Fan effect was very important, which was also one of the reasons why many films starred by famous actors often earned hundreds of millions of yuan at the box office. As long as the stars had enough fans, there would always be people going to the cinema to watch the films, however terrible the films were.
Of course, there were many people who often severely criticized the acting of the stars. All kinds of interesting and eye-catching comments were made and many differences could be found among them.
There are a thousand Hamlets in a thousand people’s eyes. So it was understandable that there would be disputes. Only two kinds of works could get similar comments all the time; Works that were very classic or moving would get the praise of the vast majority of the audience, and works that were very bad where even the biggest fans of the stars would not give them good reviews.
Douban was a relatively authoritative scoring platform. In many web pages, the corresponding score of movies and TV shows would be displayed to influence the people’s judgment. Human beings were gregarious animals and they liked to follow the trend. Sometimes, when someone found that the public rating of his favorite movie was low, he would wonder if there really was a problem with the movie such that others were not attracted to it. He would wonder if the film was really as good as he thought. When the score was high, he would think that the movie was really excellent and all the movies with a score above nine were really classic!
What was psychologically relevant might just be some very common things.
Similarly, box office was an important indicator of the success of a commercial film, as well as the goal of the competition between commercial films. In the case of art films, those with a high value in art appreciation might not reap the corresponding box office.
Both Green Man in Rage and Pirates of the Caribbean releasing on May 2 were commercial films.
The former was a US 500 million dollars science fiction masterpiece, while the latter had a budget of US 200 million dollars. The box office would decide which one was better.
At eight o’clock in the evening, Edmund was having a party in his villa with some friends and drinking red wine.
They were celebrating the victory of Green Man in Rage, ahead of time.
There were more than a dozen men and women present and most of them were relatives of the board members of several Hollywood companies. The force supporting Edmund was very strong, otherwise it would have been impossible for him to dissuade the whole of Hollywood from cooperating with Purple Moon Entertainment Company.
This party could be regarded as the gathering of the second generation of the rich.
“Edmund, how much box office collection do you think your Green Man in Rage is going to get?” Asked one of the women.
“At least one billion dollars at the global box office!” Edmund was adamant, “Though I am playing a supporting role, I was given enough time to show off myself in the movie. Wayne played the leading role and the cooperation with him will make me even more famous.”
“A billion dollars. It’s going to crush Purple Moon Entertainment Company’s movie.”
The others all laughed.
“What’s the difference between a movie made in two months and rubbish?”
“They are crazy about money. But they will not only lose a lot of money but also gain a bad reputation. Just like the Chinese say, it is a pity that Purple Moon Entertainment is dead before the ship even sinks. I kind of sympathize with Zi Yan, their heroine.”
Speaking of this, Edmund took a sip of red wine and said excitedly, “Zi Yan is worthy of being the first beauty of the East. She is so beautiful. Especially when looking at her in real life, you’ll find her incomparable beauty fascinating. It’s a pity that I can’t have dinner and a good night with her. If I were their male lead, I would not only get close to Zi Yan but also introduce the best team to them. The theme of pirates may be successful, but their leader is stupid and brought about their own destruction! They will be thoroughly defeated by Green Man in Rage.”
He was very confident about making Purple Moon Entertainment Company regret.
He held grudges against Purple Moon Entertainment Company because he often thought of the moment when he was thrown out of the company, which he thought was the biggest disgrace in his life.
Now that it was mentioned, his anger was aroused again.
After thinking about it, he took out his mobile phone and posted on the largest communication platform in North America.
“Pirates of the Caribbean was produced by Purple Moon Entertainment Company in just two months. It is a joke. Their stupid leader could never make classic films. What the junkies did was just rubbish!”
He had tens of millions of fans on that platform.
As soon as this post was released, many people forwarded it out of curiosity and looked forward to the follow up of this affair.
One hour after the post was released, Sun Ming, who was resting at home in Hong Kong, received the news.
He was not happy because the news had been reported by many local media and had caused a heated discussion online.
Sun Ming was silent for ten minutes whole minutes. He was always cautious, so he intended to hit them with facts when the box office results would be announced.
But he spent a long time with the people in the security corps and had become bold under their influence.
