Chapter 522: with translation of chapter title

The audience present praised the film unanimously, but the media reaction was mixed.

The Wall Street Journal believes that Jiang Heng's new film, as always, lacks substance, relying solely on special effects to attract audiences, and its plot is full of holes. The most intolerable thing is that the Panda Country first mastered hyperspace travel technology and even successfully dispatched an adventure team to prove it real and feasible… If it truly exists, shouldn't it be in the hands of the Beautiful Country? The Los Angeles Times, from the perspective of market share, analyzes the huge impact and threat Jiang Heng's works pose to the Hollywood film market.

The film *Heroic Soldiers Series* released at the beginning of the year grossed $445 million in the Beimei market, while its worldwide box office reached $1.73 billion.

In less than half a year, another sci-fi epic is released, and how much will it gross in the Beimei market? Four hundred million? Or six hundred million dollars?

The film market is only so big; the more Jiang Heng takes, the less others will get.

Then they analyzed the Hollywood blockbusters already released in the Beimei market, and not a single one had grossed over three hundred million.

Even the top-ranked *Captain America 2: Winter Soldier* only pulled in $259 million in Beimei—how awful, truly awful.

If not restrained, Hollywood's globally dominating blockbusters will eventually be defeated by Jiang Heng's works.

Moreover, they predicted that the 2014 global box office champion would most likely be Jiang Heng's work.

The 'Jiang Heng works threat theory' has become an old cliché in Hollywood; whenever a Jiang Heng film with huge box-office potential is released, the media here always hype it up, to the point that Beimei audiences are familiar with it.

In Texas, inside a white farming family, old John lay on a rocking chair reading the newspaper, his wife making breakfast in the kitchen, and the children still sleeping in upstairs.

At mealtime, old John suddenly said, 'How about the whole family going to see a movie this Friday?'

'Oh, no, Dad, I have a date, so sorry I can't join you!' said the eldest daughter, Monica, apologetically.

Old John looked at his son, little John feeling a bit embarrassed, 'I already promised Alice earlier that we'd go see Director Jiang's new film!'

Monica laughed, 'We're also going to see that film; Jiang's work is really worth watching!'

'Yes, there's no false publicity; the special effects scenes are always so shocking, and the story is also very smooth!'

Little John listed several advantages, then said, 'But speaking of which, I still prefer his *Matrix* series and *Inception*; his current works are basically popcorn movies, yet even so, they're still stronger than many Hollywood blockbusters!'

Old John finally interjected, 'After filming for so many years, inspiration will eventually run dry, so I often don't go to the cinema unless the newspaper brings up the 'threat theory' again—that probably means another good work is out!'

Everyone else at the table laughed, obviously agreeing with this view.

Thus on Friday, July 18, the old John family split into three groups, each heading to a theater in town to watch the film.

'Oh my goodness, it's been ages since I've seen so many people in a theater!' sighed old John's wife.

'Indeed, a lot of people have come; it seems everyone thinks this film is good!' said old John.

'Perhaps everyone is hoping for a day when we can break out of Earth and plunder alien civilizations!' laughed old John's wife.

The original novel *Alien Divergent Paths* was already a Euro-American sci-fi pulp, its thinking in line with the adventurous, colonial spirit of maritime civilization.

Moreover, in today's world of dwindling resources and intensifying competition, the setting of discovering a 'New World' and plundering alien civilizations truly aligns with the subconscious desires of Euro-American audiences.

In fact, this setting has truly made Beimei audiences thrilled.

Inside the theater, when they saw the *Emperor River* ship successfully perform a 'hyperspace jump' and appear near Jupiter, the audience burst into applause and cheers.

'Oh my goodness, it's truly amazing; I so wish we could have a day like that!'

'If such a day really came, I think we could form a private expedition and looting team, a few people pooling money to buy a spaceship, loading it with lots of weapons and food, then hiring some people. A squad of a dozen or twenty could conquer a low‑civilization planet!' exclaimed a white man with a drooping mustache.

'Haha, by then we'll have wealth, beautiful women, and fine wine, and we won't have to be like we are now!' said a man who looked down on his luck, still holding a bottle of liquor.

When they saw Liu Yifei portraying the Ice Snow Queen appear, nearly wiping out the *Emperor River* expedition team, some praised Liu Yifei as too handsome and cool, loving her immensely.

Others thought it bad, saying, 'How could there be a magical civilization in the universe? Even if there were, it shouldn't be a match for firearms!'

