The director starts by learning from the abilities of renowned directors.

Chapter 113 Sweeping Through the Schedule

The following morning.

Long queues formed in front of cinema ticket windows across the country, with traffic appearing to be about twice the usual amount. Ticket sellers, seeing the dense crowds, unconsciously sped up their work.

The vast majority of viewers came for *Source Code*, with only a very small minority interested in *Mulan* or *2012*. *2012* is understandable, as it's been in theaters for 20 days and its hype has already died down. As for *Mulan*...

It's a bit of a disaster; it's only been out for a week, and now it's basically ignored.

Around 11 a.m., the first group of viewers emerged from the screening hall. The crowd chatted and laughed, seemingly enjoying the film. They occasionally exchanged a few words about the plot with family or friends, clearly feeling that the movie was still going strong.

Similar scenarios are playing out all over the country.

After the first group of viewers left the theater, they began to share their reviews of "The Source Code" with their relatives, friends, and classmates.

Most viewers gave the film very high marks for its quality.

Movies about loops weren't invented by "The Code"; Hollywood had "Groundhog Day" before.

The concept of parallel worlds was not first created by "The Code". Li Lianjie had previously made a movie called "Cosmic Kill Order".

However, having something and making it commonplace are two different things. There are only a handful of films of similar themes abroad, and most domestic audiences haven't seen them yet. There are virtually no films of this genre in China, so "Source Code" is extremely novel for domestic audiences.

Furthermore, *Source Code* cleverly combines the concepts of time loops, virtual worlds, and parallel universes.

The process of searching for the killer in a minute-long loop is also full of suspense and the fun of solving the mystery.

Each loop brings new discoveries, and the plot progresses cleanly and efficiently, without any unnecessary dragging. In the end, the protagonist, Liang Ye, finally catches the real culprit, resolves the train explosion crisis, and pleads with the female officer to end his life. Before she presses the stop button, he pays a comedian on the train to make everyone laugh. As the officer presses the button, time seems to stand still, and the smiling faces on the train deeply move the audience.

While moved, I also felt a little regretful.

In the end, things took an unexpected turn. The world of source code did not end with the pressing of the button. Source code exceeded everyone's imagination; it created a completely new parallel world.

By noon, word-of-mouth about the film had spread widely, and related discussions erupted on the internet.

"Brothers, I've finished watching it. You can all watch it without worry. Shen Qing has really produced a very impressive soft science fiction film this time."

"Even by Hollywood standards, this is an excellent sci-fi film; I'd give it a perfect score!"

"The female officer's daughter who appeared near the end was Liu Yifei, right? Was that an Easter egg planted for a sequel?"

"It should be."

"Shen Qing has quite the ambition!"

"I didn't have high hopes before watching it, but it turned out to be a very unique sci-fi film. I admire Shen Qing's courage to make a sci-fi film, and I admire even more his ability to pull it off!"

"I feel like the spring of Chinese science fiction films is coming."

The movie starring Shen Qing and Fan Bingbing has no shortage of attention, but many viewers are still waiting to see how it fares before deciding whether to watch it or not.

Once word-of-mouth for "Source Code" emerged, these viewers' doubts were dispelled. Furthermore, since the film's release date was a Friday, students and working professionals had the next day off after get off work, and since they had nothing to do the following day, they could use that evening to watch a movie. As a result, cinemas across the country saw their evening attendance double and double again, with bustling crowds everywhere.

That evening, Shen Qing and Fan Bingbing participated in post-screening interactive events at various cinemas in Beijing. The following day, they continued their promotional tour in Beijing. By noon the next day, the film's opening day box office figures had been sent to Shen Qing's mobile phone.

3230 million yuan on the first day.

This marks another breakthrough in the domestic record.

Shen Qing was very happy, but he noticed that Fan Bingbing seemed even more excited than him. He asked her why, and learned that the film *Mulan*, released on November 27th, had also grossed around 32 million yuan in its opening weekend, and that Zhao Yanzi was the lead actress in *Mulan*. Shen Qing completely understood Fan Bingbing's feelings at that moment.

When Zhao Yanzi starred in "My Fair Princess", she became a household name across the country and even in East and Southeast Asia. Fan Bingbing, who played the maid, really acted like a maid in front of everyone.

"At eighteen, Princess Huanzhu, standing there like a lackey."

Shen Qing started humming the song right away, leaving Fan Bingbing somewhat bewildered. She asked him, "There are songs like this?"

"Of course! How about it? Doesn't it perfectly reflect your current state of mind?"