Therefore, he chose to call his son, “Come home now. Something’s up!”
Half an hour later, Sun Dongheng quickly returned.
After a few minutes of discussion, Sun Dongheng logged into his social networking platform with his tens of millions of fans and released a piece of news.
“My father is the president of Purple Moon Entertainment Company. In response to the news released by Edmund, the North American movie star, I just want to say that only garbage can send those slanderous and useless trashy words, and dare not to face us. What a coward he is.”
“Clatter!”
“We’re going to see some fun!”
Many netizens found out about it at the first moment. In this era of the Internet, the news released by Sun Dongheng was soon known by Edmund.
Edmund was annoyed and replied on the platform, “It’s funny. Let’s see how my Green Man in Rage will crush the Caribbean worms of your company.”
Sun Dongheng only replied, “Okay, let’s wait and see.”
It showed his determination to win.
The verbal battle began.
Edmund thought that he was the dominant party and posted without hesitation, “Wow, it seems that someone who failed to invite any special effects teams is very confident in their film. Dare you to make a bet with me? Though Purple Moon Entertainment Company is rich, I also have a lot of money!”
Sun Dongheng was amused and replied without asking Sun Ming for advice, “How much do you have? How much do you want to bet? A sum of less than 100 million is a joke to me.”
Sun Dongheng referred to the RMB, which was less than 15 million US dollars.
But Edmund thought that he meant dollars.
“What a stupid rich man the Purple Moon Entertainment Company’s boss is.”
Among Edmund’s fans, there were many people who were paying attention to the news when they saw this talk about gambling.
“Edmund, do you dare to bet with Purple Moon Entertainment Company?”
Everyone couldn’t help but start discussing.
“If they do bet, Edmund, you have to give us a bonus!”
“But he said that a sum of less than 100 million is nothing. He should be referring to 100 million US dollars. He wants us to step back and show off his strong capital strength. Whether he has so much money or not, his words have earned him enough dignity. What a good plan this is!”
“The problem is that with our pocket money, even when pooled together, is far less than a 100 million dollars.”
“But Edmund hasn’t reply, as if he is afraid. In my opinion, he can offer an even higher price and let them give up voluntarily. However, no one would believe that Edmund has the money if the offer is too high.”
When he heard this, Edmund, who kept changing his facial expressions, sneered, “I can ask my uncle about it! The cost of Green Man in Rage is 500 million dollars, far more than the two-month junk movie produced by Purple Moon Entertainment Company.”
His words attracted the attention of many people present. If he really gambled then people on the same front as Edmund would make a lot of money!
“I can also contact my brother.”
“And I. My father will certainly support me in helping Edmund.”
“I don’t have to ask for instructions. There are already twenty million dollars in my bank account.”
A man wearing glasses said, “I think Edmund should reply first. Perhaps they are just pretending to be rich. If they agreed to bet with us, we can raise the money.”
“But how can we make sure that they keep their bets? We take this matter seriously but their default will also affect us.”
“It’s simple!” Edmund waved his casually, “Did you forget that Citibank has this service? We just need to pay them 5% of the profit.”
“Don’t hesitate any more. Tell him that we have 200 million dollars and ask them if they dared to gamble with us!”
All the details were quickly fixed by them.
Therefore, Edmund replied without hesitation, “You guys from Purple Moon Entertainment Company are not only stupid but also arrogant. Now that you want to gamble, I can put out 200 million dollars right now. Do you have enough money? Let’s talk to the head of the Citigroup if you dare to bet with me.”
“Hiss!”
Other people all gasped upon hearing that.
They thought Edmund was really rich enough to gamble 200 million dollars at will.
They didn’t know that Edmund and his friends had raised the money collectively.
As Edmund and his followers were guessing…
Sun Dongheng jumped up from the sofa instantly when he saw the news.
“Damn it. They are so rich.”
Sun Ming was a little dizzy when he heard the news.
“See you at Citibank.” Sun Ming also knew that there was such a service, which was safe and he had never heard of any mistakes yet.
But the problem was…
“They dare to bet with us. But what about us?”
Sun Ming hesitated and couldn’t make a decision. The company had enough money but he dared not use it as a bet in private!
