In the capital of China, inside Hall No. 1 of a newly renovated IMAX 3D cinema, the place was already packed to the brim.
Guo Fan and Liu Ji were among the audience. The two of them bought tickets at the first opportunity to watch The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.
Unlike casual viewers who watched for spectacle, the two of them were complete professionals looking for the craft.
Guo Fan had visited Peter Jackson's crew several times before, and he was very curious about the final result, which was why he came to the cinema to take a look.
After the screening ended, Liu Ji asked, "So, how does it feel?"
Guo Fan thought for a moment and said, "This is a standard Hollywood blockbuster. I estimate it'll achieve pretty good box office results."
As they walked out of the cinema, they happened to run into reporters conducting interviews at the theater entrance.
"Excuse me, sorry to bother you two. May I do a brief interview with you?"
Seeing that the young reporter wasn't having an easy time, and being kind-hearted, Guo Fan nodded. "Sure."
"Thank you."
The young reporter quickly gestured for the cameraman to follow, then took out her prepared questions and asked,
"You both just came out of The Hobbit screening. How did it feel?"
Guo Fan handled the interview with ease. "A very standard A-list commercial blockbuster that meets expectations. Of course, if the director had been Gilbert, it might have reached an even higher level."
Liu Ji added, "The visual effects are very good, and the 3D is excellent as well. In addition, you can see many locations shot in our country, such as Jiuzhaigou and the Kunlun Mountains.
I believe this film can once again drive foreign tourists to visit our country. This is a very good opportunity."
"Then how many points would you give this film?"
Guo Fan stroked the stubble that had just grown on his chin, thought for a moment, and said, "From the perspective of a commercial film, I'd give it eight points."
"I'll give it nine points. An outstanding commercial movie."
"Alright, thank you both for accepting the interview."
After Guo Fan and Liu Ji walked away, the young reporter suddenly realized something. "Wait… was that Director Guo Fan just now?"
The cameraman hesitated as well. "He did look kind of like him."
"Ah, it was him!"
The young reporter clapped her hands. "Let's go, let's go—hurry back and write the report. Did we record everything just now?"
"It's all recorded."
"That's great!"
The young reporter could already picture the editor-in-chief praising her, with a promotion and raise just around the corner.
In fact, it wasn't just Guo Fan. Huang Xiaoming was also caught by reporters for interviews. He spoke highly of the film and talked about his experiences back when he was on the The Lord of the Rings set.
This experience had always been something Huang Xiaoming loved to talk about. Later, his agency even promoted him under the banner of "international superstar Huang Xiaoming."
However, as more and more celebrities returned from overseas to focus on the domestic market, this was gradually no longer mentioned.
Well-versed in the art of hype, Huang Xiaoming took advantage of The Hobbit's release to bring it up again. Simply put, he was riding the wave.
Those who had not personally experienced The Lord of the Rings being filmed entirely on location in China could not possibly understand the influence this series had in the country.
It could be said that since the twenty-first century began, Gilbert's The Lord of the Rings trilogy was the Hollywood film that had the greatest impact on the Chinese film industry.
It was also thanks to this film that Gilbert became the most popular Hollywood director in China, bar none.
This also explained why, when The Hobbit was released in China, entertainment reporters were actually sent to theaters specifically to interview moviegoers.
You had to know that many Chinese-language films never received such treatment.
Leaving China and arriving in South Korea, however, presented a completely different picture. After returning from Los Angeles, Song Hye-kyo completely let herself go and began to go dark.
The first change was in how she dealt with her agency. In the past, she followed whatever arrangements the agency made; otherwise, she would have to pay breach-of-contract fees and might even offend the company's upper management.
But after coming back, things were different. If there was a job she didn't want to take, she simply refused. She didn't care about the penalty fees either—her man was the richest person in the world. She wasn't short of that little bit of money.
