America: Starting with the acquisition of MGM...

Chapter 195, Section 194: A Crushing Strike, A Return to China

In a corner of the movie theater, two figures were embracing and entwined. More than ten minutes into the movie, the man was still kissing the woman.

Feeling the fire burning brighter and brighter inside her, Theron could only struggle and struggle before finally pushing Eric away.

She glanced at the audience in the front row and gently punched Eric's chest: "That's enough, darling, they'll hear us."

"Hehe, everyone's focused on the movie, who cares? Come on up and sit down."

"You're so annoying. I also want to enjoy the movie. The plot is very exciting, after all, it's a Quentin Tarantino film."

Eric forcefully pressed the other person onto his thigh, and ran one hand down along the inside of his thigh.

"Do you know that Quentin is really into women's feet? I heard he spent $10,000 to hire a woman's feet for half an hour at a nightclub."

Upon hearing this, Theron's eyes widened: "That's too exaggerated. Everyone knows he has a foot fetish. Some people say that he makes women take off their shoes more often in his movies than airport security checks."

"But this is going too far."

"Ugh, just thinking about it makes me feel nauseous. I definitely couldn't stand it if someone did that."

Then she added, "Of course, you're an exception, darling. I'd be happy if you wanted to lick me."

Eric immediately bit her earlobe, his tongue gently teasing it: "How about we go home now?"

Charlize Theron looked at the big screen: "Wait, the movie is really good, let's finish it. Besides, don't you need to understand your opponent?"

"Hmph. Quentin Tarantino is not worthy of being my opponent. I admit that he is indeed a genius director, with unique charm in both scriptwriting and filming."

"He has his own unique characteristics and style, which has created a group of loyal fans."

"But precisely because it is so distinctive, and all of his films are R-rated, many people cannot accept his style. Moreover, comparing R-rated films to PG13 films is practically wishful thinking."

"In terms of the rating system alone, Transformers has already won by a lot. Even after 10 days in theaters, it may not lose to it."

Eric dared to draw such a conclusion, naturally based on certain judgments.

He has seen most of Quentin Tarantino's movies. His highest-grossing film is Django Unchained, which cost around 400 to 500 million dollars, but that was the peak of his commercial career, and it was also during a period of great prosperity in the global film market.

Kill Bill is indeed a classic, but trying to compete with Transformers is probably overestimating itself.

Quentin Tarantino's strengths are similar to those of Jackie Chan and Jet Li; his DVDs sell very well, but his box office performance only ranks among the top tier of Hollywood directors.

And he will never reach the level of the top players like Chris Columbus, Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, and Nolan.

For the same reason, personal style has already set a limit; the upper limit is so high that no matter how hard you try, you can't break through it.

It's even more impossible to get a director to change their style; forcing a change would only please neither ordinary viewers nor loyal fans.

"Wow, Uma Thurman is so cool! Bruce Lee's clothes look great on her."

HO

The scene suddenly turned black and white, blood sprayed like champagne, limbs and heads flew everywhere, and a knife could even split a person in two.

The audience gasped in surprise from time to time, and some even closed their eyes.

Even though I knew it was R-rated before I came in, this is still going too far.

If the footage hadn't been set to black and white, even an R-rated film wouldn't have been tolerated, and it would definitely have been deleted.

"OMG! The fight was beautiful, but it was way too bloody," Theron said, frowning.

Eric hugged her tighter: "You see? This is the problem I was talking about. Even adults find it too gory, so how high can the box office be?"

Actually, he had something else on his mind. For people who were used to watching Chinese martial arts movies, the fight scenes in Kill Bill were too childish, lacking both aesthetic appeal and a sense of power.

The final battle ended hastily, allowing the previously arrogant Lucy Liu to easily meet her demise.

But what they're really comparing themselves to is Japanese sword-fighting films, like "Shura Yukihime".

After the movie ended, many people looked rather unhappy.

Outside the venue, reporters conducted random interviews and heard words such as "bloody," "too bloody," and "unsuitable for minors."

After spending a passionate night with Theron, numerous reviews of "Kill Bill" had already appeared the next day.

Although many people say it's refreshing, enjoyable, and very exciting to watch, that's just Quentin Tarantino's style.

However, some media outlets and audiences criticized the film for going too far, suggesting that Quentin Tarantino seemed to have gone astray.

Moreover, at the premiere, Lucy Liu advised the audience that watching this movie might make them vomit, and they should be mentally prepared beforehand.

Even Quentin Tarantino himself issued a warning: "Responsible parents should never take their children to see 'Kill Bill,' as it may leave them traumatized."

The film's creators actually advised audiences to be cautious about going to the cinema, essentially undermining their own project.

This behavior immediately angered the Weinstein brothers, and it's said that even Disney, the parent company behind Miramax, was unhappy.

However, they were unhappy about different things.

Although Disney acquired Miramax, it has always given the latter full freedom and has never interfered with its operations, as long as it makes money for them.

Therefore, Disney does not participate in any stage of the creation, filming, or internal screening of films produced by Miramax. They believe that the Weinstein brothers know who the king and queen are.

Kill Bill, on the other hand, goes completely against Disney's consistent style of being suitable for all ages.

It's okay if your film doesn't do well at the box office, Dad will forgive you, because making movies is inherently risky.

However, if one's beliefs and thoughts differ from those of one's father, then that is intolerable; such behavior is dangerous.

This must be corrected, and it must be corrected with strong measures!

On November 28th, Friday, Transformers grossed nearly $15 million at the box office, a respectable figure.

Kill Bill, however, won by a small margin, grossing $1600 million in over 2400 theaters.

Although Transformers had an advantage in the number of theaters showing the film, Kill Bill had an advantage in terms of release time.

While the box office on the first day surpassed that on the twelfth day, it may seem like a victory, but in reality, it was a defeat.

When the box office results came out on Saturday, the negative impact, as expected, began to emerge in the face of criticism from the media and audiences.

Kill Bill only grossed over $900 million at the box office, a drop of more than 40%, which surprised many people.

Transformers grossed $1200 million, only one day behind, before quickly surpassing its rival again.

December has begun, and box office figures will be released on Sunday.

Kill Bill continues its sharp decline, now only $500 million, after taking in $3000 million in its opening weekend.

Transformers continued its old tradition of declining, but not by much, remaining below 20% and earning $1000 million at the box office.

The second weekend saw a total box office of $3700 million, with a noticeable increase in middle-aged people bringing their families to the movies.

Yahoo Entertainment, The New York Times, the Chicago Post, and other media outlets immediately published the news in their entertainment sections.

Kill Bill lost, and lost badly. The idea of ​​using a samurai sword to cut off the Transformers' heads seems particularly ridiculous now.

However, some media outlets have praised it from other angles, such as the fact that "Kill Bill" only cost $3000 million, and given the current trend, Miramax is sure to make a fortune.

Moreover, the $3000 million box office has broken the company's record for the first three days and also surpassed Quentin Tarantino's own record.

His previous best result was $931 million for Pulp Fiction.

So even if you lose to others, if you win at yourself, then you haven't lost.

With things having reached this point, the so-called box office war has come to an early end.

Transformers grossed $9700 million in its second week, bringing its total North American box office to $2.85 million in just half a month.

The overseas box office has also been booming. After raking in $1.73 million in its first week, it took in $9500 million this week, with a smaller drop than in North America.

The Transformers franchise has grossed a total of $5.53 million worldwide.

They've gone berserk, absolutely berserk!

This figure currently ranks fourth in the 2003 box office rankings.

Ahead of it are Finding Nemo with $8.71 million worldwide, The Matrix Reloaded with $7.39 million, and Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl with $6.54 million.

Two belong to Disney, and one belongs to Warner Bros.

According to predictions from various organizations, even though Warner Bros.' blockbuster "The Last Samurai" will be released in theaters this Friday, the film is still facing difficulties.

But Quentin Tarantino has already proven with Kill Bill that the chrysanthemum culture is no match for Cybertronian technology.

Even with Tom Cruise personally taking the lead, no one believed he could stop the Autobots and Decepticons from continuing their charge.

Therefore, after this week, Transformers will definitely surpass Pirates of the Caribbean at the global box office and rise to third place.

It's uncertain whether The Matrix Reloaded will make it to the fourth or fifth week, but it's certain to be defeated.

No one dared to ignore Eric's bold statement anymore, and many media outlets dug up that old report again.

"Mr. Cooper, what are your box office projections for Transformers?"

"I think it will exceed $7 million."

The interview from a year ago is still vivid in my mind. Back then, many people mocked me, and now just as many have been proven wrong.

Iron Man fans kept bringing up this topic to mock Eric, praising him more and more, and urging him to work overtime to make sure the second movie is out by the end of next year.

Filled with the joy of the box office success, and with the blessings of fans, and after spending another day with Theron, Nicole, and the Olsen twins, Eric and Gadot boarded a flight to Asia.

This global promotion is mainly divided into two lines, with the two people responsible for Asia and Australia.

Deadpool and Chris Evans are in charge of South America and then they'll head to Europe.

