Chapter 65

Xianggang, in the old residence in Copper Gong Bay, Jiang Heng slept until noon before waking.

For this roadshow promotion, he placed the final stop in Xianggang, hoping that after the event he could return home to rest properly.

In reality, however, invitations to various drinking parties kept coming.

In 2000, the Xianggang film market remained sluggish.

Not only were box office results poor, but the number of film projects launched also kept falling.

Many industry workers struggled, but Jiang Heng was thriving in Neidi, and as a result, people like Hung Jinbao, Yuan De, and Yuan Hua also had work to do.

Never mind anything else; just the box office and reputation of A Man's True Colors were enough to make them envious, let alone being able to participate in such a monumental work as Lion Camel Ridge.

Other filmmakers also wanted to take part in Jiang Heng's future films, so they naturally tried every means to invite him and pull strings.

For most invitations, Jiang Heng naturally refused, but there were some he really couldn't get out of, so he had to go and attend to them.

Yesterday he even drank until late at night, and only with difficulty managed to break free.

This morning upon waking, he still felt a bit dizzy.

He picked up his phone and saw there were over ten missed calls, with Yu Dong alone having called four or five times.

Seeing that Han Sanping had called him twice, Jiang Heng dialed him back first, saying, "Hey, Director Han, you called me!"

"Jiang Heng, the estimated first-day box office data for Lion Camel Ridge has come out—guess how much?"

Hearing Han Sanping's tone, Jiang Heng knew it was definitely a lot, but it wasn't good to guess too high—"Ten or twenty million?"

"Too low!"

"Too low—how much then?"

"Thirty……one hundred……seventy thousand," Han Sanping said, almost word by word.

"How many, how many?"

Jiang Heng also jumped in shock; he remembered that Feng Xiaogang's Never Ending from last year had a box office of thirty million, which was already very successful.

Who would have thought, Lion Camel Ridge exceeded thirty million in a single day.

On the other end of the line, Han Sanping seemed even more excited than Jiang Heng.

"You've broken the record this time—exceeding thirty million on the first day, an achievement never seen before; CCTV News will even broadcast it and want to interview you!"

Hearing this, Jiang Heng also couldn't help but feel a bit nervous; to ordinary people, CCTV News is simply too authoritative.

"Um, do I need to prepare anything?"

Han Sanping said: "No need for that; for now they'll just broadcast the box office results, and later the interview will proactively call you."

"Oh oh!"

Han Sanping continued: "With such great box office results, shouldn't we hold a celebration?"

Jiang Heng laughed: "Definitely we'll hold one—once we hit three hundred million, and again when the film finishes."

Han Sanping said: "Once we pass 360 million and regain the Neidi film market championship, we should also hold one—it has commemorative significance!"

Jiang Heng thought, that's right—the Titanic's 360 million had suppressed Chinese-language films for ten years, not being surpassed until 2009 by The Founding of a Republic.

Unfortunately, that year's box office champion was 2012, with 466 million.

The runner-up was Transformers 2, with 422 million.

The Founding of a Republic's 419 million could only place third.

According to Lion Camel Ridge's current reputation and box office performance, surpassing Titanic is no problem—it's just unknown how far it can go.

After chatting a few more sentences, they hung up.

Jiang Heng then called Yu Dong, whose excited voice had changed: "Director Jiang, you, do you know what the first-day box office was?"

"How much?"

"Thirty-one million seven hundred thousand! In just one day, the result exceeds the total box office of a previously popular film, Director Jiang—you've made this film incredibly well! Now tickets are hard to come by at major theaters, with scalpers starting to resell them! Before, free tickets went unwatched, but now they have to be marked up! It's absolutely explosive!"

Yu Dong is usually quite steady, but as a shareholder and actual manager of Bo Na Company, the distributor of Lion Camel Ridge, facing such box office results and frenzy, he really can't stay calm!

Back when he handled distribution at the Beijing Film Studio, he would drink heavily with people, relying on his natural alcohol tolerance to sell copies.

Nowadays, his phone is about to blow up, with requests everywhere to increase the number of copies.

Suddenly shifting identities, while he felt a secret thrill, there was also a hint of unease, making him feel as if he were dreaming, as if it weren't real.

"Thirty-one million plus, Director Jiang—one day, this will definitely be on CCTV News, definitely go nationwide, and maybe the subsequent box office will be even higher!"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Heng felt that such a possibility might indeed exist.

In this era, CCTV News still has super-high ratings; it's absolutely the most effective advertisement.

"That's naturally good—keep an eye on things over there, and call me anytime if there's any update!"

"Okay!"

The next day, CCTV News indeed reported the first-day box office of Lion Camel Ridge and gave it high praise.

After this program aired, the film's popularity rose to a new level.

Besides white-collar workers, students, and middle-aged and elderly folks, many primary and middle school students clamored for their parents to take them to see this film.

As a result, due to the overly realistic and shocking visual effects, many children were frightened to tears, thereby inviting some criticism.

Famous performing artist Mister Liù said to the media: "The story core of Lion Camel Ridge is extremely dark, not good, with too strong an allegory. What kind of opponents do Tang Seng and his disciples encounter? The maternal uncle of the Tathagata Buddha, the mounts of bodhisattvas and ancient buddhas—today that would be the relatives and drivers of high-ranking officials!"

Why does Tang Seng have to pass away? Is it because the situation is too dire?

Actually, it's not that serious; after being caught so many times along the way, I suppose they've gotten used to it.

He's mainly just despaired!

These things are really not suitable for minors to watch; they will have a negative impact on their growth.

Moreover, there is still no film rating system domestically; many scenes in the film sometimes frighten even me as an adult, let alone children.

In the theater I went to before, more than one child was scared into tears!

I want to say this: Director Jiang Heng's special effects are truly superb, but you shouldn't focus only on visual effects; you must consider that many children also watch your movies.

Film is art; we can't just think about box office!!

Liu Xiansheng also counts as a celebrity in the Chinese-language entertainment circle; upon saying this, he indeed gained the approval of many film critics.

Furthermore, some people were inspired by this and wrote multi-perspective film reviews about 'Lion Camel Ridge'.

Basically, they were three parts praise, seven parts criticism; after writing them well, they submitted them to various major media outlets, many of which were published, and sales were not bad.

However, the reality is that various stars and film critics have been trying every means to find channels to express their views on Lion Camel Ridge, with the result that the film's popularity keeps rising.

As for the box office, it made rapid progress, quickly exceeding 100 million, then 200 million, 300 million, 3.6 billion!

And when Lion Camel Ridge's box office surpassed that of Titanic, becoming the champion of the Neidi film market, CCTV News reported again.

CCTV Channel was also in the midst of tense filming of an exclusive personal interview with Jiang Heng.

(End of chapter)