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

Chapter 115 The Global 3D Movie Storm Has Begun

Before Avatar officially hit the Chinese market, it had already been showing in North America for three weeks.

首周末三天共收穫7700万美元票房、次周末7500万美元、第三周周末6850万美元。前三周北美累计票房3.52亿美元，全球累计票房10.02亿美元。

It climbed to fourth place in global film history in just three weeks, and its final box office is unimaginable.

1月4日，《阿凡达》正式登陆华夏市场。排片占比只占约50%，首日票房就达到了3700万元，首周票房即破3亿大关，1月9日周六这天单日票房更是高达7500

Million.

It broke all the domestic box office records, including the fastest to reach 100 million, the fastest to reach 200 million, the fastest to reach 300 million, and the highest single-day box office.

The immense popularity of "Avatar" led to a shortage of tickets at a few IMAX 3D theaters across the country, causing movie scalpers, who had disappeared in China for many years, to quietly resurface.

In Beijing, a scalped ticket for "Avatar" costs around 200 to 250 yuan, while the retail price at the box office is 100 yuan (40 yuan for members).

Reporters staked out several IMAX 3D theaters and found that large numbers of people had already started queuing up in the freezing cold as early as four or five in the morning.

Tickets scalped in Shanghai have been sold for as much as 2500 yuan.

Pandora, a planet teeming with magical flora and fauna; Hallelujah Mountains floating in the air; and strange bird mounts.

After taming his strange bird mount, Jack and Neytiri flew side by side, riding the bird through the misty mountains, sometimes stopping abruptly on a cliff, sometimes flying low to the water. The unprecedented 3D effects brought the audience an unparalleled shock.

Witness the birth of the greatest visual cinematic ever!

[The Journey to the Birth of Avatar: 1995, When the Dream Began.]

[Avatar: A revolution from watching movies to experiencing movies!]

[Avatar exposes the lack of imagination in domestic films.]

[Avatar's production in mainland China sparks frenzy; highest ticket price scalped to 2500 yuan]

[Avatar Prompts Reflection in Chinese Cinema: Is It a Lack of Technology or Passion?]

Avatar has sparked a blue storm in China, and many domestic directors have been asked "what do you think of this movie?"

Director Chen Chen: We have our own advantages, and we should play to our strengths and avoid our weaknesses.

Wang Xiaolu: A science fiction film cannot negate the future of Chinese cinema.

Ning Hao: The gap is huge, there's no comparison.

Feng Xiaogang: Chinese directors don't need to engage in self-criticism.

Director Lu Chuan: "We should be ashamed. Avatar made me realize that what we lack is not technology; technology can be acquired. Avatar suddenly made me realize how far our films are from sentiment and simple beauty; how far we are from clear innocence; how far we are from burning dreams; how far are we from sincerity, having been running and reveling in distorted, dark, absurd, and vulgar entanglements! Faced with the purity of Avatar, we should be ashamed. This is a complete defeat that we, the Chinese filmmakers, must collectively witness and collectively accept."

Director Shen Qing: "Avatar is a good movie that is worth sitting down and watching carefully. Watching it on your knees will only cause you to miss its true essence."

Shen Qing said this after receiving a phone interview from a reporter.

The reporter pressed further: "Is the 'kneeling to watch' comment aimed at those who believe our directors should be ashamed?"

Shen Qing laughed and said, "Wearing 3D glasses is enough to watch Avatar; there's really no need to wear knee pads."

The reporter then asked, "Director Shen, your new film 'Gravity' is scheduled for release on the first day of the Lunar New Year. I remember you said in a previous interview that your goal was to make the world's first true 3D film, but you weren't sure if you could beat Cameron. Now that 'Gravity' will be released after 'Avatar,' does that mean you've already failed, that you haven't beaten Cameron?"

Shen Qing replied, "In fact, 'Gravity' had already completed post-production in October. We wanted to release it before 'Avatar' to make it the first truly 3D blockbuster in film history. We had the opportunity."

"Then why did you eventually give up?" the reporter continued.

Shen Qing said, "Because 20th Century Fox is working with companies like IMAX and ReaID to upgrade cinema equipment worldwide, something that the producers of 'Gravity' would find difficult to do. Our overall assessment is that releasing after 'Avatar' would be more advantageous. Moreover, it's relatively easy to beat director Cameron in terms of release date, since Cameron has only made one film in over a decade. The real challenge lies in competing with 'Avatar' in terms of viewing experience."

