The Best Movie Actor In Hollywood!

Chapter 665

To solidify the success of the film Twilight, Disney launched a spectacular world premiere event in Los Angeles.

To gather Twilight fans from all over the world for the premiere, Studio 13 had booked out the Grand Plaza two days prior, allowing fans to camp out.

By 6 a.m. on the day of the premiere, about 2,000 people had already gathered at the venue, creating a bustling scene.

Furthermore, the hotels near the plaza had been fully booked for months, with countless fans traveling from all across the United States to witness the entire Twilight cast walk the red carpet for the first time.

Fans of the novel series had become captivated by the film as a result of the successive advertising and marketing campaigns.

Standing on the steps in front of the theater, David Ellison watched as the actors walked the red carpet one by one. He suddenly turned to Matthew, who was standing beside him, and asked, "Is this really ushering in an era of low-budget blockbusters?"

Matthew, however, replied, "Don't get your hopes up too high."

Curious, David asked, "How high are we hoping?"

"Well..." Matthew thought for a moment and answered, "Compared to those hot mainstream commercial films, it's definitely not on the same level."

Hearing this, David's face showed a flicker of disappointment. "I thought this would be a billion-dollar picture."Matthew was at a loss. "David, what made you think Twilight could have a billion-dollar box office?"

"The presales," David said, his spirits lifting. "The presales were outstanding, earning over twenty million dollars for the weekend."

Matthew reminded him, "Aren't you overlooking another statistic? Ninety percent of the presale audience were women or fans of the book."

That alone indicated that the film was targeted primarily at women and fans of the book.

David shrugged. "I didn't see that. I just think we did an excellent job with the promotion."

Matthew nodded. "The marketing and distribution did everything they could within the budget."

He glanced at the thousands of book fans gathered along the red carpet and in the theater. "The rest is up to the audience."

Besides Studio 13 and Disney, the publisher of the Twilight novel series also put in a significant effort in terms of promotion and distribution.

Just as the film's advertising campaign reached its peak, Stephenie Meyer and the publishing house seized the opportunity to release the new book, Twilight: Breaking Dawn, launching an extraordinary promotional blitz alongside the film's marketing.

The joint promotion of the novel and the film was mutually beneficial for both the film company and the publisher.

This time, the publisher had hired a professional Hollywood team to plan the promotional strategy—a team Matthew had introduced, which had once planned the marketing for the Harry Potter novel series for Warner Bros.

The entire promotional plan was divided into two stages.

The first stage involved several rounds of promotional campaigns in major industry and consumer media, using keywords like "Twilight outsells Harry Potter," "the film adaptation of Twilight is coming soon," "Twilight tops the bestseller list for adult books on Amazon in the US," and "Stephenie Meyer selected as one of Time's 100 in 2008," all to generate significant buzz.

The second stage, before and after the release of Twilight: Breaking Dawn, implemented a multi-faceted preview campaign. Various sample copies were distributed in bookstores and posted online and in print media. These previews served as a powerful teaser for readers, stoking an intense desire to read the book and follow the main characters.

In its first week, Twilight: Breaking Dawn sold over 300,000 copies.

And every new fan of the novel was essentially a future audience member for the film.

"By the way, Matthew," David asked unexpectedly, "this year's Victoria's Secret show is coming up. Are you going?"

Matthew considered his work schedule and slowly shook his head.

"We'll see. I might not have time. There's too much work ahead."

After Thanksgiving, he was scheduled to return to the set of G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra to continue filming. Then he had to report to Christopher Nolan for Inception. In between, he needed to find time to focus on the post-production of Fast & Furious 4, so finding any extra time would be difficult.

The cast's group photo session ended, and at that moment, Sofia Coppola took the initiative and asked Matthew, "Shall we go in together?"

Matthew nodded, offered Sofia his arm, and they walked into the theater together.

"I've already seen the film," Matthew said as they walked. "It's good."

Sofia smiled. "What did you like about it?"

Matthew thought for a moment and said, "You have a real knack for evoking emotion. The male characters are especially well-crafted. Edward's skin is cold and pale. He's like an eighteenth-century gentleman, handsome and wealthy—perfect for a crowd of immature, rebellious teenage girls."

Hearing his words, Sofia couldn't help but laugh. Afterward, she said, "The most successful part of the film is still the female lead."

"Oh?" Matthew asked curiously. "Is Nina that good?"

Sofia shook her head. "Not the heroine of the film, but the heroine of the novel."

Seeing the confusion on Matthew's face, she explained, "Stephenie Meyer portrays the heroine as a blank slate. Her appearance is never described in detail, so any woman can easily project herself onto the character and start fantasizing."

Matthew recalled the novel, and it seemed that was indeed the case.

Sofia continued, "When I first read the novel, I couldn't figure out what the heroine actually looked like. Even after more than four hundred pages, I had no answer. And if you set aside her appearance, her personality was described as insecure and clumsy. Any girl who has gone through puberty can relate to her based on those traits."

She looked at Matthew. "Through the blank slate that is Isabella, the heroine becomes a skin that any woman can step into."

Sofia shook her head. "And then look at the main character, Edward. All Stephenie does is describe his perfect face, his body, his clothes, his hair, his eye color, and even his damn breath, over and over again."

Matthew smiled in response. "Just right for a teenage girl's fantasies."

"Do girls really want men like that?" Sofia shook her head again, half-serious, half-joking. "Actually, I think the heroine will eventually regret it. Vampires have no body heat, and they're hard as stone, cold, and insane."

Matthew didn't know what to say. They reached the front row of the screening room before he finally remarked, "You have a deep understanding of the subtext."

***

Soon, the film began, and Matthew, as an investor and producer, witnessed firsthand the power of films aimed at a teenage fanbase.

The moment the title Twilight appeared on screen, the audience couldn't help but scream. When the vampire protagonist who made thousands of teenage girls swoon—Edward Cullen—appeared, it sent the audience into another frenzy. And that was just the beginning.

Shortly after the film started, following a brief introduction, the heroine, Bella, found herself completely smitten by the mysterious, beautiful Edward, unable to stop herself.

Judging by the screams from the audience in the theater, Bella was far from alone.

When the concept of vampires first emerged, they were originally in the same camp as demons and zombies. But with the spread of YA romance, the image of the vampire began to shift toward a more positive one in the works of various novelists, who managed to satisfy their male readers' bloodlust and draw tears from their female readers, influencing the entire world.

Matthew had read a quote somewhere from a famous person who said that vampire love has everything that is attractive about love: deadly passion, eternal desire, conquest and submission, sadism and masochism, sorrow born from pleasure, immortality found in pain and ecstasy...

Since the hero, Edward, is forever stuck at the age of seventeen, Twilight was destined to become a vampire version of a pure love story. Edward Cullen meets the heroine, Isabella, at school, and surrounding them is the sweeping backdrop of a perpetually rainy town, which allows Twilight to be both demonic, like a traditional fantasy film, and yet also have a bit of a high school campus vibe, similar to that of Harry Potter.

Additionally, the hero's innate ability to read minds brings a unique personal charm and narrative interest to the film.

Isabella is a fragile girl who looks like she could come down with leukemia at any moment, while Edward is a mysterious teenager with something to hide. Although their love at first sight is like a dream, it is destined to go through many twists and turns, setting them on a path of love entangled in countless twists and brushes with death.