Chapter 41: Breaking Box‑Office Records

When Wu Yanzu showed his face, an instant gasp erupted.

The late 1990s were the final golden age of Hong Kong and Taiwan pop culture, and in this world Wu Yanzu could be considered the last influential superstar of that era.

Among the girls who came to watch the film, a little less than half were there for Wu Yanzu.

A Wei's female friend felt the same and whispered, "So handsome!"

A Wei felt a bit insecure upon hearing that and thought, maybe later I'll just go to the internet cafe!

He turned to the big screen, but after a long watch it was still a modern story centered on a dinosaur fossil exhibition.

Even though Wu Yanzu is handsome, Li Meiqi is stylish, Ge You is humorous, and there are gunfight scenes with an international mercenary squad, the film is merely conventional, with no surprises.

Everyone even wondered if they'd been scammed, if the wrong copy had been played.

We came for thrilling, massive dinosaurs, not a Hong Kong gunfight movie!

Just as some of the boys' patience was about to reach its limit, the celestial event known as the Nine-Star Alignment occurred.

Everyone near the dinosaur fossil pit suddenly found themselves collectively transported to the Jurassic period.

Seeing the vegetation that clearly differed from Earth's plants and the lifelike dinosaurs, some of the boys felt their adrenaline surge.

When a pterosaur swooped down to attack a mercenary, many of the girls in the theater screamed and immediately ducked toward the boys beside them.

At that moment, A Wei also managed to hug the girl he liked.

He suddenly realized why so many girls love watching horror movies!

Domestic films face censorship limits, horror movies are rare, and this monster film serves as a good substitute.

During the rest of the time, his attention was almost entirely on the girl; he didn't notice what was playing on the screen.

Anyway, it felt exciting: when the giant dinosaur appeared and chased people, the girl kept slipping into his arms.

Hmm, we can watch more movies like this in the future!

When the film ended, A Wei was still a bit dizzy.

Recalling the plot, it seemed there was nothing else—just the giant dinosaur eating and chasing people, humans fleeing, and using brought‑along guns to fight back.

If you watch it without thinking, it can be quite fun.

The girl, looking frightened, snuggled up to him and said, "Let's find a place to rest; watching was a bit tiring!"

A Wei heard that, opened his mouth and said, "Let's find an inn; with your condition, you can't stay overnight at an internet cafe!"

The girl hummed in agreement, said nothing else, and let A Wei decide.

He thought to himself, "You really want to take me to the internet cafe, huh!"

The nationwide premiere was especially crowded, not just couples; there were also fans of Jiang Heng, Wu Yanzu, or Li Meiqi who thought a dinosaur blockbuster would be spectacular and stayed up late to watch.

After watching, how to describe it? My chest felt tight; one of the guys left the theater, rushed to an internet cafe, booted up his computer, logged onto the MaoPu site, and wrote a review of "Prehistoric One Hundred Million Years."

"I think the plot of this movie is a pile of crap; the narrative is so disjointed, the modern scenes are just filler to stretch the runtime. If you can't afford special effects, you should have said so earlier. Dude, after watching Jurassic Park a few times, I could help you copy a decent script! With the same amount of dinosaur screen time, it's at least better than your fragmented plot!"

That said, the Jurassic portion at the end was truly spectacular and thrilling, more shocking than Jurassic Park, especially the final shot: as more and more prehistoric creatures filled the big screen, I actually trembled all over. For a domestic film to produce effects that surpass Hollywood's, it's really not easy!

Finally, I want to say, director, if you can't write a good script, hire a screenwriter. It doesn't cost much; just spend a bit. You make so much profit, you should spend some!

The post was quickly replied to and discussed by many netizens, becoming the forum's hottest thread.

One netizen said that if "Prehistoric One Hundred Million Years" omitted the modern storyline and started directly from prehistory, it would be a masterpiece comparable to The Matrix.

Of course, they also know that such a production would be financially impossible.

So, overall it's still recommended.

Another netizen added that if you don't go in with too many expectations, the earlier plot is actually quite good.

One can only say the latter part is too thrilling, making even the few modern gunfight scenes seem bland.

The heated discussion on MaoPu still gave "Prehistoric One Hundred Million Years" an overall positive rating.

Mainly because domestic commercial films are so weak that even Hong Kong movies are being crushed by Hollywood blockbusters.

It's hard to find a decent one, but people's tolerance is quite strong.

By daytime, major entertainment media began reporting the midnight show's booming attendance and audience feedback.

They cut out any negative clips, broadcasting only strong recommendations!

As co‑distributors, Beiying and Bona kept pushing, increasing promotion, essentially even if it's a scam they'd first lure the audience in.

Thus, although "Prehistoric One Hundred Million Years" is clearly far below The Matrix in overall quality, its opening day box office reached 14.23 million, surpassing The Matrix by nearly five million.

After the report, viewership surged like a tide.

Worse still, besides young men and women who love dinosaur movies, children love them even more; on weekends over a third of the audience were parents with kids, pushing box‑office numbers to new highs.

Day two brought 15.97 million, nearly breaking 16 million.

Day three slipped down, still at 14.81 million.

In just three days it amassed 46.78 million in box office, shaking the entire Chinese‑language film industry.

Anyone with eyes can see that the box‑office of "Prehistoric One Hundred Million Years" is likely to surpass The Matrix, possibly breaking the 200‑million mark.

What infuriates some film‑reviewers is that this film's quality is clearly far below The Matrix by more than one tier; a trash movie selling massive tickets—does any sense or law remain? Does any justice remain?

These people frantically write reviews and submit them to major entertainment media.

Some couldn't wait and posted on forums like MaoPu, further hyping the film and boosting its box office.

At Beiying Studio, the management team, upon seeing such box‑office numbers, were overjoyed.

Han Sanping was ecstatic; although Jiang Heng handled everything, his name appears in the producer and executive producer slots.

Two hundred million is uncertain, but a hundred million is fairly solid.

Not to mention Japanese, Korean, and Southeast Asian distributors eager to buy rights to "Prehistoric One Hundred Million Years"; with Taiwan and Xianggang, recouping costs is certainly no problem.

We just don't know whether the release in Beimei and Europe will go smoothly; the earnings there remain to be seen.

When Jiang Heng arrived, Han Sanping brought up the matter.

"I'll go there; I can't say how the talks will turn out, you know the film's reputation is average!"

Han Sanping laughed, "How could there be so many films that are both critically acclaimed and popular? As long as it sells big at the box office, that's enough!"

(End of chapter)