One Hundred and Fifty-Eight-The Real-Life Clown Is Coming
Wayne had been thinking about it even before the plane landed. Just like his parents never mentioned to him what happened back then, they wanted to live a good life now.
Ruben, who likes collecting shotguns for hunting, and Anna, who likes cooking and Mary Sue TV series, all feel that their lives are very happy and peaceful now, and they don't want to dwell on the past decades ago.
Wayne would never allow anyone to try to disrupt the peace of the farm. After thinking about it, it was probably because of the bad things that happened back then, so he wanted to open a breakthrough through George Lucas. The bearded father of Star Wars admires him very much and might be able to ask something.
After the plane landed on the ground, several major actors, including Nicolas Cage and Robert Droney, washed their faces and put on makeup again, preparing to present their best image to the British media.
These journalists from the British Empire were not as easy to deal with as their North American counterparts. From the moment they entered the airport lobby, countless tricky questions were thrown at the crew.
"Fleet Street!" Taking advantage of the main actors being surrounded, Wayne, along with his assistant and agent, deliberately lagged behind and got into the car quietly. Now they are still surrounded in the hall, and security has no effect at all.
While no one was paying attention to themselves as the director, several people drove to the hotel first. They all breathed a sigh of relief after checking into the reserved suite.
Those reporters were simply crazy, and few of the questions they asked were related to the film, and they kept gossiping about the crew. Before leaving the airport, Wayne heard a female reporter chasing Nicolas Cage and asking him about taking contraband on his first day on set...
"We should bring Sergey with us, boss!" The assistant sincerely missed Xiong, a Russian-American. Unfortunately, he was put on leave by his boss before departure.
"He needs a vacation too, Nina. I remember you also had the opportunity to take a vacation, but you would do nothing but stay in the manor, walk the dog and watch TV!"
Wayne was unimpressed by Nina's lament, and it was a rare opportunity to give the driver and security guard a holiday. It's better to take advantage of the opportunity and let him rest for a few more days.
It's not a bad time to come to London at this time of year, as it perfectly avoids the heavy fog, but the drizzle is unavoidable. As soon as they entered the hotel, they saw filaments floating outside the window.
Warner Bros. arranged for the premiere of "Joker" tonight. It was too late to go to bed at this time, so Wayne sat at the window with a cup of black tea and looked at the drizzle outside the window.
Such typical London weather, like all British literary descriptions, gives people the illusion of returning to the last century.
"British literature? Ha!"
Putting the black tea on the small table on the balcony made him naturally think of the little wizard! Normally, Ms. Rowling should have started writing the Philosopher's Stone in 1989, and it would still take a long time for this series of works to become famous.
But just thinking about it, there is absolutely no way Wayne would get involved in this matter. The popularity of Little Wizards was created by Warner Bros.’s acquisition of the copyright and its world-leading distribution channels. His personal ability is scumbag in front of this. .
It took Warner Bros. several years, starting with bestseller lists in various countries, and slowly increasing its publicity efforts over time, to create the familiar reputation of "Harry Potter".
It wasn't until this time that I started adapting the book into a movie, and then I got that IP worth tens of billions.
This is simply not something that an individual can play. With such a large investment of resources and time, let alone The Little Wizard, the ending should not be much different if it were to be replaced by another series of books.
“Boss, Jeff’s phone number!”
The phone brought by the assistant interrupted Wayne's random thoughts.
"Hi, Jeff. Do you have any good news for me?" he said, picking up the phone and putting it to his ear, looking at the drizzle outside the window.
"The movies that are being released on a large scale this weekend are Disney's "Witches" and Twentieth Century Fox's "Little Dreamers."" Jeff Robinoff's voice came from the other end of the phone.
After thinking about these two films, he had no impression at all. "What's wrong? Will it pose a threat to us?"
"How is it possible? I just had a phone call with Columbia's Paul Knight and together we started to put pressure on the theater companies. No one can challenge the status of "Joker", at least not for the time being."
The thing is so funny. One week, two films were competitors, and the next week they started to join forces and start squeezing others. The purpose of Jeff's call was not to discuss these release plans, but simply to connect emotionally and test Wayne's attitude towards his next project.
After taking a sip of the black tea, Wayne said: "Okay. You are the professionals on these things. It doesn't make much sense to tell me, Jeff. The weather in London is terrible. I hope France can bring us some surprises. "
"Here's the thing, Wayne." The other party paused. "Then let me get this straight, I heard that George Lucas invited you to direct Star Wars?"
