On Sunday, just as the sun rose, Phoenix Cinema still had its doors closed, but a line had already formed outside. A girl with long hair stepped out of a car and quickly walked to the small square in front of the cinema.
She saw a queue of over twenty people and grew anxious. She hurried to join the end of the line and, standing on her tiptoes to look ahead, noticed that the cinema hadn't opened yet. The doors were firmly shut. She asked the person in front of her, "Hi, do you know what time it opens?"
The girl in front, around the same age, glanced back and said, "Eight-thirty. Almost time."
The long-haired girl smiled. "Thanks."
She opened her bag, pulled out her phone, and dialed a number. "Hey, where are you? Hurry up, people are already lining up, and if you're late, we won't get tickets!"
A deep male voice answered from the other end, "I'll be there in ten minutes. Make sure you get three seats together."
"I know." She urged again, "But hurry!"
The deep voice asked, "What about Leng Bing? When will he get here?"
The long-haired girl muttered, "He's so annoying! He went to his office, said he had something to take care of, and told me to buy the tickets. He'll meet us before nine."
"Just stay in line," the voice said. "I'll be there soon."
"You better be quick," the long-haired girl pressed again before hanging up.
After putting away her phone, she looked up at the giant poster hanging above the cinema. A muscular man stood with his arms crossed, next to an unfamiliar face. Below them, the title "Fast & Furious 4" was prominently displayed.
"So that's Matthew Horner?" she muttered curiously as she eyed the muscular man. "A Hollywood star who can speak fluent Chinese? That's so odd."
She glanced at the man next to Matthew Horner. "Paul Walker? Who's that?"
At that moment, two boys joined the line behind her, chatting as they queued up.
"My classmate called me last night, said it was amazing," said the short-haired boy. "Totally intense! The male actors are super handsome, and the women are unbelievably gorgeous."
The boy with glasses added, "My neighbor's little brother saw it yesterday afternoon. He came back and asked if I'd watched it. When I said no, he kept saying I'd missed out on the best movie of the year. That's when I called you."
The short-haired boy looked up at the huge poster and pointed at the man with crossed arms. "That's him! That's Matthew Horner! A really impressive actor. I looked him up last night—he's a top Hollywood star! And he speaks fluent Chinese!"
The boy with glasses said, "Look at his muscles. Now that's what a man should look like."
Like the long-haired girl, they too ignored the other actors on the poster.
A tall, muscular man approached from behind. The long-haired girl spotted him and waved. "Over here!"
The man joined her, overhearing some of the conversations around them. He glanced up at the poster. He hadn't known any of the people on it before, but recent media coverage had made him familiar with the Hollywood star named Matthew Horner, who spoke fluent Chinese.
It was Horner's ability to speak Chinese that had caught the attention of someone like him, who rarely went to the movies.
"Leng Bing's not here yet?" the muscular man asked.
The long-haired girl shook her head. "I just texted him. He'll be here in twenty minutes." She sounded frustrated. "So annoying!"
The muscular man tried to console her. "It's normal to get caught up with work."
"But it's the weekend!" she protested.
In the past few days, "Fast & Furious 4" had become incredibly popular. Many people were talking about it. After hearing the buzz, she had arranged for her brother and boyfriend to watch it with her. They had planned to go last night, but after visiting two cinemas and failing to get three seats together, they had decided to try again this morning.
She had hoped there would be fewer people in the morning...
Looking at the growing line, the long-haired girl felt relieved they had come a bit earlier; otherwise, they might not have gotten seats together.
The cinema finally opened, and the girl and her brother entered. Since they were near the front of the line, they managed to snag three seats together for the 9 a.m. show.
Just as the girl was about to call, a boy rushed over to them.
"Sorry, sorry!" he apologized, out of breath. "I'm late."
The muscular man noticed the displeasure on his sister's face and quickly said, "You're not late. Work's important, and the movie hasn't started yet."
"Always making excuses!" the girl grumbled.
Leng Bing, the boy, said a few comforting words to cheer her up. Soon after, they entered the screening hall.
