In this era, box office numbers couldn’t be accurately counted—they were all rough estimates.
Take "Shaolin Temple," for example.
It was widely rumored to have earned over 100 million at the box office, and even the official sources claimed so, but there was no solid data to back it up.
The most reliable indicator was the number of film copies sold.
Selling 100 copies meant breaking even; 200 copies, a small hit; 300 copies, a big hit; and 400 copies? That would go down in history.
Half a month after the release of "Romance on Lushan Mountain," the hype continued to grow.
Copies of the film were being printed day and night, shipped all over the country.
While the audience was just enjoying the spectacle, the film’s growing influence began to draw attention from the film, literary, and critical circles.
Some praised it to the heavens, while others tore it apart.