Entertainment 2000: Supporting female stars will bring you a hundredfold return

Chapter 359 Come out and kiss your bride! (Please subscribe)
Tang Wen couldn't predict how high the box office of "The Incredible Hulk" would be.

After all, he changed too many things.

For example, John Mayer, who was originally doing very well, now almost hates him.

All I did was say a couple of things that I didn't think you'd break the Billboard record.

Why did they start holding a beauty pageant for spotted sows?!
Son of b**ch!
Is this an idea that any human could come up with?

Because his home was burglarized, John Mayer, who was already short of money, had to give up his work and stay at home again, waiting for the storm to pass.

Actually, if he could face it bravely...

Make a self-deprecating joke, or personally select a large spotted sow.

The general public, listeners, and fans in North America would probably think he's a decent person.

It wouldn't be a problem to gain a lot of followers along the way.

Whether she can secure commercial endorsements based on her current popularity is uncertain.

But there are definitely many people who would be willing to invite him to commercial performances.

Making a million dollars while taking advantage of the opportunity is no problem.

Unfortunately, John Mayer has not encountered any major setbacks along the way. He is currently indulging in alcohol and tobacco, cursing Tang Wen, the female reporter, the woman hiding behind him who forced him to agree to the bet, and—the big spotted sow!
The thing he regrets most in his life is probably casually saying that if he lost, he'd be willing to kiss the big spotted sow's ass...

Tang Wen had arranged for people to keep an eye on John Mayer, but he had long since forgotten about him.

The following day, "The Incredible Hulk" was released.

Tang Wen took Heidi Klum and bought a ticket to blend into the crowd of moviegoers.

Egger sat on his other side.

The three were disguised and accompanied by security personnel.

To avoid trouble and not be recognized.

They still chose seats in the last row.

Even sitting in the last row, Heidi Klum's figure and Tang Wen's demeanor were still very eye-catching.

They were like fireflies in the dark.

Fortunately, he was wearing a mask and glasses, and the lighting was dim enough that no one could recognize him.

On the big screen, Universal Pictures' iconic logo appeared.

No one paid attention to Tang Wen and his group anymore.

138 minutes later, the long movie, which lasted for more than two hours, began.

The preceding plot involves family secrets.

He is the Hulk's father, who used his son for experiments.

After watching for more than 30 minutes, the real protagonist, the Hulk, still hasn't appeared.

There was already some noise in the movie theater.

Tang Wen and Aiger exchanged a glance but remained silent.

Heidi whispered in Tang Wen's ear, "This is not a proper family movie."

This is certainly not a family-friendly movie.

This is a "Greek tragedy".

Director Li An possesses a delicate touch and excels at exploring human nature.

This movie isn't bad, but it's definitely not the fried chicken, cola, and ice cream that audiences want.

After more than 40 minutes, the Hulk finally appeared for the first time.

Just when the audience was expecting a thrilling experience...

The film's pacing was hampered by the dialogue scenes.

Two hours of movie time was a bit too long.

A few minutes before the movie ended, Tang Wen and his group left the theater early.

Then they went together to Disney's headquarters.

Throughout the journey, Heidi Klum held Tang Wen's arm tightly, discreetly observing everything inside Disney.

He secretly marveled at the wonder of fate.

Just a few days ago, she was a model who was not favored by Hollywood and could not get a foothold in the door.

Now, he's brazenly standing with Disney executives to meet their number two.

Tang Wenneng took Heidi to meet Roy Disney.

Because the film's pre-production planning was all complete, there was nothing left to keep secret.

The meeting room was filled with Disney employees, who had also just returned from watching a movie.

Heidi, as an ordinary viewer, expressed her opinion. She is a smart woman and only spoke her true feelings:
"What I want to see is the Hulk gradually becoming a hero, just like Spider-Man. Or at least, there should be a story about fighting bad guys and upholding justice."

But what was served to me seemed to be a modified, unpalatable experimental dish!

Expectations were completely misplaced.

Roy Disney nodded to himself as he watched the movie in a VIP box at a cinema.

The employees' comments all expressed their skepticism about "The Incredible Hulk".

Everyone has finished speaking.

All eyes were on Tang Wen.

Tang Wen stood up, picked up a bottle of chilled Corona from the ice bucket, and popped the cork off: "They're doomed!"

"Wow~!"

People like this kind of decisive, confident speech.

Of course, this also means that if a misjudgment is made, all the blame will fall on Tang Wen.

Tang Wen took a sip of beer, and after they quieted down, he continued, "Everyone has high expectations for The Hulk; their opening weekend box office won't be low. We need to work hard behind the scenes..."

In fact, some unfavorable, "objective" film reviews have already appeared on the internet on a large scale after the film's release.

This has always been the nature of competition in Hollywood.

The next evening.

The opening day box office figures for "The Incredible Hulk" are in—$2017 million!
"A great start!"

