Chapter 188: The Declaration in Tokyo

After Chen Nuo finished these words, the reporters of various complexions in the audience wore expressions of all kinds.

Those who were dumbfounded were the Japanese.

In their traditional culture, the burning desire Chen Nuo displayed at this moment was no different from that of the Sixth Heavenly Demon King, Oda Nobunaga, back in the day.

He deserves to be struck down by heaven!

How does this person dare to be like this?

To expose his naked ambition and desire before the eyes of the world.

Is he not afraid of the slander and ridicule of the people of the world?

Is he not afraid that the enemy is at Honno-ji?

Especially since the target of his bold declaration was an American lord, and the target of his remote call-out was the high-and-mighty Oscar judges. What he wanted even more was an Oscar acting trophy that no Asian actor had ever laid hands on.

These Japanese people were both puzzled and, in their hearts, seemed to feel a bit of gratification.

Today, can there finally be an Asian actor who can unreservedly manifest his own personality, shouting loudly toward the Western world, toward the lighthouse of human civilization, and toward the pinnacle of world cinema, speaking his own wild ambitions?

He was clearly saying, "I came, I saw."

As for the next sentence, would it really be what Caesar said?

But, how could that be possible!

After the Japanese reporters at the scene heard the translation, they could not help but look at each other in dismay.

How could these narrow-minded islanders understand the principle of "I take what I want directly, and do not seek it through crooked paths"?

Although Chen Mou is greedy for beauty, has terrible character, is hypocritical, and is not a filial son... in this regard, he considers himself not to have lost the face of a reborn person.

Living a second life, one should be unyielding.

Otherwise, what is the difference between him and a turtle?

Polanski, Driver—do they really think anyone can step on his face to build their presence?

Then let's see whose presence is stronger.

After he finished speaking, he almost added, "Who approves, who opposes?"

Fortunately, the words were swallowed back at the tip of his tongue.

After the local Japanese reporters were stunned, their fingers danced rapidly on their laptop keyboards.

"Chen Nuo-kun was angered by Western reporters. Beneath his wild words, there is also a trace of a strong man's demeanor that makes people admire."

"Chen-kun speaks bluntly of ambition, lacking the posture of humility and strength."

"Chen-kun roars and questions Polanski. As fellow yellow people, we share the honor."

Depending on whether their media was left-wing or right-wing, the headlines drafted by the Japanese reporters also varied.

But the Western reporters at the scene found these words to be very much to their taste.

A tone confident to the point of arrogance, a voice firm to the point of paranoia, and even a straightforward style—where does this look like a Chinese person? When would a Chinese person speak like this?

In the stereotypes of these Western reporters, it seems this style belongs exclusively to them. Little did they know that more than 2,000 years ago, in this world, the most barbaric, most rude, most arrogant, and most damnably nose-in-the-air ethnic group—besides the Han barbarians—could not find a second one.

After Chen Nuo's retro-style speech, even the reporter from The Washington Post was stunned for a moment before saying nothing more.

He even revealed a trace of a smile and said, "Good, my questions are finished. Then I wish you luck, confident young man. By the way, I really like the Joker you played."

Well, this Mr. Post who started the trouble doesn't seem like much of a villain anymore.

After the press interview ended, Chen Nuo just met with Luo Rui Eisner, and the blonde beauty's first words were: "Chen, if you give me such surprises again, I'm afraid I'll really fall in love with you."

Although she was clearly joking, the excitement and happiness on Luo Rui Eisner's face could not be fake.

"You answered too well, Chen. I can guarantee that after today, you will definitely be on the shortlist for Best Supporting Actor at the Oscars. I know those old things in the Academy. They love to hear talented young actors like you praise the traditions they are proud of. Flattering the only achievements and careers they have to show for their lives. Well done."

Damn, these Western women speak so directly. Hearing it this way, it feels like he, Chen—the reborn, unyielding Nuo—seems to be kissing the asses of some old guys.

It sounds very shameful.

Chen Nuo coughed lightly and said, "Alright, stop talking."

But Luo Rui Eisner did not listen to him and continued with an admiring face: "Chen, the confidence you just displayed will make everyone qualified to vote value your performance and see your status. You are simply an orator. I now believe what you said before—that the Joker and gangster scene was your improvisation."

