The premiere of “The Zeroth Law” concluded, and the box office results were released to widespread acclaim!

It was previously mentioned that in the three or four months leading up to the film’s release, fan anticipation for it was incredibly high.

 Every day, discussions about “The Zero Law” could be seen on major film websites, forums, Weibo, and other platforms. However, as the release date approached, “The Zeroth Law” actually saw a dip in attention, leading many media outlets to suspect: Is “The Zeroth Law” heading for a massive failure?

Yet, everything unfolded just as Clemens had predicted: audiences were simply building up their enthusiasm, waiting for the film’s release to explode.

Just ten minutes after the film ended, Sr. Holt received a call from the producer: “The global box office for the premiere was 9.62 million US dollars!”

9.62 million US dollars, converted to Chinese Yuan, is nearly 70 million!

“The Zeroth Law” was shown in approximately 25,000 cinemas worldwide. If every one of these cinemas were full, it was expected to bring in 15 million US dollars at the box office. However, this was a midnight premiere. While it was daytime in North America, it was early morning in Asia, which has the largest population. Most moviegoers would be asleep, so it was impossible for all of them to go to the cinema.

Nine million for a premiere box office was already astonishing. When the producer announced this figure, even Rong Xu, who was beside him, was momentarily stunned.

Sr. Holt confirmed it again, and after the producer stated the figure unequivocally, the great director laughed heartily and declared with gusto: “Let’s go, time for a celebration party!”

The film’s premiere had just ended, and only the box office results for the premiere screening were known. To hold a celebration party already was absolutely unprecedented in the entertainment industry. It was only the first screening; who knew if the film would flop later or if the box office would plummet?

It wasn’t unheard of for films to have explosive box office on their premiere day only to see it drop to a fraction the next day. Such films were often star-studded duds, where fans came to see the director or actors, not caring about the film’s content. As a result of the poor quality, they would reach their limit, leading to an initial boom followed by a slump.

Clemens was the associate director of “The Zeroth Law,” but his own film was also scheduled for release next month, putting it in a competitive relationship with “The Zeroth Law.” At this moment, he didn’t mind pouring cold water on his father: “Dear Lance, I’d be happy to remind you, do you remember ‘Van Gorden’ six years ago?”

“Van Gorden” was a commercial film Clemens directed six years ago, which could be said to be the biggest stain on his personal directorial history. 

The male lead of this film was Hollywood A-list action star Straus Fite, and the female lead was China’s top actress Wen Xuan. 

Logically, a big commercial film with such a lineup should have been a box office hit and a blockbuster phenomenon. But unfortunately… this film had the lowest box office among all works by Clemens, Straus, and Wen Xuan, totaling only 900 million.

Clearly, Clemens now wanted to tell his father: If you celebrate now, aren’t you afraid “The Zeroth Law” will become the next “Van Gorden”?

Back then, the premiere box office of “Van Gorden” was also over 4 million US dollars, and what happened? The total box office was only 100 million US dollars.

Listening to his son’s words, Sr. Holt scanned him up and down, revealing a sighing smile: “Clem, are you that afraid of our ‘The Zeroth Law? So afraid that you’re willing to expose your own scars?”

Clemens was suddenly stunned.

Sr. Holt patted his son’s shoulder: “My dear little octopus, as your father, I also need to take care of you a bit and understand your feelings. How about this, I’ll give you a suggestion: you can postpone your film’s release by another week, completely separating it from our ‘The Zeroth Law.’ That way, perhaps you can save face.”

Clemens: “!!!”

Who’s a little octopus!!!

Rong Xu couldn’t help but chuckle quietly beside him. Indeed, every dog has its day. Someone as arrogant as Clemens, with his nose in the air, could only bow down to his father and obediently listen to Mr. Holt. Unlike some men who badmouth their fathers behind their backs, calling the kind and approachable Uncle Qin an old fox.

As if sensing his beloved’s gaze, Qin Cheng lowered his eyes to him: “?”

Rong Xu nodded, saying meaningfully: “I’ll ask Aunt Qin when I get a chance, maybe you have some interesting nicknames too.” At this, Rong Xu paused suddenly, “Huh, Goddess Orange? That seems to be a nickname? Then I’ll share it with Aunt Qin next time; she’ll definitely tell me your nickname.”

Qin Cheng: “…”

When Sr. Holt said he would prepare a celebration banquet, he really gathered all the staff present, and everyone went enthusiastically to Beijing’s most famous restaurant for a big meal. They weren’t afraid of spending too much, ordering the most expensive dishes. Everyone ate Chinese food, refusing steak and bisque, enjoying the most authentic and delicious Chinese cuisine.

