Chapter 179: Breaking Records

No one knew that both the director and actors were on site; the audience’s applause was entirely spontaneous. It gradually built into a thunderous roar that filled the entire theater. In their private booth, Xiao Ran and Lin Qingxia sat close together, eyes closed, quietly enjoying the moment.

We all know it’s the feeling of victory. When you’re fully immersed, you can truly experience and understand it. For Xiao Ran, it was a feeling different from being a director.

If directing is the beauty of control, then what the actors experienced now was a sense of satisfaction—or perhaps even a purer form of joy. The joy of having one’s work recognized by others, the joy of feeling like a child born after nine months of pregnancy being praised for being smart— it’s an indirect feeling that isn’t immediately obvious but still deeply inspiring.

The next day, film critics like Li Zhuotao published their articles in newspaper columns. As if they had agreed in advance, they all unanimously praised the film as one of the best love movies in Hong Kong to date.

Among them, Lin Chaorong’s review was the most incisive. He mentioned that the film was not only smooth but also had special effects comparable to those of Hollywood. Yet none of this was the main point. The real highlight was that Xiao Ran and Lin Qingxia’s performances were absolutely perfect, especially in the final scene, where their coordination was flawless. Not only were they in perfect sync, but he even claimed that Xiao Ran and Lin Qingxia had a 50% chance of winning awards at the next Golden Horse Awards—just based on that final scene.

Xiao Ran was extremely proud of this. Of the performances he admired most, there were three details he considered absolutely flawless. The first was Tony Leung’s insane gambling scene in *The God of Gamblers*, which was extremely nuanced in every aspect.

The second was Tony Leung Chiu-Wai’s scene in *Hard Boiled* where he was almost shot dead face-to-face by Tony Leung. This scene clearly and vividly depicted his expression shifting from shock to despair, then to relief, and finally to resentment. Xiao Ran even considered this scene a classic example of acting.

The third was Andy Lau’s scene in *The King of Destruction*, where he was pulled by the hair and humiliated in front of Sammi Cheng. Andy Lau’s performance was extremely understated, yet his helplessness and humiliation were conveyed through his eyes, pushing the atmosphere to its extreme.

He had always believed that these three actors’ nuanced performances alone were enough to win an Oscar. Now that he was receiving similar praise, it was as if he had been elevated to the same level as Tony Leung and the other acclaimed actors—how could he not be overjoyed?

Li Zhuotao, who knew Xiao Ran best, mentioned in his review that the middle and ending scenes of the film didn’t quite resemble Chen Kexin’s style. Instead, they were very similar to certain shot techniques Xiao Ran used in *Spy Game* and *Dark Flower*, with just an added touch of inspiration.

Li Zhuotao believed that the performances of the lead actors were indeed crucial, but he thought the key to the film’s success lay in the two plotlines, which were handled in a highly adventurous and unusual manner. Such unconventional and extreme techniques were rarely executed so skillfully in Hong Kong, except by Xiao Ran.

Xiao Ran had to admire Li Zhuotao for being able to notice this. But Li Zhuotao saw more than just that—he also recognized the subtle metaphorical approach, as the lead characters in the entire film never even held hands.

Xiao Ran felt a bit ashamed about this. In fact, this approach had nothing to do with him; it was Zhang Wanding’s idea. Zhang Wanding’s “A Fairy Tale in Autumn” followed the same pattern—the lead characters, Fa Ge and Hong Gu, never held hands, yet their emotions were portrayed with great depth. Compared to many films that constantly showed romantic interactions, it was ten times more sophisticated.

Xiao Ran didn’t expect that it was precisely this aspect that led to the film being rated A, meaning it could be shown to audiences of all ages. It should be noted that very few films are rated A each year; the content and visuals must be exceptionally pure to earn this rating.

As a result, the box office performance was extraordinary. Thanks to the highly consistent reviews and various indirect promotions by Friends of the Phantom, the opening-day box office revenue was 4.5 million, and within ten days it reached 20 million. By the end of a month, it had reached 40 million, with steady performance and strong momentum. After 100 days in theaters, it surpassed 60 million and ultimately reached 72 million, setting new records for box office earnings and longest running time in Hong Kong.

Xiao Ran was stunned by this figure, which seemed almost unattainable. With a population of around 5 million in Hong Kong, this meant each person had watched the film more than once on average. It was an extremely astonishing figure—probably only “Titanic” could surpass it.

At the ticket prices of 2005, this meant the film’s box office earnings were over 300 million. Even if calculated based on actual viewership, “Titanic” would likely fall short. Xiao Ran was troubled by this figure, fearing that it would be impossible to break records in the future.

Not only the media but also the industry was shocked by these box office numbers. It should be remembered that 20 million was already a very good figure at the time. For “Unfinished Business” to reach 72 million was nothing short of a miracle.

In fact, although Xiao Ran listed this film as one of the highlights of the year, he and the planning team had only expected its box office earnings to reach 40 million, with even lower figures expected across Asia.

After the marketing success of “Spy Change” last year, the company wasn’t caught off guard this time and systematically promoted the film within ten days. The profit-sharing arrangement in Japan made things easier.