Luo Rui Eisner excitedly flicked the ponytail behind her head, "I've decided to cut this interview and give it to the PR company, letting them show it to those members of the Acting Association who don't go online and don't search for entertainment news. I can guarantee it will have a surprising effect."

Seeing Luo Rui Eisner speaking so exaggeratedly, Chen Nuo could not help but tease: "Then, does that mean we don't need Warner?"

Luo Rui Eisner was stunned for a moment and laughed: "Of course... not. Those old guys are all mummies. You have to use shopping vouchers or gift cards to open their hearts first, and then start telling an inspirational story from China. Only this combination can make those people listen."

Just based on this idea, Chen Nuo could safely hand things over to this woman to handle.

After all, he was just shooting off his mouth on stage and hadn't thought that much at all. As a result, she immediately thought of utilizing this matter to move the Oscar judges.

Speaking of which, it's just a supporting actor role; if it couldn't be won after spending so much effort, that would be too much.

Likewise, after finishing the promotion during the day, Chen Nuo, Luo Rui Eisner, and others boarded a plane at night.

This time it would take a long time, from Tokyo to Los Angeles.

Having dragged Michael Slan for two days, it was time to reach a conclusion with the other party. Indeed, just as the Vice President said, every cent of the box office earned by The Dark Knight also had his share, although this share was very small.

Just as Chen Nuo flew into the Tokyo night sky, this interview of his in the Tokyo cinema spread across various countries through the pens of many reporters.

Takeshi Kitano, who saw it first, shook his head and muttered: "Young man. Truly full of vigor."

Saburo Ohno, the chairman of the Tokyo International Film Festival organizing committee, sat opposite him, looking at the boy's somewhat sinister gaze on the TV screen, and laughed: "Perhaps this is the Asian actor most adapted to the Western world."

Following closely, it spread to Taiwan, the closest to Japan. After Zhou Dong finished watching the wild words of the culprit who caused his own film to suffer a crushing defeat, he said nothing. A melody and a few lines of lyrics suddenly drifted through his heart: "If you have too many complaints about this world, if you fall, you don't dare to keep moving forward... Please turn on the TV and see how many people are working hard and bravely moving forward..."

It spread back to the mainland, coming ashore from Guangdong on the coast.

Shi Ningwei was originally researching why his Dark Knight film review suffered a crushing defeat, not even beating those two reprints from the Tianya Forum, when he suddenly saw the Sina Entertainment video.

He first watched it quietly, then thought for a while, and then typed a line of title on the screen: "This country is like a sleeping lion, but someone has already roared for it."

The Divine Land is vast, and the news began to spread along the fiber optics.

Everyone knew that Chen Nuo flew to Japan and South Korea to promote The Dark Knight.

Originally, people on the internet were still laughing at the Koreans for being inexperienced, being captivated by Brother Nuo's slight smile.

Many netizens also focused their attention on the posture of Kim Tae-hee and Chen Nuo walking out of the restaurant together.

The 27-year-old Kim Tae-hee is known as the number one beauty in the Republic of Korea. At that time, the way she leaned forward, listening to Chen Nuo speak, was indeed a bit thought-provoking.

Coupled with the attendance of numerous Korean stars, the relevant comment sections of several portal websites were stacked to an uncountable number of floors.

Most were some malicious teasing and jokes; of course, there were also the irritable and abrupt personal attacks from the Celestial Empire people.

"Is Brother Nuo's pants leaking wind? Everywhere he goes, there are vixens smelling the scent."

"So many people went to welcome Chen Nuo—is he being treated as an envoy from the suzerain state?"

"Damn, looking at Kim Tae-hee like this, so slutty—could it be that Chen Nuo is really going to play with Ji-hyun and Tae-hee tonight? I'm so envious my balls are turning purple."

"I don't know what Cecilia Boey is thinking after seeing this."

"Did Chen Nuo ask his old man to pave the way with money? Why are these Koreans giving so much face?"

"Chen Nuo's family is probably also a chaebol."

"Seeing Chen Nuo's arrogant look makes me unhappy. Trash, isn't he just relying on his dad?"

Among them were mixed many rebuttals and curses from the sticky rice fans, as well as counter-curses from passerby netizens.

