I’m Really a Superstar

The next day.

Sunday morning.

Zhang Ye had been taking calls until very late last night. When he opened his eyes again, his parents and parents-in-law were already at his house. From his bed upstairs, Zhang Ye could hear his mother’s loud voice. He smiled and yawned, then stretched as he walked downstairs.

“Dad, Mom,” he said.

Wu Zeqing looked at him. “Why didn’t you sleep for a while longer?”

Zhang Ye smiled and said, “I can’t sleep anymore.”

His mother pulled at her son. “Did you see the box office earnings? Did you see it?”

“I knew about it earlier than you. How could I not have seen it?” Zhang Ye laughed.

His father said excitedly, “Those earnings are beyond belief. You’ve broken the record!”

Li Qinqin also said excitedly, “Little Ye, you’ve caused quite a sensation this time!”

Wu Changhe had a tired and weary look on his face. Clearly, he also couldn’t sleep well after finding out about the opening day box office earnings of Wolf Warrior 2.

It was too high!

It was too frightening!

There had never been such a high opening day box office in the history of the Chinese film industry!

Zhang Ye chuckled and said, “Dad, Mom, it’s only the first day, so we still need to see how we’ll do in the next few days. The opening day box office is very important, but in the end, it’s still the total box office earnings that count. I won’t be able to stay around to entertain you all. I’ve got to head back to the studio to arrange for some publicity. I’ll be busy this entire month and won’t be home early most days, so I’ll hand Sisi over to you all.”

His mother said, “Don’t worry, we are here!”

Li Qinqin urged, “Hurry up and go to work!”

Wu Zeqing smiled. “Let’s go, I’ll drive you to the studio.”

“What are you doing?” Zhang Ye asked.

Old Wu said, “I’ve booked a theater for this morning and invited my colleagues to watch Wolf Warrior 2.”

Zhang Ye said happily, “Alright, let’s leave together then.”

…

The news was overwhelming.

“A Chinese film’s rampage!”

“A great enemy rises up against Hollywood!”

“The ultimate box office breakout of the Chinese film market!”

“What incident took place yesterday?”

“Commando 2 gets defeated by Wolf Warrior 2 in the battle of the premieres!”

“The first time in history! A Hollywood movie has lost to a Chinese movie!”

“The world may need to re-examine the Chinese market!”

“How far can the breakout of the Chinese film industry go on for?”

“Who’s going to be the global box office champion of this weekend?”

“Hollywood’s industry insiders predict: Wolf Warrior 2’s performance might only be a flash in the pan! ”

The UK.

America.

France.

Japan.

Canada.

The news outlets in many countries all over the world were crazily reporting on this matter. Some countries even published the news in the most prominent headline spot on the front page. It was clear that the sudden emergence of this Chinese movie had truly shocked the world. It was a fact that the media and industry insiders from all over the world found this hard to accept!

The news in China was even more ferocious!

Xinhua News!

Central TV!

And even People’s Daily!

Many of the Chinese media outlets were giving their support to Zhang Ye!

…

At the studio.

The atmosphere was a jubilant one.

When Zhang Ye arrived, he immediately got surrounded by the staff.

“Ah!”

“Director Zhang!”

“We’re the best!”

“We’re on fire! On fire!”

“Have you seen the international news yet?”

From the night until now, a lot of the studio staff had not gotten any sleep. They were all immersed in this great joy and couldn’t control themselves!

Zhang Ye laughed and said, “I’ve seen it already. How is it now?”

Everyone gave him a report about the situation.

Ha Qiqi said, “In order to avoid our limelight, three directors have confirmed that their new movies will have their releases delayed. That’s why our showtimes have increased.”

“How much is the screening rate today?” Zhang Ye asked.

Ha Qiqi said excitedly, “It’s already reached 45%!”

Zhang Zuo said, “Nearly half of the movie theaters are showing our movie!”

Zhang Ye nodded. “Alright, are the real-time box office earnings for today out yet?”

“Of course, the box office earnings can be tracked in real-time now!” Little Wang held up her cell phone and said, “I’ll check for the latest updates again. Ah, as of right now, we’ve already hit 93 million in the box office earnings for today! And it isn’t even noon yet! Ahhhh! 93.5 million! It’s gonna cross a 100 million very soon!”

