Chapter 406: Create a Miracle?

When Chen Nuo walked into the NPR building, it just meant that the promotion of *Inception* had reached the sprint stage.

But in fact, the promotion of *Inception* started in December 2010.

The promotional cycle has lasted for half a year to date.

It covers global premiere tours, TV program interviews, IMAX trailer releases, social media marketing, outdoor promotion, and offline PR activities, etc.

The initial budget was 130 million USD, and after the unanimous agreement of the four shareholders, Warner Bros., Hengdian Group, Huanxin Company, and Nolan's Syncopy production company, it could be increased by 20-50 million USD depending on the situation.

By then, the entire promotional cost of *Inception* will reach 150-180 million, surpassing the 150 million invested by 20th Century Fox in *Avatar*, becoming the film with the highest promotional cost in history.

This news was leaked to the outside world by TMZ through a traitor in Warner Bros. in early January.

Yes, that's right, it was a Warner traitor.

In that report titled "Warner Bets Big on Inception: 180 Million Promotional Fee Hits Record Gao Ang", it was written clearly, "According to Warner internal sources..."

But in reality.

Warner Vice President Michael Slan, who was responsible for this promotion, announced the start of the promotional plan named "Ignite the Dream" after hanging up the phone from the TMZ editorial department in his office.

When entertainment media such as *The Hollywood Reporter*, *Variety*, and *Deadline* expressed some doubts about such high promotional budgets in their reports,

In Los Angeles, London, Paris, Tokyo, in the central areas of these cities, the outdoor billboards for *Inception* officially debuted.

On the billboard, Chen Nuo was wearing a black suit, holding a spinning top, staring ahead, with the background of a collapsing dream city, accompanied by a short slogan: "Your mind is the crime scene."

The picture is very cool, but what does it mean?

No one knows.

Including a TV commercial of about 15 seconds, almost at the same time, it went online simultaneously on TV stations such as NBC, CBS, BBC, and NHK.

The commercial edited by Nolan himself, with a fast rhythm throughout, edited all the wonderful pictures such as dream collapse, zero-gravity corridor, and snow chase into the 15-second content, accompanied by Hans Zimmer's low-pitched soundtrack, and Chen Nuo's voice-over whisper: "We go deep into your dreams and steal your secrets."

The final picture is a spinning top, and the release date of July 1st.

The effects of outdoor and TV commercials were quite good, causing a lot of discussion on Twitter and in reality, successfully arousing many people's curiosity and attention.

However, Warner Bros.' indifferent attitude further stimulated the media, and for a time, there were more questioning voices.

"An original sci-fi suspense film, high risk, lacks sequel potential, difficult to attract mainstream audiences, but the stubborn Warner insists on doing so."

"Gao Ang investment, 180 million promotional fee, Warner bets everything on Chen Nuo's 30 million fans and 3D IMAX."

"Warner spends sky-high promotional fees for *Inception*, trying to push a non-IP original 3D film to the mainstream. Funds from China have turned Barry Meyer's head."

And so on.

It was like repeating many of the questions encountered when *Inception* started filming, talking about the same things.

Things like sci-fi suspense themes are hard to become big, the male protagonist is not necessarily powerful in his first solo lead, and 3D IMAX is not a panacea, after *Avatar*, there is no *Avatar*, and so on.

When Chen Nuo was shooting *Twilight*, he didn't turn a deaf ear to things outside the window, occasionally seeing these evaluations, but there was no ripple in his heart.

He knew why Warner formulated such an aggressive promotional strategy.

He also expressed approval for such a promotional strategy.

When Warner Bros. held 4 test screenings around the world, when more than 2,000 film critics, industry insiders, and ordinary audiences gave a 94% favorable rate to the film, and the few negative reviews were still about the discomfort with the 3D effects presented in *Inception*.

Then what the hell is there to fear?

