Chapter 43

Galaxy Music Studio, the busy Taylor looked apologetic.

"It's okay, we'll go out when you're busy. I just came to see how you're prepared."

"I like it here, everyone is very good, everyone is seriously studying music."

It could be seen that Taylor's high-spirited appearance was very satisfied with the environment Xu Can provided her.

"Thank you, Xu. You've done so much for me..."

"If you say thank you again, I'll be angry. What is our relationship? Go get busy, I have to have a meeting too."

"Hmm, bye-bye~"

Taylor waved excitedly, then turned back to hug Xu Can lightly before returning to the studio.

Xu Can breathed a sigh of relief for the time being.

Stone raided early in the morning, making him distribute his physical strength, and he had no extra physical strength to deal with Taylor for the time being.

This was also good; picking fruit in a hurry wouldn't taste good. After cultivating it to maturity, the taste might be sweeter.

Xu Can needed to focus his attention on his work, which was related to the overall planning that followed.

……

"The review results are out, it is indeed R-rated, this is already hard to fight for."

"The release date, after research, can avoid competition with summer file opponents, scheduled for the end of the spring file, May 4th..."

The head of the production department of Galaxy Pictures, Joey White, introduced meticulously.

The company's employees were all elites Xu Can dug from Fox, Disney, Warner Bros., etc. He didn't feel bad about the money; Xu Can paid more attention to talent ability.

"As for promotion, promotional materials such as trailers and posters have been produced. The trailer can be released online first. About a month before the release, offline materials can be laid out."

"Very good, the trailer is scheduled to be released today. NBC, FOX, CBS, those radio stations are all confirmed, right?"

"Yes, boss. All radio stations have been contacted, and the Columbia theater trailer ads have also been negotiated."

"Hmm, start executing." Xu Can nodded with satisfaction.

"Right, boss." Joey White suddenly remembered something,

"The trailer can be released on your Facebook. You now have 10 million fans worldwide, and the daily tweet reading volume and interaction rate are in the top 10 of the website, which will definitely bring objective playback volume."

"Good, just do that. Remember to follow up on the news promotion of the media platform."

Once decided, it was executed. Soon, the staff uploaded the edited first version of the trailer to Xu Can's Facebook account.

Twitter had been established at this time, but it hadn't developed yet,

Facebook was one of the few social media positions.

Xu Can picked up his laptop with a sense of ritual and clicked the publish button!

The first work invested and filmed by Galaxy Pictures, the first trailer for "John Wick," was officially released! ===== CHAPTER 81 =====

"Holy damn! Check this!!! Look at this, Xu Can's new movie is about to be released!"

"Huh? Spider-Man 2? So fast?"

"No! It's an action movie, it feels super cool! I'm going to watch it!"

"Where, where?"

"Xu Can's Facebook."

……

"Did you hear? Xu Can is going to release an action movie!"

"I watched the trailer! It feels pretty good!"

……

"Xu Can is going to release a new movie, you take me to watch it then, baby!"

"Who is Xu Can?"

"Break up!"

……

With the surge of Facebook users, the social networking era officially began.

Many big stars entered one after another, posting updates on their homepages to interact with netizens and harvest popularity.

Avril, Justin Bieber, Jessica Alba, Megan Fox, Emma Watson...

These were stars with high traffic recently.

Xu Can wasn't a top-tier star for the time being, but at least he could be considered the first echelon.

With 10 million fans, at least hundreds of thousands of fans were staring at his updates every day.

Xu Can would take some daily photos every day, post some fun memes, and his sharp, humorous, and real words attracted many netizens, making his image more down-to-earth.

Suddenly one day,

Without any preparation, without any notice, Xu Can's Facebook uploaded a brand new teaser trailer, and it was in the middle of the night!

When the first wave of fans saw it, they were a bit confused. The title wasn't the trailer for "Spider-Man 2."

What the hell is "John Wick"?

Is Xu Can helping others promote a new movie?

Previously, the media only had a few words of reporting on Xu Can's new movie, and most people didn't know about him filming a movie.

With curiosity, fans immediately clicked to play the trailer.

……

[Produced by Galaxy Pictures]

"Daisy, what's going on?"

Xu Can woke up from his sleep; he had a stubble, and his styling was a bit vicissitudinous.

Fans almost didn't recognize him! They thought it was another star!

After watching for a while, they realized something was wrong and dragged the progress bar back to observe carefully!

It really is Xu Can!

This is simply a different person from the high school student Peter Parker in Spider-Man!

Just by appearing, Xu Can brought a little shock to everyone.

"I buried almost everything, Daisy is the only existence that accompanies me."

"The family left to me by my wife before she died."

[Director David Leitch]

[Screenplay/Starring Xu Can]

"This matter has nothing to do with your behavior, but the person you provoked!"

[This May!]

"I'm not afraid of John Wick..."

"Oh? Then I tell you, he once easily killed 3 people... with just a pencil!"

["Spider-Man" Xu Can's new work!]

"Gather your men, stop him."

"How many people?"

"How many people do you have?"

[Everyone]

(Heartless hand-to-hand combat)

[Should know]

(Clean gunfight)

[His name]

"That's right, I'm coming out of the mountain."

[John Wick!]

