American Fame and Fortune Chapter 902

 Chapter 902 The victorious clown and the failed justice

boom! boom-

The sound of gunshots echoed in the theater, the audience's hearts tightened, and their suppressed emotions gradually tightened.

As the clown fired again and again, the heads of the wealthy elites who laughed at him, bullied him, and pressured him exploded like rotten watermelons, and bright red juice spewed out from the back of their heads, staining the white walls and floors red. .

The corpse twitched on the ground, and the clown came out of the door and ran wildly.

His face was painted with pale oil paint, with a **** mouth, and he was wearing a purple performance suit and running wildly in the wind, as if running towards a free future.

The audience's suppressed emotions were released once, and the clowns on the screen who killed people and ran for freedom seemed to be themselves.

Many ordinary people live a difficult life and hope to see the future. What they worry about most is also being able to see the future.

 Their future can be seen clearly at a glance.

 A heavy burden is placed on me, but I am unable to change it.

 Those who are content with the status quo can at least make do with life.

Those who want to change will be squeezed out of their bones by the stubborn upper class as large as the Andes.

　Too many people will be overdrawn in the next few decades and fall into the same quagmire as the clowns, unable to extricate themselves.

The clown seems to represent them, killing those **** who extract oil, shattering the original order, and rushing into the unknown future.

 Maybe it really reveals some people's psychology and hidden thoughts.

The clown on the screen was running wildly, and applause suddenly broke out from where the general audience gathered in the back row of the theater.

 Then applause filled the entire theater!

This is not the Cannes Film Festival where applause is a business, but an ordinary movie premiere.

 Neither Martin, the crew nor the distributor asked for any excuses.

Nearly all ordinary viewers applauded the film.

The thunderous applause attracted Zack Snyder to look behind him, and he couldn't help but say: "Is it so exaggerated?"

Deborah said: "It seems that the content of the movie has triggered a huge emotional resonance for them."

Gal Gadot, who was next to him, was stunned for a moment and said: "I feel like the Joker is more popular than Batman, Superman and my characters combined."

 Zach Snyder said: “Don't feel like this is the case in Batman v Superman.”

 The applause died down and the theater became quiet, except for the clown who was getting more and more crazy.

 All energy is refocused on movies.

 The film gradually comes to an end.

 On the screen, countless people surrounded the clown and regarded him as a hero.

The citizens of Gotham during the demonstration took up the Joker and regarded him as their spiritual leader.

 The clown has become a symbol of freedom, and the ultimate freedom is chaos.

 He is the symbol of Gotham, the agent of chaos!

Gotham City, a city full of outstanding people, has welcomed a leader who can lead them to new life.

 At the end of the premiere screening, applause once again sounded like a tide.

In the first row of seats, Daniel stood up and hugged Martin, saying: "Although I have watched several test screenings before, I can gain new insights every time I watch it. This is definitely a masterpiece that perfectly combines business and art. "

 Martin smiled and said: "Thank you."

Elizabeth stood aside, just smiling and applauding without saying much.

  The crew and creative staff hugged each other, and everyone was very excited.

The film's test screenings were well-received, and they saw the quality of the finished film with their own eyes, and they had a basic judgment that this film would definitely be good.

Martin called the crew to come on stage for the curtain call.

 The audience applauded again and again.

 This concludes the premiere screening.

As soon as the show ended, a professional survey team hired by Warner Pictures was dispatched to collect comments and ratings from ordinary audiences.

“! Martin's film spoke to my heart!”

"I'd better give it an A, because this is the second film directed by Martin, and he still has room for improvement in the future! Of course, the film is very well shot and the acting is very good. This is DC, this is the Joker ah!"

“Nothing to say, ! Not only does Martin play the Joker well, he also shoots it well. I thought Martin's Joker in “The Dark Knight” was the pinnacle, but actually this one is!”

"I used to have a lot of pressure bottled up in my heart, which made people uncomfortable. Today I finally let it out. This clown is not a god, but a human being. He is one of us, ordinary people like you and me! is not enough to express My love for this character in this film, if it were a perfect score, I would give it 1,000 points!”

The words of this movie fan wearing glasses resonated with the people around him, and many people shouted.

 “I give you 2000 points!”

 “No, it should be 10,000 points!”

The film is about to be fully released and land in the North American film market. Now it needs the approval of ordinary audiences.

 There is no doubt that Martin has done an excellent job in this regard.

 At least a few hundred viewers who watched the premiere left ratings.

 Martin got the feedback immediately.

 Louise hurried into the lounge, nodded to Elizabeth, and handed a statistical report to Martin: "The latest statistics are out, a total of 366 viewers have rated it, and the film has an average score of !"

 Martin glanced quickly: "It's okay."

Louise said: "Is this okay? It's already as good as it gets."

Elizabeth took the statistical table from Martin's hand and read it carefully.