At the dinner table, Rong Xu “casually” brought up Clemens’s nickname “little octopus,” and a slightly drunk Sr. Holt laughed heartily, beginning to reveal embarrassing stories about his son’s childhood at the table.

The entire “The Zeroth Law” crew was in high spirits, except for Clemens himself, whose face was dark, wishing he could leave immediately. 

Even Qin Cheng secretly held his lover’s hand, listening with great interest to Sr. Holt’s revelations. And outside this restaurant, all over the world, fans who had just watched the movie couldn’t imagine that these “evil” crew members could actually laugh, and laugh so happily!

Most of the audience who watched “The Zeroth Law” were already weeping before they even left the cinema.

Nothing in this world is more moving than national righteousness and life-and-death separation.

In fact, fans who came to see this film had already prepared themselves mentally. Sr. Holt and his son were always different; this Hollywood director was best at shooting dramas, not purely commercial films.

Moving people with emotion is the most heart-wrenchwrenching.

In “The Zeroth Law,” audiences couldn’t blame anyone.

Qi’s love for Chu Wen, you could say it wasn’t love at all, but he gave his everything. Even if his parts were broken, even if he had long become a pile of scrap metal, when he touched that person’s aura, he still used all his strength, earnestly and innocently, to say the word “love.”

And Chu Wen did nothing wrong either. In the entire future world, human emotions were very cold. He loved Qi, even knowing that the other’s love for him might just be a result calculated by data, but he still loved him without hesitation.

So, was the Robot Association at fault? Were the decision-makers who decided to destroy robots at fault? In fact, they weren’t.

Robots killing people itself violated the original intention of humanity creating robots. Such robots contained unknown factors, and if not destroyed, humanity might be annihilated because of them.

Therefore, in this love story, no one was at fault; the fault lay only with fate.

It was this sense of powerlessness, this despair of being unable to find an object of hatred, that most profoundly impacted every audience member after watching the film, pressing down on their hearts with that hopeless emotion, making it hard to breathe.

[Ten points, don’t want to say more, I want to watch it again.]

[Nine points, only nine points, it made my eye makeup run from crying. Luckily my boyfriend was also engrossed in the movie and didn’t notice my eye makeup, otherwise, he’d definitely laugh at me. How can it be so heartbreaking! Why can’t there be a good ending? Why can’t they be together! They clearly love each other, they love each other so much! Why!!!]

[I don’t care, I don’t care, I don’t care, they can definitely be together, right? Chu Wen found Qi’s parts; they can definitely be together! I don’t care that only one part was found, or if that part was broken, they can definitely be together, boo hoo hoo hoo hoo…]

For ordinary audiences, they primarily watched a story, watching the two protagonists. 

They were moved by this hopeless yet loving romance, so they cried, they were angry and helpless. They were angry at the director for making such a tragedy, and helpless that even though they were just heartbroken and cried their hearts out, they still couldn’t help but…

“I want to buy another ticket, for the 2 AM… boo hoo, 2:30 AM showing, boo hoo hoo…”

“Me too! For the 2:30 AM showing… What? Only the last row in the corner has tickets left? Let me think again… Ah? Completely sold out?!!!”

Many moviegoers initially planned to go home and sleep after watching the movie, but after watching this premiere, at least half of the audience rushed to the cinema’s ticket counter, anxiously buying tickets for the next screening.

Many moviegoers who had just entered the cinema for the next screening were stunned by the crowds upon entering.

“Wait, the midnight premiere ended twenty minutes ago, why are these audience members still here?”

“Exactly, I came for the second screening to avoid the peak period, why are there still so many people?”

These two moviegoers didn’t realize that when they entered the screening room to watch the movie, in front of them, behind them, to their left and right, and even the first row and the corners of the last row, were all full!

“Why are so many people watching the movie together? Am I watching the 2:30 AM screening or the 2:30 PM prime time screening!”

Online, many moviegoers went directly to watch the second screening and didn’t rate “The Zeroth Law” on film websites. And some viewers who had to go home to sleep because they had to work or study the next day didn’t fall asleep after returning home. They lay in bed, biting their quilts, and started writing short reviews, sniffling—

[QAQ I just want to say, all audiences going to see the movie, remember to bring tissues. One pack isn’t enough; I used up a whole pack just at the end. Bring at least two packs of facial tissues.]

