Chapter 362: International Female Superstar

The few of them sat down to eat, Fang Hong and Liu Tianxian on one side, her uncle and Liu Xiaoli on the other.

At the dinner table they only chatted about everyday family matters, not about financing, loans, or business.

Liu Tianxian definitely wouldn't tell her mom about this—if she did, her mom would never agree, so she'd always been avoiding it.

But she wasn't sure whether her uncle had said anything, so she kept glancing at him with her eyes.

Yet her uncle acted as if nothing were the matter, eating and chatting away.

Actually, if he'd told Liu Xiaoli, she would have brought it up; since she didn't, that proved he hadn't said anything.

After the meal, night was just about falling. Fang Hong didn't linger, but took his leave and headed home—after all, he was still an outsider, and staying on didn't quite seem appropriate.

"Just wait for my word, I'll talk to my uncle." Liu Tianxian told him not to worry.

"Okay."

Fang Hong cupped her little face and kissed her on the lips; Liu Tianxian puckered up.

The two of them pecked each other lightly, dragonfly-touching the water, then parted!

Fang Hong got in the car and started it; Liu Tianxian waved her hand, watching the car speed off into the distance, then went back inside.

These past few days Liu Tianxian had been accompanying her uncle and her mom sightseeing around, and from time to time photos would leak out.

The leaked photos were always of her and her mom, never her uncle. For example, there was one where Liu Tianxian, dressed in a black top and bottom, leapt up high in a single bound.

And her mom, wearing a plaid long skirt, looked as if she were about to dance gracefully like a dancer, very cheerful.

The background was a stretch of lawn with little hills in the distance—a beautiful setting.

This photo even sparked heated discussion online.

"Tianxian's mom is so pretty!"

"Why does her mom look even prettier than her?"

"The temperament that comes with age and the depth that time bestows makes a mother look more like a glass of wine with depth."

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Photos like these only get fans buzzing; if you're not a fan, passers-by won't pay them much attention.

But because Now You See Me is currently a huge hit, and she's the only female lead in the whole film, in the movie she dresses like a fashion beauty, elegant in her bearing.

Her personality is lively and cute, and she pops out funny lines every now and then, winning her a huge wave of new fans.

So now any little thing she does can make the trending searches.

She doesn't need hype, doesn't need to buy trending spots—her movie fans can boost her up there themselves, and even other celebrities come over to ride her coattails.

"Liu Yifei was called Little Huang Shengyi when she debuted!"

This kind of trending topic sat at number 7 on the trending list, pushed up by Liu Tianxian's fans cursing her, calling her: turning heaven and earth upside down!

Liu Tianxian debuted back in 2002; that other woman didn't act in The Forbidden Kingdom until '04.

Liu Tianxian couldn't even be bothered to respond, and Fang Hong just took it as a joke, no reaction.

Now Huang Shengyi's movie and TV paths are completely blocked, she can only rely on her shoe-horn-faced husband, and that husband of hers is just like that—a good-for-nothing.

For that she didn't hesitate to kneel to Zhao Dashu; once a person gets desperate, there's nothing they won't do.

Liu Tianxian is very popular right now, but she just doesn't quite fit in with this entertainment circle. Everyone else rides the heat to do proper business, raking it in big time.

Yet she just accompanies her family, sightseeing everywhere—her fans are worried on her behalf.

But even when she's not doing business, top fashion magazines like Vogue, Elle, Harper's Bazaar and so on have already booked her to shoot cover stories for August and September.

Plenty of brands have also approached her—international brands like Tissot watches, Armani and other first- and second-tier names—wanting her as their spokesperson.

She doesn't take on many endorsements; she needs to settle down, to fade out her old image, all because in the past she endorsed some garbage brands that left people with too low-end an impression.

Like Legend, A Chinese Ghost Story games, Zhuo Duozi—what on earth are those?

Once the contracts expire, she won't renew them.

Now she focuses on movies, and she needs a matching sense of class to elevate herself.

She has to set herself apart from those other actresses, raise her own taste. Before she didn't have the conditions; now she does, so she'll definitely take the high-end route.

Leave the low-end share to the other actresses—give it away to them as charity.

This is something Fang Hong told her long ago: you must have class. You can't see or touch this thing, but it really does exist.

As for how to walk her acting path, that's her own call; Fang Hong only offers suggestions, doesn't interfere.

Recently Now You See Me broke 800 million at the box office in ten days, fiercer than the earlier Demon Slayer, just lacking staying power.

Now it's only pulling in around forty-something million a day, not the staying power Demon Slayer had.

At this rate of decline, it won't surpass Demon Slayer's box office; clearing a billion would already be good.

There's no helping it—it's not opponents playing dirty or anything, that's all kid stuff, won't amount to much.

Mainly, a movie like Now You See Me is just like that: after watching it you feel empty, like you watched it and yet didn't.

Just like having sex—feels great while you're doing it, but once you're done, it's just whatever.

The audience just watches for novelty, only because there are very few magic-crime films like this in the country.

Still, the word-of-mouth is decent—Douban gives it 7.8, overseas IMDb rates it 7.4.

And in North America, because the first four days pulled in 13.62 million dollars, it looked promising, so Universal's Donna helped expand the number of screens and ramped up the Propaganda Department push.

So in the second week there was a small surge, pulling in 22.47 million dollars; the extra promotion and publicity worked out okay.

