The Mummy Returns Premieres

May 24, 2001, 9 PM.

Los Angeles, Egyptian Theatre.

Lin Yuan and two directors stood at the entrance of a cinema called the "Egyptian Theatre."

It was a distinctive cinema styled after an Egyptian temple. Its main structure was built with ochre plaster walls. Two rows of tall, straight palm trees stood on either side of the lobby, giving it an exotic ancient Egyptian feel from the outside.

Upon entering the cinema lobby, elements like scarab decorations on the ceiling and Tutankhamun masks on the walls created a strong sense of immersion.

Looking at the dense crowds coming and going, Director Cohen couldn't help but say, "Watching The Mummy Returns here must be a great experience."

Of course, two days prior, The Mummy Returns had held its premiere at this highly fitting cinema, thus igniting the box office war.

Lin Yuan and the others naturally wanted to come to the scene to observe the performance and user feedback of their rival film.

"As expected, their home turf. The screening rate is as high as 60%," Director Johnston exclaimed in surprise.

"After all, the top-tier promotional expenses weren't spent in vain. The screening rates in other cinemas across America are also generally around 40%," Lin Yuan said.

Director Sommers's lavish spending on promotion had led major cinemas to give the film the highest possible screening arrangements.

Hearing Lin Yuan's words, Director Cohen smiled and said, "That doesn't scare me. Seeing that you have a plan, I know we won't lose."

Recently, the two directors' confidence in Lin Yuan had grown stronger. They increasingly believed that Lin Yuan had a way to achieve victory, no matter how strong their opponent's performance was.

"Let's go. We'll contribute three movie tickets to our opponent. We have that much class."

Lin Yuan joined the queue at the counter, secretly lamenting how backward the ticket purchasing methods were in this era.

Buying tickets at the counter, paying with cash...

Returning with three movie tickets, Lin Yuan smiled and said, "This is truly bad news. The movie tickets are selling very well, and only seats in the corner are left. Even so, we almost couldn't get them."

"This is a killer. It shattered my last bit of hope," Director Cohen said.

"Don't get discouraged too early. Maybe they bought the tickets themselves?" Director Johnston teased.

"It's not that bad, at least not yet," Lin Yuan said. "Let's go watch the movie."

The three of them entered the screening hall and took their seats. Shortly after, the film began.

The two directors watched the movie intently, evaluating its quality from a professional perspective.

Lin Yuan's attention, however, was not on the movie at all. He had watched The Mummy Returns many times in his previous life and didn't need to watch it again in the cinema today.

His goal was to observe the feedback from the audience present.

The Mummy Returns was a fantasy film that focused on visual effects. In terms of visual impact, it had indeed reached the top level of this era.

Swarms of scarabs surged out, devouring everyone.

High Priest Imhotep kissing his lover in his decaying form.

Mummies scaling walls and chasing the protagonists in a bus.

Imhotep's water-face waterfall magic.

Dwayne Johnson's appearance as the Scorpion King.

As these famous scenes unfolded one after another, the audience in the theater let out continuous gasps of amazement, clearly conquered by the visual effects.

Lin Yuan was not surprised by The Mummy Returns' performance.

He had never underestimated this movie. On the contrary, he greatly admired it, which was why he had tried his best to get a role in it back then.

However, admiring it did not mean Lin Yuan would surrender.

On the contrary, destroying a personal classic with his own hands was Lin Yuan's most noble way of paying tribute.

The excellence of The Mummy Returns lay in the perfect combination of fantasy elements and visual effects. It was a movie with extremely long strengths, but that didn't mean it had no weaknesses.

Its weakness lay in character development, especially the stereotypical and shallow portrayals of the main characters.

The Chicago Sun-Times had given the following review:

"The mistake The Mummy Returns made was abandoning character development, treating the plot merely as a clothesline for visual effects and action sequences.

If not for relying on the 1999 Mummy, this sequel wouldn't have had a plot at all."

Although this review was a bit harsh, it was also quite accurate.

The feedback from the audience present also corroborated Lin Yuan's judgment.

When thrilling action scenes occurred, the audience was generally engrossed, exclaiming continuously.

But when other plot parts of the film were being shown, the audience's interest was generally low.

Having confirmed this, Lin Yuan's objective for the day was considered complete.

He began to watch the movie, revisiting this personal classic.

When the movie ended and the three of them walked out of the cinema, Lin Yuan finally asked, "After watching this movie tonight, what are your thoughts?"

"It's excellent. Although there are slight flaws, it's a strong contender with the potential to compete for the annual box office champion," Director Cohen's expression was somewhat serious. "I estimate its opening weekend box office could reach $100 million. Your prediction of $280 million might very well come true."

"These visual effects are top-notch for today, much better than my Jurassic Park 3. Can we really win?" Director Johnston's expression was also not optimistic.

"Of course, remember I mentioned the timing? Director Sommers chose the wrong time to release the movie.

Our first monster ally is rising, and it will heavily target our opponents," Lin Yuan replied.

"Monster?"

"This animated film called Shrek will deliver a knockout blow to our opponents," Lin Yuan nodded.

"Can it really? It's just a medium-budget animated film?" Director Johnston asked incredulously.

At this point in time, no one besides Lin Yuan dared to believe:

This animated film, with a production cost of $60 million and promotional expenses of only $30 million, would soon cause The Mummy Returns, which had a production cost of $100 million and promotional expenses also as high as $100 million, to retreat steadily.

In Lin Yuan's memories from his previous life, Shrek had grossed $267 million in North America, ranking third for the year, far surpassing The Mummy Returns, which ranked sixth.

Moreover, the significance of this third-place ranking was extremely high because the top two films were so exceptional, considered invincible masterpieces.

"Trust me, it'll be fine. Shrek's reputation is continuously growing, and its screening rate is also steadily increasing," Lin Yuan said, nodding.

"But even as you say, Shrek's increasing screening rate won't be enough to squeeze out The Mummy Returns' screening space," Director Cohen asked. "It can still maintain about 30% of the screenings, so we're still in danger."

"Don't worry, our second monster ally will enter the arena soon," Lin Yuan said with a smile.

"Another monster movie?"

"No, I mean its performance will be monstrous. It's one of only two monsters in the next decade."