America achieves both fame and fortune

Chapter 889 Martha's Appearance Shocks the Entire Audience

This July, the most anticipated film of the summer movie season is undoubtedly DC's blockbuster "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice".

Even with two Avengers movies already released, Superman and Batman still occupy two of the top three spots among the most popular superheroes in North America.

On the day of the premiere, a massive number of red briefs and black bat hats completely blocked the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

When Martin walked the red carpet at the premiere, the Dolby Theatre was packed with people, and there were hundreds of reporters in the media area.

A reporter stopped Martin and deliberately asked, "DC doesn't acknowledge that your film 'Joker' is a DC movie. What's your opinion on that?"

Joker needed exposure, and the conflict between the project and DC had already been brewing. Even at the premiere of the DC superhero movie, Martin didn't intend to give the Warner Bros. team any face: "I don't know what DC is thinking. Hamada always has very strange ideas and says some inexplicable things."

The film he directed relied on Warner Bros. for distribution and promotion, but Warner Bros.' head, Daniel Radcliffe, had already betrayed the Warner Bros. team.

It is well known that the traitor's knife is often the most vicious.

Martin naturally positioned himself on the side of justice: "Hollywood movies have always been known for their diversity and inclusivity. We can always find one we like. Even Marvel superhero movies have their own distinct styles. Does that mean DC can't allow movies of different styles?"

Reporters around him took a bunch of pictures of Martin.

Martin entered the Dolby Theatre, met Daniel, and walked with him toward the screening room.

As Daniel walked, he said, "I saw the internal screening, and the director's personal style is too strong."

Martin wasn't surprised: "Zack Snyder, I can understand." He paused for a moment, then added, "Zack's visual style is very appealing, I really like it."

"The overuse of slow motion is outrageous." Daniel shook his head. "The storytelling is terrible. Do you know how long the cut Zack submitted to DC was? Four and a half hours!"

He couldn't help but say, "How can Warner Bros. and theaters make films if it takes four and a half hours to tell a story clearly? How many viewers can patiently watch a film for four and a half hours in a theater?"

Martin asked, "So, DC made some changes?"

Daniel said, "It was cut down to two and a half hours, with the final cut being less than 140 minutes."

The two entered the theater, quickly found their seats, and waited patiently for the movie to start.

Before long, the theater was full of people. Those who came to attend the premiere were mostly fans of Batman or Superman.

In other words, the staunch supporters of DC.

This group of people are extremely familiar with comics and DC animated works.

After the screening began, many guests who were unfamiliar with comics looked bewildered, but the others were incredibly excited.

Those familiar scenes reminded fans of The Dark Knight Returns, The Death of Superman, Injustice, Red Son, Crisis on Infinite Earths, and more, instantly creating a climax.

Slow motion, oil painting style, dark color scheme, destructive aesthetics...

Fans of Zack Snyder will not be disappointed, as his signature visual style is still showcased to its fullest extent in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

Of course, it's quite difficult for casual viewers unfamiliar with the comic book references to understand.

Because a certain level of comic book reading skills is required.

This movie is a super treat for fans, but it's not very friendly to casual viewers.

Therefore, many people, including Martin, were completely bewildered by some plot points that had virtually no foreshadowing.

The appearance of "Maserati" in particular shocked the entire audience.

DC fans are a bit better off; people who don't read comics just find it incomprehensible.

Two people who fought to the death were instantly turned from enemies to friends because of the word "Masha".

Zack Snyder and DC fans could come up with a hundred reasons for this, but nothing could stop "Martha" from becoming a huge meme, one that seriously dragged down the film's reputation.

The fight scenes that followed were handled well, still retaining the style of "Man of Steel." When Superman, Doomsday, and Wonder Woman fought, it was all with a world-destroying force.

Inevitably, Batman, being a mere mortal, becomes a minor character in the climax of the story.

As for the Justice League's intellectual backbone, it goes without saying that it was basically not shown in the film's plot.

The main villain, Luther, is even more inexplicable, with behavior that is baffling.

For DC fans, these might not be issues, after all, he is Lex Luthor, Superman's natural enemy.

For many casual viewers, after watching this film, they only had one feeling: Batman and Superman inexplicably started fighting, then inexplicably stopped fighting, then a random Kryptonian monster appeared, and Batman and Superman inexplicably teamed up again.

