Chapter 189: Unique in Heaven and Unmatched on Earth

"The Scorpion King" received a warm response, with its advance screening earning 3.4 million dollars, ranking it as the best April release in North America!"

"The spin-off from 'The Mummy Returns', 'The Scorpion King', excels in advance screening box office, with industry predictions of a possible 30 million dollars in its opening weekend!"

On Friday morning, related news appeared on the entertainment pages of many newspapers, continuing the momentum for "The Scorpion King".

There were even gossip tabloids that deliberately reminded Rex Reed.

"The Scorpion King's" advance screening hauls in 3.4 million dollars, Rex Reed should start preparing early. It would be best for him to clean the donkey sent by Matthew Horner today, lest he end up kissing a dirty donkey butt..."

These publicity stunts helped attract more attention to "The Scorpion King", thereby increasing the desire to purchase tickets.

Additionally, data statistics released by third-party organizations were also favorable for the film.

In CinemaScore's in-theater audience survey, "The Scorpion King" scored an "A-", although its popcorn index exceeded 80%.

Regarding age demographics, 68% of the audience was under 22 years old, perfectly targeting the film's intended audience, making the age structure of the advance screening audience quite favorable.

In terms of gender, the male audience accounted for about 55%, not much different from the female audience, resulting in a balanced viewer composition.

Of course, as more professional film critics published their reviews, "The Scorpion King's" Rotten Tomatoes freshness rating continued to decline. By Friday afternoon, it had fallen below 60%, dropping to 59%, turning from fresh to rotten.

Simultaneously, the IMDB rating was also released, scoring a mediocre 6.3 points.

Overall, "The Scorpion King's" reputation was quite average.

Like Universal Pictures' own premiere survey, "The Scorpion King" was most criticized for its thin plot and lack of relevance to "The Mummy" series.

However, the film wasn't without its highly praised aspects, mainly centered on Matthew, the male lead, and Kelly Hu, the female lead, especially Matthew and his action scenes, which received little criticism.

For instance, on the fan-centric website IMDB, most of the praise was directed at Matthew.

"The highlight of the film is none other than Matthew Horner."

"Nonsense plot but not as good looking as Matthew Horner's physique and fight scenes."

"As a bizarre spin-off movie, it's quite ordinary, except for Matthew Horner and Kelly Hu."

"The film is mediocre in all aspects, the only thing worth watching is the strong, muscular protagonist Matthew Horner and his smooth moves."

"Shoddy plot, full of loopholes, fabrications, and bizarre twists. Unbelievable that such a bad movie has so many viewers! The only highlight is the fierce male lead! Strong build! Fierce actions!"

As a typical commercial entertainment film nearing the summer schedule and a spin-off of a blockbuster series, the reviews often fail to impact the opening weekend box office, especially given Universal Pictures' innovative publicity and marketing.

Universal Pictures anticipated the film's potential negative reviews and prepared early with positive articles. When Matthew read the newspapers on Friday, he saw numerous articles clearly meant to bolster the film, and they seemed quite reasonable at first glance.

"A film like 'The Scorpion King', with hunks, beauties, action, magic, and occasional humor... What more could you want? Acting? Plot? Humanity? If you want these, why not watch 'Last Tango in Paris' or 'Mulholland Drive'? This is an action movie, a pure commercial film, after all!"

This article not only defended the movie but also praised the most popular male lead.

"Ever since Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, and Bruce Willis started transitioning and declining, action movies seemed to hit a rut, with even the artistically inclined Nicolas Cage dabbling in action, though not bad at it, it's not his forte."

"Action movies seemed to lack a representative figure, until Matthew Horner emerged in 'The Scorpion King'..."

The praises for Matthew were sky-high, depicting him as unique in heaven and unmatched on earth.

The production team's promotion of the film was exhaustive. Even seemingly brainless articles were used if they could attract attention and boost box office sales.

For this purpose, they even did not hesitate to leverage the popularity of others.