Even though he thought that he would win, he would be the culprit of the company’s loss if something went wrong.
After thinking about it for ten minutes, Sun Ming checked the time and found that it was already 9:30 p.m., time for Mengmeng to go to bed. After thinking about it, Sun Ming dialed Zhao Feng’s number.
“Hello, Xiao Feng. There’s something wrong here. I’ll send you a message now. Take a look at it. Shall we inform the boss to make a decision?”
After a brief explanation of the situation, Sun Ming asked Sun Dongheng to send all the relevant information to Zhao Feng.
After about ten minutes, Zhao Feng called back.
“How is it?” Asked Sun Ming.
Then he heard Zhao Feng’s calm voice.
“I just met with my Master. He said that money was not a problem, but 200 million dollars was too little. We would only bet with them if they offered 500 million dollars. The funds are all in the company account, and Uncle Sun, my Master wants you to do whatever you think is right.”
“I see.” Sun Ming replied in astonishment.
“It’s scary to bet so much!”
On the other side, Zhang Han was amused by what Zhao Feng had told him.
In his previous life, he heard that Green Man in Rage was a famous money-losing movie in the history of Hollywood and that it flopped badly at the box office all because of its plot, in spite of its excellent special effects. Many people gave up their idea to watch Green Man in Rage in the cinema. Of course, the failure of this movie was also because of the challenge from Transformers in the same period, which had a greater impact on the audience and earned itself a better reputation.
Transformers would be released in the summer, while only Green Man in Rage would be released in May. Zhang Han remembered that in his previous life, Pirates of the Caribbean made nearly 700 million dollars at the box office in 2003, when the film market was not very hot. Now, Zhang Han didn’t know how much the box office of the film would be improved or how many people would be attracted by the enhanced special effects.
Zhang Han didn’t want to refuse the money sent by his rivals.
While Zhang Han’s men were busy preparing for the bet, Edmund and his men were sneering at them.
“They are all cowards and fools.”
“I said that they were pretending. They will fall into silence as long as we reply firmly.”
“It’s funny. We just had some serious discussions. In fact, we don’t need to think about it at all. How would they get so much money?”
Suddenly, a man with short-sighted glasses looked at his mobile phone and cried out, “The latest news! They agreed to bet. 500 million dollars? Am I dreaming?”
“Huh?”
“Swoosh!”
Everyone took out their cell phones and looked at the platform, only to find that the person they had just followed released a sensational piece of news.
“Edmund, you want to bet, don’t you? Ok, 500 million dollars and my sword has been shown. Dare you to bet with me? 200 million dollars is too little. It’s so boring. If you dare, let’s have a talk at Citibank!”
He added a screenshot of his account to the message, which showed a stunning array of numbers.
“They’re ready with 500 million dollars!”
At the same time, this screenshot caused an explosion of discussions on the Internet.
It was amazing. However unbelievable the balance amount of this account was, it was real.
It showed just how rich Purple Moon Entertainment Company was.
There were many rich enterprises, but this was the first time that many people had seen such a fierce competition among these enterprises.
Edmund and his group were all stunned.
“Fuck!” Edmund gnashed his teeth in hatred, “How dare they? Why are they so bold?”
“No matter who they are, we have to agree now. There are a lot of people paying attention to this matter. Anyway, we have to continue, lest our dignity be damaged!”
“500 million dollars, we…” Another man asked hesitantly.
He didn’t want to disturb his elders but they couldn’t collect so much money without their elders’ help.
A man at a relatively higher position said in a deep voice, “Contact them. We will win this fight and there is nothing to worry about.”
“Yes, don’t worry. We will win!” Edmund echoed. Then he took the lead to stand up as he took out his mobile phone and began to contact someone.
These youngsters’ force might not be enough but the forces supporting them were beyond imagination.
500 million dollars was collected in half an hour.
Edmund, a little excited, grinned and showed a screenshot of his account, “Come on, arrogant Purple Moon Entertainment Company. Let’s go to Citibank and have a chat. Do you have the phone number of the person in charge?”
Sun Dongheng, who was paying attention to the news, immediately got excited and replied in full spirit, “Come on. I’ll get in touch with Mr. Smith now!”
