Chapter 42

In California in May, the temperature had been maintained at more than 30 degrees, allowing Harsh Rai to experience the scorching summer in advance.

Sitting in the dressing room, letting the makeup artist style his hair, beads of sweat oozed from his forehead.

"No, is it necessary to make it so complicated? Isn't it just a premiere?"

"Harsh, this is our company's first movie. You are the protagonist of the premiere. Your image must be perfect."

"You are the president of the company, why are you staring at me?"

"I'm still your agent." It was clear how nervous Happy was.

This was the first film produced and distributed by Galaxy Pictures since its establishment, and it was related to the future of the entire Galaxy Entertainment.

Happy had never seen someone take the salary and dividends they just received and invest all of it in a new movie.

And it was an action crime theme that had never been involved before. Independent investment!

According to ordinary people's thinking, shouldn't Sony be involved in investing together?

Everyone in the industry knew how much Sony Entertainment valued Harsh Rai. As long as it was produced by him, it was definitely worth the money.

Harsh insisted on not wanting it, so he invested independently and gambled all his wealth.

He himself seemed normal, and Happy was worried about gray hair these days.

"Take it easy, Happy. I can guarantee that at least you won't lose money. You've seen the sample, doesn't it look good?"

"It's really good-looking, but I'm worried that it's too niche and won't be a hit."

Happy's cheeks were also covered with beads of sweat. He took out his handkerchief and kept wiping the sweat.

"The premiere is coming soon, and the answer will be revealed soon."

Harsh still used Sony's Galaxy Cinema for this premiere. The IMAX giant screen should be able to well express the visual stimulation of "John Wick". The premiere was also scheduled at 8 p.m., and then it would be at midnight for the opening time of the North American premiere.

Due to the R-rated restrictions of the film, the release times in different countries and regions needed to be coordinated, and it was temporarily impossible to premiere simultaneously around the world.

"Harsh, do you think I look beautiful in this suit?"

Emma Stone was wearing a beige evening dress and stood elegantly in front of Harsh.

Seeing this, Happy said a simple hello and wisely found an excuse to escape, leaving the lounge to the couple.

"It looks good and suits you very well. You look so beautiful today."

"I asked Manish Malhotra to design this. I couldn't bear to wear it to the premiere, so I wore it specially to accompany you today."

"Then I will make it up to you tonight!"

"You! Who will compensate whom?" Emma said coquettishly.

"John Wick" was scheduled to be released at the end of spring on May 4th.

The next week would be the beginning of the summer season. On May 11, "Twilight" would be released.

The two would also become competitors in the next week to compete for the box office of this period.

Apart from these two, there was really no movie that could be made.

Emma spent a lot of money on a custom-made evening dress and chose to appear at Harsh's premiere. This showed Harsh's status in her mind.

"Let's go, it's almost time, we are ready to appear, my princess"

"Give me your hand, my prince."

The two looked at each other and smiled, walked out of the lounge arm in arm, and prepared to board the luxury car to go to the premiere.

Happy at the door kept wiping sweat and eating all the dog food.

...

At the Galaxy Theater, reporters from various media had already taken their positions in advance and set up long guns and short cannons.

Movie fans were crowded around and tightly surrounded by fences.

LAPD officers were scattered everywhere, nervously guarding the scene.

"No, this Harsh Rai only has one movie. Why are there so many people today?"

There was an older police officer who couldn't understand and complained over the intercom.

"Old Mike, you have no idea how influential Spider-Man is. Especially among young people, Harsh Rai is simply their god!"

"Yes, I am a fan of Spider-Man and have watched the live-action movie 7 times!"

"Josh, who asked you to take different women to the same movie?..."

"Okay, stay alert, the star convoy is coming."

With the crazy shouts of movie fans, several luxury cars drove up not far away. The police officers had no time to chat and concentrated on maintaining order in the scene.

In fact, there were no big names or stars in this movie, and the people getting out of the luxury cars were all Willem Dafoe, Michael Nyqvist, Alfie Allen and other actors who had played supporting roles all year round.

