Chapter 214 Continued Box Office

Chapter 214 – Continued Box Office

The overseas box office performance of *The Roaring Scream* was astonishing, which led to its distribution rights being secured by Red Sea Entertainment, a renowned film company within the industry. Red Sea had previously orchestrated several box office phenomena with overseas blockbusters in the domestic market, witnessing the most prosperous years of the film industry.

When foreign blockbusters entered the domestic market, Red Sea, as the intermediary, profited heavily.

As a member of the *Number A77* crew, Lu Xu keenly noticed that since *The Roaring Scream* suddenly moved up its release date, criticism of *Number A77* surged across major platforms.

The promotional taglines for *The Roaring Scream* included “a top-tier visual effects feast on the silver screen,” emphasizing that it was “beyond what ordinary films offer,” “the global box office champion arriving in the summer season,” and destined to “dominate the competition”—in short, *Number A77* was the competition.

Among the mocking voices targeting *Number A77*, some criticized its “childish special effects,” others claimed its grand scenes were outdated, and there were even those who said *Number A77* relied solely on Lu Xu’s looks, arguing that overseas blockbusters achieved a perfect blend of plot and effects while domestic films fell short.

“At least they said something nice about you—don’t take it to heart,” Wu Ming consoled Lu Xu. “People call me an mediocre director, and I don’t get angry either.”

At least *Number A77* had already earned ¥2 billion at the box office. If he were a fully accomplished director, wouldn’t that be even more impressive?

Wu Ming also disliked the trend where overseas films were automatically deemed masterpieces while domestic ones were dismissed as trash in promotions, as if audiences who supported domestic films were fools.

However, Red Sea’s marketing was always extravagant. After *The Roaring Scream* took theaters by storm, it seemed like the entire internet was flooded with news about this film, while other works faded into silence.

To counter *The Roaring Scream*, which had come from thousands of miles away, *Number A77*’s strategy was—to release more posters featuring Lu Xu himself.

These were all pre-made assets. The director had originally planned to release one poster for every ¥100 million earned at the box office, but the film’s early performance was so strong that they had to release several a day, which risked audience fatigue.

Given that Lu Xu’s posters were highly popular, with fans flooding the comments section demanding more, Wu Ming simply released nine at once, along with some BTS photos.

The behind-the-scenes shots weren’t as polished as the official stills but felt more natural.

In one, Lu Xu was bundled in a puffer jacket, sitting in a corner. When someone took his photo, he cheerfully waved at the camera. Another showed him holding a cake at a crew member’s birthday, about to take a bite before being sternly stopped by the director.

“So mean—just one bite!”

“Let him eat!!”

"OMG I'm dead, the interview said because the costumes were mostly tight-fitting, they had to be super strict about their physiques. The crew could have photoshopped them, but that would have looked bad. Lu Xu and the director both thought it was inappropriate."

"Lu Xu's face was priceless—I swear, even when Fearless Life didn't win the Golden Flame Award he didn't look this crushed, hahaha. So a Golden Flame best actor loses to a tiny sliver of cake? That’s so sad. But apparently, in Mu Lang’s new film, Lu Xu made up for all that deprivation—pigging out, gorging himself, determined not to suffer one bit."

The set of posters released by the official account quickly passed 10,000 likes, with fans even complaining there weren’t enough and begging the crew: “Give us more!”

The official account soon obliged.

During the week when Roaring Scream made its explosive debut, the Number A77 team had already braced themselves for the movie to take a long time to hit ¥3 billion. The domestic film originally scheduled for promotion this week was completely different in genre from Number A77, so there wouldn’t be much competition. But Roaring Scream was another sci-fi blockbuster, starring an A-list Hollywood star—naturally a much bigger threat to Number A77.

But the opening day of the second weekend truly shocked everyone on the crew.

It wasn’t just that Number A77 pulled in ¥159 million that day—it was that despite Roaring Scream’s fierce challenge, the difference between Number A77’s box office earnings on consecutive days wasn’t that big.

Roaring Scream’s presales alone surpassed ¥400 million, and on its first day—including presales—it raked in a staggering ¥1 billion, prompting Red Sea Studios’ marketing campaign to proclaim, “The king is back.”

There was a time when foreign blockbusters routinely topped the box office charts, with five or more making it into the annual top ten. Some especially influential films could even sell tickets at sky-high prices with over 40% theater allocation, leaving Chinese films no chance to compete.

Eventually, audiences grew tired, and local cinema produced several excellent works. Meanwhile, while the domestic market remained lucrative, some foreign films came off as arrogant in their marketing, helping homegrown movies reclaim their place.

Still, a market capable of hitting records as high as $700 million is something no studio can afford to ignore.

Foreign blockbusters have always dreamed of reclaiming their throne and reliving past glories.

Even without full domination, earning over $200 million outside North America remains a huge temptation.

The rise of short videos has shaken up global film markets, and Hollywood continues to explore new frontiers.

When Roaring Scream smashed the ¥1 billion mark on opening day, its supporters were ecstatic. Meanwhile, Number A77 quietly climbed to ¥2.3 billion.

Numerically, it seemed like Number A77 was getting crushed—but for its crew, the result was still pretty decent.

Objectively speaking, Roaring Scream is a great film—awesome effects, tight plot, definitely worth seeing in theaters.