The greater the controversy, the higher the promotional effect! This is indeed the truth! As long as the final result comes out, and it's not slapping oneself in the face, then there is no problem.

And to tell the truth, let alone the feedback from the test screenings, he dared to take all his net worth, and throw all the money of Fan Bingbing, Liu Yifei, etc. into this film, wasn't it because he was optimistic about *Inception*, including the subsequent capital increase, if there was half a hesitation, would he dare to play like this?

So, he is really not afraid!

Walking into NPR, except for being a little scared of that familiar person, the rest of the feeling was like a tiger, not cowardly at all!

But not everyone is as knowledgeable about the inside story as he is, nor is everyone as rational.

What is the Fourth Estate of America, what is the uncrowned king?

It means that when the media starts to fan the flames, many people start to vote with their feet without even thinking.

"... Chen, hearing you praise this film so much, I have a question, what do you think about the stock price drop of Warner Bros. recently? It feels like their view is not quite consistent with yours."

A white woman in her fifties with a capable temperament asked with a smile:

Her name is Melissa Block, the host of the live advertising program *All Things Considered*. 13 million Americans listen to her chat about news views, investment advice, and celebrity interviews in culture, entertainment, and finance on their way home every day.

That is to say, when she faced the radio microphone and asked this question, more than 13 million American middle-class people who frequently contact the stock market were waiting to hear Chen Nuo's answer.

Chen Nuo didn't hesitate for a second, "Buy it."

"Hahaha." Melissa laughed, "Your straightforwardness makes me a little surprised. Are you not afraid that you gave a wrong investment advice, causing our listeners to lose money?"

Chen Nuo smiled: "I'm just giving my personal opinion. I don't have a qualification certificate, so, stocks have risks, please be cautious when investing."

"But judging by your tone, you are so sure?"

"Yes, 100% sure."

"Then how much did you buy?"

"Uh, none."

"Hahahahahaha. So you are joking with us?" Melissa Block laughed loudly, "Okay, for a moment, I was really fooled by you."

Chen Nuo also laughed along: "Melissa, I'm not joking with you, I didn't buy it because I've been filming, every day is very busy, I didn't pay attention to the stock market at all, I only heard about Warner's stock drop from what you just said."

"Then you mean, if you have time and an opportunity, will you buy it?"

"I generally don't speculate in stocks, because the stock market has risks. However, if there is an opportunity, I will. Speaking of which, how much did Warner Bros. fall during this time?"

"Let me see, oh, it's like this, from 16.90 USD in March, its latest closing price 20 minutes ago was 15.04 USD. God, it fell 2% again today."

"And now in after-hours trading, it fell another 1%. Wow, what should we do, it seems that investors on Huaerjie have completely different opinions from yours on the box office performance of *Inception*. Chen, do you want to do something now? To prove that you are not joking with our listeners, and that *Inception* is really a particularly good film?"

"... Melissa, wait, I suddenly have a feeling of falling into a trap. Is this my illusion? Are you implying something?"

"Hahahahahaha, no no no, not an illusion. I am indeed implying you. I heard that you are particularly good at money games, not only good at betting, but also have insights in investment. So, if you are really optimistic about this film, are you willing to invest in Warner's stock?"

"Everyone, you can't see it, but Chen now has a very embarrassed look. Haha."

At this time, Mason Collins, who was waiting for the red light on Fifth Avenue in New York, imagined Chen Nuo's embarrassed and helpless expression now, and laughed along with Melissa's hearty laughter.

As a listener who occasionally listens to "All Things Considered", this is the reason why he likes this year's new host "Melissa Block" more. Every time this woman would do some unexpected things in the program, such as joking with guests, playing pranks, etc.

However, as a Huaerjie investment manager, he also sympathized a little with the Chinese person who was forced into a corner.

He knew Warner Bros.' stock too well. The decline of Warner in this year or so actually didn't just have the reason of *Inception*.