[Spoilers ahead, beware. There are three tear-jerking moments in the film. The first is when the little robot sits on the tiled floor by the door, listening to sounds from the room. He’s so well-behaved; when discovered, he just keeps apologizing, so anxious he’s almost crying, surely thinking Chu Wen is going to abandon him. Then the third is the ending; I won’t talk about that big tear-jerker, many people have already mentioned it. But where I cried the most and differently from others was the second part. When our Qi blocked bullets for Chu Wen, my heart broke. Even though he’s just a robot and wouldn’t die from bullets, watching him constantly try to block bullets, desperately protecting Chu Wen, I felt so sad. Why did he love Chu Wen so much! Why did he love him so much! Please don’t love him! Boo hoo hoo hoo hoo…]

All kinds of movie reviews continuously appeared on major film websites around the world. Chinese audiences, American audiences, Japanese audiences, British audiences… “The Zero Law” was released simultaneously in twelve countries worldwide, and moviegoers from these twelve countries posted their reviews of the film online.

By the time “The Zeroth Law”‘s premiere day officially ended, the global box office was 1.3 billion!

In addition to audience ratings, professional film critics also published their professional reviews of “The Zeroth Law” in major newspapers and magazines worldwide.

The Times: “It speaks of love, but tells of human nature. With technological development, humans begin to lack emotion, but they bestow those beautiful emotions upon their creations—robots. Robots know how to smile, how to care, how to grieve and suffer, and how to love someone, even if it means being broken to pieces, they spare no effort.”

Hollywood World: “Robot Qi’s love is also love. No discussion needed, this absolutely belongs to love, beyond doubt. This love is indeed written by a series of codes, and every action and gesture is performing commanded tasks. However, humans express love through mutual support and caring, and animals might express love by finding food for each other and enduring the cold winter together. So for a robot, this is its love. He loves this human; his love may not belong to humanity, but it already belongs to the robot, belongs to himself.”

China Entertainment: “Against a grand and magnificent sci-fi backdrop, a small and simple love story is told. Lance Holt uses his most skilled technique, going from the small to the large, using the love between the two protagonists to express the conflict between humans and robots in the future world. Humans bestow emotions upon their creations, yet gradually lose emotions themselves in the development of technology. How to manage the relationship between humans and robots is something we need to consider in this era.”

Over three days, “The Zeroth Law” received a comprehensive audience rating of 9.9 points on major global film websites!

As for the professional film critics, their rating for this film also reached as high as 9.5 points!

While many commercial films can easily achieve audience ratings above 9.5, that’s because these films are inherently highly commercial, providing audiences with enjoyable and satisfying experiences. However, having both high audience ratings and high professional reviews proves that this is absolutely an outstanding classic film.

At any given moment since “The Zeroth Law” was released, if you walk near a cinema, you’ll see audiences with red eyes. Some have just finished watching “The Zeroth Law,” others have seen it three, four, or even more times. But no matter how many times they watch it, they are moved by the genuine and pure emotions in the film and discover more different things.

When a reporter from China Movie Channel conducted an on-site interview near a cinema, one audience member said: “The first time I watched ‘The Zeroth Law,’ I only saw love. The feelings between Chu Wen and Qi are truly pure, especially Qi; I cried for him many times. Later, when I watched it for the third time, I slowly felt that the director didn’t just want to tell us a love story. After watching the movie the day before yesterday, I went back and called my mom; I hadn’t contacted her in a long time… I suddenly missed her a bit.”

The storm of “The Zeroth Law” swept across the globe. Its incredibly high box office and near-perfect film ratings led many passersby who were initially uninterested in the film to decide to enter the cinema and see what made it so excellent.

For films, a daily decline in box office has become an iron law.

From the last century to the middle of this century, almost every film’s highest box office was in the first three days, after which the box office would plummet like a waterfall, eventually being taken off shelves after twenty or thirty days, with the box office fixed.

But there were exceptions.

In the last century, there was a film called “The Great Ship” whose first-week box office was not high at all, almost negligible compared to its production cost, leading many in the industry to mock it, deeming it a sure financial loss. However, no one expected that after this, the film’s box office would not weaken at all; instead, it maintained its first-week performance, soaring all the way, finally surpassing all classic films in history to become the highest-grossing film in cinematic history for a hundred years.

And now, another “The Zeroth Law” has emerged.

“The Zeroth Law” earned 1.4 billion on its first day, 1 billion on its second day, and a staggering 1.6 billion on its third day!

What followed was extremely stable sustained performance. On the fourth day, the box office was 800 million; on the fifth day, 700 million; on the sixth day, 700 million; and on the Qith day, another weekend, the box office was 1 billion!

After ten days of release, “The Zeroth Law” had a total box office of 13.2 billion, directly surpassing “Three Thousand Two Hundred Miles” to become the highest-grossing film starring Rong Xu. By the fifteenth day, “The Zeroth Law” reached 16 billion, exceeding “Twilight Sound” to become Qin Cheng’s highest-grossing film.

The double harvest of box office and critical acclaim made this film the final carnival of late 2047.