The Best Movie Actor In Hollywood!

Chapter 808: The John Carter Premiere

A grand premiere once again descended upon Disneyland.

Perhaps seeing potential for theme park tie-ins, Disney, as the distributor, specifically held the world premiere of "John Carter" at Disneyland in California. They sent out a flood of invitations, hoping to draw a large crowd to support the film.

As a partner of Disney's, Matthew had naturally received an invitation.

After walking the long red carpet to the entrance of Disney's Grand Theatre, Matthew encountered Robert Iger, the CEO of Walt Disney.

"How are you?" Matthew asked, shaking Robert's hand. He added curiously, "You've got a grim look on your face."

Robert glanced at the massive "John Carter" poster displayed at the theater's entrance and sighed. "The last few films haven't done very well."

Hearing this, Matthew feigned some indignation. "Disney's films haven't done well this year? Come on, Bob, have a little consideration for the rest of us."

Robert spread his hands. "It's true."

Matthew rattled off the facts. "'Alice in Wonderland,' released at the beginning of the year, grossed over a billion dollars worldwide, right? 'Iron Man 2' has made three hundred million dollars in North America and seven hundred million globally since its release, hasn't it? And 'Toy Story 3' came out just over two weeks ago—its box office and word-of-mouth have been explosive. It's clearly on track for three hundred million in North America and eight hundred million worldwide!"

He couldn't help but shake his head. "Disney's films aren't doing well? Don't say that in front of a small company like mine."Robert Iger's Mickey Mouse grin returned. He then pointed to the "John Carter" poster. "I'm talking about this film."

Matthew feigned curiosity. "Bad reviews from the test screenings?"

At this point, the Rotten Tomatoes, IMDB, and other scores for "John Carter" hadn't been released, but the film had already gone through several test screenings.

Typically, major blockbusters release their word-of-mouth ratings after official test screenings. If the feedback is good, it serves as excellent promotion.

On the other hand, films that kept their reviews under wraps were either those that hadn't held public test screenings, blockbusters with supreme self-confidence like "Avatar," or films with terrible word-of-mouth.

He had noticed that "John Carter" hadn't released any official word-of-mouth, though there were quite a few reviews claiming the film was good.

Of course, no one in the industry took those seriously. Everyone knew that most film critics were paid for their opinions.

"Very unsatisfactory." Robert slowly shook his head. "I'm mentally prepared for a flop."

Matthew frowned slightly.

Robert sighed. "Andrew isn't even a tenth as good with live-action as he is with animation." His words carried an undertone of relief. "Fortunately for this film, Disney only invested fifty million dollars."

Matthew didn't know how to respond. After all, he had been the one invited to play the lead role earlier.

Robert suddenly glanced toward the red carpet, where the handsome Brad Pitt had just made his entrance.

"Fortunately, the entire two-hundred-million-dollar budget came from Brad Pitt's investments and financing," he remarked slowly. "Otherwise, Disney could have faced a devastating failure and loss."

Matthew raised an eyebrow. "That bad?"

After all, from where he was standing, Brad Pitt was all smiles on the red carpet, brimming with ambition, as if the film were already a massive success.

"It's worse than the worst you can imagine."

Robert didn't hide anything. "Do you know what the pre-sales are for this film?"

Matthew shook his head. "There's no public data."

Robert sighed again. "That's because Brad Pitt's Plan B spent an exorbitant amount of money to block the pre-sale data from being released. The advance ticket sales for the opening weekend in North America are less than five million dollars."

Matthew was momentarily speechless. For a massive blockbuster with a production cost of 250 million dollars, pre-sales of five million dollars couldn't just be called bad. They were abysmal.

The next moment, he transformed into the picture of a thoughtful partner, offering a suggestion. "Bob, it might be wise for Disney to wait and see the opening day box office numbers before deciding on any further promotional investments."

From a stop-loss perspective, it was undoubtedly the wisest decision.

Robert Iger smiled helplessly. "I've already put a temporary freeze on any more of Disney's money going into this film's advertising."

Knowing a film is almost certain to lose money, why would you keep pouring cash into it? That would be insane.

Besides, Disney wasn't in the same position as Plan B and Brad Pitt, who had no other choice but to go all-in on "John Carter."

Matthew saw someone else approach to greet Robert Iger, so he took the opportunity to say his goodbyes. But instead of entering the Grand Theatre, he paused to watch Brad Pitt and Natalie Portman make their way down the red carpet.

