Chapter 427: How many people in the whole world could refuse?

Chen Nuo's prediction was not wrong.

On the day *Inception* surpassed *Titanic* on the global box office charts with a global gross of 2.13 billion USD, major media outlets worldwide reported on it extensively.

For free.

The *New York Times*, *The Hollywood Reporter*, and *Variety* in the United States; *Le Monde* and *Cahiers du Cinéma* in France; *The Guardian* and *Empire* in the UK; *Der Spiegel* and *Süddeutsche Zeitung* in Germany; the *Beijing Daily* and *China Youth Daily* in mainland China; *Ming Pao* and *Apple Daily* in Hong Kong; the *United Daily News* in Taiwan; as well as newspaper media in Italy, Singapore, South Korea, Brazil, South Africa, and other countries, along with various entertainment media on the internet.

When they all introduced this film and the achievements it had attained to date on their front pages or near-front pages on September 4, 2011.

The advertising value contained within could be said to be priceless.

After all, no matter how awesome a distribution company is, it has no way to coordinate newspapers in so many countries and regions across the globe to uniformly publish feature reports on the same film on the same day.

Being able to trigger such a wide range of dissemination without spending a single cent was not because of Chen Nuo's or Warner's face, but because *Inception*'s 2.13 billion USD box office came from the whole world; it was not a product dominated by any single country.

Over 600 million in North America, over 300 million in Japan, nearly 300 million in China, 190 million in the UK, 140 million in South Korea, 120 million in France, 110 million in Germany, 110 million in Southeast Asia, Australia... It was these solid box office figures and market performances that jointly supported this film miracle that covered the globe once again after *Avatar*.

Among them, several figures were eye-catching.

One was that in North America and the UK, it had been the weekly box office champion for 7 consecutive weeks.

One was that in Japan, it broke the highest acceptance rate of foreign films by local audiences since Hayao Miyazaki, becoming the first non-Japanese language film to break 300 million USD at the box office.

Besides that, it was the turn of the Chinese market, which had been showing for a little over three weeks.

When *Inception* surpassed traditional box office powerhouses like the UK, France, and South Korea here with a box office performance of 290 million USD, becoming the third-largest box office market in the world outside of North America and Japan... this forced global film companies to all perk up and re-examine this former "film desert" with new eyes.

If *Avatar* moving the Chinese film market from the "100 million era" to the "1 billion era" was a coincidence.

Then, when a second English-language film sold 290 million USD in this country, bringing China into the "2 billion era" just over a year later, one could not help but look at the consumption potential of this nation of 1.3 billion people with newfound respect.

The intensive reporting on this day also attracted the attention of many, many people.

In Shanghai, China, someone walked into a Wanda Cinema with their girlfriend, who originally didn't like watching movies, out of curiosity.

At an AMC in New York, a couple out celebrating their anniversary also decided to go try this blockbuster that had surpassed *Titanic*.

In Seoul, a high school student surnamed Li put down their mouse and decided to go see this movie that was being talked about as miraculous online with friends.

And in front of an IMAX theater in Madrid, a company employee who had seen it at a regular theater three weeks ago was stirred by the newspapers to recall the wonderful memories after finishing it, and decided to come try the giant screen experience.

Just like that, under the media tsunami of mainstream global media reporting in unison and constant heated discussion on social platforms, many middle-aged and elderly audiences who originally had little interest in this film, as well as casual viewers who watched movies occasionally, also flocked into theaters. There were also some fans who had already seen the movie who didn't lack the desire to buy tickets again.

In the mouths of every box office analysis expert, the emergence of this ticket-buying craze was destined to cause *Inception*'s box office curve, which had already slowed down in many countries, to tilt upward once again.

The stock market was the first to react to this.

On September 6, Time Warner stock rose by 3%, breaking through the 20 USD mark that had been fluctuating for a long time.

Up to this point, it had already risen by 35% from two months ago.

