Chapter 409

On July 8, "Inception" was released simultaneously in the UK, the US, and Canada.

This means that the first stage of "Inception" promotion is over, and Chen Nuo can finally take a breath.

After the UK premiere on July 1, he participated in the Paris premiere on July 3, the Los Angeles premiere on July 5, and the Toronto premiere on July 7.

It can be said that every day he opens his eyes, he is on the road, facing the media.

Most of the time, sleeping is also done on the Gulfstream GS350 rented by the crew. This is his first time running a schedule on a private jet, which is much more comfortable than taking an airline passenger plane.

No curious eyes from flight attendants, no passengers who suddenly come to strike up a conversation, no mobile phones pointing at his face.

Most importantly, boarding and deplaning are all at the private terminal. Avoiding the ordinary passenger area. The boarding process will not be exposed to the public eye, and there is no need to worry about being checked by paparazzi.

Compared to this, the comfort of the plane itself is not surprising.

After all, this is just a GS350. He went to the Nevada Gulfstream company back then and experienced the GS550 he ordered. The full-flat leather seat system and customized intelligent environmental control system in it are definitely not comparable to the 350.

More than ten years later, Elon Musk flew from Washington to Beijing on a GS550 to report on his work, which shows the status of the 550 in private jets for a considerable period of time in the future.

Just like the evaluation of "Inception" on IMDb, Douban, and Rotten Tomatoes in the past life.

As long as you pay attention, it is impossible to ignore it.

Therefore, when he heard Neil Bloom, the person in charge of Warner North America distribution who was responsible for North American distribution this time, say a lot of numbers in an incomparably excited tone in the Warner conference room, he didn't have much feeling in his heart.

It's just IMDb 9.2, ranking first with a score of 9.7 from senior fans on IMDb 250.

But it's not like he hasn't experienced it, wasn't "The Dark Knight" the same back then?

The opening score was scary, feeling like it was going to slaughter gods.

What about now? 9.4 points tied for second with The Godfather, suppressed by The Xiao Shenke Redemption.

Let's talk about Rotten Tomatoes.

Although the current freshness is 94%, and the audience popcorn index is 97%, it is also "amazing."

But it has only been one night, the number of reviews is only 73, and there are not even 10,000 audience ratings.

With such a small sample, the wind direction may turn at any time, what is worth mentioning?

What CinemaScore gave a rare A+, Metacritic gave 86 points, PostTrak audience rating five-star share 92%, #inception3dmax topic on X platform has exceeded 1 million views, etc.

To be honest, after experiencing "The Dark Knight," Chen Nuo doesn't take these seriously. It feels like just a false name, fleeting.

What he cares about is ticketsales box office.

Only the golden box office numbers are the hard currency that makes everyone shut up, makes the global media turn around, makes doubters silent, and makes his 10 million unblocked!

As a result,

The midnight box office of 5.5 million dollars, in his view, is not good, just 2.5 million more than the 3 million of "Avatar" back then.

Compared with the 9.8 million of The Dark Knight and the 9.5 million of Twilight, it can be said that it is nothing.

Compared with the 8 million box office sold by their competitor "Transformers 3" on June 21, it is also nearly 1/3 worse!

In more than 4,300 cinemas, the midnight attendance rate of each cinema is less than 49%, but the IMAX hall is not bad, reaching 68%. But there is still a gap with the number in his mind.

This Neil Bloom is still saying what meets expectations here.

Sorry, his expectations are not like this.

This is the 3DMAX version of "Inception"!

Are you kidding!

"Clap clap clap!"

Michael Slane clapped his hands and said with a beaming smile: "4.5 million! Thank you all for your hard work during this time! Thank you Christopher, thank you Chen, this makes me not have to worry about being scolded when I call Barry later, thank God."

After saying a bunch of fart words, the fat man felt it was not enough, and actually stood up.

Making Chen Nuo also have to stand up and force a smile to shake hands with him.

Then Chen Nuo sighed silently in his heart and said: "Michael, tell me about the next arrangement."

Michael Slane was a little surprised and said: "What do you mean?"

"My work arrangement."

