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Chapter 424 Summer Release

The sweltering heat of July and August is always accompanied by a sense of languor. For Ernst, these two months were a rare and pleasant time, as he hadn't enjoyed such tranquil days in a long time.

After returning to Los Angeles from Redwood City, Ernst took Nicole Kidman and Kathy back to Whitney Ranch.

With the arrival of Casey, Ernst finally realized that the special bond between grandparents and grandchildren wasn't unique to China.

Who says Westerners don't help with childcare? It just means they don't provide 24/7 care.

During the limited time they could spend together, they were always there to grant any request.

After living there for more than half a month, the animals on the farm were miserable; they would run away faster than rabbits at the sight of her.

Especially John's dogs, they tremble at the sight of the little guy now, and anyone who didn't know better would think she was abusing them.

Finally, with no other option, John had to step in himself, lying on the ground and letting Katie ride him like a horse, leaving Ernst dumbfounded and stunned.

It was another early morning. The morning light streamed into the room through the gaps in the curtains. Ernst woke up from his sleep, habitually turned over, and then his limbs froze for a moment.

For the past two weeks, he had gotten used to being able to hug a soft body after turning over, but now the big bed was empty, and this sudden sense of emptiness made him feel a little uncomfortable.

After opening my eyes and calming myself down, I quickly noticed a faint sound of running water coming from the direction of the bathroom.

Nicole Kidman was clearly awake and was washing up in the bathroom.

Washing up in the morning is normal, but at this time...

Ernst rolled out of bed and slowly walked towards the bathroom. As he opened the bathroom door, he bumped right into Nicole, who had finished washing up and was about to come out.

Looking at the other person's fair and radiant skin, they exuded an indescribable charm.

Indeed, women need to be nourished.

After Ernst's tireless nurturing over the past two weeks, Nicole Kidman is now in the bloom of a rose, radiant and captivating. Every movement and every glance is full of charm and allure.

"Are you going out?" Ernst frowned slightly, his tone questioning.

He's used to his biological clock and usually wakes up at this time every day.

But the other person is different; because of the fatigue from the night, they almost always sleep until the sun is high in the sky before waking up.

"Ah!" Nicole Kidman was clearly surprised by Ernst's sudden appearance at the door, letting out a small gasp. Her eyes darted away, avoiding direct eye contact with him.

When she saw him blocking the doorway, looking at her seriously and clearly waiting for an answer, she slowly raised her head, cautiously meeting Ernst's gaze, her eyes pleading, and said softly, "Isn't today the celebration party for 'Rush Hour'?"

It's unclear whether this was due to a change in producers and distributors, but the MGM and Golden Harvest collaboration, "Rush Hour," far surpassed the New Line Cinema release at the box office.

Hollywood did not expect that MGM would schedule the release of a film starring Chinese actors at the beginning of this summer's movie season, which would carry the box office banner.

MGM's summer blockbuster season this year is highly anticipated, mainly due to the immense impact of last year's film "Titanic," which dominated the North American film market for almost a year.

Even though more than a year has passed, Titanic is still not completely removed from theaters. More than 200 screens in North America are still showing the movie, and its box office performance is still quite impressive.

It is extremely rare in the history of the film industry for a film to be shown in theaters for more than 14 months.

The last time a film had such a long run seemed to be back in the silent film era.

Its global box office success of $21.13 billion has led entertainment media worldwide to regard the film as a divine creation, praising it highly.

Before the release of Titanic, the highest-grossing film in global film history was Spielberg's Jurassic Park, which grossed $9.78 million worldwide and was hailed by the media as a peak that would be difficult to surpass for almost a decade.

However, just four years later, Titanic not only broke this record, but its box office revenue was more than double that of Jurassic Park, with a considerable surplus. Such a gap amazed everyone.

It was precisely because of the unprecedented success of Titanic that all the media around the world focused their attention on MGM. Everyone was curious about what kind of movie MGM would release after Titanic to take over the super ship and continue the glory of MGM's summer season.

