King of Hollywood

Chapter 437: Chapter 159 Soon to Set Sail

As the latter half of June arrived, schools across America began their summer break one after another, and a new round of competition for the hot movie season started. Kicking off this time was “Men in Black,” jointly invested in by Columbia, Bossworth, and DreamWorks.

This fairly mediocre novel, upon being adapted into a film, received enthusiastic acclaim. The hidden theme of presenting humanity as insignificant, the comically humorous presentation, and the idea that aliens are right beside us all drew considerable attention. The two leads, Tommy Lee Jones with his feigned seriousness, and Will Smith’s rich body language, were quite the highlights. Monica, although her performance was by the book, had moments that caught the eye – like the scene where she killed the big bug that tried to sneak up on them, and her sharp suit look when she joined the Men in Black was very cool.

So, the movie had a pretty good start, with a PG-13 rating, an interesting story, decent performances, and the marketing efforts of the three companies. Although it wasn’t released on a weekend, with the support of 3000 theaters, it still grossed 80 million US dollars in North America in five days. Will Smith became more and more (redacted), and Monica’s position in Hollywood grew increasingly solid.

Furthermore, the film was very well-received by critics, with many considering it one of the most interesting science fiction movies of the year. Of course, this is all relative; the mediocrity of the original novel made the film’s strengths particularly stand out, leading critics to also call it one of the best sci-fi adaptations of the year.

However, the most anticipated film was still “Titanic,” which frequently appeared in the media and was heavily advertised to whet the appetite. Ordinary people wanted to know what was so special about this film that was touted as the most expensive to date, those who were optimistic wanted to know if it lived up to their praise, and those who were skeptical were equally eager to find what flaws it had in order to criticize it more vehemently.

As they wished, on the last weekend of June, “Titanic” was finally released.

As night fell, the area outside the Hollywood Chinese Theater was packed with throngs of people. A grand premiere was to be held here, with countless reporters and movie fans who had been waiting for a long time, hoping to catch some newsworthy gossip, or to see the stars they admired and maybe get an autograph or something.

They weren’t disappointed as Hollywood’s big names arrived one after another. Just counting the big-shot directors, there were several, like Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, of course, and Francis Coppola even showed up, bringing his daughter along. If Martin Scorsese also came, then almost all the great directors from back then would have been gathered. Besides them, there were numerous up-and-coming directors, especially those promoted by Adrian, like Jean de Bont, David Fincher, Michael Bay among others, who didn’t miss out.

The actors weren’t lacking either. Almost all the Oscar-winning actors from the past four or five years showed up. Anthony Hopkins was said to have flown in from the United Kingdom just to support the event, Nicholas Cage came separately from his uncle, but they arrived just minutes apart, Al Pacino, Tom Hanks, and his wife were all there without fail. There were many others, like the cohabiting couple Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon, the three brothers River Phoenix, Joaquin Phoenix, Silver Phoenix, Kevin Spacey, or Russell Crowe.

Regrettably, Dennis Knight came alone, which disappointed many reporters. They had heard a rumor that after his split with Winona, he had officially gotten together with that sweetheart from “Friends.”

Many famous couples also made appearances on the premiere’s red carpet, like Bruce Willis and his wife – though they were rumored to be at odds, they still showed affection in front of the cameras – as well as Arnold Schwarzenegger and his wife, and Tom Cruise and his wife, among others.

Even more numerous were the executives from various movie companies. However, the reporters’ attention didn’t linger on them for long because compared to a certain individual, they were nothing. That was Rupert Murdoch. When he appeared on the red carpet with his wife, a relentless burst of camera flashes followed.