The rest of the team stayed in North America to continue their promotional work.

Eric's first stop was Japan. Although he didn't like the simple life, Japan was a big money-making opportunity, so he had to come to Japan to make money.

I spent two days here. On the first day, I had an interview with Hayao Miyazaki.

Eric still holds this director, who made films like Grave of the Fireflies and Porco Rosso, which are distinctly anti-war works, in high regard.

Moreover, he urged the open-minded Abe to apologize and reflect on the history of the invasion of China during World War II, which shows he is a conscientious artist.

The following day, he appeared on the popular Japanese variety show "SMAP×SMAP," where he chatted with Takuya Kimura and the other four hosts.

As for why I mentioned the other four people, it's because Eric and Gadot couldn't remember each other's names.

Eric was too lazy to remember, and Gadot genuinely couldn't remember.

During the meeting, I also met with the heads of Shonen Jump, Shogakukan, and Shueisha to briefly discuss their plans for adapting anime IPs into films and television series.

Examples include Death Note, Dragon Ball, One Piece, Naruto, Fullmetal Alchemist, Ghost in the Shell, Yu-Gi-Oh!, and so on.

These high-quality comics are like gold mines; it would be best to acquire the copyrights before they become wildly popular.

Several companies naturally had their own ideas about this, especially after seeing Transformers dominate the box office, taking the top spot in Japan for two consecutive weeks and sweeping everything around the world. Who wouldn't be envious?

This meeting has reached a preliminary agreement on cooperation; the specific details will be discussed in more detail once Eric has finished his current work.

Of course, this refers to film and television adaptation rights. As for the comic book distribution rights, those are handled by a branch company established by the Japanese in the United States.

Eric has also gained control of Marvel, which means he has the ability to create and distribute comics. However, if he wants to get a share of the Japanese comics market, he still needs to think of a way.

After leaving Japan, the two flew to South Korea. Although South Korea's voter base is not as strong as Japan's, it is still among the top in Asia.

So even though Eric didn't like them either, he still had to give them a token of appreciation for the sake of the box office.

The two spent another day there, giving an interview to South Korean broadcaster KBS, and Eric was also invited to dinner by the head of CJ Entertainment.

Although the other party is a top-tier film and television company in South Korea, it would be no different from a small fry in Hollywood.

Inviting someone to dinner is obviously a way of seeking cooperation, hoping to obtain some investment shares or the agency rights for MGM films in South Korea, etc.

After dinner, Eric wanted to try some special services, but he was too embarrassed to accept because Gadot was right there.

Back at the hotel, I couldn't help but regret it. Why did I have to team up with Gadot? If I had been on Ryan Reynolds' team, we would have taken off!

Unfortunately, it's too late to say anything now.

At around 10:00 a.m. on December 5, a plane landed at Yanjing International Airport.

As the two walked into the lobby, Gadot's stunning appearance immediately attracted everyone's attention.

Soon, a young man wearing glasses approached and asked in fairly fluent English, "Are you the female lead in Transformers?"

Since it was their first time in China, Gadot thought no one would recognize her, so neither of them tried to hide their identities.

She flashed a bright smile: "Yes, I'm Gal Gadot."

The young man immediately waved and shouted towards the distance, "That's her! Come over here!"

Splash!

Immediately, more than a dozen people ran over, all of them wearing Transformers-related gadgets.

"I found your schedule on MGM's website, and we've been waiting for over an hour."

Gadot looked at the men and women in front of her with some surprise. They were about the same age as her, or even a few years older.

"Really? I'm so sorry the flight was delayed and you had to wait so long. Is there anything I can do to make it up to you? Could you sign an autograph or take a photo with me?"

The young people immediately nodded and cheered.

At this time in China, Hong Kong pop culture was gaining popularity, the Korean wave had already invaded, and idol worship had become increasingly common and increasingly fanatical.

However, celebrities are becoming increasingly aloof and harder to meet.

Where have they ever met a star as approachable as Gal Gadot, especially a Hollywood superstar whose status far surpasses that of K-pop?

Then it was time for everyone to take turns signing autographs and taking photos. Some people even took out unopened, genuine Transformers toys from their bags to sign on the boxes.

This situation quickly attracted the attention of those around them. With the thought of getting an autograph to show off, whether they knew the person or not, others gradually gathered around.

Seeing that the delay would go on indefinitely, Eric had no choice but to call Susan.

After being surrounded in the hall for more than half an hour and signing hundreds of names, they were finally rescued by Susan and her team.

He waved to the somewhat disappointed fans, then hurriedly got into his car and left.

(End of this chapter)