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

Chapter 114: Screening Ends, Champion, Legend Begins

"A Simple Noodle Story" is Zhang Yimou's first film after the Olympics. It stars Xiao Shenyang as the protagonist, and the trailer is considered vulgar, which has caused a lot of controversy even before its release.

The film officially premiered at 6 p.m., and by the last showing at 1 a.m., "A Simple Noodle Story" had grossed 750 million yuan in 7 hours.

The 2006 film *Curse of the Golden Flower* grossed 15 million yuan in its first five hours. From 2006...

By 2009, the number of screens nationwide had increased from 3000 to 5000, but the box office revenue on the first day was less than half of what it had been three years earlier.

On the same day, "The Original Code," which had been in theaters for nine days, still had a box office revenue of 15 million.

The media has criticized Zhang Yimou extensively, believing that he began to veer towards vulgarity starting with "Curse of the Golden Flower," and that "A Simple Noodle Story" took this vulgarity to its extreme.

The discussion among netizens was also very heated, with many comparing Shen Qing to Zhang Yimou.

"The internet is full of praise for 'Source Code,' but I didn't really think it was that good. It wasn't until I watched 'A Simple Noodle Story' that I realized that good films need to be highlighted."

"What kind of weird movie did the Imperial Advisor make this time?"

"If you fool the audience, the box office will fool you. On its opening day, it couldn't even beat a film that had been in theaters for nine days. Yes, 'A Simple Noodle Story' only premiered at 6 pm, but 'The Source Code' had already been in theaters for a full nine days! Yet, 'A Simple Noodle Story' still grossed 15 million yuan on its opening day. 'A Simple Noodle Story' only made 7.5 million yuan on its opening day? That's only half of 'A Simple Noodle Story'? Don't you really need to reflect on this?"

"I regretted watching 'A Simple Noodle Story,' but I felt better after seeing that its opening day box office was only half that of 'Source Code.'"

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"Let's make a bold prediction: 'Source Code' has accumulated 2.68 million yuan in box office revenue, while 'A Simple Noodle Story' has 750 million yuan. 'Source Code' will have more box office revenue remaining than 'A Simple Noodle Story' has in total!"

UME Huaxing Cinema in Beijing, IMAX-3D Hall.

At Shen Qing's suggestion, China Film Group organized an internal screening for cinema managers across the country. The film being screened was, of course, "Gravity," which will be officially released on the first day of the Lunar New Year next year.

Currently, there are only five IMAX 3D screens in Beijing. Once Avatar is officially released, every IMAX 3D ticket will be extremely valuable, and booking an entire IMAX 3D theater for a private screening at that time will be very expensive. Since there are no IMAX movies showing now, the IMAX 3D theaters are using regular movie screenings to mitigate losses, making them ideal for organizing private screenings after booking out entire theaters.

Since the viewing experience directly affects the film's subsequent screening schedule, Shen Qing naturally wanted to use IMAX-3D.

The difference between the regular version of "Gravity" and the IMAX-3D version is greater than you can imagine.

The vast majority of theater managers and cinema managers were experiencing a real 3D movie for the first time, and Shen Qing's version of "Gravity" had the best 3D effects among all subsequent 3D movies, so the result was predictable.

When satellite debris burst off the screen and hurtled towards them, and most people instinctively tried to dodge it, the seasoned moviegoers in the audience were completely stunned.

The same applies to Han Sanping, Wang Changtian, Yu Dong, and others.

Liu Yifei was the same. She had slept at Shen Qing's house the night before and was quite curious about 3D movies, so Shen Qing took her along.

When the screening ended, the lights in the lobby came on. This group of well-traveled filmmakers stood up and spontaneously applauded. It started with just a few people, but more and more joined in, and finally everyone applauded enthusiastically, the applause lasting for a long time.

Shen Qing stood up to thank everyone and asked them to give the movie more screenings. The response was extremely enthusiastic, and everyone readily agreed.

Liu Yifei stayed at Shen Qing's house that night. The 3D effects she had seen during the day and the scene of the theater managers applauding had a great impact on her. The most obvious change was that she admired Shen Qing even more, and she even took more initiative in bed.

