Chapter 371: 371: Sweeping the Globe (Seeking Monthly Pass)

“Just got back from People’s Square, the movie met and even exceeded my expectations. I feel like it’s the best movie I have ever seen, well worth shelling out a big chunk of money to go see at least once. Of course, the regular version is fine too, but I highly recommend the IMAX version.”

The Earth spins like a top, non-stop. Aside from Japan, where the release wasn’t synchronized, “Firefly” has landed on the big screens of regular and IMAX theaters worldwide, screening show after show, day after day. Naturally, more and more movie fans are sharing their viewing experiences on the internet.

As of December 31, 2004, there were a total of 248 IMAX screens worldwide, of which 113 were in institutions like science museums, showing documentaries of around 40-50 minutes in length. The situation in China was similar, even though the IMAX company had just signed the agreement for the 25th IMAX(R) system in the Divine Land, it was expected that all would be officially open by 2008, making China the largest IMAX market in the world after America. But for the time being, there were only four in China, two in Shanghai Peace Cinema and the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum, and one in the Heilongjiang Science and Technology Museum.

“I also just finished watching and came back. I traveled over 80 kilometers back and forth; the giant screen really is different—it was stunning. The funniest part was my buddy who drove me there; he said to me, ‘It’s going to be online soon anyway, why bother going there to watch?’ I was speechless at that moment, but after we came out, he stopped talking.”

On the Tianya forums, a group of lucky fans who had seen the IMAX version of “Firefly” were full of feelings. In the thread “Firefly Viewers’ Reactions Gathering,” there wasn’t a single person who said it wasn’t good to watch. IX2004 said: “I’m planning to go watch it. Some friends said it’s really good, and another friend said after watching it he was so excited he dreamed of flying all night.” Mu Mi Qiufeng said: “I’ve always known Wang Yang was awesome, but I was still shocked. Very-Very-Very-Good! When will we be able to produce such blockbusters domestically? I have no hope.”

This was indeed being too harsh on mainland films that were still in their infancy, because “Firefly” was not just any Hollywood blockbuster. In the words of Richard Roeper, it was “a great work that puts Hollywood to shame,” and among its attributes was leading-edge film technology.

To promote IMAX and to meet the demands of commercial cinema audiences, IMAX Corporation introduced a new technology called DMR (Digital Re-mastering) three years ago. By using it to enhance and process 35mm films, they could be screened in IMAX theaters. To date, IMAX has released 7 commercial features that underwent DMR processing, including “Star Wars: Episode II,” “The Matrix” 2 & 3, and “The Polar Express,” among others.

“Now IMAX theaters aren’t reaching a break-even point, not because they lack appeal, but because there are too few film sources.”

As “Firefly” has been causing a stir in recent days, IMAX has become a global focal point of cinematic entertainment. The deputy general manager of Shanghai Peace Cinema, Wang Bopolitics, accepted an interview with Southern Weekend, where he said, “Take ‘The Polar Express’ from earlier this year for example. The regular version had been shown in Shanghai since mid-January, but the 35mm standard film box office only earned about 1 million, while our IMAX theater went on screen about 5-7 days later, and the cumulative box office reached about 1.3 million, an extra 300,000 or so. IMAX ticket prices are generally about 1.2 times higher than standard screens, ‘Firefly’ is 1.5 times, and after the audience comes, most choose the IMAX giant screen. These days, they have to queue up to reserve.”

Wang Bopolitics’ analysis shows that in terms of single film box office performance, IMAX theaters indeed have considerable competitive strength. However, the reality is that, prior to “Firefly,” he had only hoped for an exhilarating “The Polar Express.”

The difference lies on one hand in the investment in promotion. Having audience travel over 80 kilometers specially to see an IMAX showing can make a big difference. On the other hand, the audience isn’t stupid. Other than “The Polar Express,” the DMR-IMAX films are just format conversions. Although the image quality can bring IMAX’s unique excellent clarity and realism, in terms of composition and other aspects, they were worlds apart from “Firefly”. Naturally, they couldn’t promote IMAX further no matter how much they were marketed.

