Chapter 577: Shoulder to Shoulder Momentum

Fang Hong was busy, not only coordinating propaganda with Donna, but now all of The Gravity's marketing followed his ideas.

The results were good; box office numbers kept rising, Donna was satisfied, so she let Universal's Propaganda Department follow him—though he merely conveyed ideas and opinions, others handled execution.

Universal, as a global giant, was professional in this area, and of course spent money like water.

Marketing costs were split evenly between Jade Rabbit and Universal; both sides bore the burden, but mainly because the Principal burned cash like it was free, globally and relentlessly.

Spending money internationally was different from domestically—millions in China could unleash a storm, but millions abroad meant hundreds of millions.

Those blockbusters casually burned over a hundred million dollars on marketing alone—enough to shoot another blockbuster.

Fang Hong understood this game well, having walked this path himself; the scene of movies invading reality was a classic marketing case.

In fact, this was modeled after Inception.

During Inception's promotion, they simulated the film's scenes on New York streets, letting movie special effects invade real life and sparking a frenzy of moviegoing!

Fang Hong invited all reporters to a specially designed room, making them feel the awe of space.

This similarly sparked a global moviegoing frenzy!

Both shared a similar brilliance; only because today's internet was advanced and spread more widely, did they choose reporters.

Besides managing propaganda, Fang Hong also had to accompany Liu Tianxian to events and photo shoots for magazines—he was running nonstop.

Of course, other stars envied this, because Liu Tianxian kept appearing on major international media and magazines.

On February 27, the ninth day of the lunar month, the latest issue of OceanDrive Venezuela featured Liu Tianxian in a fiery red dress, her lips painted crimson.

The background was cyan, brimming with classical Chinese elegance.

This magazine cover signaled Liu Tianxian's popularity in South America, and The Gravity had now launched there.

Soon after, Liu Tianxian appeared on the February issue cover of Spain's fashion and lifestyle magazine Outstanding, wearing a little black Chanel dress and precious jewelry, elegant and commanding.

In March, she graced the cover of Argentina's professional film magazine LaCosaCine.

She appeared on the March cover of Spain's professional film magazine MK2.

She appeared on the March cover of Mexico's professional film magazine CinePremiere.

Meanwhile, The Hollywood Reporter also featured Liu Tianxian on its cover, naming her a "Rising Star of Hollywood" and shooting a major portrait.

This cover showed a full-face close-up of Liu Tianxian, extremely prominent.

Most prestigious of all, Liu Tianxian appeared on the 100th issue cover of Britain's professional film magazine Cinematographer—in overseas editions it was the 80th issue—depicted as an astronaut from the film poster.

This magazine, translated, was the American Society of Cinematographers, the most authoritative entertainment magazine in Britain and the United States.

At once, Liu Tianxian's international momentum surged, elevating her status and fame subtly yet unmistakably, giving her the aura of an international superstar.

She had the same shoulder-to-shoulder momentum as Black Widow.

Black Widow, thanks to The Avengers, had become the global fans' iconic superhero representative, wildly popular.

Liu Tianxian, thanks to The Gravity and Fang Hong's promotion, was equally popular.

Of course, Liu Tianxian's innate advantages couldn't match Black Widow's—her international filmography was too sparse, with almost no high-grossing films, making her value inferior.

But after this wave, once The Gravity's hype faded, Liu Tianxian would likely fall silent again.

"I need two copies—one to collect, one to lick!"

"A passerby bought one—too seductive."

"Wait wait wait!! I must own every single magazine."

"Standing in line—I want them all!"

Due to Liu Tianxian's frequent appearances on international magazines, her fans spent lavishly, buying every issue—some tycoons even cleared entire inventories, forcing publishers to print more.

Her fans' purchasing power remained strong, both domestically and abroad.

The Gravity's aggressive global promotion not only made Liu Tianxian famous worldwide but also pushed box office records higher.

In its second week, The Gravity opened in 3,575 theaters and earned $66.93 million, topping the North American box office chart.

After two weeks, its North American total reached $123.4 million—its earning power was formidable.

It surpassed the equally popular SpongeBob SquarePants, securing the top spot on the North American box office chart and breaking Hollywood's February release record.

Someone calculated that The Gravity's per-theater average remained at a terrifyingly high level—truly terrifying.

One foreigner cried out: "Are we going to rely on Chinese-language films to save the market? Why are we licking a Chinese woman?"

That was just a nationalist rant—ignore him; every country has them.

Still, Rotten Tomatoes' fresh rating remained at a high 98%, with all top critics giving positive reviews.

On Metacritic, 47 media outlets gave it an average score of 96, with no negative reviews.

Such a level of professional acclaim was rare among recent big-budget films—describable only as "heaven-defying."

"Words cannot describe the astonishing visual presentation of this space opera; its effect can only be fully captured in a theater with 3D." —Los Angeles Times.

"The Gravity is essentially the best experience you can get in a theater—it's a technological miracle and a film with a soul!" —The Playlist.

Besides Cameron's praise, Guillermo del Toro said: "The most beautifully designed, elegant, and powerful science fiction film."

He was the director who made James Bond and Hellboy.

Yu Xian also told the media: "The best space-themed film in cinematic history!"

As long as most audiences liked it, a few dissenting voices didn't matter.

Richard, General Manager of the IMAX theater chain, said: "The Gravity is the savior of 3D theaters!"

Such praise was not insignificant—because public data showed The Gravity's 3D box office share reached the year's highest at 80%.