It was more about the overall pessimistic sentiment of the media industry in early 2011, rumors of internal restructuring of Time Warner, and investors' concerns about the slowdown in the growth of traditional TV networks.

Regarding this, as a big short seller who has been looking down on Warner for many years, he has the right to express his opinion.

Mason Collins leaned on the car seat, glanced at the Bloomberg terminal on his mobile phone, Time Warner's after-hours stock price did fall another 1%, sliding from 15.04 USD to 14.89 USD.

He shook his head, to tell the truth.

If Warner's stock price wants to change its decline in the future, if the box office score of this *Inception* is only "excellent", it is unqualified.

It must reach a height that exceeds everyone's expectations.

Just like... *Avatar* the year before last.

At the beginning, its miraculous box office performance made the stock price of 21st Century Fox's parent company News Corporation soar by nearly 20% in early 2010, climbing from 13 USD to 15.50 USD, with a market value increase of more than 5 billion USD!

But that is the king of commercial films, the miracle created by James Cameron.

Putting it on *Inception*, this sci-fi suspense film, he thinks the possibility is no more than 5%.

If this Chinese kid really understands stocks, and is a high-end player who has bought US stocks since 09 as rumored, then he should understand this point.

The red light in front started to count down.

10, 9, 8...

Mason Collins was about to put his phone back in the middle of the seat, but at this moment when he glanced at the screen for the last time, his eyes widened suddenly.

"What the fuck?"

He cursed in surprise, and took the phone back in front of him.

I saw that on his mobile phone screen, the originally calm trading graph suddenly rose up a large section like a cobra launching an attack!

At the same time, a burst of exclamation came from the radio.

First was Melissa's exclamation: "Wow, you really bought it, you didn't joke with me!?"

Afterwards was a man's laughter: "Haha, yes, I didn't."

Melissa again: "Let me see, can you show me your phone... OK, listeners, I have Chen's phone now, let me see... 10 million USD! Jesus Christ! Chen just bought 10 million USD of Warner's box office in front of me in after-hours trading, it has already risen from a 1% drop to a 2.5% rise."

"Wow! Everyone, I really don't know what to say now."

"I can't be sure if he is good at money games now, but I can be sure that he really didn't joke with everyone. He is really optimistic about this film!"

"10 million USD! Ladies and gentlemen, if you don't believe it, you can open your market trading software now and see for yourself, it will tell you that we are not playing around, hahaha!"

"Today will definitely be recorded in the history of our program! And you are all members who witnessed history!"

"Chen, he used 10 million USD of real money and silver to tell everyone that *Inception* is definitely a good film! Worth us walking into the cinema to watch!"

"I have already decided now, I will go buy a ticket for the midnight show in a while! OMG, Chen, you really gave me a big surprise!"

"Beep————" A burst of car horn sound came, waking Mason Collins from his shock.

It was already a green light.

He stepped on the accelerator and started his black BMW X6.

Although he felt that it was mostly a program effect, but... Mason Collins looked at the K-line chart on his mobile phone again.

After that cobra spitting letter just now, that stiff straight line softened again, just like... the one after you just did that.

Although after-hours trading volume is generally very small, so a little money will cause huge fluctuations. However, just pulled up 3.5%, it must be real money and silver buying in, he was a little unsure.

Is it taking 10 million USD to do program effects? This is really a bit rich and imposing.

Looking at Warner's stock, it fell back 2% all of a sudden, currently back to the 0.5% position.

Unfortunately, whether it is true or false, if this guy's 10 million can continuously drive retail investors to follow the trend, and the stock price can stabilize above 3%... Mason Collins doesn't mind shorting a wave, making a small profit, and improving his performance within Goldman Sachs.

Unfortunately.

Mason Collins also temporarily put this matter down and continued to drive to a romantic date.

But at this time in Missouri, Susan, the young girl who cheered and laughed for Chen Nuo at the Oscar awards ceremony, was logging into her mother's stock account on the computer in the living room.

After the Oscars, she had become the most iron "Twihards".

However, because of school, she couldn't follow the crew like other Twihards, but she paid attention to Chen Nuo's news online every day. After learning that Chen Nuo was on NPR at 4:30 in the afternoon that day, she rode her bicycle fast after school that day, and finally returned home before the broadcast started.

Lying on the bed, putting on headphones, and then adjusting the software on her mobile phone to NPR's channel.

When the gentle voice came from her Beats headphones, it was like talking against her face.

Under these circumstances, let alone recommending buying Warner stock, even if it was recommending buying a garbage stock listed last year called TSLA, in the brain of the 15-year-old girl who was washed by love, she would also all-in without hesitation!

Just as the eldest in the family, their family was well-off in the past few years, under the influence of her father who worked at Lehman Bank, Susan also understood some things about stock investment since she was a child.

She easily logged into her mother's stock account who used to work at Ernst & Young.

Susan's fingers danced on the keyboard, her heartbeat accelerating with the sound of Chen Nuo on the NPR radio.

On the screen, the E*TRADE trading platform showed that she cleared about 200 shares of Apple, cashing out 42,000 USD. She stared at the TWX after-hours quote—14.96 USD, and placed an order to buy 2800 shares without hesitation.

At this moment, Susan was trembling all over with excitement, the power of millions of Twihards seemed to be behind her, cheering for her.

Although she knew that if her mother found out she did this, she estimated she wouldn't be able to leave the house for a month.

"Chen said Warner will rise, he must be right." Susan muttered to herself, "Anyway, Mommy usually won't log in, this is her long-term investment account. Now, just wait for Chen's film to be released, Warner's stock will rise, and then tell her. After making money, I can have money to travel and see Chen in person!"

But three days later, when Susan just arrived home, she saw her mother Karen Wilson sitting on the sofa with a gloomy face, looking at her coldly.

Susan's heart suddenly skipped a beat.

Bad, was it discovered?

At this time, 42-year-old Karen Wilson was so angry that her heart almost stopped.

After the 2008 economic crisis, she and her husband divorced, returned to her hometown in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and found an accounting job at a local tax firm.

Today, hearing in the company that Warner's stock had plummeted these two days, she was still a little secretly happy.

As a result, when she opened the stock account on her mobile phone, preparing to see the soaring Apple today, and thinking about whether to sell some to copy the bottom of Warner stock, she only saw a green account.

At that time, she was stunned, and after reacting, she couldn't even work, asked for leave in advance and returned home, waiting for Susan to come back.

At this moment, she didn't say a word, and roared directly: "Susan! How dare you move my account?! Who gave you the guts?"

"Mom, I, I didn't..."

"I warn you, don't lie!"

"No, Mom, I just wanted to support Chen, he said it can be bought now, it will rise."

"You support shit! You bought all 40,000+ USD of my money into TWX? Do you know that it has fallen 10% now, and we have lost more than 4,000 USD! And this money is all our family's savings!"

"Mom, sorry... Chen Nuo said on NPR... I thought..."

"You thought? You are only 15 years old, what do you know about stocks! I tell you, your pocket money for these few months is gone, and don't even think about going out on weekends! Don't even think about going to see the premiere of that damn *Inception* this week, don't even think about going anywhere, and don't even think about taking money to buy any new 'Chen dolls'! I tell you! All these things are cancelled! Don't even think about going anywhere!"

"Mom!!!!!!!!!! You can't do this!!!"

"I can, I am your mother, you must do whatever I say! Now, go back to your room immediately, without my permission, you are not allowed to go out!"

"Mom! I hate you!!!!!!!!!!"

Susan cried and carried her schoolbag and ran upstairs, and slammed the door with a bang.

But Karen Wilson was still angry. She opened the computer, logged into the stock account, and couldn't wait to clear the position with one click.

However, reason controlled her.