Karen Wilson cleared out her last 100 shares of Time Warner at this moment. Finally, looking at the stock account balance of 56,831.21 USD on her phone screen, she let out a long sigh of relief.

From a loss of 6,000 to a profit of 16,000 now, the process really left her feeling haggard.

Although she couldn't sell everything at the highest point, earning this much in 2 months was enough to satisfy her. This was the largest sum of money she had received since divorcing her ex-husband, greatly easing her financial pressure.

Thank God.

Karen Wilson lay on her chair as if drained of all strength, and only came back to her senses when a colleague called her.

"Coming."

The moment before leaving, she thought, perhaps, satisfying Susan's wish wasn't impossible?

The people paying attention to the stock on this day were not just the single mother in Baton Rouge raising a star-struck daughter, but many more.

For example, Quentin Tarantino's phone had been ringing non-stop since 4 PM that day.

"I'm not joking... yes yes, I must ask them." The middle-aged director's voice rang out in the corner of a restaurant in LA, with his unique nasal emphasis.

"No no no, Chen won't invest, neither he nor Leo will, but they have been waiting for me for so long, I must discuss it with them. This is respect."

"... Soon, I contacted him yesterday. He will be in LA in these two days. He has finished his business in Japan."

"Hahaha, yes, lucky Warner... yes yes, I also think his promotional effect is quite good. Thank you for your praise, I will pass it on to him."

"... I personally am very, very inclined to cooperate with you, I will give you news very soon, Brad, bye."

Hanging up the phone with the third film company to contact him today, Paramount Chairman Brad Grey, Quentin smiled dashingly and triumphantly, and said to the blonde woman in front of him, "Sorry dear, where were we?"

"Talking about how you are about to film a movie with Nuo Chen, and Leonardo DiCaprio..." The heavily made-up blonde beauty blinked her big blue eyes, "Dear, do you think it's possible, um-huh?"

Quentin smiled, and suddenly, felt something touch his leg.

Looking down, a stark-naked, glistening white bare foot was slowly moving up from his calf.

The foot shape was perfect, exactly the same as in the photos online. The five toes painted with bright red nail polish were like five tender cherries, looking incomparably moist.

He swallowed his saliva, and just as he was about to speak, the phone screen in front of him lit up again.

He looked at the name of the caller, especially the note above, 21fox, a sneer appeared on the corner of his mouth, and he picked it up, saying "Hello" nonchalantly.

After listening to the other end of the phone for a long time, he then said: "Tom, I am very sorry, after you rejected me last time, I contacted Lionsgate, we talked very happily, so, very sorry, next time."

Then he heard the voice from the receiver, and couldn't help but have his expression freeze, saying in surprise: "What!?"

"... Really, Quentin, my boss really values this matter very much, so his wife has already made an appointment with him, and will meet when he comes to the United States."

"So what? This doesn't mean anything."

"Quentin, don't be like this, there are not many people in the world who can refuse Murdoch, you understand what I mean, Deng still has very great influence in China. Don't be childish, I apologize to you for my previous rashness. You also have to be considerate of me, I am sitting in this position, Mr. Murdoch puts a lot of pressure on me, I must be careful. And we all know, you didn't talk anything through with Lionsgate. So, give us Fox another chance, OK?"

Quentin Tarantino clenched his fist on the dining table, was silent for a while, and said: "No."

"Please..."

"Sorry, Tom, I'm still having dinner, so, that's it. Bye."

After speaking, Quentin hung up the phone directly.

Don't ask him how a small director dared to hang up on the phone of 21st Century Fox Film Chairman Tom Rothman, the reason lay in his next move.

After hanging up the phone, he took a deep breath, the annoyance in his eyes flashed and disappeared, and his attention instantly returned to what was in front of him.

He licked his lips and said: "Dear, you possess such a beautiful treasure, can you allow me..."

The blonde beauty pouted and asked: "Then can you let me make a cameo in the movie?"

