20 June 2004.

There is only one day left until the official global release of The Matrix.

Minghu Culture held a grand world premiere ceremony at the Minghu Cinema Center in Suncheonfu.

Yes, not in the United States, not in Europe, but in China.

Most of the Chinese entertainment industry came to cheer, even if they didn't receive an invitation, they had to rub their face and rub an admission ticket and show their faces.

The first is that almost all the big names in the Chinese entertainment industry will appear, and every greeting may be an opportunity, and the second is that there are too many reporters, basically the attention of the whole people, so the number of reporters will presumably break a series of records.

And compared to the premieres of other movies, this is not just a gathering of stars, stars, no matter how big your wrist is, at this ceremony, they are all supporting roles.

First of all, the bosses of major domestic film companies, record companies, distribution companies and theater companies have come to cheer. In the past, don't talk about anything else, the bosses of cinema companies, no matter how big the big names are, they have to be respected. Then, as the alma mater, the principal of the Shuncheon Film Academy brought several old professors to personally come to the platform for his disciples, which was not a small face. Then, the leaders of major TV stations, including Huaxia TV, came to cheer, but it was the proper meaning of the question, but it was really nothing.

And the biggest face, of course, comes from the government.

Although most people didn't know about it, the people who knew it in their hearts, when they saw the middle-aged woman who Qi Jie personally accompanied, they quietly inquired and knew the identity of the other party, and they immediately knew it in their hearts.

Deputy Director of the General Office of the State Council.

Deputy ministerial level.

At the same time, there were also assistant ministers of the Ministry of Culture, director of the Department of the United States Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Lai Changyi, director of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, Zhao Sicun, deputy director of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, and relevant important leaders on the ground of Shuntianfu who can catch up with culture, film and television - this pomp and circumstance is extremely grand.

You must know that a movie is just a movie, no matter how awesome it is, unless it is a special film such as the Acura government, or a work like "The Gate of Life and Death" and "Red Sorghum", which has won a world-class reputation for Chinese films and Chinese culture, otherwise the government departments will at most pay silent attention to it, and they will not really stand up for it at all - let alone participate in such a highly commercial premiere?

But the premiere of "The Matrix", if you count it carefully, the deans of the two top universities in the country in related fields, the Shuntian Film Academy and the Huaxia Conservatory of Music, are not low-level, plus the three vice-ministers who are serious and serious, this is definitely a big face.

This shows the recognition of Minghu culture at the government level for a series of actions, a series of external expansion, and the delivery of Chinese culture to the outside world in recent years.

Therefore, for the people and companies who are willing to do these things, the government even does not hesitate to stand up for them, support them, and endorse them.

In this context, to be honest, no matter how big a name is in the entertainment industry, it can't be ranked.

All the superstars who received a little bit of gossip in advance behaved very low-key, and they didn't dare to pretend to be forced in front of the official master - on the contrary, it was Li Qian, although he was usually used to being low-key, but at this time, he couldn't be low-key if he wanted to.

When I shook hands with the deputy minister-level leader to express my gratitude, when the other party smiled and said: "The big leader asked me to bring a sentence, he said that he is your fan and fan, and he is also your fan, I hope you will produce more good works in the future, and work hard to promote our national culture to the outside world." ”

At least a dozen officials present and the accompanying personnel of Minghu Culture listened to this in their ears, and they really couldn't keep a low profile. Li Qian had no choice but to express his gratitude again and again, saying that he would continue to work hard.

Later, the one asked: "I recently learned about the situation and found that many people are not optimistic about your new movie, especially its situation in Europe and the United States." How about it, do you have the bottom in your own heart?"

Li Qian smiled and said, "No problem." ”

So the other party laughed and said, "The leader said that Li Qian is a real genius. ”

The audience laughed along.

Li Qian suddenly felt a lot of pressure.

The leader said all this, if "The Matrix" pounces, it will be a slap in the face of the leader!

Although he is full of confidence in this movie in his heart, in fact, he has walked step by step over the years, almost every step, he has not taken risks, and every step is very steady, but even so, at this time, he who was not nervous couldn't help but start sweating.

Fortunately, when the premiere ceremony opened, the response from the audience felt quite good.

Minghu Culture did not make the premiere very stylized because of the attendance of heavyweights at the official level, and even tried to cover up the involvement at the official level and downplayed it to a certain extent.

There is no leader's speech, and there is no grand introduction of the leader.

Moderate entertainment, a few songs, the host interviews a few important actors, tells interesting stories about the filming, and then the movie begins.

When the movie was over, Li Qian appeared with important members of the crew, accepted everyone's applause and congratulations, and then simply accepted questions and exchanges from several reporters on the spot, and then announced the end.

And after the premiere, in fact, within a few hours, the film will be released worldwide.

Geographically, in fact, more than four hours after the world premiere, audiences in Japan were already able to buy tickets to see the film's midnight screening.

An hour later, in South Korea, the Philippines and other places, midnight early performances will begin.

At 12:10 p.m., the midnight advance screening of this movie will officially land on more than 5,000 big screens in nearly 4,000 cinemas across the country - this is definitely the largest scale of Chinese films in the history of the film and the scale of midnight advance screening!

You know, although the number of movie theaters and movie canvases is increasing every year, so far, there are only a little more than 10,000 big screens nationwide.

Only Li Qian's works, sci-fi blockbusters, can get this level of release scale in China.

Because as long as there is his name as an endorsement, even if the film is actually rotten, under such a scale of screening, the theater chain is not worried that no one will watch it.