Chaotic and noisy, Chen Nuo's trip to South Korea earned enough eyeballs and traffic for the entertainment sections of major portal websites.

In short, it was extremely lively.

The editors at NetEase seem to have truly learned the lesson from the last Taiwan incident.

Therefore, when the live video from Tokyo, Japan, was sent over by the reporters there,

They gave it a headline that was short, powerful, and pointed directly to the core.

"Chen Nuo's Tokyo Declaration: Vowing to Win the Oscar!"

The numerous netizens who were laughing and scolding in the comment sections of those Korean tabloid news stories suddenly changed their style after watching the interview video sent back from Japan.

Clicking into the video comment sections of several major portal websites, the messages inside were surprisingly clean, and most were very short, as if those leaving these messages were completely different people from those who were scolding before.

But how could so many people like to cause trouble in the comment section? They were clearly the same group of people! "Chen Nuo, go for it!"

"Go for it, go for it!"

"You can do it, Chen Nuo, go for it!"

"Go for it."

"Spoken very well, very great."

"Regardless of the result, it's already very good."

"Chen Nuo, you are the best."

The language was simple and plain, with a very high repetition rate. It was nothing like when they were scolding, where they could write a hundred sentences without a single repeated word.

However, this is probably the characteristic of our countrymen.

At the same time, in the next day's China Youth Daily, an article immediately mentioned this interview, even using a bold, blacked-out headline on the third page: "China's Post-80s, the First Sound Sent to the World."

The short body text provided a slight interpretation: "Modesty and prudence, for those of us born in the 60s and 70s, seem to be an indelible label stuck in our bones."

"However, our juniors seem to have different views on this..."

"Facing the malicious questions of Western reporters, Chen Nuo gave such a hot and burning answer..."

"The confidence, firmness, and fearlessness in his speech made the author, born in '62, tear up... It seems our next generation has finally grown up, and they are stronger than us."

When Chen Nuo's plane arrived in Los Angeles on the 22nd, it was another weekend.

The first-week box office of The Dark Knight had already been freshly released while he was flying across the Pacific.

On the North American and global box office charts for the week of July 14–21, The Dark Knight, a comic-book movie that didn't look like a comic-book movie, continued its unprecedented box office performance.

That day, the headlines of major American media were all much the same.

"The Dark Knight's first-week North American box office of 229 million, rewriting North American film history."

Not only in North America was it cutting through melons and vegetables.

The Dark Knight was also unrivaled globally, capturing the championship title in over 50 countries and regions, crazily sweeping 285 million US dollars, with a total global box office of 514 million in one week!

Breaking 500 million in the first global week was also a first in film history.

Among them, the 195 million US dollar overseas opening weekend box office set a record, beating the previous 145.5 million of Star Wars: Episode III.

The 285 million overseas opening week result shattered the 185 million of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.

The 514 million global first-week box office also broke the 303.9 million of Star Wars: Episode III and the 250 million of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.

Global media reported on this new box office bomb.

Sohu Entertainment: "Mainland box office summary for the week: The Dark Knight easily wins the championship, creating multiple mainland box office records. The Joker's popularity remains undiminished, becoming the object of cosplay for young people in many places in our country."

TVB Entertainment Channel: "Hong Kong box office summary for the week: The Dark Knight sets off a city-wide topic. The Joker is unstoppable. Chen Nuo's girlfriend Cecilia Boey was encountered by reporters while buying groceries on the street, laughing that she is already used to life in the capital, and Hong Kong will always be home..."

EBC Global News: "Taiwan box office express for the week: The Dark Knight continues to lead the box office. Zhou Dong was racing late at night, and his face turned black instantly when asked about the Joker. Patty Hou bluntly stated that she had exchanges with Chen Nuo after the Golden Horse Awards."

Yahoo Korea: "Chen Nuo's whirlwind visit to Korea, The Dark Knight tickets are hard to find. SM's new group is about to debut, and member idols mentioned Chen Nuo-xi."

NHK Entertainment: "Magical Joker visits Japan, The Dark Knight box office rises instead of falling, taking 246 million yen in the past week. Saburo Ohno stated that the Tokyo Film Festival judges have temporarily only decided on Chen Nuo-kun."

