Chapter 368: line with translation of chapter title

The traditional North American film summer season starts from Memorial Day at the end of May.

But as competition intensifies, many companies will move their films to early May for an earlier release.

Thus the North American summer window has become a super window spanning up to four months, and its box office often accounts for half of the yearly total.

The competition is fierce, needless to say.

Therefore, Hollywood companies are very wary of their attitude toward Little Soldier Legend.

Not to mention Jiang Heng's past achievements, a single production cost of five hundred million US dollars is already a hype-filled publicity point.

Moreover, sci-fi subject matter is already a hot category in the North American market, plus 3D films are currently hot, so the North American premiere heat of Little Soldier Legend is extremely high, and Hollywood media all give positive reviews.

The remaining film companies, knowing the release date of Little Soldier Legend, made way early.

After all, even blockbusters like Avatar, Pirates of the Caribbean, or Spider-Man need not be released on the same day as a special-effects blockbuster with a production cost of five hundred million US dollars.

Besides, the big films released in this year's North American summer season don't have that kind of confidence!

If Hollywood, with its "I'm number one under heaven" attitude, still gave a restrained comment on the premiere of Little Soldier Legend,

then Britain, this long-standing capitalist powerhouse, after the premiere of Little Soldier Legend, its major media's reviews could only be described as frenzied.

The Sun's review of the film reads: "This is the most dazzling film of the past ten years, the final battle lasting a full twenty minutes, making the blood boil."

But it seems to have forgotten that less than a year ago, it gave Avatar the same review!

Empire magazine gave Little Soldier Legend a full five-star rating: "This is an epoch-making film that reinterprets space battles; if the Star Wars series does not upgrade its visual effects, it cannot continue filming."

The Guardian: "Little Soldier Legend won't make you uncomfortable; every detail is incredibly realistic, as if there really were a training camp with a group of robot instructors who turn the protagonist who wanders in into an unprecedentedly super-powerful warrior, giving every viewer an unprecedented thrill."

……

Besides this, the media of the several countries where Little Soldier Legend held its premiere promotion almost all gave active positive coverage, box office booming, right now.

Time quickly came to February 9; since Broad Sodium Film Industry didn't schedule a midnight show, the earliest audiences could see the first screening was around eight or nine in the morning.

In Jingcheng, at the Zhongying Red Ribbon Cinema's Wukesong branch, some audience members brought stools and arrived to queue at seven in the morning, only to find a long line already formed at the theater entrance.

Later, people couldn't help but exclaim, "This is too hot!"

"Director Jiang's film, we definitely have to watch it!"

"Exactly, no matter how much money you spend buying a ticket, it's definitely worth the price!"

A reporter who came early interviewed an elderly man: "I heard that the premiere tickets for this film have been scalped to over three thousand each; do you think it's really worth that price?"

The Jingcheng elder replied: "Definitely worth it, let me tell you, the viewing effect of the premiere is the best; even IMAX screenings during general release can't compare, plus there are so many stars watching in the same auditorium—even if it's a bit pricier, it's still worth it!"

"So you're queuing now?"

"Hey, I didn't manage to snag a premiere ticket, old man—I'm not short on that money, I really just couldn't buy one. No choice, I had to come early to queue and buy it!" The reporter heard this and chuckled, taking it as him telling the truth.

However, it's true that theaters in popular commercial areas have long lines; aside from the relatively remote theaters, most places are hard to get tickets.

When the first screening officially premiered, long-awaited fans finally saw the true face of the legendary five-hundred-million-US-dollar-investment blockbuster, and the vast majority were shocked beyond words.

In fact, many viewers had seen Hollywood sci-fi blockbusters or read Three Body, yet no film's special effects could match those of Little Soldier Legend.

The Star Wars series films are certainly classic, but it must be said they are really old; when they first premiered they truly shocked the world, but by 2010, watching them again really feels somewhat outdated.

Although the Three Body film is extremely classic and its effects are also outstanding, most of its story takes place on Earth, so its visual effects simply cannot compare to those of Little Soldier Legend.

As for Jiang Heng's past classics, the world's first 3D special-effects blockbuster Havoc in Heaven, its visual effects are indeed outstanding, but because of the different genre, audiences don't have much basis for comparison.

Thus, upon release, Little Soldier Legend was hailed by countless fans as the greatest commercial blockbuster and the greatest special-effects blockbuster in Chinese-language cinema.

The rating on Douban also reaches 9.1, a very impressive score, even surpassing many well-received artistic films.

Fans' reasons for giving high scores are very simple: the plot flows smoothly, the visual effects are explosive, and it is the special-effects film with the best visual effects in history—these alone are enough.

Of course, some fans criticize the film for lacking depth and having an overly flat plot, yet they are invariably attacked by fans in various ways.

Under these circumstances, Little Soldier Legend's opening-day box office reached an astonishing figure.

That Friday, the single-day—!

As soon as it was reported, audiences' first reaction was disbelief: 179 million RMB in box office, and many high-investment films couldn't even reach that figure even if they were pulled from theaters! If the opening day is already that high, just how high could the final box office be?

As for global box office, it's likely to surpass Avatar!

That evening when the results came out, this news went on the News Broadcast, and was repeatedly aired the next day on CCTV News Channel; even viewers who weren't originally interested came to know that the film's box office performance was heavenly-defying.

The News Broadcast reported it—how could one not believe it!

By the 10th, that Saturday-Sunday, single-day box office rose to 193 million RMB.

On the 11th, Sunday, 185 million RMB.

In the mainland market, the first three days (weekend) grossed a huge 557 million RMB, a box office result so high it exceeded many people's imagination.

That five-hundred-million-US-dollar investment seems not to have been wasted—the box office results are truly heavenly-defying! What's even more terrifying is that, with widespread coverage by CCTV and various media, many 'grassroots' audiences spread word of mouth, and Little Soldier Legend continued to run with only a minimal box office drop, constantly refreshing mainland box office prospects.

And in the North American market, Little Soldier Legend also achieved a super-high opening weekend of three days at 127 million US dollars, firmly holding the weekly box office crown; looking at the current box office trend, it may well hold that throne for a period of time.

As for the European, Japanese, Korean, and Southeast Asian markets, Little Soldier Legend sparked a viewing craze everywhere.

After all, the visual effects are explosive, the plot is easy to understand, and there are no viewing barriers! (End of chapter)