America: Starting with the acquisition of MGM...

Chapter 206, Section 205: The Annual Shark Festival

"Blue Is the Warmest Color" became a huge hit in a way that no one expected.

It's currently the most widely and deeply discussed film in the industry, on par with "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King".

Even among art-house film enthusiasts, "Blue Is the Warmest Color" is more popular than "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King," with many saying they were moved to tears.

Many people, especially the gay community, are shouting that this is the best film of the year, and that it deserves a place in the Golden Globes and Oscars, otherwise it would be a loss for the awards ceremonies.

Eric couldn't help but laugh as he watched major channels like NBC, ABC, and Fox broadcast similar news.

Such a big event certainly cannot be ignored. If we don't ignore it, we have to mention some details, which means giving the movie free publicity.

"Eric, Mary and I have gained another 600 million Facebook followers! It feels amazing!"

Ashley happily smacked Eric's face repeatedly.

"Haha, I wake up laughing every night now. Going to Boston was such a good decision."

"Eric, did you see that? So many people are shouting, demanding that Ashley and I win the Golden Globe and even the Oscar for Best Actress."

Mary said with equal excitement, but once she started talking, she couldn't attend to other things at the same time.

The warmth vanished, and a chill ran through him. Eric reached out and pressed her down again.

Waaah!

"That's right. It seems we did the right thing. Less than two million dollars brought us publicity that would have cost twenty million or even two hundred million dollars."

"The gay community and those who support the gay community are praising you two very highly right now, which is very beneficial for your chances of winning awards."

Boo!

The stick slammed out and hit Mary on the chin, and she stared wide-eyed at Eric.

"Now it's up to you. After this incident, 'Blue Is the Warmest Color' is estimated to gross over $100 million, and MGM will make a fortune. You need to continue to help us with publicity and promotion."

"Hehe. Judges are human too, and they also consider factors beyond the film itself, although using political correctness to win awards is somewhat dishonorable."

"But we just happened to be there, we didn't intentionally take advantage of it. I will definitely help you win at least one of the Golden Globe and the Oscar."

Ashley giggled as she unbuttoned her clothes, and Mary ate and vomited with even more gusto. The three of them then began a new round of daytime sexual activity.

Compared to the less than 500 cinemas showing the film in the first week, the second week saw a dramatic increase.

Except for those states where religious influence is too strong or where there is too much conservatism, cinemas in the remaining areas all came to MGM for film source keys.

As a result, the number of cinemas showing the film increased by more than 600 in the second week, and the screening scale of more than 1100 cinemas made "Blue Is the Warmest Color" break the film history record.

It became the film with the most theaters and the most states in which it was shown.

This is considered early; a batch of theaters didn't get to sign contracts and will have to wait until the third week to release the film.

As December drew to a close, the second week's box office results for "Blue Is the Warmest Color" were released, and as expected, it continued to soar.

With over 1100 cinemas grossing more than $3500 million, the number of moviegoers increased dramatically, making it an undeniable hit and firmly holding onto its position as the second-highest grossing film of the week.

The champion was naturally "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King," which set a new film record with $87 million in box office revenue and became the highest-grossing film in history for its second week.

Although few people pay attention to the relatively low box office numbers of the second week, Knights of Middle-earth has demonstrated remarkable box office potential and resilience.

Under the influence of the wave of public opinion, Transformers actually benefited, with some viewers who couldn't get tickets for Blues of Adele choosing to watch Transformers again.

With strong support from the LGBTQ+ community, Transformers' North American box office reached $1400 million this week, a mere 17% drop, creating a small miracle.

It grossed over $2600 million overseas, bringing its global total to over $8.9 million, officially surpassing Finding Nemo.

It took a lead of $1900 million to become the highest-grossing film of the year in North America, a remarkable achievement that took more than a month and a half to attain.

Based on this trend, it can be shown for another two weeks or so.

However, the hope of breaking the $10 billion mark is rather slim. Reaching $9 million would already far exceed Eric's expectations, and he is already satisfied.

Once this achievement is accomplished, it will likely boost MGM's stock price by at least 10% shortly afterward.

While "Blue Is the Warmest Color" was enjoying great success, "Shark Tale 2" and "Monster" were also released.

The former is extremely silly, the latter is extremely dark.

Undoubtedly, after the devastation of "Sharknado 1", audiences have not grown tired of the series; on the contrary, they are all looking forward to its arrival.

