America achieves both fame and fortune

Chapter 346 First Week Exceeds Costs

As the premiere ended, the snow was still falling. The crew gave each audience member who came out an umbrella and a warm hat, the latter being movie merchandise specially made for the European and North American markets.

Richardson put on a hat with the film crew's logo, got into a van with his assistant, and quickly started the engine and turned on the heater because it was too cold.

The assistant looked toward the side entrance of the Metropolitan Theatre and saw Martin Davis just come out, immediately surrounded by reporters.

"Only three years!" he muttered. "Boss, don't you think the protagonist in the movie is a different kind of portrayal of Martin's Hollywood career over the past three years? It's like he's been given a cheat code in a game, going from a poor kid to a big star."

Richardson took off his hat, looked at the logo, and said, "For a lead actor, a successful movie can change their life."

After waiting for a while, the rest of the people returned one after another.

Richardson had his assistant drive and instructed the others to collect audience ratings and input them into the system as soon as the film ended.

The two IBM laptops were passed around among the people, and the system quickly generated an average score.

"A+!" Richardson, with his extensive experience, judged, "After the first week of Never Ending, the audience rating can't be lower than an A. With Martin Davis's star power and the scale of the release, this film's box office performance is promising."

The assistant asked, "Over 100 million again in North America?"

Richardson nodded: "Very likely."

The snow is still falling, endlessly.

The day after the premiere, Martin woke up from his sleep, broke free from Aniston's clutches, and immediately grabbed his phone after washing up.

The above is a text message from Warner Bros.: the audience at the premiere gave it an average score of "A+"!

Warner Bros. has also lifted the ban on various reputation ratings.

Martin turned on his computer and logged into two websites: "Limitless" had an 88% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes and an average Metacritic score of 78.

The bathroom door opened, and Aniston came out brushing her teeth, asking, "How are the reviews for the film?"

Martin stated directly, "The audience reviews are overwhelmingly positive, and the media reviews are excellent."

Aniston was completely relieved. She went back to the bathroom to rinse her mouth, and after a while, she said, "Let's go out for breakfast and celebrate."

Martin said, "Call the rest of the crew, it's on me."

Aniston quickly went to get ready.

Martin started making a phone call.

Everyone in the crew is in a good mood. Positive audience reviews mean the box office will be good.

In addition to the normal salary and union revenue share, they can also receive an extra bonus.

…………

Brentwood, Los Angeles.

Leonardo, who washed his face last night, woke up exceptionally early today and seemed unusually energetic.

Now I can run the 100 meters in at least 15 seconds.

Bar Refaeli brought him breakfast and poured him some milk.

Leonardo laughed and said, "Do you have today's newspaper...?"

Bar Refaeli brought over a huge stack of newspapers and magazines, saying, "I turned to the page about 'Never Ending' in every single one of them."

"You're very thoughtful." Leonardo was very satisfied with his temporary female companion, so he decided to give her more opportunities for exposure.

He ate breakfast while reading the comments in the newspaper.

Because "Limitless" has just premiered and has not yet been widely released, most of the reviews are quick comments.

"A peculiar and interesting pseudo-science fiction thriller."

"Very interesting, a great mainstream entertainment film."

"It allows all viewers to realize their daydreams while sitting in the theater."

Leonardo couldn't help but laugh. He had seen the film during the test screening, and he had even fantasized about some of the scenes before he became famous.

He continued reading and found some information about the male protagonist, that bastard Martin.

"Martin's performance was impressive; he has once again proven with his work that his acting skills are just as outstanding as his looks."

"Most of the film's plot is connected by Martin Davis's performance. He can quickly pull the audience into a daydream. His character is as fascinating as the leader of the Coca-Cola cult."

Leonardo DiCaprio thought back to before he took on the role in Titanic, when he had an excellent reputation among critics, with many praising his acting skills.

But the Titanic's huge success changed everything.

Hollywood's unprecedented box office miracle—whether out of jealousy or some other weird motive—made him a fool who couldn't act and only knew how to sell his face.

Leonardo has a feeling that Martin is on this path.

Who knows, one day the critics will use their pens as knives to teach that idiot Martin a lesson.

It will be very lively then.

After finishing breakfast, Leonardo didn't read the newspaper anymore and went straight to call Martin, who was in New York.

"Hey Martin, is your new movie going to be a huge hit?"

"It hasn't been released on a large scale yet, who knows for sure?" Martin's side was a bit chaotic: "The Northeast has been experiencing continuous heavy snowfall, and it's freezing cold, which will definitely affect the box office."

The weather is beyond human control. By Thursday, it was still snowing in New York, although the snowflakes were much smaller, and the roads were covered with a thick layer of snow.

The weather became even colder.

"Limitless" is scheduled for a nationwide release in North America.

