America achieves both fame and fortune

Chapter 594 Another Box Office Champion

Movies are inherently dreams, but Nolan takes the audience into a dream within a dream, and Martin Scorsese is the pioneer of dream infiltration.

The dream thief he starred in, Dom Cobb, is best known for infiltrating other people's dreams to steal valuable information and secrets from their subconscious. If necessary, he will also perform further memory transplants to alter the other person's memories.

A creative concept and theme, a simple story, but Nolan once again uses a relatively complex narrative technique.

Even so, this film is not difficult to understand at all.

Hollywood has proven time and again over the decades that overly complex films only drive away audiences and isolate themselves from the market.

Nolan also used a large number of visual spectacles that could attract casual viewers.

Dream scenarios don't need to respect the physical laws of the real world; various spatial flips, seawater intrusion, city collapses, and so on can be freely imagined.

The only things that can limit a film are budget and imagination.

When the credits on the Kodak Theatre's big screen finished rolling and the ceiling lights up, the entire audience erupted in enthusiastic applause.

If The Matrix created a new realm of "pretentious movies," then Inception took it to a new level.

The entire audience applauded as Nolan led the main cast and crew onto the stage for a curtain call.

Tom Hardy had been secretly observing Martin, watching him stand with Nolan and enjoy the wildest adoration from the audience.

Thinking about all that he had suffered for Martin, he couldn't help but feel resentful.

The greatest injustice and suffering fell upon him, while the gains, money, and glory went to others.

As Tom Hardy took his bow with the cast and crew, he showed no excitement or agitation, only depression and sadness.

After finally making it to the end, he came out from backstage and met up with his agent.

The two walked out together.

Tom Hardy asked, "When Inception first started filming, director Nolan told me he wanted me to play Bane, the main villain in The Dark Knight Rises. Why did someone else get the role?"

The agent said, "The production team's feedback is that you're not big enough."

"They're talking nonsense!" Tom Hardy said, disbelievingly. "If that were the reason, Nolan wouldn't have invited me in the first place."

The agent paused for a moment before saying, "Before the shooting, when I spoke with Emma Thomas, Nolan's mind hadn't changed. But shortly after the shooting... when I asked him again before the crew went to Paris, Nolan said that inviting you was just a preliminary idea, and we'd discuss the specifics after Bane's audition."

Tom Hardy couldn't help but exclaim, "Another shooting!"

The agent didn't want his client to think he was incompetent, and with readily available reasons and excuses presented, he simply pushed the blame upwards: "That shooting incident had a huge impact on you. Everyone thinks you did it, and no one is willing to defend you. Director Nolan also rejected the idea of ​​casting you as Bane."

“I know,” Tom Hardy asked. “They weren’t originally targeting me.”

The agent nodded and replied, "According to Brad Pitt's testimony, he was instructed by Harvey Weinstein to target Martin Davis."

He reassured her, "Harvey Weinstein will be severely punished!"

Tom Hardy remained silent, believing that the culprit was not Harvey, but Martin.

Harvey was far away from him, but Martin was very close.

But Tom Hardy kept all of this to himself; that bastard Martin was not someone to mess with.

Meanwhile, Martin, Leonardo, and Nicholson, the three bastards, got into the same car, ready to go to the Nightclub to wash their faces.

The three continued to talk about the party Leonardo had prepared.

Leonardo DiCaprio kept checking his phone and said the latest news: "Besides models, there are several Russian and Ukrainian actresses who want to break into Hollywood."

Martin suddenly remembered Catherine the Great, who often appeared in online short videos in his previous life. Unfortunately, he only remembered that she played this role, but did not know her name.

Nicholson said, "Among Russian and Ukrainian actresses, not counting Milla Jovovich who works in Hollywood, I only know one: Yelena Korikova. I even talked to her when she was working in Hollywood, but unfortunately she later returned to Russia."

Martin asked, "Jack, are you talking about a serious chat?"

Nicholson spread his hands: "Isn't it normal to have a more in-depth conversation after the initial chat?"

Leonardo shrugged and said to Nicholson, "You're going to be disappointed. Yelena is too old. The actresses who come will be more like models, and they won't be very famous. After all, this is my first time organizing a party there, and I haven't fully figured out how it works yet."

Martin suddenly realized something: "Leo, is Swallow among the people you invited?"

Leonardo had heard of it: "KGB swallows? Don't worry, there's absolutely no way. Swallows are not easy to breed, each one is very precious, and they would never be used on us."

He said nonchalantly, "Even if they do, so what? I'll hire the most professional security personnel; they'll just become prey if they come in!"

