Chapter 180: Bring Him to the United States!

No need to care about how George Morris was forcing a smile in the YouTube video he recorded in the early morning, and indirectly admitting to his poor tens of thousands of followers that the Chinese Joker was not so worthless.

Because at this time, in the early morning of America, the entertainment news sections of major newspapers and magazines that had just been placed on the shelves all appeared reports about "The Dark Knight."

"Christopher Nolan's 'Batman 2: The Dark Knight' may not be the greatest comic adaptation, but it has a villain who can be called great. This 21-year-old Chinese actor broke all the doubts about him playing the role in a shocking way.

That's right, he is indeed 21 years old this year, and he was just over 20 when he appeared in this movie! When I checked the information, I even saw that he won the Best Actor at the Berlin Film Festival at the age of 18.

This is definitely a shining star that has just risen from the East. Now he and Christopher Nolan have joined hands to shine brightly this summer.

I recommend this movie to everyone, whether you like Batman or not, it is worth walking into the cinema to see it."

——4/4, Jason Cowell, "Los Angeles Times";

"'Batman 2: The Dark Knight' has perfect rhythm, exquisite plot, witty and interesting lines, and superb special effects.

This genius British director Christopher Nolan continued the dark realism in 'Batman Begins,' giving Batman, this outdated superhero, a new life.

Christian Bale's interpretation of Batman is perfect.

And the performances of Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, and Aaron Eckhart are also satisfactory.

The most worth mentioning is the evil villain inside, the Joker.

I don't know if the character gave the actor inspiration, or the actor gave the character life.

In short, whenever this character from the depths of nightmares appears on the screen, the cinema I am in always makes all kinds of sounds.

He is not the kind of character who makes you addicted step by step.

He is the kind of ruthless character who can grab your eyeballs from the first second of his appearance and make your heart beat wildly with the momentum of breaking through the dead.

—4/4, Michael Rosenberg, *Chicago Sun-Times*.

"Christopher Nolan cleverly and profoundly added thinking about good and evil into commerciality through such a character as the Joker, perfectly integrated into this comic movie 'The Dark Knight.' The young actor from China contributed a lot to this." ——A+, Philip Jordan, "The New York Times."

"It's hard to find a movie that fits the summer file audience so perfectly. What's valuable is that it's different from 'Transformers' currently in theaters, it's not a pure popcorn movie, it also has artistry. The author asserts that it will definitely be a big hit in various awards at the end of the year. At least, the Oscars should carefully consider the choice of Best Director and Best Supporting Actor." ——4/4, Vincent Powell, "Toronto Star."

"Nolan packaged an extremely realistic superhero story with the technique of a realistic police and bandit movie, successfully excavated the character's deep personality and the human philosophy contained in the story, and raised the comic movie to a brand new level. Batman and the Joker can be called the two sides of light and dark, especially the Joker, whose light even overshadowed Batman—4/4, Keith Stuart, "Newsday";

"Nolan's ambitious work, a work that is darker and more mature than the previous work. The philosophy of this movie, just like the Joker's line 'Why So Serious,' is thought-provoking" —A+, Christian Cruz, Associated Press.

"According to statistics from 3120 cinemas across the United States, the occupancy rate of the midnight screening of 'Batman 2: The Dark Knight' reached 7-80%. This means that Warner's strategy of using 'Nuo Chen,' a controversial Chinese actor, as the core of early promotion was a great success.

Before this, I am afraid no one could have predicted that all the criticisms on the Internet would become the rations for the midnight box office of 'The Dark Knight.'

But this does not mean that Warner's executives can relax.

Because as analyzed in the author's previous analysis, their capital chain is not abundant. If this AAA-level production fails, it is enough for them to hurt their muscles and bones.

Although this time, 'The Dark Knight' seems to have made a good start.

As of the author's press time, the word-of-mouth is all praise. Especially in the IMDb rating system, pulling 'The Godfather

This writer must admit that their decision to reappoint Christopher Nolan as the director for *Batman 2* was a wise move, and braving pressure from all sides to boldly cast Chen Nuo, an unknown from the East, was a stroke of genius.

This suggests that while the Warner Bros. management team has walked through 14 years under the leadership of Barry Meyer, they still possess a certain spirit of innovation and enterprise.

However, the future box office trend of the film remains an unknown, and the market still holds many uncertainties.