In no time, “Unfinished Business” surpassed all the records set by “Spy Change,” earning over 200 million in South Korea and over 600 million in Japan. In Taiwan, it broke the box office record of “The God of Gamblers,” becoming the first film to exceed 150 million.

The film was also released in the Chinese mainland. Although, for certain reasons, only limited promotion was allowed for it. Yet, according to later statistics, its box office there reached at least 300 million. Excluding the mainland, “As Time Goes By” achieved a total box office in Southeast Asia of nearly 1.3 billion, far surpassing the record set by “The Spy Who Came in from the Cold,” and its runtime set the longest record in various regions. Xiao Ran believed that only “Titanic” could possibly match such success. In Europe, the film, with its English subtitles, easily claimed second place in the annual European box office, earning 650 million Hong Kong dollars. The top performer was “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade,” with a box office of 800 million Hong Kong dollars. While the film was being shown in most parts of the world, several major Hollywood studios approached Phantom Films, offering to release it in mainstream theaters, and eventually reached an agreement for 80 million Hong Kong dollars. However, its box office in Hollywood was actually not very high, at just over 90 million dollars, ranking just behind “Driving Miss Daisy” and “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.” It must be admitted that this was already the greatest success for a Hong Kong film globally. In the end, “As Time Goes By” achieved a global box office of 350 million dollars, or 2.8 billion Hong Kong dollars. With this figure, it successfully made it to fourth place on the list of the top 10 global box office films of the year. The top two were “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” and “Batman,” both with box offices over 400 million dollars. It is no exaggeration to say that this film broke countless local and Southeast Asian records and even became the highest-grossing film overseas. It broke records and became the first Mandarin-language film to make it onto the list of the top 10 global box office films. After this success, Phantom Films distributed over 10 million in rewards, with even Chen Kexin, who originally earned only 100,000, receiving over a million in rewards. Everyone was overjoyed and vowed to continue making great films, with Chen Kexin undoubtedly more excited than the others. This time, Chen Kexin achieved both fame and fortune. Leaving profit aside, the fact that he became the first director other than Xiao Ran to receive royalties made him one of Hong Kong’s top directors. With the film’s unexpected success, his name gradually became well-known worldwide. He truly became a star overnight. Even Hollywood film companies reached out to him, but unfortunately, he had no intention of going to Hollywood. As one of the people who had close contact with Xiao Ran at Phantom Films, he was quite aware of Xiao Ran’s ambitions. He was eager to achieve such greatness and use his works to make an impact in Hollywood. Moreover, he never forgot that it was Xiao Ran who promoted him, and it was Xiao Ran’s two key suggestions that improved the film significantly. As for Xiao Lin, he became even more famous, though no one would be foolish enough to poach him. Outside, Xiao Ran’s net worth soared to 3 million, while Lin Qingxia’s reached 3.5 million. Unfortunately, other film companies were not as quick as Phantom Films in this regard. By the time Lin Qingxia starred in her next film, her net worth had already reached 4 million, making her the only actress capable of competing with Stephen Chow.

Of course, all of this happened later on. Xiao Ran didn’t care about his high status as a leading actor in the industry; he raised Lin Qingxia’s salary just to remind Tian Luo and De Bao that female actors were equally important. By the end of July, Wei Jiahui’s “Unforgiving Love” was released. This time, it wasn’t the same cast—except for Wen Zhaolun, who still played the heartless villain, most of the others had changed. As soon as this series aired, it outperformed TVB’s shows, achieving a viewership rating of 32 points. Based on his own memories, Xiao Ran gave Zhu Guangli a list of some famous series’ producers he could recall, asking him to bring those people to ATV. Needless to say, ATV’s lineup grew stronger by the day, and Xiao Ran was relieved, handing over the task of competing with TVB to Zhu Guangli. Meanwhile, Xiao Ran happily watched TVB’s Miss Hong Kong pageant final. Li Jiaxin’s performance and appearance completely won over every judge, allowing her to win the title effortlessly. In August, the number of theaters showing “Unfinished Love Between Man and Ghost” decreased significantly, while “New Dragon Inn” caught the attention of audiences once again. The local box office revenue was 32 million, Southeast Asia’s was 370 million, and Europe’s was only 40 million. As the date of Xiao Ran and Lin Qingxia’s wedding approached, the wedding itself was kept simple. Both Xiao Ran and Lin Qingxia thought it wasn’t necessary, but considering the large number of guests, they still decided to hold a grand wedding. At the same time, karaoke spread rapidly like a hurricane in high-consumption areas such as Japan and Taiwan. Xiao Ran counted his earnings every day, calculating how much money he needed to acquire several companies, smiling broadly. Of course, Xiao Ran wasn’t obsessed with money; he was happy about the success of karaoke. Since patents had been applied for in major countries and regions around the world, anyone who wanted to produce this device had to pay royalties to him. Now, Xiao Ran experienced the feeling of being in control of others. Most importantly, he had been waiting for karaoke’s success—only it could provide him with enough funds to fulfill his acquisition plans. Although Meiying had repaid some loans, it was still in debt of over 2 billion. It was best to make the acquisition in cash; otherwise, there was no need to go through the hassle of loans or financing.