Chapter 156: Chapter 156: Shocking Premiere
Adrian felt a slight regret because of Drew, he missed the eting between Kate and Monica. However, it seed that there was nothing too intense said between them, otherwise, Kate wouldn’t be sitting beside him so calmly now, still interested in the dinosaurs on the screen, given her usually not so mild-mannered personality.
After exchanging a few words with Kate, he scanned the surroundings again, still not finding any trace of Monica, Adrian couldn’t help but chuckle and shake his head, thinking he must be out of his mind to try to find soone in this darkened theater. So, after collecting his thoughts, he turned his attention back to the movie.
By this point, the plot had moved on to Professor Hammond briefly explaining to the invited archaeologists and mathematicians the reason behind these achievents with an animated short film. Here again, Spielberg’s ingenuity shone through, using animation and picture-in-picture to simply yet clearly relay the situation with the dinosaurs — of course, whether the thod of cloning dinosaurs shown in the film was feasible or not was beyond Spielberg’s concern; this was cinema, not reality.
Soon, the carnivorous dinosaurs appeared, but like before, they were heard and not seen — okay, the raptor hatched from the eggshell didn’t count. The children and professors waited a long ti in the Tyrannosaurus rex area to no avail. However, when nightfall ca, along with the ensuing storm and the blackout intentionally caused by Hammond’s overweight son-in-law to steal the embryos, their electric car stopped on the way back, and they finally encountered the enormous Tyrannosaurus rex.
When the hideous head of the Tyrannosaurus rex appeared on the screen, many were startled, with several ladies letting out a gasp, and even Kate sitting next to Adrian couldn’t help but clutch his hand tightly. However, the first man to die in the jaws of the Tyrannosaurus rex, who was trembling while he watched the huge head approach, and was then snatched up in one bite, gave the audience a strangely comic relief, making many unsure whether to be shocked or burst out laughing.
Yet, this twist didn’t feel out of place, and perhaps, it was for this reason that the movie was rated PG-13. One had to admit that Spielberg had a unique mastery of cinematic language.
...
What followed were chaos, escape, accidents, and successful returns — the usual Hollywood formulas. Spielberg’s storytelling prowess was fully demonstrated here. For instance, the characters were climbing over an electric fence, the base was about to restore power, and the child didn’t dare to co down; in the last second, he crafted a shot of the little boy getting electrocuted and falling. Of course, he was eventually revived. As for how plausible that was, there was no need to discuss it, because after all, it was a movie, and the audience didn’t want the boy to die.
In short, the constant twists and unexpected turns reached a climax at the end. Both groups finally gathered, ready to leave the island, and at this mont, two escaped raptors also chased to the base. After much chasing, they finally cornered them in the main hall, and just when the audience thought they were about to witness a brutal fight, the enormous Tyrannosaurus rex suddenly burst in, bellowing as it bit one of the raptors, its formidable presence living up to its na.
It wasn’t until after the credits had finished rolling and the theater’s lights had been on for a while that the audience ca back to their senses, then giving an exceptionally enthusiastic round of applause. If “Terminator 2” first introduced people to the charm of pure CGI in movies, then “Jurassic Park” perfectly combined CGI and special effects, which explained the audience’s fervent reaction.
“I couldn’t see any traces of fakery at all; it’s really impressive that they could achieve this,” Kate said excitedly as they were on the way back, constantly talking about the dinosaurs in the movie.
“Of course, rember that Lucas could produce effects like those in ‘Star Wars’ back in the late 70s, bringing dinosaurs to life on screen was nothing much for him,” Adrian responded in agreent, not saying anything else.
Since Adrian was not involved in the subsequent press conference, he left with Kate after the show. When he ca out, Adrian finally spotted Monica in the crowd but was too far away to even wave hello. Moreover, Monica, upon seeing him, simply smiled and shrugged her shoulders before turning and walking in the opposite direction.
Seeing this, Adrian could only let it be for the mont and perhaps phone her in a few days—there wasn’t any other situation for now anyway. Glancing at Kate still buzzing with excitent beside him, Adrian stepped on the gas pedal. He decided to get back quickly and, before Kate cald down, thoroughly clean himself up since he slled a hint of another scent on his body when they left.
Released in over 2000 theaters across the United States on Christmas Eve, “Jurassic Park” greatly shocked the Arican public. The lifelike dinosaurs, brought to life by a combination of special effects and CGI, were warmly received. Therefore, in just three days, the movie netted close to 49 million dollars at the North Arican box office, kicking the previous chart-topping film straight off its pedestal.