This made him suddenly realize that Warner Brothers seemed to be nervous. "Yes, I'm still considering it. You know how intensive the promotional schedule for "Joker" is, and I want to wait until everything is over before I consider whether to accept it.
I know what you mean, Jeff. I can tell you right now that Warner Bros. and I are almost tied together. If nothing unexpected happens, Warner Bros. will still be the producer and distributor of my new project! "
After hanging up the phone, Wayne shook his head. No matter what his choice was, Warner Brothers would be the best partner. For Star Wars, he prefers not to take over, and this series is a shortcut. It is also a huge sinkhole.
But it’s too early to make a decision now. Everything has to wait until after the discussion. If Lucasfilm is willing to spend money on him and offer him a 20+25 global share contract, Wayne really doesn’t want to Mind rewriting the prequel trilogy…
As time goes by, the crew's overseas promotion has been relatively smooth, and the UK premiere was very successful, which is the second largest Hollywood box office after North America.
This also started the overseas screening tour of "Joker". Everywhere the crew went, it caused a huge response. Just like the performance of this film in North America, it became an out-of-control hit in dozens of countries.
While the crew was promoting in one European country after another, the North American theater market continued to experience the ravages of "Joker".
On the second weekend of the film's release, the box office rebounded strongly on Friday, taking in US$16.9 million. The box office continued to rise on Saturday, with a revenue of US$22.13 million, and US$16.81 million on Sunday. This is a healthy box office downward trajectory.
The film once again took in US$55.84 million in the second weekend, retaining its second weekend box office championship, with a total box office of US$184.54 million, ranking first in the annual box office in 1993.
Ranked second this week was "Jumanji" which took in US$16.78 million. The joint pressure from Sony, Columbia and Warner Bros. greatly squeezed Disney's "Witches" and Fox's "Dream." "Innocent Heart", these two films ranked third and fourth, taking in US$9.87 million and US$7.56 million respectively.
"Joker" not only continued to sweep the North American theater market, but also triggered a movie-watching craze in various countries during its first weekend of overseas screening.
The UK had the best first weekend box office performance, with a score of 30.8 million US dollars, successfully reaching the top of the British Isles box office. The book is US$17.77 million, France is US$19.8 million, Mexico is US$18.7 million, South Korea is US$17.45 million, Russia, Italy, Spain, Australia, Brazil, etc. all exceed US$10 million...
According to rough calculations by Warner Bros.' overseas distribution department, "Joker" earned more than $190 million at the box office in more than 50 countries and regions in the first weekend.
The explosive box office performance has caused this alternative Hollywood blockbuster to trigger social discussions in more than 50 countries and regions.
Even the crew members who are promoting in various countries can clearly feel that "Joker" is becoming more and more popular, and the fans and media who come to greet it are becoming more and more enthusiastic every time they go.
And just as the film was entering its third weekend in North American theaters, a video of director Wayne Greenberg flying to hug a black fan at the premiere of "Joker" suddenly appeared on various television media.
This is Warner Bros.'s last large-scale promotion plan in North America, and the results are unexpectedly good. Since this ten-second video was aired, the already flat market performance has experienced another wave of rebound.
After earning US$8.34 million, US$6.97 million, US$4.91 million, and US$4.2 million in four days on weekdays, the film once again strongly earned US$8.58 million on Friday.
It continued to sweep the market on Saturdays and Sundays, taking in US$12.44 million and US$8.22 million in its third weekend after its summer release. With a score of 29.24 million US dollars, it won the box office championship for the third consecutive weekend.
At this time, the North American box office of the film reached a terrifying record of US$238.2 million, and the media cried wolf. Now this film is the fastest film in the history of the film to break 100 million US dollars, the fastest film to break 200 million US dollars, and the highest opening weekend. The holder of the box office record, the holder of the first-week box office record for the highest-rated R-rated film.
Everything is as Warner Bros. and Wayne expected. In terms of its impact on society, this film has surpassed many of its predecessors, and its influence has been perfectly translated into box office figures.
Just when the film's global box office reached $500 million within three weeks of its release, a sudden news event and a phone call from Warner Bros. caused Wayne to abandon his promotional team and charter a flight from Spain back to North America.
The atmosphere on the plane was extremely dull, with only Jimmy's voice constantly ringing.
"On May 31, 1993, in a theater showing "Joker" in Aurora, Colorado, a madman wearing a clown mask took an AR rifle that he had modified into a fully automatic and fired into the Aurora Shopping Center Cinema. The movie fans who were watching the movie started shooting wildly, and he was laughing while shooting..."
“His shooting skills were not very good, but he threw a tear gas canister into the crowd before shooting...