The film ends with Superman's death, setting the stage for the next Justice League movie.

As Batman tells Wonder Woman to prepare to find more companions, the credits roll.

The audience erupted in extremely enthusiastic applause.

The Dolby Theatre can hold 3500 audience members plus a thousand journalists, and most of the people sitting here tonight are Zack Snyder or DC fans.

The latter naturally understands the various comic book references in the film, and it's like drinking an ice-cold cola on a summer noon—incredibly refreshing.

The former was once again captivated by Zack Snyder's strong personal style.

Putting aside the plot and unfamiliar comic book references, the action scenes and visual style alone might be to Martin's liking; he thought both were quite good.

But let's leave the rest aside.

The applause was thunderous and prolonged as Zack Snyder and Charles Roven led the cast and crew onto the stage for a curtain call.

The guests began to leave one after another.

Daniel continued walking with Martin, and asked in a low voice, "What did you think of the film?"

"The action scenes were fantastic," Martin said frankly. "Especially the final battle between the Three of Justice and Doomsday—that's what a battle between superheroes, gods on earth, should be like."

Daniel looked at Martin: "What do you think of the box office?"

Martin cautioned, "Don't forget, this is the first time Batman and Superman have truly appeared in the same live-action movie; the opening weekend box office won't be a problem."

Daniel immediately thought of the other side of the story: "It's hard to say what will happen next, isn't it?"

He shook his head directly: "Understanding this film requires a certain level of understanding, and it's not an easy one. The production company can't expect most viewers to have read DC comics, right? That's unrealistic! The production cost of this film alone is $250 million. If the global box office doesn't exceed $1 billion, DC won't be able to explain it to its parent company."

Martin thought carefully for a moment, but couldn't remember the exact box office figures for "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice." The character he remembered most from the movie was "Martha," followed by Wonder Woman.

However, it is almost certain that the global box office did not exceed one billion US dollars.

As Daniel exited through the side door of the Dolby Theatre, he received a phone call. After finishing, he said to Martin, "A survey conducted internally by Warner Bros. showed that the average audience rating for the premiere was A."

Martin nodded: "This shows that the fans have a high level of approval, and there shouldn't be any problems with the box office in the first week."

Daniel, the person in charge of the distribution, said: "But I have no confidence at all in the word-of-mouth from casual viewers afterward."

Martin sighed: "Zack Snyder's visuals are so good, but he can never tell a good story. It's really a love-hate relationship."

Daniel warned Martin: "If this movie's reviews flop and it doesn't meet Warner Bros.' expectations, and your Joker is doing very well, watch out for DC."

Martin saw his car approaching and waved, "I know."

After Martin got into the car and left, Daniel also got in.

Although he is an internal rival of Warner Bros., Daniel is still very responsible for his hair work within Warner Bros., which is under the control of the group's board of directors and then Time Warner.

He wanted to advance further and couldn't afford to give anyone cause for criticism at work.

The following morning, various reviews of "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" were released, but the different opinions presented a stark contrast.

On IMDb, a platform frequented by ordinary movie fans, the ratings for the newly released films are incredibly high, with an average user score of 9.2, because the audience for the previews and premieres is mostly fans!

Under normal circumstances, this would be a huge commercial blockbuster.

However, the Rotten Tomatoes reviews show that a large number of critics gave the film negative reviews, resulting in a freshness rating of only 32%.

If it were just a matter of poor reviews from film critics, that would be one thing, since professional film critics have long been out of touch with the market.

According to ratings collected by the MTC website from various professional media outlets, the film averaged only 44 points.

Faced with this situation, DC and Warner Bros. immediately launched a public relations campaign, claiming that the film only received somewhat polarized reviews, but that audiences still liked it.

This claim seems to be corroborated by box office figures; on its opening day in North America, the film grossed a whopping $7020 million.

As more people watched it, its reputation among viewers began to crumble.

IMDB score plummeted to 7.7.

The film's box office revenue in North America plummeted by 40% on its second day.

The film grossed $1.32 million in its opening weekend in North America.

At first glance, it seems pretty good, but the film's production budget alone is as high as $2.5 million, and DC's minimum expectation for its North American opening weekend is $1.8 million.

However, this was only the beginning of the disaster.

In subsequent screenings, the reputation of "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" quickly collapsed.