Many die-hard fans have been clamoring online for more intellectual challenges, eager to see what methods the screenwriter can come up with to thoroughly humiliate the audience's intelligence.

Just like "Blue Is the Warmest Color," no other silly movie has ever achieved such a large-scale release as "Sharknado," which, in a sense, is also a record-breaking achievement.

The release of "Sharknado 2" has become an annual silly carnival.

The media outlets that conducted interviews last year are doing it again this year, once again engaging in random shooting.

A pretty ABC reporter walked down the street with a microphone in hand: "This is the Comcast Theatre, where we witnessed the madness of the first Sharkshot movie's premiere last year."

"I remember the young people were all crazy back then. Let's see if Sharkshot 2 will be just as popular this year?"

As the female reporter walked across the street toward the movie theater, a group of young people suddenly rushed out from behind her, laughing and talking as they quickly walked toward the theater.

The female reporter hadn't noticed at first, but when she saw the skin of this group of young people—white, black, yellow, and brown skin mixed together—she felt they looked somewhat familiar.

Hearing a familiar voice again brought back memories of last year.

"Wait, kids, wait a minute," the female reporter hurriedly called out.

Upon hearing this, the group of middle school students stopped in their tracks.

"Hello kids, I'm a reporter from ABC Entertainment Channel. It's nice to meet you all. Would you like to do an interview?"

A group of middle school students' eyes lit up, and they pointed at the female reporter and shouted excitedly.

"It's you! I remember your face. You were the one who interviewed us last year, also around Christmas, for 'Sharknado 1,' right?"

The female reporter burst into laughter, confirming that her memory was correct; it really was these children.

"Hehe. That's right, it was me last year too. Did you become famous after the interview aired?"

"Yeah!"

A group of middle school students immediately cheered.

"My mom went around telling everyone that I was on TV, and this was the first time she was proud of me."

"The girls in my class are willing to go on dates with me, and now we're a couple."

"What are we interviewing about today? It's not going to be 'Sharknado' again, is it?"

The female reporter nodded: "That's right, returning to a familiar place and meeting old friends, it seems that everything is God's arrangement."

"No, it's part of the Sharkshot movie's plan!"

Xiao Baizi shouted loudly, and then a group of young people began to shout in unison.

"Sharknado!"

"Sharknado!"

"Sharknado!"

Their jubilant appearance immediately attracted the attention of passersby.

Last year, many people would have looked at them strangely, but this year is different. Many people have an understanding look on their faces, as if this is how it should be.

"Alright, alright kids, hold on a minute. You all know that 'Sharknado 2' is bound to be another terrible movie, so why do you still want to go to the theater?"

"Are you kidding me? It's absolutely gorgeous, just not in the way you'd expect from a regular movie."

"Everyone at our school is watching 'Sharknado' now; if you don't watch it, you'll be out of touch with the times."

"Yes, Sharknock is a terrible movie, but it's bad in a unique way, bad in a high standard, bad in a distinctive way, so bad that you have to look at it with a second eye."

Wearing glasses, Xiao Huangzi, like a class tyrant, made a brilliant summary, and his companions nodded in agreement.

"Alright, it's almost time, the show's about to start!"

The others rushed to the movie theater, while Xiao Heizi, just like last year, faced the camera and said, "Mom, eldest sister, second sister, third sister, fourth brother, and little brother, I love you all!"

The female reporter nodded with emotion: "He still loves his family and loved ones just like he did last year. He's such a good kid."

"Wait a minute, it seems like there's another younger brother since last year, and why hasn't his father been mentioned yet?"

"If there's no father, how come there's a little brother?"

In the movie theater, Eric and Theron sat together.

Watching Ryan Reynolds knock the shark away with a baseball bat and hit a home run is exactly the same as when he killed the shark with a billiard cue in the first movie.

Charlize Theron was grinning from ear to ear, just like everyone else around her.

When they and their family fought sharks in the Empire State Building and thousands of meters in the air, and used wires to draw lightning into their bodies, they were able to stand shoulder to shoulder with gods despite being mortals.

Everyone felt that their brains were no longer able to think, because they would crash as soon as they tried to think.

While most moviegoers try to remain quiet, the audience at the "Sharknado" screening was the more boisterous the better.

