After the premiere, the snow was still falling, and the crew gave each audience member an umbrella and a warm hat as a gift. The latter was originally a movie peripheral specially customized for the European and northern North American markets.
Richardson put on a hat with the crew's logo on it and got into a commercial vehicle with his assistant. The weather was too cold, so he quickly turned on the heater.
The assistant looked towards the side door of the Metropolitan Theater and saw Martin Davis being surrounded by reporters as soon as he came out.
"It's only been three years!" He muttered: "Boss, don't you think the protagonist in the movie is an alternative portrayal of Martin's Hollywood career for more than three years? Life is like a game plug-in, from a poor boy to a superstar."
Richardson took off his hat, looked at the logo, and said: "For the leading actors, a successful movie can change their destiny."
After waiting for a while, the others came back one after another.
Richardson asked his assistant to drive and told others to collect the audience ratings and input them into the system as soon as the film ended.
Two IMB little black books were circulated among the people, and the system quickly came up with an average score.
"A+!" Richardson, who has rich experience, judged: "After the first week of Never Ending, the audience's on-site score cannot be lower than A. With Martin Davis's appeal and the scale of the release, this film can be expected to box office. "
The assistant asked: "North America has exceeded 100 million again?"
Richardson nodded: "It's very possible."
The snow is still falling, endlessly.
The day after the premiere, Martin woke up from his sleep, broke away from Aniston, and immediately took his phone after washing.
It contained a text message from Warner Bros. The premiere audience gave it an average "A+" rating!
Warner Bros. also lifted the ban on word-of-mouth ratings in all aspects.
Martin turned on his computer and logged into two websites. "Never Ended" had a Rotten Tomatoes fresh rating of 88%, and MTC Media gave it an average score of 78.
The bathroom door opened, and Aniston came out, brushing her teeth, and asked, "How is the reputation of the film?"
Martin said directly: "The audience's reputation is overwhelming and the media's reputation is good."
Aniston was completely relieved and went back to the bathroom to rinse her mouth. After a while, she said, "Let's go out to have breakfast and celebrate by the way."
Martin said: "Call the rest of the crew and I'll treat you."
Aniston quickly went to dress up.
Martin started talking on the phone.
Everyone on the crew is in a good mood, and the audience's good reputation means that the box office will not be bad.
In addition to the normal salary and union share, you can also get an additional bonus.
…………
Los Angeles, Brentwood.
Leonardo, who had washed his face last night, got up very early today and was very energetic.
Now I can run 100 meters for 15 seconds no matter what.
Bar Refaeli brought him breakfast and poured him milk.
Leonardo smiled and said: "Do you have today's newspaper..."
Bar Refaeli hugged a large pile and said, "In every newspaper or magazine, I turned to the page where "Never Ended" was reported."
"You are very considerate." Leonardo was very satisfied with this temporary female companion, so he gave her more opportunities for exposure.
While eating breakfast, he read the comments in the newspaper.
Because "Never Ends" has just premiered and has not yet been widely released, the reviews are mostly quick reviews.
"A strange and entertaining pseudo-sci-fi thriller."
"Very entertaining, mainstream entertainment."
"It allows all audiences to sit in the theater and realize their daydreams."
Leonardo couldn't help but laugh. He had watched the film when it was previewed. Some of the plots he had imagined before he was famous.
Continuing to look, he found something about the male protagonist, that bastard Martin.
"Martin's performance is impressive. He once again proved with his works that his acting skills are as outstanding as his appearance."
"Most of the plot of the film relies on the performance of Martin Davis. He can quickly draw the audience into a daydream. His character is as fascinating as the leader of the Coca-Cola Cult."
Leonardo thought about before he took over the filming of Titanic. At that time, his reputation among critics was also very good, and many film critics praised his excellent acting skills.
But Titanic's success changed all that.
Hollywood has never had a box-office miracle. I don't know if those people are jealous or some other evil mentality. He has become a fool who can't act and can only sell his face.
Leonardo had a feeling that Martin was on this path.
Maybe one day, the critics will use their pen as a knife to repair the idiot Martin.
It will be very lively then.
After breakfast, Leonardo stopped reading the newspaper and directly called Martin in New York.
"Hey Martin, is your new movie going to be a hit?"
"It hasn't been opened on a large scale yet. Who knows for sure." Martin was a bit confused: "It snows heavily in the Northeast and is freezing to death. It will definitely affect the box office."
The weather is out of control. On Thursday, snow was still falling in the sky in New York. Although the snowflakes were much smaller, thick snow accumulated on the roads.
The weather is getting colder outside.
"Never Ending" will be fully released in North America as planned.
