation rates again.

There were even many small cinemas where several halls took turns playing *Gravity*, and even then, the movie tickets were still selling very well.

According to feedback from the theater chains, starting from the second day, the average screen allocation for *Gravity* reached as high as 68%.

With super-high screen allocation combined with the weekend holiday, *Gravity* directly played a winning hand.

On the second day, it reported a single-day box office of 125 million, brazenly breaking the single-day box office record of 122 million previously held by the imported blockbuster *Transformers 3*!

At the same time, it also directly created a new record for domestic films—214 million in 2 days.

"Hiss! Is this box office fucking crazy? Did they eat up the entire market by themselves?"

Many people gasped, first doubting they had read it wrong, and only after multiple confirmations did they accept this terrifying fact.

"This is just too fucking monstrous!"

It was the first time the industry had felt such a sense of powerlessness.

Just like when Zhang Yimou's *Hero* came out back then, sweeping away all enemies and looking down upon the world, the current *Gravity* also had a bit of the momentum of "after my flowers bloom, all other flowers will wither"! There was no help for it; *Gravity* had been released for two days, and the other films could barely even drink the soup.

Li An's *Life of Pi*, because of the big director's appeal, solid quality, and good word-of-mouth, had maintained a single-day box office of around 10 million.

Unfortunately, with the release of *Gravity*, its single-day box office was directly cut in half, with daily earnings of less than 5 million.

And *Back to 1942*, which already had great pressure to break even, was no exception, dropping directly from 15 million in daily earnings to around 8 million.

As for Lu Chuan's *The Last Supper*, it couldn't even manage to linger on; its daily earnings dropped directly to below 500,000, and it was directly crushed and swept away by Wei Jin in one wave.

Since even films with these big directors or big-name casts couldn't stop it, the rest, such as *Love in the Buff*, the South Korean hit *Deranged*, and other films, went without saying.

They were directly and completely suppressed by *Gravity* without any suspense!

A hurricane sweeping through the Chinese film industry was raging wildly, and for the first time in the New Year Slot, Wei Jin displayed an incomparable and formidable dominance! Even Cheng Long, who was following Wei Jin on the roadshow, found it unbelievable.

At this moment, Cheng Long was both happy and apprehensive.

What he was happy about was that in this film that might make history, although his screen time was a bit short, he was the undisputed male lead, and no matter what, he would have quite a bit of prestige added to him.

What he was apprehensive about was that in ten days or so, the film he wrote, directed, and starred in would be released. He didn't know if he could borrow the east wind, but if he were directly crushed head-on, then his reputation as a director would be completely ruined.

Seeming to have sensed Cheng Long's mood, after leaving the roadshow venue in Shanghai, Wei Jin smiled and teased: "Big Brother, think about it from another angle. No matter what, you are the biggest winner of this New Year Slot, just like Ge You was back then, hahaha..."

Uncle Ge's three films, *Let the Bullets Fly*, *Sacrifice*, and *If You Are The One 2*, directly raked in over 1 billion at the box office during the New Year Slot that year, becoming the biggest winner of that year, which became a legendary story in the industry.

Upon hearing this, Cheng Long could only find joy in sorrow: "Director Wei, I can only think of it that way, hehe..."

The miracle of *Gravity* was still unfolding; on the third day, the box office reported 121 million.

In three days of release, the box office of *Gravity* directly broke through 335 million.

Crucially, the word-of-mouth online still remained at around 8.1 points, and its potential was very long-lasting.

"Is this fucking really crazy?!"

Countless production companies in the industry were making such exclamations. In just 3 days of release, *Gravity* had already shown a momentum of crushing everything and breaking through like bamboo.

According to this situation, this film might even directly clear the entire New Year Slot.

Now, the pressure is on the film production companies about to release their movies.

Beijing, Bona headquarters.

Yu Pangzi, sweating profusely, pulled open his shirt collar; his slightly protruding belly rose and fell, clearly panting heavily.

Jin Qiao, who was already pregnant and had successfully secured her position, considerately handed him a tissue.

"The air conditioning seems to be set too high."

After forcibly saving face, Yu Pangzi tossed the box office report for *Gravity* aside and looked up at his deputy: "Are the arrangements for the premiere of *The Last Tycoon* ready?"

"Yes, I have already communicated with Huang Xiaoming and Zhou Runfa, Chairman Yu."

"Don't stop the press releases these days, maximize the promotion, there isn't much time left."

Thinking of the more than half-month overlap with *Gravity*, Yu Pangzi felt his scalp tingle and muttered in a low voice:

"Damn it, I should have just scheduled it for January."

On the other side, Vice President Fu of Yindu Institution, the production company for *The Grandmaster*, felt very fortunate.

If it weren't for Wong Kar-wai's various erratic maneuvers causing the project to be scrapped and restarted, *The Grandmaster* would also have intended to release during the New Year Slot.

Unexpectedly, a mistake turned out to be a blessing, as they actually avoided their biggest competitor.

