A widower's entertainment

The movie "Human Wonders" is a hit in China, and its incredible box office performance has left many filmmakers in China speechless.

It's worth noting that while some foreign films have previously grossed over 100 million yuan in mainland China—for example, the 1995 imported blockbuster "True Lies" grossed over 100 million yuan—it only reached 1.02 million yuan, far less than the current phenomenal success of "Human Tales."

The movie "Human Wonders" has already grossed over 200 million yuan, and with the screening time continuing to be extended and its popularity remaining high, it is very likely to surpass 300 million yuan.

This is really too exaggerated and too terrifying!

This is why many filmmakers in China are shocked. This film, "Human Wonders," has truly opened a new door. It turns out that box office performance can be this exaggerated. It really has opened the door to a new world.

With the huge success of "Strange Tales of the Human World," Lin Youcheng, who is both the screenwriter and the author of the original novel, naturally attracted media attention and interview requests.

Nothing else, the hottest topic right now is the movie "Human Wonders".

Many people will chat for a bit when they meet.

"Have you seen that movie? It's amazing!"

Which movie?

"You haven't seen 'The Strange Tales of the Human World,' the one starring Leslie Cheung? Go watch it now, it's amazing!"

These are all topics that will be discussed, and there will be much more to come, in greater detail.

In such a heated atmosphere, newspaper reporters had already come to Lin Youcheng's door wanting to interview him, but Lin Youcheng was not there before.

Just as Lin Youcheng returned to Beijing, a reporter from the Domestic Film News happened to arrive.

Lin Youcheng did not refuse the reporters' interview, since this had happened before. He let the nanny, Sister Zhou, play with Lin Zhaoyuan while he accepted the interview in the yard.

The reporter, Xiao Zhou, undoubtedly held Lin Youcheng, a literary writer and screenwriter, in high esteem.

"Ms. Lin, thank you for accepting our interview."

"Now that the movie adapted from your novel 'Strange Tales of the Human World' has been released, it has been very popular and broken box office records. What are your thoughts on this?"

Lin Youcheng said with a smile, "This is naturally a good thing. People will naturally go to the cinema to watch good movies. Although I haven't had a chance to see this movie yet."

"Teacher Lin, haven't you seen this movie yet either?"

Lin Youcheng smiled and said, "As you said, the line at the movie theater is too long, so we haven't had a chance to go yet."

"Audiences are discussing this movie now, and some have mentioned, or even expressed regret, that the movie didn't depict the four foreshadowing elements you left in the original novel. What are your thoughts on this?"

Lin Youcheng smiled when he heard the question.

This is actually another reason why the story of "Strange Tales of the Human World" is so popular. You should know that when Lin Youcheng's novel "Strange Tales of the Human World" was published, it caused a huge sensation. After that, Lin Youcheng published four more novels: "The Message," "My Chief and My Regiment," "The Meridian of War," and "Bright Sword." Readers have discovered that these four novels all had a brief encounter with Lin Qi from "Strange Tales of the Human World."

Such foreshadowing makes Lin Qi's life in "Strange Tales of the Human World" even more realistic and moving.

However, the movie "Human Tales" did not depict those four foreshadowed encounters.

Lin Youcheng said, "The movie has limited runtime, and this is Lin Qi's life. His life story is exciting and moving enough. There is no need to film his encounter with the other four people."

"If the novel 'Strange Tales of the Human World' is adapted and expanded into a TV series in the future, it's not impossible to film these details. We can even adapt and write about the places Lin Qi went after leaving Jiangxi and the child. Those scenes might be very interesting."

Lin Youcheng said this because he felt that the novel "Strange Tales of the Human World" could be adapted into a TV series in the future. Of course, this might be many years from now, since TV series wouldn't be made like movies with Lin Qi's makeup skills.

When Xiao Zhou heard Lin Youcheng's words, his eyes lit up, and he nodded repeatedly, feeling that what Lin Youcheng said made a lot of sense.

"If we could really make 'The Human Story' into a movie, it would definitely be very exciting."

If a movie like this is so popular, it's sure to get good ratings if it were made into a TV series. Of course, the premise is that the story and script must be well-written and not messed up.

Looking at Lin Youcheng, Xiao Zhou asked again, "Teacher Lin, what do you think of Lin Qi and Jiang Xi's relationship?"