Therefore, it was obvious who the excited crowd was coming for.

When the last luxury car stopped in front of the red carpet, people were already agitated.

When Harsh Rai, who was wearing a silver suit, walked out of the luxury car with Emma Stone on his arm, the cheers and screams around him were deafening.

"May! Can we take a group photo?"

"Harsh Rai! I love you!"

"Spider-Man! Gwen! Spider-Man!"

"Look this way! Look at the camera!"

The scene suddenly became chaotic, and many young movie fans rushed towards Harsh like crazy. Fortunately, there was a guardrail in front, and the police tried their best to stop the scene from getting out of control. After Harsh stepped forward and briefly high-fived the fans, he pulled Emma to take a group photo in front of the advertising wall.

"Harsh, congratulations on your new film being released soon. What are your expectations for the film?"

"The bottom line is probably 100 million U.S. dollars. The movie is relatively niche, so I guess the box office won't be too high."

Harsh was very modest.

According to previous media predictions, "John Wick", with an investment of only 16 million, may have a global box office of up to 80 million U.S. dollars. In North America, it may even reach 60 million U.S. dollars at most.

The young actor writes, directs, and stars in, and has never been involved in this subject matter. It was a poorly made crime action movie in the 1990s.

The audience had long been tired of it, and it was impossible to get more box office.

The New York Times once commented: "It is a good thing for actors to be ambitious, but Harsh Rai's decision-making may be too radical."

"John Wick" was a bold gamble.

If he shot "Spider-Man 2", it would definitely be one-sided and mindless praise. But this was a brand new attempt, and Hollywood had countless failures.

Harsh's seemingly conservative $100 million was blindly optimistic in the eyes of the media.

Emma Stone next to him came to the microphone at this time:

"Believe me, after you have seen it, you will know that Harsh's estimate is definitely conservative."

There was an uproar at the scene.

"I would like to ask Emma, do you think "Twilight" starring you will beat Harsh Rai's "John Wick"?"

Soon, reporters jumped out to make trouble.

Emma smiled lightly:

"Yes, but no."

Ah? What do you mean?

The Riddler?

The media wanted to continue asking questions, but the two of them had already walked into the theater arm in arm.

Due to Harsh's influence, the seats at today's premiere were sold out a week in advance.

Countless movie fans stayed overnight, queuing up at the ticket window, and it was hard to get tickets.

Leonard's team, who had watched "Spider-Man" before, appeared at the premiere of "John Wick" again this time.

They learned smarter this time, setting up a tent directly outside the ticket window and had been waiting here since the night before the ticketing.

Leonard, Howard, Sheldon, and Raj took turns on duty and finally grabbed the precious tickets.

Even after buying the tickets, they were surrounded by local gangs planning to forcefully buy their premiere tickets.

Fortunately, Howard was smart and drove the car to the door in advance, allowing the other three to escape the scene in time.

"Look! Harsh Rai comes in and it's time to start! So excited!"

"What's there to be excited about? Sheldon rolled his eyes.

"It's not a movie based on a comic book. Action movies were already on the decline in the late 1990s. Since the 21st century, action movies have become more and more streamlined and lack new ideas..."

Sheldon wanted to talk eloquently, but Howard stuffed his mouth with popcorn.

"Shut up, Sheldon! If you keep talking, I won't help you create a copy of World of Warcraft!"

"Hey, calm down, I won't say anything." Sheldon said he was disgusted, but he was actually very curious about what kind of work Harsh Rai would be able to produce if he changed his mind to a new subject.

After a brief greeting to the audience, the main creative staff took their seats one after another.

The media box and auditorium behind were crowded, and everyone could not wait!

Soon, the theater lights dimmed!

A brand new title animation appeared on the screen for the first time. A spaceship drawn with crayons and made with stop-motion animation took off!

The spaceship violently pushed forward with a jet of fire, tearing apart the space!

The next second, the painting style instantly transformed from crayon drawings to 3D animation renderings!

The spaceship appears in the vast universe like...