Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon Premieres

[Completed first date with Type B girl, Host performance evaluation: S]

After returning home to New York from his trip to Big Bear Mountain Park with Liu Yifei, Lin Yuan immediately received a prompt from the system.

An S-rank evaluation? The rewards must be substantial, right?

Recalling the wonderful experiences of the previous day, Lin Yuan felt he had already gained enough.

Thanks to his rebirth, he could finally make up for his regrets.

So, the rewards were no longer important?

How could that be!

He desperately needed the skill rewards provided by the system.

Lin Yuan aspired to become an action superstar. Apart from his good physical condition, he was completely clueless about other martial arts skills.

Wing Chun, Jeet Kune Do, Baji Quan, Xing Yi Quan, Drunken Fist… he knew none of them.

Swordsmanship, marksmanship, saber techniques, staff fighting… he understood nothing.

Muay Thai, Karate, Sambo, wrestling, Jujutsu… he was an outsider to all of them.

How could he become an action superstar like this?

For the car-jumping scene in "The Fast and the Furious," he had relied solely on his physical condition to brute force his way through.

If he could master various parkour skills like Jackie Chan, his success rate wouldn't have been so low.

Becoming the "God of War" of the furniture city wasn't an easy feat.

So, what reward would the system give?

Without making Lin Yuan wait long, golden text instantly appeared before his eyes:

[Host has received a skill reward: Swordsmanship (Master Level)]

[Achieved the highest date evaluation, bonus reward: Parkour Skills (Master Level)]

Lin Yuan had no time to think further; a piece of memory instantly materialized in his mind.

In the memory, he held a three-foot-long sword, practicing diligently every day for over thirty years.

Various sword forms were displayed through his hands, constantly refined and improved, his moves becoming increasingly concise and potent.

His swordsmanship was only a step away from the ethereal, supreme realm.

Instantly gaining swordsmanship that would normally take over thirty years of hard work, Lin Yuan couldn't help but feel ecstatic:

He had not only mastered elaborate sword forms suitable for film performances but also acquired practical combat sword skills.

It was truly killing two birds with one stone.

As he was still basking in his joy, another memory related to parkour was also inserted into his mind.

It was also the result of years of arduous practice, encompassing climbing and jumping techniques on various complex terrains, and even insights on how to minimize injuries.

After mastering the master-level parkour skills, Lin Yuan suddenly had a wild thought:

What are stairs? Do you really need such things to go downstairs?

Images flashed through his mind of himself leaping out of the balcony, descending floor by floor using the air conditioning units outside the windows.

"If you don't court death, you won't die," he immediately banished the thought from his mind.

"I laugh my proud laugh, I laugh my proud laugh, let's drink and sing as we seize the day..." His phone suddenly rang.

Lin Yuan glanced at the caller ID and quickly answered, "Director Ang Lee, hello."

"You rascal, is "The Fast and the Furious" finished filming?"

"Yes, it wrapped up yesterday."

"Then hurry up and come for the promotional tour! The movie has been out for two days, and you're a lead actor. You can't be absent for the entire thing, can you?"

"Okay, I'll buy a plane ticket and head over right away."

After hanging up, Lin Yuan changed into formal attire, packed his unorganized suitcase, and headed out.

Yesterday, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" had officially premiered in North America.

As a reborn individual, Lin Yuan knew that this film would eventually gross an astonishing $128 million in North America and over $200 million worldwide.

However, he also knew that "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" did not have a smooth start during its initial release.

A martial arts film directed by a Chinese director, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" was not initially given much importance by North American cinema chains.

It only had screenings in 16 theaters at the start, and its opening weekend box office was a mere $600,000.

This was an abysmal performance, no wonder Director Ang Lee sounded a bit anxious on the phone.

But Lin Yuan wasn't worried at all. As word-of-mouth spread, the number of screening theaters increased to 31 in the second week, and over 140 in the third week…

The number of screenings for "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" continued to rise month by month, and its word-of-mouth effect became increasingly prominent.

At its peak, over 2,000 theaters were showing "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," ultimately grossing $128 million and becoming the highest-grossing foreign language film in North America.

The foreign language film ranked second, the Italian film "Life is Beautiful," only grossed over $50 million, which was over $70 million less than "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon."

The fact that it achieved such success is enough to prove that "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" is an exceptionally excellent martial arts film.

In reality, Director Ang Lee had already clearly pointed out the film's theme with its title: "Hidden" and "Crouching."

"Hidden" signifies concealment, and "Crouching" signifies suppression.

Concealment is a struggle to face one's inner desires.

Crouching is suppression under moral norms represented by etiquette and law.

Therefore, this is a story that depicts the struggles and choices of the human heart when facing human nature, desires, fame, profit, etiquette, and law.

The more desires you have, and the less you learn to let go, the tighter you will be bound.

But if you let go of everything and pursue freedom, can you truly bear the consequences?

In a few more years, Chinese people will start shouting about "decluttering."

So, this is a story with an extremely Eastern core; it's not a work designed to please the West at all.

Director Ang Lee simply presented the struggles of human nature in "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" in a way that both Eastern and Western audiences could understand.

Yu Jiaolong, played by Zhang Ziyi, as the film's heroine, is someone who truly pursues freedom without regard for anything else.

But what did she ultimately gain from this recklessness?

At the end of the film, she chooses to leap from a high mountain. Perhaps in that brief moment, she finally found true freedom.

Westerners enjoy stories with philosophical contemplation; the core themes of struggling with desire and pursuing freedom are also easily understood by them.

Combined with the beautifully shot Eastern elements in the film: Chinese architecture, Jiangnan water towns, bamboo forests, qinggong, the eighteen kinds of weapons...

The combination of these multifaceted attractions created the miracle of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon."

Being able to act in such a film is certainly fortunate for Lin Yuan.

He wasn't worried about the film's success, but he had a slight, unspeakable concern:

Lin Yuan has a bed scene in this movie!

He plays Luo Xiaohu, who has a bed scene with Yu Jiaolong...

And it's quite intense...

Liu Yifei will definitely see this movie, won't she get angry?

The crucial point is that Lin Yuan can't completely distance himself from Zhang Ziyi. According to his plan, he needs to get to know Director Zhang Yimou through her.

Spurred by "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," domestic directors have all ignited ambitions to film big commercial blockbusters and enter Hollywood.

"Hero" and "The Promise" are the corresponding products.

Lin Yuan decisively chose to avoid "The Promise," but he didn't want to miss out on "Hero."

This film is a battleground he must fight for.

If Lin Yuan were only considering developing his career in Hollywood, then whether or not he acted in this film would indeed not be important.

But Lin Yuan is Chinese, and his path to superstardom cannot rely solely on Hollywood; China should be his roots.

"Hero" pioneered the era of domestic commercial blockbusters and is the most unmissable opportunity in recent years.

However, his current resume isn't strong enough to compete for it; he needs to wait until his wings are a bit stronger.

It's coming soon. Lin Yuan calculated that in another year, he'd have enough capital.

Being reborn is such a stroke of luck; only by constantly moving forward can he live up to his youth.

[Sensing the host's fighting spirit, an additional mission has been issued.]

[Please work hard to help "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" improve its box office. Rewards will be based on the results.]

Lin Yuan: ???