Why is “Firefly’s” ticket price 1.5 times higher? It was shot using IMAX cameras and IMAX film. Although not the entire movie was shot in this way, over 55 minutes of its 155-minute runtime were, including the last climax battle of New Shanxi, an absolute delight within the visual experience.

Before this, IMAX theaters around the world were suffering from a film drought, and they were really, really hoping for a movie to step up and save the IMAX theaters that were on the brink of collapsing! Now they have finally welcomed this hero! Wang Yang excitedly told a reporter from Southern Weekend, “Not even ‘The Polar Express’ could compare. We’ve never seen anything like it before, with batches of audiences coming for ‘Firefly’ every day. Frankly, we now have more confidence in this IMAX system.”

‘Firefly’s global box office has been explosively successful, and it’s not just the theater owners who are ecstatic but also the IMAX company! They are overjoyed to the point of madness, elated to the brink of insanity!

As early as March of this year, according to the famous financial website MarketWatch, IMAX Corporation announced, mainly due to the box office impact of the CGI animated movie ‘The Polar Express,’ that the company had made a profit in the fourth quarter of last year, amounting to 7.8 million US dollars, or 19 cents per share, with revenues of 47.5 million US dollars; during the same period of last year, the company lost 507,000 US dollars, or 1 cent per share, with revenues of 29.9 million US dollars. On that day, IMAX’s stock price climbed 38 cents to 10.47 US dollars, an increase of 4%, and at one point during trading reached a high of 11 US dollars.

So the money-losing producer and distributor Warner Brothers was quite glum, but IMAX Corporation couldn’t contain their jubilation. The detailed performance of ‘The Polar Express’ was its gradual release in 60 IMAX theaters across North America, creating a box office of 35 million dollars; more than 70 theaters internationally brought in approximately 10 million US dollars. Its North American total box office was 162.7 million (with IMAX accounting for 21%), internationally 124 million (about 8%), and globally 286.7 million (approximately 16%).

If the North American total box office is divided by the widest number of theaters it screened in, then ‘Star Wars: Episode II’ averaged 98,280 US dollars per theater; the unsuccessful ‘The Polar Express’ 44,590 US dollars, but IMAX’s side was still an astonishing 583,300 US dollars. However, these records were destined to be refreshed by the rapidly soaring ‘Firefly’…

This is a great opportunity to push the development process of IMAX! Even more so, it is a great opportunity to make money! IMAX Corporation and all IMAX theaters around the world are clear about this. They won’t let these opportunities slip away, so much so that now, without any effort from Flame Movies, there’s been a heap more publicity, and naturally, the beneficiaries are the beloved ‘Firefly’ and, of course, the movie fans who are walking into an IMAX theater for the first or multiple times, getting an unforgettable cinematic experience.

Being able to attract so many moviegoers is a testament to Flame Movies’ marketing strategy. They spared no effort in packaging and promoting the technical selling point that is IMAX, far more than Warner Brothers believed these giant screens would explode in popularity, and they didn’t forget the usual online word-of-mouth marketing. In the days around the release of ‘Firefly,’ “IMAX” has become one of the top ten trending search terms on Google, Yahoo, and elsewhere. This is the case all over the world.

A mad scramble! Who among the global moviegoer audience would want to have regrets? Regardless of whether their city has an IMAX theater or not, they made every effort to travel to an IMAX theater to watch ‘Firefly’.

Edward, a movie fan from the United Kingdom, said, “You really can’t know the impact unless you experience it for yourself. I still can’t believe it to this moment.” Elvis T. from Australia said, “This is a heart-stopping movie. During the viewing, I felt my heart nearly stop several times.” Frederick from Germany said, “We always thought that was all there was to movies. ‘Firefly’ tells us this is what movies are supposed to be.”…

On IMDB, a fierce battle among die-hard movie fans is underway. The votes giving ‘Firefly’ 1 star have reached as high as 3.8%, with its score temporarily remaining at 9.6; the mafia is tough, but as it turns out, the space cowboys are even tougher with a surge in 1-star votes for ‘The Godfather’ up to 6.4%! It was pulled down to 9.0, ranking third, while ‘The Shawshank Redemption’ with 9.1 benefited and rose to second. Its 1-star vote ratio was 3.2%, with other films long dominating the TOP10 such as ‘Pulp Fiction’ at 2.7%, ‘The Good, the Bad and the Ugly’ at 3.3%, and ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’ at 1.4%…

Have people lost their minds? When June 17-19 becomes a thing of the past, the media and public discovered that there really is a kind of movie that can make people lose their minds! That is a phenomenon-level movie.