"No, I can't." Quentin said seriously, "However, I can let you come to the scene at that time and take a photo with Chen and Leo."

The blonde beauty's eyes lit up, "You mean it!?"

"Of course, so?"

The blonde beauty smiled gently and said: "Then come on."

"Thank you." Quentin Tarantino replied politely, then picked up the napkin on the table to wipe his mouth, and then his body slowly slid down, avoiding the waiter's gaze, and quietly dived under the table.

From beginning to end, his hand had been holding that glistening jade foot.

It could truly be said, unable to let go... of the foot.

Chen Nuo was indeed leaving Japan to go to the United States.

But not because Wendi Deng suddenly contacted him through Li Bingbing, saying she wanted to make an appointment to meet him in the United States.

This was a small matter, he was going to the United States to handle a major event ten thousand times more important than meeting Mrs. Deng.

This matter had to be completed before September 30, and there were less than 3 weeks left from now. For this, Qi Yuntian had already flown to California in advance to hire a legal team, started docking in advance, and prepared various legal documents.

Regarding this, Chen Nuo was also full of anticipation.

Undoubtedly, the contract he was going to sign this time could be said to be the most important contract since his rebirth. No matter how much the significance within was exaggerated, it would not be an overstatement.

Compared to it, meeting Wendi Deng... really didn't count for anything. Unless the message Wendi Deng brought was that Murdoch was prepared to transfer some shares of the Fox TV station to him.

Hahahahaha.

However, no matter how excited and impatient Chen Nuo was, the finishing work in Japan still had to be done well.

Li Jing was in the country, Qi Yuntian was in the United States, and the people he could use in his hands were really not many. Currently, there were only two people doing preliminary preparations with Fuji TV in Japan.

One was a local Japanese, and one was the master of the local Japanese, an American, thinking about it, it should be foolproof.

Only the Japanese seemed to have a little lack of confidence. Making him have to explain patiently. "Gongze Huili, I have already signed the contract with them, you only need to contact a headhunter next, do a good job of recruitment, represent me personally to supervise the company's operation, dock with Fuji TV, keep an eye on the progress of the preliminary preparations, if there is anything you are not sure about, send me an email, and call me when necessary. Very simple work."

After saying this, Chen Nuo paused, then looked at her worried expression, and sighed helplessly: "Can you not always look like you are about to go to the battlefield?"

Gongze Huili Miyazawa lowered her head and said in a low voice: "But... I am not a producer, and I have never filmed a TV series..."

"You don't need to. To summarize, you actually only do three things: keep an eye on people, pass messages, and ask questions. And these three aspects are all the expertise of you lawyers. Answer me, can you do it well?"

Chen Nuo also had a little lack of patience at this time.

If Gongze Huili Miyazawa was still in a timid appearance, he was not a good man, nor did he have the patience to coax a little fairy, he could only think he had misjudged the person, let Liu Xiaoli top it alone, and wait for Qi Yuntian to return.

But Qi Yuntian was still busy with things in Hong Kong, and it was impossible to devote himself entirely to Japan.

Thinking about it, Chen Nuo also had a bit of a headache, in one sentence, he had too few talents under his command now.

Sigh, President Cai, President Cai, when will your broken Tang Ren collapse?

Fortunately, after being silent for a while, Gongze Huili Miyazawa nodded and said: "I understand, Chen Jun."

She raised her head, looked at him and continued: "Actually, I also took some organizational management courses when I was in college, although I am not from a professional background, I will arrange the production work of this TV series according to the project system process, if... if it really doesn't work at that time, I will resign to you."

Chen Nuo was finally a little satisfied, nodded and said: "I am not throwing you here alone to ignore you, some people from China will also come over to be with you, but..."

He looked at Gongze Huili Miyazawa and said seriously: "As for that person's words, you can only listen to a little, absolutely cannot listen to all. Her brain is sometimes not very clear. Don't care what she says, whether she threatens you or bullies others, you must have your own position. If there is anything, call me directly. Understand?"

