Chapter 14 is released
In Guangzhou, in front of the ticket office of the China Plaza Cinema of the Pearl River Cinema Line, the cinema manager felt a little regretful when he saw that there was only a young couple buying tickets.

I thought that with the publicity effect of "The Matrix", it would attract a large number of audiences to line up, but in the end, not a single theater was sold out.

"How much is left?"

"Let me check, there are more than 100 tickets left!" The person in charge of the ticket window replied after looking at the real-time data.

The manager looked at his watch. It was already past five in the afternoon. If you wanted to come and watch, you should come and buy tickets now!
I looked towards the door, but saw no audience coming in. I was so disappointed!

The domestic film market in recent years has been stagnant. Apart from a few Hollywood blockbusters and Jackie Chan's films that can attract a lot of audiences, cinemas are deserted most of the time, and I don't know how many have closed down.

"If this continues, I'm afraid I'll lose my job!"

The middle-aged theater manager was secretly worried. He said, "Call me if you need anything!" and went back to his office to rest.

The movie "The Matrix" is more than two hours long. After one show and a simple cleanup, it will take at least 2:30. People of his age can't endure it!
I didn't expect that I would nap for less than half an hour before the intercom rang.

"Manager, manager, all the tickets are sold out, and there are still more than ten people in line!"

"Ok?"

The cinema manager sat up suddenly and walked quickly to the ticket office. He looked around and saw that not only was there a queue in front of the window, but people were also constantly coming in through the door.

"Hiss! Hurry up, add another theater!"

As a result, by around nine o'clock in the evening, two more theaters had been added, and a large number of viewers were still pouring in.

The cinema manager was so excited that he added another theater.

By 23:30, four more theaters had been added, and there were still more than viewers who could not buy tickets and were unwilling to leave.

"One more, one more game!"

The theater manager waved his hand excitedly, and together with the audience, created the box office miracle of soaring from one show to five shows in just a few hours.

Similar scenes are also being played out in cinemas in major cities across the country.

In Sichuan, all six theaters of Wangfujing Cinema in Chengdu were open and packed for the midnight show, and because of the additional screenings at the cinema, the KFC in the shopping mall was also open until midnight.

In Shanghai, all major cinemas were packed, with additional screenings and extra seats added.

In Xi'an, movie fans braved the heavy snow to flock to the cinema.

According to subsequent statistics, the nationwide midnight shows on the 19th grossed a total of 73 yuan at the box office.

Among them, Guangdong's cinemas earned 17 yuan, and the Zhonghua Plaza Cinema, which had the highest single-theater box office performance, earned 5 yuan. Shanghai's Xintiandi followed closely behind, "closing" at 4.5 yuan. Beijing's Huaxing Cinema ranked third with 3.7 yuan.

After these data were summarized and reported, they attracted widespread attention.

After all, this is the first time that the "midnight show" has been held, and with such good results, the daytime box office will naturally not be bad.

On the morning of the 19th, Beijing.

After breakfast, Jiang Wen said to his French wife, "Honey, I bought a ticket for the science fiction movie The Matrix. Would you like to go to the movie with me?"

"Oh, honey, ever since you attended that premiere, you've been talking about that movie. I've been wanting to see it for a long time!"

The two hit it off and drove to Huaxing Cinemas.

Looking at the long line in front, Jiang Wen's wife said with emotion, "I can't believe so many people would come to see this movie. I believe it should be a good movie!"

Jiang Wen said: "I heard that many places were packed with people coming to watch the movie at midnight today!"

"I can't believe that a Chinese-language science fiction film would have so many viewers!"

Jiang Wen frowned slightly after hearing this. "Chinese people are not lacking in imagination, and they also have rigorous logic. As long as the special effects are done well, it won't be difficult to make a science fiction movie!"

"Well, when will you make a movie for me?"

"Just wait until I get inspiration and make a movie like that!"

Jiang Wen said this, but in his heart he was thinking, just wait and see, what I have been thinking about has never touched upon science fiction!
While chatting, the two of them walked into the theater and found a seat to sit down.

Afraid that Jiang Wen would be recognized and disturbed while watching the movie, his wife bought him drinks and popcorn.

The two ate and chatted, and soon the movie started.

The first few lines of dialogue may be a bit confusing to first-time viewers.