In fact, this question had been asked of Lin Youcheng by magazine editors and literary workers as early as after the publication of the novel "Strange Tales of the Human World".

Lin Youcheng replied with a smile, "We met in our youth and parted in our old age. It was a fantastical love epic. In the end, the elderly Jiang Xi found Lin Qi, who had become a child again. Lin Qi, who could no longer speak, spent his last moments with Jiang Xi by his side and died in her arms. When Jiang Xi said, 'He looked at me,' I knew he recognized me. That already showed how great this love was."

"When everything changes or even gets out of place over time, only love is eternal."

Xiao Zhou nodded repeatedly as he listened to Lin Youcheng's words. He felt the same way. This was the charm of the story "Strange Tales of the Human World"—life goes on and on, but love remains eternal.

In this story, Lin Qi and Jiang Xi experience a legendary love affair, and such a legendary love story will naturally move the audience and make them go crazy for it.

This is the power of film, but also the power of love.

The reporter from "Domestic Film News" later interviewed Lin Youcheng on some questions, mainly about the story of the film "Human Wonders" itself, and then about Lin Youcheng's views on the development of Chinese films.

After the interview, Jiang Wen also went to Xinghua Hutong to talk to Lin Youcheng about the movie "Strange Tales of the Human World".

Jiang Wen asked with a look of surprise, "Youcheng, why is Li An's movie so successful at the box office?"

Lin Youcheng smiled and said, "This movie is not only popular in China, but it also did very well at the box office overseas. For example, in Japan, Leslie Cheung and Li An are currently promoting it, and the movie is quite popular."

This was also the truth as Lin Youcheng had said. Li An had also been in contact with Lin Youcheng, and they naturally discussed the overseas release of the film. Undoubtedly, this fantasy romance epic was quite popular overseas. In Japan, a huge film market, Leslie Cheung was already an Asian idol, and now, with this film, *Human Tales*, he was on the verge of becoming an international superstar; his popularity was truly astounding.

Li An also told Lin Youcheng that Leslie Cheung was surrounded by fans who rushed to the airport; he was just too popular.

However, the character of Lynch is indeed full of charm, and the story ends with such a moving and tear-jerking ending that it's impossible for it not to attract a large following.

Of course, the most important reason is that Li An filmed this wonderful story very well.

Only when a movie is excellent will audiences be willing to line up to see it.

Upon hearing Lin Youcheng's words, Jiang Wen couldn't help but say, "Li An's movie is well made, and your story is well written, but I really didn't expect the box office to be so high. Last year's box office champion only had 80 million in box office, and now this 'Human Wonders' is about to break 300 million. This is amazing."

Lin Youcheng smiled and said, "When we get to next year's big ship, Titanic, the box office will be over 300 million."

In Lin Youcheng's eyes, the box office of the movie "Human Wonders" is not particularly amazing. Moreover, in Lin Youcheng's view, this movie is a domestic fantasy romance epic. Under Li An's direction, apart from the narrative style, the whole movie is eye-catching in terms of color, set design, sound and special effects, and is full of the quality of a romantic epic.

It's worth noting that this film was wildly popular with the Cannes Film Festival audience, receiving rave reviews and ranking first in the festival's daily ratings.

After the Cannes Film Festival, many film critics and audiences expressed their dissatisfaction with "Human Wonders," believing that the film should have won the Palme d'Or. They felt that this film, directed by Li An, was a rare work full of artistic flair and a compelling story, and was quite moving.

It's safe to say that the movie "Human Wonders" is truly captivating.

The charm of this movie is truly captivating, drawing countless viewers, both domestically and internationally, into the fantastical love epic of Lin Qi and Jiang Xi.

Lin Youcheng glanced at Jiang Wen and said, "The movie's box office performance might be even better in the future."

"Is it really that powerful?"

Jiang Wen was also having doubts. His own film, "In the Heat of the Sun," had also been released in mainland China, and its box office performance was quite good. The film grossed 50 million yuan, which ranked third on the box office charts the year before last. At that time, the first place was the imported film "True Lies," and the second place was Jackie Chan's "Rumble in the Bronx," which grossed 90 million yuan.

Does that mean you really have to make blockbuster movies to get high box office returns?

