Chapter 56: Phenomenal Director (Vote for monthly tickets!)

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

On May 14th, a Friday, a new week of movie screenings began, and “High School Musical” officially premiered on a grand scale, landing in 3,150 theaters across North America!

That day, as soon as the dismissal bell rang, countless students charged out of school to rush to the nearby movie theaters, ready to snatch up tickets for the first evening screening of “High School Musical”. To the surprise of many students, tickets for the first screening were already sold out. Where did all the tickets go? Most had been sold in the wee hours of the morning; by noon, another chunk was taken; and then, just before school let out, some “early birds” appeared, sharing what was left of the tickets.

Oh, come on, how can this be!” In a Chicago movie theater, a white high schooler pitifully looked at the ticket seller and said, “If I can’t get a ticket today, my girlfriend’s gonna kill me! Dude, she’s been looking forward to this movie for months. Are you really telling me there aren’t any tickets left for the first screening?” The middle-aged ticket seller spread his hands and said, “Kid, I feel for you, but they’re really gone, all sold out.” The high schooler gritted his teeth and said, “It doesn’t matter, she said we have to see it today! Give me tickets for the second screening!”

The ticket seller smirked a bit and said, “Sorry, there are no tickets left for the second screening either.” The white high schooler’s eyes widened as he exclaimed, “What!?” The students in line behind him all erupted in surprise: “Goddammit! I came straight here after school, and you’re saying there are no tickets!?” “Oh God, can’t you add another screening room? My girlfriend also said she wants to see it today!”

“Here’s a suggestion for you guys, come back in a few days.” The ticket seller shrugged, to which the students collectively shouted, “We don’t want to wait another day!” The ticket seller laughed again and said, “Indeed, there are no tickets left today; if you want to see it tomorrow, come back in the early hours of the morning when tickets are available.”

The white high schooler huffed, “Then I’ll just sit here and not move since we’re off tomorrow anyway.” He turned and walked towards the seating area, muttering to himself, “I must get those tickets, I don’t want to break up…” And so he stayed in the ticket hall, got an earful over the phone from his girlfriend, and then, in the evening, saw who had snapped up all the tickets – those guys’ walking into the movie hall with their arms around their girlfriends, he was so mad he could bite.

But across North America, he wasn’t the only one waiting in the movie theater until the early morning. That day, a massive number of students were late coming home because of “High School Musical”, whether they were watching the movie or trying to get tickets, but they all left the movie theater laughing – those watching had seen a great film; those ticket hunting had gotten what they wanted.

The box office results of “High School Musical” on the 14th didn’t disappoint the theaters or the Flame Movie Company – with an average of 500 seats per theater at 3,150 theaters screening two shows each night, the first show on the 14th incredibly achieved a 100% occupancy rate, and the second also reached 93%! After both screenings, they had garnered 19.7583 million dollars at the box office! The numbers spoke for themselves; this was a blockbuster film that could create a frenzy.

On the 15th, the occupancy rate for the first show still hit 100%, dropping to 75% for the second show; and although it decreased each day afterward, especially after “Star Wars: The Phantom Menace” premiered on the 19th, causing a significant drop in percentage, “High School Musical” was still the talk of North America for the week. It amassed a total of 68.5215 million dollars at the box office, ranking first on the North American weekly box office chart for the week of May 14-20, beating out the first week of “Star Wars: The Phantom Menace”!

Of course, “Star Wars: The Phantom Menace”, in second place, raked in 40.8402 million dollars in box office revenue in just 2 days, so losing didn’t seem so bad. But a lot of Star Wars fans were infuriated – this was the “Star Wars” series! A super blockbuster with a production cost of 115 million US dollars was actually outperformed by a trivial high school musical film, ridiculous!

