America achieves both fame and fortune

Chapter 860 When Thanos Met Jonathan

The best time to watch the summer movie season in May is undoubtedly the first and last weekends of the season.

The former's summer movie season has just begun, and moviegoers' enthusiasm for blockbuster films has suddenly exploded; the latter's last Monday in May is also Memorial Day, a public holiday, which, together with Saturday and Sunday, forms a three-day blockbuster season.

John Wick 3 opened in North American theaters on Friday, the day before the holiday weekend, with a total of 4105 theaters showing.

This is also the R-rated film with the most theater openings since The Dark Knight Rises.

Moviegoers eagerly awaited the film, and starting Thursday evening, large crowds flocked to theaters to watch the midnight screenings.

The film grossed $1820 million in 3800 midnight screenings across North America.

This is the strongest midnight screening box office since the beginning of 2014, far surpassing "Captain America 2" at the start of the summer season.

The latter grossed $9620 million in its opening weekend in North America.

In the Disney Studios office, Alan Horn was reviewing the data that had just been submitted, including not only the box office figures for "John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum," but also market response and word-of-mouth from various quarters.

All the numbers showed an explosive trend.

Cody Horn, who came to Disney today, put down his copy of The Hollywood Reporter and asked, "Is Martin Scorsese's new film a box office hit?"

She shook her head: "That's not quite right. Martin's films have always had a strong box office impact, and this one should be described as a super box office hit."

"With the accumulation of two consecutive films, the huge buzz, and the third installment of the trilogy, 'John Wick 3' will experience a terrifying market explosion." Alan Horn smiled and said, "Of course, this is a good thing. Judging from the current situation, 'John Wick 3' will far surpass 'Captain America: The Winter Soldier' ​​in its opening weekend box office."

Cody Horn couldn't help but exclaim, "Martin's vision and appeal are truly amazing; no one in Hollywood today can compare."

Upon hearing this, Alan Horn suddenly had another idea and said, "Perhaps we should let Marvel's Avengers series ride on the coattails of Martin and John Wick's popularity."

Cody Horn was very curious about how to piggyback on Marvel's superhero movies.

But this involved the business operations of a large company, so she didn't ask.

Alan Horn picked up the phone, dialed his assistant's number, and said, "Have the directors of the marketing department come to the small conference room immediately."

He glanced at Cody Horn: "Go ahead and wander around. I have work to do."

Cody Horn nodded slightly, left the office, and went into the building's entertainment department.

Alan Horn quickly went to the small conference room and convened an emergency meeting.

The meeting had only one theme: how to get Marvel's superhero movie series to ride on the popularity of Martin and the John Wick series in order to attract more attention.

Everyone shared their opinions, and within half an hour, a plan was finalized.

Under Alan Horn's leadership, Disney Studios worked with exceptional efficiency, and the project began operating that very morning.

While Martin was promoting the film, he received a call from Alan Horn, who explained in detail a brand new promotional plan that involved Marvel's superhero movie series, John Wick, and his personal image rights.

This would be very beneficial for the film promotion of both sides, so Martin readily agreed and sent Thomas and Jessica to negotiate the licensing.

The two sides quickly reached an agreement, and by noon on Friday, a hastily produced digital version of Marvel comics appeared on the Internet.

This comic quickly attracted the attention of netizens and was frequently shared on Twitter and Instagram.

The comic is called "When Thanos Met Jonathan"!

With several Marvel superhero movies already released, all movie fans know that the Avengers' ultimate supervillain will be Thanos, the head of the cosmic family planning commission.

Although this character only makes a brief appearance in the movie, he has appeared countless times in the comics and is a well-known comic book character.

In this short comic, Thanos comes to Earth and accidentally kills Jonathan's dog, after which Jonathan seeks revenge.

Logically speaking, Jonathan's fighting power is far inferior to Thanos's, but the problem is that Thanos killed Jonathan's dog!

So, Jonathan unleashed his full power and fought Thanos to a standstill!

