Chapter 501: The Charm of High School Musical

The premiere was a huge success.

The next day, Ready Player One was released in 3,264 theaters across the United States.

This immediately sparked a movie-watching craze.

Because this movie was so fresh and imaginative.

If this film, released fourteen years later, had been just a standard commercial sci-fi movie, then at this point in time—the VR lenses, drones, smart computers, and smartphones featured in the movie would still be relatively novel, many of them either not yet released or not widespread.

Moreover, the film also paid homage to many old films.

Therefore, although the movie was produced by Myers Studios and DreamWorks, Spielberg had inserted numerous Easter eggs and tributes, so he reached out to major film companies like Warner, 20th Century Fox, Disney, Universal, Paramount, and Sony for permissions. Whether it was because of Martin's influence, all the companies were very cooperative.

As time passed, many movie fans went to watch the film repeatedly, just to uncover all the hidden Easter eggs in the movie.

After the first weekend, Ready Player One grossed $67.5 million, and after eleven days, the box office surpassed $100 million.

"Ready Player One is undoubtedly a successful popcorn movie. It's nostalgic but not overly sentimental; it's accessible but not cliché; it's sci-fi but feels incredibly close to reality. Many of the sci-fi products featured in the film have been confirmed by scientists to be in development or are highly likely to be developed in the future.

Each action scene in the film was enough to send your adrenaline through the roof and get your heart racing. The seamless integration of countless hidden Easter eggs also had fans of movies, games, and music going wild, enjoying every moment. Setting aside the sci-fi and virtual reality elements, the story still follows the typical Hollywood formula of personal heroism. The exaggerated behavior of people addicted to the virtual world as the real world decays might, perhaps, become a normal part of our lives in the future."

After its global release, the film sparked an enormous wave of viewership.

The innovative setting and exciting plot made the film especially popular among teenagers.

"Perhaps this movie will break the box office records for viewers under 30," some media predicted.

But soon, they changed their minds.

Just half a month later, a film related to Martin and even more popular with the youth audience was released.

High School Musical.

This teen musical film, starring Jessica Alba and Wentworth Miller, created an immediate viewing frenzy upon release.

In the original timeline, the film set a record with over 60 million viewers in the United States and over 250 million viewers worldwide.

In this timeline, it was even more successful.

No, it was doing even better!

After all, the film's female lead was more attractive and more famous than Vanessa Hudgens in the original timeline, and the male lead was more handsome and masculine than Zac Efron.

More importantly, Martin personally composed and wrote the songs for the film, making the music and songs in the film not only of higher quality but also more popular than those in the original timeline. So, the better performance was no surprise.

This day.

Simon Helberg was reluctantly dragged into the theater by Leonard Hofstetter.

"Come on, I just learned a new tactic on the StarCraft forum. Can't you let me stay home?"

"Nope!"

Simon's complaints didn't stop Leonard, who was determined to drag him along.

The problem was, Simon's strength was no match for Leonard's.

Though they were both geeks, Leonard was a regular "short guy," while Simon was a beanpole "short guy," the kind who could be bullied even within the geek crowd!

A geek getting bullied by another geek—just how weak could this guy be?!

"I really don't get what's so great about these teen musicals. I don't like singing, and I don't like... well, okay, I like watching dancing, but it has to be performed by those sexy hot girls, not this stuff meant for elementary school kids!"

But soon, Simon Helberg ate his words.

"Oh, damn, Jessica is so hot! Go, go, go, dance, baby!!"

Simon shouted excitedly, standing up and even shaking his "A4-thick" hips!

But no one was going to say anything to him, because everyone in the theater was standing, swaying excitedly to the music and dance on the screen!

"What's so good about a teen musical, hmm?" Leonard said, awkwardly swaying his body while mocking Simon.

Simon seemed to completely forget what he had just said, looking surprised. "Why do you say that? How could you be so harsh? Teen musicals are great!"

"What?!"

If Leonard had read Romance of the Three Kingdoms, he would definitely have said, "There are actually such shameless people in this world!"

...

"This movie is amazing! Oh my God, dozens of people in the theater are dancing to the music! Dude, the feeling is indescribable, it's so cool! I just realized that I love dancing too, normal dancing, not striptease. Leonard, I'm signing up for a dance class!"

On the way back, Simon chattered endlessly.

"Dance? Aren't you supposed to be studying your new tactics?" Leonard asked.

"What tactics? Forget that! If I had known dancing could make someone so attractive, I would've had a girlfriend by now. Who needs to play games with a girlfriend? Look at Wentworth Miller in the movie—he's so cool when he sings and dances!"

"Uh, Simon, don't you think you've got the logic wrong? He was already handsome, so of course, he's charming when he sings and dances, right?"

At this point, Leonard gave his friend a look, thinking that Simon must be overestimating himself. Unless he got plastic surgery and changed his body, there was no way he could become as charming as Wentworth Miller in the movie!

"Shut up, no one thinks you're a mute if you don't talk!" Simon grumbled.