Chapter 204: Chapter 204: Box Office

Because all the film critics’ reviews were somewhat vague, netizens grew extremely curious.

If ten film critics had been bought out, surely not *all* the film review bloggers could have been, right?

Even the bloggers who became famous for their venomous, scathing reviews seemed a bit incoherent.

There was a strange feeling to it. For the same plot point, they would criticize it one moment and praise it the next.

For example, take the scene where Cheng Yong goes to offer incense and give money to Old Lü’s wife after Old Lü’s death.

One critic went on a tirade, cursing out the screenwriter. The gist of his complaint was that the script made the patients pitiful, yet also detestable, while still making them know how to be grateful.

This forced the audience to feel both sympathy and disgust for the ugliness of human nature, constantly pulling at their emotions.

Although he was clearly criticizing, anyone who came across his post could read the praise between the lines.

So, some people suspected he had been paid off.

This blogger, known as Marquis, stated bluntly, “Which of the top ten films in the Federation have I *not* criticized?

Which of their backers isn’t more powerful than Jiang Qin’s? Have I ever been afraid?

As for taking money, that’s even more out of the question. I don’t accept payment from anyone, so nobody has anything on me. But if I took money from one studio, it would be impossible to justify not taking it from others. I’m smart enough to understand that.”

Most people believed him.

This blogger, Marquis, might not have been the most followed film critic in the Federation, but he was definitely the one with the most followers among the “venomous review” niche.

He had built his fame on nitpicking, so there was no reason for him to ruin his own reputation.

Of course, there was one exception: if he married Jiang Qin. Otherwise, there was no reason he could be bought by her.

However, that possibility could be ruled out, as Marquis was a married male.

On his personal account, all of his posts were about his female master, which showed how much he loved her. Cheating was out of the question.

Based on this reasoning, one could conclude that his reviews were as harsh as ever.

How bad could a movie be if it could make such a harsh critic give it backhanded compliments?

Driven by curiosity, more and more people flooded into movie theaters.

Those who saw it almost universally gave it positive reviews.

After seeing so many war films, watching a movie with this kind of theme felt like a breath of fresh air. Everyone found it incredibly story-driven.

The more they watched, the more engrossed they became.

Initially, theater attendance was split evenly among five films. But when too many people were unable to buy tickets, they began to pressure the theaters.

“Day three of trying to snag tickets, and I still haven’t gotten one. I’ve had enough! The hype has me completely hooked, and I still can’t even see the movie.”

“Same here, three days and no ticket. It’s so frustrating! I can’t get into a bar when it’s packed, and now I can’t even get a movie ticket.”

“What about all those people who called it a bland, unremarkable drama? Didn’t they say they weren’t going to watch it?

Who are all these people scrambling for tickets every day?!”

Each city had at most five theaters. The larger ones could accommodate three thousand people per screening, while the smaller ones could hold a thousand.

Each planet had ten cities, meaning around fifty theaters in total. With one screening per day, the number of available tickets was approximately one hundred fifty thousand.

Each ticket sold for 70 Star Coins. Therefore, with a complete sellout, *Medicine God*’s daily box office revenue surpassed ten billion Star Coins.

This was unprecedented.

Not even films by famous directors had achieved such a high attendance rate on their opening day.

Of course, opening day box office numbers were always slightly inflated.

But for the box office to remain this high on the second and third days, with demand still exceeding supply—those were solid numbers.

By the fourth day, many theaters had increased their screenings of *Medicine God* to as many as four per day. The primetime slots were almost entirely dedicated to it.

Sharing the schedule were two films from the Empire.

Although *Medicine God*’s box office revenue was climbing rapidly and had surpassed projections on its first day, it still wasn’t growing as fast as the two films from the Empire.

After all, those two movies had a simultaneous Interstellar release, while *Medicine God* was only showing in the Federation.

Therefore, its box office numbers were naturally lower than those two films.

Because of this, many netizens posted angry comments:

“Right now, *Medicine God* is the only film from the Federation that has a hope of competing with the Empire’s movies. Who the hell are these people who aren’t supporting our own film and are just rushing to buy tickets for the Empire’s movies?!”

“They should add two more screenings of *Medicine God*! I still haven’t been able to get a ticket.”

“I’m not buying a ticket for an Empire movie, period. I can wait a few months for it to be released on the Star Network and watch it then.”

“I’m not buying one either. I’m not that interested in *Medicine God*’s genre, but I’d rather buy a ticket to support it than buy a ticket for *High Light* or *Black Mist*.”

*High Light* and *Black Mist* were the two newly released, high-grossing films from the Empire.

Their production budgets alone were nearly a trillion Star Coins.

The invited cast, from the leads to the supporting actors, were all Interstellar superstars. Even the villain was played by an award-winning superstar from the Myriad Races.

Several of the Federation’s own best actors and actresses also had roles in these two films.

They were, in a word, star-studded.

On their opening day, they were screened across the entire Interstellar theatrical circuit, boasting an attendance rate as high as ninety percent.

Their box office revenue soared to a hundred billion in a single day.

The hype continued through the second and third days, though the box office dropped by about ten billion from its opening day high.

This was because various film critics had come out with their reviews:

“It’s the work of a famous director, so the execution is solid, but the plot is pretty conventional. You can’t say it’s bad, only that it holds no surprises.

It’s basically a movie for the fans.”

Although they couldn’t record videos to upload to the Star Network, people who had seen the movies wrote out plot summaries.

*High Light* was a historical war film based on past events.

The protagonist was the Imperial General Hos, who lived three hundred years ago.

At that time, the Insect Race and the Empire were in a perpetual state of war. The two sides fought for many years until a pivotal battle where Hos and the Insect Race Queen perished together, after which a peace treaty was finally signed.

That was why the movie was titled *High Light*.

That battle was the most glorious moment of General Hos’s life.

It was a light that shone upon the people for many years to come.

With its nostalgic appeal and superstar power, it was hard for the film not to be a massive hit.

Even though this plot and this period of history had been filmed over and over again, plenty of people would still buy a ticket just for the name Hos.

As for *Black Mist*, it was an exploration and survival film.

The plot was about a group of protagonists whose spaceship is damaged, causing them to accidentally fall through a black hole and land on a planet lost in the cosmos.

On that planet, they discovered traces of human life from at least a thousand years prior.

But now, all that remained on the planet was crumbling junk and debris, and the supplies they had brought with them would only last for a month.

In order to repair their ship and leave, they began to explore the lost planet, finding numerous relics of a past civilization.

However, none of it was edible. It was a dead planet, and they couldn’t find any food.

It was impossible to know how long it would take to repair the ship. How could they survive without supplies?

So, they began to turn on each other.

After a series of events that exposed the darkness of human nature, only the male and female leads survived in the end.

They also managed to luckily repair the ship, travel back through the black hole, and return to their proper flight path.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep