Hollywood Road

""Deadpool" domineeringly topped the North American weekend box office chart, breaking the April weekend box office record in North American film history!"

Sitting in the car, looking at the eye-catching headline on the entertainment section of the newspaper, a young face flashed in front of DC Comics CEO Diego Harris, the one who had approached DC Comics and Warner Bros. A young director who wants to save Batman Bruce Wayne.

The car left the international airport and gradually approached Burbank. Diego Harris leaned on the car seat, not knowing what he was thinking.

After a long time, he sighed and said to himself, "Maybe DC Comics and Warner Bros. really missed a good opportunity."

The success of "Deadpool" was completely beyond his expectations. It's incredible that Murphy Stanton has brought such a bold and fun superhero movie.

What made him feel unbelievable was not only the unexpected box office figures of the film, but also the unfathomable word-of-mouth that the audience, the media and professional critics were about to praise.

The young director seemed to be holding Harry Potter's magic wand in his hand, with just one touch, he could always turn decay into magic.

Then, he thought of "Catwoman", a collaboration between DC Comics and Warner Bros., and immediately put on a sad face, "Did I really push a person who can save DC Comics hero movies into the arms of Surprise?"

It's no wonder he thinks so, it's because of the several test screenings of "Catwoman", the word of mouth is too bad, and now the freshness of Rotten Tomatoes after several test screenings is only a pitiful 13%!

That's fine, after all, film critics are far away from the audience, but the popcorn index on Rotten Tomatoes that the audience wants to see is only more than 50%!

This happened before the movie was even released...

He lowered his head and looked at the newspaper in his hand again.

"The director of "Deadpool", Murphy Stanton, is still a relatively unfamiliar name to North American movie audiences. Twentieth Century Fox is the first person after Tin Tarantino to choose a director with such a strong personal style as the director of a mainstream commercial film, which is quite unexpected."

"Murphy Stanton has perfectly integrated his own style with the characteristics of "Deadpool". The film has scenes with black styles such as cyan, violence, blood, etc., and there is no lack of playfulness and humor given to Deadpool by comics. The cheap and cute characteristics have brought a superhero movie with a unique style to the homogeneous Hollywood and North American film markets.

"

"Let's talk about the film's box office. "Deadpool" landed in some theaters in North America in advance on Thursday night, earning $7.52 million that night, and performed well. This result is second only to "The Matrix 2: Reloaded" among R-rated films ". The film began to be released nationwide on Friday, earning 20.08 million US dollars that day, easily winning the single-day championship, and breaking the first-day opening record of an R-rated film in April and the single-day box office record on Friday in April."

"By Saturday, the one-day box office was up 16 percent to $32 million, an impressive gain for an R-rated film; with all the inevitable declines on Sunday, it still took in $24.2 million, making its opening weekend The score reached 83.8 million US dollars, and it won the championship of the weekend by a landslide."

"The opening performance of "Deadpool" has greatly exceeded the expected value before the release. Compared with the box office of "X-Men 2" released last year, there is only a gap of 2 million U.S. dollars, but the word-of-mouth is even better, and it is bound to be a hit. If there is a stronger trend, it may become the highest-grossing "X-Men" series movie, and considering the excellent word-of-mouth evaluation of the film, its North American box office is expected to hit 250 million U.S. dollars."

"The audience rating of the film is A+, the popcorn index is as high as 98%, and the audience's reputation is extremely high. The media reviews of the film are also mostly positive. Among the 98 media reviews collected by the Rotten Tomatoes website, 86% are positive. The film has been well received, with an average score of 7.8. The authoritative review media MetaCritic included 47 media scores, with an average score of 75, which is the highest among the three existing "X-Men" movies."

"Driven by "Deadpool", this weekend's North American stock market recorded 180 million US dollars, a sharp increase of 215% from the previous week when "Hellboy" won the championship!"

"Due to the performance of "Deadpool" exceeding expectations, "Hellboy", which is also adapted from the comics, has been severely impacted. This weekend's box office plunged by as much as 68%..."

Seeing this, the car stopped in front of the Warner Building. Diego Harris put down the newspaper, got out of the car and entered the building, and went straight to Bruce Berman's office.

In the office, Bruce Berman, who had been on the phone before, was also waiting for him.

"I suggest, contact Murphy Stanton immediately." This is the first sentence Diego Harris said after sitting down, "He is very, very capable!"

Bruce Berman looked at him, but said nothing.