Fortunately, we soon entered the fighting scene. In the dim and complex building, a group of policemen with guns seemed to be ready to arrest someone.

They stopped in front of a dilapidated door and broke in.

But there was no large group of armed men inside, only a woman sitting with her back to the camera.

"Hold on, police, put your hands up!"

The policeman shouted loudly, as if he was facing a vicious criminal.

But when the camera turned, Li Meiqi's beautiful and cold face was revealed, which made the audience in the theater exclaim in a low voice.

And downstairs, there were not only a number of police cars, but also a group of men in black.

So many armed forces, just to capture a pretty girl?

The audience expected that Maggie Q would play a very powerful role, but when Maggie Q in the picture jumped into the air, the camera rotated and she kicked the police officer out, everyone exclaimed in a low voice.

"Oh my god! This is amazing!"

“How was this filmed?”

"This young lady is so beautiful!"

"She's so cool, I like her so much!"

On the big screen, those beautiful, cool and super powerful female characters still attract a lot of fans.

A typical example is the Black Widow in "Avengers", who has captured the hearts of countless mainland movie fans.

And at this moment, in theaters across the country, countless audiences are captivated by the role played by Li Meiqi.

Everyone felt very satisfied when they saw her cleanly and efficiently deal with the people who came to arrest her.

Even a person like Jiang Wen felt that the actors selected by Jiang Heng were highly compatible with the roles, and the action scenes were a first for Chinese-language films.

"Oh, dear, let me tell you something that makes you unhappy. Is this really a movie made by Chinese people? It tastes like Hollywood no matter how you look at it!"

Jiang Wen nodded slightly, "To be honest, I don't believe it either. After watching this movie and then watching other domestic commercial films, I always feel that they are not from the same era!"

“It feels like it’s even better than the movies in Hong Kong!”

Jiang Wenxin said that Hong Kong has begun to decline, and it can't be compared with this.

No, this is also a Hong Kong movie!

On the big screen, the story continues.

When the truck rushed towards the phone booth, Trinity rushed into it and answered the phone, which made the audience confused. Especially when the agent got out of the truck and found that the crashed phone booth was empty, they became more curious about the plot.

"How did she get away?"

"It's not along the telephone line, is it?"

"That's ridiculous!"

"I'm sure it will be explained later!"

The scene where Neo, played by Wu Aizu, appears was a bit bland, and the audience kept discussing Trinity's escape scene.

But when Neo was captured by the agents, his mouth was made to grow together, and a bug-like locator was implanted in his body, the audience was stunned, and it became increasingly difficult to explain according to the logic of reality.

Fortunately, the various explanations given after the appearance of Morpheus, played by Kaohsiung, allow the audience to roughly understand the world view of the film.

"Oh my god, the director's ideas are so wild!"

"How did he get the idea?"

"It's not a big deal to think of it, the key is to be able to film it, that's awesome!"

The audience in the venue was talking about the topic a lot, and many people felt that their worldview had been refreshed. There actually was such a theory, and it seemed quite plausible!

But if the world is really virtual, what's the point of living?

If the world is truly virtual, then the trajectory of our lives is a constant.

Depending on the choices you make, there will be different endings, but each one is destined!

At present, there is a gene that determines it. Can it be imagined as a pre-set program? No matter how much you say or how well you think on a daily basis, at the critical moment, it seems that your brain is not working, and you do things that you regret. This is also because of the setting!

The audience in the theater had their minds blown. They used the theories given in the film to reverse-explain some phenomena in life, and they felt that the film was even more amazing.

And the scene when Neo, played by Wu Aizu, appeared in the real world, made countless viewers feel physically unwell and extremely shocked.

The idea that humans are raised by robots as biological batteries is outrageous!
"Will this happen in the future? It's too scary!" a girl whispered.

My boyfriend next to me said, "How is that possible? This is just the director's fantasy. Computers aren't even popular yet, and artificial intelligence robots haven't even been created yet!"

"Then don't build it!"

When the original version of "The Matrix" was filmed, computers and televisions in the real world were still very bulky, and mobile phones all had buttons.

Jiang Heng thought it was a bit inappropriate to use these things in the scenes of the future world.

So in this version he filmed, the Matrix world was set in 97, and the electronic products that appeared were all of the styles of that year. The computers, TVs, and mobile phones that appeared in the spaceship in the film were all built according to products around 2020.