She is an old hand, knowing that Warner's short-term plummet is very suspicious of human manipulation, and there is a high possibility of a rebound later, she originally wanted to copy the bottom.

So, finally Karen controlled her hands.

But this doesn't mean she just let this matter go.

Karen logged into her FB account, then clicked on the avatar of someone in her follow list, preparing to leave a message in the comment section of someone's account.

At this moment, Karen surprisingly saw that under the dynamic of the *Inception* advertisement that was about to be released three days later, there were already hundreds of messages, all of which were parents who had the same encounter as her!

"Dear Mr. Chen Nuo,

I am Karen Wilson, a single mother from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, writing this letter on behalf of hundreds of angry parents. We are ordinary families, working hard, raising children, but because of your irresponsible behavior, we have fallen into financial difficulties and family quarrels.

We accuse you of using your star influence to mislead our children—those teenagers who blindly worship you—to buy Time Warner (TWX) stock during the May 24th NPR *All Things Considered* live broadcast, causing us to suffer huge losses.

As a star, you have the right to invest, but you have no right to use your influence to let ignorant children take risks with family savings.

My child is only 15 years old, she doesn't understand anything, but she went all-in just because of your "buy" word. She is now grounded. What hurts me is not just the loss of money, but that her blind trust in you was crushed.

I demand that you apologize publicly, admit that your remarks misled teenagers, and promise to stop such behavior.

You can continue to promote your new film, but don't use your charm to push children into financial traps again. Regarding this, I have prepared to contact a lawyer and consider litigation to pursue your legal responsibility. At the same time, I call on the Warner Bros. management to restrain your public remarks and protect more families from harm.

Mr. Chen Nuo, your "dream" may be charming, but for us parents, it is a nightmare. Please face your responsibility and stop letting our children pay for your irresponsible words and deeds.

An angry parent."

This day, when this letter was screenshotted and put on the wall of the Warner conference room together with other representative messages.

The entire conference room was silent, all the shareholders looked at each other, and no one spoke.

Finally, it was Michael Slan who broke the silence, "Now we don't need to increase the promotional fee, from this point, I want to thank you on behalf of Warner Bros. My dear Chen."

Chen Nuo sat beside him, his expression not very heavy, just sighed and said: "Michael, don't worry, I will solve the mess I caused myself."

"No, this is our common matter." Christopher Nolan, who was sitting at the other end of the conference table, said seriously, "This is the promotional strategy we set together from the beginning, we originally wanted to create some controversy. And now, the goal has been achieved, and it's better than we imagined."

Nolan's wife Emma Thomas also took over: "

"Not only that, but now all the major entertainment media, including comprehensive television networks like CNN, NBC, and ABC, as well as financial news from CNBC and Bloomberg, are all talking about our film."

"This is all because of this controversy of yours."

"Just as Michael said, this controversy has saved us tens of millions in promotional costs. Therefore, I completely agree with Christopher's point of view."

"Chen, this is not just your own affair."

The representative from the Hengdian Group, a manager surnamed Liu who had been sitting in the corner of the conference table and hadn't spoken for over half an hour, also said in English at this moment: "Our opinion is the same. Now the whole of America is talking about our film, which is of huge benefit to our premiere. So, we also will not agree to let Mr. Chen Nuo face this alone."

After finishing, he said to Chen Nuo in Chinese: "Chen Zong, this is Xu Dong's intention. On this matter, we at Hengdian stand with you."

At this moment, the conference room fell silent for a short while.

Chen Nuo felt a bit of social anxiety.

Honestly, he had thought someone would jump out to spar with him, throw some sarcasm, or something, but he hadn't expected it to be so harmonious. Except for Warner, who seemed to be watching from the sidelines, everyone else was on his side.

This... was actually a bit cheesy.

As for him, there were two reasons he spouted off at the radio station that day.