But Number A77 isn’t bad either—on Saturday, Roaring Scream dropped to ¥362 million, while Number A77 earned ¥144 million.

On Sunday, it was ¥253 million vs. ¥136 million.

"So strong!!"

"Number A77 is really holding strong."

In the first three days, the two films weren’t that far apart. While Roaring Scream technically dominated Number A77, considering the differences in budget, theater count, and release timing, Number A77’s minimal drop was actually quite surprising.

Clues could be found in audience reviews.

Although Roaring Scream advertised itself as balancing story and spectacle, and starred a rising Hollywood heartthrob, that doesn’t mean his acting was better than Lu Xu’s.

Touting acting in a film focused on visual effects is a mistake in itself.

"Lu Xu looks amazing."

"Is looking good a crime? Didn’t XXX become a hit after being headlined by a now-Hollywood megastar? Yeah, its IMDb rating’s super low—but did that stop it from earning big?"

"Number A77 really isn’t that bad, thank you."

Director Wu Ming considered releasing the film overseas. Compared to Night Sky Observations, Number A77 clearly belongs to a more mainstream genre, easier for international audiences to get into.

After the movie’s presales broke records, overseas distributors came calling.

Right now *Roaring Scream* is raking it in domestically, and *Number A77* has already been branded as “the film that beat *Roaring Scream* in China” on international screens.

Whether it actually won or not? Nobody knows—might as well brag now and sort it out later.

Besides, *Number A77* didn’t lose at all.

For the crew, the real fight was still at home; overseas was just gravy. Wu Ming never even imagined the film becoming a massive hit abroad.

Way too hard.

*Deception*’s box office smash had never been matched by any other Chinese film since. Eventually, some even claimed it only succeeded because of its title—sounding both spooky and scammy enough to pull in foreign audiences.

The whole crew was dumbstruck at this take.

By that logic, they should’ve just called it *Bank Robbery*—make money even faster.

When *Number A77* cracked $100 million overseas, Wu Ming thought he’d misheard.

“How much?”

“$100 million.”

The director: “…”

His mind short-circuited, rewinding to the Big Bang.

In reality, for most domestic films, pulling in tens of millions overseas is already a solid win.

*Number A77* was still playing in China, and Wu Ming hadn’t been tracking its overseas performance closely. But somehow it had blown past $100 million, even landing high on the North American weekend chart.

But hey, $100 million is $100 million—now that they knew, the crew couldn’t ignore it anymore.

They spread the news back home while digging into why it did so well overseas.

Reason one: It’s slick.

Reason two: It’s a rush.

*Number A77* had zero frustration, straight fire from start to finish. Plus, barely any characters with too much yapping, and action scenes that looked damn cool—making it super easy for international viewers to get into.

Search “A77,” and comment sections were full of thirst tweets about Lu Xu’s face, with fans recognizing him as one of the leads from *Deception*.

That whole “*Number A77* is so bad it’s laughable” nonsense got wrecked on sight—this movie didn’t just have people buying tickets, it had a lot of people willing to pay.

“Now I get it—it wasn’t *Deception*’s magic, it was Lu Xu’s magic all along.”

“Puppy’s the real MVP.”

“Deadass, *Roaring Scream*’s marketing keeps saying local sci-fi can’t compete with their blockbuster imports, using that to cash in on hype. The more they trash *Number A77*, the more I’m gonna support it. Why let them win?”

“OP, you get me. They clearly look down on us, flexing about steamrolling our summer hits.”

Some fans were slammed as “narrow-minded,” told they should “judge movies on merit instead of clinging to bias.” But no sooner did someone throw around “narrow-minded” than *Roaring Scream*’s lead actor gave an interview, spouting off about his success and the film’s performance in China.

“I’m glad they like my movie, but honestly, whether they do or not, it doesn’t stop my movie from winning.”

Fans were called narrow-minded. This guy? Praised for just keeping it real.

His persona in Hollywood is all about being cheerful and straightforward.

While he was holding forth, *Roaring Scream* had already grossed $300 million at the domestic box office, making the Chinese market a significant part of the film's global earnings.

Thanks to Red Sea Pictures' marketing prowess—a major Chinese studio—this interview didn’t go viral, but the Best Actor never showed up for domestic promotions. During *Roaring Scream*'s release, he visited over a dozen countries around the world.

The internet doesn’t forgive or forget. After this incident, *Roaring Scream*'s domestic box office plummeted and was overtaken by *Number A77* within a week of its release.

On Weibo, the Best Actor’s fans listed dozens of examples of how much he "loves China"—including knowing director XX and taking red-carpet photos with actor XX.

Lu Xu: "..."

Saying those things was already idiotic, but refusing to even pretend in public? That’s peak stupidity.

Two weeks into its release, *Number A77* surpassed 3.2 billion yuan at the box office. Industry forecasts suggest its final earnings may rival *Fearless Life*, though breaking the 4-billion-yuan mark remains challenging.

Still, summer isn’t over yet—anything is possible.

*Number A77* has no renowned director or A-list co-stars, relying solely on Lu Xu’s charisma to carry the film’s box office. Even if it doesn’t cross 4 billion yuan, it’s clear that *Number A77* will dominate this year’s summer movie season.

Adding overseas earnings, *Number A77* currently ranks fourth on the global box office charts—and there’s still room to grow.