I’m Really a Superstar

On this day.

One person.

One movie.

That was all it took to turn the entire country upside down.

The real-time statistics of movies’ box office earnings in China:

#1: A Cause to Kill 3 (Hollywood action movie), CN¥21.07 million

#2: Cosmic Crisis (Hollywood sci-fi), CN¥19.8 million

#3: My World (Chinese published), CN¥11.51 million

——

#10: Wolf Warrior 2, earnings pending.

These were the ten films currently being shown in China. The first and second place movies of the day were both Hollywood films that had just been released. Although they were already past the peak of their box office period, these two top Hollywood films were still making tens of millions of yuan at the box office each day. Compared to that, the Chinese movies were performing much weaker relatively both abroad and at home. My World, ranked third, was already one of the highest-grossing movies of the year, and its box office gross thus far stood at 520 million RMB.

As for Wolf Warrior 2, its statistics had yet to register on the rankings. This was because today was Wolf Warrior 2’s first day of release. Due to the underdeveloped real-time tracking technology of ticket sales, many cinema chains and movie theaters could not upload their figures to the database in time. This resulted in Wolf Warrior 2 not appearing on the real-time box office rankings. Nobody knew when it would appear on the real-time leaderboards.

…

Noon.

At Zhang Ye’s Studio.

After the premiere, Zhang Ye brought his team back to the office.

“Why haven’t they refreshed the rankings?”

“Just how much have we earned at the box office so far!”

“I’m so anxious that I could die!”

“Hocus pocus, may the Heavens bless us!”

Ha Qiqi kept refreshing the rankings every once in a while.

Zhang Zuo clasped his hands in prayer.

The premiere had ended, so it was all about the box office earnings now!

The studio staff all knew exactly how important the premiere’s box office result was. It could even be said that it would affect the survival of a movie. If the box office earnings were good, there would be an increase in the showtimes of the movie at the various movie theater chains. With a reputation and good word of mouth, the public’s enthusiasm would definitely rise and that in turn would increase the box office earnings. If that happened, the battle would have been half won. But if the box office earnings were poor? The theater chains would surely lower the shown rate of the movie, and that would spell the end for Wolf Warrior 2. No matter how good the word of mouth the movie had earned, it would be difficult to revive it—this was how important the opening day box office earnings of a movie was!

Commando 2’s global box office earnings had already almost assured that they would have a good performance in the theaters.

As for them?

Everything was still an unknown right now!

Little Zhang was getting restless. “Director Zhang, how much do you think we can bring in?”

Zhang Ye was amused. “Ever since we left the theater, you’ve asked that me 800 times!”

“But I’m worried!” Little Wang had her head in her hands as she cried out, “Shooting this movie was such torture. Before we started production, we were worried about whether there was enough money. After the scenes were shot, we were worried that we didn’t film it good enough. When the production was finally completed, we got worried about the premiere. And now that the premiere has ended, we’re starting to worry about the box office earnings. To think I used to wonder why those domestic movie directors were always unshaven. So it was because they always had such intense stress!”

Tong Fu felt like he had met a confidante. “That’s right, I seriously agree!”

Zhang Ye laughed and said, “Don’t worry, because worrying won’t affect anything anyway.”

Wu Yi also said anxiously, “Director Zhang, why don’t you say something reassuring?”

Little Zhou nodded repeatedly. “Yeah, give us something to fall back on; give us a prediction.”

Ha Qiqi and Zhang Zuo were both looking at Zhang Ye eagerly.

Zhang Ye thought for a bit. “A prediction? Maybe around 30 million?”

Little Wang said, “Wow, 30 million isn’t too bad.”

Tong Fu nodded in agreement. “Yeah, I’ll be satisfied with 30 million.”

Ha Qiqi did some calculations on her fingers and then said, “If the premiere can bring in 30 million yuan, the final box office earnings could reach 300 million, or even 400 million yuan. That’s already very good for a domestic movie. You’re still a new director, so that would be a very good result and a dazzling achievement.”

Zhang Ye was taken aback.

Yuan?

What yuan?

He replied, “I was talking about US dollars.”

Ha Qiqi said, “Ah?”

Zhang Zuo laughed, “Hur hur.”

Tong Fu chuckled, “Pfft!”

Little Wang said, “Director Zhang, you sure are funny.”

Zhang Ye sighed. “Look at how inexperienced you are.”