This writer's investment advice: Investors holding Warner stock can wait and see for now; there is no need to rush to exit. But one must pay close attention to the box office performance of *The Dark Knight* as a basis for future trading operations." —Mason Collins, *The Huaerjie Journal*;

This report in *The Huaerjie Journal* caused Michael Slane, Senior Vice President of Warner Bros., to first choke on his milk and cereal at the breakfast table, and then burst into laughter.

At this moment, his wife hurriedly brought over the cordless phone from the house and whispered, "Michael, Mr. Meyer is looking for you."

Being reached at home by the president's call so early, Michael Slane was not overly surprised.

Although Barry Meyer had gone to the Caribbean for vacation last week and wouldn't be back until next month.

However, as a Warner veteran who had followed Barry Meyer for over a decade, he knew,

That bald old man, even if he went to the ends of the earth, would definitely carry a copy of *The Huaerjie Journal* and a laptop capable of checking Warner's stock trends.

He took the phone and asked, "Barry, good morning."

Sure enough, the voice on the phone was aged yet brisk, sounding in a good mood, and the first sentence was: "Mike, have you read today's *Huaerjie Journal*?"

Michael Slane said, "Yes, I just finished reading it."

The old man on the other end let out a hearty laugh: "That son of a bitch Mason Collins has been shorting us for a whole year, and now it looks like he's ready to change his tune."

Michael Slane laughed along and said, "He's a smart man; he knows it's best to keep his mouth shut at a time like this."

"Hahahaha."

Barry Meyer laughed for a good while on the phone.

Michael Slane understood. This was because the box office for *Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire* had not exceeded expectations, leaving Warner's stock mired in a slump for over a year, which had left the old man looking rather embarrassed at last year's shareholders' meeting.

Seeing today that Mason Collins, the senior investment advisor at JPMorgan who was the most steadfast in shorting Warner stock, was openly showing signs of turning around in *The Huaerjie Journal*, it was inevitable that he would be in a great mood.

After laughing for a while, Barry Meyer said solemnly, "Notify me the moment the weekend box office results come out."

"Okay."

"Also, don't let your guard down. This is just the beginning; follow-up promotion must continue. Those sons of bitches on Huaerjie are a pack of jackals; if we show the slightest sign of weakness, they will immediately bite us back."

"Yes, I have already instructed the marketing department; we will continue to increase investment both online and offline."

Barry Meyer continued: "It seems now that it was indeed a pity to just keep that Chinese boy in Asia. Have you thought about what to do?"

Michael Slane said: "After the first wave of audience reactions came out last night, I had Jessie from the marketing department contact the Asian side immediately. I will have him come to the US and Europe for promotion as soon as possible."

Barry Meyer said: "Very good, Mike. It seems now that this boy might be the key to whether we can press our advantage. Hurry up and get that Chinese boy to the United States for me."

Michael Slane said: "Okay, Barry."

After the call with Barry Meyer ended, Michael Slane dialed another number: "Jessie."

Luo Rui Eisner did not expect that after only a few hours, the call from that old witch Jessie would come again, as if it were a death warrant.

And it demanded an answer by 5:00 PM US time today.

If it had been a few hours earlier, Luo Rui Eisner might have really wanted to curse out loud, but now she just watched Chen Nuo, who was being interviewed on stage, and agreed calmly.

The media press conference, originally scheduled to start at 8:00 and end at 9:00, was now nearing ten o'clock and still hadn't ended.

This was because those who had not lived through that era could never imagine how fanatical domestic film and television people were about chasing Hollywood at the time.

Especially now in 2007, with the Olympics still in preparation and the economy not yet taking off, the desire of the Chinese people to be recognized by outsiders was exceptionally high.

Unlike ten or twenty years later, when no matter how big an international superstar came to China, they would still have to shout, "Hey brothers, check the link."

In this era, to have a role in a Hollywood-produced film.

Some well-known artists didn't know how many resources they had to pour in, how many promotional press releases they had to use to step on their competitors, how much they had to spend, and they might even have to pay with their bodies.

And they still might not succeed.

In Chen Nuo's previous life, this even led to the Dior reception incident, the beach gate, and other gossip news, leaving people with infinite reverie.

Therefore, when a Chen Nuo brought an authentic Warner team to mainland China to promote a $200 million film produced by Warner Bros., one of the six major Hollywood film studios,

How could the level of pursuit he received be satisfied by a mere 1 hour of media Q&A time?

Even if Luo Rui Eisner strictly adhered to the schedule, three big black men simply couldn't break through the encirclement of over fifty media outlets, leaving poor Brother Nuo almost squeezed to death, so what could be done?