‘Firefly’ is not only the savior for IMAX Corporation and IMAX theaters but also for the entire North American movie market. No matter the theater, they have all welcomed a real blockbuster, a true market-saving masterpiece!

“OK, let’s go!!” Seeing Jessica fasten her seatbelt, Wang Yang started the engine and pressed the gas pedal. The white Maserati sports car slowly started to move. They exchanged smiles, each feeling the other’s excitement and nerves.

Today, they went to the hospital for their first B-ultrasound examination. Generally, the first B-ultrasound could be done starting from the 4th week of pregnancy, to check the fetal heartbeat, and the second one between 18-21 weeks to determine the gender, size, and due date of the fetus, and to check if all the organs and the spine are developing normally. Despite a fall at the beginning of the month, the doctor said everything was fine. The initial check-ups had all been good, so they proceeded with the original plan to meet the baby for the first time in the 14th week of pregnancy, after the release of “Firefly”, and to find out whether it’s a boy or a girl.

Wang Yang pressed the CD player in the car, and immediately, light and soft country music filled the space. The streets outside moved backwards as the two of them sang along with the song in bits and pieces, their faces filled with joy.

All the production team members of “Firefly” were in high spirits, as the first weekend box office figures were freshly released today. Yahoo Entertainment’s headline read: “‘Firefly’ Sparks Viewership Frenzy, Sweeping North American Weekend Championship.” BOM’s title was: “‘Firefly’ Breaks Box Office Records in Opening Weekend”…

After raking in a staggering $60.35 million on the opening day, the 17th, “Firefly” continued to perform miraculously on the following day, the 18th, shocking all analysts, authoritative or not—the film was indeed extraordinary! Having just set a new record for opening day, its box office only experienced an extremely slight dip of -5.8%, crazily scooping up $56.85 million on the second day! The best was yet to come; despite a 25.6% drop on the third day, it still performed valiantly with $42.29 million!

An opening weekend box office of $159.4 million in North America! It was a startling and memorable figure!

Oh my god! Media critics, filmmakers, and movie fans alike were left speechless upon seeing the latest North American box office rankings, exclaiming in astonishment: “Wow—” The previous speculations that “Firefly” might be Wang Yang’s magical graveyard now seemed so laughable. The result was a soaring success; what on earth did he intend to do!?

The 3,845 theaters collected $159.4 million over the weekend, averaging an astounding $41,479 per theater, marking the first time in cinema history the weekend average per venue exceeded $40,000. Of these, over 60 IMAX theaters contributed more than $8.1 million!! One could say that from daylight to night and back to daylight again, virtually every theater was at full capacity all weekend long. If it weren’t for the limited number of theaters, the stellar cowboys would surely have created an even bigger miracle. Yet, even this opening performance was utterly eye-popping!

The new champion of the opening weekend in film history!

The new second place was “Spider-Man” in the summer of 2002, with $114.8 million across 3,615 theaters, averaging $31,768 each; the new third place went to the recent “Star Wars: Episode III”, with $108.4 million across 3,661 theaters, averaging $29,619 each; “Shrek 2” from the summer of 2004 ranked fourth with $108 million in 4,163 theaters, averaging $25,951; also in the summer of 2002, “District 9”, another film directed by the magical Yang, ranked fifth, taking in $102 million from 3,550 theaters, an average of $28,732. This is the current list of films that broke $100 million in the opening weekend box office.

Even after adjusting for inflation, “Firefly” still ranked first in film history! Undoubtedly, it also became the new champion of opening weekends in June, the summer, and PG-13 category, leading by a margin that left people in too much awe! It pushed two records to an untouchable level: fastest to $100 million (2 days) and fastest to $150 million (3 days).