Edmund felt a little nervous at the sight of Smith’s name.
“They are serious.”
In fact, he wanted to stop the bet, because such a big bet made him really nervous. But it was too late to regret and he called Smith immediately.
The line was busy.
Five minutes later, when the phone was connected, Smith replied that he already knew about the bet and asked for a video conference in which both parties agreed to sign an electronic contract and transfer the money on notice.
An online meeting started. Sun Ming in the video connection was calm, while Edmund was arrogant.
Looking at the others who were communicating in English and speaking very fast, Sun Dongheng was a bit worried.
He regretted that he hadn’t studied English properly.
He knew English but he couldn’t keep up with others.
He watched Sun Ming chat with them, sign a contract, transfer money on the spot, and then heard a lot of people on Edmund’s side say ‘fuck’.
He raised his middle finger and said “fuck you” to Edmund.
They “fucked” each other for a few minutes before the video was hung up.
Smith felt that their war was on the rise.
It was true or there wouldn’t be such a big bet. But he didn’t care about the outcome of the bet, because the fees were enough to make him happy.
The night before the movie was released…
A big bet began.
Zhang Han didn’t pay much attention to all this because he already knew the results and money already meant nothing to him.
At ten o’clock in the evening, Zhang Han hugged Zi Yan and Mengmeng… Oh no! Zi Yan and Mengmeng hugged Zhang Han and fell asleep slowly while immersed in his story.
Zhang Han also fell asleep easily and happily.
But a lot of people lost sleep that night.
Edmund and his group were paying close attention to the matter.
On the other side, Sun Ming, Sun Dongheng, Zhao Feng and others were also paying attention to it. But they were confident and didn’t feel nervous at all.
At 11:15 that night…
More than 20 people came out of Star-Moon Bar led by Ah Hu and Liu Jiaran. On Labor Day holiday, Liu Jiaran flew to Hong Kong as soon as she could to spend some leisure time with Ah Hu. They felt so happy being together after confessing their love to each other.
There were many familiar faces in the crowd, including the long lost Instructor Liu who was boasting in high spirits.
Zi Shiya and her classmates were also among them. They met five male classmates in the bar, who had also come to play in New Moon Bay. The girls didn’t know how to refuse them.
They went to the next low rise building and took the elevator to the fifth floor, where there was a large cinema and a video game hall.
Only the theater was still open at this late hour.
“What movie?” Asked one of Zi Shiya’s male classmates.
“Nonsense! Pirates of the Caribbean, of course!” Zi Shiya replied without hesitation.
“But I heard that Pirates of the Caribbean is made in a hurry and has poor quality. We bought the tickets for Green Man in Rage.”
The young man’s answer immediately attracted a lot of attention.
He was a little nervous to see so many people looking at him.
“What’s going on?”
“Go on your own. We are all here to watch Pirates of the Caribbean.” Zi Shiya said.
“Ah? So many of you are watching the same movie? Well, we’ll join you but we should buy the tickets first.”
That young man replied.
He didn’t want to be alienated but he regretted that he couldn’t go and see Green Man in Rage, hence he decided to go the next day.
After going upstairs to buy the tickets, they saw a big crowd at the door of the cinema preparing to enter the screening hall on both sides.
There was a slightly bigger crowd waiting for Green Man in Rage, but their presence immediately reversed the situation.
They entered the cinema hall and sat for a few minutes before the movie began.
After the cinema advertisement and the promotional video of Purple Moon Entertainment Company, the featurette started.
A low accompaniment sounded.
There was a white fog on the screen, and a light children’s song came from nowhere. It was quiet and mysterious.
“Pirate?”
All the male students were attracted and slightly narrowed their eyes.
“Buzz!”
A huge ship came to them with the sound of the real waves and the creaking of the ship’s shaking.
They stared intently at the screen.
After the appearance of two little actors and elegant Royal officers…
Under the gaze of the heroine, a strange ship suddenly appeared on the sea looming in the vast white fog.
It was the Black Pearl, a pirate ship.
At this moment, all of Zi Shiya’s classmates, including herself, were thrilled.
They were having goosebumps all over.