They could only extend the reporter Q&A time again.

Just now, when Chen Nuo was surrounded by the crowd and preparing to break out of the encirclement, he was accidentally hit in the ribs by the elbow of a big black man, and now it was still throbbing with pain while he answered questions.

Speaking of which, being treated with such enthusiasm by the media was also a good thing, which would be of great help to the box office of *The Dark Knight* in China.

Don't look at him saying something about cautious viewing; that was because he felt the Chinese market was just a mosquito leg, completely irrelevant.

But free promotion that didn't cost money was something some people would go crazy for and still not get. If he pushed it away, he would really offend Warner and the media, ending up as a villain on both sides.

"One last question, okay? Because Mr. Chen Nuo is already very tired, and we have already extended it by almost an hour. Okay, the last question, let's give it to this female reporter in blue from CCTV," the host said.

Tu Jingwei had volunteered to attend the press conference for *The Dark Knight* this time, and she had seen the chaos just now clearly from the sidelines.

Seeing her media colleagues display a posture even more fanatical than when they pursued Jiang Wen and Gong Li, forcing Chen Nuo to sit back on the podium and continue accepting reporter questions, she felt a thousand emotions at once.

This was her third time seeing Chen Nuo. Once in Long'an, Sichuan, once in the station's studio, and once here.

Since these three times, the other party had almost no changes, yet it seemed there were earth-shaking changes.

The first time, as an 18-year-old Berlin Film Festival Best Actor, although rare, it wasn't as if there were no similar 17-year-old genius teenage Best Actors in the country as a precedent.

The second time, as the male lead of Wang Jiawei's new film about to be released domestically, although even more incredible, there was the precedent of International Zhang appearing in *Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon* at 21.

And this time?

At only 21 years old, promoting a commercial blockbuster for Warner Bros. in the Asia-Pacific region, and throughout the entire promotional campaign, he was the only core figure, which showed how much Warner Bros. valued him.

What's more, over an hour ago, she received news from their station's US-based reporter that, just as the Phoenix TV reporter had asked before, *The Dark Knight*, which had been released in the US first, had already set off a media frenzy there.

She even knew that this reporter from their station stationed in LA planned to find time today to see the film, but unexpectedly, after searching all the cinemas, he only bought a ticket for the late-night showing, and all other times were completely sold out.

Tu Jingwei guessed that many media friends present should have also received some news, which was why they showed such a crazy drive.

Because if the news was true, this young boy on stage might be the first person in mainland China to have true European and American popularity and commercial appeal...

Well, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call him a superstar.

Therefore, in the past hour, almost most of the questions asked by the media were related to this.

Tu Jingwei originally wanted to do something different and be a different kind of firework, but after thinking about the expressions of her leaders when she returned to the station, she couldn't help but give up the idea of being rebellious.

After being called by the host, she stood up and said: "Chen Nuo, hello, we meet again."

Chen Nuo, of course, also knew this sweet and cute CCTV host, and the two of them had actually even exchanged phone numbers.

However, Tu Jingwei had always been very measured and had never privately asked him for an interview or anything. Therefore, he had a pretty good impression of Tu Jingwei.

He smiled and said: "Miss Tu, hello."

Tu Jingwei also smiled and said: "My question is, Chen Nuo, sitting here today, do you feel that you are one step closer to the goal you mentioned when I interviewed you?"

When she asked this question without any context, some reporters at the scene were confused.

Some reporters were thoughtful and immediately recalled what Chen Nuo had said in the CCTV interview, so many people quickly wrote three words in their interview notebooks:

Oscar.

Chen Nuo smiled. He had actually anticipated that Tu Jingwei would ask this question, and even felt an inexplicable sense of intimacy in his heart.

Or rather, the other party's question felt more like a reminder to him,

Waking him up amidst the glitz and glamour.

This feeling of waking up is called: Do not forget your original intention.

Although it was a bit cheesy and a bit literary, Chen Nuo really felt that way.

He thought for a moment and said very firmly: "I think so."

Facts proved that he wasn't just spouting nonsense.

The press conference ended smoothly after Tu Jingwei's question.

Later, while waiting for the film premiere, Luo Rui Eisner told him solemnly: "Chen, Warner called me again. It seems they are already a bit impatient. They want you to go to the US and Europe for at least a week. Have you decided? I think now is the best time to talk to them."