"Uh, I don't understand. Wasn't it agreed before? You rest in LA for three days, go to Tokyo three days later, participate in the premiere there with Watanabe, and it's best to go on one or two variety shows to promote the Japanese release on the 15th?"

"I know, but I think, does the US side still need me to follow up?"

"This............... If you are willing, of course I am very supportive, but I think it is better for you to rest." Michael Slane shrugged.

Nolan also followed up and said: "Chen, I also strongly suggest you relax. You have been working hard for so long, and the next schedule is also the most tiring among us. Besides Japan, you have to go to Korea, and finally China. Give yourself some breathing space. I'm really afraid that your body will have problems."

"That's right, Chen, take a good rest these days."

"You have been working continuously for a week, and you have to work 4-5 hours every day, it's too tiring, relax yourself."

"We have already had a good start, and next we just need to wait for the word-of-mouth to ferment according to the plan."

"Yeah, yeah."

"Yeah, yeah."

People in the conference room spoke one after another, all persuading him.

But Chen Nuo couldn't listen.

How could he listen!?

That little money in stocks is a small matter, but what about the money he invested in this film?

The total investment of Huanxin Company in "Inception" reached 155 million US dollars, which is about 1 billion RMB!

If the global ticketsales doesn't sell for 1 billion US dollars, he won't even get his capital back!

This is not just his money.

There are also Qi Yuntian, Liu Yifei, and Fan Bingbing's.

The company hasn't paid dividends for several years, and everyone is looking forward to whether they can earn some this time. Everyone's family property is in it, and if there is any mistake, his GS550 leather seat will be as intelligent and soft as it is, it will only be like sitting on pins and needles.

It is said that series films have their own fan base, like Transformers and Twilight, these fan films are "high opening and low walking, eating dry and wiping clean in the first three days" explosive types, while "Avatar" and them are long-tail types that rely on word-of-mouth to continue to ferment.

However, the naked box office gap is shaking in front of him...

Just like the old saying—I understand the truth, but I just can't help it.

Chen Nuo interrupted immediately: "It doesn't matter, I don't need to rest, I'm not tired. Michael, help me arrange it."

Michael Slane was stunned, then shook his head, and said with emotion: "I always heard that Chinese people are very diligent, and I didn't believe it. Now, Chen, you have moved me very much. Then... Neil, tell me about the invitations we have received now?"

"All of them?" Neil Bloom hesitated.

Facing Michael Slane's look for advice, Chen Nuo nodded: "Yes, all of them. I will go to Japan on July 12. There are still 2 days. How many can I go to?"

"Uh, among the invitations we have received now, there are about 'The Ellen Show', 'Jimmy Kimmel Live', 'Jimmy Fallon Show', 'Today Show', and 'Good Morning America'... these seven or eight. Then I will contact them? See which ones can be arranged."

"Good."

Wow!

Seeing Chen Nuo really agree, the whole conference room was in an uproar.

When have Warner's American fat guys seen such a thing, they immediately whispered to each other and cast admiring glances at Chen Nuo.

"Too professional."

"Definitely the most professional star I've ever seen."

"This guy is simply an iron man!"

"God, if anyone forces me to do this, I'd rather go to the assembly line to tighten small screws to make mobile phones."

"Yeah, yeah, I'd rather go to Nike to stick shoe soles."

Even Christopher Nolan asked with admiration: "Chen, do you really don't need to rest? Are you sure you're not tired?"

Chen Nuo smiled faintly and said "Um."

July 9, New York time, Monday, 8:30 AM.

There are still 60 minutes before the US stock market opens.

Mason Collins and Jerry are waiting in full battle array.

"Jason, are you really going to close all positions?"

"Yes."

"But..."

This time, it was Jerry who was indecisive, "Mason, do you want to think about it again? Maybe things aren't that bad? Look at the pre-market, it has already risen by 3%, how much more can it rise? I estimate that there will be a lot of selling pressure as soon as the market opens, do you want to wait a bit? Every 1% can let us get back 1.08 million dollars, this is not a small amount."

Hearing the number 1.08 million, at this moment, Mason Collins couldn't help but hesitate.

But...

Several bright numbers floated in front of his eyes.

It was what he saw yesterday morning.

North American opening day box office 29.35 million, UK opening day box office 6.15 million.

