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Chapter 1421: Chapter 1173: One Could Replace Him

It’s taking off!

The movie “Kung Fu” has been in theaters since August 8th, and as of August 31st, it has already raked in 7.7 billion in box office earnings!

If this isn’t taking off, what is?

And yet, this isn’t the end.

On Blue Star, films typically have a run time of 30 days, just like on Earth. This is because 30 days is usually enough to exhaust a movie’s full potential. But the problem is, “Kung Fu” has only been out for a little over 20 days!

Xian Yu still has at least a week left to aim for even higher box office earnings!

If after a week “Kung Fu” still hasn’t tapped out its potential, Starlight could even negotiate an extension with the theaters!

Under these circumstances, no one can confidently predict how far “Kung Fu” will ultimately go!

But rather than wondering how far “Kung Fu” will go, tonight, Blue Star’s netizens across all continents are more concerned about one thing:

“Hey, isn’t the film rankings about to be updated?”

“It should be out any moment now!”

“I’m wondering where Xian Yu’s rank will end up after this wave.”

“It’s definitely going to shoot up!”

“Xian Yu’s currently ranked 55th, but considering the success of ‘Kung Fu,’ that seems way too low.”

“Right.”

“A five-rank jump wouldn’t be unreasonable, right?”

“Five ranks is too conservative. I think it should be at least ten!”

“More than ten wouldn’t be surprising either, given that ‘Kung Fu’ has been both a box office and critical hit. Even down to the soundtrack, everything was done to perfection. It’s not like one of those generic blockbuster popcorn films that may bring in money but lack substance. And most importantly, this time Zhong Continent was actively trying to shoot it down, yet Liu Xing led the charge only to wind up backstabbed by Hua Li. The Arts Association is bound to factor this into their evaluations.”

“Look!”

“It’s out!”

“This ranking!”

“The Arts Association is stirring the pot!”

“Is this a total replacement?”

“The drama factor is off the charts!”

As a netizen exclaimed, the Blue Star Film Rankings were updated. Xian Yu was now ranked 38th!

And wouldn’t you know it—the previous holder of the 38th spot was none other than Zhong Continent’s famed director Liu Xing!

Now, Xian Yu had completely replaced him!

Liu Xing had dropped to 39th!

From 55th to 38th, Xian Yu pulled off a 17-rank leap!

…

In the film industry.

Directors ranked between 55th and 38th broke down collectively. A few who knew each other gathered to vent their frustrations:

“Damn!”

“That leap is just insane!”

“I thought he might jump ten spots at most, but how does he jump 17 at once?”

“Damn it!”

“It’s gotta be because he crushed ‘Imperial City’ and a group of Zhong Continent’s big-shot directors. Double experience points!”

“Double experience points my ass—you think this is a video game?”

“Isn’t the Arts Association rigging this? The rise is way too extreme. I’m tempted to file a protest!”

“Ol’ Liu, say something!”

“It’s all your fault, Liu Xing! You brought a group of Zhong Continent directors and screenwriters to throw themselves at him, feeding him until he’s this fat!”

“Exactly!”

“This is freaking outrageous—ten ranks would’ve been more reasonable. But seventeen?”

“Outrageous my ass.”

“Just look at the major streaming platforms, like Penguin Video. I admit ‘Imperial City’ couldn’t match theirs, but at the end of the day, Xian Yu’s foundation is just too solid!”

The speaker was Liu Xing.

…

Streaming platforms?

The group of directors froze for a moment, silently cursing Liu Xing in their hearts, then curiously opened Penguin Video. But as they scrolled, their eyes widened in shock!

On Penguin Video.

There was a “Monthly Movie Streaming Rankings” chart.

Streaming platforms often have such rankings. This particular one ranked films based on click-through rates for all movies uploaded to the platform this month, and the board looked like this:

1st: “Flirting Scholar,” screenwriter Xian Yu

2nd: “The Truman Show,” screenwriter Xian Yu

3rd: “Life of Pi,” screenwriter Xian Yu

4th: “Spider-Man,” screenwriter Xian Yu

5th: “Hachiko,” screenwriter Xian Yu

6th: “Resident Evil,” screenwriter Xian Yu

6th: “Song of the Years,” screenwriter Liang Zhen

7th: “Youth,” director Tang Ren

8th: “The Tuner,” screenwriter Xian Yu

9th: “Martial Extreme,” director Liu Xing

10th: “The World is Essentially One,” screenwriter Ol’ Wang

…

If a movie was director-driven, the director’s name would appear at the forefront.

If a movie was screenwriter-driven, the screenwriter’s name would be listed instead.

Xian Yu’s films were all screenwriter-driven, so his name dominated the lineup.

But this wasn’t the main point.

The main point was that seven out of the top ten rankings for monthly streaming click-through rates were movies by Xian Yu!

Evidently.

After many people watched “Kung Fu,” they felt insatiable and turned to Xian Yu’s other films!

In other words:

Xian Yu’s influence exploded thanks to “Kung Fu.”

“Kung Fu” not only made waves itself but also propelled Xian Yu’s other works into the spotlight.

The success of “Kung Fu” carried Xian Yu’s entire film portfolio like a rising tide lifting all boats, resulting in his 17-rank leap!

Faced with this scene.

The directors who had earlier been critical of Xian Yu’s ranking surge fell silent all at once.

…

Indeed.

Lin Yuan’s success with “Kung Fu” also brought newfound attention to his earlier works.