First, Melissa had communicated with him beforehand. As a former internet celebrity who feared nothing, he felt this method was good after hearing it. Not only was it full of gimmicks, but it was also very persuasive. What could be more effective than directly taking out money to prove that you are bullish on this film?

Second, because as Melissa told him during their communication, he not only had confidence, but he also really had the money to cause fluctuations in the stock market to maximize the promotional effect.

Chen Bi was truly a father who said one thing but meant another. Although he had flatly refused over the phone, he somehow found out the amount of the deposit and actually scraped together 20 million USD in foreign exchange and wired it to his account.

With this 20 million sitting there, taking 10 million out to buy stocks wouldn't cause any impact on his capital chain.

Adding these two reasons together, that was why he agreed on the spot.

As for the trouble that was stirred up later, well, it was indeed an oversight.

Whether it was him or Allison who accompanied him, neither had expected that American kids were actually so damn crazy. They really dared to go bankrupt for their idols! This money was truly easy to earn, and these people were truly stupid.

No wonder this generation grew up and got the right to vote; in later times, with a little bit of hoodwinking, even a jerk like Old Tang could take office.

Having caused a mess, Allison felt quite guilty, but Chen Nuo didn't think too much about it.

Still the same saying: he had money.

If he really had to pay, he could afford it.

So, at the first opportunity, after Allison communicated with the lawyers, he actually issued a statement that very day.

"... As long as it can be proven that the stocks were bought by minors under my influence, hold them for one month after the film's release, until August 1st. If the closing price on August 1st is lower than the closing price of 15.04 USD on June 24th, I will fully compensate for the losses caused."

"If it is higher than 15.04 USD, I hope parents can give your children some rewards."

"And the 10 million USD invested by me, including all the surplus generated, will be used to establish a charitable education foundation in the future. This foundation will be dedicated to cultivating children with investment talent."

"Here, I understand the angry feelings of the parents, but I ask you not to blame your children. I take full responsibility for the chaos caused this time."

"I hereby express my sincere apologies."

Michael Slan read it word for word.

Afterward, he applauded and exclaimed: "A perfect PR draft. Everything is so just right. You might lose a little money in the end, but you can say you've won the praise of the whole world. Especially your fans, Chen, I dare say, even if you asked them to join a revolution with you now, they would be willing."

"Any thoughts? Come to America and start a socialist revolution?"

Chen Nuo chuckled: "If you have something to say, just say it, Michael."

"Alright."

Michael Slan smacked his lips, shook his head, and then touched the top of his head, which didn't have many hairs left, and said: "Chen, Chairman Barry Meyer is on vacation now. However, he asked me to bring you a message: thank you for letting them buy our stocks."

"On this matter, Warner owes you a favor. No matter how much needs to be paid in the end, we at Warner will share the losses with you."

Damn, the whole table was really full of friendly forces now.

Chen Nuo sighed again and said: "I really want to say thank you. But, I can't bring myself to say it."

Everyone laughed.

"However, I still hope we won't lose money in the end. On the contrary, I really want us to crush Goldman Sachs this time," Michael Slan suddenly said. "Damn it, that son of a bitch Mason Collins has been shorting us since before The Dark Knight. The Dark Knight made him stop for two years, and now he's back! I really want to blow his head off!"

Christopher Nolan asked in surprise: "Is someone shorting? Are you sure? I thought it was a problem with the stock itself."

"I have news, it is indeed Mason Collins! Yesterday, Goldman Sachs even placed a large short order, waiting to eat our flesh and drink our blood after our film is released. Also, Chen, do you know who united to contact those parents to prepare to sue you? It's him too!"

Chen Nuo was stunned and frowned: "Still placing a large short order now, isn't he afraid of a margin call?"

Michael Slan sighed: "He is very cunning. Making him pay the price and forcing him to cover his position is too difficult, unless..."

He paused, "Unless we can create a miracle."

PS:

"Mason Collins: Chapter 185"

"Susan: Chapter 391"

(End of chapter)