America: Starting with the acquisition of MGM...

Chapter 182, Section 181: Good News from the Military and the Emmy Awards

Los Angeles Times: "I was invited to the premiere of MGM's new film 'Happy Death Day,' and as someone who doesn't watch horror movies, I didn't have high expectations for the film."

"Although the Russo brothers are not new directors, there's really not much to introduce about their works. The only label I know of Gal Gadot is Transformers, but unfortunately it hasn't been released yet."

"As for Benjamin McKenzie, he's a complete newcomer; I have absolutely no recollection of the actor."

"But once the movie started, I gradually became immersed in it. It was similar to the time loop in Groundhog Day, with constant killing and rebirth."

"In the end, the female protagonist gradually unravels the mystery to find the murderer and reconciles with her terrible past self."

"This is not a scary horror movie at all; it's very entertaining. I recommend watching it with your partner or friends. You'll enjoy those 100 minutes together."

The San Francisco Post: "Happy Death Day is a great chick flick. Unlike another horror film currently showing on MGM, Get Out, Happy Death Day blends horror, suspense, and humor very well."

"It's not as profound as Get Out, but it's more entertaining. I recommend girls bring their best friends to the cinema; it's worth the ticket price."

ABC Entertainment Online: "As September approached, I was looking for a great movie in theaters, and then Happy Death Day came into my view."

"I admit I was drawn to Gal Gadot's appearance on the poster and wanted to see what this Transformers heroine was capable of."

"The movie isn't over yet, but my review is already out. I have to praise Gal Gadot; her performance is nothing like that of a novice."

"She can seamlessly switch between the images of a 'green tea bitch' and a 'good girl,' and she also showed a resolute and courageous side in her fight with the murderer."

"It's rare to see an actress display so many qualities. I think I understand why she was chosen to be the female lead in Transformers."

"I would give Happy Death Day a 75 out of 100. It's an excellent horror film."

CBS Entertainment: "Happy Death Day is a movie that will surprise you if you don't have high expectations."

"The ingenious film concept and sound logical reasoning make it self-consistent and without any obvious flaws."

"All the actors performed up to standard, and Gal Gadot, who was playing a leading role for the first time, I have to say that this girl won me over."

Early in the morning, Eric and Gadot were still asleep in bed.

After a long night, Gadot came at least eight times.

She has a special constitution, and it was very difficult for her the first time. It took Eric more than half an hour to reach his peak.

But after that it became simple. Sometimes it was once every few minutes, sometimes once every ten seconds, and in the end, I was covered in ice cream.

Even though she kept up with Eric's demands and maintained her fitness routine, she was still overwhelmed by wave after wave of climaxes.

dong dong dong.

A knock sounded on the door, and Eric slowly opened his eyes and patted Gadot on the shoulder.

The other person twisted their body, letting out a dissatisfied snort from their nose, their eyes still tightly closed, and instead hugged Eric even tighter.

"Who is it?"

"Me!" Judy's voice came from outside the door.

"Come in."

Eric rubbed his eyes, not bothering to hide it from her. Back in college, Judy never knocked on the door; he'd seen everything, whether he should or shouldn't have.

Click!

The door was pushed open, and Judy walked in carrying a stack of newspapers.

He shook his head, saw the two of them naked and embracing each other, and a smile immediately appeared on his lips.

"Hehe. Looks like you had a great night."

"Please, stop smiling so lewdly. That expression is disgusting. How did you know I was here?"

Judy flashed two rows of bright white teeth: "You should ask yourself that. Lefari couldn't stand the noise you guys were making last night, so he went to my house."

"She said the screams sounded like someone was trying to kill a woman. If she didn't leave, she would be implicated if the neighbors called the police."

"I'm a little curious, are you just too strong, or is Gadot just too weak?"

Eric wanted to say, "Why don't you try it and you'll see?" but thankfully he held back.

"Uh, what are you holding in your hand?"

Judy tossed the newspaper over: "Take a look, here's the media review of 'Happy Death Day.' I know someone really wanted to see this, so I sent it over specially."