Some gossip media naturally wouldn’t let this topic slide. “Daily Entertainment” blasted a bold headline: “A showdown between directors from the University of Southern California, Wang Yang defeats predecessor George Lucas!” The sensational title was followed by content describing “High School Musical” as the weekly box office champion with “Star Wars Episode I” reluctantly taking second place. In their final comments, they stated: “The 19- year-old Wang Yang, facing 55-year-old George Lucas, delivered an astonishing performance. Do we have any reason not to praise this wunderkind? Go forth, Young-man!”

Tabloid sensationalism was not uncommon, but more media outlets reported on the movie industry’s musical frenzy with earnest headlines like, “Magical Yang Does It Again, Breaking All Doubts!” “Boundlessly Promising Supernova!”… Such titles were myriad, and now no medium was foolish enough to sing a discordant tune. Even the gossip media were all singing praises, daring not to go against the tide. Had it been any other movie, they might have attempted to attract viewers by being contrarian; but not with “High School Musical”. To sling mud at it would mean offending countless young people, the very demographic most interested in gossip.

The Los Angeles Times” published another commentary with the headline, “Youthful Retort, the Revival of the Musical!” With box office figures in plain sight, their tone was no longer cautious, commending, “When that 18-year-old director announced his first film would be a high school musical, everyone was throwing cold water on it, predicting it would be a super flop. But what we see now is a beautiful retort, this i9-year-and-3-month-old director has reinterpreted the definition of a ‘high school musical,’ familiarizing a new generation with the genre and clarifying for filmmakers the elements of a popular musical! Looking at the accomplishments of ‘High School Musical’, we have reason to believe that the era of musicals is about to experience a comprehensive revival!”

The media spotlight was shared by “Star Wars: The Phantom Menace” and “High School Musical”; by its second week, “The Mummy”, which dropped to third place, suffered a Waterloo with box office takings of only 18.136 million US Dollars, to say nothing of “Stealing Heaven Trap”, “The Matrix” in its seventh week, and others whose market shares were cannibalized by the top two films. “Idle Hands”? No one paid attention to it anymore; it had been swept into the trash bin, earning only 174,000 US Dollars across 1,074 cinemas.

But not all were praises. There was one particular group that was very dissatisfied with Wang Yang, and that was the parents. On NBC’s Evening News, a middle-aged white socialite angrily addressed the camera, “I hate Wang Yang. Last year, his movie made my daughter stay out all night; and now, he’s made my child skip school! Skip school! oh, God, is ‘High School Musical’ ’ teaching kids to skip school? My daughter is graduating from high school at the end of the month, she still has final exams to take, and now she’s actually skipping school just to see ‘High School Musical’ earlier! My daughter needs credits, which obviously the movie can’t give her; and yet Wang Yang is raking in loads of cash using these tricks, at the expense of my daughter’s credits! ” The Evening News feature focused on a topic sparked by “High School Musical”: “What do teenagers really need?” An educational scholar being interviewed said, “In fact, ‘High School Musical’ fully exposes the needs of teenagers. They yearn to express themselves, to release their inner selves, and to pursue what they truly love… In reality, the expectations of their parents and the pressures of intense studies are too much for them, and they just need to enjoy their youth more.” He also indicated that precisely because graduation was near, the pressure on high school seniors was unprecedented, and watching “High School Musical” provided them with an outlet for stress relief.

Musical”!

This scholar’s opinion quickly garnered substantial support. Natalie Portman, high school senior about to graduate and the female lead of “Star Wars: The ’ Phantom Menace”, was caught by a reporter from the gossip paper “Daily Entertainment” making a special trip to the cinema to see “High School Musical”! Considering she almost declined to attend the premiere of “Star Wars Episode I” to prepare for her final exams—although she ultimately attended but skipped other promotional events for the movie-her finding the time to watch “High School Musical” was a surprise.

