Divine Lucky Star
Chapter 669 - 668: Ignition Explosion

Chapter 669: Chapter 668: Ignition Explosion

For those in the Heavenly People’s Republic’s film industry of the past, most believed that the fan economy was the biggest guarantee of box office success.

But until today, there finally emerged two movies that made everyone realize something—the importance of reputation.

After all, this is now the era of social media, and what people value more is the appraisal formed through word-of-mouth on social media apps.

WeChat Moments—

Douban’s Lady: Yang Haiyang and Liu Feifei’s catastrophic acting. After so many years, Liu Feifei’s still stuck in the phase of playing every role with the same expressionless face, which is quite something. Those with too much money and time might consider checking out "Three Lives of Love."

Comments below—

"Agree! I’ve seen it too! The acting was all kinds of awkward! Strongly do not recommend!"

"Yeah, it’s nothing but pee breaks. This is the first time I’ve fallen asleep while watching a movie."

"2333333, so-called big productions aren’t all that, huh! ’War Wolf’ is the invincible one, okay?"

Bird Chatter in February watched: "Before seeing ’Three Lives of Love,’ I thought ’Interstellar Travel’ would be the worst of the year, but after ’Three Lives of Love,’ I realized ’Interstellar Travel’ could take second place. It’s utter failed storytelling, blindly pursuing visual satisfaction, and neglecting the importance of events on characters and themes. So, it’s not cinema but rather a collection of commercial spots—shampoo ads, noodle ads, hot spring ads, blood donation ads, etc... They really went all out for advertising."

Comments below—

"Don’t talk nonsense, I thought the noodle segment was pretty good. Just look at that single noodle, so amazing, its seductive dance moves can kill, okay?"

"Everyone is trashing Yang Haiyang, but has everyone forgotten that Liu Feifei has no acting skills either?"

"Each actor’s embarrassed performance is so painful to watch..."

"How come Liu Feifei hasn’t improved at all after so many years? We’re fairies, not monsters, okay? That makeup is a perfect Western old witch, so ugly it makes me cry; no wonder you’ve done ’Three Lives of Love’ three times without success—I’d rather be a monk for ten lifetimes!"

All over WeChat Moments, there was a massive wave of bashing "Three Lives of Love."

But when those who finished watching "War Wolf" came back to start posting on Moments, the tides completely turned.

Their posts went something like this—everyone, get a feel for it—

Puppet: "I admit there are plot holes, but wasn’t it thrilling? exciting? Were the action scenes satisfying? Did it make your heart race? Excited? For a domestic action film to reach this level is already commendable. Instead of giving encouragement, still picking it apart? Heh."

Comments below—

"Is it really that good? I see quite a few friends in Moments saying the movie is very good."

"I’m wondering the same, is it really worth watching?"

Puppet replies: "Of course it’s worth watching. Would I lie to you?"

"Exactly, exactly, it was super exciting and spectacular. I heard from a friend that if you miss ’War Wolf,’ you’ll regret it, but if you watch ’Three Lives of Love,’ you’ll regret it."

"Predictably exciting, unexpectedly surprising. Our heroes showing their wolf-like military spirit. Go Brother Hao!"

Sakula: "Honestly, I was just there for the swag, at least that was before watching ’War Wolf.’ I walked in with bias, but in the end, I gained much respect for Wang Hao. The action caught up with Hollywood, and while there were many casual aspects in the drama scenes, overall, it didn’t affect the film. It was leagues better than ’Three Lives of Love,’ at least a couple of galaxies ahead!"

Comments below—

"Is it really that good? You’re the eighteenth person in my Moments to praise ’War Wolf’; I’m going this afternoon!"

"I’ve got a ticket for the ten o’clock show. I heard ’War Wolf’s’ box office is exploding. One or two praise might be fake, but with everyone saying it’s good, it can’t be that bad."

"Perhaps you will never know the strong sense of security your motherland has given you; or maybe, one day, you’ll find you love your nation deeply. Top points to ’War Wolf’; it made me cry!"

Legend King: "The story is incredibly tight. The male lead was almost invincible, and together with Wu Dakang, they easily defeated a whole army. The national flag’s aura shone so brightly it was dazzling, and in moments of righteous indignation, I wanted to smash the screen. That final triumphant arm raise thrilled me! I want to say it was amazing! Perhaps you will never know the strong sense of security your motherland has given you, but one day, you too will find that you love it deeply."

Comments below—

"Exactly, exactly, the part where they shout to open fire and raise the national flag was so exciting it made me cry. You know how moved I was watching overseas?"

"Exploded with excitement! Fast-paced story, constantly thrilling to watch! But so nerve-wracking!!"

"They kill without a second thought in the film! Brother Hao is so manly, but when he smiles, he’s so cute, worth watching multiple times."

"The newcomers in the movie were also full of surprises, especially that captain—damn, his command to open fire brought me to tears!"

