Chapter 302: Just Missing Tom

"Pirates? Are you sure?"

Jerry Bruckheimer was initially puzzled, but since it came from an old friend, he patiently watched it through.

This MV had no English subtitles, only Chinese; he couldn't understand the language. Fortunately, the visuals were universally understandable, making it clear that it was a pirate story.

The MV's storyline was complete. As a big-name film producer who had made "Bad Boys," "Dangerous Minds," and "The Rock," he effortlessly extracted a storyline from the MV visuals—

Then, he was surprised to find that although the MV's storyline was simple, its presentation was an extremely dramatic Western pirate plot.

Some of the fantasy elements even echoed the same charm as his current project, "Pirates of the Caribbean," which made Jerry Bruckheimer feel quite strange.

"Does this Spike have a study-abroad background?"

"No."

"Interesting."

Jerry Bruckheimer, who paid close attention to detailed visuals, rewound the MV he had received several times and even gained some faint inspiration from it.

Originally, based on Jerry Bruckheimer's initial idea, he actually intended to hire those musicians for the "Pirates of the Caribbean" soundtrack.

But he never expected that a singer from the distant East's fantasy about the pirate theme would align so perfectly with his thinking.

Although he couldn't understand the lyrics of this song, the rhythm was clearly pop music style; combined with all the commotion Spike had caused in the American music scene...

"Jenny, contact Warner and ask if their singer Spike is available. I want to talk with him."

"Talk?"

At the Warner Music headquarters building, an independent lounge with the name "Spike" hung on the door sign.

With the record's huge sales, Zhou Yi's status upon his second visit to the headquarters was already different from the past. Qian Jiang, who enjoyed the perks alongside him, had a windfall in the record headquarters thanks to his Cantonese-accented English, and even expanded his network significantly.

Precisely because of this, when Qian Jiang, having received the notice, came to find Zhou Yi with this news, the latter felt instantly surprised: "Not bad, Old Qian, you can even talk to people at Disney."

"Don't, that Jerry Bruckheimer isn't anyone from Disney."

Since Zhou Yi entered the international market, he had been cramming on various knowledge. Qian Jiang, evolving along with his steps, patted his round, bulging general's belly with a smile: "But he is a producer, which is why he saw the MV and decided to find you. The song 'Pirates' you wrote for Leehom Wang caught his interest."

Hollywood's producer-centric system determined that the producer of most films was the one who called the shots, let alone a hotshot star producer like Jerry Bruckheimer.

Without Zhou Yi's explosion in the United States, even if the song "Pirates" was released as much as possible, it would not have caught the eye of giants like Disney.

"I have no objection. Set a time."

Although he was somewhat surprised that the producer of "Pirates of the Caribbean" approached him, since there might be a chance to reap benefits while lying down, he was happy to take a share.

"There is one more thing. The interview time with Time magazine has also been set for you, next week."

Compared to that ghostly pirate movie from Disney, Qian Jiang obviously valued Time magazine more, rattling off a long list of precautions to Zhou Yi.

However, whether Qian Jiang or Zhou Yi, they obviously underestimated the sensitivity of the developed entertainment industry in the United States to any stir between the major giants.

On July 14, Entertainment Weekly reporter Shi Misi Brown was the first to break the news of the "Pirates of the Caribbean" producer and Zhou Yi exchanging glances—

"Jerry and Spike Join Forces? Perhaps they are just one Tom away from global explosion."

As an eternal, unshakable monument in American animation history, or even world animation history, the fame of "Tom and Jerry" needs no explanation.

Coincidentally, whether it was Jerry Bruckheimer or Zhou Yi's English name, both happened to correspond perfectly with this globally popular animated masterpiece.

"I can understand Jerry wants the movie to be a huge hit globally, but perhaps he should first adopt a cat named Tom in the crew and then dye its fur blue."

A joke involving Tom and Jerry quickly spread through internet channels like Yahoo, and even remarks mocking lead actor Johnny Depp to change his name to Tom Depp appeared.

The attribute of being a troublemaker exists in both the East and the West. Moreover, not only does it exist, but there are many.

On the 15th, Johnny Depp, who was attending an event in Los Angeles, also actively brought up this remark in an interview, smilingly responding: "Perhaps I really should consider it."

"Johnny, have you already met Spike?"

"No, not yet. But I have heard his songs; they are amazing, simply incredible."

Johnny Depp, who already held a considerable status in Hollywood, used several adjectives in a row to praise Zhou Yi: "If he can really cooperate with Jerry, I will be very happy; he is a very talented musician."

As an actor, when there were no conflicts of interest, Johnny Depp was quite friendly towards Zhou Yi, such an outsider.

After all, the movie for which Zhou Yi was responsible for composing the soundtrack was called "Rush Hour 2," the fourth highest-grossing film in North America for the year.

"Spike was first recognized by Americans thanks to his outstanding performance in the 'Rush Hour 2' soundtrack; one could say he made his name in the United States first through film scores."

"If Zhou Yi can maintain his explosive history all the way and finally confirm his joining of 'Pirates of the Caribbean,' I think perhaps the global performance of 'Pirates of the Caribbean' should not be too bad."

When Maria Carey, who attended a music festival event, was asked about news related to Zhou Yi, she, who rarely spoke publicly about Zhou Yi due to the Eminem controversy, surprisingly praised Zhou Yi highly.

"Maria, you sound like you really appreciate Spike?"

"Of course, I have heard all the songs in his album; I think he is talented, especially since he is so young."

As one of the top divas in Europe and America, Maria Carey's evaluation was undoubtedly major good news for Zhou Yi, after all, Zhou Yi had no real foundation in the American music scene.

"Can I understand that you are willing to cooperate with Spike, Maria?"

"If there is a chance, why not?"

Facing the camera, this top diva, who had always been indifferent to Eminem, praised Zhou Yi highly: "He is so talented, young and handsome; I think any musician would be unable to refuse to cooperate with him."

"What about Eminem?"

"Well, I don't really want to talk about him; there is nothing good to say between us; time will prove everything."

"If you had to choose one person to cooperate with between Eminem and Spike, who would you choose?"

"En, it should be Spike; I like his music more. You know, I am always full of anticipation for cooperating with excellent musicians."

Although showing signs of fading this year, Mariah Carey, who still had a chance to rank on the Forbes Top Ten Celebrity List in terms of topic popularity, did not speak unless she had to; once she spoke, it made the entire newspaper office ecstatic—

Holy crap!

Is this something that can be said?!

Haven't you always refused to talk about these two?!

Won't this Eminem get completely broken?!

And she specifically emphasized "excellent musicians"; what does that mean, implying Eminem is not worthy?

Originally, Zhou Yi's popularity in the United States was already high, and Eminem was the only singer so far this year whose album first-week sales exceeded Zhou Yi's.

With this statement from Mariah Carey, the entire U. S. entertainment media went mad, splitting into two factions that surged toward Eminem and Zhou Yi respectively.

At this very moment, Avril, the Canadian punk girl still struggling to release her single, was thoroughly un-punk—

Wait, are you all sick?!

Can't you wait until I finish my single before fighting?!

Half a step into the Yang Realm!

One more chapter to go; definitely before two o'clock this time, no more three o'clock!

(End of this chapter)