It looks plain, right?

Not only can't compare with "Transformers 3," but it is also far from all records.

HBO's box office analysis expert Raffi Clausen also made a mocking sound on Sunday's show, "Great publicity, record-breaking number of theaters, more than 4,300 theaters, the gimmick of 3DMAX, the star offensive promoted globally, hahaha, but in the end, it created such a result. Warner Bros. wants to replicate James Cameron's box office myth? But it has become a joke."

"Even if Christopher Nolan plus Chen Nuo, it can't compare to James Cameron's little finger, oh no, the facts prove that they can't even compare to Michael Bay. Look at the strong trend of "Transformers 3" this weekend, compared to last week, they created a very good box office result even though the screening volume dropped by 25%!"

"I believe that theater managers across the US are regretting now, why did they bet on a film that no one has seen, instead of believing in Transformers!"

"I bet that the first weekend box office that comes out tomorrow will not exceed 65 million. Compared with their own "The Dark Knight," and "Transformers 3," it is far inferior."

"I predict that it will be significantly reduced in screening volume by theaters after the two-week lock-in period, and become an embellishment for second and third-tier cinemas."

"The final global ticketsales may barely reach 500 million, far below Warner's 10 billion expectation!"

Is it good or not?

Very good.

Does it make sense to listen to it?

Of course it makes sense.

From the eloquent mouth of Raffi Clausen, is it inflammatory?

Absolutely inflammatory!

If it weren't for this, he Mason Collins is not a philanthropist, why would he pay 200,000 dollars to let him talk nonsense for five minutes?

It's not just Raffi Clausen.

He started arranging for people to send anonymous emails on Saturday night, with content mainly focusing on "Warner's lack of confidence in 3D word-of-mouth" and "early internal test response is flat."

In the middle, he also found several tabloids, using their accounts on Twitter to release "real audience feedback data," simulating 1,000 fictional reviewers, and making feedback on the film like "visual skills, difficult plot."

Finally, on Sunday, Raffi personally went down to the field, sat in the HBO weekly review show, and started to criticize it.

The purpose of everything is to let him close the position smoothly with the smallest loss! Jerry is still waiting for his response,

"... No, forget it, close all positions!"

When saying this sentence, Mason Collins closed his eyes, remembering that he was also prepared to add positions to short, sending others to hell.

But who would have thought... he walked into the cinema on the weekend, ready to see the quality of this film with his own eyes.

As a result, when the movie had only been playing for less than an hour and a half, when he saw the lifelike city in front of him, realistically rolling over, those buildings and streets were like an overwhelming giant wave, collapsing towards his eyes.

He had only seen such a scene in "Avatar."

On the planet Pan Duola, those giant dragons were diving towards his eyes in the sky like this. And the final result was that the giant dragon finally rolled away 3 billion US dollars from global cinemas, and sprayed all the guys who were bearish on this film with the highest investment in history and shorted News Corp into charred corpses with a dragon breath.

And this time, shouldn't it be his turn?

Mason Collins stopped himself from thinking further, and a sense of luck rose in his heart.

No, it won't.

Now he still has floating profit in his hands, and he can still retreat completely!

But just at this moment, his face suddenly changed greatly.

Because on the computer screen in front of him, Warner stock, which is conducting small-amount pre-market trading, has changed. This time its K-line chart is not like a cobra, but like a giant python, suddenly climbing upward slowly and resolutely.

"Mom! Hurry up, don't hesitate!"

In Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Susan looked at the screen on the computer and couldn't help screaming, "Don't wait, look, it has already risen by 3.4%! Hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry up and do it!"

Karen turned back and scolded: "Shut up! Didn't you say you had a cold? Why don't you look like it at all now?"

"Mom, what time is it, why do you still care about this? Anyway, you have already asked for leave for me, haven't you? Don't care, buy it! Hurry, hurry, hurry, oh my god, it's rising!"

"Buy a fart!" Karen Wilson scolded again, turned back to look at the screen.

Susan was right, although there were ups and downs, the whole line was indeed moving upward.

What to do?

It seems that it is not just her who is optimistic about Warner, and she really should buy it.

But her money hasn't arrived yet.

Although 20,000 US dollars were transferred to the stock account over the weekend, the banking system does not work on weekends, and it must wait until the market opens before it arrives.

"Mom!"

"Don't be noisy!"

Regarding this point, Karen Wilson was too lazy to explain to Susan.

"Mom, don't you want to buy it anymore? Don't, Mom!"

Susan saw it from the side and couldn't help but feel anxious, and said eagerly: "Think about the materials we watched together on the weekend, what did those film critics on Rotten Tomatoes say!?"

"'The New York Times' said, this is the greatest sci-fi film in history, in front of it, Star Wars is eclipsed! 'The Hollywood Reporter' said Chen and Nolan together, once again gave this summer's film market an unparalleled surprise. 'Variety' said it presented a 3D effect no less than 'Avatar'. And 'The Washington Post' even said it surpassed 'Avatar'! Because the beauty of Pan Duola cannot compare to the magnificence and incredibility of dreams!"

"Look at the freshness on Rotten Tomatoes again, from 94% on the first day to 96% now, the number of reviews collected has exceeded 250, but its score has risen by 2% compared to before, doesn't this explain the problem?"

"And IMDb is the same, IMDb-250 rose from 9.7 to 9.8! Mom, it is 0.4 higher than 'The Godfather' and 'The Dark Knight', and 0.3 higher than 'The Xiao Shenke Redemption'!"

"It didn't even cause too much controversy, didn't start a war like the fans of 'The Dark Knight' and 'The Godfather' back then, it seems to have received common recognition from everyone!"

"And the topics and posts on X, there are already hundreds of thousands, even Avatar doesn't have so many! CinemaScore A+, PostTrak five-star share 82%..."

"Mom, if you don't believe these, don't you believe the cinema we walked into together? Such an expensive IMAX cinema, we can only sit in the damn second row!"

"Don't listen to that stupid ghost box office expert from HBO, I bet he must have received money from someone! Maybe it's 'Transformers 3'! They are jealous to death, do you know?"

"Aurore and Joseph have even gone for the third time, and are now preparing to buy tickets for the fourth time! You know, Joseph can't even be said to be Chen's fan, he will watch this film, all because of the film itself!"

"'Inception's' weekend box office must be very good, I bet!"

"I looked at the stock increase of News Corp after Avatar was released on the weekend, Warner's market value is about 30% smaller than News Corp, and it fell quite a bit before, so I think it has at least 20% increase!"

"Mom~~~~ don't hesitate!"

During Susan's speech, Karen Wilson's face changed from impatience at the beginning to calm, and then suddenly explained: "I didn't hesitate, I didn't buy it because my money hasn't arrived yet. Susan, the data you just said, did you watch it on the weekend?"

"Yes, Mom." Susan's voice immediately became smaller, "I finished my homework before going online, I just wanted to help a little bit."

Karen Wilson looked at Susan thoughtfully and said: "I didn't expect you to remember so much data... It seems that you inherited your father's talent in finance and numbers in this regard."

"Okay, Mom, don't talk about this. Look at the stock! My god, it has risen to 4% now! Fuck! Don't rise anymore!"

"Susan, don't say dirty words!"

"Sorry Mom, I just... shit, it's still rising! Damn it, how much will it rise to when the market opens!?"

"Susan!"

The answer is 6%.

From the closing price of 13.04 dollars on Friday, it rose to 13.82 dollars!

At this time, Karen Wilson hesitated, but in the end, under Susan's repeated urging, she bought all 20,000 US dollars.

On the other hand, Mason Collins hesitated.

If it were 3%, he would still have a floating profit of several million dollars.

But if he closed the position at 13.82 dollars, plus the 600,000 lost before and various news costs, this operation almost made him lose a million dollars!

Therefore, no matter how experienced Mason Collins was, he really hesitated.

In fact, in the first half hour, his hesitation seemed quite correct.

Because after opening high at the 6% point, Warner stock rushed to 7%, and a large number of sell orders emerged, suddenly hitting the stock price to 4% again.

At this time, Mason Collins felt that everything was not so terrible.

So he chose to continue waiting.

Anyway, according to past practice, it will not be until 12:00 noon that authoritative box office statistical websites like BoxOfficeMojo or Score will release the data collected from film companies and cinemas.

