Chapter 29

Having come to the United States with great effort, we naturally cannot rush back.

After the premiere ended, Jiang Heng's group first toured Luoshanji, then went to Las Vegas.

Wu Yan Zu grew up in San Francisco, not far away; Jiang Heng and Li Meiqi also followed to visit.

Soon it was the day The Matrix opened nationwide in Beimei, March 13.

March cannot be considered a good slot, but since it had already been released worldwide, the U. S. could not delay it to summer.

In theaters, MGM's The Man in the Iron Mask also opened that day; starring Leonardo DiCaprio and adapted from Alexandre Dumas' The Three Musketeers, it tells how the mysterious iron‑masked prisoner Philippe, aided by Athos, Aramis and others, takes back the throne from the decadent Louis XIV.

Genre‑wise, it is an action‑adventure film.

But in terms of action scenes, it is not on the same level as The Matrix.

The film's reception was mediocre; in history its domestic box office was only $56.96 million, ranking 36th for the year. For Leonardo, who had become famous thanks to Titanic, this was undoubtedly a heavy blow.

In this timeline, media noticed that the two action films opening the same day both starred handsome leads, so they paired them for comparison, guessing which would win.

Leonardo, buoyed by the fame of Titanic, was adored by many female fans, leading some to predict that The Man in the Iron Mask would prevail.

But some media noted that this Chinese man named Wu Yan Zu is equally handsome, and the film's quality is not bad.

The Matrix is still playing in many places worldwide, earning solid box office and reputation, so it may not lose to The Man in the Iron Mask.

As for who wins or loses, it depends on market performance.

On the 13th, both films were released.

Jiang Heng, who had run to New York, went to a cinema near his hotel and found that far more people were watching The Matrix than The Man in the Iron Mask.

The specific figures appeared in next day's opening‑day box office results.

The Matrix grossed $10.94 million, shocking countless media outlets.

The Man in the Iron Mask earned only $6.13 million, less than half of The Matrix's take, leaving people astonished.

An action film starring a top American star was defeated by a Hong Kong production—truly strange.

Yet judging by the media's reviews of the two films and their respective box office results, it seems quite natural.

Major entertainment media's reviews of The Matrix were naturally polarized; those who praised it lauded it to the skies.

They said The Matrix's action scenes overwhelmed The Man in the Iron Mask, and its bullet‑time special effects were an epoch‑making achievement in film history.

What the media also lauded was the film's artistry and thoughtfulness, which caused a huge sensation across the United States.

After all, by March 1998 more than a quarter of U. S. households had Internet access.

Home computers once used only for word processing gradually began to support Internet broadcasting, multiplayer games, and social networking.

Some visionaries began to feel uneasy about immersion in the online world, fearing they would develop 'internet addiction', just as later people would resent constantly scrolling short videos on their phones.

In 1997, an IBM computer named 'Deep Blue' won six matches against the world chess champion.

Humans losing in man‑machine matches made some people fear artificial intelligence.

The emergence of The Matrix precisely addressed the contemporary Europeans and Americans' fear of virtual space and artificial intelligence, so upon release it quickly resonated with and sparked discussion among global audiences, and over the next few years, together with its two sequels, it grossed $1.6 billion.

Such response and discussion were something The Man in the Iron Mask never had.

Audiences mostly complained that the film deviated too much from the source material; there's no way around it—the biggest challenge of an adaptation is to preserve the essence of the original while adding novelty, and failing either side leads to poor reception.

Of course, a small portion of media harshly criticized The Matrix, deeming it pretentious and dismissing its human‑body‑power‑generation premise as nonsense.

Several TV stations sent reporters to cinemas to interview audiences about their views on The Matrix.

"Oh my God! This film is too shocking, too real. I often feel as if I am living in a virtual world, like a game character; I wish whoever is playing me would give me some game coins, I've wanted a good life!"

"I don't like the main characters; they feel fake! If the real world were as cruel as the film depicts, I'd rather stay in this dream forever—why must I wake up? Although the dream is false, the feeling is real!!"

The Matrix's reputation exploded in Beimei, naturally driving its box office ever higher.

Its opening weekend three‑day total was $28.71 million, prompting countless media to exclaim that a non‑Hollywood film had finally crossed the $100 million mark.

Columbia Pictures felt both excited and vexed.

Because it was a profit‑share release, their earnings were genuinely limited.

They immediately sent someone to meet Jiang Heng to discuss the distribution of The Matrix 2, though mainly they wanted to join the film's investment.

"Mr. Jiang, we are eager to cooperate with great sincerity!"

Columbia Pictures Vice President Amy Pascal came to Jiang Heng's hotel, trying to persuade him to pursue a more comprehensive cooperation with Columbia.

To be precise, they hoped Jiang Heng would go to Haolaiwu and join Columbia Pictures.

In her early forties, Pascal was one of the strongest contenders for the Columbia Pictures CEO seat, and indeed in our history she was promoted to CEO in 1999.

But at this moment her future was uncertain, and Pascal faced tremendous performance pressure.

Seeing that Jiang Heng's The Matrix would become a blockbuster series, she increasingly wanted to bring him under her wing.

"Ms. Pascal, I appreciate your interest, but I am Chinese, accustomed to living in my homeland, and have no plans to venture into Haolaiwu for now. Moreover, the sequel could be filmed just as well in Xianggang!"

"Pascal shook her head. No, it's different, Jiang. Although the male and female leads you chose have looks that more or less fit Western aesthetics, they are ultimately not pure white; your film needs more white and black faces to be truly international. You have talent, but Xianggang is really too small, limiting your potential."

"Come here, and you will become a world‑class director!"

(End of chapter)