Everyone in the studio laughed at that, and their nervousness also dissipated a little because of it.

No one took Zhang Ye’s words seriously.

…

At the studio of a director.

“Director Sun, Wolf Warrior 2 seems to be quite good.”

“Director Li and the others have given rave reviews of it.”

“Furthermore, it seems like Director Zhou Zhao has delayed the release of his new movie after attending the premiere of Wolf Warrior 2—should we also be cautious?”

“Are we going to change our date too?”

“The box office earnings aren’t out yet. Let’s wait awhile.”

“Right, it would make us look really bad if we change the date now. Our movie is also very good.”

“Let’s see what Wolf Warrior 2’s opening day box office earnings are first.”

…

At male idol Song Qi’s studio.

“Wolf Warrior 2 has premiered?”

“Yeah, it’s showing in theaters.”

“Hmph, the box office earnings shouldn’t be great, right?”

“It’s still unknown, but the reviews online seem to suggest it’s pretty good.”

“What use is word of mouth anyway? The box office earnings still have the final say on the performance. Without any male idols, how can he earn any money at the box office? Zhang Ye is too short-sighted.”

“That’s right. If he had agreed to double our Song Qi’s pay back then, his movie’s box office performance would surely not be bad, hur hur. But since he couldn’t bear to part with the money, there’s no one he can blame for this.”

“He can blame himself.”

“This is what short-sightedness is.”

“Zhang Ye is too arrogant. He always thinks that there’s nothing he can’t do.”

…

Japan.

“Commando 2 is pretty good.”

“Yeah, I watched the premiere as well.”

“Eh, Zhang Ye’s movie hasn’t been released yet?”

“I think it has already.”

“How are the box office earnings?”

“They’re not out yet.”

“Hur hur, I can’t wait to see Zhang Ye make a fool of himself.”

…

India.

“Commando 2 was so awesome!”

“What about that Wolf Warrior 2?”

“Who knows? Wasn’t that Chinese person thinking of taking on Hollywood?”

“Like he could challenge them. It’s more appropriate to say that he’s gonna get beaten up, no?”

“Hahaha.”

…

America.

“The day’s almost over.”

“The box office earnings should come out soon.”

“No movie can challenge on Commando 2.”

“How’s that movie the Chinese guy made?”

“The box office sales must be terrible.”

“The Chinese only know how to talk big!”

…

China.

“Hurry up and tabulate the statistics!”

“What the heck are the theaters doing?”

“I can’t wait anymore! Where are the box office earnings for Wolf Warrior 2?”

“It’s almost the cutoff time, right?”

“Don’t get so anxious. Wait awhile more. We’ll see how Face-smacking Zhang did very soon.”

“I think everyone should calm down. We shouldn’t be thinking about challenging Hollywood anyway. It’s enough to compete within our own market. For Zhang Ye to make such a good domestic movie, it’s an unprecedented achievement.”

“That’s right!”

“In any case, I’ve already contributed by purchasing a movie ticket!”

“I’ve contributed my share too!”

…

Half an hour.

An hour.

It was time!

Finally, the global premiere box office earnings for Commando 2 came out!

At Wilson’s company.

Someone came running in. “It’s closed!”

Wilson and the others asked, “What’s the final figure?”

That person was beaming. “We got 19 million dollars in the box office for the North American region. Together with the other countries for the global box office earnings, the premiere brought in a total of 36 million US dollars!”

Wilson felt very reassured when he heard that. “Nice! Great!”

Everyone around him started cheering!

“That’s awesome!”

“I knew it!”

“It was just as we predicted!”

“No, it’s much higher than we expected!”

“Congratulations, Director!”

An opening day box office earnings of 36 million USD. Even in the history of Hollywood, this would count as one of the highest-grossing box office releases. Not many Hollywood movies could bring in an amount like 36 million USD at the box office on their first day. 36 million USD was equivalent to over 200 million RMB. Looking at the global movie market as a whole, many of the better local movies that did quite well and were better performers could not beat Commando 2’s one-day box office earnings with their gross box office earnings! This was the reputation of Wilson’s brand, as well as the reputation of Hollywood. No one in the world could match it.

Suddenly, Wilson thought of something and said with a laugh, “What about that Chinese guy’s movie?”

That person laughed mockingly and said, “The final figures should be calculated soon, I guess.”