Across major movie review sections:

“I’m from Zhong Continent. I was blown away by ‘Kung Fu’ and then heard from friends in Qin Continent that Xian Yu’s ‘Flirting Scholar’ has a similar style and cast. I decided to check it out—and found a hidden treasure!”

“Same here! +1!”

“I’m from Wei Continent. I had only seen Xian Yu’s ‘Resident Evil’ before. It was decent but not mind-blowing. After watching ‘Kung Fu,’ I gave him another shot and tried ‘The Truman Show.’ I was absolutely floored!”

“Haha, it’s all thanks to ‘Kung Fu!'”

“I thought ‘Kung Fu’ was Xian Yu’s best movie, but then I saw ‘Life of Pi!'”

“I’m also from Zhong Continent, but my favorite turned out to be ‘Hachiko.’ I’m still crying like crazy—what a heartbreaking ending!”

“Does no one want to talk about ‘The Tuner’? The endless twists were insane!”

“That line from ‘Kung Fu’—’With great power comes great responsibility’—I just realized it’s from ‘Spider-Man.’ Hilarious! Too bad I hadn’t seen ‘Spider-Man’ earlier to appreciate the joke.”

“Xian Yu’s movies are truly incredible!”

“Why didn’t I discover him sooner?”

“Haha, I came to rewatch ‘Flirting Scholar,’ but it seems like everyone’s secretly catching up!”

…

Catching up!

Catching up!

Netizens from Zhong Continent, Wei Continent, and elsewhere were binge-watching Xian Yu’s earlier films after being captivated by “Kung Fu!”

This wasn’t surprising.

It’s just like how we grow fond of an actor and then can’t resist watching all their films and TV shows;

Or how falling for a certain author’s entertainment novels makes us go back and subscribe to their earlier works, even if we suspect they might’ve written nonsensical stuff.

And it wasn’t just Xian Yu’s films that people were catching up on.

Thanks to “Kung Fu,” many people were revisiting Chu Kuang’s legendary “Condor Heroes” trilogy.

Everyone now realized that “Kung Fu” contained numerous references to Chu Kuang’s works.

This directly resulted in:

The “Condor Heroes” trilogy experiencing a massive sales spike in Zhong Continent and Wei Continent.

As people from other continents had already read Chu Kuang’s trilogy during its peak popularity, only these two continents had missed out.

Of course.

The trilogy boom wasn’t solely because of “Kung Fu.”

The success of the Harry Potter series was a major factor as well. Many people who fell in love with Chu Kuang’s writing through Harry Potter naturally gravitated toward “Condor Heroes” after the buzz around “Kung Fu.”

Additionally, there were rumors of Easter eggs hinting at Chu Kuang’s new book within “Kung Fu.”

With all the hype swirling, the “Condor Heroes” trilogy naturally caught fire.

Following its popularity surge.

The trilogy received outstanding reviews.

The only issue was that “The Return of the Condor Heroes” left many Zhong and Wei people emotionally wrecked. They cursed Chu Kuang while enduring Yang Guo and Little Dragon Maiden’s heartbreaking story: “No wonder this guy’s reputation is so rotten! No wonder Harry Potter was so brutal! Turns out, everything he writes loves to torture his readers—what a rascal!”

…

Ripple effects.

Layer upon layer.

Even Lin Yuan hadn’t expected “Kung Fu” to tie in Xian Yu’s older movies with Chu Kuang’s novels.

But this was undoubtedly a good thing.

What made Lin Yuan happiest, though, was the rise in the ranking. He figured that making another hit movie could push his ranking even higher—one of the perks of starting out low on the list!

On his blog.

Xian Yu’s fans were filling the comments section with congratulations, their excitement resembling the atmosphere of Chinese New Year:

“38th place, awesome!”

“Fish Daddy’s older movies are blowing up too. I saw tons of Zhong Continent people raving about ‘The Truman Show!'”

“I caught a Wei Continent person complaining though.”

“That’s gotta be someone who accidentally watched Fish Daddy’s ‘Hachiko.'”

“Haha.”

“Fish Daddy’s movies usually aren’t tragic, except for that one. I’m convinced he was channeling Chu Kuang the old rascal when he wrote that script.”

“Probably Chu Kuang’s idea to begin with!”

“For pure fun though, ‘Spider-Man’ takes the cake for me.”

“According to the rankings, the 33rd spot belongs to Qin Continent’s director Zhang Lin, making Fish Daddy the second-ranked filmmaker in Qin Continent.”

“Do you think Fish Daddy’s ranking will rise again next month?”

“Definitely—it hasn’t finished its run yet!”

“This ‘Kung Fu’ has practically made the entire world sit up and notice Qin Continent’s films. Hoping Fish Daddy helps Qin Continent reach the top!”

Fans were elated!

Though people loved Xian Yu’s music more, seeing his movie career skyrocket filled them with pride!

Because they were all from Qin Continent!

Qin Continent’s film industry had lagged far behind Zhong Continent and Qi Continent for years!

Any Qin Continent native would be thrilled to see their homeland’s films thrive on a global scale!

Now everyone was curious.

With just one week left.

Can “Kung Fu’s” box office earnings rise even higher?

————————

PS: The industrialized movie market moves rapidly. Don’t be fooled by 1 billion on the first day or tens of billions within a week. Usually, box office earnings peak within three to four weeks, after which they plummet, sometimes overnight. Most audiences who truly want to watch the film will flock to theaters within the first month.

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