Huayu: Starting from joining the mainstream entertainment industry in 96

Chapter 463, Section 461: The Coronation of the New King

Los Angeles time, January 13, 2003, afternoon.

The sun still shines on California.

Almost simultaneously, on the morning of January 14th, across China.

A chill permeated major cities from north to south, but crowds gathered in front of newsstands earlier than usual.

Newspaper vendors didn't even need to shout; the newspapers themselves, with their ink-scented scent and bold, large fonts and exclamation marks on the front page, were the best advertisements.

"Night at the Museum raks in 3.68 million yuan in its opening month! Surpassing Titanic to become the highest-grossing film in Chinese film history!" - China Film News (front page headline, accompanied by a chart comparing the Night at the Museum poster with huge box office figures)
"A new king is crowned! The domestically produced fantasy epic 'The Museum' sets a new record, with 3.68 million yuan marking a new milestone!" — Beijing Youth Daily

"3.68 million! Titanic's record is broken, and the Chinese film market welcomes a domestic king!" — Guangming Daily (Culture Section Headline)
"From 'Brotherhood of Blades' breaking 200 million to 'The Museum' topping the charts, the Sheng Ying model is leading the golden age of Chinese films!" — Southern Weekly

"Miracle Month! 'The Museum' takes the top spot in its opening month, 'Brotherhood of Blades' surpasses 200 million yuan after extension, domestic films sweep the top two positions at the box office!" — Entertainment News

The culture and entertainment sections of every mainstream newspaper, and even the front pages of many general daily newspapers, are dominated by the same name and that string of glittering numbers.

The reports varied in angle, but the core information was clear: After a full month of release (December 13, 2002 to January 12, 2003), "Night at the Museum" officially surpassed the record of 360 million yuan (based on historical data) set by "Titanic" in 1998, topping the Chinese film market box office charts with a slight but solid lead!

This was a monument that countless filmmakers considered unattainable, a symbol of Hollywood's invincibility. After standing for nearly five years, it was finally overthrown by a domestically produced film.

The China Film News report was the most detailed and professional, not only publishing data accurate to the minute, but also providing an in-depth analysis of the market phenomenon: "The success of Night at the Museum was no accident."

Its precise positioning as a family-friendly film, its fantastical imagination rooted in Eastern culture, its mature industrial production standards, and the powerful distribution and marketing network formed by "China Film Grand Cinema Line" and "Maoyan Platform" have jointly contributed to this historic victory.

This signifies that the Chinese film market is not only expanding in size, but more importantly, audiences' recognition of and willingness to consume high-quality domestic content has reached unprecedented levels.

The Beijing Youth Daily focused on its symbolic significance: "3.68 million yuan is not just a number, but also a shadow cast over the hearts of a generation of Chinese filmmakers. It declares that Chinese films have the ability to compete with and even defeat the top Hollywood productions in terms of market appeal. This is the most direct manifestation of cultural confidence in the commercial field."

A commentator article in Guangming Daily elevated the issue to the level of industry and culture: "The success of Night at the Museum is a concentrated burst of the achievements of the film industry's industrialization reform and the deepening of market mechanisms in recent years."

This proves that by grounding oneself in the rich soil of one's own national culture and employing modern cinematic language and innovative thinking in creative work, it is entirely possible to win enthusiastic market response and even lead cultural consumption trends. This provides a highly valuable reference for the future creative direction and cultural export path of Chinese films.

Meanwhile, another piece of good news also occupied a prominent position in major newspapers:
"With the key extension, 'Brotherhood of Blades' box office surpasses 200 million! Sheng Ying adds another film to the '200 Million Club'!"

"Following 'Shaolin Soccer' and 'Lost in Thailand,' 'Brotherhood of Blades' becomes the third domestic film to break the 200 million yuan mark!"

"Double Celebration! 'The Museum' wins the box office and 'Brotherhood of Blades' surpasses 200 million, Shengying Media stands out from the crowd!"

The report points out that the new martial arts film "Brotherhood of Blades," directed by Tsui Hark and featuring a sharp and realistic style, has received an extension of its theatrical release since its premiere on November 29, thanks to its excellent word-of-mouth and continued popularity.

After its theatrical run was extended for more than ten days, the total box office revenue successfully exceeded 200 million RMB, making it the third domestic film to reach this milestone, following "Shaolin Soccer" and "Lost in Thailand".