 Daniel came in from the outside at this time and said: "The reputation is still strong!"

Martin said directly: "For the final pre-screening promotion, we still focused on word-of-mouth marketing."

"No problem." Daniel responded: "Warner Pictures is ready."

 He ​​has a feeling that this is likely to be his first movie to reach a billion-dollar global box office after joining Warner Pictures.

 Martin looked at the time and said, "Let's stop here today."

 The group of people left the El Capitan Theater one after another.

　　The fermentation of the film on the Internet continues. Centered on major social media, the praise of "Joker" has appeared in front of a large number of Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and INS users.

Thursday night, "Joker" landed in 3,500 theaters in North America ahead of schedule.

 Theaters across the United States have all become gathering places for crazy clowns. This R-rated film took in $18.6 million at the midnight box office.

By Friday daytime, the film had been expanded to 4,250 theaters.

All the monsters and monsters in the United States have only one image today—the clown!

Warner Pictures had prepared millions of copies of the Joker's dark purple suit in advance and almost sold out on Friday.

 The latest clown figures and dolls are out of stock.

The crew signed a contract with Lily for a handmade commemorative edition, which is currently hard to find.

 Street painters in North America are basically doing the same job on this day, providing clown makeup services to movie fans.

On the Internet, clowns have long been regarded as gods.

 Now, the transformation from God to man has been realized.

 “It's very dark, very depressing, just like our society, with no light in sight.”

“Martin's Joker does what we want to do but can't.”

"After watching Martin's "Joker", you will understand that our society is really sick."

Perhaps a movie fan expressed the true feelings of many people.

"The real world is not as hopeless as in the movies, and violence, massacre, and anarchy are not solutions to problems. However, after watching Martin's "Joker", you will feel particularly happy, as if you have accumulated a lot of memories. Years of depression are all vented through the movie. You will not only sympathize with the clown, but also identify with the clown, and even begin to understand the real world from the clown's perspective."

 Excellent reputation brings super high attendance rate.

  Also released in October, last year's “Split” starring Martin was not even a younger brother in front of “Joker”.

On the first day of its opening in North America, including the midnight box office, "Joker" took in $64.52 million!

This set a new North American single-day box office record for October.

 The latest "Hollywood Report" focused on analyzing Martin's new film.

"What is the charm of "Joker"? It represents a kind of freedom, describes the living conditions of a person at the bottom of society, and shows a kind of pain and disgust from the bottom of the heart in response to the current pathological and indifferent power and dominance system. Wail."

The film caters to the psychology of the general public, and the good reputation spread by word of mouth encourages people to continue to enter the theater and buy tickets.

Saturday, the film earned another $57.66 million in North American theaters!

At this time, both Hollywood and others can clearly see that the film competing with "Captain America 3" for the annual box office championship in North America and the world is here!

  The latter's box office of US$408 million in North America and US$1.155 billion globally does not seem to be far away.

　　The opening weekend box office of "Joker" also proves its strength.

 Three days over the weekend, the film has earned US$168 million from 4,250 theaters in North America!

This also broke the North American opening record for an R-rated film previously held by "John Wick 3".

 Similarly, this is also the highest opening record for the North American film market in October.

“I didn't expect that the real threat to Marvel superhero movies would be Martin.”

  In a reception room at Disney headquarters, Kevin Feige raised his baseball cap: "DC's movies are weak, except for Martin."

Robert Iger, who was sitting in the main seat, said: "Fortunately it's Martin and not "Justice League.""  Alan Horn looked at Kevin Feige: "Back then, I advised you to pay a base salary of 20 million U.S. dollars plus a post-production bonus. Come on, Martin, if you don't listen to me, the Avengers will have greater influence if you have Martin.”

Kevin Feige does not deny the mistakes he made that year: "It was my fault. Under the circumstances, I could only save the budget and spend more money on the movie itself..."

Robert Iger waved his hand: "Let's not talk about what happened back then. DC's "Justice League" is about to be released. Joss Whedon has worked with us. You know his abilities. How likely is DC to threaten Marvel?" ?”

Kevin Feige said: "It's very small. The real essence of DC movies is precisely the darkness, seriousness and depth. Both "The Dark Knight" and "Joker" have proved this! And Joss Whedon is not good at these, " "Justice League" is not a remake, but a patchwork based on Zack Snyder's foundation, which is difficult for Joss to handle. "

 Alan Horn agreed: "Yes, if we overturn it and start over, the success may be greater, but Warner and DC are not so determined."

"There are not many people with that much determination." Robert Iger smiled: "Just throw away more than 200 million US dollars, and the board of directors of Warner Brothers and Time Warner will go crazy."

Alan Horn said: "DC cannot threaten Marvel. I discussed it with Martin, and he said that the more successful "Joker" is, the more embarrassing "Justice League" will be when it is released next month."

