Chapter 319: Premiere Breaks Record

"Fake pirates meet real pirates, *Pirates of the Caribbean 2* robbed in the Bahamas!"

"*Pirates of the Caribbean* sequel is a hit before release, Captain Octopus becomes a new selling point!"

"2004 blockbuster box office prediction, can *Pirates of the Caribbean 2* threaten *Spider-Man 2*?"

On TV, Wu Yuchen was talking eloquently:

"Yes, in the second part, Jack will encounter a more powerful enemy. He is a pirate leader more terrifying than Barbossa in the first part. Will Jack encounter life danger? I think you should go to the cinema to find the answer~"

"We did encounter pirates in the Bahamas. I don't know if they came for the name, but fortunately, the crew only lost $20,000 in the end..."

"The script outline circulating on the Internet? Oh, please, I can guarantee that not one of them is true!"

"The third part? It won't be this year. It will arrive as scheduled in the summer season next year."

"Comparing the box office with *Spider-Man 2*? Oh, this question really makes me a bit embarrassed~"

"Sorry, I might not be a competent producer. What is the real-time box office of *Spider-Man 2* now? North America 389 million, global 806 million. Hmm, this is really a very good result. I think the final box office will definitely exceed the first part."

"Okay, if you have to make me say it, then the box office of *Pirates of the Caribbean 2* will not be inferior to *Spider-Man 2*. Yes, I have this confidence!"

Bruckheimer looked at the confident Wu Yuchen on TV and frowned slightly.

To be honest, he felt that he and Wu Yuchen were a bit at odds. A few years ago, as the producer of *Pearl Harbor*, he bumped into Wu Yuchen's *Pirates of the Caribbean*, which led to a box office failure. But fortunately, his foundation was hard enough, his accumulation was deep enough, and he had the reputation of "Hollywood's No. 1 Producer," so it didn't have any impact on him.

And now, the *King Arthur* he was producing was about to clash with their *Pirates of the Caribbean 2* once again, which made him have to call it a twisted fate.

Bruckheimer wasn't brainless either, and would directly collide head-on with *Pirates of the Caribbean 2*. *King Arthur* was released a week earlier than *Pirates of the Caribbean 2*. When choosing the schedule, in fact, there were big productions every week, and the space left for their *King Arthur* to choose wasn't big.

Afterward, he thought of the performance of the movies in the past few weeks and sighed. If he had known earlier that *Catwoman* and *Around the World in 80 Days* were so sluggish, he would definitely have chosen to be released last week, so that he could be separated from *Pirates of the Caribbean 2* by two weeks, basically not receiving much impact.

Now he could only pray that *King Arthur* could take the lead and achieve a high first-weekend box office and good word-of-mouth, so that it wouldn't receive much impact from *Pirates of the Caribbean 2* later. Of course, if *Pirates of the Caribbean 2* was a bad movie, he would be even happier!

As for whether *Pirates of the Caribbean 2* could achieve the results of *Spider-Man 2*, Bruckheimer shook his head. There are many bad sequels; how could it be so easy to have two big blockbuster sequels like *Spider-Man 2* in one year?

This summer season so far, many big productions have been released, but the strongest one is still *Spider-Man 2*, which is basically unmatched. A global box office of 800 million is not so easy to get.

On the other side, Wu Yuchen was chatting with the person in charge of the promotion of *Pirates of the Caribbean 2*:

"4,323 cinemas, this is already the top treatment in North America at present. It's 200 more than *Spider-Man 2* before!"

Wu Yuchen then asked again: "How is the market research situation? How is the promotional effect?"

"Very good! According to our survey, *Pirates of the Caribbean 2* is the movie audiences are most looking forward to now, with as high as 78% of audiences wanting to watch it!"

Hearing the number 78%, Wu Yuchen nodded with satisfaction. This proportion was already very high. After all, the North American market is very large, and the competition is fierce. If 78% of the audience really walks into the cinema to watch *Pirates of the Caribbean 2*, it will definitely break a new box office record.

In fact, the promotion for *Pirates of the Caribbean 2* had already started long ago. During the filming of the movie, news was constantly being released. For example, being visited by pirates in the Bahamas, for example, the stolen script outline circulating on the Internet, for example, Keira Knightley suspected of falling in love with Hugh Jackman because of the play...

These are actually common tricks in Hollywood, but audiences just eat this set.

Afterward, Wu Yuchen asked again: "What about our opponents, what is the situation now?"