Upon hearing this, Gadot's radar was immediately activated. Her sleepy eyes disappeared, and she sat up instantly, snatched the newspaper into her hands, and began to read it carefully.

rustling and splashing

The newspaper was flipped through rapidly.

After a while, the room was filled with the girl's happy and cheerful laughter.

"Honey, look at this! They complimented my looks, which is true, but they also praised my acting skills, hahaha!"

"And this, Happy Death Day is a wonderful movie, and Gal Gadot has a captivating charm."

"This one, this one, and look at this one too."

"Damn it! The Independent actually called us trash, saying 'Happy Death Day' is a illogical and terrible movie, the director is incompetent, and the camera work is full of shoddy imitations."

"Gal Gadot's acting was even worse. She really should go to school to study professional acting, otherwise she will have a hard time establishing herself in Hollywood in the future."

"Benjamin McKenzie's performance was just as terrible. His face is completely unsuitable for a school setting. He's gone down the wrong path."

Gal Gadot angrily tore the Independent to shreds, cursing incessantly.

Eric could only stroke her back like he was comforting a kitten: "Don't be angry, baby. Ever since I publicly criticized The Independent, they've been at odds with me."

"Anything related to me is wrong in the eyes of The Independent. Learning to control your emotions is a required course for a qualified actor."

Gadot whimpered a few times in grievance, then suddenly remembered something.

"Eric, should I really study acting? You applied to USC for me last year, but I only showed up once when I enrolled, and it's been almost a year since then."

Eric kissed her forehead and chuckled, "Honey, there's really no need to take other people's opinions to heart. Going to school is a waste of your life."

"There's a saying that's incredibly effective in the entertainment industry. Do you know what it is?"

"what?"

"You need to become famous as early as possible, so you just need to follow the path I've laid out, and everything will be fine."

"Really? But I think I might really need to hone my acting skills."

"Hahaha. Don't worry too much about acting skills. What is acting skills? To put it bluntly, it's the way of performing that the media and public opinion favor."

"When I control public opinion in the future, I can package even a dog or a pile of poop into a story of great acting."

"Besides, while your talent might not be exceptional, you're not stupid either. You'll develop acting skills, okay?"

Gadot hummed a few times: "It sounds like you're praising me, but thinking about it, it feels like you're belittling me."

A week later, even with some deliberately smearing or giving negative reviews like The Independent, Happy Death Day still won the approval of the vast majority of media and viewers.

The current IMDb rating is 7.6, which is already considered excellent in the horror genre; most horror films struggle to even reach a 6.

Rotten Tomatoes' review is even more truthful, with an 88% freshness rating, which speaks for itself.

With screenings in 2000 theaters and the added boost of word-of-mouth and entertainment value, "Happy Death Day" grossed $2600 million over the weekend and a whopping $4800 million in its first week, taking the top spot at the box office this week.

Although it didn't surpass the opening weekend box office of "Get Out," it was still a huge success.

After all, the production and marketing costs were only $1300 million, and the company has already made a profit.

The production team began traveling to major cities to promote the show, appearing on variety shows and talk shows to increase their visibility.

Before the movie's release, Gal Gadot had only over 60 followers on Facebook, while Mikey, who had the most followers, had a staggering 800 million, a huge difference.

However, after the movie's release, Gadot's fan base has grown to 180 million. While she can't compare to Michael Jackson, she has already made it into the top 100 of the public figures rankings, currently sitting at number 98.

Benjamin McKenzie received more film offers as a result, while the Russo brothers were praised as outstanding young directors.

Some media outlets have already claimed that they will be the fourth pair of famous director brothers, following the Coen brothers, the Wachowski brothers, and the Nolan brothers.

Anyway, the praise is really intense, much more lively than when they were praising James Wan, because he's white.

Art Records has been registered and established in Burbank, and Eric, as the second largest shareholder, has also contributed $1000 million as seed money.