 Robert Egger himself is not involved in front-line film production, so he doesn't know much about it.

Kevin Feige easily thought of it: "The theme and plot of "Joker" are dark, heavy and serious to the extreme, and a bunch of funny DC heroes will suddenly pop up in the next one, haha..."

Robert Egger also laughed and said while laughing: "Martin's new film has a good reputation and box office."

 The popularity of "Joker" is also in the eyes of Warner Bros. and DC Films executives.

For the sake of "Justice League" to be released next month, Warner Group used the company's normal procedures to exert pressure and forced "Joker" to put an advertisement for "Justice League".

 Some media reporters also interviewed Martin, who was promoting "Joker" on this matter.

Facing the camera, Martin said directly: "Sorry, I don't want to talk about topics that have nothing to do with the clown."

The reporter did not give up and asked: "But is it true that the Joker comes from DC?"

 Martin spread his hands, feeling very helpless: "DC executives have said more than once that "Joker" does not belong to DC movies, and I was fired from DC for this movie."

 Leaving the announcement scene, Martin got into the car, followed by Thomas who sat in the passenger seat.

He said: "'Justice League' is riding on our popularity."

“Our popularity is not easy to ride on.” Martin had already planned and said to Thomas: “Let people start it and create a certain momentum in the media and the Internet.”

Thomas responded: "It's ready."

 Martin looked at Bruce: "Is there any latest news over there?"

Bruce knew that he was asking Ivan: "I have taken intimate photos of the two of them."

 Martin nodded: "Very good. Normally, these would not affect Kevin Tsujihara, but if "Justice League" fails, Daniel will be given a knife."

During this period, there have been constant discussions about "Joker" and "Justice League".

A film that Warner Bros. and DC executives were not optimistic about, or even recognized as a DC film, has created high box office and explosive reputation.

 The Hollywood industry, the media, and movie fans are all praising the amazing move of Warner Group.

"Vanity Fair" also published a special analysis article on this: "Since the new management of Warner Bros. took office in 2010, in just over six years, they have messed up more than a dozen major projects with investment of hundreds of millions of dollars. Warner's The film business was in a slump, and the truly commercially profitable works during this period were either leftover from the predecessor, or were projects like "Joker" that were marginalized by Warner management in the early stages."

“Therefore, the Hollywood industry also has the term Warner Group. The most powerful ability of this management team is to use genius-like creativity and thinking to avoid every success factor of film projects, bringing huge losses to Warner Brothers..."

The higher the box office of "Joker" is, the more it appears that Warner Group has a unique vision.

Although the number of fans who have watched the movie has increased and word-of-mouth has inevitably declined, the film's box office has been stable and has not experienced a major decline.

Over the second weekend in North America, "Joker" collected another US$86.57 million, still dominating the North American box office rankings.

 Including the revenue from the previous four working days, the film's North American box office totaled US$327 million.

 This number far exceeds "Captain America 3" when it was released for ten days.

  Also this week, "Joker" opened simultaneously in 78 overseas markets, grossing US$180.5 million in its first week of release, and the global box office easily exceeded the US$500 million mark.

  The battle for the annual box office crown in North America and the world in 2016 has gradually lost its suspense.

 In sharp contrast, it is "Justice League".

This superhero masterpiece, which has gathered countless expectations from Warner and DC, released an official trailer cut by Joss Whedon in late October. The six giants of the Justice League assembled for the first time in a live-action movie.

 The idea of ​​Warner Group is to use the attention of DC characters caused by "Joker" to attract as much eyeballs as possible and attract the attention of movie fans.

 But things went against expectations. As soon as the trailer was released, it attracted a lot of criticism.

Even though the outside world expected it when the director was changed from Zack Snyder to Joss Whedon, it still broke the psychological lower limit of DC fans.

Everywhere you can see the trailer, negative reviews have been left by DC fans of the blockbuster movie.

“Oh my God, this is a DC superhero movie? There are gags and vulgar jokes. Just looking at the trailer, it looks like a **** produced by an assembly line. I hope the main film will be better.”

"Sure enough, what we were most worried about happened. Zack Snyder was kicked off the crew, the director of the film became Joss Whedon, and the style completely changed. The trailer has already foreshadowed the result. This is a film of justice without a soul. alliance!"

“Just watching the trailer, I felt so embarrassed that I had cancer. I couldn't imagine that such a bad thing could be the trailer of “Justice League.”

 The fans next door were full of ridicule.

“If the costumes of the heroes were changed, some people would believe it was an Avengers movie.”

“DC has not found the right path at all and can only follow the path that the Avengers have taken. I dare to predict here that they will not even be able to eat the leftovers of the Avengers on this path.”

“There is no need for Nolan and Martin. If you insist on having conflicts with them, expel them from DC. The Warner team is indeed a group of super talents!”

