~： One hundred and forty-four - DC dark storm sweeps the United States

Unlike the chaotic downtown of Los Angeles, living in the suburban Santa Monica villa area is much safer.

Todd McCarthy, a famous film critic of The Hollywood Reporter, who is known for his poignant language, stared dumbfounded at the TV in front of him.

---DC, Wayne Greenberg works! On May 15th, witness the miracle with you!

"Oh my God, that madman who worships darkness, what shocking masterpiece has he created!!"

Recalling the trailer just now, Todd McCarthy, with his professional vision and experience, was immediately shocked by the language of light and shadow.

The extremely contrasting colors set off a whole sad metropolis floating map, which deeply impressed the so-called top viewing expert.

Moreover, using this unprecedented publicity method, this incomparably wonderful trailer in just 30 seconds was sent to the public of tens of millions and hundreds of millions. Company promotion.

The famous film critic knows that "Joker", an alternative and terrifying film, will become a super box-office bomb this summer if nothing else happens!

With a "pop", he turned off the TV that was playing the rest of the commercials, picked up the phone at hand, and dialed the number of another old film critic who was also in Los Angeles.

The phone was quickly connected, and before he could say anything, there were rapid gasps and words from the opposite side.

"Todd, what did that kid do!? Damn, that kid Wayne Greenberg released a demon. I was stunned by those pictures just now. In just a few dozen seconds, he concentrated almost all of North America's social problems..."

"Hey, hey! Kenneth!" Todd - McCarthy had to interrupt the other party's long speech, otherwise there is absolutely no way to discuss serious matters in a short time. "We feel the same way, **** it, listen to me!

The two of us have to contact Warner Bros., otherwise their internal previews will definitely not give priority to film critics. We have to take the initiative to ask Kenneth. "

There was a noticeable pause on the other end of the phone. "You mean we're going to their internal test screening? Todd, it's hard! Warner Bros. will definitely have to go through the test screening themselves to make sure there is no room for revision before inviting us and the theaters before the film is released!"

This is a normal film release procedure. The production company only invites theatrical companies, media and film critics before the film is released after they have watched the trial screening once or several times by their own film experts to ensure that the film has no problems.

Otherwise, if there is an accident during the screening, the professional reputation of the film will collapse. At least I have seen it first, and if I am not satisfied, I can ask the director and producer to modify it. If you are really not satisfied, you can even ask the producer to re-cut!

"There is a way, it depends on whether you are willing to sell your favor." Todd McCarthy dared to make this call, and naturally thought of the idea of ​​bypassing Warner Bros. "I remember you and Wayne Greenberg hit it off? Go find the director himself, he's the lead on this project, and the producers are just decorations!"

He may not remember anything else, but he remembers very well Kenneth Turan and the director who had hit it off and talked at the party very well.

The idea was not a good idea, especially for Kenneth Turan, which once again caused silence on the other end of the phone. Kenneth Turan knew that as long as he went to the director, it would not be a problem.

But the price to pay is that no matter what the quality of the film is after it is released, you must sing praises for him and spare no effort. This is the default rule, and you don't even need Warner Bros. to publicize him!

"I agreed, and I'll call Wayne Greenberg tomorrow." Before he was happy, Kenneth Turan's words came again. "I can't make myself pay the price. Since I can't help but want to watch the movie in advance, your movie review on The Hollywood Reporter must be in line with mine!"

"No problem, then it's settled. I believe his new film will have a hurricane-like impact on Hollywood, which is now in a serious assembly line mode!"

After he finished speaking, he hung up the phone, ignoring the Super Bowl, which was only half-time, and walked directly to the computer in the living room.

Todd McCarthy has never been a pedantic old-fashioned film critic, and his ability to accept new things may exceed that of most young people in North America.

As the big head display entered the boot interface, the host made a "buzzing" startup sound. He has expertly opened up a new gathering place for online fans, and on this newly discovered site, he has a large number of **** fans.

'Internet Movie Database (IMDB)', an online database of movie actors, movies, TV shows, movie stars, and movie productions that he stumbled across.