'No matter how powerful the mage, a single nuclear bomb would reduce them to ashes!'

'Limited by environment, on a non‑magic planet it wouldn't have that much power—this setting isn't bad!'

It can be said that Beimei audiences really loved this film.

It wasn't just the excellent visual effects; more so, the film's content and setting sparked huge discussion.

On Rotten Tomato website, Jiang Heng's this sci‑fi new work had a freshness rating as high as 93%, with tens of thousands rushing in to give positive reviews right away.

As for discussions about the film and its content‑setting, they were too many to count.

In terms of box office, the opening weekend three‑day gross of $112 million set an impressive record, shocking the entire Beimei market.

Before, the media merely guessed this film would be a hit, but judging from the current results, it's bound to be a big hit!

Although it's unlikely to surpass Avatar's Beimei box‑office record of $760 million, reaching six hundred million or even over seven hundred million is still quite probable.

Hollywood film companies were all lamenting, while only the film's distributor, Columbia Pictures, rejoiced gleefully.

The company CEO, Sanford Panichi, called Jiang Heng as soon as the first day's box‑office results came out.

And upon seeing the astonishing opening‑weekend three‑day box‑office results, he immediately placed the call.

'Oh, greatest Jiang, you've made this film truly superb—do you know how well it's doing and how popular it is?'

Jiang Heng naturally could guess the approximate opening‑weekend three‑day results, but Sanford Panichi kept talking, and he went along with it.

'Oh, how much could it be—ninety million, or a hundred million?'

'It's $112 million, and with such good word‑of‑mouth, I dare say the Beimei market will at least gross $600 million. Europe's performance might even be better than here—you're going to make a killing!'

'Europe? Maybe!' Jiang Heng chuckled.

As the birthplace of Western civilization and the Age of Sail, some declining Europe truly loved Jiang Heng's new film.

After all, the global economic landscape has already solidified; without major upheaval, Europe finds it hard to regain its former glory.

Unless, as the film depicts, hyperspace‑jump technology exists, causing earthlings to swarm out of Earth and each embark on interstellar exploration and plunder.

Bringing this up, they get all fired up—after all, it's an ancestral skill!

Although such a thing is nearly impossible, for this film European audiences still showed great enthusiasm, with box‑office good news arriving frequently, and they actually kept breaking Jiang Heng's box‑office records in each European country.

When the news reached home, it caused an even greater sensation.

The already booming Neidi box office was shooting up like crazy; various media outlets predicted that Jiang Heng's film would exceed four billion yuan in Neidi.

Four billion—what an astonishing figure! In an instant, domestic news media all demanded interviews, and many variety and talk shows also wanted to invite Jiang Heng.

But at this moment, Jiang Heng was on the set of *The Richest Man in Xihong City*, guiding the filming.

He wasn't the director; he held only a producer credit, while the director's title belonged to Yan Fei and Peng Da Mo. Since these two were newcomers to the film industry with low shooting efficiency, Jiang Heng came to the set to give guidance.

One ingenious idea after another left the crew members in awe.

As it turned out, Director Jiang's film was not only big in investment and shocking in visual scenes, but its design was also very clever! After a set of scenes was filmed, Zhang Ruoxi, like a little assistant, busily went to make tea for Jiang Heng.

"You're also pretty tired, you don't need to do this!" Jiang Heng took the teacup, took a sip, and said.

Zhang Ruoxi wiped the sweat from her forehead with a handkerchief, "It's fine, not hard at all, I just feel that Director Jiang has taken care of me so much and taught me so much; if I don't do something, I feel uneasy."

Jiang Heng chuckled and didn't continue the topic.

After taking two more sips, he said, "At the current pace, we'll wrap up by the end of August, and it won't interfere with your going to Beijing Film Academy for school."

Upon hearing that, Zhang Ruoxi felt both delighted and reluctant.

The happiness was either from having a university to attend, or from Beijing Film Academy being such a top-tier performing arts school. The reluctance, naturally, was that after starting school, she wouldn't be able to see Jiang Heng as easily as now.

After four years of university, will I still have this opportunity then? "That would be great; then I could properly study acting, so I wouldn't always have to rely on you to direct me."

Jiang Heng thought to himself, Even if you study, you won't show much improvement.

Looking at it, there isn't a single mistake!

For an actress, looks are still the most important! Jiang Heng waited so many years before filming Three Body 2, insisting on an open audition to cast Zhang Ruoxi as Zhuang Yan, because he felt her "first-love face" perfectly matched Luo Ji's imagination of the perfect woman.