To be a successful actor, the first rule was to have a thick skin. Judging by the expressions on Natalie Portman and Brad Pitt's faces, you'd never guess they had any worries about "John Carter." They looked as if selling the film would be effortless.

Of course, poor word-of-mouth from test screenings didn't always spell doom; it wasn't unheard of for a film to become a box office sensation after its release.

That was why this grand premiere, jointly funded by Disney Pictures and Plan B, was going ahead as planned. And Matthew suspected that Robert Iger was holding out a sliver of hope that it might just work.

But the disastrously low pre-sales and terrible test screening reviews were enough for Matthew to reach a definitive conclusion: "John Carter" was going to bomb, just as it had in his past life.

Moreover, Robert had confirmed that the director, Andrew Stanton, was having problems.

A film could survive problematic actors, but when the direction went wrong, it was fatal.

Matthew took one last look at the main cast and crew, who were huddled together for a group photo in front of the backdrop, before turning toward the theater's main entrance.

A film with fatal problems—wasn't this exactly what he had wanted?

Think about it: if the film's box office was merely average, after Disney deducted its distribution costs and promotional advance, how much of the remaining share would even make it to Plan B?

Plan B and Brad Pitt probably wouldn't recoup even a tenth of their investment.

In the future, what production with a slightly larger budget would dare to cast Brad Pitt or Natalie Portman?

Failing once might be chalked up to bad luck, but to have two major projects bomb in a row... that would be extremely damaging even for a star of Matthew's caliber, let alone them.

Shortly after Matthew entered the Disney Grand Theatre, the group photo for the "John Carter" cast and crew concluded. Brad Pitt headed for the entrance alone. The moment he turned away from the press, the smile vanished from his handsome face, replaced by an expression of pure anxiety.

The poor test screening results and the abysmal pre-sales genuinely worried him.

Pre-sales often reflect the true appeal of a film, its director, and its stars.

Less than five million dollars in pre-sales proved to him that Andrew Stanton, having left the world of Pixar animation, had little pull with fans. It also proved that the two leads—himself and Natalie Portman—simply didn't have much commercial drawing power.

It was a particularly bitter realization, but there was no escaping it.

Perhaps choosing to do a big-budget commercial film had been a mistake? The thought struck Brad Pitt with sudden clarity.

But it had been a necessary choice. To become a superstar in this day and age, an actor simply couldn't touch that threshold without the backing of a commercial blockbuster.

Brad Pitt walked toward the theater distractedly. Just as he was about to enter, someone stepped in front of him.

The man wore glasses and a black suit, his face exuding the sharp competence of a business elite.

"Antonius, what are you doing here?" A flash of clear anger crossed Brad Pitt's previously melancholic face.

"I'm a VIP who accepted an invitation." The middle-aged man named Antonius seemed not to notice the look on Brad Pitt's face. "I came to give you a little reminder."

Brad Pitt glanced around, then gestured to an empty corner of the lobby. "Let's talk over there."

The two men moved to the corner, where Antonius got straight to the point. "Brad, I have to remind you that the debt you owe is due on schedule."

Brad Pitt's face darkened. "You'll get every cent you're owed."

Antonius suddenly laughed. "Oh, really? And how do you plan to pay it back? Don't tell me you're counting on the revenue share from 'John Carter'?"

He didn't give Brad Pitt a chance to speak. "I suggest you start selling off your properties now. If we have to foreclose on them later, they'll be liquidated for pennies on the dollar."

Brad Pitt's hand trembled slightly, but he didn't panic.

"We already forgave the debt you took out for 'Cloud Atlas' and allowed you to defer payment until this year," Antonius continued. "That was a one-time courtesy. There won't be a second."

He was a debt collection agent for several credit funds and bank syndicates that had been monitoring Plan B and Brad Pitt. There was no way to hide the details of the "John Carter" test screenings and pre-sales from them.

"I'll think about it." Brad Pitt forced himself to suppress his anger. "My film hasn't even been released yet."

Having delivered his reminder, Antonius had achieved his goal. He turned to leave, saying over his shoulder, "Good luck to you and 'John Carter.'"

Brad Pitt watched the man walk away in silence for a few moments. Two projects, "Cloud Atlas" and "John Carter," saddled with hundreds of millions of dollars in syndicated loans and mortgages.

And that wasn't even counting the interest and other financing...

Brad Pitt's body trembled at the thought of the consequences of failure—it would leave him with nothing!

Brad Pitt shook his head. "John Carter" hadn't even been released yet. Who was to say his film couldn't be a box office hit?