Although it is not as big as "The Museum", it has firmly occupied the second place in the current box office chart, further proving Shengying Media's strong strength in genre film development and market operation.

"Night at the Museum" has created the "300 million yuan box office club," and with its still strong weekend box office performance (it still managed to earn more than 20 million yuan in its third weekend), all industry insiders have seen an even more terrifying possibility—after obtaining a key extension, it may actually be able to touch the threshold of the "400 million yuan box office club" that no one dares to imagine!

The online world was in complete uproar.

On the Maoyan movie platform, the rating for "The Museum" remains stable at a high level of 9.2.

The homepage was almost flooded with posts celebrating reaching the top and predicting 400 million.

"Witnessing history! I'm so happy! I can brag to my grandson that I saw the premiere of 'The Museum'!"

"3.68 million! That's really over! Although it's not a huge amount, it's incredibly significant! A new king has ascended the throne!" "Brotherhood of Blades is amazing too! It's broken 200 million! Now Sheng Ying Film Studio has swept the top three spots for domestic films again!"

"Let's do the math. The movie 'The Museum' still has momentum. With a one-month extension, reaching 400 million yuan is not a dream!"

"I used to think that Titanic was an insurmountable myth, but now... that myth has been shattered by our own people!"

Similar sentiments are heard on university BBS forums, emerging blog platforms, and film and television sections of various forums.

National pride and cultural identity were amplified during this box office frenzy, with phrases like "Support domestic products," "Sheng Ying is awesome," and "Wang Sheng is awesome" becoming frequently used.

……

Ordinary cinema managers beamed with joy as they looked at the still high pre-screening schedule and occupancy rate of "The Museum" in the system.

This film was not only a box office bomb, but also attracted a large number of family viewers and middle-aged people who do not usually go to the cinema, greatly expanding the market base.

The consensus in the industry is that "showing 'The Museum' is equivalent to making money".

……

However, behind this jubilant atmosphere, those in the film industry had much more complicated feelings.

The owners of some small and medium-sized private companies, while shocked by these astonishing results, held an emergency meeting with only one topic on their minds: how to learn from the "Shengying Model"? Standardization, industrialization, and powerful channels and marketing seemed to be the only way out.

Those directors and producers who had previously criticized Wang Sheng and Shengying's "commercialization" and "aggressiveness," or who still clung to traditional creative thinking, fell into deep silence and self-doubt when faced with these figures, which were built with real money and hundreds of millions of viewers.

In a classroom at the Beijing Film Academy, several elderly professors read newspapers in silence for a long time.

"Old Han really made the right bet this time," one person finally sighed, his tone filled with indescribable emotion.

“It’s not betting on something, it’s paving the way,” another more clear-headed professor corrected. “Wang Sheng has single-handedly blazed a new trail for Chinese cinema with his commercial success. From now on… I’m afraid no one will be able to bypass the rules he set.”

This sense of powerlessness in being swept along by the tide of the times, and the reality of having to bow down in the face of absolute success, has left many people in the industry feeling a kind of numbness that has been subverted.

It's not that I don't want to give an evaluation, but when the opponent's achievements are so high that we have to look up to them, any evaluation seems pale and powerless.

……

Inside the office of New Pictures Film Studio.

Zhang Weiping didn't turn on the light; in the dim light, the ashtray in front of him was already overflowing. A dozen or so newspapers were spread out on the table, all with front pages reporting on "The Museum" topping the charts, while the good news of "Brotherhood of Blades" breaking 200 million felt like a second pinch of salt into a wound.

3.68 million vs. Hero's... withdrawal from release.

Two hundred million vs. "Hero"... the future is uncertain.

The contrast was so stark that he lost even the strength to be angry, leaving only a bone-chilling coldness and... a trace of regret that he himself was unwilling to admit.

Perhaps Jiang Zhiqiang is right; temporarily avoiding the limelight is the only option. But given the overwhelming success of "The Museum," how many opportunities will "Hero" have even if it's re-released later?

He could almost see that Wang Sheng and that mountain called "Shengying" had cast a shadow that had already enveloped the entire Lunar New Year film season, and might even shroud the Chinese film industry for a long time to come.

The new king has been crowned, and beneath the throne lie the remnants of old records, the stunned and numb gazes of his peers, the fervent public opinion forged by millions of moviegoers with their ticket purchases, and a market future that has been completely ignited and is full of boundless imagination.

(End of this chapter)