Nicholson became interested: "I've heard so many stories about swallows, but I've never seen one, let alone handled one."

Martin bluntly revealed: "Because you have no value!"

"Yes, you have value," Nicholson retorted. "Having taken out so many Russian spies, the Swallows will definitely put you to your senses..."

Leonardo deliberately asked, "How do I calm down?"

Nicholson pulled outwards with one hand and gestured with the other as if cutting with a knife: "Of course!"

Martin knew perfectly well that he had never killed a single Russian spy; it was all a frame-up by the LAPD and the FBI.

Leonardo pressed down on Martin's shoulder: "Hey, you're not going to chicken out and become a coward, are you?"

Martin, of course, wouldn't admit it: "What a joke! I'm always the toughest one!"

After washing their faces, the three of them felt refreshed and went to Avalon for a few drinks before heading home.

Martin received a new text message on his phone from Thomas: Warner Bros. conducted a survey at the premiere, and the audience response was very positive.

The following day, the media embargo on Inception was lifted.

Kenneth Turan, a film critic columnist for the Los Angeles Times, gave the film high praise: "Inception's anti-physics exploration, exciting action scenes, impactful emotions, and Martin Davis's consistently amazing performance are all captivating."

It also received rave reviews in other media outlets.

"Martin Davis has once again proven his excellent eye for film selection. His collaboration with director Christopher Nolan on Inception is a captivating sci-fi dream journey."

On the website, it's a celebration for movie fans.

"A man with a thousand faces—that's exactly what a great actor like Martin Scorsese is all about. Even in commercial films, the characters he portrays exude completely different qualities. In 'John Wick,' he almost pushed the action sequences to their limits, while in 'Inception,' he displays elegance, humor, and wisdom..."

With the release of the film's reviews and the release of various statistics, it has a 94% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, an average score of 9.2 on IMDb, a Metacritic score of 83, and an A rating from live audiences at CS.

Inception received rave reviews.

Of course, there are also negative reviews, for example, a certain group is targeting Martin.

"Martin's films are always particularly chaotic, filled with violent elements such as explosions, gunfights, and killings, which have nothing to do with art. He is as far away from an artist as New York to Los Angeles."

Aside from money and gold, what can make everyone like you?

Just as there are Martin fans, there are also Martin haters.

Martin is relatively better off; Nolan, on the other hand, gained a large number of haters due to the point war on IMDb for "The Dark Knight".

Inception has just finished its premiere, and many one-star reviews have already appeared on the relevant sections of IMDb.

"This movie is pure garbage, one of the worst movies ever made. I know I'll be attacked by Nolan's die-hard fans for saying this, because I see through the essence of Inception—utter nonsense!"

Similar comments were quickly overwhelmed by a flood of positive reviews.

But for this mega-production with a production budget of $1.6 million and a total marketing cost of $8000 million, the only true measure of success or failure is commercial revenue.

Of all commercial revenues, box office revenue is the most fundamental.

Commercial screenings of GG (Google's original content) have resulted in overwhelmingly negative reviews from online consumers, which will definitely impact offline sales.

On Thursday night, Inception was released in 1800 theaters across North America ahead of schedule.

Because it was an original film, the midnight screenings only grossed $412 million.

"Is he going to collapse?"

Bruce, who had received the report from the previous night at the manor, frowned: "This number is a bit low."

Martin, however, remained calm and pointed out, "Avatar's midnight screenings only grossed $353 million, a natural disadvantage for original films."

Without his and Nolan's fame, this film would be lucky to get $200 million in midnight screenings.

Martin asked, "What about 'The Last Airbender' which is releasing in the same period?"

Bruce said, "$275 million, but this is an animated film adaptation." He then abruptly changed his tone, "However, the film received terrible reviews. It didn't even get a 6 on IMDb, and the audience score at the CS was only B-."

Martin said, "After today, we'll see who wins and who loses."

This year, Independence Day falls on a weekend, giving Americans a three-day holiday. Starting July 2nd, "Inception" will be shown in 3988 theaters across North America.

The film did not adopt a strategy of simultaneous global release; even in markets such as the UK, Mexico, and Brazil, it will not be released until next weekend at the earliest.

Even with Martin Scorsese and Christopher Nolan at the helm of Inception, the inherently high risk of original films still leaves many people with doubts.

Countless box office stars and big-name directors have failed with original films.

On Friday alone, "Inception" raked in $2654 million, taking the top spot at the box office.

"The Last Airbender," released at the same time, only grossed $1557 million.

The former has received excellent reviews from both the media and the audience, indicating a very stable box office trend.

The latter has a terrible reputation.

(End of this chapter)