Besides this, the UK, Australia, France, Germany, Greece, Mexico... there was not a single country not conquered by The Dark Knight, nor a country not swept by the Joker whirlwind; the box office champion in every country was the same name.

At this time, all box office prediction experts changed their tune, believing that there was no suspense at all for The Dark Knight to become the third film in history to break 1 billion US dollars.

Now everyone is concerned about,

Without adjusting for inflation, does it have a chance to surpass the 1.15 billion box office record of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King?

Surpassing the 600 million North American box office of Titanic and its 1.843 billion global championship record is impossible.

Back then, it was shown in over 1,000 North American theaters for 25 weeks, and finally didn't finish its run until 41 weeks.

Before a new form of screening comes out, this record is almost impossible to break. Because damn it, in this era, no cinema is willing to show it for you for so long.

Michael Slan believes that the key for The Dark Knight to continue its efforts and create brilliance in the second week lies with Chen Nuo.

After all, for European and American audiences, Chen Nuo has simply whetted their appetites.

As long as Chen Nuo appears in the United States or Europe, it will inevitably be a heavy-duty topic bomb, and the attention it attracts will definitely support the box office to move forward again.

At least for a stretch of the road.

Therefore, he also lowered his status and actually went to the airport in person to welcome Chen Nuo and the employees of Warner Asia-Pacific.

Later, he even held a short and exquisite welcome ceremony at the entrance of Warner headquarters to express his intention of reconciliation.

Since that was the case, Chen Nuo did not push things too far and reiterated the several conditions agreed upon earlier at the subsequent meeting.

After Michael Slan finished listening, he smiled: "Your interview in Tokyo has been sent back. Actually, Chen, you don't need to say these things at all. In this year's awards season, we at Warner have no other choice but to support you."

Chen Nuo did not believe a word of what these Hollywood old foxes said. The only person in Warner he could trust even a little bit now was Luo Rui Eisner.

So he also said bluntly: "I hope you can give Luo Rui Eisner a suitable position and let her handle this matter personally."

Michael Slan really wanted to curse after hearing this, but some things were hard to say in front of so many Warner executives in the meeting room.

He really wanted to tell Chen Nuo, it's just a supporting actor role, not helping you get the Best Actor award; you really don't need to be so cautious.

But a million-dollar deal—look at the price of Warner stock today and you'll know it's really not worth mentioning.

So, can you not drag this woman into it?

But looking at Chen Nuo's expression, he knew... it was impossible.

Once some cracks are created, they can no longer be mended.

Having reached the position of Warner Vice President, Michael Slan was naturally a decisive person, directly nodding and saying: "No problem, I will have the secretariat and the personnel department draft the document right now, transferring Miss Luo Rui Eisner back to Warner USA, serving as a Senior Vice President in the Marketing Department, specifically responsible for public relations for this matter."

"Very good... Then, happy cooperation."

Things having progressed to this point, although there were still various announcements and itineraries to run, and he would continue to rush about in various European and American countries to make his own efforts for The Dark Knight's box office.

But for Chen Nuo, this movie ended here.

He could now confirm two things:

First, as of now, The Dark Knight's box office performance will definitely be higher than in his previous life. His final income will definitely exceed his original expectations.

Second, his performance is worthy of himself.

As for how much box office The Dark Knight will eventually sell?

Will it break one record after another?

It is already irrelevant to him.

Anyway, he only has a 0.3% commission.

It's enough that the biggest number is there.

Then, as for the rest, it only remains for the awards season.

In the subsequent itinerary, Nolan also mentioned this matter to him.

At the end of this year, he is destined to have a busy schedule.

His nomination as a Best Supporting Actor candidate for the Golden Globes and Oscars here in the United States is already a sure thing.

One in January, one in February, and other big and small awards all require him to be at the scene, so he must reserve the schedule.

Chen Nuo responded with his mouth, but his mind was already no longer in America.

Having been away for half a month, his ears heard only box office figures of tens of millions and hundreds of millions of dollars, talked only about the world, and spoke only English.

But he had already begun to miss that small town in Jiangnan, that prison occupied by the Japanese invaders, and was also thinking about his own tens of millions in assets, and,

I wonder if there is anyone by the Qingshui Lake in the Bamianshan Scenic Area who is also thinking of him?

(End of chapter)