[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-marvel-a-lazy-ass-superman":3,"chapter-marvel-a-lazy-ass-superman-marvel-a-lazy-ass-superman-chapter-531":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Marvel: A Lazy-Ass Superman",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1722037,2198,"Chapter 531 531: Escaping Smoothly","marvel-a-lazy-ass-superman-chapter-531",531,"\u003Cp>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For 40 advanced chapters, visit my Patreon:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Patreon - Twilight_scribe1\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Once Henry stopped weaving around obstacles and leaning on the horn constantly, and the roads became noticeably smoother, he knew he had finally left New York City behind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Don't ask how he managed to find a route out when it seemed like the entire city was trying to flee at once.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The answer was simple:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His suite of super-senses was absurdly overpowered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That, combined with occasionally driving his car like an off-road vehicle, was how he made it out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In any case, once Sentinel and New York were both left behind in the rearview mirror, Henry's mood lightened considerably.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only then could he relax and happily chat with Katharine Hepburn, listening to stories from her era.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Many of the people in those stories were already gone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And now that she was old, she guarded her privacy far less fiercely than in her younger years.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Which meant Henry got to hear some astonishing gossip.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the very least, her relationship with Spencer Tracy—twenty-seven years spent together as \"the other woman\"—was something only now, at this stage of life, she could speak of without reservation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, the conversation still had limits.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Henry wasn't getting any scandalous bedroom stories.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And if he pushed too hard, the old lady's verbal iron fist was still every bit as sharp.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Still, Katharine Hepburn wasn't like many elderly people who endlessly repeated stories from the past.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She was equally interested in discussing recent events.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I remember that this year's big Oscar winner, Titanic, also had your investment in it?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Yes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Stark Pictures invested sixty-five million dollars.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Of that, ten million was my own personal money.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Henry openly revealed insider information most people would never know.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for how much they had earned so far—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That was harder to say.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The movie was still in theaters.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even 20th Century Fox, who had handed over North American distribution rights, was now regretting it so deeply their intestines had probably turned green.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Giving up distribution rights meant giving up control of the books.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Everyone knew Hollywood accounting involved mysteries outsiders could barely comprehend.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sometimes even insiders got trapped by it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Whether profits were distributed proportionally or not, once someone else controlled the ledger, black holes had a way of appearing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Revenue vanished into \"miscellaneous costs\" no one could quite explain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though Stark Pictures had previously remained a third-rate studio in scale, it still had complete production and distribution departments.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For Titanic, Henry had even expanded the distribution division to ensure simultaneous release in more than three thousand theaters across North America.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At first, plenty of internal staff criticized the move.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then the ship hit the iceberg—and the box office exploded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All criticism instantly disappeared.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Replacing it were whispers of:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Lucky bastard.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Beginner's luck.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Stepped in dog crap.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Henry, naturally, didn't care in the slightest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Once the profits were in hand, what did it matter if jealous people muttered a few things?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Katharine Hepburn listened to Henry speaking in a tone so cheerful it was practically humming.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"At first, I wondered why someone who refuses to adapt his own works into films would invest so heavily in a romance picture.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I still remember you saying that for films with clear historical or literary settings, cost control is everything.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"If spending becomes too large, the break-even target becomes too high, and you risk another Cleopatra disaster.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"But then I remembered what you once said about cultural barriers being the key issue for audience acceptance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"And Titanic had none of that.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Do you think that's why it succeeded?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The story of Cleopatra may not be universally known, but it's close enough.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"So do you truly believe mere cultural difference explains the wildly different outcomes of those two films?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Henry thought for a moment before answering.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Maybe it's because we know Cleopatra's story too well.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"There are official histories, unofficial histories, adaptations, wild fabrications—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"And who knows how many people claim they were Cleopatra in a past life.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"But while we know the ending of the Titanic itself, we know nothing about Jack and Rose.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"That's why audiences didn't treat it as a disaster film about a ship hitting an iceberg.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"They treated it as a love story.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Women saw a woman pursuing true love and gaining a man willing to die for her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Men saw a poor bastard who successfully slept with a rich heiress.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Henry shrugged.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The Titanic sinking isn't actually the important part.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"James Cameron used that framework to create a film where both male and female audiences wanted to be one of the leads.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"That's what mattered.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After hearing that, Katharine Hepburn said:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"So if you changed the setting entirely, spent far less money, the movie would still succeed?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Use a fictional ocean liner.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Or a plane.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Or a spaceship.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Perhaps the Orient Express.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Orient Express had operated since 1883, crossing Europe from Paris to Istanbul.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Henry replied:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"A film's success depends on many factors.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"But you can't deny that the hook of 'Titanic hits iceberg and sinks' was a major draw that got audiences into theaters.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Then the enormous budget made people curious what such a costly movie looked like.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"All those factors combined—and the film itself being excellent—created results nearly impossible to replicate.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Mmm. True enough.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Even I went to the theater to see it once.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"That was unusual for me.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then she asked:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"With such a major investment, why didn't you get your girl cast as the female lead?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Henry glanced in the mirror.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Katharine, if you were the right age—would you have taken that role?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She thought seriously for a while, then sighed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"If I truly had, I think I would've regretted it afterward.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Exactly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"That's what I thought too.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"So I didn't fight to get Charlize the opportunity.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Though even if I had, it probably wouldn't have mattered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"That director isn't the compromising type.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"That much I believe,\" she said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You can tell from his films.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this point, Maria Thomson—who had mostly listened quietly the whole trip—finally spoke up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Miss Katharine, why would you regret making that movie?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Isn't it a good film?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It's a very good film,\" Katharine Hepburn said calmly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"But people would say it's James Cameron's movie.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"They would never say it's Katharine Hepburn's movie.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"As for those two children—Leonardo and Kate—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"They're about to have a difficult time of it.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>🎉 Power Stone Goal Announcement! 🎉\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I'll release one bonus chapter for every 500 Power Stones we hit!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Let me know what should I do\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Your support means everything—let's crush these goals together! Keep voting, and let the stones pile up! 🚀\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~\u003C\u002Fp>",1108,"2026-06-06T15:31:35.574Z",1,"novelbin.me","82442f46f41232456a6be77d732f868f41aa906a67bd5c86a29dd32c9d2255e0","marvel-a-lazy-ass-superman-chapter-532","marvel-a-lazy-ass-superman-chapter-530",556,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fmarvel-a-lazy-ass-superman-cover.jpg"]