America achieves both fame and fortune

Chapter 865 is filled with awe.

Today, Nolan has become a golden brand for high-end commercial films.

The Dark Knight and Inception cemented Nolan's legendary status in the hearts of countless film fans.

Nolan can be considered a typical star director of this era, and together with Martin Scorsese as the male lead, they are hailed as a golden combination in film, possessing enormous market appeal.

Starting in mid-June, key members of the production team, including Martin and Nolan, frequently gave interviews on television and in magazines.

The title of "the year's mind-bending sci-fi masterpiece" has been hyped up in repeated promotional announcements.

At the same time, so-called movie-watching guides were also widely circulated.

Similar to the movie "Inception" back then, even before "Interstellar" was released, related physics popularization and expert analysis were bombarding various online platforms at a rapid pace.

The trailer for Interstellar features very few scenes from the movie.

In the final trailer released in July, Martin's voice-over, accompanied by a large amount of real space archive footage from NASA and SpaceX, attracted a large number of space enthusiasts.

Warner Bros. has great confidence in the Nolan-Martin combination, and in the lead-up to the release, the film's promotional efforts have been overwhelming.

"Nolan and Martin's new film creates a cosmic spectacle!"

"Interstellar was the first film to scientifically present the wonders of black holes on the big screen, creating some of the most breathtaking visual effects in film history!"

"Martin, who was rescued in space last time, now shoulders the destiny of saving humanity, showcasing a unique kind of rational and meticulous romance!"

Following the Independence Day holiday, Warner Bros. held a grand premiere for Interstellar in Los Angeles.

The Dolby Theatre was packed with people.

In order to generate buzz and to stand out from the crowd, at Nolan's suggestion, Martin Scorsese, Nolan, Anne Hathaway, and Jessica Chastain walked the red carpet together at the premiere.

Fans chanted each person's name almost frantically, and when the four stood in the media area, the camera flashes turned the sunset into the midday sun.

Jessica Chastain turned her back to the camera, showing off her beautiful, snow-white back.

Martin suddenly realized that Anne Hathaway looked older than Jessica Chastain, who was actually older.

Especially when she smiles, her crow's feet are very noticeable.

After the routine photo session, Martin and Nolan walked ahead and entered the Dolby Theatre together.

The two chatted about Oscar content as they walked.

Nolan is no exception when it comes to the Oscars, so his next project was based on the very politically correct subject of the Dunkirk evacuation.

"I heard your first film as a director has started post-production?" Nolan asked.

Martin said, "Louise handled the post-production work."

Nolan became interested and said with a smile, "Perhaps one day, we'll be rivals at the Oscars."

Martin thought for a moment, and perhaps that day would come, and said, "Chris, the gap between us in directing is too big."

Although Martin learned a lot from Nolan, he only learned a small part of Nolan's directing skills. On the contrary, he learned about 70-80% of Nolan's marketing genius.

If this were to happen, Martin Scorsese, purely in terms of film quality, might not even be considered a match for Nolan.

Nolan came over and asked, "What's your next project? Any plans?"

Martin had only mentioned this to Louise, but when Nolan asked, he added, "If you don't direct Joker, I'm planning to give it a try myself."

Nolan said very seriously, "The Dark Knight Rises is my last superhero movie."

Martin was not surprised and did not continue the topic.

The group entered the VIP room, where Warner Bros. president Daniel Radcliffe greeted Nolan and immediately came over to Martin: "Let's have a private chat."

Martin followed him to a less crowded place.

The two had gone through collaboration, splits, and then collaboration again; they were intimately familiar with each other. Daniel asked directly, "Aren't you going to work with Nolan on his next film?"

Martin said, "His next film is about the Dunkirk evacuation, without a male lead, and he plans to cast all the main roles in British films."

"I see." Daniel was somewhat worried about the market prospects.

World War II films have not performed well commercially in Hollywood in recent years, and audiences seem to have stopped buying into the so-called humanistic concern and reflection.

Hollywood's reflective approach is no longer very effective in North America.

In recent years, in particular, there has been a growing number of opinions that "Saving Private Ryan" and "Schindler's List" are overly sentimental.