Zhang Ye said, “What about Commando 2?”

Tong Fu checked. “Almost the same. They’re already past 10 million dollars in earnings.”

Zhang Ye suddenly said, “Just winning for a day isn’t considered much. Everyone, don’t slack off. The battle has only just begun. Don’t screw up at this critical juncture. We’ll need to keep up the momentum and continue following up with the promotions. Where’s the graphic designer? Is the movie poster highlighting a total box office earnings of 300 million done up yet?” When he got a positive response, he immediately said, “OK, do it again, keep working on it. Make sure we have it out on time. Old Ha, go and inform the actors to take a few more events. Be it the news or variety shows, get them to help out with the promos as much as they can. In short, I want us to get first on this weekend’s box office rankings no matter what!”

“Sure!”

“Got it, Director Zhang!”

“Understood!”

Everyone got down to business.

…

In China.

On Weibo.

“It broke 100 million today!”

“Yeah, it’s already surpassed that figure!”

“Wolf Warrior 2 is breaking common sense!”

“Can it become the box office champion this weekend?”

“It’s still quite difficult to say! Commando 2 is starting to catch up!”

“Come on, Face-smacking Zhang!”

“Fuck that Wilson up!”

“Vanquish Hollywood!”

“Lord Zhang is almighty! It’s all up to you now!”

…

America.

Wilson’s company.

“We will definitely be able to catch up by today!”

“That’s right, the opening day performance doesn’t mean anything. The box office earnings depend on what happens after!”

“The weekend box office champion will definitely be us!”

“There’s never been a foreign movie that has performed better than Hollywood at the weekend box office earnings! It won’t be an exception this time either!”

“Keep up with the marketing. Increase the publicity for all major markets!”

“We must become the box office champion this weekend no matter how much money is required for the marketing!”

Wilson was getting anxious.

The Commando 2 film crew was getting anxious.

Hollywood was also getting anxious.

…

On the Web.

Netizens from all over the world had pulled their chairs up to watch the battle.

“This is so intense!”

“The box office rankings have me gripped!”

“Wolf Warrior 2 vs. Commando 2, who will win?”

“This is a battle of honor!”

“The quality of this Chinese movie is really scary!”

“The outcome will be revealed very soon!”

“Could history of cinema really get rewritten today?”

“It won’t, Hollywood’s legend won’t be destroyed so easily!”

“Yeah, that is Hollywood we’re talking about, it’s the pinnacle of the film industry!”

…

On this day.

The entire world was anxiously staring at the box office rankings. Everyone had a look of shock on their faces as they watched with trepidation!

10 million USD!

20 million USD!

30 million USD!

The two movies were neck and neck!

The media.

The people.

The industry insiders.

China.

America.

Japan.

There were only a few more minutes to go!

Everyone was waiting for the final outcome!

When the global weekend box office closed, when those numbers finally stopped moving!

The entire world descended into an uproar!

It blew up on the Web:

“God!”

“How did this happen?”

“It won again?”

“The Chinese won again?”

“This—What is this! How could it be!”

“Who said that Wolf Warrior 2 was just a flash in the pan?”

“This is a Hollywood blockbuster! This is Director Wilson we’re talking about! This is the sequel to Commando! How could it not even beat a Chinese movie?!”

“This is such a fucking miracle!”

“What the hell!”

“Impressive, my Chinese bro! You’re awesome!”

The global weekend (Saturday and Sunday) box office rankings:

#1: Wolf Warrior 2

#2: Commando 2

The Chinese movie had taken first place again!

Wolf Warrior 2’s Sunday box office earnings were 48.21 million USD, with the total weekend earnings at 88.2 million USD!

Commando 2’s Sunday box office earnings were 45.8 million USD, with the total weekend earnings at 81.05 million USD!

At this moment, Wilson’s face was ashen. Many Hollywood directors and industry insiders could not accept this. They could accept losing to a fellow Hollywood movie, they could accept losing to a fellow Hollywood director, but they definitely couldn’t accept losing to a foreign movie! Furthermore, it was even a movie made by the Chinese! To them, this was the greatest insult they could receive. It was as though they were dealt a slap to their faces that left a stinging pain!

How the hell did the Chinese movie do it!

Are you people on steroids or something!