"It seems like 'The Hulk' is going to be a success."

"..."

The people at Universal Pictures breathed a sigh of relief.

A first-day box office of over 2000 million US dollars is a good start.

It was even better than they had expected.

So it seems that serious "superhero" movies also have a market!
Disney's response has been relatively good.

Tang Wen had already given him a heads-up multiple times.

"Tang, how did you make that judgment?" On the new Monday, Disney executives held a meeting and brought in Tang Wen, an outsider.

"Audiences are very familiar with the story of the Hulk. Now that it's finally being brought to the big screen, who wouldn't want to come and see it if they have the time and money?"

Will this curiosity continue?

"No." Tang Wen judged decisively.

Before he could give his reason, there was a knock on the meeting room door, and a clerk came in to deliver data.

Iger took it personally, looked it over, and couldn't hide his delight:

"Yesterday, Sunday, 'The Incredible Hulk' grossed $1300 million, it dropped!"

"what?"

"Has it really fallen?"

"And this is only the first weekend!"

All the senior executives present were delighted.

The decline in the number of screenings for "The Incredible Hulk" will inevitably lead to a reduction in screenings, but it will not squeeze out the screenings for "Pirates of the Caribbean".

Friday: $2017 million.

Saturday's gain: $2144 million.

However, it fell sharply on Sunday.

The first three days – $5461 million!
Tang Wen took the document, looked at it carefully, his expression calm, and he felt relieved.

$5461 million, compared to the more than $6000 million I remembered.

It's almost 1000 million less.

"Professional critics gave it a high score of 8.1, but the Rotten Tomatoes audience score dropped to 61%, just barely hitting the 'red' mark..."

"It seems that the professional judges and the audience are once again at odds."

"Yeah, that's common in Hollywood. Those damn film critics, they don't even buy their own tickets, they have no right to talk about movies."

A burst of laughter erupted inside the room.

"Da da"

President Michael tapped his fingers lightly on the table, and everyone quieted down.

His gaze, sharp as a hawk's, fixed on Tang Wen: "Tang, shouldn't we hold a preview screening for 'The Caribbean'?"

Egger raised an eyebrow: We've discussed this issue before.

But Tang Wen refused.

What does Michael mean by bringing this up again?
Regardless of his thoughts, Tang Wencai showed no respect to the CEO: "It's too rushed. The movie is released this Friday. Holding a last-minute orientation session is difficult to manage. A premiere will suffice." The air grew quiet.

At Disney, few dare to directly deny "Tyrant Michael".

Michael stared at Tang Wen for a while, then changed the subject.

This is considered as tacit agreement.

But everyone knows that this matter is not over.

If "Pirates of the Caribbean" is a big hit, that's fine, but if it fails at the box office...

Tang Wen will face a fierce counterattack from Michael!

After the meeting, Tang Wen didn't linger. Under the pretext of supervising the production of "Pirates of the Caribbean" merchandise, he flew back to China.

"Peacock" has been showing for several days now.

The current box office has barely surpassed 2500 million.

In a way, the box office performance of "Peacock" and "Hulk" is somewhat similar to what we might expect.

The Hulk was highly anticipated by American audiences because of the comic book.

"Peacock" gained immense popularity in the country after winning an award, and many people are eagerly awaiting its release.

But after all, it is just a thoroughly art film with a very subtle expression.

The audience is ultimately limited.

It's quite impressive that it's achieved this box office result so soon after its release.

Don't be fooled by the seemingly low figure of 2500 million; it ranks among the top five highest-grossing films released so far this year.

When Tang Wen returned to China, he naturally didn't pay attention to any "Caribbean" related products.

SARS has been brought under control, and as far as I remember, it was supposed to end in early July.

Bluestar Investment's "Infernal Affairs 3" is scheduled for release.

Meanwhile, the projects that were promised to start this year have been approved and launched.

Which one should we prepare first?

Other companies are worried because they don't have any good projects.

Blue Star Entertainment has too many projects, but only one good director, Tang Wen.

The young director Ning Hao, whom we have mentored, is currently unable to shoulder the main responsibility.

I filmed a movie called "Incense" before the Lunar New Year. The film was very experimental, but it didn't pass the censorship because the cultural authorities were not allowing the promotion of "negative ideas" this year.

Ning Hao was mentally prepared, but he felt extremely ashamed and felt sorry for Tang Wen.

This movie cost more than the original timeline's total budget of 4 yuan.

It cost more than 30 yuan.

Its quality is higher than that of the original timeline.

Ning Hao decided to wait until the end of the year to submit his film to the Tokyo International Film Festival in Japan to test the waters.

"Let's shoot 'The Outlaws' 1 and 2 first. Let Ning Hao, Wu Jing, and Zhang Jin serve as assistant directors." It's not easy to find good directors.