The two-week total hit 36.09 million dollars—a pretty decent level for a Chinese-language film, worth hyping up big time. Still, it hasn't reached the level of The Forbidden Kingdom back then, which pulled in over fifty million dollars in North America, and that was five or six years ago.

Whether it can reach The Forbidden Kingdom's level is hard to say, because the third-week box office dropped a lot.

But no matter what, Now You See Me has opened up a foothold in North America—North American audiences do quite enjoy this kind of super-satisfying blockbuster.

This kind of popcorn flick completely downplays the actors' role; what you watch is the visuals, that gorgeous Best Special Effects feel—very gripping.

Not just North American audiences, global audiences are all the same: just let them feel good, no thinking required.

Second place is the France market, two-week total 5.14 million dollars; third, the South Korea market, 5.11 million dollars.

By extension, the United Kingdom earned 3.36 million dollars; Australia, 3.23 million dollars; Spain, 2.8 million dollars—later figures need not be mentioned, all were in the hundreds of thousands or millions.

The global box office in two weeks reached 59.73 million dollars, just shy of breaking 60 million dollars.

If Fang Long and Li Lianjie collaborated again, they could not achieve such results.

Still, it couldn't match that year's "The Forbidden Kingdom," which earned 128 million dollars globally at the time.

Even without domestic box office, it surpassed 100 million dollars.

Based on current performance, Now You See Me is unlikely to reach this figure, but when domestic box office is included, it will definitely surpass it.

With domestic added, the total box office reached 173 million dollars!

At the time, The Forbidden Kingdom succeeded overseas not only due to Fang Long and Li Lianjie's influence, but frankly, because it made overseas audiences feel thrilled.

For example: a Chinese everyman, accompanied by Eastwood and Harrison Ford, rescues Batman and defeats Thanos, with Anne Hathaway throwing herself at him.

Just ask: would Chinese audiences find such a movie thrilling?

For the same reason, American audiences would surely find it thrilling too!

This is why The Forbidden Kingdom was viciously criticized and hated back then, despite poor domestic box office.

Now You See Me didn't kowtow—it robbed an American bank—so achieving such international results was already highly impressive.

Overseas media also published many reviews of this film.

"This magic version of 'Ocean's Eleven' is worth watching; the entire film resembles a grand three-act magic show, and these magical spectacles easily conquer audiences visually," commented the renowned overseas entertainment review site thea. v. club.

"Beautiful tricks and captivating combinations, filled with childlike deception, make audiences happy to be fooled along with the characters," Variety commented.

"The film may not be the most satisfying crime drama, but it is not without merit," commented The Charlotte Observer.

"In some ways, this film outperforms Nolan's The Prestige," Entertainment Weekly commented.

"If judged as a magic show, the film has done a decent job in entertainment value; unfortunately, the more entertaining the tricks, the harder they are to explain, so when the truth is revealed, the answer proves unsatisfying," commented The Village Voice.

"Many seemingly promising plot points were inadequately developed; audiences are left half-asleep, too disengaged to care about this ridiculous magic show," commented the New York Post.

"The film's action editing is an insult to narrative clarity," commented the Boston Globe.

There were positive reviews, negative reviews, and Universal's promotional efforts—but regardless, it indirectly reflected that this film still had some buzz overseas.

Riding the momentum, Liu Tianxian smiled brightly on the cover of the United States' Newsweek, the background painted in red.

It wrote of her: "Perhaps Americans have forgotten Liu Tianxian's name, and no one can pinpoint exactly where she comes from."

"Now, Liu Tianxian is working with her companions to make more Americans remember her through their artistic performances."

This report was republished by Xinhua News, China News Service, People's Daily Online, and other mainstream media.

Liu Tianxian seemed poised to become a Chinese face icon.

Of course, Yutu had pushed the momentum, and Donna had promoted her, downplaying all other lead actors to spotlight only her.

Promoting Liu Tianxian was easier—she already had Lucy and The Forbidden Kingdom as a foundation overseas.

Universal's distribution channels were still powerful; otherwise, such box office results and promotional impact would not have been possible.

Whether the film is good is one thing; channels matter most!

Even if you shoot a super divine film, without distribution channels, global audiences won't see it.

Conversely, even if you shoot a super terrible film, if global audiences can see it, you can still become a massive hit.

Although Now You See Me's box office has declined, its buzz has persisted.

Overseas: 59.73 million dollars; domestic box office converted at exchange rate: global total box office reached 173 million dollars.

"Now You See Me became a huge hit overseas, with global box office of 173 million dollars."

"Liu Tianxian surpassed The Forbidden Kingdom's record, becoming a globally hot Chinese female star."

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This news appeared on the front pages of major domestic news outlets; Liu Tianxian created another glory, surpassing The Forbidden Kingdom to become the hottest topic of July.

Even the topic of her divorce from Wang Fei was equally heated.

Though somewhat fabricated, it doesn't hinder the hype.

A reporter asked Fang Long: "What do you have to say about Now You See Me surpassing The Forbidden Kingdom globally?"

"Surpass? It hasn't surpassed! The Forbidden Kingdom earned over 100 million dollars overseas at the time."

Fang Long spoke bluntly again: "Still, congratulations to Now You See Me for its overseas success; this film took a different path from our kung fu films at the time, and it deserves encouragement."

He had once said that for Chinese cinema to break through overseas, only kung fu films could succeed—no other genre could.

"What do you think of Liu Tianxian once again achieving international success?" the reporter asked.

"I've always believed she could become Gong Huang's successor—proving my vision was right," Fang Long said.

(End of Chapter)