After answering Tu Jingwei's question, Chen Nuo had no more hesitation and said the answer that had been circling in his heart: "Then let's talk. Tell them my condition is that they go all out to lobby for my Oscar. At the same time, compress my promotional schedule in Asia into one week, and then I'll go to the US and Europe for a tour."

This condition of his was a bit unreasonable; the promotional cycle he had originally agreed upon with Warner was half a month, and the shooting schedule for *The Message* was also arranged accordingly.

If Warner agreed to his conditions, it would be equivalent to him not giving anything, just changing the schedule that might have been in Asia to the US, and he wanted Warner to agree to spend a million dollars on lobbying fees for him just by opening his mouth?

In the past, no matter who proposed such conditions to her, Luo Rui Eisner would definitely tell them to go wash their faces and sober up.

However, the blonde woman, whose heart was now completely biased, was incredibly satisfied with this condition.

The reason was simple.

If Warner really agreed to this unequal treaty, and no one went to the US to keep an eye on him, could this man be at ease?

And could there be any other candidate for this person besides her, Luo Rui Eisner?

Therefore, as long as Warner agreed to this condition, as long as this boy wasn't an idiot, he would inevitably, as he had said before, propose to Warner that she, Luo Rui Eisner, go back to the US to handle this matter.

In this way, she wouldn't need to worry about being discarded after the task was done.

Luo Rui Eisner nodded without hesitation: "Okay, Chen, I'll contact them in a while. I think this condition is very reasonable; they should agree."

Chen Nuo was actually quite satisfied with this blonde Barbie who had both looks and family background.

As a second-generation coal tycoon himself, he had always liked to use people similar to him, for example, Qi Yuntian was chosen by him as his agent like this.

And this Luo Rui Eisner, with her background, if she could really work for him with heart, it would indeed be much more convenient to do things in the US in the future.

At the moment, the scumbag Chen Nuo also slightly exerted his scumbag nature, wanting to win her over.

After all, in his view, people are emotional animals. Sometimes, perhaps it is just that little bit of emotion that will play a decisive role in some things.

After chatting about work for two more sentences, he said seemingly casually: "Luo Rui, besides working, what hobbies do you have in Singapore?"

Luo Rui Eisner was stunned for a moment: "Me? I... just read some books."

Chen Nuo smiled: "I also like reading. I recently read a book called *The Interpretation of Dreams*. Have you read it?"

Luo Rui Eisner's eyes lit up: "You like philosophy too? When I was in college, I minored in philosophy. Freud, the founding master of the psychoanalytic school, this book has a profound influence on psychology, literature, art, and film. Which part do you like the most?"

Chen Nuo smiled calmly and said: "I like it all. Are you hungry? I seem to be a bit hungry. After watching the movie, do you want me to take you to eat barbecue skewers?"

"Barbecue skewers?" Learning these two Chinese pronunciations, Luo Rui Eisner asked curiously: "What is this?"

At the same time, she smiled secretly in her heart.

From childhood to adulthood, the boys pursuing her were like crucian carp crossing the river. How could she not know what Chen Nuo meant just now.

Want to flirt with her? Hmph, even if you are... it's not that simple.

However, Chen Nuo was not familiar with *The Interpretation of Dreams*, but he was very proficient in the interpretation of food.

The key was that he was thick-skinned; failing to show off from a cultural perspective, he was very nimble when switching to a food perspective.

Especially knowing that Luo Rui Eisner had been in China for over a week and had actually been eating McDonald's every day, he couldn't help but be filled with righteous indignation, patting his chest and saying that after the show ended, he would take her to taste the profound Chinese cuisine.

Before entering the cinema to watch the movie, Chen Nuo received several calls in a row, all from friends, family, and his girlfriend.

Among them, the most unexpected yet actually quite reasonable one was the call from Jiang Wen.

It turned out that today, the entire *The Message* crew was going to support President Chen in the evening.

Jiang Wen said in his deep voice on the phone: "These two guys, Ning Hao and Gao Qunshu, weren't happy, saying they were afraid of delaying tomorrow's start time, and who knows who would criticize them. I just said, I decided this, I bought the tickets, I rented the theater, I invited everyone to watch the movie together, and we'll start work two hours late tomorrow. If anyone has an opinion, let them come to me. Chen Nuo, do you think I did the right thing?"

Someone using the pseudonym "who knows who" could only sweat while saying: "Right, of course right. Brother Jiang, you've spent money, thank you for your support."

(End of chapter)