Chapter 742

But these words should be heard by domestic filmmakers who always harbor ulterior motives and feel their creativity is restricted.

They always think things aren't open enough; if it really were open, they wouldn't even have a meal to eat—they might get washed away by Hollywood.

Of course, if you protect them too well, what they produce is also terrible.

"You say that—aren't you afraid people around the world will think your United States is a bad thing, bullying and monopolizing everywhere?" Fang Hong said.

"Afraid of what? Isn't it obvious? The world runs on strength—anyone who refuses to submit just needs a B-2 to fly over once and they'll submit."

Donna sounded very confident, then added: "Your Principal doesn't really think you can open markets with just words, does he?"

"We still rely on virtue to win people over—we're not as domineering as you; we're reasonable, hehe," Fang Hong said, then laughed himself into silence.

Donna couldn't help laughing too—it was indeed a funny joke. "Let me tell you, no matter how much nonsense you talk, it's nowhere near as effective as a single bomber flight."

Liu Tianxian smiled beside them; they had been discussing movies quite well, but somehow, when it came to setting the release date, the conversation veered into global affairs.

Maybe men all have this kind of hobby—Fang Hong had it too, he just didn't talk about it much.

"Your United States really is pretty bad. Let's drop this topic—let's just set a date!" Fang Hong brought the conversation back.

"My suggestion is March 24th—right after Beauty and the Beast, since Fast and Furious 8 is in April, that's the only opening." Donna said.

"I think that's a bit too late—it's pushing it over a month away," Fang Hong thought for a moment.

"Then March 3rd—go head-to-head with the big blockbusters. As long as you're confident." Donna said.

"Then March 3rd it is. There's always competition no matter when you pick— if we were afraid of competition, we wouldn't be here today." Fang Hong made the decision.

"Fine, Principal, your authority hasn't faded at all—then it's settled." Donna didn't hesitate.

Logan is a Twentieth Century Fox film; Beauty and the Beast is a Disney film.

Dealing with Fox is easier than dealing with Disney.

"Hey, March 3rd is the day we first met," Liu Tianxian nudged his arm and tilted her head.

"Really?" Fang Hong turned, looking genuinely surprised—he'd forgotten.

"Yes, I remember clearly," Liu Tianxian nodded.

Their first meeting was March 3, 2010—this man was assisting Wang Laoer as a second unit director; Wang Laoer wanted to film a kissing scene and specifically asked this man to come tell her, so the memory was very vivid.

"Looks like fate—it's written in the stars! It can't not be released on this day," Donna, who had been listening, couldn't help laughing.

Hearing this, Fang Hong and Liu Tianxian exchanged a smile, because Fang Hong had said this exact phrase before, and Liu Tianxian remembered.

"Then it's settled—on this day. As for promotion costs, same as always—split it fifty-fifty," Fang Hong said.

"Then how much are you planning to invest in promotion?" Donna asked.

"Two hundred million U. S. dollars," Fang Hong said.

"That's way too high!" Donna was surprised—the production cost was only tens of millions, yet promotion alone would cost two hundred million.

"No problem—this time we'll invest heavily worldwide. Whether we make money or not doesn't matter, as long as we break even—we'll just make some royalty fees," Fang Hong said.

"Alright then, it's decided. Since this film stars Tianxian, she needs to arrange PR and get media exposure ahead of time," Donna said.

"We came here specifically for this."

After Fang Hong and Donna reached an agreement, the release date and promotion plan were officially settled.

And Fang Hong didn't need to pay the two hundred million U. S. dollars upfront—Universal would cover it first, then deduct it directly from box office revenue.

If it wasn't enough, they'd top it up—Fang Hong could still afford a few hundred million, since Nvidia's current market cap had risen to over sixty billion.

He originally bought it at around seven billion—nearly ten times higher—so this amount meant nothing to him, and this money wasn't counted as his personal expense—it was charged to Yutu's budget.

Next, Liu Tianxian assembled a PR team to promote her and hype up the film.

Hype for the film was easy—TV ads, online ads, print media ads, outdoor ads—all of it. Outdoor meant bus stops, subways, buildings, etc.

For example, the big screen at Times Square in New York cost five hundred thousand U. S. dollars per month—it was part of a rotation, shared with other ads, each spot about fifteen seconds long, playing many times a day.

Ads and posters for The Martian would also appear on the London Eye, Bali Tieta, Brandenburg Gate, Milan Cathedral square, and Sagrada Familia in Barcelona.

As long as the film gained widespread exposure and reached audiences, the money was worth it—this promotion budget would also include Douyin and TikTok.

Currently, Douyin's daily active users had exceeded 250 million—about five months since the last announcement of 200 million daily users, growth remained fierce, with monthly active users around 500 million.

As for TikTok, the merger was complete, global downloads surpassed 600 million, and active users were growing rapidly, though still in the early stages.