All over Moments, the posts were just sweeping in favor of ’War Wolf’—to put it bluntly, these people were truly fired up!

After all, this was a film that could be described as legendary, and what was terrifying was that these people normally didn’t idolize stars, so their words had even more convincing power!

And so, in today’s era of social media, ’War Wolf’s’ reputation exploded!

Nationwide explosion!

Even many overseas Chinese heard of a movie called ’War Wolf,’ which was electrifying!

9:00 AM, Bai’s Film Company, in the large conference room.

Every member of the War Wolf crew, except for Wang Hao, sat silently at the conference table, over two hundred people and yet eerily quiet.

Everyone was staring wide-eyed, intently fixed on the screen!

On the large display, the most recent statistics from Maoyan Box Office were being projected, showcasing today’s presale figures!

It was a box office figure that had everyone’s jaw dropping!

War Wolf: 152.63 million!

Three Lives of Love: 31.52 million...

Five times! A staggering fivefold difference! Just the presales for the day revealed a gap five times as wide! And it was clear that such a margin was unprecedented in film history!

By 10:00 AM, the morning box office difference between the two had widened to nearly 130 million!

The whole room was in shock!

Everyone was too stunned to speak a word, Bai Ze’s eyes nearly popping out of his head, as if he wished he could embed the screen into his pupils!

"Exploded! It exploded!" Ren Xing muttered to himself; "Damn, an actual explosion! Just the presale in the morning and we’ve already pulled ahead by 130 million, nearly equaling yesterday’s entire gap! Freaking awesome! Brother Hao is freaking awesome!"

"Long live!" Suddenly, a frenzy of cheers erupted throughout the large conference room!

"Brother Hao is invincible! Hahahaha! This momentum is simply unstoppable!"

"So freaking awesome! A presale of 160 million, damn! I couldn’t even dream of this!"

"Damn epic! Damn! Damn! At this rate, today’s total box office will surely break 400 million!"

"I can’t take it, someone pinch me, pinch me now!"

Instantaneously, the atmosphere in the large conference room exploded; the spirits of everyone on the War Wolf team soared, and with it, their box office went through the roof!

A presale of 160 million, and by the end of the day, at least between 400 to 500 million!

And the key was, this was a weekday box office!

If it were the weekend, the figures would be even higher!

Of course, as the saying goes, one’s joy is another’s sorrow; while the War Wolf crew was celebrating, the folks over at Three Lives of Love had a hard pill to swallow.

At Tianyi Film Company, in the President’s office.

"How is this possible?! How is this possible?!" Hong Tianyi roared with bloodshot eyes: "Presales of 160 million! How is this possible?! It’s Wang Hao’s first time directing a film! The first time! And to achieve such a result?! I don’t believe it! I refuse to believe it!"

Everyone in the conference room turned deathly silent, not daring to utter even a single word.

In truth, they couldn’t believe it either, but the harsh reality was smacking them right in the face, painfully leaving them speechless.

A complete newcomer to filmmaking results in a presale of 160 million on the second day!

It was nothing short of a miracle, a miracle that left everyone at a loss for words!

"Why aren’t any of you speaking? Have you all turned mute?!" Out of fury, Hong Tianyi violently smashed an ashtray onto the desk with a loud crash, panting heavily as he continued to bellow, "What did all of you say before? How, with your popularity, and with a Hollywood director, this movie was a guaranteed win. And this is how you win?!"

Everyone downstairs exchanged nervous glances, with no one daring to speak.

Eventually, the Hollywood import Michael stood up and said, "Second Young Master, I can assure you there’s absolutely nothing wrong with our film. That Wang Hao’s box office is suddenly so high, there must be some trickery. I think it’s just a bit of luck on his part, and one day’s gains and losses don’t matter much."

Everyone looked at him.

Gains and losses in one day don’t matter much?!

Today alone, War Wolf would overtake them, but what about after that?!

"One day’s gains and losses don’t matter much?" Hong Tianyi pointed at the large screen and shouted, "It’s only 11 AM and War Wolf’s box office has already surpassed 200 million! 200 million! Our box office is hardly at 50 million! 50 million! We’ve matched yesterday’s earnings in just one morning! And tonight’s peak period hasn’t even arrived yet! And you’re telling me it doesn’t matter?!"

Michael had no response this time.

There was just no solution, it was irredeemable.

In fact, Three Lives of Love’s opening day box office of over 300 million was already record-breaking.

Without War Wolf, this film was definitely on pace to break a billion.

But the problem was exactly that, they were competing with War Wolf, and damningly it was Hong Tianyi’s own chosen date...

As time ticked away, War Wolf’s earnings continued to rise steadily!

By 3:00 PM, War Wolf’s box office had reached 270 million! Without any exaggeration, the daily total was surely going to break 400 million!

Invincible!