It even surpassed Avatar's 72% and Life of Pi's 68%, both iconic 3D films.

323 IMAX screens contributed 20% of the film's weekend box office—$11.23 million—a record-breaking figure ranking ninth all-time among IMAX films.

Since Avatar, 3D had dominated for years, but recently, as the trend faded, many studios had stopped believing in 3D.

Because the market was flooded with fake 3D, making audiences feel cheated; now, with one film delivering a truly stunning 3D experience, audience enthusiasm had returned—how could they not flock to it?

Due to Liu Tianxian's frequent magazine appearances and mainstream entertainment media attention, The Gravity became this year's most important commercial blockbuster.

The North American box office alone couldn't recoup the costs, because it had to be split with Universal, and Jade Rabbit and Universal's marketing and distribution also had costs — those had to be deducted before any profit.

Internationally, because *Gravity*'s release dates varied, its opening-week box office was 82.9 million dollars, and outside of China it broke through 200 million dollars globally.

Such results far surpassed *The Forbidden Kingdom*, and its influence far exceeded it as well.

That piece of junk — people forgot about it long ago!

Apart from Fang Long and Jet Li, there wasn't a single memorable point, neither in the plot nor in the actors.

"North American Box Office Roundup: *Gravity* Dominates for a Second Week." — Sina Entertainment.

"Film of the Year *Gravity* Tops Global Box Office!" — China News Service.

"*Gravity* Reigns as Cash King! Over 200 Million Dollars Globally, James Cameron: The Best Space Film Ever!" — China Film Network.

Domestic media quickly followed up with reports, keeping the buzz around this film and Liu Tianxian exploding continuously.

It made the entire film circle, the entire entertainment circle fall silent; many of those small-fry stopped stirring up trouble for a while, just riding the heat by imitating Liu Tianxian's styling.

For example, Da Baobei imitated Liu Tianxian's look, and was praised by a group of fans as being prettier than Liu Tianxian.

Of course, she inevitably got cursed out as a fake by Liu Tianxian's fans!

Inside a photography studio, where shadows of people flitted about, Liu Tianxian and Fang Hong were shooting on set, with fill lights shining down from above their heads, making it very bright.

The two struck various poses — sometimes arm around the shoulder, sometimes arm around the waist in an embrace, sometimes nestled into each other's arms; sometimes pure, sometimes suggestive, sometimes ambiguous.

As they struck their poses, the camera in front kept flashing.

The two were shooting the cover of *Time* magazine.

Liu Tianxian had her hair in a ponytail, wore a black gown-like outfit, and had a sharp, fierce eye makeup look that gave off a very aggressive vibe — that gaze could probably scare little kids with one glance.

Her face was smooth and dewy, her lips glistening.

Fang Hong looked the same as always — suited and booted. A man isn't some fresh-faced pretty boy; there wasn't much change in his styling.

When the two locked eyes and gently caressed each other's face, Fang Hong couldn't help glancing to the side.

"Click click! Huh?" the visual director, not far away, asked in English.

"Sorry, her gaze was too sharp — I suddenly felt scared," Fang Hong said with a laugh.

"He's joking, let's do it again."

Liu Tianxian said to the director, then glared at Fang Hong; with that glare, the aggression intensified even more. She said, "Be serious."

"This is the first time I've seen you in such a fierce look — when you stared at me, my heart started pounding," Fang Hong said.

"What are you nervous about? I'm not going to hit you." Liu Tianxian was speechless — sleeping face to face every day, and yet he says he's afraid of her. Honestly.

"Fair point," Fang Hong said.

"Even if I were going to hit you, it'd be after the shoot is done," Liu Tianxian added.

Fang Hong let out an "Eh?"

"Don't talk, we're starting the shoot," Liu Tianxian said, gently placing her hand on his face and gazing at him.

The two locked eyes, looking at each other. Actually, Liu Tianxian's gaze was still very gentle — it was just the eye-area makeup that was too fierce.

Fang Hong wasn't really afraid of her; it was just that the two of them were too familiar with each other, and he suddenly wasn't used to this kind of styling — it felt like he was the uke and she was the seme.

Seeing how into it the two were, the visual director told the photographer to take a few more shots from multiple angles.

"OK, OK, very good!" the visual director signaled to pause.

Several makeup artists hurried forward to remove Liu Tianxian's makeup and reapply a light look.

Meanwhile, the foreign visual director walked over and explained the next shooting requirements to the two of them beside them — "blah blah blah" — complete with hand gestures, and Liu Tianxian kept nodding, indicating she understood.

This didn't affect the makeup artists fussing over her face on the side — they were professionals, and Liu Tianxian often did this kind of thing herself.

Fang Hong didn't need any of that — he looked the same as before.

Once the foreigner had said his piece, the makeup was also done. This time her look wasn't so fierce anymore, but had become ordinary and everyday, pretty much like how she usually looked.

Her skin was already great to begin with, so it didn't need much makeup.

A staff member brought over a chair, the kind of grandmaster armchair.

Once the communication was done, Liu Tianxian said to Fang Hong, "You sit in that chair, cross your legs, you need to have the air of a big boss — they want to use this as the cover."

Hearing this, Fang Hong sat in the chair, crossed his legs, leaned back against the backrest, looking completely relaxed.

When he wasn't smiling or joking, he still had a certain presence about him.

Liu Tianxian sat slouched at his leg, hands folded and resting on his thigh, then laid her head on top, her face turned sideways toward the camera.

Both of them were looking at the camera, and the photographer snapped multiple shots in a row.

(End of chapter)