Chapter 195 194. Crushing all the way, and then going to China
In the corner of the cinema, two figures were hugging each other and lingering. It had been more than ten minutes since the movie started, and the man was still biting the woman.
Feeling the fire inside her growing more intense, Theron could only struggle and struggle before finally pushing Eric away.
She glanced at the audience in the front row and gently hit Eric on the chest: "That's enough, dear. It will be heard."
"Haha, everyone is concentrating on watching the movie, who would care? Come and sit down."
"You're so annoying. I also want to watch the movie. The plot is very exciting. After all, it's Quentin's work."
Eric forced the man onto his thigh and ran his hand down the inside.
"Did you know that Quentin really likes women's feet? It is said that he spent $10,000 to rent a woman's feet for half an hour in a nightclub."
Hearing this, Charlize Theron's eyes widened: "That's too much, everyone knows he has a foot fetish, some say he makes women take off their shoes more often in his movies than at airport security."
“But this is too much.”
"Eh, it's a bit disgusting just thinking about it. If someone did that, I definitely wouldn't be able to stand it."
Then she added: "Except you, dear, of course. If you want to lick me, I will be very happy."
Eric immediately bit her earlobe and flicked it with his tongue: "How about we go home now?"
Theron looked at the big screen and said, "Wait, the movie is really good, you should finish watching it. Besides, don't you need to know more about your opponent?"
"Heh, Quentin Tarantino is not worthy of being my rival. I admit that he is indeed a genius director. He is unique in both script writing and filming."
"He has his own characteristics and unique style, which has created a group of loyal fans."
"But because he is so unique and all his films are rated R, many people cannot accept his style. Moreover, it is almost a pipe dream for an R-rated film to be comparable to a PG13."
"In terms of the rating system alone, Transformers has already won a lot. Even if it has been released for 10 days, it may not lose to him."
Eric dared to make such a conclusion, naturally it was based on a certain judgment.
He has basically seen all of Quentin's movies. The one with the highest box office is "Django Unchained", which grossed about 400 to 500 million yuan, but it was already the peak of his commercial career, and it was also an era of great prosperity in the global film market.
"Kill Bill" is indeed a classic, but it may be a bit too much to compete with "Transformers".
Quentin's advantage is similar to that of Jackie Chan and Jet Li. His films sell very well in the disc market, but his box office is only ranked first among all Hollywood directors.
And he will never be able to reach the top level of Chris Columbus, Spielberg, George Lucas, and Nolan.
It’s still the same reason, your personal style is already limited, the upper limit is so high, no matter how hard you try you can’t break it.
It is even more impossible to ask a director to change his style. The result of forced changes will only be to please neither ordinary audiences nor loyal fans.
"Wow. Uma Thurman can be so cool! Bruce Lee's clothes look great on her."
HO watched as the screen suddenly turned black and white, blood sprayed like champagne, severed limbs and heads flew everywhere, and a single blow could even split a person in half.
The audience exclaimed from time to time, and some could not help but close their eyes.
Although I knew it was R-rated before I came in, it was still too much.
If the picture had not been turned into black and white, these shots would not even be tolerated by an R rating and would definitely have been deleted.
"OMG! Although the fighting is beautiful, it is too bloody." said Charlize Theron with a frown.
Eric hugged her tighter. "You see, this is the problem I was talking about. Even adults think it's too bloody. How can the box office be high?"
In fact, he had something else to say. For people who are used to watching Chinese martial arts movies, the fighting in "Kill Bill" is too trivial, lacking beauty and power.
The final battle ended in a hasty manner, and the previously powerful Lucy Liu was easily killed.
But after all, the main competitors are Japanese swordplay films, such as "Shura Snow Girl".
After the movie ended, many people looked unhappy.
There were reporters outside the venue who were conducting random interviews and they heard words like “bloody,” “too bloody,” and “not suitable for minors.”
After spending a night with Charlize Theron, a lot of reviews for Kill Bill had already popped up the next day.
Although many people say that it is refreshing and enjoyable and very exciting to watch, this is Quentin Tarantino's style.
But there were also media and audiences criticizing the film for being too extreme, and Quentin seemed to have fallen into a state of obsession.
And at the premiere, Lucy Liu warned the audience that they might vomit after watching the movie, so they should be mentally prepared in advance.
Even Quentin himself made an appeal: "Responsible parents should never take their children to watch Kill Bill, as it may leave a shadow on them."
The film's creators actually advised audiences to be cautious when entering the cinema and dismantle their own stages.