As the group of theater managers and cinema directors from all over the country returned to their respective regions, the legend of this inside screening began to spread, sparking discussions among netizens.

"Big news! A few days ago, Director Shen's big-budget film 'Gravity,' which reportedly has a total investment of 1.3 million US dollars, had an internal screening! It is said that after the screening, all the theater managers stood up and applauded wildly."

"I've heard about it too. I heard that theater managers were dumbfounded. I'm not exaggerating, they were genuinely dumbfounded. Nobody expected a movie to have that kind of effect."

"Really? Even if it's amazing, it's just a movie. How amazing can it be?"

"I heard it's like you've stepped right into the movie; when debris flies towards you, almost everyone in the entire theater instinctively raises their hands to block it! Imagine that scene: something in the movie is rushing towards the audience, and then everyone in the theater reaches out to block it!"

"That seems a bit exaggerated. If it's really that amazing, then I'll have to see how it goes."

"Who are theater managers and cinema managers? They're all seasoned moviegoers! If you can completely intimidate even these people, you must really want to go."

"It's not releasing until February 14th, I can't wait."

"Avatar is said to be a similar film. Cameron spent 14 years working on it. Currently, there are only two films in the world with this kind of effect. We can watch Avatar first."

"Avatar took 14 years to develop, so it's normal for its effects to be explosive. Shen Qing has only been preparing for a short time, so can Gravity really be this amazing?"

"I think so, Shen Qing is quite capable."

As the rumors spread, many film and television companies and directors found them increasingly outlandish and began to inquire about the truth from theater managers they knew.

Is Shen Qing's new sci-fi movie really as amazing as the rumors say?

"It's even more amazing than what's circulating online. People who haven't experienced it firsthand simply can't imagine how shocking it is."

Many curious people received similar responses, and Gravity garnered an extremely high level of attention.

Meanwhile, the box office of "Source Code" continues to soar.

It surpassed the 300 million mark on December 12.

It surpassed 350 million on December 16th.

370 million on December 18.

On the same day, "Bodyguards and Assassins," starring Fan Bingbing, was officially released online, and its box office reached 2200 million yuan on its first day.

With two consecutive blockbuster films, Fan Bingbing's status has been further elevated.

Fan Bingbing specifically called Shen Qingse, who was busy promoting the movie, but still managed to squeeze out two hours to meet with Shen Qing. Time was tight, and Fan Bingbing rushed over by car. The two got straight to the point as soon as they met, and after finishing up, they hurriedly went back to continue promoting the movie. Considering the expenses on the way, there was practically no free time at all.

On December 22, the film officially surpassed the 400 million yuan mark on its 20th day of release.

There were three films that grossed over 4 million yuan in 2009.

"2012" has just finished its theatrical run, with a final box office of 4.6 million yuan.

Transformers 2 grossed 4.5 million.

There's also "The Founding of a Republic," which grossed 4.1 million.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, "Source Code" will eventually surpass "2012" to become the highest-grossing film in China in 2009. The negotiations between the film's producers and Legendary Pictures have finally made substantial progress, with the latter agreeing to acquire the overseas rights to "Source Code" for a guaranteed minimum of $1400 million plus 10% of the initial total box office revenue.

Legendary Pictures initially only offered a $10 million guarantee plus a 1000% upfront profit share. After nearly a month of delays, seeing the film's impact in China, Legendary Pictures finally conceded at the last minute.

China Film Group made a huge profit from this.

At the time, Shen Qing and Lu Chuan were having a war of words, and Lu Chuan's movie was also invested in by China Film Group. In order to further bind themselves with China Film Group, Shen Qing reserved 5% of the investment share for China Film Group.

China Film Group invested a total of 5000 million yuan at the time, and now the guaranteed portion from overseas copyrights alone has almost recouped all its costs. There are also subsequent revenue sharing from domestic and overseas box office sales, as well as distribution fees, making this a very profitable venture for China Film Group.

On January 3, 2010, "Source Code" officially ended its theatrical run, with a final box office of 4.77 million yuan.

The exact amount of revenue that Shen Qing's company earned from this film is still uncertain, but it is certain that it exceeded 100 million yuan.

On January 4th, Avatar officially premiered in Huaxia Cinemas.