This growth rate had already alarmed certain forces—problems arise, and problems are solved.

Rapid expansion can never be smooth sailing.

Recently, Liu Tianxian had been focusing on personal exposure, starting with a behind-the-scenes documentary on filming The Martian.

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Talk about how hard it was to film The Martian, how difficult things were, and how hard everyone worked to complete this film.

Liu Tianxian sat in the studio facing the host, speaking in English: "When we filmed, we were in the Gobi Desert—it was scorching hot during the day, with temperatures over thirty degrees, and freezing cold at night, below minus thirty degrees."

"That must have been tough?" said a Black host.

"The actors weren't the ones who suffered—it was the crew behind the scenes who worked the hardest," Liu Tianxian said bluntly.

But what she said was true—they all had servants, assistants—how could they be suffering?

This interview would be edited, with some behind-the-scenes footage from The Martian released on social media to ferment.

Of course, the main behind-the-scenes figures featured would be Matt Damon and Jessica Chastain, the two Hollywood actors, along with Liu Tianxian.

People like Liu Tianwang and Zhao Xiaodao? Foreigners don't know them—they wouldn't help at all.

Also, they signed contracts with Vogue and GQ for styling previews and shot high-definition photo shoots.

Not to take off clothes—just shots that looked cold and striking, since she naturally had that aura, though foreign art was very abstract.

At this moment, Liu Tianxian was waiting for makeup, her hair styled in a man's three-seven part, her suit hanging loosely on her body.

"Sometimes I can't tell if you're male or female," Fang Hong looked at her.

"I can attack and defend, advance and retreat—I have the advantage on both sides, perfect offense and defense," Liu Tianxian said, speaking with a touch of pride as she examined her own look in the mirror.

Anyway, everyone here is a foreigner; they don't understand, and even if they did, they wouldn't get the inside joke between the two of them.

Besides, no one's around—they're all busy with their own preparations and haven't come over yet.

"Come on, clench your fist a little," Fang Hong signaled.

"What for?" Liu Tianxian loosely clenched her fist.

Fang Hong extended one finger and slid it into the gap beside her clenched fist, moving it back and forth.

"Get lost!" Liu Tianxian immediately understood and slapped his hand with a "smack."

Fang Hong laughed heartily. "Aren't you supposed to be able to attack and defend?"

"I'll settle accounts with you tonight," Liu Tianxian warned with a sharp glance.

"Alright, I'll wait."

While the two chatted idly, a makeup artist arrived with a prepared set of cosmetics.

After saying something in English, Liu Tianxian nodded—this was the signal to begin makeup.

They applied only normal makeup; Fang Hong forbade them from drawing slanted eyes or anything like that—the look had been decided long ago.

These looks will later appear in print magazines.

After these photoshoots come media control and evaluation; Liu Tianxian will be interviewed by The New York Times, The Hollywood Reporter, and other media outlets.

The interviews will cover actors' insights, her feelings about making this film, and whether she'll win an Oscar—and what she'll do if she does.

For interviews, Liu Tianxian's look was much more ordinary—just a suit would do. After all these procedures, they aimed to shape her into a model of "inspiring womanhood."

After all, she had repeatedly braved Hollywood, rising from a mocked minor actress to where she is today—there was a story there.

For these past days, Fang Hong and his team had been busy with this, and gradually, Liu Tianxian's presence began appearing across the international scene—in newspapers, on television, on outdoor billboards, and online.

Liu Tianxian's image began appearing frequently.

Some showed her facing the media, others showed her attending events, some were print art photos, others movie posters, and still others were streaming trailers and all sorts of things.

This made international netizens begin to recognize the long-absent figure again, since Liu Tianxian hadn't appeared in overseas markets for two or three years, and many had forgotten her.

"Oh my god, I've seen her movies," one foreign netizen exclaimed upon seeing Liu Tianxian and suddenly remembering.

Right now it's still on a small scale, since the movie won't be released for a while, and there's no rush—this period is just a warm-up.

But this promotional campaign is far larger than previous ones, since it's two hundred million U. S. dollars—there had to be some noise!

The Oscars are drawing near, and Fang Hong and his team have an event to attend: the Nominees Luncheon, which is mandatory—failure to attend would be seen as disrespecting the Academy!

If that happened, their award chances would suffer in impression points.

Last time, Fang Hong didn't attend because the animated film had Shi Zhi Mao attending—it didn't need him.

This is the first time Fang Hong and Liu Tianxian are truly attending the Oscars; before, they were just tag-alongs, not genuine main guests.

There's also the precursor award ceremonies—the Directors Guild of America Awards, Screen Actors Guild Awards, and British Academy Film Awards—but they didn't win any of those, so they don't need to go.

Attending all these Oscar banquets—who says the United States doesn't toast? Nonsense!

(End of Chapter)