Chapter 179: Flaming Worldwide

The release date of Inception remained set for midsummer, and by mid-July it had become Jiang Heng's exclusive window; no domestic film dared to go head-to-head with it, not even Zhang Yimou's.

Originally, in history, mid-July of this year belonged to House of Flying Daggers.

But because of Jiang Heng, the ever-arrogant Zhang Weiping thought it over and still scheduled it for early August, pulling the gap open by half a month, fearing any impact.

Other companies were even less willing to let their painstakingly shot films become cannon fodder.

Thus, in late June to early July, it seemed as if the entire Chinese-language entertainment world had only one film, with topics and advertisements everywhere about Inception.

Especially after the premiere, distributor China Film went all out, plastering promotional posters everywhere, and related actors also accepted media interviews to help promote.

Even Yang Mi, who only had a few seconds of screen time holding Jiang Heng's hand and flashing by, was noticed by the media at the film's premiere, and everyone wondered who she was.

The Return of the Condor Heroes had not yet aired, and Guo Xiang, whom Yang Mi played as the "Little Eastern Heretic," was still unknown to audiences, making her seem even more "deeply connected."

As for Megan Fox, who played the female lead, because she was made too beautiful by Jiang Heng's filming, fans who attended the premiere hailed her as a goddess, loudly praising her on various film forums, and audience anticipation for the film grew ever stronger.

Various factors combined, resulting in advance screenings being sold out, and online many voices called for an early release.

On July 16, a Friday, Inception premiered simultaneously worldwide.

Moreover, he planned to win several major awards with this film, making his title of "Domestic Top Director" more legitimate, so he wouldn't constantly be mocked for lacking substance!

To him, Inception was merely an intellectual game, and Wu Yanzu's performance was formulaic, by the book, with no surprises.

After the premiere in Jingcheng ended, he first flew to Luoshanji to attend the Inception media meet-and-greet there, then flew to Tokyo, then Paris, then Berlin...

At the same time, he said this was not meant to disparage Jiang Heng; being able to turn an intellectual game into a blockbuster is also a remarkable talent!

Another not-so-famous film critic, when interviewed, said one must clarify the film's conceptual setting.

Of course, there are still voices pouring cold water; renowned film critic Zou Liming wrote that Inception is worth watching, but it is not a work that opens the heavens.

Because the whole film is like a fantasy novel, you must accept its countless whimsical settings and understand all the settings mentioned in the film.

In the domestic market, golden time slots at nearly all theaters nationwide were almost entirely booked for Inception, leaving other films almost no survival space that day; the opening day box office reached 47.90 million, breaking the domestic opening day box office record again.

On Douban Movies, over ten thousand film fans gave it a high score of 9.4, making the film's debut a peak and earning countless praises.

These settings appear anytime, anywhere, so during the over-two-hour viewing, it's best not to go to the restroom, as it's easy to miss a concept and then fail to follow the later plot.

Roughly speaking, The Matrix could still leave him topics to chat about, with a few unforgettable scenes and shots.

But Jiang Heng had no time to pay attention to these, because he wasn't even in the country.

Originally, in history, Inception's global box office was $825 million; even if Jiang Heng doesn't surpass it this time, it won't be far off.

Especially the first half of the film, before the dream team enters the target Fischer's dream, it's "teaching time," explaining these abstract concepts through actual actions and stunning special effects.

For ordinary audiences, excitement and good looks are enough.

Someone said in an interview with CCTV Movie Channel that just those special effects scenes are worth the ticket price; although some parts are hard to understand, the effects are truly impressive.

What audiences naturally enjoy most is, of course, the scene where the city folds like paper.

Moreover, the zero-gravity fights also make audiences feel novel.

In Xianggang, Inception also instantly became the top-grossing film of the summer.

Although many people are dissatisfied that Jiang Heng stays year-round in the mainland and neglects Xianggang filmmakers, many still regard him as the most successful case of "Hong Kong stars going north," and they genuinely supported the film's release.

According to the current box office trend, there is a high probability of breaking seventy million Hong Kong dollars.

In Beimei, the film opened simultaneously in 3,798 theaters across the United States, and in the first weekend's three days it took in $66 million, firmly securing the top spot on the North American weekly box office chart.

Even more delightfully, thanks to fans' enthusiasm, Inception scored a high 9.6 on the renowned film website IMDb.

Of course, reviews in print media are more objective; those affirmative critiques did not lift the film to the heavens, such as the New York Times' review, which is similar to Zou Liming's evaluation.

They all think the film is worth watching, but not as great as online promotion claims.

Some media even claimed that The Matrix is truly the best, while Inception still falls short.

Inception is not only hot in the Beimei and Chinese film markets; its performance in other major film markets around the world is equally outstanding.

In France, Spain, and elsewhere, Inception holds the box office crown unshakably.

In the UK, Korea, Germany, Australia, and elsewhere, it consistently stays in the top three.

The global box office broke the $600 million mark at lightning speed; according to media forecasts, exceeding $800 billion is beyond doubt, only uncertain whether it can break the $900 million barrier.

At the same time, Japanese media sneered, saying Jiang Heng's single-film global box office will always fail to break $10 billion, still lagging behind the world's top directors.

Then they hyped up Hollywood big directors, causing countless domestic film fans to rage, flooding the Douban short reviews for Inception with messages, hoping Jiang Heng will soon make a film with over $10 billion global box office.

Speaking of this topic, the "CCTV Six Princesses" took it up for an episode, analyzing data from all sides to argue the gap between Jiang Heng and Hollywood giants like Spielberg, James Cameron, and George Lucas.

The conclusion was that Jiang Heng is more productive, his film quality stable, and a single film grossing over $10 billion is merely a matter of time.

Only this time—how long must we wait—we need to ask Director Jiang Heng!

Then, after Jiang Heng finally got a few days off, he was harassed by various phone calls to the point of no peace.

Some were friends calling out of concern, others just idle chatter.

Jiang Heng was fed up, so he simply turned off his phone, took his bodyguards, and went to Northeast China to escape the heat and find quiet.

(End of chapter)