novellhall Chapter 333 The Great Reconciliation of the Century
Chapter 333 The Great Reconciliation of the Century
Chapter 332 The Great Reconciliation of the Century (Seeking Monthly Tickets)
The shouts of the opposition echoed in the meeting room.
But Mark, the president of the production department, sitting on the other side of the conference table, simply flipped through the documents in his hand slowly, without the slightest ripple on his face.
After Kevin and his group finished their tirade, he finally looked up, tapped the table with his fingertips, and said in a calm but penetrating voice, "Face? Kevin, you're talking to me about face?"
"Then I'd like to ask you, what face does Warner have left?"
One sentence instantly silenced the clamor in the conference room.
Mark slammed a thick stack of reports onto the center of the conference table, his sharp gaze sweeping over everyone present: "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, releasing in March—when we first started the project, we touted it as a direct competitor to Marvel's Avengers, a year-end for the DC Extended Universe. And what happened?"
"North American box office revenue fell short of 60% of expectations in its opening weekend, and plummeted by 69% in its second weekend, marking the largest drop in superhero movie history!"
With a 27% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a complete collapse in audience reviews, it's uncertain whether the film will even recoup its $3.5 million production cost at the global box office!
His voice grew increasingly deep, each word like a heavy hammer blow to the hearts of all the Warner Bros. executives present: "The DC Extended Universe, we've planned for five whole years, and we've already shattered the very first step!"
"With the filming of Suicide Squad halfway through, the director and production team were arguing every day, the script was revised more than a dozen times, and the internal screenings gave it terrible reviews."
"Justice League was originally scheduled to start filming at the end of the year, but now they can't even finalize a complete script, and they've changed directors three times. Nobody dares to take on this mess!"
"The board just issued an ultimatum last week: if we can't come up with a single competitive project this year to turn around our reputation and stock price, all of us here will be out of a job!"
"Now you're talking to me about face?"
"Can saving face bring the stock price back up?"
"Can a lack of public image revive the DC Universe?"
Kevin's face flushed red and then turned pale. He opened his mouth as if to retort, but couldn't utter a single word.
He understands Warner's current predicament better than anyone else.
The stock price of Time Warner's parent company has been falling for a month due to the box office and critical failure of "Batman v Superman," resulting in a loss of nearly $10 billion in market value.
The board's anger was burning fiercely, and these senior executives were at risk of being ousted at any moment.
So-called face is worthless in the face of solid performance and stock price.
Mark looked at the speechless Kevin, his tone unwavering, and picked up another stack of documents, turning the pages one by one for everyone present: "You're saying Chen Xun isn't qualified to make demands?"
"Then I'll tell you what gives him the right."
"His starring role in 'Crosscurrent' won the Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival and was the only Chinese-language film to be nominated for the three major European film competitions this year. It grossed over 100 million yuan in China in just 22 days, setting a box office record for Chinese-language art films and breaking the curse that art films are critically acclaimed but not commercially successful."
"This means he can turn the most obscure topics into a profitable business."
"His starring role in 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2' is still six months away from release, but the number of pre-orders for theatrical release worldwide has already exceeded 2500 million, breaking the record for Marvel's solo superhero films. Disney's stock price rose 4.7% in a single week after securing him as the lead actor."
"That's his box office appeal, that's global recognition of him."
"His film 'La La Land,' co-starring Emma Stone, has been confirmed as the opening film of the Venice Film Festival, and all the award prediction agencies in the industry have listed it as the top contender for next year's Oscars."
"He can act in commercial films and art films, and he can also win awards, bringing awards season attention to the project."
Mark paused, then tapped his finger heavily on the last page of the document, his voice firm and resolute: "And most importantly, he has the entire Chinese mainland market behind him."
"Last year, China's box office exceeded 440 billion yuan, making it the world's second largest box office market. However, Warner Bros.' films have seen their market share in China decline year after year and have been unable to penetrate the market."
"Chen Xun is currently the most popular and well-known male actor in mainland China. With him, even if 'Joker' is rated R, the probability of it being introduced to the Chinese market will double. The box office revenue from the Chinese market alone can cover half of our production costs."
"Now, Kevin, tell me again, on what basis does he make these demands?"
The meeting room fell completely silent; you could hear every breath.
The old-school executives who had initially echoed Kevin now all lowered their heads and dared not speak again.
The directors sitting at the end of the conference table were already looking excited. They picked up the documents on the table and started to look through them. The more they looked, the more relaxed their brows became.
Seeing that the tide had turned, Mark pressed his advantage and laid out the final benefits to everyone: "We were originally only willing to approve a budget of $2500 million for this project. Todd couldn't even set a shooting schedule, and the project could be canceled at any time."
"Now Chen Xun is willing to bring in $500 million, and then use his salary to offset $1500 million, so we only need to put in $1000 million to get this project filmed."
"We've made a profit, we'll take the lion's share, and we'll also get a critically acclaimed hit product, reversing the decline of digital cameras!"
"Even if we lose money, we'll only lose a maximum of 1000 million, which isn't even a fraction of the marketing and distribution costs for 'Batman v Superman'."
"This is a sure-fire deal; apart from your worthless pride, we've lost nothing."
