Huayu: Starting from joining the mainstream entertainment industry in 96

Chapter 401, page 399: Explosive

In April 2002, the North American film market should have been calm under the dominance of "Ice Age," the prehistoric squirrel. However, a "freak" film from the East ignited a wildfire on the ice field, and the fire burned brighter and brighter with the spring breeze of April.

The $812 million box office gross of "Shaolin Soccer" in its opening weekend was like a boulder thrown into a calm lake. The ripples it caused spread and amplified rapidly in the following week, eventually forming a small cultural storm that swept across the United States.

First, there's the continued high box office performance.

During the first full week of April (April 1-4), which was the first Monday through Thursday after its release, "Shaolin Soccer" demonstrated amazing box office resilience.

Although box office revenue declined compared to the weekend, the drop was far less than market expectations.

Monday (April 1): Thanks to the full spread of word-of-mouth over the weekend and the lighthearted atmosphere of April Fool's Day, the box office grossed $125 million. This figure is excellent for a foreign language comedy on a weekday.

Tuesday (April 2): ​​Many theaters offered discounted tickets, attracting price-sensitive students and young audiences, and box office revenue climbed slightly to $138 million.

周三（4月3日）与周四（4月4日）：票房稳定在115万和108万美元左右。

This means that in the four working days following the opening weekend, Shake Soccer raked in an astonishing $486 million!
This allowed the film to gross a total of $1298 million in North America in just seven days after its release!
This figure has far exceeded New Line Cinema's initial most optimistic expectations and has completely dispelled all doubts from the theater chains.

The film's strong performance during the week proves that it is not just a "one-hit wonder" relying on the initial weekend's novelty, but rather has the ability and a solid foundation of word-of-mouth to continuously attract audiences.

New Line Cinema capitalized on its success, increasing the number of screens showing the film from 902 to 1350 in the second week.

April 5th, Friday, the second weekend begins.

The market's reaction was like a tsunami, rewarding the new line's trust.

Friday's box office revenue surged to $355 million, almost double that of the opening Friday!
This indicates that the film's influence is rapidly expanding beyond its initial audience base, reaching a wider mainstream and curious audience.

On Saturday (April 6), the box office exploded to $505 million!
The theater was filled with even more enthusiastic and intense laughter and exclamations than in its opening week.

Many viewers were no longer driven by mere curiosity, but were truly immersed in the absurd yet passionate football dream created by Stephen Chow.

The universal core of grassroots success and the pursuit of dreams, packaged in exaggerated and nonsensical style, struck a chord with audiences from different cultural backgrounds in a wonderful way.

Box office revenue steadily declined to $3.2 million on Sunday (April 7).

Ultimately, Shake Soccer raked in another $1180 million in its second weekend of release!
Thus, within ten days of its release, the film had grossed a staggering $2478 million in North America!
Its average box office revenue per theater remained at an astonishing high of $8740, ranking among the top of all films released on a large scale that week.

This achievement propelled "Shaolin Soccer" from fourth to second place at the North American box office, second only to the still undefeated "Ice Age," but far ahead of Hollywood domestic productions such as "Blade II" and "We Were Soldiers" released at the same time.

It is extremely rare in the history of North American films for a non-English comedy from the East to gain a foothold and continue to rise in the North American market.

……

The media reaction escalated rapidly.

If the media coverage in the first week was tinged with surprise and scrutiny, then in the second week, with the explosive growth in box office figures and the visible surge in moviegoing, the attitude of mainstream media changed significantly.

The New York Times published a longer film review in its arts section, titled "Kung Fu Soccer: An Absurd Exterior, a Sincere Core."

The review states: "We may have initially been attracted by its football skills that defy the laws of physics and Mr. Stephen Chow's unique comedic rhythm, but what ultimately kept us was the film's almost obstinate adherence to dreams, its celebration of team spirit, and the clumsy yet sincere warmth belonging to ordinary people."

This proves that the best comedies always touch upon the common aspects of human nature. The Los Angeles Times, however, analyzed it from a market perspective: "The success of 'Shaolin Soccer' is no accident."

It accurately captures and amplifies the cultural symbol of 'kung fu', which has a wide recognition in the West, and boldly grafts it onto the world's number one sport, 'football'.

In the fervent atmosphere of the upcoming World Cup, this grafting produced a wonderful chemical reaction.

The marketing strategies of New Line Cinema and its Chinese partner, Shengying Media, especially their initial use of "The Daily Show" for a "reverse expansion" strategy, are considered classic examples.

The influential Time magazine Asia, in its feature on the Chinese men's football team's preparations for the World Cup, cleverly mentioned "Shaolin Soccer": "While the real-life Chinese national team is in South Korea preparing for its historic World Cup debut, a Chinese film is presenting a fantastical alternative to Chinese football in North America—although this alternative is full of wild imagination."

The film's unexpected success in North America may reflect, to some extent, the growing interest and acceptance of Chinese elements among global audiences.

……

The reaction from within the industry was more direct and intense.

Market analysis departments at major Hollywood studios are urgently trying to decipher the secrets to the success of "Shaolin Soccer".

They realized that this was not just another foreign film that relied on sensationalism to gain popularity.

Its model of "genre elements (kung fu + comedy + sports) + universal values ​​(dreams + comeback) + cultural characteristics (nonsensical humor) + precise marketing (community + topic)" provides a brand-new and replicable production approach.

Some independent production companies and mid-sized studios seeking breakthroughs are beginning to reassess the value of collaborating with Asian, particularly Chinese, filmmakers.

Wang Sheng's name and his Shengying Media were frequently mentioned in Hollywood conference rooms.

He is no longer seen merely as a wealthy partner from China, but rather as a strategist with a deep understanding of cross-cultural market operations, a keen sense of opportunity, and strong execution capabilities.

Meanwhile, predictions that "Shaolin Soccer" would achieve even higher box office returns, potentially reaching $5000 million or even $8000 million, began circulating in some industry communications and reports from senior analysts.

This figure is undoubtedly a huge success for a foreign language comedy with an investment far lower than that of a Hollywood A-list production, and its profit margin is enough to make many Hollywood blockbusters envious.

……

At the audience level, a "Kung Fu Soccer" craze has already formed.

Some classic lines and actions from the movie (such as "Mighty Iron Leg" and "Light-footed Water-walking") began to be imitated and ridiculed on university campuses and online forums.

Have you watched that movie, "Shaolin Soccer"?

It has become a new social topic among young people.

Although some viewers still cannot understand Stephen Chow's "nonsensical" comedy style, its unique charm has won over a considerable number of North American movie fans. They have begun to look for Chow's early works on videotape or DVD, and a potential "Stephen Chow fan" group is quietly taking shape in North America.

All of this happened in North America in early April 2002.

The spark ignited by Wang Sheng and Stephen Chow in "Kung Fu Soccer" has finally spread like wildfire in the United States, a land where entertainment reigns supreme, thanks to the novelty of the "Eastern kung fu comedy" genre, the huge buzz of the upcoming World Cup, and the universal emotions about dreams and struggle at its core.

It is no longer just a movie; it has become a phenomenon, a symbol, and a strong signal that Chinese films and even Asian cultural products are beginning to have their own unique voice and power in the global market.

(End of this chapter)