"My Sassy Girlfriend", "Huang Feihong", "Red Sorghum", "Hulu Baby", his past four directorial works, "Big Names", "Huang Feihong's Boy Should Be Self-Improvement" and other his past screenwriter and producer works, as well as his unparalleled strong influence and appeal in the Chinese entertainment industry, have made him the most reassuring and reassuring film director in China.

There is no one, just him.

And so, "The Matrix" came to be.

Globally, he will land at midnight on July 20, that is, after 0:00 on July 21, in more than 30 countries around the world, and after dawn, he will officially land in the film market of more than 40 countries around the world - an unprecedented scale of global simultaneous release of Chinese films.

…………

The taxi stopped, Liu Zhongxin paid and got out of the car, and saw his friends from a distance.

This is the entrance of an ordinary movie theater in Suzhou.

It was half-past eleven at night.

Liu Zhongxin walked over quickly, met with his friends, and then got a movie ticket that his friend bought on his behalf - he was immediately relieved, first turned around and smoked, and then lit it himself, looked at the ticket by the light of the street lamp, and subconsciously asked: "How are the tickets sold?"

The friends laughed in unison: "It's all sold out!"

Then everyone talked about what they had seen during this time just now, "When we bought the tickets, the seats were not too good, but fortunately we came more than an hour early, otherwise there would have been no tickets!"

"Just waiting for you, we saw a lot of people coming out of the movie, and many people were complaining to each other!"

Hearing this, many people burst out laughing.

There is pride, but also some schadenfreude.

At this time, someone said: "Maybe it's because everyone is not used to the midnight early show, so many people think that in the middle of the night, even if it is the master's movie, it is estimated that not too many people will go to see it, so the tickets must be easy to buy, so I didn't take it seriously and came over to buy tickets!"

As soon as these words came out, everyone nodded their heads.

So Liu Zhongxin patted Wu Peng's shoulder beside him and said with a smile: "In this way, Dapeng is still prescient!

Wu Peng laughed twice and said seriously: "It's normal! You've all seen the trailer, how cool it is, I don't believe it, the tickets for this movie will not be grabbed! Let's see it at midnight, and we are the first people in the world to see it, so of course we have to show some initiative! Besides, that's the sect leader!"

"That's right, that's the Sect Master!"

Many people have agreed with him when they hear this.

Most of them were classmates in college, and they all liked Li Qian's works when they were studying, and many of them stayed in Suzhou after graduation, so they unconsciously became a small fan organization- There is no so-called organizational system, and there is no such and such activities, that is, whenever Li Qian's album is listed, whoever is free will say hello, count the numbers, and take the initiative to buy everything everyone wants, Li Qian has a new movie on the market, or just a film of Minghu Culture, which is the work of other directors, and everyone often gets together to buy tickets to watch a movie, and eat something together to chat after watching the movie.

This kind of so-called fan and fan organization is not a system and is not close at all, but in today's China, it is basically everywhere.

For example, at this time, in the theater where they bought tickets, many people gathered in groups to chat and wait for the movie to start. And at the moment, those who hid outside to wait for someone or smoke were basically in groups of three or five - there were even a few girls who came in a team to watch the midnight game.

After all, Li Qian is a well-known male and female all-trade, and his fan base is notoriously wide.

Waiting for the opening, everyone was chatting casually outside, and before they knew it, the topic returned to "The Matrix", and someone said in a colorful voice-

"I've read a lot of posts, and they're all lucky enough to be drawn, and they've all attended the premiere this afternoon, and according to them, this film is a bunker! ”

"I also read a lot of posts! Some people say that this is one of the most awesome sci-fi movies he has ever seen! Of course, it is also the most awesome sci-fi movie made by Chinese! It is said that even if it is compared with those awesome sci-fi blockbusters in Hollywood, it is definitely not weak, and even compared with any sci-fi blockbuster, it is the top awesome!"

"Fuck, the sect leader is a dick!"

"Hahaha, don't worry, you'll see it in a while!"

…………

At midnight, after twelve o'clock.

The midnight early screenings of "The Matrix" across China have been opened one after another.

Liu Zhongxin and Wu Peng also quickly lined up in turn to check in and enter, and found their seats and sat down.

And at this time, on the Japanese side, the midnight early field has ended.

Countless boys and girls came out of the movie theater, all of them looking so excited that they couldn't do it, their faces flushed, and they were discussing something with great interest as they walked.

Even, because of the excitement of the emotions, they spoke much louder than usual, and it was already late at night, and the surroundings were very quiet, so it seemed that their voices were louder.

However, everyone is not surprised.

Because the vast majority of people who have just watched this movie seem very excited and excited.

Some people even couldn't help but complain, "Why is there only this one midnight show in the movie theater? Obviously we can continue to hold the three o'clock show! It seems that I will go back and watch it again now!"

Others ran to the conductor, who was already sleepy, and asked if they could book tomorrow's tickets now.

The answer they get, of course, is no.

Tomorrow's film schedule has not been determined yet, how can tickets be sold?

So, everyone had to leave disappointed.

Of course, there are still many people who will not be obsessed with not seeing the second time tonight after watching it, but rush home - as the first audience in the world to see "The Matrix" other than the premiere, they are eager to share their viewing experience on the Internet.

Because that feeling is really great, it makes the first people who have seen the movie feel very excited and proud, so I especially want to share my experience with others.

And at this time, on countless big screens in China, "The Matrix" officially opened.