Daniel roughly guessed Nolan's thoughts: "For the Oscars?"

Martin smiled and said, "You should talk to Director Nolan about the specifics. Warner Bros. is still his first choice."

Daniel nodded, but left with a furrowed brow, because this type of film didn't have a good market prospect, even if the director was Christopher Nolan.

He would prefer Nolan to continue working with Martin and making more science fiction films, even original ones.

But when a director reaches Nolan's level, it's like when an actor reaches Martin Scorsese or Leonardo DiCaprio—the production company can no longer force them to do more.

Hollywood is no longer a monopoly.

Elon Musk, who had been waiting for a long time, came over when he saw that Martin was alone.

The woman on his arm was neither Amber Heard nor Talulah Riley, whom he had remarried, but a complete stranger.

Musk didn't offer any introductions, but instead spoke directly to Martin: "Dude, congratulations on John Wick 3 surpassing $5 million at the North American box office. If I had known it would be this popular, I would have made a cameo as the main villain."

This guy has a lot of fans online and acts very high-profile. Martin continued, "The next movie in the series, The Continental Hotel, will be filming soon. If you're interested, you can do a cameo role in the movie."

Musk was very interested: "Give me your contact information."

Martin left him Chad Stahelski's contact information, saying, "Tesla is hot right now, and its stock price is rising very fast."

"What does this prove?" Musk, never lacking in confidence, replied: "I've run the business well!"

His face trembled with laughter: "Didn't I assure you? Every dollar you invested in Tesla has yielded at least a tenfold return!"

Martin said, "Hopefully it will increase tenfold."

Musk confidently stated, "It definitely will."

Martin deliberately acted as if he trusted him a lot.

When Martin invested in Tesla in 2012, Tesla's market value was only $32 billion.

And now? Its market capitalization has reached nearly $330 billion.

Martin invested $5000 million in Tesla in two separate transactions, plus the stock he bought on the secondary market. Even the smallest investment he made yielded more than ten times the initial investment.

The two chatted about investments for a while longer when a staff member came over to remind them that the premiere was about to begin.

Musk and his female companion left the lounge first.

Martin joined the main creative team and followed Nolan and Emma Thomas into the screening room.

Although Interstellar is an original film with a hard science fiction style, the Dolby Theatre was packed tonight thanks to the strong market appeal of Martin and Nolan.

Within the entire Hollywood directing circle, Nolan's fanaticism is absolutely number one, unmatched by any other director.

From the moment the cast and crew entered the theater until everyone was seated in the front row, the thunderous applause in the Dolby Theatre never stopped.

The theater did not return to silence until the ceiling lights were turned off.

Perhaps to create a sense of realism, the film begins with a mockumentary style, featuring some elderly people describing the crisis facing the Earth.

Earth is experiencing extreme weather, a food crisis, and widespread plant death caused by wilt disease. Doomsday is imminent. The last remaining team from NASA and SpaceX finds the protagonist and asks him to lead the last small team to search for potentially habitable planets through a wormhole near Saturn.

At first glance, this appears to be an epic science fiction adventure set in space.

From time and space to wormholes, everything the visuals present is breathtaking.

But in essence, it's still just another old Hollywood cliché.

For example, family and kinship.

In the end, love saved everything.

It's hard to say whether this is good or bad, but the fact that such a clichéd theme is presented alongside stunning visuals will definitely cause some controversy for the film.

Of course, Nolan insisted on using IMAX cameras and refused to use 3D for the footage, and the effect was indeed amazing, making it one of the most beautiful space scenes in film history.

The visual effects and the hype surrounding the black hole are enough to attract many viewers to the theaters to watch this space blockbuster.

Another point is that time, space, and logical thinking have always been among the selling points of Nolan's films. This time, he has thrown his ambitions for time and space directly into the vast universe.

As for the true and false physics and space theories involved, it's hard to say how much the audience can understand.

Experience over the past few decades has shown that the more difficult a film is to understand by the majority of the audience, the worse its commercial performance tends to be.

Some movies, even if they are highly praised by a certain group of movie fans, still take ten or twenty years to recoup their costs.