"A movie with an investment of only 60 million U.S. dollars," said Diego Harris, who really wanted to revive the DC Comics movie. "In just one weekend, the North American box office exceeded the production cost. Inside, it's pretty rare."

"For Marvel," Bruce Berman said dryly, "not necessarily for DC."

"Bruce!" Diego Harris didn't expect him to say that, his eyes widened, "A movie about a second-tier non-mainstream hero can be filmed by Murphy Stanton as it is now, doesn't it explain the problem? I think the plan he submitted at the beginning is feasible.”

"The Batman who was knocked down from the altar? Maybe there is a Superman who was knocked down from the altar behind..." Bruce Berman looked a little gloomy, "Don't be kidding, this is not the superhero movie that DC and Warner Bros. want."

He denied Murphy Stanton at the beginning, and now invites him back. Isn't this slapping himself? Where does he put his dignity as a CEO?

""Catwoman" is already like this..." Diego Harris was heartbroken, "Now thinking about what Murphy Stanton said, I think "Superman Returns" also has problems. Bruce, we have to face up to the problem instead of avoiding the possibility problems."

"Possible problems?" Bruce Berman suddenly stood up, "How many years was "Superman Returns" put on hold before? It was me!"

He pointed to his plump chest, "It was me who pushed "Superman Returns" into the right track! He also found the best superhero movie director for it, these cannot be changed!"

Bruce Berman said categorically, without any room for negotiation, "You don't have to worry about "Superman Returns", I will take full responsibility. As for "Catwoman", I will also find a way in terms of publicity and marketing."

"But..." Diego Harris still wanted to fight, "Murphy Stanton..."

Hearing this name that might affect his reputation, Bruce Berman was so angry that he couldn't help raising his voice and interrupted Diego Harris, "Enough! I am the CEO of this company! "

Glancing at Bruce Berman, whose veins seemed to be popping out, Diego Harris shut his mouth, nodded, and walked out of the office.

Arbitrary, can't hear any opinions, doesn't know how to correct mistakes, pays too much attention to personal grievances...

A series of negative comments flashed through Diego Harris' mind, and he had a subconscious feeling that the DC comic hero movie might really be hopeless.

Rushing over from New York in a hurry, Diego Harris was somewhat displeased with such a result, especially Bruce Berman insisted on using Halle Berry in "Catwoman", so he did not hesitate to pay 2000 yuan for it. $10,000 in remuneration, and asking the writer to adjust the character to a black man really made him very angry.

This is not at all what Catwoman was originally planned for.

Originally, Bruce Berman strongly supported Warner Bros. to restart the DC Comics hero movie. He thought it was time for DC Comics to turn around in Hollywood, and he stood by Bruce Berman from time to time, treating him as his best ally.

Now it seems that I made a completely wrong decision and chose the wrong person.

Thinking of this, Diego Harris went down to the lobby, ready to leave, and went back to the hotel to take a rest.

"Hi, Diego." Suddenly someone called him, "Wait."

Diego Harris looked back and saw Bruce Rosenblum, who had just been promoted from deputy director of the TV department to director, walked over from the elevator.

"Hi, Bruce." He greeted with a smile.

Although the two are not friends, they can be regarded as acquaintances.

"Do you have time?" Bruce Rosenblum pointed to the coffee shop on the side of the hall, "I have something I want to talk to you about."

After thinking for a while, Diego Harris nodded and followed Bruce Rosenblum into the coffee shop.

"Diego, you are the most experienced person in the management of DC Comics, and you are also recognized as the person who has the most affection for DC Comics." After chatting for a while, Bruce Rosenblum got to the point, ""Catwoman" "Superman Returns" cost more than 250 million U.S. dollars, if it fails..."

He glanced across at Diego Harris, who was thoughtful.

Bruce Rosenbloom was able to find him, so he naturally made targeted inquiries, "Has DC ever thought about any serious consequences?"

Diego Harris showed a wry smile, "DC Comics movies will not be able to stand up for many years in the future."

"The risks of these two projects are already very high." Bruce Rosenblum asked again, "Have you made a plan in case of failure?"

If it was before, Diego Harris would think this kind of talk is nonsense, but now? Some things are already imminent.

The two started a long conversation in the coffee shop. In the office upstairs, Bruce Berman first called the person in charge of the company's publicity department and asked him to step up and urge the release of "Catwoman". Propaganda, and feel that this is still not at ease.

For some things, he likes to do it himself, so that he can experience the feeling of power in his hands.

He hung up another call to Halle Berry and his agent, and the three parties also finalized a very targeted publicity strategy. (To be continued.)