Time slipped into September, and the fervor of the film market finally began to wane. Although a small peak was expected to follow, for now, it started descending from the peak. Thus, "Hero" chose this time for release; earlier blockbusters had entered a fatigue phase, and the films aiming for the end of the summer holiday slot had not yet been released, perfectly filling this gap.
This is normal, even though "Hero" was nominated for the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, and a lot of publicity was done initially, and most critics gave it favorable reviews. But after all, it is a Chinese film, watchable only with subtitles. Universal had its doubts, and placing it at this time was understandable. However, they soon set their minds at ease, because with preparations made at 2,000 theaters, the film garnered $21 million in North America in its first week.