Even if the pre-screening response is not good, at this time, Warner and DC can only bite the bullet and continue to promote the promotion and marketing of "Justice League" and release it before Thanksgiving as planned.

As long as it is released, no matter how successful or unsuccessful it is, part of the investment can always be recovered.

Of course, Warner and DC have done a lot of work and invested a lot in publicity and distribution. They also relied on the power of one of the six major companies to suppress all the voices of the crew who were dissatisfied with Joss Whedon to avoid negative news. The film packs more punch.

The reshoot crew, which was originally like a powder keg, was able to maintain a temporary calm. If the film is successful and everyone can benefit from it, everything will disappear.

However, the pre-sales of "Justice League" started in early November, which made Warner and DC feel worried.

North American movie fans seem to have lost interest in this film, or are in a wait-and-see attitude. The pre-sale box office in North America in the first week did not even reach 1.5 million US dollars.

This has had a chain effect, with pre-sales falling one after another.

Some professional entertainment media pointed out that after several test screenings of "Justice League", there was still no word of mouth that the ban was lifted.

Looking back at "Joker", major websites and media opened the rating system early during the preview.

 The North American film market has already reached a consensus.

　　A film that announces its ratings in advance may not necessarily be a good film, but if the ratings are not announced until the last day before release, the film will definitely not be good.

  Until the premiere of "Justice League", the ratings, including Rotten Tomatoes and IMDB, were still not open.

 Warner Bros. held a grand premiere for the film, and even invited all the other stars who have appeared in DC superhero movies, including Martin, to participate, and tried to be more reliable than "Joker".

In order to make a last ditch effort, Hamada automatically forgot what he had said before, and said in an interview with the media: "'Joker' is a great movie and an integral part of the DC superhero force. It is also the reason why we have such movies as Batman." The Joker's extraordinary charm comes from the backdrop of other DC superheroes.”

· The reporter who interviewed him was from Warner media, and the reporter was very respectful and asked according to the pre-prepared draft: "Will there be any interaction between this "Joker" and "Justice League" in the future?"

Hamada smiled and said: "DC is considering linking the Joker with the Justice League, and we plan to invite Martin to formulate a plan..."

Martin, who quickly walked across the red carpet, did not enter the media area at all. Instead, he and Bruce entered the Dolby Theater and went to the second floor together.

Louise and Daniel were standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows on the second floor, looking at Hamada and Joss Whedon in the media area.

Daniel said with a smile: “Congratulations on our film's global box office exceeding one billion US dollars.”

Five weeks after its release in North America, "Joker" earned US$462 million, bringing the global box office to a total of US$1.015 billion.

 It's only a matter of time before it surpasses “Captain America 3”.

Facing his allies, Martin's words are very nice: “Warner Pictures' strong support is crucial.”

 He ​​asked instead: "How much does Warner Pictures actually expect from 'Justice League'?"

"The pre-sales were very unsatisfactory, so we simply didn't announce it later." Daniel lowered his voice: "Hamada and Kevin Tsujihara were still lucky, thinking that the film could earn around US$100 million in its first week in North America. In my opinion, Even $70 million is difficult.”

He said it honestly: "If it weren't for the fame that Superman and Batman have accumulated over the years, it would be pretty good if this movie could make $40 million in its opening weekend."

 Martin understood and said, "Are you ready over there?"

“Of course, it's very difficult for the Warner Bros. board and the Time Warner board to tolerate it any longer,” Daniel said. “All it takes is a suitable reason and an excuse.”

  Martin said: "When the first weekend box office comes out, someone will give you a copy."

Daniel nodded slightly: "It is in the interests of both of us, so I won't say thank you."

Martin just said: "If you want to hit a snake, you either don't do it, or if you do, you will kill it without giving them a chance to turn over and bite."

Daniel said: "The internal struggle is a life-and-death struggle."

The three of them chatted for a while, and then went downstairs and entered the theater lobby before the premiere.

There are no surprises in this "Justice League". It gives people a particularly serious sense of fragmentation. It also includes a lot of Avengers-style jokes and a large number of reshoots, which leads to obvious problems with the rhythm of the film.

But the problem of imbalance in combat power has never been solved, so Superman comes out and ends it with one punch.

After the film was released, the reviews were overwhelming. The fans it originally cultivated did not buy it. Passers-by said it was boring and could not understand. A small number of viewers who had watched it regretted it and complained on various online platforms for the dollars they spent in vain.

  The North American premiere weekend saw the DC Justice League movie universe, which took nearly seven years from planning to final release, basically come to an end.

 Because the opening weekend box office was only 66.38 million US dollars.

  Many market agencies predict that the North American box office of "Justice League" will be within 200 million US dollars, and the global box office will be up to 500 million US dollars.

 The production cost of the film alone is as high as 350 million US dollars.

 (End of this chapter)

Chapter end