Lin Youcheng glanced at Jiang Wen and said with a smile, "The film market will get better and better in the future. With the development of film and economy, there will be more and more cinemas. People will be more willing to go to the cinema to watch movies. Of course, the premise is that the movies shown in the film academy must be good. Otherwise, it will only deceive the audience and ruin its reputation in the end. People will not want to go to the cinema anymore."

Jiang nodded in agreement upon hearing Lin Youcheng's words.

“What you said makes a lot of sense. Now I’m thinking about whether I should try making a blockbuster like Li An.”

In fact, it must be said that Jiang Wen is right. The movie "Human Wonders" can be considered a blockbuster to some extent, just like Zhang Yimou's "Hero" later on. It features big stars, big scenes, and large production. Although the production of "Human Wonders" is not as big as that of "Hero", the overall scene is not bad. Most importantly, the story is very epic and is far more complex than just killing the King of Qin.

Moreover, the cast of stars, including Leslie Cheung and Zhang Manyu, is quite impressive, and the film also features other well-known mainland actors, which is excellent publicity for the movie.

This is why Lin Youcheng specifically invited Li Xuejian, Lü Xiaohe, Jiang Wen, Zhang Guoli, and Leslie Cheung to star in his daughter Lin Zhaomei's film "Human Tales". It's because a strong cast can enhance a film to some extent, not only by guaranteeing star power, but also by ensuring the actors' performances, thus ensuring the overall quality of the film's acting.

Now that Lin Youcheng has seen the huge success of the movie "Human Wonders", he is also starting to look forward to his daughter Lin Zhaomei's movie "Our Millionaire".

In terms of epic scale and sense of destiny, the movie "Our Millionaire" is equally impressive.

Of course, Lin Youcheng is even more looking forward to Lin Zhaomei's film being submitted to the three major film festivals next year. As for whether it will go to the Berlin Film Festival or the Cannes Film Festival, that will naturally depend on the completion of the film's post-production.

Although winning awards often depends on luck, Lin Youcheng naturally has high hopes for his daughter, Lin Zhaomei.

It's worth noting that the original "Slumdog Millionaire" was extremely popular overseas in another timeline, winning eight Academy Awards. This is a key reason why Lin Youcheng entrusted this excellent script to his daughter, Lin Zhaomei.

Of course, this is also why Jiang Wen is so envious and really wants to make the movie "Our Millionaire".

Just as Lin Youcheng and Jiang Wen were chatting, Xiao Zhou, the reporter from the "Domestic Film News" who had interviewed Lin Youcheng before, came again. However, this time it wasn't for an interview, but to give Lin Youcheng two movie tickets for "Human Wonders".

Lin Youcheng was quite surprised, not expecting that the reporter would actually bring him movie tickets.

Although it wasn't that he couldn't get movie tickets, he just wasn't planning to go now. He planned to wait until the hype died down before going to the cinema with Xie Shuhua.

Lin Youcheng is truly pleasantly surprised now.

Xiao Zhou said with a smile, "Teacher Lin, I heard that you haven't had a chance to see it yet because you couldn't get in line. I specially brought you two movie tickets so you can go see it with your family."

Lin Youcheng smiled broadly and said, "Xiao Zhou, thank you so much. You're really kind of you."

"I'll give you the money for the movie ticket."

Xiao Zhou waved his hands repeatedly and said, "No need, my friend gave it to me. I should thank you, Teacher Lin, for accepting our interview."

Seeing that Xiao Zhou firmly refused, Lin Youcheng did not force him to accept the gift, but thanked him again.

Tickets for "Strange Tales of the Human World" are hard to come by now, and this young man, Xiao Zhou, is truly dedicated.

However, another thought flashed through Lin Youcheng's mind: now that this movie is so popular, the film market will only get hotter and hotter, and the charm of movies will become more and more irresistible.

He could invest in cinema chains later and establish his own film company's cinema chain, but it's not the right time yet. It will have to wait until after the millennium before private capital can participate in the construction of new cinemas and acquire shares or control of cinema chains.

Lin Youcheng glanced at the two movie tickets for "Strange Tales of the Human World" again, his eyes lighting up with a smile as he thought about going to see this romantic film with Xie Shuhua later. (End of Chapter)