Michael's connections in the music industry are very strong. With his charm and fame, he quickly recruited a lot of professional talents, and the company structure is almost complete.

In another week or two, we will hold the official opening ceremony and then sign singers to get things on track.

Filming for "Supernatural" has begun, and the lead roles of the brothers have been cast as Jason Axe and Jad Paddarick.

Jason Akers, who currently plays Dean's older brother, is practically a complete newcomer.

Jad Paddarick, who plays the younger brother Sam, has been in the industry for several years, appearing in "Gilmore Girls" and gaining some fame among teenagers, but his career hasn't taken off much.

Liu Yifei's role was arranged for the fifth episode. After receiving the notification, she called to express her gratitude and said that she would fly over soon to participate in the filming and would definitely thank him properly then.

The production teams for "Hannibal" and "American Horror Story" are being assembled, and filming will begin within two weeks.

Eric hasn't had time to polish the script for Breaking Bad yet, but there's no rush; the show is expected to air next year.

At that moment, a Jeep Wrangler was speeding along the highway, arriving at the Nevada military base a few hours later.

After a thorough check, Eric and his lawyer were allowed to enter, and a captain led them to John DeFal Adams' office.

John Adams closed the door and made coffee for the two of them.

"We only have coffee here, no tea, or you can have water."

"Coffee will do."

After exchanging a few pleasantries, neither of them were the type to dawdle, so they got straight to business.

"Eric, you're in luck. The Department of Defense is currently preparing to upgrade the military's intranet."

"Some of the old equipment, lines, and architecture were originally going to be phased out, but after I made a suggestion, they thought it was possible to keep a small portion of them."

"Uh, is this considered making use of waste?"

"If you insist on putting it so harshly, then yes, you can think of it that way."

"But you have to understand that even the obsolete military network is far superior to the civilian networks available on the market."

"Using it can guarantee your network is at least three to five years ahead of your competitors."

Eric nodded. Even a three-year lead, let alone five years, is a huge advantage.

He didn't believe that other groups wouldn't imitate them once YouTube and Lionheart went live; competition was inevitable.

"John, what about the risk of military leaks? Didn't you used to worry about that?"

John Adams smiled and said, "You can rest assured about that. The area reserved for you is specially isolated, not connected to the military network, and will not involve military secrets."

"Another issue is the price. After discussion, the Department of Defense requested an annual usage fee of $1000 million."

"The contract will last for 5 years, and the price will be determined after 5 years depending on the situation. Of course, if civilian technology develops fast enough by then, you can terminate the contract."

"It's about making use of waste, right?"

They both laughed at the same time.

Buying the right to use what others consider garbage for $1000 million is worth it, absolutely worth it!

This is similar to how developed countries transfer heavily polluting enterprises to developing countries; even if the pollution is severe, you still have to accept it.

Only by relying on you can we have the foundation for development and take the lead over other developing countries.

Moreover, the price of $1000 million might be a bit inflated in the first year, but once YouTube and Lionheart have developed in the second year, it will be considered a bargain.

He knew in his heart that John Adams must have put in a lot of effort to get things done, and it was time for him to repay him.

"Eric, here is the contract. Once you sign it, this matter will be settled."

John Adams handed over a contract, which the lawyer took and began to carefully review. After confirming that everything was correct, he nodded.

Eric signed his name and then took out a contract from his briefcase, which was a shareholding agreement for Lionheart.

"John, this is your technology equity agreement, for 5% of the shares."

John Adams signed the agreement without even looking at the contents. He was confident that Eric wouldn't try anything funny with the agreement.

"It's a pleasure working with you!"

"It's a pleasure working with you!"

"John, 5% of the shares may not seem like much, but I advise you to keep them. In just three to five years, they may bring you amazing wealth."

Time flew by and it was late September. As the producer and writer of "The Walking Dead," Eric received an invitation to the 55th Emmy Awards.

While awards are not a measure of a show's value, they can certainly increase its added value.

It's time to test the appeal of "The Walking Dead" in the eyes of these judges.

(End of this chapter)