If it were any other action movie character, even Rambo, Ethan Hunt, or Jason Bourne, this comic would be ridiculed to no end. But Jonathan is different; he's the subject of countless memes and jokes among netizens.

The saying "Jonathan's dog is not to be messed with" is deeply ingrained in people's minds. Killing Jonathan's dog would be an absolute cosmic catastrophe!

Although it was outrageous and absurd, netizens found it very entertaining and engaged in heated discussions.

"Forget Thanos, even if Darkseid and Superman teamed up, they'd be completely dominated by Jonathan if they even dared to mess with his dogs!"

"Kill Jonathan's dog, and Jonathan will destroy the entire universe!"

"Once the dog dies, Jonathan goes berserk. How could Marvel, with its elementary school playground-level brawl, possibly be a match for Jonathan?"

"Marvel and DC, are you watching? Only Jonathan's dog can save the universe!"

That afternoon, with the help of Davis Studios and Disney Studios, "When Thanos Met Jonathan" quickly climbed to the top of the trending lists on multiple websites, becoming one of the hottest topics of the week.

Just as "When Thanos Met Jonathan" was becoming a hit, Zack Snyder approached DC co-chairman Hamada.

This short, dark-themed director, after reading the comics, also had his own ideas. He said to Hamada, "Marvel really capitalized on the hype surrounding 'John Wick' this time. 'Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice' will be released in the first half of next year. Shouldn't we do the same?"

As a member of Warner Music's boy band, Hamada didn't take it too seriously.

Zack Snyder continued, "We can take advantage of this opportunity. Martin has always worked with Warner Bros., right? He's also in charge of a DC movie project. We can talk to Martin and release a Steppenwolf or Darkseid meets Jonathan while it's still hot."

Hamada's thoughts were completely different from his. He waved his hand and said, "There's no need. Batman and Superman have enough appeal. There's no need to resort to these underhanded methods. Martin... is not easy to deal with."

Zack Snyder added, "The movie's popularity..."

Hamada raised his hand to interrupt him: "That's it, Zack. You should focus your energy on the filming and production of the movie. Leave the publicity, marketing and distribution to DC and Warner."

Zack Snyder isn't Nolan; he doesn't have the resources to make too many demands on DC, so he had to shut up and leave.

Although Warner Bros. and DC looked down on these low-brow promotional tactics, the buzz generated by "When Thanos Met Jonathan" further amplified the influence of "John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum" and Marvel superhero movies.

The latter, "Captain America 2," which has been in theaters for nearly a month, has seen a rebound in box office revenue.

John Wick 3 attracted more casual viewers.

The film has maintained an alarmingly high attendance rate since Friday morning, with most theaters being more than two-thirds full.

In the evening, tickets for "John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum" were in high demand in popular cinema locations in major North American cities, with many theaters packed to capacity.

This situation continued throughout the night until the cinema closed.

Correspondingly, after Friday's box office figures were released, "John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum" achieved its best single-day box office revenue this year – $5564 million!

After building up to two consecutive films, this series finally saw a super explosion in the third installment of the trilogy!

Anyone can see that "John Wick 3" has the potential to achieve amazing box office results.

"When Thanos Met Jonathan" continues to gain traction online, with netizens spontaneously creating many new memes.

"The world's number one cheat code: Jonathan's dog was killed!"

"If you kill his dog, this man will become the strongest in the universe!"

In addition to these, a flood of enthusiastic reviews from moviegoers about the film itself also erupted online.

John Wick 3 has maintained an excellent reputation. Even with nearly 10 million viewers watching, its IMDb rating has not dropped significantly and is currently maintained at 8.9.

Fans online are praising the film to the skies.

"If there were such a thing as an alcoholic action movie, then the John Wick series, led by Martin Davis, would definitely be on the list! It's like a shot of high-proof vodka, you chug it down with your eyes wide open, and the fiery sensation rushes to your head."

"In the first two films, Martin Scorsese's almost realistic action sequences reached what I thought was the pinnacle of Hollywood action, but the third film proves once again that Scorsese's limits are beyond imagination, delivering another super action classic!"