When Interstellar ended, thunderous applause erupted.

In fact, many viewers didn't understand those things in space at all.

However, most of those attending the premiere were die-hard fans of Martin and Nolan. Even if they didn't understand it, they would still say that the film was very well made and very exciting.

Even those who dare to express their opinions by saying they don't understand or are deliberately mysterious are immediately attacked as brainless, stupid, and idiots, with the argument that it's a problem with their intelligence, not the movie.

Especially Nolan's die-hard fans.

Similar situations have already occurred three times in the IMDb and social media battles surrounding "The Dark Knight," "Inception," and "The Dark Knight Rises."

Nolan, along with Martin and other key members of the production team, took to the stage for a bow, receiving not only continued enthusiastic applause but also a round of cheers.

After the premiere, the main cast and crew were the first to leave.

In the lobby where audience members were leaving, several Warner Bros. staff members conducted a random questionnaire survey.

Nolan's fans actively participated in the discussion, expressing their love and respect for Nolan's films in the questionnaire feedback.

"It was truly magnificent; I can't describe it in words. I was moved to tears by the end."

"Can I give it 100 stars? Can I give 'Interstellar' 100 stars? It's filled with awe—awe for the universe, for cinema, and for director Nolan!"

"My friend asked me why my knees hurt. It's because I watched the whole thing kneeling!"

"I'm so shocked I don't know what to say."

Just as Nolan's fans were expressing their excitement, some enthusiastic fans passing by shouted in their direction, "Nolan is a god!"

"Nolan, you are my faith!"

When faced with Nolan's films, the fervent fans seem to lose their minds.

There may be directors in Hollywood who have more fans than Nolan, but none have as many fervent supporters as Nolan.

Even Martin Scorsese's fans aren't this enthusiastic, let alone the director.

This may also be related to the fact that Martin does a lot of messy things on a daily basis; he is constantly shattering the filter of idolization.

Rumors are flying about Martin; the trio of bastards are infamous...

Just like no one would worship Leonardo DiCaprio and Nicholson as gods.

Shortly after Martin left the theater, he received a message forwarded by Thomas: Warner Bros. had released the audience ratings from the live show.

As expected, it received an "A+".

In addition, there is another number—an average score of 97!

Such statistics gave Warner Bros. a lot of confidence, and they lifted the embargo on "Interstellar" that very night.

The following morning, the IMDb rating was released, starting with an astonishing 9.6 points!

This is even better than the starting scores of The Dark Knight and Inception!

This precisely demonstrates that Nolan is being mythologized.

In stark contrast, Rotten Tomatoes has a freshness rating of only 78% based on film reviews!

This number isn't bad, but compared to the Rotten Tomatoes scores of Nolan's past films, it's only average.

The Hollywood Reporter stated that Martin Davis's performance was as excellent as ever, and another Oscar nomination for Best Actor was on his way, but director Nolan seemed lost in space, with a lack of compelling plot, relying entirely on his high-concept and Davis's performance to carry the film.

Empire, on the other hand, believes that Nolan's new film is too bound by worldly emotions, resulting in a clichéd story and theme, too many plot holes, and a lack of overall tension.

Some media outlets and film critics even called Interstellar a rotten film wrapped in colorful and pretty sugar coating.

Martin Scorsese's performance remains highly praised, even more so than the film and the criticism Nolan has received.

"Martin portrayed the father who prioritizes family very well, and several emotional scenes were truly tear-jerking."

Between its premiere and its theatrical release, Interstellar received mixed reviews.

Fans gave it rave reviews, while media and critics considered it mediocre compared to Nolan's previous films.

However, the market atmosphere has already been created quite a bit by movie fans.

"To say that Interstellar is a masterpiece is the highest praise one can give to the term 'masterpiece'."

Amidst the frenzied atmosphere created by Nolan's fans, the film was successfully released.

On Thursday evening, the midnight screenings began, and among the same 3600 midnight screenings, the attendance rate for "Interstellar" was far lower than that for "John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum," a sequel to a blockbuster film.

The midnight screenings grossed $967 million.

(End of this chapter)