Gongze Huili Miyazawa said: "Hai, Chen Jun, I understand. Then what about Miss Yui Aragaki?"

"Treat her normally." Chen Nuo said lightly, "She has nothing to do with me now."

Gongze Huili Miyazawa nodded and said: "Hai!"

Up to this point, for Chen Nuo, this promotional trip to Japan had come to an end.

According to Elizabeth's estimation, this trip of his directly drove about 400-500 million yen in box office for *Inception*, which was 5-6 million USD.

As an appearance fee, it could be considered not bad. As for the indirect effect brought about, being able to let *Inception* go to what step in the Japanese market, whether it could impact 30 billion yen, that could only be walked step by step with time.

However, the smoothness of cooperating with Fuji on a TV series was quite unexpected to him.

Yui Aragaki evoked a certain impression in his memory, and as a result, he really found *Legal High* in Fuji TV's script library, the god-among-gods that sent Yui Aragaki to the throne of top Japanese actress and Masato Sakai to the god-seat of top male actor...

Chen Nuo could only say, this was all fate.

The gears of fate probably started turning 4 or 5 years ago.

He knew that in Fuji TV, there were probably many voices of doubt from top to bottom about him taking a fancy to such a parody comedy TV series, and even naming Yui Aragaki to play the heroine.

But did he care?

Hehe.

Caring about what those Japanese thought was not as good as caring about what the dog at home ate at night. Anyway, as long as Gongze Huili Miyazawa kept an eye on the direction of the crew for him, the final result would slap those Japanese in the face for him.

Departing from Tokyo this time, Chen Nuo fully absorbed the lesson at Hongqiao, abandoned the delusion, spent a lot of money three days in advance, rented a private jet, and also took the VIP channel of the private terminal, without appearing in public, which made the Japanese reporters and fans who had deployed in advance very disappointed.

"Chen Nuo Mysteriously Leaves Japan, Disappears Without Saying Goodbye, Fans Cry at Airport to See Him Off"

"Ratings Top, Inception Box Office Soars, Chen Nuo Leaves Japan Today After Sweeping Tokyo Like a Whirlwind"

"On-site Motorcade Photos! 'Creator of Miracles and Myths' Chen Nuo Returns Low-key, Never Appeared Throughout"

When the Japanese media used his car license plate photos to report the news of his leaving Japan, it made the South Korean fans feel a bit more balanced.

The discussion on Naver also changed from "Does Chen Nuo-xi really look down on us?" "Why would he rather go to Japan to participate in variety shows than participate in Korean programs?"

To "Hahahaha, what are the Japanese proud of." "Hahahaha, Ashiba, for our Korean fans, he gave two hours of his name at the premiere. As a result, except for promotional activities, the Japanese couldn't even see his private appearance."

As a result, these Korean posts were translated and passed to 2ch, and on that day, aggressive articles such as "Korea should have been wiped out during the colonial era" and "The country of thieves has started to comfort itself again" appeared, which caused another round of scolding war between Japan and South Korea, following the March 1st Movement and the Dokdo issue.

But these were all later stories.

On September 10, 2011, Chen Nuo arrived in Silicon Valley, USA, and met with Qi Yuntian and the legal team they hired here.

As a result, as soon as they met, after a little pleasantries, Qi Yuntian told him a bad news.

"I found that Zuckerberg has a bit of an intention to go back on his word..."

"Oh."

"What kind of reaction is this?"

Chen Nuo smiled and said: "Expected."

The year before last, with the help of Old Te, he signed a contract with FB to exchange 200 million USD for 2% of Facebook's shares. Students with good memories should all remember this matter.

Then, over the past two years, Facebook expanded rapidly, advertising revenue and user data surged, and the mobile business also gradually gained momentum.

The valuation circulating in the market had already doubled nearly ten times from when the contract was signed, soaring from the initial 10 billion USD to a sky-high price of 80 billion or even 100 billion USD.