"Parts 1 and 2? Filming both at the same time?"

"Okay, have the actors prepare. See what schedule is suitable." This was a last-minute decision.

"The Outlaws" is purely an action-packed film and doesn't need excessive embellishment of its dramatic scenes.

The plot should be fast-paced, ensuring there are no dull moments, so that the audience doesn't have time to think too much throughout.

Yes, we need to toughen up the actors, make sure they do their own stunts and not use stunt doubles.

We must live up to the audience's ticket price.

"Okay, I understand! The lead actor Fei Xiang has been working out for a while now. I heard from Wu Jing that his muscle definition is quite good."

Tang Wen nodded. Actors and celebrities these days are still dedicated.

Fei Xiang's height and muscular build make him a formidable opponent in a fight.

The next project has been decided.

Summer brought up the topic of her new book.

Tang Wen's new book, "The Ming Dynasty 1566," has not yet been assigned to a publisher.

His previous novels, such as "Ghost Blows Out the Light" and "The Devotion of Suspect X", were all popular stories.

It focuses on the bizarre and the mysterious.

Aside from its entertainment value, it has no other merits.

But "Da Ming Dynasty 1566" is different.

Its profound historical insights and artistic merit have earned it widespread acclaim from celebrities both at home and abroad.

Not to mention the extremely high praise given by history professors from top universities.

According to media reports, the Singaporean prime minister watched it five times in a row.

New York University's Department of East Asian Studies has listed it as a case study in "Eastern Political Philosophy".

Vietnamese political and business figures have organized "1566 Salons" to discuss the wisdom contained in this novel...

If it were simply handed over to a publishing house and published...

Tang Wen was a little unwilling, even though gold will always shine.

However, in the original timeline, the TV series "1566" was initially met with lukewarm reception, only becoming truly popular 10 years later.

Am I going to have to wait 10 years?
He didn't want to wait.

There's no time to wait.

He has plenty of ways and channels to promote his novels.

But that would be a inferior approach.

You need to get others to pay attention to you.

Great works need to be published on great platforms.

Renren.com?
Not sophisticated enough.

Tang Wen glanced at the bookshelves in the office.

I came across a collector's item magazine—the 1979 reissue of People's Literature.

I recall the words of the literary master Yu Hua: "I have great ambitions. No matter how well I write my manuscripts, I will send them to People's Literature and Harvest magazines as soon as they are published."

Without a doubt, the prestigious status of these two literary magazines is unshakeable in the hearts of the older generation of writers.

Tang Wen, published in People's Literature, had no connection with the author.

But that doesn't matter.

Given the quality of "Da Ming Dynasty 1566", I believe People's Literature Publishing House will not refuse it.

Tang Wen's eyes flickered.

If I get rejected, that would be really embarrassing.

Regardless, Tang Wen decided to give it a try.

After making a phone call in advance, he arrived at the CCTV building.

He met with Secretary Li, and the two chatted for a while. He then ate a meal at CCTV and left without a word.

Back in his office, Secretary Li looked at the printed manuscript, shook his head and chuckled, "This Tang Wen, if he wants to publish, he should just go ahead and publish. Why is he asking me for a recommendation?"

These words were overheard by a passing leader: "What announcement?"

Secretary Li seized the opportunity to write: "It was Director Tang Wen who came to me to pull strings, but I suspect his real target is you."

The leader smiled, took the manuscript, and flipped through it: "Oh, Director Tang's new work. Let me take a look during my lunch break..."

Secretary Li didn't say anything more and let the leader take away the crudely bound novel.

on Tuesday.

Billboard magazine published.

Unsurprisingly, it was sold out again.

Several radio stations are publishing their rankings on the hottest songs charts.

When the music presenter announced, "Don! He's created a miracle! In less than a month! All ten songs from his new album have made it onto the Billboard Hot 100!"

Even the drivers on the road cheered and honked their horns for Tang Wen!
Reporters went to Galaxy Entertainment and Warner Music to interview Tang Wen, only to be told that he was doing promotions in Asia.

While the reporters felt a little disappointed, all their attention was focused on the loser of the bet—John Mayer!
His villa was already packed with people.

Some people even brought over large spotted sows.

“John, don’t hide at home anymore.”

"John, be a man and come out and kiss your bride!"

"Hahahaha"

The crowd burst into laughter.

The large spotted sow grunted.

A blonde female reporter, standing two meters away from the large spotted sow, shouted loudly through a megaphone after the laughter subsided:
"John, come out and take a look at them! They were chosen by the people of all America! And it's three of them, not just one. Come out and see, there's bound to be one you like, isn't there?"

"Why won't he come out? Could it be that he has found a 'beauty' he prefers and is currently at the manor with it, unable to leave?"

"Ha ha ha ha……"

The crowd was filled with a joyful atmosphere.

Several television stations began broadcasting live from here.

(End of this chapter)