Chapter 27

"This is not just a popcorn blockbuster; it is also a film with value for discussion."

"The film cuts in from Peter Parker's perspective, using the familiar Spider-Man story to explore the growth of teenagers and the sociological value of superheroes."

"The director boldly used advanced filming techniques and lens language, boldly adopting trendy elements to shape the story and characters; the avant-garde style formed a good chemical reaction with the film's theme."

"...Here I must praise the male lead, Xu Can, who plays Spider-Man! Before, everyone said it was jarring for an Asian to play Spider-Man, but I believe no audience who has seen the film will have such thoughts."

"I have also read the Spider-Man comics, and I can only say that Xu Can, this talented newcomer, used Oscar-level acting to bring Peter Parker to life."

"No wonder Stan Lee personally stated that he is Spider-Man!"

"The female lead is not a vase; she has sufficient motivation and a key role in the plot. The emotional interaction between the male and female leads is also quite natural, better than many romance films."

"Marc Webb is indeed a director who started out making romance films..."

"In short, this is an excellent work that combines depth and entertainment. Are you waiting for me to criticize it? I'm afraid everyone will be disappointed; my rating is—two thumbs up!"

Roger Ebert gave the film his highest rating, causing more fans and peers to drop their jaws.

In the past, he had always scoffed at such commercial films, giving at most a one-thumb-up rating.

Usually, it was thumbs down, indicating a bad film.

Who would have thought that a purely commercial film like *Spider-Man* would actually receive his top rating!

It was simply unprecedented!

"Ahhhhh! Xu, I have a million fans on Face!"

That day, Xu Can was still in his dreams when he suddenly received a call from Emma Stone.

She was too excited and subconsciously dialed Xu Can's number.

"It's just a million fans; in the future, your fans will break ten million."

Xu Can yawned, unconcerned.

Recently, the explosive performance of *Spider-Man* had made the creators popular, and their heat was soaring!

Veteran actor Willem Dafoe and the new-generation heartthrob James Franco were being exposed by the media with increasing frequency.

Of course, the biggest winners of this film were still Xu Can and Emma Stone.

Emma Stone not only gained a million followers on social media, but her agent's phone had been blown up within two days.

A massive amount of film offers came pouring in; the agent was almost crying!

In the two films Emma Stone had previously shot, *Superbad* and *The Rocker*, she was not the lead.

Stone's screen time could only be counted as third or fourth.

After all, outside of this, she was just an ordinary small-timer in Hollywood.

Overnight, Stone rose strongly to become one of Hollywood's top-tier actresses!

Relying on her excellent performance as Gwen, she couldn't even imagine how popular she was now!

So much so that the two films *Superbad* and *The Rocker* almost pushed Stone to the position of top billing, using her name for promotion!

The film critic Howard Newber, who had made a bet with her, had to state in an interview in public:

"Uh, *Spider-Man* is indeed an epoch-making film; I underestimated them at the time. This weekend I will go skinny-dipping in the Hudson River; those interested can watch the live stream."

This bet, which had been controversial across the US, finally ended with Stone's complete victory.

Anyone with a discerning eye could see that with the current momentum of *Spider-Man*, 500 million USD was definitely not going to stop it.

"Are you still sleeping? Did I wake you up... did you stay up late yesterday?"

Stone chatted excitedly for a long time before realizing Xu Can's voice was very tired.

She stuck out her tongue in embarrassment.

"Yeah, I stayed up late writing a script last night, finally finished it."

"Is it *Spider-Man 2*? Will we continue to play opposite each other then?"

Emma Stone was already looking forward to working with Xu Can; the time they spent filming before was simply her best memory.

Recently, there had been many announcements, and often Stone couldn't see Xu Can.

"*Spider-Man 2* will probably have to wait until next year; the script I'm writing now is a story about a retired hitman taking revenge for a dog."

That's right, before *Spider-Man* was even released, Xu Can was already planning his next work!

This time, he didn't plan to wait for a talent scout to come to him! He didn't plan to look at others' faces!

Xu Can wanted to invest in and shoot his own film! **CHAPTER 52**

Xu Can liked acting, that's true; it was his hobby and his dream.

But he didn't like waiting for other directors to find him like other actors; that was too passive.

Xu Can preferred to play roles he liked.

Living a second life, if he couldn't be carefree and get what he wanted, wouldn't it be a wasted rebirth?

During the filming of *Spider-Man*, those cool action scenes made him feel very satisfied,

so Xu Can didn't plan to shoot art films to hit the Oscars too early.

He wanted to play around a bit more.

So, from the time *Spider-Man* finished filming until its release, Xu Can wasn't idle.

Besides dating Stone and writing scripts, he spent most of his time preparing to open a company.

That's right, Xu Can planned to open his own film production company.

In the early stages, it would only be responsible for production; the distribution of the film could rely on the Columbia theater chain.

Ever since *Spider-Man* was released and the word-of-mouth exploded, Xu Can had been deeply bound to the role of Spider-Man.

The Xu Can of the parallel world was equivalent to the Tobey Maguire of the past life.

He was Sony's cash cow, and Sony North America Chairman Stringer wished he could worship him.

He believed that for the distribution and theater parts, he could negotiate good terms with Sony Entertainment.

The key was still film production; if the film quality was high enough, everything else was easy to talk about.

Suppose *Spider-Man* could really exceed 800 million; Xu Can would get about 15 million in salary and dividends.

Plus a loan, he could come up with about 20 million in production costs.

Xu Can estimated that for an investment of this level, one film was quite suitable!

That was the niche action thriller released in 2013, starring the heartthrob Keanu Reeves.

*John Wick*!

Also known as *Give Me Back My Dog's Life*!

It's about a retired hitman whose dog meets an accident, and he kills his way through for revenge.

From beginning to end, he doesn't say much, highlighting a crisp and clean style!

Summit Entertainment didn't have high expectations; it would be good if an investment of 20 million USD could break even.

Unexpectedly, the final box office was over 88 million USD, and the word-of-mouth was excellent, which could be considered a small profit.

Thus, *John Wick* was subsequently filmed up to the 4th installment, forming a unique "John Wick Universe."

As a startup company surrounded by Hollywood giants, being able to create a successful IP would allow Xu Can to fully establish himself in Hollywood!

What's more, relying on his golden finger—god-level acting skills—the filming efficiency would definitely be greatly improved.

Maybe the cost would be less than 20 million USD.

"Sorry, Summit Entertainment. This work is mine."

Xu Can kept recalling and perfecting it, and finally finished the script during this time.

"Happy, how is it going?"

"The office renovation is done, and the staff has been recruited. It can barely operate; do you want to come and see?"

Agent Happy Hogan had now become Xu Can's general manager, fully helping him handle operational affairs.

Happy looked chubby and rough, but Xu Can was truly at ease with him handling things.

"In a couple of days; today is Christmas, and I have to go to Sony for the celebration party. I can't push it away, it's so annoying."

Xu Can got a headache just thinking about it. **CHAPTER 53**