Chapter 747 - The Terrifying Genius

Seeing Louise still looking troubled, Laila suddenly raised her eyebrows. "Louise, have you watched 'The Lord of the Rings'?"

"Not yet," Louise replied. She didn't have time to watch, as dealing with various miscellaneous matters kept her extremely busy. Her boss, being hands-off, barely managed anything except occasionally pointing in a direction. If she were to neglect her duties, the company would likely end up in chaos.

Laila smiled and patted her shoulder. "Go watch it. After seeing it, you'll understand where my confidence comes from."

So, Louise went to watch. In the company's screening room, she took out the previously provided sample and started watching.

Nearly three hours later, she found herself watching from the end of her working hours until the evening, only waking up from a dream-like state when the credits appeared.

Now she finally understood why Laila had been so confident and why the overwhelmingly positive reviews flooded in like they cost nothing. This indeed was a movie that could be crowned with the word "great." The grand world-building, the vast and profound historical atmosphere – a movie reaching such heights made it hard to doubt whether it would find an audience.

Take herself, for example. While she loved making movies, her actual watching was limited. Even so, she felt deeply attracted to "The Lord of the Rings," and if a child watched, they would be captivated by the world depicted in the film.

"Hehe." She chuckled softly, realizing her previous worries were a joke. If she had known, she would have watched the movie earlier, sparing herself the anxious days of eating and sleeping poorly.

"Genius is indeed terrifying." After laughing, she sighed and shook her head. If a director in their fifties or sixties had produced such a work, she might have simply thought they were very skilled. Yet, Laila, only in her twenties, had already achieved this level. Who could predict what heights she might reach in the next few decades?

When Dragon Soul Entertainment received the premiere box office, others did too.

Over 25 million might be considered good at other times, but for the summer season, especially for works like "The Lord of the Rings," it seemed more like a soft joke.

Finally, the opposition, the trolls, and the navy had something to say. They no longer needed to be silent under the overwhelmingly positive reviews.

"Viewers cannot be easily deceived. They give real scores with their feet and banknotes to a work that claims to be 'great.'"

"I wonder how much Director Moran spent buying the navy to achieve such overwhelmingly positive reviews. I believe the premiere box office will let her know money can't turn a bad film into a good one!"

"I really want to know if those who hypocritically said the movie was good are feeling the pain now. With such a low premiere box office, I believe it will continue to decline in the future. I don't know if the other two movies in this series that are still in production will even have a chance to be released. By the way, would any theater owner be willing to show such a chaotic movie? Even if someone does, how many viewers will actually go?"

The opponents, who had been suppressed, finally rallied like they had found a backbone. They began to attack Laila and the movie wherever they could make their voices heard.

However, facts are facts. No matter how harsh the attacks from the trolls and navy, those who watched the movie would speak up in its defense.

"Who said it was a bad movie? I can swear it's the best movie I've ever seen in my life. Look at my movie ticket; those who haven't watched it should stop spouting nonsense! You'll never know what you're missing!"

As a counter to those people, some quickly posted pictures of their movie tickets to prove they were not talking nonsense. People who had seen the film were sure that anyone who witnessed it would not speak ill of it.

"That's right, I have a movie ticket proving that I watched it. 'The Lord of the Rings' is excellent. If I hadn't missed getting tickets, I would watch it again. I can't believe the premiere box office is so low; maybe there was a miscalculation!"

"Agreed, I'm also someone who wanted to watch it again but couldn't get tickets. Can't understand why the box office is so low."

Many people on Facebook posted pictures of their movie tickets, and those who didn't have ticket stubs commented in support.

But how could the trolls and haters take these people's words seriously? The box office was there, solid and indisputable.

"Haven't those who praised the movie's goodness had enough of a slap in the face? The box office represents everything. If it's really good, why is the premiere box office so low?"

Although reviewers disliked measuring a movie's quality by box office numbers, fans were different. In their minds, a good movie would attract more viewers and naturally receive a higher box office.

"Is over 25 million considered low?"

"People saying it's low, please check how many movies can achieve this premiere box office."

"Even in the summer season, this is a decent box office!"

Laila's fans were not pleased. If you think it's easy, you go ahead! Running your mouth and devaluing others without looking at your own situation.

Even if the box office this time was indeed lower compared to Laila's previous records, there were objective reasons for it. Some people boycotted, others lacked confidence in changing the original work, fans worried about their beloved series turning into a bad film, and there were even doubts about Eastern actors. The most crucial issue was the choice of the release date.

Laila's previous premieres were scheduled on Fridays, which was an excellent time. After work, people could relax with friends, watch a movie, and then enjoy the weekend to let word of mouth spread, creating more potential viewers.

However, this time, to challenge Michael Bay's "Transformers," she chose a Tuesday. Tuesday was not a suitable day to release a new film. It followed the rest day, the first day back to work, a time when people tend to be lazy, and there were many days of work ahead. People didn't have the mood to go specifically watch a movie.

Only some loyal fans, those who happened to be free, and couples looking for entertainment would enter the cinema.