"Hehe, now I can sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight."

Wei Jin was unaware of the turmoil in the industry; after finishing the roadshow in Hangzhou, he received a call from Hunter.

"Boss, the data is out."

Listening to Hunter's excited tone, Wei Jin's own mood surged.

The first three days of the opening weekend in North America brought in 74.55 million USD, Europe brought in 31.22 million USD, and Australia brought in 21.88 million USD.

Adding the 22 million from Hong Kong, 31 million from Taiwan, and 14.68 million USD from Japan and South Korea, *Gravity* grossed 258 million USD globally in its first three days, powerfully topping the global opening weekend box office chart!

Crucially, the word-of-mouth on a global scale was also good, with an IMDb rating as high as 8.6, even better than the reviews domestically.

Judging by the current situation, the global trajectory of *Gravity* is not inferior to *Inception* back then, and from the perspective of schedule competition, it even has more advantages.

This year's North American New Year Slot does not have very fierce competition; among the films released at the end of November, only *Life of Pi* poses a slight threat, with a current global box office reaching 400 million USD, but its momentum has already been curbed.

As for *Les Misérables* in the same period, despite being a century-old classic, its inherent thematic disadvantages are there, so it does not constitute a threat.

The most threatening one, *The Hobbit*, had its schedule postponed to late December due to a certain interest exchange between the two parties, as the production and distribution company is Warner Bros., so there is basically no major competition.

It can be said that *Gravity* currently has almost no opponents in the global market and can be called the sole dominant force.

Coupled with the extra-long harvest period of 3D sci-fi films, the slogan of *Gravity* breaking 1 billion USD globally is truly very likely to be realized.

"Very good, Hunter, strive for as many screenings as possible; whether we can hit 1 billion USD depends on you."

"Don't worry, Boss, the number of opening screens this week will not be lower than 4,000 in North America, and there will be corresponding increases in the other markets."

"Good."

After chatting about work for a while longer, Wei Jin hung up the phone and headed straight to the airport with Ceng Li and the others, rushing to the next destination.

This roadshow schedule was very tight; in Shanghai, he didn't even have the chance to linger with Shishi.

However, mentioning Shishi, Wei Jin thought of the news that had been making a huge stir these days, and regarding Miss Cai, he really couldn't help but complain.

Miss Cai's "hustle-style" signing had indeed caused trouble.

Lin Genxin, who had previously participated in *Xuan-Yuan Sword* and had met Wei Jin once, proposed to terminate his contract with Tangren, but how could Miss Cai possibly agree? She directly threw out a sky-high breach-of-contract fee.

Consequently, Lin Genxin decisively sued Tangren in court and made the promises made by both parties at the time of signing public.

Only then did the industry realize that when signing the contract, Tangren had promised to give Lin Genxin at least one or two male lead roles in TV dramas and male supporting roles in movies per year, which was why the latter had agreed.

But it had been over two years, and everything Lin Genxin received were supporting roles, and he even had to play a supporting role to someone like Jiang Jinfu who signed later; how could he not explode?

Tangren had offended quite a few people in the industry over the years, and now that something had happened, many people were being sarcastic on Weibo, making Miss Cai furious.

Shaking his head, Wei Jin withdrew his thoughts and closed his eyes to rest on the private jet.

When the plane landed in Guangdong, Wei Jin saw that China Film Group had already released the global box office information.

The media collectively reached a climax, and related reports were everywhere.

"*Gravity* grossed 258 million USD in its first three days, successfully topping the global weekly box office champion!"

"Domestic sci-fi blockbuster *Gravity* sweeps the global market and is crowned king."

"..."

As expected, from the airport to the hotel, Wei Jin's phone almost never stopped, and the text messages and WeChat messages were countless.

However, what surprised Wei Jin a little was that as soon as he settled down at the hotel, he received a call from Jing Tian.

"Brother, you are amazing. Tickets at local cinemas in London are selling like crazy, and the media is full of reports..."

Listening to the little girl's crisp and excited voice, the fatigue brought by Wei Jin's rushed roadshow schedule seemed to be swept away; the corners of his mouth curled upward, and his voice softened unconsciously: "Tian Tian, how is the crew doing? When are you coming back?"

"Hmm, the filming is going quite smoothly. I estimate that in another ten days or so, we can finish filming the exterior scenes. We can move to the studio in Hollywood before Christmas, and we expect to wrap up in early January."

Wei Jin nodded; with the Hollywood production style, there basically wouldn't be much deviation from the filming plan.

"Good, I should be going to North America after New Year's Day, and I'll come to the set to see you then."

Besides using *Gravity* to refresh box office records, the Oscar was also within range for Wei Jin, so related work had to be prepared in advance.

"Hmm, then it's a deal."

"Hmm."

After being lovey-dovey with the little girl for a while longer, Wei Jin hung up the phone and walked toward the bathroom.

At this time, the great beauty Ceng Li had already washed up in the warm water, waiting for him to favor her. (End of chapter)