Natalie, cornered by the reporter at the cinema entrance, looked somewhat embarrassed but spoke with composure, saying, “I just thought it was necessary to understand this movie, because all my classmates are talking about it. I want to understand what’s on their minds.” The reporter followed up by asking, “So, what do you think of ‘High School Musical’ after watching it?” Natalie seemed reluctant to elaborate, only saying, “It’s an excellent film.” “What’s your opinion of Wang Yang?” the reporter continued to pursue relentlessly. Walking away, Natalie calmly responded, “Wang Yang is a very talented director.” The reporter further inquired, “Then do you like his movies?” Natalie nodded slightly, saying, “They’re not bad.”

These few simple exchanges, after passing through the hands of a gossip tabloid, turned into a sensational love scandal: “Natalie Smitten with Wang Yang!” The article didn’t fabricate Natalie’s words, but embellished them, “When our reporter asked ‘What’s your view on Wang Yang?’, Natalie appeared shy, looking as if she were about to confess, saying ‘Wang Yang is a great, very talented director.’ And when our reporter asked ‘So, do you like him, like his movies?’, Natalie, who usually blushes at the mention of boyfriends, blushed again, saying ‘They’re not bad.’”

“Could this be a romantic declaration of love from afar? Or perhaps Natalie and Yang have already become an item? Think about it—we know that during the casting of ‘High School Musical’, Yang spent some time in New York, and it’s possible he and Natalie got together then.”

This outrageous news piece, accompanied by a smiling photo of Natalie, flew off the shelves as soon as “Daily Entertainment” hit the stands. With the female lead of “Star Wars Episode I” and the director of “High School Musical” being at the center of a surge of interest for both films, this piece of gossip naturally firmly captured the attention of the young people who love such scandals!

Wang Yang had no idea about the rumor spreading about him; he did not follow gossip columns. That day, as usual, he got up early in the morning, practiced his boxing, and exercised, sweating profusely. Amid his routine, he suddenly received a phone call, from a self-professed journalist from “Daily Entertainment,” who asked, “Yang, are you dating Natalie Portman?” While still puzzled about how the journalist had gotten his home phone number, he heard the question and was taken aback, laughing off the absurdity, “Me, dating Natalie Portman? No, no, that’s ridiculous. I’ve only seen her on the silver screen; her performance in ‘Leon: The Professional’ was fantastic.”

After ending the call, Wang Yang learned about the absurd rumors online and wondered if he had said too much.

The next day, his concern became reality. “Daily Entertainment” reported with headlines like “Love from afar: ‘Natalie is incredible!’” The article exaggerated further, “When our reporters asked if they were dating, Yang first denied it but then immediately expressed his appreciation and affection for Natalie, saying, ‘I really like her. Ever since ‘Leon: The Professional,’ I’ve been in love with her performance; it’s amazing!’”

“We have reason to believe Natalie is Yang’s goddess! Since ’94, the charismatic Yang has been fond of this girl, perhaps his room walls are plastered with posters of ‘Leon: The Professional’, perhaps his desire to become a director is also because of this girl. Natalie, Yang has responded to you, will you say ‘YES’?”

The newspaper made it seem as if it were true. Even though Wang Yang knew “bullshit” was the style of gossip columns, many of his female fans expressed their disappointment on the “High School Musical” official website, “Yang, you can’t be with Natalie; she’s ugly and short, not a match for you at all!” Some female fans even threatened to stop supporting him if he dated Natalie.

Seeing the rumor escalating, Wang Yang was speechless but couldn’t help laughing out loud. He did indeed have a poster of ‘Leon: The Professional’ in his room, but he had never met Natalie Portman—such nonsense leading to rumors was both laughable and frustrating, and he had to admire the marketing tactics of gossip columns! He decided not to respond to the matter anymore. At this point, anything he said would only fan the flames.

“Jessica, you know about my scandal, right?” Wang Yang asked Jessica seriously during their routine nightly call. Jessica’s crisp laugh came through the phone, “I think I do know, you and Natalie Portman?” Wang Yang laughed self-deprecatingly and said into the phone, “Yes, who can tell me what’s going on? Love from a distance? Oh, heavens!” Jessica laughed for a while, then said softly, “Yang, we haven’t had a date in a long time, I miss you.”