This behavior immediately aroused the dissatisfaction of the Weinstein brothers, and it is said that even Disney, the father behind Miramax, was unhappy.
However, the two are not unhappy about the same thing.
Although Disney acquired Miramax, it has always given the latter full freedom and has never interfered in its operations, as long as it can make money for me.
Therefore, Disney does not participate in the creation, shooting, internal screenings and other aspects of Miramax's films. They believe that the Weinstein brothers know who is the king and who is the king.
"Kill Bill" is completely contrary to Disney's style of being suitable for all ages.
It doesn’t matter if you fail at the box office, Dad can forgive you because movies are inherently risky.
But if the concepts and ideas are not consistent with your father's, then that cannot be tolerated and such behavior is very dangerous.
It must be corrected, and it must be corrected with a strong punch! On November 28, "Transformers" took in nearly 15 million US dollars at the box office on Friday, which is still impressive.
"Kill Bill" won a slight victory by grossing $16 million in more than 2,400 theaters.
Although "Transformers" has the advantage in the number of theaters showing, "Kill Bill" has the advantage in terms of release time.
The box office on the first day exceeded that on the twelfth day, and it seemed like a win, but in fact it was a loss.
When the box office results came out on Saturday, negative impacts began to emerge in the face of criticism from the media and audiences.
"Kill Bill" only took in more than 9 million US dollars at the box office, a drop of more than 40%, which surprised many people.
"Transformers" achieved a box office of 12 million US dollars, only lagging behind for one day, and then surpassed the other again.
As we enter December, box office figures are announced on Sunday.
"Kill Bill" continued to plummet, with only $5 million left, and earned $30 million in the first three days of its weekend.
"Transformers" followed the old tradition, with a decline but not much, still maintaining within 20%, and earned $10 million at the box office.
The last three days of the second weekend grossed a total of 37 million U.S. dollars, and there was a noticeable increase in the number of middle-aged moviegoers with their families.
Yahoo Entertainment, The New York Times, Chicago Post and other media outlets immediately published the news in their entertainment sections.
"Kill Bill" lost, and lost miserably. The movie had to chop off the heads of Transformers with samurai swords. This statement seems extremely funny now.
However, some media also praised it from other angles, for example, the cost of "Kill Bill" was only 30 million US dollars. Judging from the current trend, Miramax is sure to make a lot of money.
Moreover, the box office of 30 million US dollars has broken the company's first three-day record and also broke Quentin's own record.
His previous best was $9.31 million for Pulp Fiction.
So if you lose others but win yourself, then you haven't lost.
When things got to this point, the so-called box office war came to an end ahead of schedule.
"Transformers" earned $97 million in its second week and $285 million in North America in just half a month.
The overseas box office also continued to be strong. After taking in $173 million in the first week, it took in $95 million this week, a smaller drop than in North America.
Currently, the global box office of "Transformers" has totaled 553 million US dollars.
It's like a killing madness, absolutely like a killing madness!
This number is currently ranked fourth in the 2003 movie box office rankings.
Ahead of it are "Finding Nemo" with $871 million worldwide, "The Matrix Reloaded" with $739 million, and "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" with $654 million.
Two belong to Disney and one belongs to Warner.
According to the predictions of major institutions, even Warner's blockbuster "The Last Samurai" will be released in theaters this Friday.
But Quentin has proved with "Kill Bill" that the Chrysanthemum Sword culture is vulnerable to Cybertron technology.
The latest novel is published first on Liu9shuba!
Even if Tom Cruise himself went into battle, no one believed he could stop the Autobots and Decepticons from continuing their charge.
So after the end of this week, Transformers' global box office will definitely surpass Pirates of the Caribbean and rise to third place.
It is uncertain whether "The Matrix 2" can make it to the fourth or fifth week, but it is certain that it will be defeated.
No one dared to ignore Eric's bold words, and many media outlets dug up the previous report.
"Mr. Cooper, what do you expect the box office for Transformers to be?"
“I think it will be more than $700 million.”
The interview from a year ago is still vivid in my mind. As many people ridiculed me then, as many people are slapped in the face now.
Hardcore fans have been mocking this topic over and over again, praising Eric more and more, and urging him to work overtime to get the second part out before the end of next year.
With the joy of the box office success and the blessings of fans, and after spending another day with Theron, Nicole, and the Olsen sisters, Eric and Gadot boarded a flight to Asia.
This global promotion is mainly divided into two lines, with two people responsible for Asia and Australia.
Deadpool and Chris Evans are responsible for South America and then Europe.