"no."

"Saying one thing and meaning another."

Fan Bingbing noticed the opening weekend box office of "Mulan" and compared it with "The Code," which naturally drew the attention of netizens as well.

After the box office figures for "Source Code" were revealed on its opening day, netizens immediately began discussing it.

"The box office of Mulan starring Zhao Yanzi and Chen Kun in its first three days was less than that of The Code in a single day. It's a pity."

"That's more like it. The two are not even in the same league. Shen Qing is the No.1 in China, Fan Bingbing is the No.0.1 actress in China, and Chen Kun and Yanzi can't even make the top ten."

"That's why it's so sad. Zhao Yanzi was so popular back then, but I never expected that Fan Bingbing would have the best career development in the end."

"Choice is more important than effort; Fan Bingbing is lucky to have found a powerful patron."

"It feels like no actress can shake Fan Bingbing's position for the time being. Shen Qing will definitely be filming 'Taken 3' in the future, and Fan Bingbing will definitely still be the female lead. Needless to say, it will be another big production that will cost hundreds of millions of dollars in North America. Just this one point is something that other actresses can only dream of. Moreover, 'The Source Code' also looks like it will have a sequel."

"It seems like Liu Yifei has a chance? There's an unreleased 'Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons,' starring Shen Qing herself, and she also made an appearance in 'The Original Code.' If a sequel is made, Liu Yifei's role will probably be quite significant."

"What about Yang Mi? She hasn't had any good movies since 'The Shallows'."

The 3230 million yuan box office of "Source Code" on its opening day can be seen as a reassurance to the producers of "Gravity", such as China Film Group, Enlight Media, and Berna Films.

Previously, everyone had great faith in Shen Qing's abilities. After all, Shen Qing had never filmed a science fiction movie before. Could he really handle this genre as well?

Whether it's Han Sanping, Wang Changtian, or Yu Dong, they generally trust Shen Qing, but they occasionally have doubts.

With "Source Code" achieving such high box office on its opening day and receiving very positive reviews, it shows that Shen Qing is truly capable of handling science fiction. Doesn't that give us even more confidence in the "Gravity" project?

The happiest person was Han Sanping, as China Film Group had a 50% share of the film "The Original Code".

There are happy people and unhappy people, and the most unhappy one is probably Zhang Weiping from New Pictures.

These past few days he has been launching a full-scale attack on Han Sanping, on the grounds that Han Sanping is using China Film Group's monopoly position to suppress domestic films.

It's about the release date of "A Simple Noodle Story," which was preceded by "2012" and followed by nearly 10 other films.

The release date for Avatar, one of Hollywood's biggest blockbusters of the year, doesn't seem to be ideal.

In fact, Zhang Weiping originally wanted to compete for the New Year's Day release date of "Avatar". Zhang Weiping felt that "2012" and "Avatar" would seriously affect the box office of "A Simple Noodle Story", so he attacked Han Sanping and even personally attacked him by giving him the nickname "Zuo Shandiao".

"The Source Code" was released nationwide on December 3rd, while "A Simple Noodle Story" was finally released on December 11th.

Given the current popularity of "Source Code," it's foreseeable that it will have a significant impact on the box office of "A Simple Noodle Story."

However, Zhang Weiping was somewhat wary of Shen Qing's "dark history" and didn't dare to attack her. Lu Chuan, who had previously clashed with Shen Qing, was already filled with regret. The release of "Nanjing! Nanjing!" was now hopeless, and four years of hard work had been wasted in one fell swoop.

If you won't criticize Shen Qing, then continue criticizing "Zuo Shandiao"!

The Douban rating for "Source Code" is out, and netizens have given it a high score of 9.2. Although many short reviews added an extra star to encourage domestic science fiction films, and the film is not actually that good, the 9.2 score still has a huge impact on viewers who have not yet seen it.

"After reading many film reviews, I feel that this film should be really good."

"I've decided to go see it. Like one film review said, finally there are directors in China who are willing to put their heart into making science fiction. We must encourage them!"

The momentum of "Source Code" was strong, and in order to make more money, cinemas gave it more and more screenings, which had a different impact on "2012" and "Mulan".

The film grossed 34.1 million yuan on its second day of release and 35.9 million yuan on its third day, accumulating a total of 102.3 million yuan in its opening weekend.

Million.

上映6天累计票房2.1亿，而截至到12月10日24时，电影累计票房是2.53亿。

On December 11, Zhang Yimou's film "A Simple Noodle Story" was officially released nationwide.