Best Director in Literature Department of Huayu

Chapter 111 Premiere Review

Less than three hours after the premiere ended, major authoritative rating websites in North America released their scores at midnight.

In this quiet hour that should belong to the early morning, countless industry professionals across the United States who are paying close attention to this year's summer movie season are frantically refreshing their web pages.

On Rotten Tomatoes' page, the number next to the freshness icon changed from gray before the release to a bright red 93%.

The first batch of 37 certified film reviews were all positive, and at this moment, 37 fresh tomatoes were neatly arranged on the page, like a silent but resounding flag.

In the comments section, a short comment that quickly went viral was just one sentence: "I don't know whether to praise Meryl Streep's performance or the director's camera work, but I know I'll look at my female boss with completely different eyes when I go to work tomorrow."

The top-rated comment on the video's page reads: "Miranda Priestley scares me, not because she's a demon, but because I find myself worshipping her while being scared. She's the most complex female character of the year, bar none."

Another highly-rated comment was more concise: "Ryan Lam proved with his camera that commercial films can also leave audiences silent for a long time after they've finished laughing."

MetaCritic's overall score has remained stable at 81 points, marked as "Universal Acclaim".

Of the eighteen media outlets that participated in the rating, none gave a negative review. The lowest score was 75 points from a local media outlet in the Midwest, but the review was still full of praise: "Although the pacing was slightly loose in the middle, the overall level of performance and the director's accurate dissection of the workplace power structure were enough to make up for all the flaws."

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times wrote in his column: "If you're only going to watch one movie about the workplace this year, watch this one. If you're only going to watch one movie about women this year, watch this one."

He also gave him his signature thumbs up.

Vanity Fair: "Anna Wintour wearing Prada to this movie says it all."

The Hollywood Reporter: "This is a modern apocalypse about class and desire. Those data agencies that predicted this morning that the film wouldn't survive the summer blockbuster season can start writing their resignation letters."

Variety: "20th Century Fox has a trump card in this year's toughest summer season, enough to snatch some box office revenue from Superman Returns."

Entertainment Weekly: "Meryl Streep delivers her most dominant and authoritative performance in nearly a decade. Anne Hathaway also bids farewell to her Disney princess past."

The New York Times: "This is a masterpiece that perfectly bridges anti-consumerism and independent female literature. Fox's previous brilliant offline collaborations were not just for fun; they were a precise warm-up for the big-screen extravaganza."

Harper's Bazaar: "From Saint Laurent to Balenciaga, every outfit in the film possesses textbook-perfect top-notch aesthetics."

At 2 a.m., the office of Harvey, the marketing director, in the Fox headquarters building in Century City was still brightly lit.

Harvey slammed a stack of newly printed editorials from major newspapers onto the conference table with a loud thud.

His eyes, bloodshot from extreme excitement, now shone with an almost manic ecstasy, showing no sign of fatigue.

"Look! Let me see them all!" Harvey leaned on his desk and straightened up abruptly, pointing to the row of eye-catching media ratings on the big screen.

The executives in the conference room looked at each other, followed by a low, suppressed gasp and ecstasy.

The marketing manager hurriedly handed over real-time data he had just monitored from the ticketing system: "Manager, although there are still two full weeks until the official release on June 30th, in just the two hours after midnight, the pre-sale channels on the two major North American ticketing websites, Fandango and MovieTickets, have completely exploded!"

"Give me specific numbers!" Harvey growled.

"In major cities such as New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago, pre-sales for prime-time screenings during the opening weekend surged by 400% within two hours!"

The weekend box office, which was originally monopolized by Warner Bros.' "Superman Returns," has now been ripped open by our pre-sales! Executives from AMC and RegaI theaters just called to inquire if we could get additional copies for the official release; they want to allocate the secondary screening rooms originally reserved for "Superman Returns" to us on June 30th!

Harvey slammed his fist on the conference table: "Change it! Why not change it? Tell those profit-driven theater managers that there are plenty of Fox copies!"

This is the power of word-of-mouth generated in advance of the premiere.

The opening premiere at the Los Angeles Film Festival was originally a gamble for Fox in the face of competition from blockbusters. However, Anna Wintour's appearance at the premiere and the unanimous praise from mainstream media across the United States have completely turned it into a two-week-long hunger marketing campaign.

After reading these hot and insightful film reviews, working women, fashion enthusiasts, and a large female moviegoer across the United States have had their appetites whetted to the extreme.

While Hollywood and North American theaters were in a frenzy of celebration over this dark horse hit before its release, Lin Ruiyang, in his Beverly Hills mansion, had already handed over the subsequent publicity and promotion work to Harvey's team in an orderly manner.

The letter now before him clearly reads: "Final Confirmation Letter from China Film Group Corporation and China Film Distribution Co., Ltd. Regarding the Import and Simultaneous Nationwide Release of 'The Devil Wears Prada' as a Major Imported Revenue-Sharing Film of 2006."

Meanwhile, the classic red carpet outburst and ratings reversal at the Los Angeles premiere transformed into a terrifying media storm within twelve hours, crossing the ocean and spreading back to the Chinese internet.

In this era without Weibo or WeChat, where Tianya Forum and the three major portal websites dominate netizens' attention, at 6:30 in the morning, the homepages of Sina Entertainment, Sohu Entertainment, and NetEase Entertainment were simultaneously updated with massive, glaringly bold red headlines:

Chinese-American director Lin Ruiyang's new film premieres to great acclaim in Los Angeles, hailed by media across the US as a "masterpiece of the year!"

"Fashion icon Anna Wintour graces the red carpet, wearing Prada to support a Chinese-American director and publicly criticizes Hollywood's older white male capitalists!"

Lin Ruiyang's new film is a hit even before its release, with North American pre-sales exceeding record highs overnight! It completely slaps the face of authoritative American institutions!

That evening, Princess Six's prime-time program, "China Film Report," made an unprecedented move by dedicating a full three minutes to broadcasting detailed interview clips from the premiere, which were transmitted from Los Angeles.

At the end of the program, the host concluded the report with a brief comment: "This 21-year-old Chinese director is teaching Hollywood respect in his own way."

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