The Best Director

Chapter 107: The Wondrous Flight of the Avenger

Translator: 549690339

On the big screen, Natalie, with her backpack and protruding belly, was walking awkwardly down the school corridor. The students on both sides stepped aside as Joshua leaned against the lockers with his arms crossed, mocking, “Hey, Mrs. McGuff, good morning!”

Natalie hurried past without paying attention to anyone. Suddenly, she winced, clutching her stomach with a pained expression, and through a voiceover said, “I now understand what they call genetic inheritance. My baby won’t let me off unless it runs ten miles every day. But I’m a bit worried for Mark and Vanessa, if it’s a girl, in 17 years, they’ll be grandparents.”

“Hahaha!” A burst of laughter erupted almost instantly throughout the packed theater, and the blonde girl, Clair, laughed too, saying to her close girlfriends, “Juno is so funny, I really want to get pregnant like her.” The brunet girl, Jenny, sitting to her left, nodded with a youthful smile on her face, “Me too, it’s really cool to be like Juno. She’s 16, I’m 16, why can’t I?”

This was their group’s second time watching the movie; the first was the premiere on the 22nd. Although it was just a few days later on the 27th, they still found it very fun and interesting. They liked Natalie Portman, liked Best Director, and liked Juno on the screen even more. This unique girl, Juno, had become their new idol.

“Yeah, why can’t we do it? We could be those kinds of girls too!” Clair mused to herself. Suddenly, her eyebrows raised, she turned to her friends with an excited smile, “Guys, I’ve got a cool idea!” Jenny, Hettie, and Alison all asked curiously, “What?” Clair leaned over to whisper a few words in Jenny’s ear, then murmured softly to Hettie and Alison on her right, laughing, “How about that?!”

Jenny looked surprised, her eyebrows raised, but her eyes lit up with excitement. She laughed and, imitating Juno’s tone, said, “Dude, you’re such a dirty whore!” Laughing, she and Clair high-fived. Hettie was also interested, smiling with her suggestion, “We should get more people involved, it would be more fun that way!” Clair nodded and laughed, “Yes, let’s think about who we can invite, Lydia, Madeline, Monica…”

Seeing the excitement of the three, Alison hesitated before she interrupted them in a low voice, “But I think Best Director’s message is that we shouldn’t have teen pregnancies; it’s not something to play around with.”

All three of them stopped, and Jenny glanced at her, frowning, “When did Best Director say that? He’s just against abortion. He’s saying that if you face teen pregnancy positively, everything will be okay, it’ll be cool.” Hettie also nodded her head in agreement, saying, “Pregnancy is a beautiful process of discovering love. That’s what the papers say!”

Clair waved her hand impatiently, “I don’t care what Best Director wants to say! I’m starting to dislike him. He should be with Natalie; they are a match, not with Jessica.” Lowering her voice, she persuaded, “Sisters, I can’t wait! Just imagine, we invite dozens of people, and we all become stars. We’ll be the center of attention at school, they’ll be surprised, they’ll be envious of us! And we will get a lovely baby, our little baby who loves us.”

“Mm, I agree!” Jenny nodded, and Hettie also nodded with a laugh, “After watching ‘Juno’, let’s go back and start planning.”

Alison was still frowning slightly, feeling that something wasn’t quite right in her heart. Keeping pregnancies a secret from their parents and having a mass pregnancy? Going through pregnancy together and raising their children together? It seemed cool, but would they really become the focus of the entire United States? Before she could think more about it, another burst of laughter erupted in the theater, and Clair exclaimed excitedly, “Here comes the best part; Juno’s doing the pregnant dance at the party, my favorite scene!”

This was just one of the 2712 theaters across North America, but the situation in almost all of these was the same; the attendance rate was very high and the screening rooms for ‘Cast Away’ were equally packed with people.

On the 26th, in the fifth round of the Christmas battle, ‘Cast Away’ took in $11.6697 million in 2774 theaters, with a total box office of $52.3583 million, reclaiming the daily box office championship; ‘Juno’ brought in $11.3447 million, with a total of $51.7116 million. The gap between them widened to $646,700, a number which naturally isn’t significant, but it was like an insurmountable cliff standing in the middle of their path.

‘Juno”s fan base felt somewhat disappointed. The momentum that the young ones had just gained was knocked down by the old-timers. With only two days left, could the situation be turned around once more? Fox and Flame Films were also making their final promotional efforts, after all, whoever could secure the championship for this week would mean attracting more follow-up audiences in the next two weeks.

‘Cast Away’ occupied more space in newspaper pages; on the internet, however, dozens of “viral spreaders” from Flame Films’ distribution marketing department were receiving holiday double pay and continued to promote ‘Juno’. They had all been through the viral marketing of film series like ‘High School Musical,’ ‘The Pursuit of Happyness,’ ‘Memento,’ and they were masters at stirring up the viewing enthusiasm among netizens, using techniques that event planners themselves did not understand.

Once the distribution department said, “Create a phenomenon where not watching ‘Juno’ or not knowing the lines from ