The Best Director

Chapter 168: The Highest-Grossing R-Rated Movie of All Time!

Under the warm summer sunshine, Wang Yang lay comfortably on a sun lounger by the backyard swimming pool, browsing through messages on his phone and typing away replies. With “District 9″ in hot screening, he had been receiving constant congratulatory messages from good friends and acquaintances alike—texts, emails, phone calls, and some of them made him especially happy.

Congratulations, Mr. Big Director! You’ve given me another great film to watch! Should I say thank you? Haha, I did buy a ticket, 16 dollars! Anyway, ‘District 9’ is unparalleled, keep it up!”

Before emptying his text message inbox, Wang Yang glanced over a few people’s messages and, after reading Rachel’s congratulatory message from a few days ago, he smiled and casually deleted it. Just then, he received a new text from Will Smith. He opened it and read: “MAN, congratulations on ‘District 9′ breaking the too million mark, simply astounding! Also, do you have any time these days to teach Jaden some kung fu? He’s been hounding me to learn new moves.”

The kung fu Jaden was learning couldn’t even qualify as a flowery form, just some basic sequences of punches and kicks, but he was learning with great enthusiasm, seemingly believing himself to be now “highly skilled in martial arts.” Wang Yang chuckled, gave it some thought, and immediately texted back to Will, his eyes returning to the pale blue swimming pool in front of him. With a lazy swimming sound, the long-haired Jessica swam gracefully back and forth in the water, her figure stunning.

One of the many benefits of the huge success of “District 9” was that Wang Yang’s popularity once again soared to new historical heights, making him a shining star in front of the screen, or as the fans would say, “The Return of the King.” These few days, everywhere with film and entertainment, whether traditional print or emerging websites, were almost always about “District 9 and the amazing Yang, not just film critics’ reviews, box office reports, and promotional interviews with the cast during the release.

Even more were the personal tidbits and behind-the-scenes production stories. For instance, in the item “The relation between ‘District 9’ and Amazing Yang going to jail,” Yahoo Entertainment revealed, “Why ‘District 9’? Why not District 7 or 8? It turns out that when Amazing Yang and little Robert Downey Jr. were cellmates on Rek Island, their cell number was 149.” Additionally, it leaked, “One night, Amazing Yang even gave Downey a beating, seen by an inmate in the opposite cell, it only took a few punches to knock Downey down, then he pinned him to the ground and walloped him.”

As for the deep-seated real-life sources behind the movie, whether ‘District 9’ referred to a jail or metaphorically to South Africa’s apartheid era… there were various interpretations that all seemed plausible.

On the other hand, the demand for candid street photography of their private life suddenly surged, and paparazzi besieged and pursued them to the point that their trip to the beach in Santa Monica yesterday ended in harassment, unable to find peace. Although accustomed to it, being followed by a dozen “entourage” members even for a supermarket run was still quite annoying. So today, the couple decided to stay home to cool off.

After a few rings, the call connected, and Wang Yang greeted, “Hey, Will.” On the other side, Will Smith laughed, “Hey MAN! A too million in 3 days, really cool!” Wang Yang said thank you and then said, “If Jaden wants to learn new moves, bring him over tomorrow, I’ll teach him for the day, I’ve got plenty of time right now.” ”

into editing “The Hangover.

District 9″ had just been released, and it wasn’t time to rush

He needed a good half-month’s rest, but couldn’t go on vacation, not because he feared a terrorist attack, but because the movie’s follow-up promotions needed him, and he could be invited for a magazine interview at any moment.

That’s great then, Jaden now knows about your movie’s release, and for the past few days, he’s been saying, ‘I want to see my master’s movie,’ ‘Daddy, take me to see it’.” Will Smith, raising his voice to imitate a child’s, spoke a few lines and then sighed in exasperation, “You know, your movie is so oppressive, both Jaden and I saw it and it’s been two days, and we still feel bad. What am I going to do if we refuse? Jaden just cries and throws a tantrum, my goodness! Where does he learn that?”

I don’t know, kids’ nature, I guess?” Wang Yang laughed softly, but “District 9” definitely wasn’t suitable for a child of just a few years old. He smiled into the phone and said, “When Jaden comes over tomorrow, I’ll just put on ‘High School Musical’ for him.”

Will Smith didn’t think it was a good idea and said, “That kid isn’t easy to fool, he knows about aliens. Uh, I told him. I just wanted to tell the story and be done with it, but it only made him more interested.” Wang Yang raised his eyebrows thoughtfully and then smiled, “OK, if that’s the case, I’ll show him some shooting highlights, which include a green-faced alien.”

Buddy, you’ve got him figured out anyway,” Will Smith laughed heartily, very irresponsibly, and joked, “He can watch ‘Men in Black 2.’ But Terry really gave me a hard time. He said, ‘Will, compared to Yang’s ‘District 9,’ yours is like a toy!’ Oh, he’s only ten years old, isn’t he supposed to like toys? Haha!” He added humorously, “But he’s right, if I played Wikus, maybe I could win another Best Actor Oscar, which belongs to Downey now.”

The success of ‘District 9’ not only skyrocketed Wang Yang’s popularity but also did the same for Robert Downey Jr., who overnight returned to the ranks of popular stars, and even surpassed his popularity in his youth.

In the past five or six years, he had been scorned like a rat crossing the street for various misdeeds such as drug abuse and drunk driving; however, since starring in ‘District 9/ he seemed to have become a different person, as he put it, “woke up.” He had successfully managed to stay sober without being arrested again, admitted his mistakes sincerely in public on several occasions, and with his brilliant performance in ‘District 9,’ fans had once again embraced this prodigal son who returned to the fold in midlife.

The tragic pain of Wikus, combined with his own life experiences, added a legendary color to ‘District 9.’ His understanding of the character and acting skills became an essential point of praise when media film critics discussed ‘District 9-‘

The ‘Los Angeles Times’ said, “It is precisely because Robert Downey Jr. has personally experienced that kind of pain and loneliness that Wikus came to life on the screen.” ‘Hollywood Pioneer’ said, “Wikus walks toward despair on the screen, while Robert Downey Jr. heads toward hope in real life. But for a long time to come, audiences won’t forget the look on Robert’s face when flying the bamboo dragonfly.”…

The phrase “Oscar for Best Actor” was also frequently mentioned by the media, which is quite unusual for a “commercial film” released in August. In her blog, film critic Phelia Thomas wrote, “If the various awards deliberately overlook ‘District 9’ because of stale notions and damned traditions, it will be a disaster worse than a transformation.”

Of course, the focus of gossip media is different, and one reporter asked Robert Downey Jr., “When you were playing Wikus being abandoned by his wife, were you thinking of Sarah Jessica Parker or your ex-wife Deborah Falconer?” Downey did not respond directly, instead jokingly avoiding the question with, “I was thinking about you.”

No matter what, Downey’s popularity is rising daily, which doesn’t make Will Smith envious because he simply doesn’t need to, although ‘Men in Black 2’ had poor critical reception. Despite this, the audience’s love for Will remains, and he is still one of Hollywood’s leading stars.

However, ‘District 9’s strong performance made Will Smith a bit reflective; ‘Men in Black 2’s critical keywords were “resting on laurels, no originality, dull and cliche.” The laurels of the first film were also just about exhausted, with $170 million in North America and $370 million worldwide; although Sony wouldn’t be losing money, ‘Men in Black 3’ was definitely a long way off. It would take time for the audience to forget the poor impression of the second film and then start to miss the first one, which might take five or ten years.

Among the many science fiction films this summer, the critically and commercially butchered ‘Day of Fire’ isn’t even worth mentioning; the box­office bomb ‘Spider-Man’ was purely commercial; ‘Star Wars: Episode ‘ continued to be criticized that “George Lucas is destroying the Star Wars series”; the “boring and poor” ‘The Omen’ was facing the fate of being slaughtered in theaters by ‘District 9’; the dark sci-fi ‘Minority Report’ was initially praised as “the best” at the beginning of summer, but after ‘District 9’ came out, film critics unanimously transferred the title of “this summer’s best” to that of the alien prawn.

On Rotten Tomatoes, the freshness ratings from well-known film critics were ‘Day of Fire’ 40%; ‘Star Wars: Episode ‘ 40%; ‘Men in Black 2’ 41%; ‘The Omen’ 56%; ‘Spider-Man’ 83%; ‘Minority Report’ 89%; ‘District 9’ 95%. As for audience approval, it was ‘Day of Fire’ 55%; ‘Men in Black 2’ 57%; ‘The Omen’ 60%; ‘Spider-Man’ 65%; ‘Star Wars: Episode ‘ 69%; ‘Minority Report’ 74%; ‘District 9’ 93%.

These two sets of data speak volumes. If you ask film critics “What is the best science fiction movie this summer?,” the answer is ‘District 9.’ If you ask the audience? It’s still that “fresh and unique, thrilling, and terrifyingly profound ‘District 9.’

Buddy, it’s really amazing! I thought ‘The Pursuit of Happyness’ was probably the peak of what you could do before you turned 30,” Will Smith let out another impressed sigh and laughed, “But two years later, unbelievably, ‘District 9’ was born.” Wang Yang shook his head with a smile at his phone, “Thanks, Will, I’ll be sure to guide Jaden well, you don’t need to worry about that.” Will immediately burst into laughter and then asked, “OK, Yang, when will we have the chance to work together again?”

He wasn’t asking without reason; ‘Bad Boys ‘ was about to start filming, but the disappointing reviews of ‘Men in Black 2’ had left him feeling disillusioned with shooting a sequel that cashed in on previous success. Besides, which actor in Hollywood didn’t want to work with the amazing Yang? That meant guaranteed box office, critical acclaim, and awards.

Hearing Will say this, Wang Yang thought seriously for a moment. ‘MIT-21- TEAM’ certainly wasn’t an option because Jeff Ma couldn’t be played by a black man, and his age didn’t fit either. He laughed, “Will, there will be a time, we are both so young! But my next movie, you may have heard about it, Natalie Portman will play the female lead. It’s called ‘MIT-21-TEAM’, and all the actors need to be young, or at least look young, so old men need not apply.”

Will Smith laughed off the rejection with an “OK” and chuckled, “Then I’ll wait for the future, haha! But buddy, did you just say I was young?” Immediately, Wang Yang laughed, “Alright, that was just a comforting lie, old man, you’re getting old.”

After a few more exchanges filled with laughter, they ended their call. Wang Yang laid back with his hands behind his head, admiring the enchanting swimming style of Jessica not far away. She swam back and forth and came to the edge of the pool, resting her arms on the tile, panting rapidly. She laughed, “Yang, come down and swim with me!” Wang Yang looked up at the sun and replied with a smile, “I’m feeling a bit too lazy to move right now, I’ll sunbathe a bit longer.”

Mhm.” Jessica pushed her drenched hair back from her forehead, caught her breath, and her interest sparked, she laughed, “I want to challenge my personal record for holding my breath underwater, time me. I plan to say submerged a long time this time!” Wang Yang nodded with a smile, as diving was her hobby and she always enjoyed it. He fiddled with his cell phone and said, “Ready to go, 3, 2,1, GO!”

Before his words had fully dissipated, she took a deep breath, puffed out her cheeks, crouched down, and dove to the bottom of the pool.

Seconds ticked by, and the surface of the pool was so calm, not a single ripple disturbed it. Wang Yang glanced at the timer on his phone, 2:19, and laughed, “Hey, Jessica, almost three minutes! New record! Jessica? You haven’t passed out underwater, have you?” He sat up abruptly and peered over, and just then the water at the edge of the pool splashed as a brunette beauty emerged. She looked uncomfortable, gasping for large breaths and coughing continuously. Struggling to speak, she asked, “How long?”

Half an hour now, a new Guinness World Record!” Wang Yang said sternly, watching her disheveled appearance, he loudly chided, “Beauty, what’s with the pushing yourself so hard? You almost turned yourself into a hobbit! That’s dangerous!” Jessica blinked away the discomfort from the water in her eyes and laughed, “How long was it really?”

Wang Yang exaggeratedly rolled his eyes several times before finally glancing at the cell phone screen and said, “3:13.” Jessica suddenly exclaimed in shock, then her face lit up with an excited, joyful smile, she spoke quickly, “I knew I broke the record, 20 seconds ahead! Oh my God, I need to try again! No, let me see the phone first, I need to take a photo to commemorate this!”

Gone, I deleted it.” Wang Yang tapped a few times on the phone, clearing the timer record, then stood up, took off his T-shirt, and laughed, “I have a way to make you dive for 20 minutes.” Jessica looked at him incredulously and asked, “What’s that?” Wang Yang replied with a smile, “I’ll come down and tell you!” and then he ran a couple of steps and leaped into the pool, creating a large splash and a burst of laughter.

Summer gradually came to an end, day by day, and when the week of August 2 to 8 closed, the final month of the summer blockbuster season of 2002 also wrapped up its first week. Taking first place in North America’s weekly box office without any suspense was ‘District 9′, which garnered too million in just a weekend and continued to rake in 28.13 million over the remaining four days. With 3,550 theaters in its opening week, the total box office hit 131 million US dollars!

If we calculate at $9.9 per ticket, roughly 13 million North American viewers have already seen “District 9″.

The Omen” continues to rank second this week, with a final box office of $34.67 million; followed by “Austin Powers” with $27.64 million, “Master of Disguise” with $10.37 million, and “Stand Alone” with $6.87 million.

With a dominant $131 million, “District 9” swept this week’s box office, strangling “The Omen” and several other new releases that debuted the same week. The figure of $131 million is astonishing, and the reason is still that one —it’s R-rated!

The highest-grossing R-rated movie in North American cinematic history to date is the 1984 action comedy “Beverly Hills Cop”, which took in $234 million over 30 weeks of screening, and that figure would be substantially higher adjusted for inflation. However, it seems the title of “North American R-rated box office champion” is about to change hands soon, with the impressive performance and reception of “District 9” in its opening week suggesting a certainty, as long as its second week performs typically.

Second in the R-rated historical box office is “The Exorcist” from 1973 with $232 million; followed by 1998’s “Saving Private Ryan” with $216 million, 1991’s “Terminator 2: Judgment Day” with $204 million, and 2000’s “Gladiator” with $187 million… The tenth place is 1999’s “The Matrix” with $171 million. Only two science fiction films, “Terminator 2” and “The Matrix”, are in the top ten, and it won’t be long before one name gets changed.

Throughout North America, countless movie fans felt the oppressive and somber mood this week, and so did audiences in more than 40 countries and regions worldwide. When they directed their anger with various expletives “Fuck!”, “Verdammt!”, “Maldito!”, “Cazzo!” “HepTOB!”, “Dingnigefei!”… at the same time, “District 9” saw its overseas box office soar.

The overseas box office took in a total of $187 million in its first week, with the United Kingdom at $16.14 million, Germany at $14.63 million, France at $12.35 million, Hong Kong at $3.10 million… “District 9” nearly swept all the local weekend box office champions, and $318 million was also the global one-week box office champion.

If you ask those fans who were so distressed they cursed, “Is it good?” with IMDb’s main page rating stalled at 8.9, but the number of participating users climbed to 203,265; Top 250 participation reached 150,187 with a rating of 8.8; audiences’ favorability rating on Rotten Tomatoes staying at 90%, it seems you would get an answer.

This is a captivating film, a classical piece against Hollywood, impeccable in every way. — David Stratton, The Australian; An astonishing film, it will take you by storm, emotionally and intellectually, offering you a chance to think. — Devin Snyder, Germany’s Rhine Post; Pervasive moments of thought, a classic within classics. — Shi Qi, Hong Kong’s Ming Pao…

As the whole world marvels at how good “District 9” looks and how heart- shaking it is, fans in mainland China feel extremely anxious. As is well-known, “District 9” hoped to launch simultaneously in Chinese theaters but could not proceed due to review reasons; even if China Film Group were to import it in the second half of the year as one of the 20 imported films of 2002, it would still take several months.

The most annoying part is that, without a rating system, the State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television is likely to cut those so-called “crazy” scenes in order to “protect the youth”.

Eager to see a preview of this “divine work” on the big screen, many fans with the mean have organized trips to Hong Kong for “movie tourism,” even if it means going through the hassle of processing a slew of border-crossing documents.