Chapter 289

The scenes of Superman and Batman fighting add up to only about 20 minutes; the rest is all deep, obscure dialogue, seemingly trying to render a dark sense of fatalism.

With The Dark Knight trilogy, Xu Can and Nolan used some quite meaningful lines to elevate the film's tone.

Clearly the director of Batman v Superman wanted to imitate that style, but the result was nothing but darkness—none of the excitement audiences love was there at all.

Most of the movie is night scenes, and the color grading deliberately used a fairly dark filter, which made the film surprisingly effective as a sleep aid,

Even Tay Tay, who normally sleeps lightly, could sleep soundly for two hours.

Walking out of the theater, Xu Can checked the film's word-of-mouth on his phone, and sure enough, it had exploded.

"Warner still wants to surpass Xu Can, building the Justice League ahead of time? Don't make me laugh!"

"This is the movie they wanted to beat Xu Can with? It can't even beat a single leg hair of Xu Can's."

"Slept for two hours, and when I woke up I could actually still follow the plot."

"One suggestion for Warner—stop filming blindly, let Xu Can take charge."

"DC fans really can't take it anymore, ten thousand people signing a petition begging Xu Can to acquire DC!"

"Begging Xu Can to acquire DC +1"

The Batman v Superman, which Warner had placed great hopes on, attempting to take over the comic-book movie market in one stroke and go up against Xu Can,

Thus met with a catastrophic opening.

First-day box office was 40.9 million; Warner executives were still popping champagne, celebrating that they could finally go toe-to-toe with Xu Can head-on.

But on the second day, the box office didn't rise but fell, dropping to only 30 million,

On the third day it was only 15 million,

The whole internet was filled with curses; critics and audiences alike were cursing, causing many potential viewers to lose the desire to buy tickets after seeing the word-of-mouth.

Going by this trend, Xu Can estimated that Batman v Superman would probably end up under $400 million in the end—a sure-fire losing deal.

"Xu, you're amazing—how did you know this film would flop?"

The competitor suffering a Waterloo—the most excited person was Kevin Feige.

He specifically called Xu Can to share the joy.

It's like going to an interview: the competitor's resume is full of experience, looks like a real industry big shot,

But your own experience isn't much, your track record is relatively weaker, and you feel you can't compete with them.

Turns out that person is nothing but a pretty pillow—when the interviewer asks questions, they don't know a thing; the polished resume is entirely hot air.

While your own goods are genuine, your belly full of real substance, answering questions with ease.

The competitor is eliminated, you get hired successfully—the great mountain on Kevin Feige's heart has finally vanished.

"I told you long ago not to worry—see, weren't you just making yourself miserable for nothing?"

"It's all thanks to you being the one who acquired Marvel—otherwise I can't imagine how much pressure that would have been."

Kevin Feige sighed.

This young man barely out of his twenties—his grasp of the future, and his unflappable psychological composure, are stronger than many successful people in their forties or fifties.

"Now you can relax, just focus on the promotion for those few films. Let's fight to completely dominate this summer's box office."

"Understood."

Kevin Feige, full of drive, hurried off to arrange the promotion for Captain America and Iron Man 2.

After Iron Man had become an instant hit, Marvel had finally reached the stage of officially going all out!

This combination punch is likely to destroy heaven and earth.

On Xu Can's side, Tay Tay watched the movie with him, then spent the night with him, and the next day flew back to Paris for her next tour stop.

The next day on set, Xu Can's bloodshot eyes were noticed by Gao Yuanyuan.

"Director Xu, you need to rest more—did you not sleep well last night?"

"Pretty much."

Yesterday really was rather wild—after all, absence makes the heart grow fonder, like a newlywed night.

"I have some eye drops here—want me to put some in for you, to relieve eye fatigue?"

"Sure." Xu Can's eyes were dry anyway, a drop or two would be good.

"In my trailer—let's go drop them in there."

Following Gao Yuanyuan to her trailer—even though it was just a temporary resting spot the crew provided for the leads,

Gao Yuanyuan had still placed a potted flower inside and sprayed some perfume.

"You lie here, I'll help you."

Gao Yuanyuan proactively helped Xu Can to her bed, found the eye drops, and pried open Xu Can's eyelids.

"Oh, missed."

She seemed a little nervous—her hand trembled and the drop went crooked.

"No worries, keep going."

Gao Yuanyuan was clearly much closer now—quite close; if Xu Can lifted his head slightly, he could even touch her face.

What was going on—Xu Can had known full well for a long time.

From the start of filming until now, nearly two months, Gao Yuanyuan had been finding all kinds of excuses to get close to him every day.

Now she was practically delivering herself to his lips.

Yet Xu Can had no intention of satisfying her so easily.

He only lifted his head slightly—just as Gao Yuanyuan closed her eyes, thinking Xu Can was about to kiss her,

Xu Can merely whispered softly by her ear:

"Stop dawdling, hurry up and finish the drops so we can go film."

Wrapping up was right around the corner—time to step it up.

The warm breath sprayed against Gao Yuanyuan's ear, making her heart itch.

But seeing the faint smile on Xu Can's face, she felt as if her thoughts had been seen through, and her whole face turned beet red.

"Alright, I'll hurry."

Gao Yuanyuan finished her IV drip quickly and fled as if escaping.

Xu Can rested for a moment and couldn't help but find it rather amusing.

The pure goddess beloved by so many homebodies, toyed with by him as he pleased.

This wasn't Gao Yuanyuan's fault — the entire entertainment circle was basically like this.

High and mighty in public, behind the scenes who knows what her sugar daddies had turned her into.

Gao Yuanyuan was a bit of a tease, but she wasn't truly bad; teasing her for fun was quite interesting.

At this moment Xu Can suddenly thought of that little minx Liu Liu Tianxian.

Clearly a year older than him, yet she always felt even younger.

She was quite genuine, never flattering Xu Can — in front of him she ate and drank as she pleased, paying no attention to her image at all.

Just as he was thinking of her, a phone notification popped up — Liu Liu Tianxian had sent a message.

"Is the movie done filming? My mom wants to watch it."

"Sis, it still needs post-production. Wait a bit."

"Can it come out for the summer slot?"

"Wait till Christmas."

"Huh? Alright then… My mom says, if you have other roles, remember to get me in."

"What about you? Do you yourself want to work with me?"

Liu Liu Tianxian didn't respond.

It wasn't until Xu Can had finished filming that day's scenes that a message finally came through on his phone.

"Yes."

……(Zhao Nuo Zhao)

"Interstellar" finally wrapped, and the time had come to early May.

The originally planned three-month shoot was smoothly completed in two months.

This was still under Xu Can's high standards and strict demands.

It was evident that activating the director's omniscient state allowed complete control over every detail of filming, greatly boosting efficiency.

If those Chinese entertainment actors were swapped out for experienced film stars, it probably could've been wrapped in just over a month.

The actors dispersed on the spot; several veteran actors returned to China one after another, leaving only Gao Yuanyuan lingering on set, waiting until everyone wrapped.

"Why aren't you leaving?" Xu Can wondered.