If his 2% stake was calculated according to this valuation, it was worth at least 1.6-2 billion USD!

What kind of concept is this?

Just like the *Inception* he worked so hard on, in the end, the money earned wasn't enough for the fraction of this!

Not only that.

It is rumored that FB is now seeking to go public, and will be landing on NASDAQ in the first half of next year... at that time, it is unknown what the situation will be.

At this time, according to the character of the Jews who were only willing to pay him 1 million a year for endorsement fees, it would be strange if they felt comfortable, and it would be a ghost if they didn't want to go back on their word.

However, what could he do?

Chen Nuo asked: "So, do they have a way to go back on their word?"

A white lawyer on the side said: "Impossible, we have complete and valid contract texts, signing records, and emails and memos from the negotiations at the time. If it goes to court, they have no chance of winning. At that time, Facebook will bear very serious consequences, whether it is legal compensation liability or a trust crisis at the market level, they will suffer very great losses."

Chen Nuo never dared to believe everything the lawyer said, these people were habitual offenders who always boasted before and played Tai Chi after. In this regard, he still trusted Qi Yuntian's judgment more.

He turned his head to look at Qi Yuntian, Qi Yuntian shook his head and whispered in Chinese:

"Legally speaking, indeed not. However, so much money... if he wants to play a rogue lawsuit with us, and insists on being a rascal, it is not impossible. Although he has no chance of winning, he can drag it out. Once he drags it out, we will also have a headache, and many things will be affected. Therefore, it is best if we still talk to them properly, reach an agreement harmoniously, and don't let him be impulsive and do something that hurts both sides."

Chen Nuo nodded thoughtfully, "Does he think he will be impulsive?"

Qi Yuntian said: "Possible, because he is in Palo Alto right now. I made an appointment with him several times before, and he replied through his secretary, kept pushing it off, only letting Soderbergh meet with us, he never appeared once. I also don't know what he is thinking."

Chen Nuo thought for a while, nodded and said: "Okay, then I will call him now."

Qi Yuntian was not wrong, the closer it got to September 30, Mark Zuckerberg's mood indeed became worse and worse.

During this period, he had been plagued by a nightmare.

In the dream, he was entangled by a python, and then eaten bit by bit from head to toe.

Staring at the flashing name on the phone screen, he hesitated, but still picked up the phone.

"Haha, Chen, why did you suddenly think of calling me?" Zuckerberg said with a face full of smiles, "How have you been lately? Congratulations on your film creating a miraculous miracle, congratulations... haha, of course of course, I am in the office, haha, welcome welcome, I remember you have never been here before... OK, no problem, see you then."

The phone hung up, the smile on Zuckerberg's face also disappeared bit by bit, and his expression became a bit gloomy and unclear.

His chair turned gently, looking at the Silicon Valley morning sun outside the floor-to-ceiling window, after being in a daze for a while, he pressed the intercom button on the side of the table.

The secretary came over quickly, a twenty-something Korean-American girl with black hair, wearing a T-shirt and jeans, showing a mouth of white teeth when she smiled: "Mark?"

Undoubtedly, this was his favorite type. But in these few days, the Asian face made him feel restless, always reminding him of that snake.

He said briefly: "Help me prepare the conference room, I will use it at three o'clock in the afternoon."

The secretary nodded and said: "Okay, Mark."

"Also, call Xue Li over."

"OK."

After half a minute, his company's COO Sheryl Sandberg came over, "What's wrong? Mark?"

Zuckerberg looked at her and said: "Chen is coming over this afternoon, you prepare that plan from before."

Sheryl Sandberg was stunned, then sighed and said: "Okay. However, according to my judgment and understanding of him, Mark, I don't think he will agree."

"Who said that?" Mark Zuckerberg gritted his teeth and said, "This is 1 billion USD! Cash! How many people in the whole world can refuse?"

(End of this chapter) ===== CHAPTER 428 =====