“I do too,” Wang Yang said tenderly, “Jessica, let’s just wait a few more days. You know the ‘High School Musical’ soundtrack will be released next week. Once it’s out, the trend will be set. Then we can go on dates every day and won’t have to worry about the paparazzi; let them snap away.” Jessica giggled, “Yeah, I know.”

Ever since the campus screenings of “High School Musical,” Flame Film Company had been in touch with various record labels, eventually signing a deal with a small record company to distribute the “High School Musical” soundtrack in North America.

Based on these market dynamics, a film finance analyst from Wall Street made a prediction that the global box office of “High School Musical” might eventually exceed three hundred million US Dollars; with the income from soundtracks, DVDs, and other merchandise, Flame Film could make at least a hundred million in after-tax profits, and Wang Yang would become a multimillionaire, the youngest billionaire.

Soon, the analyst’s prediction was further confirmed. The screening week of May 21-27 wrapped up with “High School Musical” taking in $47.3836 million at the box office, pushing its total to $129.1 million! In normal years, a single week’s box office of over $47 million would have easily taken the top spot, but this time it was only enough for second place; indisputably, the first place went to “Star Wars: The Phantom Menace,” which took in $99-3544 million that week, claiming the weekly champion title with a behemoth-like presence.

But Firebird Films had every reason to be proud. The production budget for “High School Musical” was 8 million; while for “Star Wars Episode I,” it was 115 million.

Now, when people go to the cinema, teenagers generally go to see “High School Musical”; while others go to see “Star Wars Episode I.” This caused the other films playing to continue to suffer collateral damage. “The Mummy” could only bring in 10.482 million at the box office this week; of course, “Idle Hands” wasn’t affected by this because it had already been completely pulled from theaters.

In the new week, the original soundtrack of “High School Musical” also hit the shelves in North America, with 100,000 copies of the first edition, randomly giving away different boutique posters, each poster featuring a main actor, or Wang Yang’s signature. Only the first 100,000 CDs had this treat! This news had already been announced on the official website, and countless students had been eagerly gearing up. As soon as the CDs were put on the shelves, they were frantically snatched up by the students, and within a day, the stock was sold out everywhere!

The students who couldn’t get their hands on the CD lingered in the record stores with disappointed faces, unwilling to leave for a long time. There was even a girl who looked about 12 years old who burst into tears on the spot; she wanted the signature so badly, and she came just one step too late, ending up with nothing.

“Phenomenal director!” This was the latest title Wang Yang had received, bestowed by Roger Ebert, the famous film critic who had once praised “Paranormal Activity” enthusiastically.

“Magical Yang has created another miracle; he has made young people go crazy again! My little daughter, she keeps saying, ‘Oh, daddy, I want to go to dance class, “High School Musical” is just so great.’ Normally, at my age, I have no interest in high school musical movies, but at the recommendation of my darling daughter, I watched the film. It was so heartwarming, as if basking in the sunshine, and the shadows of “Paranormal Activity” also faded away. All I can say is, Magical Yang, this 19-year-old kid, he is a phenomenal director!”

In the end, Roger Ebert gave “High School Musical” a “Two-Thumbs-Up”!

The term “phenomenal director” was cited by numerous media outlets, and it seemed a bit funny that a 19-year-old director was called phenomenal; but reality spoke for itself. In 1998, he created the miracle of “Paranormal Activity,” turning 10,000 US Dollars into a global box office of 300 million, scaring the whole world and showing everyone what viral marketing is all about. Six months later, he created this current musical craze, with every young person going wild for it. Who would dare say this isn’t phenomenal? If anyone did say so, they would definitely be cursed non-stop by a horde of girls.

With the success of “High School Musical,” the number of Wang Yang’s fans skyrocketed, including many avid female fans. In fact, there were even several fan websites set up to collect his pictures and information. But whether it was as a “phenomenal director” or the “youngest billionaire,” he had undoubtedly become a role model and idol in the hearts of many, many peers.