That kind of playboy of his definitely wouldn't be sincere with flirtatious women; what he truly likes is the kind of girl who looks pure, like a blank sheet of paper! "You, in fact, still have a lot of talent—your appearance and demeanor are excellent; if you improve your acting a bit more, your future prospects are limitless!"

Jiang Heng paid her a compliment, Zhang Ruoxi believed it, and her eyes became bright and charming.

"Really? Saying that makes me a bit embarrassed!"

"What's the big deal!"

The two were chatting heatedly, and over on the male lead's side, Shen Teng was also chatting with a beautiful woman—none other than his old partner from the Happy MaXia troupe, Ma Li.

At the beginning of preparations for The Richest Man in West Hong Kong, Shen Teng still wanted to help Ma Li get a role, but after seeing Zhang Ruoxi being solemnly introduced by Jiang Heng, he realized there was no chance at all.

And once filming began, he increasingly felt that their relationship was not ordinary.

Director Jiang, when have you ever directed a low-budget film?! But nowadays, you hang the producer's title while doing the director's job—obviously you're trying to push that little girl up!

So he had long given up the idea of helping Ma Li contend for the role, but she still wasn't resigned, so she came over under the pretense of visiting the set.

"How's her acting? Can she handle your scenes?"

"She's still very spirited—no wonder she's someone Director Jiang picked out; she's indeed extraordinary!" Shen Teng praised.

Ma Li blinked, feeling that Shen Teng's tone was off.

"Really? This little girl has so much talent?"

"Ah, it's just the heavens granting us a meal!"

"Well, then... it's actually pretty good!"

Ma Li spoke without sincerity, glanced over at Jiang Heng's side, saw Zhang Ruoxi's smile blooming like a flower, and felt even more uneasy.

"Hey, I heard Boss Zhang wants to adapt Summer Holiday into a film?"

"Hmm!"

Shen Teng nodded, but his gaze became a bit evasive.

He knew Ma Li's idea, to vie for the female lead.

But judging from the current situation, Boss Zhang will probably still collaborate with Director Jiang.

The Faction: Outstanding Rising Film Company has signed up a pile of beautiful female artists; Ma Li, lumped together with them, falls far short, so it's hard to say who will get the role.

He naturally hoped his old partner could play the female lead, but the arm can't twist the thigh—how could such small-time actors possibly stand against capital?

That's Director Jiang Heng, after all—his new film sold like crazy in overseas markets, and its domestic box office records have been broken one after another.

According to the current box office trend forecast, it's likely to surpass four billion.

Four billion? It's really unimaginable.

"Hey, Shen Teng, if we really make this into a movie, could I play Ma Dongmei?"

"Saying that myself is useless; in my view, if Director Jiang says you're qualified, then there's no problem!"

Ma Li also knew this, glanced over at Jiang Heng's side, took a deep breath, and quickly walked over.

"Hello, Director Jiang, I'm an artist from the Happy MaXia troupe, my name is Ma Li. I previously played Ma Dongmei in the spoken-drama version of Summer Holiday. Now I've heard that the two companies will continue cooperating to launch the film version, and I want to ask...!"

Ma Li has a straightforward personality and is also bold.

Last time she simply didn't have the chance to attend the premiere; otherwise she would have dared to vie for the female lead of The Richest Man in West Hong Kong.

This time, coming forward with boldness, she just wants to settle the matter of the Ma Dongmei role.

Otherwise, if Jiang Heng and Zhang Chen really reach an agreement and use the Faction: Outstanding Rising Film Company's female artists, she would really be in trouble.

Jiang Heng and Zhang Ruoxi were chatting happily when Ma Li suddenly popped out and startled them.

After hearing her request clearly, he couldn't help but laugh.

"Indeed, I'm preparing to launch Summer Holiday; I've discussed the casting with you all, Boss Zhang. He recommended many people, I mostly agree, but I've vetoed only a few."

Upon hearing that, Ma Li became extremely nervous.

Even Zhang Ruoxi didn't dare to breathe loudly.

How to put it? At this moment, Jiang Heng truly is someone whose single word decides the career prospects of many people.

How could Ma Li not be nervous? Who agrees, who opposes? "Director Jiang, what about me?"

Seeing Ma Li's voice change, Jiang Heng also teased her, chuckling: "As for Shen Teng playing Xia Luo, you playing Ma Dongmei—I agree!"

"Huh!"

Ma Li exhaled, feeling as if her whole body had gone limp. (End of chapter)