The rest will stay in North America to promote the film.
The first stop was Japan. Although Eric had no good feelings about the easy life, Japan was a big ticket collection country, so he had to come there to make money.
I stayed here for two days and did an interview with Hayao Miyazaki on the first day.
Eric still has respect for this director who made such clear anti-war works as "Grave of the Fireflies" and "Porco Rosso".
What's more, he also urged the open-minded Abe to apologize and reflect on the history of aggression against China during World War II. He is an artist with a conscience.
The next day, he appeared on the Japanese national variety show "SMAP×SMAP" and played with Takuya Kimura and four other hosts.
As for why they mentioned the other four people, it’s because Eric and Gadot can’t remember each other’s names.
Eric was too lazy to remember, and Gadot really couldn't remember.
During the period, he also met with the company leaders of Shonen Jump, Shogakukan, and Shueisha, and briefly discussed the film and television adaptation of their anime IPs.
For example, "Death Note", "Dragon Ball", "One Piece", "Naruto", "Fullmetal Alchemist", "Ghost in the Shell", "Yu-Gi-Oh" and so on.
These high-quality comics are gold mines, and it would be best if we could acquire the copyright before they become popular.
Naturally, several companies also had their own ideas about this, especially after seeing how Transformers was such a big hit, winning the Japanese box office championship for two consecutive weeks and sweeping the world. Who wouldn't be jealous?
This meeting resulted in the achievement of a cooperation intention. The specific details will be discussed after Eric is done with his busy schedule.
Of course, what we are talking about here are the film and television adaptation rights. As for the comics distribution rights, they are all handled by the branch companies established by the Japanese in the United States.
Eric has also completed his control over Marvel, which means he has the ability to create and distribute comics. However, if he wants to get a piece of the Japanese comics pie, he still needs to think of other ways.
After leaving Japan, the two flew to South Korea. Although South Korea's voting potential is not as good as Japan's, it is also among the top in Asia.
So even though Eric didn't like them, he still had to show some appreciation for them for the sake of the box office.
The two stayed here for another day and accepted an exclusive interview with South Korea's KBS TV station. Eric was also invited to dinner by the head of CJ Entertainment.
Although the other party is a first-class film and television company in South Korea, it is no different from a small fish or shrimp in Hollywood.
The intention of inviting people to dinner is naturally to seek cooperation, hoping to obtain some investment shares or obtain the agency rights of MGM films in Korea in the future, etc.
After the meal, she wanted to invite Eric to experience some special services, but because Gadot was right next to him, he was embarrassed to accept it.
Back at the hotel, I couldn't help but feel a little regretful. Why did I team up with Gadot? If I teamed up with Ryan Reynolds, it would have taken off! Unfortunately, it's all over now.
At around ten o'clock in the morning on December 5, an airplane landed at Yanjing International Airport.
As the two walked in the hall, Gadot's beautiful appearance immediately attracted everyone's attention.
Soon, a young man wearing glasses came up to me and asked in fairly fluent English: "Excuse me, are you the heroine of Transformers?"
It was Gadot’s first time in China and she thought no one recognized her, so neither of them showed any expression.
Showing a sunny smile: "Yes, I am Gal Gadot."
The young man immediately waved and shouted to someone not far away: "That's her, come here quickly!"
Suddenly, more than a dozen people came running over, all of them wearing small things related to Transformers.
"I found your itinerary from MGM's official website. We have been waiting for more than an hour."
Gadot looked at the men and women in front of her who were about the same age as her or even a few years older with some surprise.
"Really? I'm sorry that the plane was delayed and kept you waiting for so long. Is there anything I can do to make up for it? An autograph or a photo with you?"
The young people immediately nodded and cheered.
At this time in China, the Hong Kong circle is becoming popular, the Korean wave has invaded, and star chasing has become more and more common and more and more crazy.
But on the other hand, celebrities are becoming more and more aloof and harder to see.
They have never met a star as approachable as Gadot, who is also a big Hollywood star, and her status is much higher than that of Korean pop stars.
Then they took turns signing autographs and taking photos. Someone even took out an unopened genuine Transformers toy from his bag and signed on the box.
This situation quickly attracted the attention of people around. With the intention of getting an autograph to show off even if they didn't know him, other people gradually gathered around.
Seeing that there was no end to the delay, Eric had no choice but to call Susan.
After being surrounded in the hall for more than half an hour and signing hundreds of signatures, they were finally rescued by Susan and her group.
He waved to the fans who looked a little regretful, then hurriedly got into the car and left.
(End of this chapter)