Chapter 28: North American Premiere

In the United States, filing lawsuits is a commonplace occurrence.

And in the profit‑entangled Haolaiwu, bizarre lawsuits fly everywhere.

For example, the other party in the "Script Case," Huana Company, was sued over alleged infringement of the horror film Summon Souls. The plaintiff claimed that in '87 they signed a contract with the story's original model, the Warren couple, bought the exclusive rights, and published the novel Demon Master. Now Huana is blatantly plagiarizing my story and is demanding 900 million dollars in compensation.

Huana was stunned at the time; the Summon Souls series had only grossed 900 million dollars total, so the author could easily claim that amount as compensation.

Then the two sides litigated, and Huana's defense was: we adapted a true event, and it has nothing to do with your novel.

The problem is that the Summon Souls series is a ghost film!

If you say it's a true event, you must find a way to prove that the Warrens' supernatural experiences actually happened.

To win, the court would have to accept ghost testimony.

Then Huana Company was dumbfounded and had to cough up a large sum to settle out of court with the plaintiff.

And Ka Meilong, one of Haolaiwu's top‑grossing directors, constantly runs to court year after year.

Whenever he releases a blockbuster, someone jumps out claiming Ka Meilong stole their idea.

When Terminator was a hit, a writer claimed Ka Meilong plagiarized their work, but they could produce no evidence in court.

On Titanic's 20th anniversary, someone suddenly claimed to be the model for Jack, saying Ka Meilong wrote the script after hearing their account, yet still had no evidence.

After Avatar premiered, five writers in succession claimed Ka Meilong copied their ideas, demanding anywhere from 100 million to 1 billion dollars.

Ka Meilong traveled to courts across the country and won every case.

Then someone claimed that the "Nawei" character's design copied their album cover….

So Haolaiwu's reporters don't take the "Script Case" seriously, knowing it's just Columbia Company's hype for the release of The Matrix.

"Mr. Jiang, hello. I heard you're suing Huana Company for defamation. Is that true?" a tall, blonde‑eyed, beautiful female reporter squeezed to the front, microphone in hand, asked.

"Of course, Huana Company has shamelessly defamed me. They even falsely accused a Chinese person who had never been to the United States before The Matrix wrapped filming of stealing their script. Is there anything more outrageous? For my reputation, I want Huana Company to issue a public apology and give me moral damages."

To generate more buzz and box office, Jiang Heng had to go along with the custom, following Columbia Company's hype strategy.

The beautiful reporter's eyes lit up, she straightened up and asked, "So what amount do you hope for?"

"I want one‑fifth of The Matrix's total U. S. box office!"

A reporter beside him hurriedly asked, "What do you think The Matrix could earn?"

"I think at least 100 million dollars!"

"One hundred million dollars, one‑fifth is twenty million dollars?"

"Oh my God, that Chinese guy actually wants twenty million dollars in compensation. Is he crazy?"

"No, not twenty million; he means at least twenty million!"

"His expectations are too lofty; how could the box office be that high!"

"Hard to say…!"

The reporters buzzed, all shocked by Jiang Heng's remarks.

The Columbia Company staff were overjoyed, seeing their goal achieved, and cheerfully ushered Jiang Heng out of the crowd straight to the premiere venue.

Here, still many reporters present, Jiang Heng repeated his airport speech before taking seats with Wu Yan Zu, Li Meiqi, and others.

"Director Jiang, are you really planning to sue Huana?"

Wu Yan Zu, as a newcomer in the film world, felt an inexplicable pressure thinking that Huana is a Haolaiwu giant.

Seeing Jiang Heng speak confidently before the reporters, he felt a bit of admiration.

"American lawsuit costs are so high, I can't afford a case; it's just hype!" Jiang Heng whispered.

Li Meiqi said, "You're doing all this for film promotion, right?"

Jiang Heng smiled, "I guess so!"

"Can The Matrix really gross over a hundred million here?" Li Meiqi asked earnestly.

After all, Beimei is the world's largest film market; for a film she stars in to gross over a hundred million there, she can be called a true international star.

Seeing Wu Yan Zu also looking at him seriously, Jiang Heng smiled and whispered, "Plenty more!"

The original The Matrix's box‑office smash was partly because Yuan Heping was hired as martial‑arts director, delivering low‑dimensional strike action scenes.

Before that, Haolaiwu didn't make action movies; hand‑to‑hand combat was just you throwing a punch, me a kick, and maybe destroying the surroundings.

They seemed tough but were actually clumsy.

Cheng Long roamed Haolaiwu in the 1980s, and his failures with films like Assassin's Bunker and Shell Car were due to this.

Because Cheng Long lacked creative control then, he had to obey directors and producers, and his films never showcased his strengths; it wasn't until Rush Hour that he truly broke into Haolaiwu.

The premiere began with the Columbia Company president speaking, then after a change of speaker, Jiang Heng was invited onto the stage.

Next were Wu Yan Zu and Li Meiqi, each saying a few brief words, followed by a showcase of the film's highlights.

Before arriving, the reporters doubted that an unknown director from Xianggang could produce a film worthy of competition among several major Haolaiwu studios.

Columbia even agreed to a revenue‑share release, with a massive rollout in over 2,000 theaters.

When they saw on the big screen Li Meiqi's Trinity soaring, the camera rotating to kick the opponent, and Wu Yan Zu's Neo dodging bullets on a rooftop with spectacular effects, they were all aghast.

"Oh my God, I can't believe my eyes; such breathtaking footage wasn't even made by Haolaiwu!"

"How could a small place like Xianggang produce such talent?"

"It's so cool; when the film releases I'll definitely bring my spouse and kids to see it!"

When the preview clip ended, the attending reporters continued to comment and discuss.

Looking again at Jiang Heng, Wu Yan Zu, and Li Meiqi, the gaze was no longer the same.

Each beamed with enthusiastic smiles, rushing forward to ask all sorts of questions.

Jiang Heng and the others answered one by one, and the event was fairly successful.

Later, several American entertainment media outlets and newspapers reported on The Matrix's premiere, offering glowing praise for the preview clips.

Many media even sensationalized the Script Case, boldly changing Jiang Heng's claim of one‑fifth of the Beimei box office as compensation to one‑fifth of the Europe‑America box office, claiming at least 40 million dollars.

The leadership of Chinese Sodium Company, upon seeing such news, were all about to explode with anger.

(End of chapter)