[May 4th, coming to theaters with a bang!]

[Sweeping through major North American cinemas, 2D/IMAX]

……

The teaser trailer was only 30 seconds long, but beyond the fast-paced gunfights and action sequences, what left a deep impression on the audience was—

More importantly, that name!

John Wick!

What kind of story did he have? Why were those people so afraid of him?

So, is this a story of revenge?

Moviegoers were confused; the trailer revealed too little information.

Yet, the protagonist’s melancholic, profound gaze from start to finish, combined with his ruthless combat skills, made it impossible to look away—it possessed a unique allure!

Consequently, the first wave of fans, after watching the trailer, couldn't wait to share the video with their friends.

Thanks to the convenience of social networks, the teaser trailer went viral the moment it was released!

Many more people left excited comments in the section below.

"A new movie so soon? Can't wait!"

"Why aren't you playing Spider-Man anymore? What about the sequel?"

"I really love this kind of realistic action scene, definitely supporting this!"

"I can't believe this is Xu Can. Where did my boy-next-door go?"

"So handsome! This look is too cool!"

"Written by Xu Can again, worth a watch!"

"The budget can't be high, right? Smells like a flop."

"Cautiously waiting."

Aside from a few netizens, the vast majority of fans had a rather positive reaction to Xu Can's new film.

This was also reflected in the various metrics.

……

"Currently, the view count has exceeded 100,000, with over 10,000 likes and comments, and more than 5,000 shares... It's expected to surpass a million views online within a day. If it can secure a spot in the trending feed, it will gain even more traffic."

"Hmm, the online promotion has met the target. Next, we wait for the television, internet, and theater trailer advertisements to roll out as planned."

"Mr. Xu, do we need to handle the film critics and media? For a new genre, it's best to build some momentum..."

"No need." Xu Can waved his hand decisively.

"I need the market's real reaction. There's no need to spend money hiring people to hype it up for the sake of early buzz."

"If the film's quality is solid, what we ask the media to say will be the truth."

"Audiences have a contrarian streak; over-hyping it will only raise expectations, and the results won't be good. I trust the growth brought by word-of-mouth more than early box office numbers."

Xu Can rejected the proposal to buy media coverage.

Having media praise a film everywhere before its release can indeed boost some box office numbers.

But Xu Can had enough confidence in his own film; he believed that once fans saw it, they would become organic promoters, winning through genuine word-of-mouth.

Besides, his film was rated R and wasn't aimed at the general public to begin with.

The opening weekend box office certainly wouldn't be as explosive as *Spider-Man*, but he believed the later box office would remain stable for a while.

Of course, the *John Wick* of this parallel world was slightly different from the original.

Xu Can himself couldn't be sure if this film would suffer from "cultural maladjustment." Everything would have to wait until the day of release to reveal the answer!

……

After the *John Wick* trailer was released, it gradually brewed into a new topic of conversation.

Media outlets followed up with reports one after another; Xu Can's popularity remained undiminished, soon bringing the attention of all of Hollywood.

"Xu Can's new film will be released at the end of the spring season. It is an R-rated action-crime film, with a realistic style distinct from his *Spider-Man*..."

"The *John Wick* trailer has surpassed ten million views across all online platforms. Xu Can's brand-new look has sparked controversy. Some critics suggest that Xu Can's style might struggle to handle such a weathered and profound character..."

"Xu Can wrote, starred in, and participated in some of the directing. Is it too risky for him to invest his entire *Spider-Man* earnings into this new film?"

"As a newcomer to the acting world, he should use the sequel to solidify his acting skills rather than starting a new challenge."

"This is the ambition a young actor should have! If he only limits himself to Spider-Man, Xu Can will be typecast in superhero films. Now that he has the courage to challenge himself, perhaps he is full of infinite possibilities!"

"The market for R-rated crime-action films is currently saturated. An excess of similar films appeared in the 90s, the peak period, so audience fatigue is inevitable... The track Xu Can has chosen may be full of obstacles..."

Although *Spider-Man* achieved unprecedented success, in the eyes of most media, *Spider-Man* leveraged the popularity of the Marvel character, captured the work in the hearts of comic fans, and harvested a large group of American comic fans.

The success of this work did not mean Xu Can could succeed in a new genre; he was just a newcomer who had starred in one film!

The media questioned whether he was taking too big a step and suggested he should film more similar roles to stabilize his status in the film industry.

Other media highly praised Xu Can's spirit of exploration; he was not content with just playing a superhero, and trying to broaden his acting range was normal—it was a manifestation of an actor's pursuit.

In short, before the film's release, *John Wick* had gained enough attention!

Everyone was looking forward to his performance in the new film.

However, a subsequent media scoop directly overturned everyone's perception.

"Warner Bros. officially announces that after the failure of *Superman Returns*, they will reboot the *Batman* live-action film series to occupy the emerging superhero film market!"

"Director of *The Prestige* and *Memento*, Christopher Nolan, has officially joined to direct!"

"Christian Bale is confirmed to play Batman!"

"The actor for Batman's arch-nemesis, the villain Joker, has been confirmed... it is none other than Xu Can, who played Spider-Man!"

The media and fans were completely stunned!

Huh? Spider-Man is going to play the Joker?