For audiences in 97, it was quite sci-fi.

As for the TV, computer and mobile phone manufacturers being inspired by the film and designing better-looking products, that is another story.

On the big screen, the film continues.

Morpheus, played by Kaohsiung, begins training Neo in fighting skills.

The former has played Huo Yuanjia. Wu Qizu has profound martial arts skills, and with his handsome appearance, the whole fight is thrilling, and the character of Neo begins to become attractive.

At this time, the traitor played by Yuen Wah appeared.

It turned out that he regretted his original choice. He chose the real world, but could only follow Morpheus and live a life like a rat, hiding from place to place, and eating porridge every day.

He felt that living in such a cruel and miserable reality was not as refreshing as being a rich and powerful person in the virtual world.

So he betrayed everyone, and the scene in the beginning where Trinity was arrested was because of his leak.

Now, he sneaks into the Matrix and meets with Agent Smith, played by Yuan De.

As long as the latter agrees to let him become rich and powerful in the Matrix world, he will betray Morpheus and others.

Smith naturally agreed, and then the male protagonist and others encountered the biggest crisis.

After meeting the prophet played by Zheng Peipei, when Morpheus and his companions left, Neo suddenly found that a black cat appeared at the door twice, and both times had almost the same shaking movements.

Morpheus guessed that the agents discovered them and modified the settings of the building, which might lead to the possibility of bugs in the Matrix world.

Neo saw the same black cat passing by the door twice, with the same shaking movement, which was a BUG that occurred during the modification.

"Fuck, this setting is so awesome!"

"There are bugs in our world too!"

"One of my classmates is missing and no one remembers him. Is this a bug?"

"It's because he has no sense of existence!"

“There really is such a person!”

The audience members were whispering about it, and as the plot progressed, the conversations between Neo, Trinity and others, and the conversations when Smith was interrogating Morpheus, made them understand the film's worldview more and more.

Then, when the scene of Neo and Trinity entering the Matrix world to rescue Morpheus appeared, I was completely shocked.

Neo, who had been timid for an hour and a half, now looked so handsome in a windbreaker and sunglasses, holding dual guns and killing everyone together with Trinity.

At this moment, most of the audiences in theaters across the country were attracted to both Wu Aizu and Li Meiqi, especially the former. Many people felt that his performance in this scene surpassed the heroic image established by Chow Yun-fat.

There aren't too many moral or emotional factors involved, it's just simply handsome!
Compared to the past, there seems to be no cooler action scene than this.

Especially the famous scene where Neo dodges bullets, which made audiences across the country exclaim and sigh, how could this be made into a domestic film?
Even Hollywood movies would shock them!

Immediately, a feeling of pride rose up in my heart!
We Chinese can also make special effects blockbusters that are not inferior to Hollywood!

The film is already halfway through its plot at this point, and many domestic filmgoers who came to watch the film know that this film is a sure success and will definitely be a box office hit!
Because as long as the subsequent plot is not bad, it will not affect the box office.

The problem is that according to the current logic and plot of the film, many filmmakers feel that they can just write a similar ending to deal with it, and they believe that the one Jiang Heng gives will not be bad.

The most frightening thing is that filmmakers don't know what to do with the aftermath. Director Wang Jing said in an interview that he knew the film was not good when he was halfway through watching "The Great Wall" because even he didn't know what to do with the aftermath. It is estimated that Zhang Yimou also shot the film with gritted teeth.

But the ending of "The Matrix" directed by Jiang Heng is even more exciting.

Smith, played by Yuan De, possesses a homeless man in the subway station. He is an agent with the antivirus level equivalent to that in the Matrix world. He can call any "file" and easily block Neo who is trying to escape.

The two sides confronted each other for a moment, and then quickly launched a war.

They drew their guns and shot, jumping into the air. Bullet marks streaked across the sky, making countless spectators scream with excitement.

The subsequent fistfights and melee were even more exciting.

Although the fighting scenes in the original "The Matrix" were also very exciting under the design of Yuen Woo-ping, Keanu Reeves and Hugo Weaving had no martial arts skills after all, and were far inferior to the version starring Wu Qiuzu and Yuan De.

The difference is probably equivalent to upgrading from martial arts novels to fairy tales, in just one word: awesome!

(End of this chapter)