“It’s not just about the numbers; we should go outside and have a look, at the cinemas, at the IMAX theaters, and see the real situation. All the young people are crazy about it, they are already in a festive mood, and that’s the magic of Wang Yang everyone talks about.”

BOM analyst James Moore admitted that he had underestimated “Firefly” previously. In his revised forecast, the film was expected to touch $220 million in the first week, and the final box office in North America could very likely surge to $500 million. He said: “‘Firefly’ is truly extraordinary, both the film and the director are objects of pursuit, and we can’t assess it by any regular standards. As far as the market is concerned, audiences still love to enjoy the big screen, but there are not many movies that intrigue them. Compared to last year, many people haven’t been to a theater in a long time, and ‘Firefly’ has just ignited their passion.”

He also revealed that, according to exit poll data, a considerable portion of the audience was willing or intending to watch the film again in IMAX theaters in the near future. The beautiful scenes, magnificent special effects, and exciting battle sequences were among the reasons they were drawn to experience the effects on the giant screen.

Theater owners were grinning ear to ear, while a host of producers were in the depths of despair, their faces as gloomy as if they were at a funeral. The newly risen “Firefly” superstorm had severely battered all the films except for the weekend’s champion. The runner-up, “Batman,” managed a paltry $24.15 million, the third-place “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” took in $11.63 million, and “Madagascar” came in fourth with $6.51 million…

Meanwhile, in the vast overseas market, “Firefly” also delivered a stream of good news. It effortlessly ascended to the top of the weekend box office in various countries and regions, raking in a total of $195 million in US Dollars, making the global total for the three days an astonishing $354.4 million, sweeping across the globe!

“I’m a leaf on the wind; watch how I soar” might be the movie quote Earthlings have been muttering to themselves the most these days. The clumsy Chinese phrases “bastard” and “damn it” became geeks’ favorites. Many people dreamed of flying all night, over places like Batou, Canton, Miranda, New Shanxi, and Serenity Valley, and then a group of kids would ask, “Where do you come from?”… They hailed from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, India, Mexico, Portugal, Russia, Korea, Taiwan, the United Kingdom…

“Wow! Wow…” In the bright and quiet ultrasound room, Jessica lay on the bed, lifting her shirt while the female doctor scanned her slightly protruding belly with a probe. Wang Yang and she were both engrossed, staring at the ultrasound monitor, their hands tightly clasped together, continuously gasping in wonder. On the screen, the black-and-white image of their baby appeared, somewhat indistinct, misty like a cloud, yet resembling the classic alien silhouette. They could barely breathe, enveloped by an amazing feeling. This was their child.

Gazing at the ultrasound screen, Wang Yang softly greeted, “Hi, baby…” Jessica’s face slowly revealed a smile filled with maternal tenderness, also whispering a greeting, “Hi, baby…”

When Wang Yang directed “Juno,” he had shot similar scenes, but how could he have felt the same as he did now? He didn’t blink, his mind a blank, and every now and then, neurons excitedly jumped about. The kind, middle-aged female doctor asked with a smile, “Do you want to know the baby’s gender?” They glanced at each other, hands tightening, they nodded, “Yes, we do want to know.” With a cheerful laugh, the doctor congratulated, “It’s a girl, congratulations to you both.”

“Wow!…” Overwhelmed, Wang Yang and Jessica took a deep breath, struck by a massive wave of happiness— they were having a daughter, a beautiful and adorable daughter! They looked at the baby’s image on the screen, again incapable of putting their amazement into words: “Wow…”

Confronted with the film “Firefly”— its reviews, its acclaim, its box office— many people were in awe, including the Yanghei film critics who had just delivered their reviews.

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PS: Wali continues to ask for the monthly pass to hold the fort! Wishing everyone a Happy Lantern Festival! On this festive occasion, I recommend the new work “Elegant Scoundrel,” book number 2207101 by Ze Dao San Chi, a refreshing and engaging alternative history novel. (