It's only past 10:00 AM now, and he still has a lot of time to think about whether to bet on it.

However, he was not idle, and has been keeping in touch with an acquaintance in BoxOfficeMojo, ensuring that he can get news in advance before the box office is made public.

This is the so-called tentacle of Wall Street.

Similar relationships, up to the White House in Washington, down to a certain police station in Atlanta, are all-pervasive.

In this case, how can the so-called retail investors fight him!?

"I'm helping you so much, how should you thank me?"

"Anything you want. Do you want to fuck you well next time we meet? Erin, your pussy always makes me unable to stop."

"Shit, Mason, don't talk about this on text, I'm afraid of being seen."

"By whom? Your husband? Or your lecherous boss? Are you afraid of letting him know that you are actually a cheating bitch?"

"Fuck you, Mason. Be careful next time we meet, I'll bite your cock off."

"Hahaha, I..."

Mason Collins put his legs on the table, tilted all three chair legs backward, maintained a dangerous balance with his butt, and chatted with the acquaintance on the opposite side via text message on his mobile phone.

This text message just typed a few words.

"WTF!" A panicked exclamation came.

With a "clatter," Mason was startled and lost his balance, falling to the ground. But he couldn't care about the pain, climbed up and rushed to the screen, "What's wrong? Jerry!"

"Look Mason, WTF, what the hell happened!"

Mason Collins stared, and suddenly, his brain felt dizzy for a moment.

I saw the K-line chart of Warner stock, that is no longer a cobra, a cobra can't be raised so high, that is clearly a dragon standing on the top of the mountain, starting to flap its wings, ready to fly into the sky at any time.

The original 4% has suddenly risen to 8% in this sudden momentum, 2% more than the opening price.

If it rises a few more points, it will touch his stop-loss line!

"What's going on!?" Mason Collins shouted, "You guys check quickly, call and ask, who is entering the market, where is the problem? Fuck, fuck!"

Just when his office was in a mess, his mobile phone rang again.

It was the text message from the old lover.

"Mason, look at NBC! Today Show! Chen is on it!"

Mason Collins suddenly had a bad premonition.

When he rushed out of the office, came to the office hall, turned on the TV on the side, and saw with Jerry who followed him the Today Show on NBC from 9 to 11 every morning, the black-haired man on TV obviously had finished saying what he should say.

And the host Matt Lauer was shouting in surprise: "Are you serious? Chen, is this the data you just received? 88.7 million dollars, this is your box office result for the three days of the weekend!?"

The black-haired man was wearing a black suit, his eyes were sharp, a confident smile hung on the corners of his mouth, like a dream thief walking out of a dream, his aura was steady and full of charm.

Hearing the host's question, he nodded and said: "Yes, that's right."

"My god..." The host exclaimed again.

And what was said next, Mason Collins couldn't listen anymore.

88.7 million dollars, 11.7 million higher than the original "Avatar"!

Even "Transformers 3," which is fan-oriented and full of brand effects, only leads it by less than 11 million!

What does this mean?

Mason understood everything.

This bastard actually... does he know the rules! Why did he announce the box office on TV? He is just a mere actor... by the way, he seems to be an investor?

Fuck, it's over!

Mason's brain was in a mess, this surprise attack completely disrupted his plan.

"Mason, what should we do?" Jerry's panicked voice sounded from the side.

Mason then came back to his senses, "Close the position! Close the position immediately!"

He shouted, and ran to the office with his legs.

And on the TV screen behind him.

The man who was originally energetic suddenly covered his mouth and yawned lazily.

"Chen, there is no doubt that this result exceeded the expectations of all box office prediction experts. Do you have anything to say to the audience? Especially those who bought Warner stock under your influence?"

Chen Nuo decided that he would go back to sleep after finishing, and sleep until the sky is dark.

As for the programs in the afternoon and evening, sorry, whoever loves to go, go. As for the face of being diligent and professional, sorry, he really has limited ability, so he won't earn it for the Chinese.

Hearing Matt Lauer's words, he didn't even want to speak English, and said directly in Chinese: "Gong Xi Fa Cai."

(End of chapter)