"*King Arthur* will be released on July 2nd, a week earlier than us. However, because the North American box office of *Troy* is not ideal, the market has shown signs of looking down on this type of epic film."

Wu Yuchen smiled upon hearing this. *Troy* was already the last epic film that could make money. Future ones would be one flopping after another, and *King Arthur* was no exception. Therefore, he also said:

"Very good, continue to spread the view that epic films are boring, so that the audience loses interest in them. When the time comes, be prepared. As long as it shows disadvantage, it's best to use public opinion to step on it in one fell swoop."

A dead *King Arthur* would be a good *King Arthur*. If there were no good movies in the previous week, it was conceivable that it would be very favorable for *Pirates of the Caribbean 2* released in the next week, and more audiences who didn't watch movies last week would run over to contribute to the box office of *Pirates of the Caribbean 2*.

Afterward, the person in charge told Wu Yuchen about the next one: "On July 16th, which is a week after us, Will Smith's *I, Robot* will be released. At present, his box office appeal is very high, and the science fiction theme has also attracted quite a few audiences."

Will Smith! Currently the black star with the most box office appeal in Hollywood. *Bad Boys*, *Independence Day*, *Men in Black* series pushed him to the position of a superstar, and there were almost no movies that lost money, and this *I, Robot* was also the same.

In his past life, *I, Robot* obtained a global box office of $350 million with a cost of 120 million. Just the box office had already earned money, not to mention there were DVDs and other copyrights.

However, that was without the situation of *Pirates of the Caribbean 2*.

Wu Yuchen smiled. Although Will Smith was quite strong, but encountering *Pirates of the Caribbean 2*, let you experience the feeling of eating a shriveled one this time!

Whether it was *King Arthur* or *I, Robot*, they were separated from *Pirates of the Caribbean 2* by a week, and didn't dare to collide head-on. There were no enemies in the same period.

Wu Yuchen felt that *The Bourne Supremacy 2* was still smart, directly arranged to be released a month after *Pirates of the Caribbean 2*. But thinking about it, Universal, as the distributor, had seen the finished film of *Pirates of the Caribbean 2*, so naturally, it wouldn't arrange for *The Bourne Supremacy 2* to fight with *Pirates of the Caribbean 2*.

After Wu Yuchen finished talking, he saw Keira Knightley and Hugh Jackman huddled together not far away chatting about something, so he walked over with a smile: "Hey, are you two really acting in a play?"

Keira Knightley rolled her eyes: "Mr. Director, this is not funny at all~"

Afterward, she said: "We are chatting about the recent movie. Hugh is complaining to me, saying that his *Fan Haixin* is very likely to fail~"

Wu Yuchen thought of Kate, the heroine of *Fan Haixin*, whom he was still comforting in bed before, and now he had to comfort its male lead. Isn't this supposed to be his job?

However, he still patted Hugh Jackman on the shoulder with a smile: "Hugh, don't be sad. *Pirates of the Caribbean 2* will find back all the money *Fan Haixin* lost! You won't be affected by much~"

Hugh Jackman gave a bitter smile upon hearing this. Can this still be calculated like this?

If *Pirates of the Caribbean 2* succeeds, it will indeed save him some momentum, but he is not the core male lead in it after all. *Fan Haixin* is a big production where he carries the box office alone, and the meaning is different.

However, what Wu Yuchen said was also right. Because he has the *Pirates of the Caribbean* and *X-Men* series carrying it, even if *Fan Haixin* fails, it really won't have much impact on him.

Wu Yuchen said to him again: "You are not a monster hunter now, but Will Turner. Cheer up, you have to save your princess~"

Hugh Jackman could only stretch out his hands to show he was wrong: "Okay, okay, I am Will Turner, I will forget *Fan Haixin*, and my whole heart belongs to *Pirates of the Caribbean*~"

Keira Knightley hummed upon hearing this: "My whole heart belongs to *Pirates of the Caribbean*!"

Wu Yuchen knew that Keira Knightley was speaking with hidden meaning upon hearing this, and still had resentment about the previous matter.

Last year, Hugh Jackman entered the *Fan Haixin* crew in January. After coming to the *Pirates of the Caribbean* crew at the end of April, he also went back to *Fan Haixin* for reshoots in May, which was equivalent to acting in two plays in a short time.

In fact, Keira Knightley also received other invitations, which was the heroine Guinevere in *King Arthur*. Unfortunately, Wu Yuchen didn't allow her to act in two plays at the time, so she could only push away this *King Arthur*.

The sentence she just said was emphasizing, containing small dissatisfaction.