To be honest, Leng Bing didn't understand why his girlfriend, who rarely went to the movies, insisted on seeing "Fast & Furious 4." She hardly ever stepped into a cinema—maybe once a year, if that.
As they sat down and listened to the surrounding chatter about "Fast & Furious 4" and Matthew Horner, Leng Bing began to understand.
It turned out that many of the people around them weren't regular moviegoers either. They didn't usually go to the cinema but had been drawn in by the hype surrounding Matthew Horner and the film.
Leng Bing smiled wryly. Many of the people in this theater, like the three of them, had been influenced by the buzz and followed the trend into the cinema.
The movie began, and not just in Beijing, but across many major cities, cinemas were packed on Sunday, with "Fast & Furious 4" sparking an overwhelming wave of interest.
Previously, the first three films in the "Fast & Furious" series hadn't been released in the country, so most fans had only seen them through online downloads, and their numbers were relatively limited.
However, a film's massive success isn't driven solely by fans—it's the casual moviegoers that make the difference.
"Fast & Furious 4" attracted a huge number of casual viewers, especially those who didn't normally go to the cinema.
In this era, that group far outnumbered regular moviegoers.
Meanwhile, in the country's largest city, a boy was on his first date with a girl on the same Sunday.
The boy was shy and awkward, struggling to find conversation topics as they walked along a pedestrian street. The awkward silences between them were starting to make things uncomfortable.
As they passed a cinema, the boy saw the giant poster and had an idea. "Why don't we watch a movie?" he suggested.
The girl, also introverted, nodded slightly. "Sure."
As they walked toward the cinema, the boy asked, "What should we watch?"
The girl pointed to the poster. "I've heard this one's good. A lot of my coworkers have seen it. 'Fast & Furious 4' is really popular right now."
"Okay!" the boy agreed enthusiastically, and together they entered the cinema.
Influenced by those around them, more and more people flocked to the theaters, and word of mouth about "Fast & Furious 4" spread rapidly.
By Sunday afternoon, many cinemas were sold out of tickets for the movie.
Even though it wasn't yet the summer blockbuster season, "Fast & Furious 4" had brought summer-level crowds to the theaters.
Originally, cinemas were preparing for next month's release of "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen." All signs pointed to Optimus Prime and the Autobots dominating the box office, with many industry experts predicting the film would set new national records.
They were forecasting that "Transformers 2" would smash "Red Cliff" and "If You Are the One," surpassing James Cameron's "Titanic" and reaching 400 million RMB in nationwide box office earnings.
But before "Transformers 2" even hit theaters, "Fast & Furious 4" exploded, and based on its buzz and early ticket sales, it seemed poised to exceed 400 million RMB.
This meant "Fast & Furious 4" had a good chance of surpassing "Titanic's" long-standing box office record of 360 million RMB, setting a new national benchmark.
It might even become the first film to surpass 500 million RMB at the box office.
After Sunday passed, this prediction gained more traction. In just three days, "Fast & Furious 4" had accumulated 140.5 million RMB in nationwide box office earnings.
At this rate, hitting 500 million RMB seemed entirely possible.
Such a high box office return surprised even Matthew, who realized he had been a bit conservative in his expectations. If things went well, David Ellison's prediction of one billion dollars in nationwide box office might actually be within reach.
Of course, because of the exchange rate, that was still a long shot, but there was hope.
Matthew wasn't sure if the film would break one billion dollars, but he was confident it would surpass James Cameron's "Titanic."
It was only after arriving that he realized that, even after more than ten years, "Titanic" still held the box office crown here.
That film had set records in the late 1990s, and at the time, due to a lack of copies, many cinemas screened pirated versions, which led to incomplete box office statistics. Otherwise, the total would have been even higher.
James Cameron truly was a master of commercial cinema.
As the new week began, "Fast & Furious 4" continued to maintain its incredible momentum. Even on Monday
, a workday, it earned another 20 million RMB at the box office.
However, Matthew had to leave. "Fast & Furious 4" was set to premiere in North America this weekend, and he couldn't miss the North American opening.
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