"besides----"
Mark looked up at Kevin, his tone cold: "Don't forget what happened to those idiots back then. Michael went to jail, the entire production team of 'Collapse' was fired, and Warner Bros.' reputation in the Chinese market collapsed for three whole years because of the casting change incident back then."
"Do you want to repeat the same mistake?"
This sentence became the last straw that broke the camel's back.
The Warner Bros. CEO, seated at the head of the table, had remained silent until now, when he finally tapped the table and announced the decision: "No need for a vote!"
"Chen Xun has been confirmed as the male lead for the Joker project."
"We accepted all of his conditions: co-producer, veto power, and 15% of global revenue."
"The Ministry of Justice must draft the contract today, have Todd Phillips handle it, and get Chen Xun to sign it within three days."
Kevin looked up abruptly, his face filled with disbelief: "You can't do this!"
"I can't?"
"Kevin, if you can come up with a plan that can turn Warner Bros. back to profitability and revive the DC Universe, I'll listen to you. If you can't, then shut up."
Kevin's face instantly drained of color, and he slumped into his chair, unable to utter another word.
That afternoon, Warner Bros. and Todd Phillips, the director of the Joker project, simultaneously announced the major news on major social media platforms worldwide:
Warner Bros. officially announced that Chen Xun will join the cast of the Joker solo film, playing the lead role of Arthur Fleck (Joker), and will also serve as a co-producer! The film will be directed by Todd Phillips and is scheduled to begin filming in early 2017. Stay tuned!
The official poster doesn't feature the Joker's classic makeup; instead, it shows a half-profile silhouette of Chen Xun against a rainy night in Gotham City. At the bottom of the poster is a striking line of text: "Relax and smile."
The news caused an instant uproar on the global internet.
Hollywood media outlets immediately followed up with reports.
Top industry media outlets such as The Hollywood Reporter and Variety used the headline "The Great Reconciliation of the Century" to detail the entire process from the casting controversy surrounding Interstellar to Warner Bros.' bowing down and inviting Chen Xun to join the project with top-tier conditions.
"This is the most dramatic reversal in Hollywood history. In just a few years, Chen Xun went from being an actor who was casually discarded by Warner Bros. to a savior that Warner Bros. had to beg back."
Variety went even further, saying, "At a time when the DC Extended Universe is completely collapsing, Warner Bros. is pinning its last hope on Chen Xun."
"They finally realized that, compared to vague racial prejudice, actors who can earn money and carry a role are the most important."
The public frenzy was far more intense than when the voice acting for "Zootopia" was officially announced.
On Instagram, Warner Bros.' official announcement garnered over three million likes within an hour, and the comment section was flooded with posts from netizens worldwide: "My God, Chen Xun is playing the Joker! Warner Bros., have you gone mad or finally figured it out?"
"Back then, they kicked people out of Interstellar, and now they're begging them back on their knees. Warner Bros. has really slapped themselves in the face! But I like it!"
"Star-Lord playing the Joker? A Marvel lead actor playing DC's arch-villain?"
"What kind of mind-blowing, cross-dimensional event is this?! I'm already incredibly excited!"
"To be able to handle Star-Lord and Nick Fury simultaneously, and now he's going to play the Joker, Chen Xun's acting range is just too wide! Looking at the entire Hollywood, how many actors can do that?"
Domestically, Weibo is also full of praise.
#Chen Xun to star as DC Joker#
#WarnerMediaReconciliation#
#Chen Xun is going crazy in Hollywood#
Three related terms immediately dominated the top three spots on the trending topics list, with related topics garnering over 3 billion views within an hour. Netizens were completely enthralled: "I'm dumbfounded! They just announced the Disney male lead a few days ago, and today they've announced the DC Joker? Chen Xun, are you going to try and get past all six major Hollywood studios?"
"A Chinese actor playing the Joker! And the lead role! What a historic moment!"
"The anger I felt when the actor was replaced in 'Interstellar' back then has been completely avenged today!"
"Warner Bros. finally did something decent! Although it was out of necessity, I'm absolutely blown away by this casting! Chen Xun's acting will definitely bring the Joker's madness to life!"
On a Los Angeles afternoon, the California sun shone brightly through the floor-to-ceiling windows of the Marvel Studios post-production building.
The door to the editing room was pushed open.
Guo Fan came out carrying a thick stack of neatly bound notebooks.
The seven or eight people following behind him all had bloodshot eyes from exhaustion, yet they shone with an astonishing brightness.
Without exception, they all clutched notebooks filled with dense writing, looking down and flipping through them even as they walked, while quietly discussing the green screen compositing process they had just seen in the editing room.
This team from China has been spending four months at the post-production base for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.
From the industrialized process control of pre-production filming to the real-time rendering technology of green screen effects, from the visual construction of the universe worldview to the detailed adjustment of motion capture, and even the most basic aspects such as on-set scheduling and material archiving.
Guo Fan and his team painstakingly studied and memorized the material bit by bit.
Even Marvel's visual effects supervisor couldn't help but remark to Chen Xun that he had never seen such a dedicated overseas learning team.
I'm always the first to arrive at the computer room and the last to leave.
I even spent the weekends immersed in the resource library, turning every single project file in the Guardians of the Galaxy series upside down.