The reporter then asked, "Director Shen, do you mean you want to compete with 'Avatar' in terms of viewing experience? Are you confident?"

Shen Qing said, "As the director who has devoted countless efforts to 'Gravity,' I am certainly confident, but the final evaluation rests with the audience."

The interview sparked considerable controversy after it was published. Shen Qing's metaphors of "watching on her knees" and "wearing knee pads" immediately reminded netizens of Lu Chuan's "theory of shame".

"As expected, people who kneel for too long can't stand up!"

"Wearing knee pads to watch a 3D movie, Director Shen is so humorous, he vividly portrayed the ugly grotesque behavior of some directors."

The first half of Shen Qing's interview received widespread support from netizens, but the second half became extremely controversial. Shen Qing actually wanted to compare her to "Avatar" in terms of viewing experience!

If it were any other movie, it would be fine; everyone would admit that Shen Qing is indeed quite talented.

However, comparing it to Avatar is an exaggeration.

The impact of Avatar speaks for itself. Cameron spent over a decade crafting this masterpiece, with an investment reportedly as high as $5 million. For Shen Qing to try and compete with such a film in terms of viewing experience is nothing short of overestimating his own abilities!

Aside from die-hard fans, most netizens felt that Shen Qing was a bit too arrogant this time. Wouldn't it have been better to simply act like a junior and position "Gravity" as a learning experience? Why insist on using phrases like "let's compete"?

Must the two be evenly matched to compete? Shen Qing doesn't really think he's as capable as Cameron, does he?

Everyone wants to support domestic science fiction films, but shouldn't we take a steady and step-by-step approach? If "Gravity" could achieve half the effect of "Avatar," it would be enough to drive Chinese moviegoers absolutely crazy. There's no need to set the bar so high!

Magical Film Company.

"Mr. Shen, everything is arranged. As you said, the premiere will be held at Huaxing UME."

Dressed in a business suit, Chen Zhixi stood before Shen Qing, reporting to her supervisor. She had seen both the IMAX 3D versions of *Avatar* and *Gravity*. While the general public was skeptical of *Gravity*, she was quite confident in it.

But she dared not predict the box office performance of "Gravity." As two of the only true 3D films, the previous logic for predicting box office revenue has become ineffective for both of them.

Before Avatar, who would have thought that a movie ticket that originally cost 100 yuan could be resold for 2500 yuan?

The other side of the story is that she feels it's reasonable for either of the two films to gross any amount, even if it breaks 10 billion!

Currently, no domestic film has even grossed over 5 million yuan, but she has a premonition that it is possible for both films to gross over 10 billion yuan.

Avatar was insane, an unprecedented cinematic experience, but only a few people know that Gravity truly deserves to rival Avatar!

She was already intensely curious about the expressions of those who were certain that "Gravity" would fail when they first saw the movie.

"Okay, I understand," Shen Qing said.

The last internal screening was at Huaxing UME, so it was only natural that the premiere was held there again.

"The release date was well chosen. It was released in China on the first day of the Lunar New Year, and we did the promotion in China first. Then it was released in North America on the 26th day of the first lunar month, which was just the right time to finish the promotion in China and hold the premiere in North America."

Shen Qing looked up at Chen Zhixi in front of her and said.

Chen Zhixi's heart began to pound. Few outsiders knew the potential of "Gravity," but she did, which was why she had been finding it increasingly difficult to hide her excitement lately.

Gravity will be a sensation.

Avatar grossed 2.5 million yuan in its second week of release in China, bringing its total box office in China to 3 million yuan, including the 5.5 million yuan grossed in its first week.

The first domestic film to break the 5 million yuan box office mark has been officially born, and it only took a short time to achieve this record.

Two weeks.

In North America, Avatar grossed $4130 million in its latest week, achieving its fifth consecutive week at the top of the North American box office! Its cumulative North American box office has now reached $4.9 million, and its global cumulative box office has exceeded $16 billion.

The global 3D movie craze sparked by *Avatar* continues unabated, and *Gravity* is just around the corner.

The official release date is getting closer.

Shen Qing brought Yang Mi back to Beijing to watch Avatar again. When he saw the Gravity trailer at the beginning of Avatar, he smiled with satisfaction.