But who could have imagined that MGM would ultimately prepare a movie starring Chinese actors to kick off this summer's blockbuster season?

What surprised everyone even more was that this film, which was not initially favored by the outside world, successfully carried the banner at the start of MGM's summer season and became a dark horse.

Rush Hour grossed $2.31 million in North America and a staggering $5.02 million worldwide.

While this film's performance paled in comparison to Titanic's $21.13 billion global box office, its $5.02 million global box office is still undeniably a remarkable achievement.

It's worth noting that the film's production cost was only $3300 million, and even with the addition of post-production marketing and distribution expenses, the total investment did not exceed $6000 million.

With a budget of less than $6000 million, MGM earned $5.02 million in global box office revenue. Such a return on investment undoubtedly made MGM a fortune once again, and also made many companies in the film industry envious.

At the same time, Jackie Chan also became a Hollywood superstar known worldwide.

"I heard that you were the one who came up with the creative ideas for this movie?" Nicole Kidman looked at Ernst with curiosity and admiration in her eyes.

Indeed, he provided a brief outline, and Ernst was deeply impressed by the content of the film.

"That's amazing!" Nicole Kidman's admiration grew even stronger. "They actually managed to gross over five hundred million dollars worldwide."

Ernst wasn't surprised at all. He was initially taken aback when he learned about the film's box office results, but he quickly figured out why.

Compared to the original distribution of "Rush Hour" by New Line Cinema, MGM, as one of the eight major Hollywood studios, has a wider range of promotional channels and a stronger promotional effort, enabling more audiences to learn about the film.

Rush Hour received over 3100 screens when it opened, a privilege usually reserved for big-budget A-list films.

Ample screenings attracted more viewers to the cinema, directly boosting box office revenue.

Furthermore, the unprecedented success of "Titanic" also brought certain benefits to "Rush Hour". As the successor to "Titanic", it was born with extremely high popularity. This curiosity will attract a large number of viewers to the cinema, wanting to find out what happened.

Next is the quality of the film. Jackie Chan's comedy style relies on physical comedy, which is universally applicable compared to verbal comedy.

Moreover, his kung fu is theatrical, very flashy and beautiful, which will give Western audiences who are used to the image of tough guys with fists and punches a refreshing feeling.

Finally, the release date was also a major factor, and it was the most important reason for the box office success.

New Line's "Rush Hour" was released in September, which is arguably the worst time of year for North American box office.

With the summer movie season over, audiences' enthusiasm for watching movies has waned, and many people no longer have the desire to go to the cinema.

MGM's "Rush Hour," however, was released at the beginning of the summer season, and its potential audience was incomparable.

"Wait a minute," Ernst almost let the other person lead him astray, "What does the 'Rush Hour' celebration party have to do with you?"

Nicole Kidman quickly explained, "Shakespeare in Love is scheduled to be released in November, and MGM is taking advantage of the buzz surrounding Rush Hour to officially launch the Shakespeare in Love cast and crew into the promotional phase. The cast and crew will make their first full appearance together at today's celebration."

At this point, Nicole Kidman's expression turned somewhat pitiful. She looked at Ernst with a hint of pleading in her voice, "You know, I might not be able to participate in many of the follow-up promotional activities for 'Shakespeare in Love,' so it wouldn't be good if I didn't go to today's first overall appearance of the cast."

Ernst was starting to understand. "So, besides Sisley's influence, this was also a reason for returning to Los Angeles, right?"

"Oh, just this once, okay?"

Seeing that the other party was actually acting coquettishly, Ernst said irritably, "Use my private jet, and come back immediately after the event."

"I promise." The Australian Aries, like a child who had just received candy, happily kissed Ernst before going to change his clothes.

Ernst chuckled and went into the bathroom. Before he could even turn on the tap, the phone in the bedroom rang.

He went back to the bedside and answered the phone; it was Affili's voice on the other end.

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