"To appreciate 'The Scorpion King', one must adjust their mindset, for instance, from 30 years old to 15 years old. If you accidentally bring a reverence for art, you might turn into a prattling Woody Allen, cynically mocking the film's plot and dialogue with a petty bourgeois aesthetic. If you're an Egyptologist, you would be infuriated by the film's historical distortions, perhaps even digging out historical texts to prove which details are historically inaccurate. In comparison to 'The Scorpion King', 'Pearl Harbor' is a serious and outstanding historical film, fully deserving of 14 Oscars."

"'The Scorpion King' knows its place in the film pyramid. It didn't disguise itself as an epic like 'Pearl Harbor', and it's even more juvenile than last year's 'The Mummy Returns'. It seems to say: You high schoolers pretend to be profound college students; I'm naturally at the middle school level, playing middle school games. 'The Scorpion King's' honesty eliminates some of the psychological barriers for art film lovers, allowing them to relax their guard and return to their shallow and naive years..."

"After saying so many bad things about 'The Scorpion King', I don't mean to completely negate it. I just want to prevent the audience from mistakenly judging it as an art film. As a grand and straightforward entertainment film, it's only responsible for providing ample sensory stimulation."

Matthew, having been in Hollywood for a few months, understood the purpose of Universal Pictures publishing this article - to attract audiences who like this type of film to the theaters, even at the cost of offending fans of more profound films.

The reason was simple: the former might provide box office sales and might even purchase DVDs or videotapes later, making them the target customers of the film.

As for the latter, neither the production team nor Universal Pictures expected art film enthusiasts to watch "The Scorpion King"; the two sides were clearly distinct.

This isn't to say that fans of profound films are superior or that fans of mindless popcorn movies are simple; everyone has their preferences, which are key factors in a commercial society where people pay for what they like.

With the development of the film industry, whether acknowledged or not, the distinction between popcorn commercial films and profound art films has become increasingly clear, with little overlap in their audiences.

On Friday afternoon, with no promotional events scheduled, Matthew left home on time and headed to a gym in Westwood. From the moment he stepped out of his house, paparazzi followed him. Upon reaching the gym, what used to require payment for street photography became a gift delivered by media reporters.

Six or seven photographers aimed their cameras at him, constantly clicking away.

Matthew believed many of these photos would appear on the entertainment pages of some newspapers the next day.

As long as "The Scorpion King's" box office soared, coverage about him would increase. A hit film significantly boosts an actor's profile.

After completing his regular workout and training, including some extra fencing practice, he left the gym as night fell. Most of the reporters and paparazzi were still waiting outside.

Clearly, everything was changing with the rising box office of "The Scorpion King".

"Matthew Horner! Can I ask you a few questions?"

Outside the gym, a few reporters actively appeared, blocking Matthew's way. He took a step back, ready to retreat inside, but his face wore a friendly smile, "Of course, I'll answer what I can."

His cooperative attitude suited a newly famous actor.

The oldest-looking male reporter among them asked, "Have you been following 'The Scorpion King's' real-time box office?"

Matthew shook his head, "I don't have access to that information."

"I just asked a friend who works at the North American Theatre Alliance," another reporter said, showing his phone to Matthew from a short distance, "Ten minutes ago, he checked the rough statistics. 'The Scorpion King' has been leading, and the advantage is very significant!"

"Wow..." Matthew appeared genuinely pleased, "That's really exciting news."

Even among entertainment reporters, not everyone was as well-informed as Elena Polyar. The oldest-looking male reporter added, "Congratulations, Matthew Horner, your first starring film might be a big box office hit."

Matthew replied with a polite smile, "Thank you! I hope so." He curiously asked, "How much has 'The Scorpion King' made?"

"The reporter with the phone said, "Including yesterday's advance screening, the rough estimate for the first day's box office is about 9.4 million dollars!"

"That much?" Matthew's surprise was genuine.

Unlike these well-informed reporters, besides the production team, he had no other sources for box office information. Since parting with Helen Herman in the early hours, he had not inquired proactively, as the production team would surely notify him as part of their routine the next morning.

"Matthew!"

A short reporter squeezed through from behind, speaking loudly, "It's only 8 PM, and there's still a long way to go until the end of the day. 'The Scorpion King's' opening weekend box office will definitely exceed 10 million dollars. Don't you have something to say to Rex Reed?"

"Hmm..." Matthew pondered for a moment, then said, "I believe Mr. Rex Reed is a reputable critic."

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