Wu Yuchen wouldn't blame her for this, laughed and said: "Keira, in a few days, you will definitely thank me!"

"Thank you for what?" Keira asked puzzled.

"Thank me for saving you! *King Arthur* will definitely fail at the box office, and it will be far more serious than *Fan Haixin*. By then, you will miss my goodness!"

Keira revealed a smile on her face: "Then I really hope as you said, anyway, now the more *King Arthur* fails, the happier I will be~"

Wu smiled: "Not bad, not bad, this is our heroine!"

A few days later, Keira widened her eyes: "I didn't see it wrong, right? 4.82 million!"

"If you doubt your eyes, you might as well find a magnifying glass to take a good look~" Depp said beside her.

"But, how could it be so low! This is Bruckheimer, Hollywood's No. 1 producer! A big production of 1.2 billion, only 4.82 million on the first day?!"

Even though she had heard Wu Yuchen say that *King Arthur* would fail before, Keira didn't expect it to be so miserable!

Wu Yuchen smiled and said: "Are there few big productions that failed this summer? With *Around the World in 80 Days* and *Catwoman* in front, one more *King Arthur* is not too many. It's not the first time Hollywood's No. 1 producer has missed."

Keira felt very lucky in her heart at this moment. Fortunately, Wu Yuchen firmly stopped her at the time. Otherwise, if she really took this *King Arthur*, wouldn't it be much more miserable than Hugh Jackman!

*Fan Haixin* can at least rely on DVDs to earn back the cost. *King Arthur* is the kind of big flop that can't earn back the cost no matter what!

At this time, Keira couldn't help but blurt out the words in her heart: "Director, I think Bruckheimer will stay away from you in the future. Both of his miserable failures were because of you!"

Wu Yuchen said angrily: "What does it have to do with me? This *Pirates of the Caribbean 2* hasn't even been released yet!"

"Because it's too close to you!"

Wu Yuchen shook his head speechlessly. There are many people in Hollywood who believe in unscientific theories and superstition.

Afterward, Wu Yuchen said: "Alright, guys, there is one less pebble in our way forward. How many results *Pirates of the Caribbean 2* can achieve depends on ourselves!"

On the night of July 9th, the Hollywood Chinese Theater was full of stars.

Depp appeared in a gentleman's outfit, mature and handsome; Keira, wearing a white backless dress, appeared holding Hugh Jackman, elegant and moving, very eye-catching. Wu Yuchen was just a simple casual suit walking the red carpet, and didn't intend to steal the spotlight.

In addition to the main creative team, celebrities from all walks of life came tonight. Spielberg didn't need to say, Schwarzenegger, DiCaprio, Tang Mu Hanks all arrived, and there were singers invited by Depp.

Of course, for the vast majority of audiences walking into the cinema tonight, what they were looking forward to more was the movie itself.

Tang Mu was in a good mood tonight. What could be happier than eating popcorn with his best friend Jerry and watching a movie he had been looking forward to for 3 years? Of course, if the kid in the back row who kept shouting about when Captain Jack would come out could be a bit quieter, it would be even more perfect!

Two and a half hours later...

"Finished? Is it really finished?!"

"Oh! Why is it finished? I still want to see how the follow-up develops, what happened after Captain Jack was swallowed by the giant octopus!"

"Yeah, why did Barbossa come back to life at the end? Why end it here!"

Quite a few audiences were expressing their resentment, just like complaining about how the author could break the chapter at the climax.

"I must scold Wu Yuchen on the Internet after I go home, actually leaving the suspense at this point!"

"Oh, Tang Mu, understand Wu. He wants us to continue walking into the cinema to watch the third part. I think this *Pirates of the Caribbean 2* has really reached or even exceeded my expectations!"

"I'm not saying he didn't film it well, it's because it's exciting that I want to see it even more! Thinking about having to wait another year, I feel uncomfortable~"

After complaining a bit, Tang Mu said excitedly: "It's really amazing! The *Flying Dutchman*, the Kraken, the pirate world is really mysterious and exciting!"

"And Captain Jack, still full of charm! The part where he was on the island with the natives was really too funny!"

"Magic plot and special effects, I want to give it 95 points!"

The two talked to each other, and there were countless people chatting like them in 4,323 cinemas.

The next day, the box office of *Pirates of the Caribbean 2*, which the entire Hollywood was paying attention to and looking forward to, also hit the entertainment headline:

"*Pirates of the Caribbean 2* premiere breaks record: 60.8 million!" ===== CHAPTER 320 =====