Chapter 375

"It opened on IMDb at 8.4/10, Rotten Tomatoes at 82% fresh, MTC gave it 83 — overall the reviews aren't as good as Pacific Rim, which opened in the fall slot, and it may be hard to take on the upcoming Avengers."

"According to incomplete statistics so far, netizens' support for Avengers is as high as 73%, while support for Avatar is only 26%…"

……

"Yes! We've got this in the bag!"

Seeing that Avatar's pulled-up-by-a-week release had only middling results, the happiest person was none other than Star River Pictures CEO Happy Hogan.

He had been the most worried person before, and now he was equally thrilled.

"Don't pop the champagne at halftime — The Avengers hasn't even opened yet."

Xu Can remained perfectly composed, smiling as he watched Happy show off.

"That's right, Cameron's films tend to do better in their second weekend, so we may not necessarily come out on top."

With the opening date nearly upon them, Marvel head Kevin Feige had instead become deeply anxious.

Suppose the Marvel Cinematic Universe completely flopped, dying in the cradle like the DC Universe—

The Xucanbu Society wouldn't be crippled; he had endless original films he could stage a comeback with.

But Kevin Feige's own position was rather awkward — he was completely tied to the MCU.

"Relax, Kevin. Marvel is an important part of my planned reboot, I won't let anything go wrong with it."

"Those words from you are enough."

Kevin Feige was considerably reassured.

He seemed never to have seen Xu Can panic; no matter when, Xu Can was always so confident, as if everything was under his control.

And indeed it was—

The layout of the Marvel Cinematic Universe that Xu Can had once sketched out for him in the office was being realized step by step.

The Avengers, a few days from now, would be a test.

If it passed, then Marvel Phase Two would fully unfold — the great ship setting sail!

If it failed, Phase Two would likely be hard to push forward.

With Xu Can's word, The Avengers should be in the bag.

Looking at the actual internal screening results, The Avengers really was the most thrilling film Kevin Feige had seen in 2009.

Setting aside Marvel nostalgia, the film on its own merits was enough to stand supreme among its peers!

Now, all that was left was to wait for the world to witness the miracle together!

……

Just on the eve of The Avengers versus Avatar, the nominations for the 67th Golden Globe Awards were released.

After sweeping last year's ceremony with La La Land, Xu Can once again held absolute dominance at this Golden Globes!

"We have to admit, this year's hot favorite is still Xu Can — he brought the world many outstanding works in 2009."

"The committee really can't overlook his contributions! So this Golden Globe nominations list is bound to be full of Xu Can's name."

The Los Santos Daily remarked.

First, in television: The Big Bang Theory and Xia Luoke, which had dominated the Emmys, also received Golden Globe nominations.

Best Musical/Comedy Series — The Big Bang Theory nominated;

Best Actor in a Television Series — Jim Parsons and Benedict Cumberbatch both nominated;

Best Miniseries — Xia Luoke nominated;

The film categories were even more monopolized by Xu Can!

Best Musical/Comedy Film — The Hangover nominated;

Best Drama Film — Interstellar and Dying to Survive both nominated;

Best Actor in a Drama — Xu Can double-nominated for Interstellar and Dying to Survive!

Best Foreign Language Film — Dying to Survive nominated;

Best Original Score — Hans Zimmer nominated for Interstellar;

Best Director — double nomination for Interstellar and Dying to Survive!

No wonder the Los Santos Times sighed,

"They say 2008 was a bumper year for Xu Can, but looking at 2009's results, this might be the year Xu Can begins his reign!"

"At the box office, there are multiple blockbusters crossing the billion-dollar mark: Iron Man 2, Captain America, Dying to Survive, Pacific Rim…"

"On the awards front, Interstellar and Dying to Survive have kicked off harvest mode!"

"Xu Can's films have become the barometer — whether at the box office or the awards, everything will end up in his hands!"

"And this is before The Avengers has even opened — otherwise the nomination list would have one more Xu Can film."

"Faced with such terrifying results, Xu Can shows no sign of stopping."

"His 2010 film slate — even just the tip of the iceberg that's been revealed — is enough to make Hollywood and the world film industry tremble!"

"As a fan of Xu Can, the coming year may be even happier. We have every reason to look forward to it!"

"The closest is The Avengers, opening in just two days — we believe most viewers, like the editors of this paper, can hardly wait!"

……

"For this premiere, and the Golden Globes ceremony after, I'm going with you no matter what."

Faced with this situation, Taylor Swift was especially proactive.

She wrapped her arms around Xu Can's neck, staring straight at him with unblinking eyes.

"Alright, alright, of course you're included."

What could he do — he just doted on Taylor.

He thought the topic was over, but unexpectedly Taylor hesitated, and unusually stammered:

"How about... you invite Emma, and Scarlett too..."

"What?" Xu Can suspected he had misheard.

"Mm, just the two of them, don't invite too many. No Anne, Ivanka, Kristen or anyone like that — you can't invite them."

Xu Can gave a helpless laugh: "Why would I invite so many people? The premiere and the Golden Globes red carpet aren't a party — wouldn't it be chaotic with too many people?"

"That's good then, I was worried you really wanted to throw a party."

"No, why are you suddenly being so generous today?" Xu Can was a bit puzzled — TayTay usually acted as if she wanted to monopolize him 24 hours a day.

"I just thought, you might like it this way. If I'm too overbearing, what if you end up hating me..."

TayTay pouted her little lips, looking a little wronged.

She was clearly the little diva who dared to love and hate — the one who decisively broke up when her boyfriend cheated, and wrote songs about her ex.

But when it came to her own situation, how did she turn into a pure, humble love-struck fool?

Xu Can mulled it over — he didn't usually KTV her, at most occasionally CPU-ing her a bit.

"Any normal person in this situation would've broken up long ago."

"Oh wow, have you been waiting to break up with me all along?" TayTay raised an eyebrow, her fox eyes glaring at Xu Can.

"No way, I just don't want to be written into your songs and get spat on by your fans."

"That's more like it... Speaking of which, I've never actually gone through a breakup — how would you know I'd write a song?"

TayTay suddenly couldn't help but laugh.

"Back when you were chasing after Emma and ignoring me, I really did think about breaking up with you, and then writing you viciously into a song... Pfft."

"See, I told you — we're telepathic."

"Stop it! I don't believe a single word you say, you just know how to trick girls." TayTay cooed coquettishly.

"Actually, my song is already written — I treated you as my ex-boyfriend and roasted you hard."

"Oh? What song, let me hear it."

"Not letting you hear it. If you make me angry again, when we break up I'll release it as a single." TayTay lifted her little chin slightly, quite pleased with herself.

"Let me guess." Xu Can chuckled lightly, "Is the song called... 'Better Than Revenge'?"

"Huh?" TayTay's eyes went wide in shock, "How did you know? Did you secretly look at my files?"

"No, I told you — we're telepathic."

No matter how TayTay hugged and kissed him, he refused to give in.

Actually, it was too simple — on TayTay's third album "Speak Now", because "Shake It Off" was added, it had one fewer song than the original album.

"Better Than Revenge", a famous rock-style song written for her ex-boyfriend in her previous life, was most likely written for him.

The imaginary rival in the lyrics was naturally Emma Stone.