On Thursday afternoon, many people wearing red cotton hats braved the snow and cold to enter the AMC theater in Times Square, which was still operating normally, to buy tickets for "Limitless" in support of Martin Scorsese.

In Brooklyn, near a fan club headquarters of Martin in New York, long lines even formed in front of a movie theater.

The heavy snow and bitter cold deterred some people from going out to see the movie, but they couldn't dampen the enthusiasm of the Coca-Cola cult and Martin Scorsese fan club.

Because red T-shirts are inconvenient to wear this season, red hats have become the mainstream choice for audiences at movie theaters across North America on Thursday nights.

That night, Coca-Cola red was the most common color in major cinemas across North America.

…………

In an office on Peachtree Street, Atlanta.

Robert put on the red Coca-Cola cult baseball cap, but because his head was particularly large, he found the cap didn't fit properly, so he took it off, adjusted it, and put it back on.

He put on a red coat, took out a Coca-Cola bottle from 03, carefully applied olive oil to it, and placed it on the old-fashioned desk facing west.

Robert looked solemn, like a cardinal holding a mass, muttering to himself.

In this country rife with cults, the Cola Cult, despite its extremely loose organizational structure, boasts a large number of supporters.

If it weren't for his status as a partner in the company, Robert would have resigned to focus on being the high priest of the Cola Cult.

As he walked out after the ceremony, something suddenly occurred to him.

From the leader Martin to the vice-leader Bruce, and then to the saint Elena, everyone in the Cola Cult is a part-time figure.

"I guess I'll just continue with the part-time job," Robert muttered as he came downstairs wearing a hat. "The High Priest can't be the only one doing the job full-time."

Driving home, Robert passed by the Peach Tree Street Cinema and noticed that the area in front of the cinema had turned into a sea of ​​red.

Without asking, you can tell from the color that this is the crowd going to see "Limitless".

…………

Thursday passed, and early Friday morning, the latest box office report was released and published in the entertainment sections of many newspapers.

With 2800 advance screenings, "Limitless" easily grossed $468 million.

At the same time, the film also received excellent reviews.

On Friday, the opening day of the film's release, the screenings expanded to 3285 cinemas.

The severe weather continues in the northeastern United States and southeastern Canada, and everyone, including Martin, has lowered their box office expectations for the film.

However, thanks to its good reputation and strong sense of immersion, Never Ending still attracted a large audience.

Its North American opening day grossed $1245 million, beating out "Catch and Let Go," starring Jennifer Garner, which was released at the same time, to become the box office champion of the day.

On this very day, the endless stream of excellent audience reviews spread like wildfire across North America via the internet.

"A life and desires that seem to be on a winning streak—it's incredibly satisfying to watch!"

"The protagonist of Martin is simply my life's dream."

"The plot was incredibly engaging. I don't know why, but I felt like the protagonist was another version of myself, which made for a truly enjoyable experience in the theater!"

"The plot and character settings are quite novel, making it impossible to tear yourself away from the story."

Positive word-of-mouth attracted many casual viewers, boosting the film's box office on Saturday, which grossed $1444 million that day.

Unfavorable weather conditions did affect the film, but not as much as some people had hoped.

On Monday morning, Christian Bale invited Heath Ledger to have coffee.

He wanted to help his friend get out of his predicament and back on track as soon as possible.

The snow had completely stopped yesterday, and the main roads were cleaned up. Heath Ledger, carrying a newspaper, went into a coffee shop, ordered a hot coffee, and sat down opposite Bell.

Bell glanced at his face, red from the cold, and asked, "What happened? You don't seem to be in a good mood?"

Heath took off his scarf and pushed the newspaper toward Bell: "The heavy snow can't stop that bastard Martin Davis, or his movies."

Bell picked up the newspaper and saw that the box office report for the previous weekend was published on the front page of the entertainment section of The New York Times.

"Limitless" raked in $3897 million in North America in just three days, beating out "Catch and Let Go" which was released at the same time, and taking the top spot at the weekend box office.

Bell put down his newspaper and said, "The heavy snow in the northeastern United States and southeastern Canada has still affected the film's box office."

Both locations are densely populated areas, and Heath was somewhat irritated: "The North American box office exceeded the production cost in its opening weekend. Martin's new film has been a success once again."

He added, "CS gave it an A rating and predicted it would gross over $100 million in North America."

"Calm down," Bell said, more composed than him. "You can't rely on the weather to bring him down."

Heath took a sip of coffee, the bitter taste spreading in his mouth, and his emotions calmed down considerably: "I had a glimmer of hope that he would fall hard, but a glimmer of hope is just a glimmer of hope. Martin Davis's momentum is unstoppable."

Bell said, "It's a long time. Only when we stand at a higher level will we be able to step on them."

Heath nodded: "You're right."

(End of this chapter)