In addition, in the past, Song Hye-kyo occasionally had to dine and drink with senior executives of entertainment companies or sons of chaebol families. Although she was not subjected to unspoken rules, some groping and harassment were inevitable.
But after the trip to Los Angeles, Song Hye-kyo made it clear: she was done putting up with it—whoever it was, she didn't care anymore.
What? The chaebol heirs were powerful and would teach her a lesson?
What a joke. Hadn't they seen what the Kim family's young master had done, nearly bringing down the entire Kim family? Song Hye-kyo was now untouchable in the Korean entertainment industry—no one dared provoke her.
When The Hobbit was released in South Korea, although it was not personally directed by Gilbert, Song Hye-kyo still worked hard to help promote it.
That manner, tone, and expression were exactly the same as those of several women from the neighboring island nation, as if cast from the same mold.
"Suzy, aren't you going to help with the promotion?"
Seeing Song Hye-kyo jumping around enthusiastically to promote the film, looking very much like a female simp, a teammate came over to ask Bae Suzy.
Bae Suzy hesitated a little. "I… I don't have any connection at all. How could I help promote it?"
Her teammate looked at her as if she were hopeless. "Suzy, it's precisely because you have no connection that you need to force one. Do you want to go accompany the Zheng family's young master?"
"Of course not."
"Then this is the perfect opportunity. As long as you can latch onto this relationship, the Zheng family's young master won't dare to pester you anymore."
Bae Suzy hadn't been having an easy time lately either. She had not been taken under Gilbert's wing, and this was soon known to everyone. Since that was the case, the protection she once had no longer existed.
As a result, Bae Suzy was once again entangled by chaebol heirs and was called out to accompany them for drinks.
Although she resisted with all her might, she was small and weak—how could she possibly withstand it?
Bae Suzy could choose not to go, but what would follow would be the loss of various resources. Moreover, the chaebol heir's influence was enormous and could very likely affect her family.
A trace of hesitation flashed through Bae Suzy's eyes, but when she thought of the Zheng family's young master's persistent harassment, she could only make up her mind.
"I highly recommend everyone go watch The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. I really like Director Gilbert, and I also love The Lord of the Rings series.
Everyone must go to the cinema to support this movie!"
A short post, accompanied by a cute photo of herself taken in front of the cinema, with the name Gilbert on the poster beside her deliberately or inadvertently exposed.
Those who didn't know the inside story would at most think this was a movie fan spontaneously helping promote the film. But those who knew the truth would immediately start making connections.
Even so, although Gilbert had not touched Bae Suzy, there was no guarantee that he had no interest in her.
Big shots are not all the same. People like Gilbert are most averse to other men laying hands on their women.
If Gilbert were just an ordinary person, seeing a female celebrity he liked fall in love or get married would at most lead to a bout of impotent rage.
But Gilbert happened to possess tremendous power. Destroying the world might be impossible, but destroying a person or a family would be effortless.
As a result, the Zheng family company that had been pestering Bae Suzy was immediately warned by their family not to touch her. The senior executives of the entertainment company also stopped asking Bae Suzy to accompany anyone—if something happened and caught Gilbert's attention, that would be disastrous.
However, what was even more shocking was still to come. Just after Bae Suzy had managed to protect herself, she suddenly received an invitation—it was sent from Gilbert's assistant office.
It was an invitation to The Avengers premiere, inviting Bae Suzy to go to Los Angeles to attend the premiere.
This completely stunned Bae Suzy. Could it be that Gilbert still remembered her? She was just a nobody!
However, her doubts were quickly resolved. The mastermind behind all of this was actually Song Hye-kyo.
..
Hi For access to additional chapters of
Director in Hollywood (40 chpaters)
Made In Hollywood (Completed)
Pokemon:Bounty Hunter(30 Chapters)
Hollywood:From Razzie to Legend(40 Chapters)
The Great Ruler (30 Chapters)
Join pateron.com/Translaterappu