On Thursday afternoon, many people wearing red cotton hats came to the snow-white ground in front of the AMC theater in Times Square. They braved the snow and cold and entered the theater that was still operating under normal conditions to buy the movie "Never Ending" vote and support Martin with practical actions.
In Brooklyn, near one of Martin's fan groups in New York, there was even a long queue in front of a movie theater.
Heavy snow and severe cold discouraged some people from going out to watch movies, but they could not stop the enthusiasm of the Coca-Cola Cult and Martin fans.
Because red T-shirts are inconvenient to wear this season, red hats have become the mainstream audience in theaters across North America on Thursday nights.
On this night, cola red was the most common color in major theaters in North America.
…………
Atlanta, in the office on Peachtree Street.
Robert put on a red Coca-Cola baseball cap. Because his head was particularly large, he found that the cap didn't fit properly, so he took it off, adjusted it, and put it on again.
Putting on his red coat, he took out a bottle of Coca-Cola produced in 2003, solemnly smeared it with olive oil, and placed it on the old-fashioned desk facing the west.
Robert's expression was serious, like a cardinal celebrating mass, and he was mumbling something.
In this country where cults are everywhere, the Coca-Cola Cult has a huge number of supporters despite its extremely loose organizational structure.
If he hadn't been a partner in the company, Robert would have planned to resign from his position and concentrate on being the high priest of the Coca-Cola Cult.
After the ceremony was completed and he was walking out, he suddenly thought of something.
From the leader of the Cola Cult, Martin, to the deputy leader, Bruce, and then to the saint, Elena, they are all part-time.
"Let's continue to work part-time." Robert went downstairs with his hat on and muttered: "The high priest can't do it all by himself."
Driving home and passing the Peachtree Street Cinema, Robert discovered that the front of the theater had turned into a sea of red.
No need to ask, you can tell just by looking at the color that this is the crowd going to see "Never Ending".
…………
Thursday passed, and early Friday morning, the latest box office reports came out and were published in the entertainment sections of many newspapers.
Opening in 2,800 advance screenings, "Never Ended" easily earned $4.68 million.
At the same time, there is also a good reputation for the film.
On the first day of release on Friday, the screening scale expanded to 3,285 theaters.
Severe weather continues in the northeastern United States and southeastern Canada, and everyone, including Martin, has lowered their box office expectations for the film.
But Never Ending still attracted a large number of viewers to watch the movie with its good reputation and strong sense of immersion.
Its first-day revenue in North America was US$12.45 million, beating "Catch and Release" starring Jennifer Garner, which was released at the same time, and became the box office champion of the day.
On this day, the never-ending good word-of-mouth from the audience spread rapidly across North America like a virus through the tool of the Internet.
"The cheating life and desires look so exciting!"
"Martin's lead role is simply my dream in life."
"The plot is very attractive. I don't know why. It feels like the protagonist is another me. It made me feel really good in the theater!"
"The plot and character settings are quite novel, making people immersed in it and unable to extricate themselves."
The support from the audience's word-of-mouth attracted many passers-by to watch the movie. The film's box office on Saturday increased a lot, with a daily revenue of 14.44 million US dollars that day.
Unfavorable weather conditions did affect the film, but not as much as some had hoped.
Christian Bale met Heath Ledger for coffee on Monday morning.
He wanted to help his friend get out of trouble as soon as possible and get back on track.
The snow stopped completely yesterday, and the main road was cleared. Heath Ledger held the newspaper under his arm, entered the coffee shop, ordered a cup of hot coffee, and sat opposite Bell.
Bell glanced at his face, which was red from the cold, and asked, "What happened? Are you not in a good mood?"
Heath took off his scarf and the newspaper pushed it to Bell: "Even the heavy snow can't stop that bastard Martin Davis and his movies."
Bell picked up the newspaper and read it. On the front page of the entertainment section of the New York Times, there was a box office report for last weekend.
"Never Ending" grossed US$38.97 million in North America in three days, beating "Catch and Release" which was released at the same time, and topped the weekend box office list.
Bell put down the newspaper and said, "The heavy snowfall in the northeastern United States and southeastern Canada still had an impact on the box office of this film."
Both places are densely populated areas, and Heath was a little annoyed: "The box office in North America during the first weekend exceeded the production cost. This bastard Martin's new movie has once again achieved success."
He added: "CS gave it an A rating and predicted that the North American box office will exceed 100 million."
"Calm down." Bell was more calm than him and said, "If you want him to be unlucky, you can't count on the weather."
Heath took a sip of coffee, the bitter taste dissipated in his mouth, and his mood stabilized a lot: "I had a fantasy, hoping that he could hit him hard, but the fantasy is just a fantasy, Martin Davis' momentum cannot be stopped. .”
Bell said: "As time goes by, we can only step on them if we stand at a higher place."
Heath nodded: "You're right."
(End of chapter)