"Although I'm a girl, I'm a big fan of Martin. When I saw the scenes with throwing knives, pencils, stables, and riding, I was completely drenched in sweat. I wished I could be that black horse!"

On Rotten Tomatoes, there are over 200 reviews of "John Wick 3", but the film still has a 95% freshness rating!

From the media to the audience to film critics, the film received almost unanimous high praise.

On Saturday, despite the high attendance on its opening day, "John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum" did not experience a significant drop in audience numbers. Theaters in most large and medium-sized cities across the United States maintained a high attendance rate throughout the screenings.

At this point, Davis Studios and Disney Studios no longer need to put in continuous effort on word-of-mouth marketing; proper guidance is enough to make the film's high reputation spread like wildfire.

Meanwhile, the post-credits scene in the film, which includes a hint about the new movie "Continental Hotel New York," has also garnered widespread attention from movie fans.

The Winston character, reminiscent of Menez, has the second most screen time in the trilogy after Martin, and is also a very popular character.

Now that it's about to be made into a standalone film, it's highly anticipated.

Early Sunday morning, a brand new box office statistic was sent to Martin's email.

In the bedroom at Davis Estate, Martin patted Lily's bottom, gesturing for her to hug Elizabeth. He then got up, leaned against the headboard, picked up his phone, and opened his email.

Lily took a bite out of Elizabeth's soft, high spot.

Elizabeth, who had been dozing off due to exhaustion, was woken up by Lily's bite. She quickly covered Lily's mouth, rolled over, and hugged Martin.

Seeing Martin looking at his phone, she asked, "No decline today?"

Martin said, "No, attendance was higher than on Friday, and we made $5510 million."

Lily crawled over and snuggled into Elizabeth's arms, saying, "The box office is clearly lower than Friday's."

"You're such a scatterbrain!" Elizabeth reminded her. "The box office statistics for Friday include midnight screenings that started on Thursday night."

Martin lifted Lily onto Elizabeth, stood up, and went to the back, saying, "It's time to celebrate."

Lily's legs were trembling with exhaustion. She glanced at Elizabeth's face, which was so close to hers, and whispered in her ear, "This can't go on. Should we find another sister to come?"

Elizabeth immediately thought of the woman far away in Atlanta and insisted, "Let's leave it at that for now."

Lily shuddered at the thought of Love's iron fist and decided it was best not to come any closer.

She felt that whether she should find someone else or not, if she really brought Elena over, she would be beaten half to death every day.

John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum quickly spent its opening weekend in North American theaters, grossing $1.61 million in 4105 theaters. It not only topped the North American box office charts but also achieved its highest weekend box office performance this year.

The following Monday was Memorial Day, a public holiday across the United States. Although John Wick 3's attendance declined somewhat, it still remained at a certain level, earning another $4201 million that day.

In just four days, the film's North American box office has surpassed the $2 million mark, reaching a staggering $2.03 million.

Based on several days of in-theater audience statistics, authoritative market forecasting firm Cinemascore has given "John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum" an average rating of "A+", predicting that the North American box office will not be less than $5 million.

The last R-rated film to gross over $5 million at the North American box office was The Dark Knight.

The film's popularity was high enough to create a chain reaction in the media and on the internet, so much so that the production and distribution companies didn't need to invest too many resources; many media outlets and movie fans would spontaneously spread the word.

Popularity naturally attracts media frenzy for coverage.

The word-of-mouth reputation among movie fans still has a powerful influence even today.

When someone achieves continuous success, not only will they be surrounded by good people, but all the media will spontaneously praise them.

Martin received that kind of treatment.

In its related report, CNN stated directly: "Martin Davis is a national treasure of America!"

A People magazine lauded him, saying, "Although Martin Davis is not yet 35 years old, he has already become a Hollywood legend and an immortal monument in the history of world cinema!"

The Los Angeles Times went even further, conducting an interview with Martin after the holidays and publishing a report titled: "This is a Martin Davis world, and we just live in it."

Even a phrase began to appear on social media and circulated widely: "Chaotic America is no match for Martin Davis."

(End of this chapter)