The influence of this website is still growing rapidly. IMDB's information includes a lot of information about the film, actors, film length, content introduction, rating, and the most important comment area, and allows fans to rate the film by themselves.

Sure enough, the simple information of the movie "Joker" has been included in the website. Todd McCarthy skillfully opened the discussion board and joined in as an ordinary movie fan.

First of all, he skillfully left a paragraph of his own words in the comment area of ​​the film.

"How serious has the stratification of this society been? It has reached the point where everyone can become a good film material! So Hollywood gave birth to a great director like Wayne Greenberg, and count the few films he created. In the film, all the people at the bottom express the most likely choices in the film: struggle! accusation! madness! absurdity! distortion! The dark side of these people's hearts..."

This Super Bowl halftime commercial show may be just a fresh sense of excitement and anticipation for the public. But the impact on all practitioners in the circle is far more than that.

Also stunned watching TV, there is "Joker"'s main competitor, "The Legend of the Mountain" director and producer Renee Haring.

On the day of the Super Bowl, known as the most important unofficial festival in North America, Rennie Harlem couldn't take his eyes off the TV for a long time. He just wanted to see the results of the game. He didn't expect that the halftime show had just started. Here comes the trailer for such a movie.

From the trailer just finished, he could tell that Paul's words were all right. This is definitely more than a simple R-rated film like before, the quality of this film is far superior to the previous two small productions.

Especially the Daduhui shown in the film, in just a few tens of seconds, the atmosphere that made him, an old producer, indulge in it, and has an emotional resonance, which is simply terrible!

At this moment, as a competitor, Renee Haring had to express his admiration for the director, and he had to admit that Wayne Greenberg, the young man, had reached the culmination of his own style at this stage.

Such an alternative super commercial film turned out to be its own competitor!

And even if he wanted to avoid it now, it was too late. Considering this, he couldn't help picking up the phone in his hand and dialing Paul Turner's number.

After the call was made, the two were silent for a while, only the sound of each other's breathing reminded the other to listen.

"Raney, you see it. Whoever made this kind of plan to promote the film is a genius. The publicity department of Warner Bros. is really amazing!"

"No, Paul!" Leaning weakly on the sofa, Renee Haring directly interrupted the other's sigh. "It's the quality of the film, **** it, it's all told by you!"

Listening to the producer's feeble and irritable voice, Paul Turner knew that it was broken. No matter what, the producer couldn't admit defeat before the film was released. "The Hero of the Mountain" may not be as good as the other party's quality, but the box office performance What kind of, really need to go through the market test to know.

What if the other party's film is just a professional word of mouth, but the fans don't admit it? It's not that there is no such possibility. There are many films that are not well received. This is not the reason why the producers collapsed first.

Sony Columbia deliberately put the film in the summer of 1993, just to make this year's performance look better. If I knew this, it would be better to release it earlier in the Christmas period.

"Raney, there has never been a movie company in the past that was so extravagant that it advertised in the Super Bowl. It's hard to say how effective it was." After a pause, he continued: "It doesn't matter that the quality of the trailer is overwhelmed, maybe this It's the essence of all his films! There are so many big productions that the audience doesn't buy!"

The other party's words gave Rennie Harlem some reminders Now not only do you have to hope for a miracle to happen, but you also have to take the initiative to do something, you can't easily crush yourself by watching the other party's video.

He did not continue to listen to the comfort of Columbia's distribution director, and hung up the phone directly.

Some things haven't been told to Paul yet. He knew that Warner Bros. directly adjusted the importance of "Joker" after watching the sample film, and adjusted it to "The End of the World" led by superstar Harrison Ford, and Julia Roberts, Dan Before Zell-Washington's Gannet Killing Order!

This production, which was originally not very important, has become the top level of Warner Bros. summer. Again, Hollywood has never had a secret, it's up to you whether you want to know it or not.

It happens that Renee Haring has been paying attention to each other. It was nothing before seeing the trailer. After seeing it, he could only feel a sense of despair spreading.

This short 30-second DC dark storm swept the entire North America at a speed that no one could imagine, and also swept the other four countries of the English-speaking Five Basic Friends.