"Hahahaha. I'm laughing so hard I'm almost crying. How can Ryan Reynolds be so funny without batting an eye?"

"It's impossible to equate the character on screen with the second male lead in 'Transformers'; the disconnect is too strong."

"Good actors are versatile. Once you see him in The Hangover, you'll know that this guy can not only be cool, but also handle toilet humor with ease."

Charlize Theron wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes: "Who are the screenwriter and director? Why do they have such wild imaginations?!"

"The Wayans brothers are the directors, and I don't know the screenwriter either. Allen found some third-rate screenwriter from who-knows-where."

"Haha, is this really a disaster movie? Honey, sorry I haven't seen the first one, but how about we catch up on it tonight?"

"No problem. Actually, if you think about it from a different perspective, from a human point of view, 'Sharknado' is indeed a disaster movie."

"But from the shark's perspective, this is a Final Destination movie, with all sorts of creative ways to kill sharks."

"If you think about this kind of movie for even a second, it shows a lack of trust in the screenwriter and irresponsibility towards the director."

"It is a huge waste of one's prefrontal cortex and a great disrespect to the special effects skills of the print shop owner."

"Dude, you're absolutely right!"

Ahead, an older man turned his head and gave a thumbs up.

Meanwhile, in the same movie theater, the theater next door was showing "Monster," starring Charlize Theron.

In stark contrast to the jubilant atmosphere at Shark Tornado, the audience here remained solemn, and apart from the occasional cough, no one made any noise.

Under MGM's management, the plot of "Monster" is even darker than the original.

Promiscuity, pedophilia, drug use, alcoholism, abuse, lesbianism, violence, robbery, murder

Charlize Theron's character, Irene, is born with a full set of debuffs, as if she has gathered all the darkest elements in the world.

There wasn't a single minor in this theater because it was so dark and brutal that it was definitely classified as NC17.

Most viewers could not reconcile the image of the eyebrowless, foul-mouthed, tough woman on the big screen with that of the sexy and beautiful Charlize Theron.

The contrast is much greater than in Ryan Reynolds' two movies; at least Deadpool's face hasn't changed.

Moreover, since it also deals with lesbian relationships, "Monster" was very lucky, catching the wave of popularity created by "Blue Is the Warmest Color".

There is currently a strong market demand for this subject matter, and it was shown in more than 800 theaters in its first week.

If it's a small company issuing the rights, and it doesn't coincide with a special period, it would be a blessing if it could get two hundred distributions.

However, Eric doesn't have high expectations for the box office of "Monster" because of the same factor: it's too dark and brutal.

This is a time for celebration and joy among peers; what everyone wants to see is genuine love, preferably a comedy.

Although "Blue Is the Warmest Color" ends in tragedy, at least the process is sunny and refreshing, giving people a warm feeling.

On the contrary, the title of the movie "Monster" gives people a bad feeling.

Late at night, after watching the movie, Eric and Theron returned to their apartment.

After watching the first "Sharknado" movie, the two lay in bed and made love.

"Honey, do you think I can win an award for 'Monster'?"

"Why not? Your performance was excellent. Gaining weight and becoming ugly is exactly what the Oscars love about actresses playing ugly roles."

"Moreover, judging from the situation this year, there haven't been any outstanding films with a female perspective so far."

"Commercial films are out of the question first. Perhaps Naomi Watts in '21 Grams' would be good, and Diane Keaton's performance in 'It Is Compromise' would also be acceptable."

"While the film 'Lost in Translation' is good, Scarlett Johansson's performance is clearly not up to par and isn't particularly threatening."

"Overall, the competition for Best Actress next year is far less intense than this year, and you have a very high chance of winning, baby."

Theron bit his chest: "Are you pretending to be an idiot? Why can't you leave out 'Blue Is the Warmest Color'? The Olsen twins are all the rage right now."

"Many people say that both of them are destined to win the Best Actress award, and that you directed it all."

"Jealous?" Eric lifted her chin.

"No, that's your work, and the Olsen sisters' performance was truly outstanding; I could see that."

"It's very difficult to get such a good role again. I'm afraid this is the only chance. I won't even be eligible to be nominated again in the future."

Eric chuckled and hugged her tightly: "Baby, I'll try my best to allocate resources to you, because you're the one I love most. Let's do our best to win Best Actress."

"Do you keep your word?"

"Not really."

"Hate!"

(End of this chapter)