By the second weekend, the rating on IMDb had dropped to 6.2, and the freshness rating on Rotten Tomatoes was only 28%.

As time went on, the film's reputation steadily declined, rather than rising as fans had predicted.

As for the various analyses of the film posted by fans online, ordinary viewers are not interested at all. Most casual viewers would not bother to read so-called analyses just to watch a movie for entertainment.

Moreover, the so-called analysis is unreliable.

Man of Steel was produced by Christopher Nolan and Emma Thomas. With Nolan and Emma Thomas overseeing the project, this Superman movie received polarized reviews, but overall it was quite good.

Because of the series of messes caused by DC and Warner Bros., Nolan withdrew from the Justice League cinematic universe, even declining Martin Scorsese's invitation to direct "Joker," instead focusing on preparing for the Oscars.

Without the Nolans, Zack Snyder's mediocre storytelling ability, and the interference of the Warner Bros. team, the outcome of "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" was predictable.

Without Charles Roven, a seasoned producer, the film would have been even worse.

Many media outlets believe that "Batman v Superman" will be the top contender for next year's Golden Raspberry Awards.

Most importantly, its box office performance lacked staying power.

North American revenue plummeted 70 percent over the second weekend compared to the first weekend, earning only $3905 million.

This sets a new record for the largest drop in the second weekend for a DC superhero movie.

Even back in the day, Batman & Robin and Catwoman didn't see such a drop in price.

On the other hand, Cinemascore, which had remained silent, also released the latest statistics, showing that the film received a "B" rating from live audiences and that its North American box office would reach around $2.6 million.

Taking into account overseas revenue and offline operations, "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" should not lose money, and may even generate some profit, but the film's audience reviews have collapsed!

"Just to correct you, this movie is a flop, not one with polarized reviews!"

"It's too unfriendly to people who haven't read comics. It feels like Zack Snyder made it specifically for comic book fans."

"Masha is hilarious. If I get robbed in the future, will they automatically drop their weapon if I say 'Masha'?"

Although most people understood after watching the video that "Martha" was the two's mother, they still couldn't help but criticize her relentlessly.

Because Maserati has just too many flaws.

…………

The Joker studio at Disney Studios.

During his lunch break, Martin glanced at the latest statistics for "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" and put down the newspaper.

Across from her, Saoirse Ronan went over to read the newspaper carefully. After a while, she said, "This movie looks to be doing well at the box office, and it's sure to be profitable. Why is there so much criticism of DC?"

Martin simply stated, "Because it is not a standalone film, but bears the heavy responsibility of developing the entire DC Extended Universe, as the subtitle 'Dawn of Justice' reflects. The film's poor reception will have a serious impact on the upcoming 'Justice League,' and may even cause DC to completely lose the opportunity to catch up with Marvel within a decade or so."

Saoirse Ronan asked, "Will our film be affected?"

Martin said, "You forgot that just a month ago, DC executives publicly distanced themselves from us, and in a very high-profile manner."

Saoirse remembered: "They said Joker isn't a DC movie."

Martin was prepared for this. He picked up his phone and dialed Jessica's number, saying directly, "Create some buzz in the media and on the internet, and give 'Joker' another round of publicity."

The studio has already prepared a contingency plan, Jessica replied, "I'll get started right away."

Martin glanced at the time and said to Saoirse, "After your break, let's go back to the recording studio for more dubbing."

Saoirse Rodriguez's supporting role had different voices in certain parts of the film, which was difficult to achieve with on-set recording. So Martin simply had Rodriguez use a voice changer to deliver her lines in post-production, replacing some of the original on-set audio.

These tasks were not difficult for Saoirse, and she finished them that afternoon.

The following morning, some new news about "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" appeared on the internet.

"DC messed up 'Green Lantern,' and now they've messed up this one too. Not only have they ruined the Justice League project, but they're also attacking Martin Davis's 'Joker' for not meeting DC's requirements. What does this mean? 'Joker' hasn't been interfered with by DC, so its chances of success are very high!"

Some analysts have even stated, "In recent years, the most successful DC film is *The Dark Knight*, and the most successful DC character is the Joker! It's very obvious that those idiots in DC's management simply don't understand DC film adaptations! Nolan and Martin are the ones who truly understand DC!"

(End of this chapter)