And for the critics who had been focusing on “Howards End” over the past half month, they finally returned their attention to the comrcial blockbuster. Needless to say, they unanimously praised “Jurassic Park.”
“A fantastically compelling movie that grabs your attention every minute and doesn’t let go until the end credits roll,” — “Hollywood Report”
“The dinosaurs created by Industrial Light & Magic are the true stars of the film, a miracle of today’s movie industry.” — Empire
“When the last shot features the Tyrannosaurus rex letting out a wild roar, and then the ‘Jurassic Park’ banner falls in front of it, you’ll realize that the protagonists of the movie are not Sam Neil or Jeff Gobblin, but that massive Tyrannosaurus rex. Although it appears only briefly throughout the movie, every entrance it makes is show-stealing.” — Variety
This epoch-making film took just two weeks to earn $150 million in North Arica and then another two weeks to push its total earnings past $200 million, becoming the biggest winner in the hot movie season at the end of ’92 and the beginning of ’93, its success unrivaled at the ti.
“Do you rember what I told you? This investnt would definitely rake in a huge profit,” Adrian said to Claude over the phone in a teasing tone, “It’s truly a pity you didn’t attend the premiere.”
With a total investnt of nearly $65 million, Universal Pictures, Bossworth Film Company, and AC dia each owned a third. Now, in just four weeks, they had recouped their cost and earned almost double the profit, which could be considered a trendous success. Moreover, the popularity was far from fading, as it had just begun showing overseas, and more importantly, Adrian had already secured the film’s rchandising rights.
“Alright, I get it, from now on you call the shots with movie-related matters,” Claude replied with a big laugh.
Considering “Casper” and “Pulp Fiction,” Bossworth Film Company had three films that broke the $100 million mark in North Arica this year. Although two were only as an investor, the fact that they made a fortune was real. That’s why Adrian could say that over the phone. Of course, while there was a hint of a prompt in his words, it was mostly a joke, considering the relationship between the two.
However, this was just the beginning. As ti went on, such situations would only beco more frequent, and then…
After spending the Christmas and New Year holidays visiting his aunt and uncle in New York, and Kate’s family in London, and staying with Emma for a few days, Adrian, back in Los Angeles, started to enjoy so downti.
Without any urgent filming plans to follow, he instantly relaxed a lot, spending more ti on other things, like working out, attending various parties and etings, often going shopping with Kate, and occasionally having secret etings with Monica — Adrian asked her many tis what she had said to Kate that day, Monica always just smiled without answering, and that smile always carried a touch of complex teasing. Over ti, Adrian also beca too lazy to ask.
Besides that, he would occasionally have a call or two with Julia, but never ntioned those days, and Kate was usually by his side during the calls.
Taking advantage of the situation, he also took the opportunity to tidy up work matters. There wasn’t much to say about the film company, with Laverne as CEO, there was no need to worry. On the publishing company side, although they had made so headway with “Resident Evil” and “Tomb Raider” novels, and had signed a few good writers who were between first and second-tier, Ben Arnt had also begun writing sequels based on outlines provided by Adrian. But to step up to beco a top-tier publishing company would still take so ti, or they might need to wait for a certain magical series of novels to co out.
Although information collected by a private investigator reported that Rowling was not yet in dire straits, Adrian hadn’t made a new move, figuring things were already in motion, and he decided to wait until ’94, there was no rush. Also worth ntioning is that Dean Wilson’s investigation into China had concluded at the end of ’92, and as Adrian thought, there was not another version of himself in this world. This was good news, and upon receiving the fax, Adrian imdiately shredded it. This ant he could be even more unrestrained in his actions.
Well, all that was tangential, next up was the talent agency, which also didn’t require much concern. With Adrian there, they just needed to sign the actors he was optimistic about, plus the company already owned several directors and actors who were not yet well-known, so the prospects looked very promising. Furthermore, the company’s system took reference from many talent agencies, including CAA, and with a CEO that was innovative but capable of maintaining status quo, there was no need to worry about agents being poached by other companies.
What did give Adrian a slight headache was the record label, which even though was a newly acquired company this year, had sufficient funds to ensure a smooth reorganisation and the signing of several promising producers. On Adrian’s recomndation, the record label also began attempting to create boy bands, but the initial single they released to test the waters was not successful. So, after so thought, he asked Claude to find so songwriters to share ideas to see if they could replicate so of the classics from his mory.
Frankly speaking, although it wasn’t a bad idea, it could hardly be considered a good one either. (To be continued. For the continuation of this story, please visit qidian. More chapters are available; support the author, support genuine reading!)
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