Chapter 558 - Scapegoat

This was a trap of a question. Once Laila affirmed his question, there would be a bunch of people calling her arrogant, and a bunch of Star Wars fans waving their lightsabers to condemn her.

"The box office is not the sole criterion for measuring the quality of a movie. Due to genre differences, it's not surprising that some good movies don't have good box office numbers. And I believe comparing movies from different eras is unfair." Laila didn't give the journalists a chance to ask more questions. She calmly spoke up.

"For example, let's talk about special effects. For commercial films, the importance of special effects has been increasing. Take our special effects company, for instance. A significant proportion of the money earned from movies is invested in research and development of new technologies. 'The Phantom Menace' was released in 1999, and the visual effects at that time cannot be compared to what we have now. I believe if George Lucas continued to make sequels, he would have shown audiences even more amazing visual effects."

She blabbered on and on, seemingly about to continue speaking, but the journalists took the opportunity while she caught her breath to finally find a breakthrough and ask the question.

"So, Director Moran, do you think your movie is not as good as Director Lucas'?"

Louise secretly resented those journalists who were always afraid that there wouldn't be any chaos and insisted on stirring up some trouble. Who didn't know how fanatical George Lucas fans were? Comparing herself to him at this moment, regardless of how Laila answered, wouldn't benefit her in any way.

She wanted to bring Laila back to the company, but she was stopped with a smile.

"Director Lucas is a great director. He created Star Wars, a symbol of an era. If you insist on comparing his movies to mine, I can only find it amusing. It's like putting an apple tree and a pear tree together and trying to compare which fruit is sweeter. They are completely different things, so how can they be compared?"

Since she put it that way, the journalists couldn't continue with their questions and brought up the two records broken by this movie.

"This movie has broken two screening records, the highest opening day box office and the fastest to reach one hundred million in box office revenue. Do you hope to break more records?"

"Breaking records is certainly enjoyable, but I haven't thought about whether I can continue breaking them." Laila squinted her eyes, already getting a little tired of the journalists' persistence. So, she changed the topic: "Speaking of box office, can anyone tell me the box office revenue for 'Catwoman'?"

The journalists remembered these numbers very clearly, and someone immediately responded, "As of yesterday, it was $39 million."

"Oh~" Laila deliberately drew out her voice, then smiled meaningfully at the camera. "That's not bad. I'm really glad that Joseph didn't direct our children's flop."

Watching the live interview on TV, Joseph turned pale and swept everything off the table. "Damn it! Next time! Next time, I will definitely defeat you!"

The journalists knew exactly what Laila meant. Initially, Joseph rejected "Harry Potter" and even heavily criticized her previous director. Then he went to the set of "Catwoman," and who knows how many people were waiting to see Laila's failure.

But look at her now. She didn't refute, cry, or complain. She silently took on the role of director and personally went to the UK to shoot the movie. If anyone still thought she wasn't angry back then, they were too naive. Just look at the deliberate clash of the release dates between the two movies; it was clear that she came with the intention of crushing the other.

Now she brought it up again, and Louise could guess how Joseph must be feeling.

Laila mentioned Joseph on purpose to divert the journalists' attention and stop them from bothering her. And she succeeded. Compared to interviewing the victorious Laila, the journalists were more interested in the loser. Who wouldn't want to kick someone who had fallen?

So while the reporters left Laila's company, they went around looking for Joseph, chasing him for interviews.

Joseph's situation was quite miserable. He was blocked outside his apartment. It wasn't a luxurious mansion like Laila's; it was just a regular apartment. All the money he had received from the bribe had been invested in his own movie, hoping to make some profit and gain some influence.

It was clear that he had high hopes for his movie and never considered the possibility of losing money.

And now, the result...

"Joseph, your 'Catwoman' lost to Laila's 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.' Do you regret giving up the director's position for that movie?" A journalist broke through the crowd and seized the opportunity to ask the first question.

Joseph's face turned black as if it couldn't get any darker. What kind of question was this? Wasn't it blatantly slapping him in the face? So many neighbors were watching, how could he face them after this?

"I don't understand what you're talking about," he said with a stern face. "When did my 'Catwoman' lose?"

It was already this point, and he still wouldn't admit it. The journalists loved people who stubbornly held on like this. They couldn't wait to peel away his facade and create better publicity!

"If it didn't lose, then when two movies were released simultaneously, how do you explain 'Catwoman' only achieving a quarter of the other movie's box office?"

"The box office is not the standard for measuring the quality of a movie!" Joseph couldn't stand it when others said his movie wasn't good. He waved his fist in frustration. "My movie is art! How can you measure art with box office numbers?"

The journalists almost burst out laughing at his words. How dare he describe such a commercial film as art? Only someone like him could say something so absurd. But they loved it!

"Do you really believe that 'Catwoman' is an art film?" a journalist asked with a smile, voicing the doubts that everyone had.

"Of course!" Joseph glared at him angrily. "I put all my energy into making my movie. Every frame of the film is filled with my passion for cinema. If that's not art, then what is?"

"Do you not feel regret at all for 'Harry Potter'? If you had directed it, you would have broken consecutive records, right?"

The journalist's words pierced Joseph's heart. Only he knew how difficult these past few days had been for him, trying to forget about this very moment. If he could turn back time, he would not have abandoned that movie. As the journalist said, if it was him directing, breaking records, and receiving praise would have been his! Unfortunately, there were no "ifs" in the world. The fact was that he abandoned the work that could have propelled him to great heights and chose a movie that made him unable to hold his head up.

Now, regret was useless. All he could do was maintain his last bit of dignity and stubbornly hold on.