Chapter 64

The next day, all major mainstream entertainment media nationwide reported the news of the advance preview of Lion Camel Ridge, and all were full of praise.

Due to length and censorship restrictions, the language description was still somewhat restrained.

But on forums such as MaoPu, Tianya, and ShuiMuQingHua, it could only be described as fantastic.

"I dare say, Lion Camel Ridge is absolutely the best Chinese-language commercial film within the next ten years. If there is anything better, it must definitely be a film directed by Director Jiang Heng!"

"I object, not every director can surpass their own peak work. Thus output: Chen Kaige's recent films The Emperor and the Assassin and Wind and Moon are far inferior to Farewell My Concubine!"

"I agree with the viewpoint on the second floor; Zhang Yimou's best work is To Live, and his recent two years have really not been good!"

"Then I still hope that Director Jiang Heng's works get more and more splendid!"

"I don't think so. In fact, the subjects that can carry special-effects blockbusters are very limited—nothing more than mythology, sci-fi, disaster, and monsters. The latter types are done more often by Hollywood, and domestic attempts always feel a bit odd. Ultimately, the most suitable subject for Chinese-language special-effects blockbusters is mythology."

And among mythological subjects, the one with the greatest fame and strongest literary and artistic merit is still Journey to the West; Investiture of the Gods doesn't count.

The most famous episode in Journey to the West is naturally the Havoc in Heaven, but from a film‑structure perspective I think it's hard to do better than Lion Camel Ridge. Unless you set the ending at Sun Wukong bursting out of the alchemy furnace and slaughtering all around, then end it directly.

But everyone knows that Sun Wukong's final fate is being pressed under the Five Elements Mountain, so it's not easy to design a super‑exciting ending.

And if you forcefully change it arbitrarily, it's very likely to become a neither‑here‑nor‑there mess.

On the other hand, this film Lion Camel Ridge has a superb plot, explosive special effects—really, I'm planning to see it a second time when it officially releases!

"Speaking from the heart, I'm also preparing to bring my girlfriend for a second viewing; she was excited throughout, and her palms were sweaty when it ended!"

"You two on the sixth floor, did you really go see the movie?"

"Let's go for a second viewing!"

"Let's go for a second viewing!"

"You idiot on the seventh floor! …"

…

Excluding the film's main creators, guests, and media reporters, only two hundred ordinary audience members managed to buy tickets for the first preview screening.

Among them, those with internet habits were even fewer.

But it was just these twenty‑ or thirty‑odd ordinary viewers who frenziedly posted comments and discussed on forums like MaoPu and Tianya, comparable to the later water‑group experts.

In the following days, Jiang Heng again flew with the main crew to Shanghai, Shenzhen, Xianggang, Guangzhou, Wuhan, Chengdu, Xi'an and other places, conducting successive advance‑preview promotions.

Later, becoming overly fatigued, they divided the main crew into three groups, with Jiang Heng, Hong Jinbao, and Wu Jing each leading a team to different locations for promotion.

Originally, in mainland China, conscious media promotion before a film's release began with the 2002 film Hero; after that, for several years it was the big films of Zhang Yimou, Thus output: Chen Kaige, and Feng Xiaogang that, upon release, would do a premiere promotion in BJ, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, and occasionally later add high‑box‑office cities such as Shenzhen and Chengdu.

As for large‑scale "roadshow" promotion, it basically only started after 2012.

And for ordinary domestic films, it's simply impossible to stir up such a commotion.

The reason is simple: first, the budget is limited; second, stars generally don't give you this time slot to cooperate.

But for Jiang Heng, this is not a problem at all.

He knows too well the importance of promotion—how many domestic flops have raked in billions of box‑office revenue thanks to super‑strong marketing and promotion!

Having finally managed to produce a film that could possibly trigger a viewing craze, why not go all‑out on promotion?

Budget—take it!

As for the actors' schedules, that's even simpler.

With his current reputation as the most successful commercial blockbuster director in China, who knows how many artists are trying every way to get connected with him.

Now, when he says he wants large‑scale promotion, the actors also rack their brains to squeeze out time slots to cooperate; even if they can't accompany him the whole way, they'll still follow him to two or three cities, and the promotional effect shows up right away!

Wherever they went, the areas around the cinemas were seas of people, packed so tightly that not even water could leak through.

And after the screening, the vast majority of these viewers became "word‑of‑mouth" promoters, frantically recommending Lion Camel Ridge to their friends and family, saying how good it is, with its story and visual effects far surpassing Titanic, The Matrix, and the like.

As for forums like MaoPu and Tianya, they were even more taken over by Lion Camel Ridge's "word‑of‑mouth" fans, who post daily, raving about how good the film is, trouncing Hollywood blockbusters.

The result was that on the day of the May 1 public release, in front of cinemas on the bustling commercial streets of major cities nationwide, there were nothing but queues of people.

Even cinemas located somewhat remotely still drew large numbers of viewers.

Because there was no midnight showing this time, many people came early to queue just to catch the first screening of the cinema.

And in the capital, many students from Beijing Film Academy and the Central Academy of Drama also came early to queue, wanting to see what this so‑called "best domestic commercial special‑effects blockbuster" really looks like.

Yao Chen, Du Chun, and other Beijing Film Academy class of '99 students went together to the cinema near their school, and upon arrival they were frightened by the scene at that moment.

"They say nobody watches movies these days, so how can there be so many people?!"

"Seeing this scene, I've regained confidence in my future career!"

"What kind of good does this film have to be to draw such a crowd?!"

…

As for such a scene, the major media had all anticipated it.

On this side of the capital, the film channel dispatched a crew early to interview in front of major cinemas in the capital.

What surprised them was that, besides many students and white‑collar‑looking people queuing, there were also many elderly people.

"Sir, are you also here to watch a movie?"

"Nonsense, if I weren't watching a movie I'd be here collecting eggs!"

The female reporter's expression was awkward, but the camera was rolling, so she decided to continue asking.

"How did you come up with the idea to go out and watch a movie?"

"Hey, isn't that what the grandkid said when he came home on vacation? There's a director called Jiang something who made that movie about Tang Seng and his disciples passing Lion Camel Ridge—it's really great, so I came to have a look when I had nothing else to do. I thought we couldn't understand other movies, but we can follow the Monkey King's scenes just fine! When we got here, wow, what a crowd—people from all over the city have come! It's almost as lively as when I was young watching Shaolin Temple!"

"Sir, you've also watched Shaolin Temple, right?"

"Nonsense, I've watched it seven times!"

"Then sir, you're quite a movie lover!"

"Mainly because back then the factory gave out movie tickets, and even if you didn't buy a ticket you could still watch, but now you have to pay out of pocket—where can you go to complain?"

Saying that, the old man suddenly remembered the camera was still rolling beside him, and hurriedly said, "Cut this part, don't air it!"

The female reporter was at a loss whether to laugh or cry, and said to the cameraman beside her, 'Cut this part!'

(End of chapter)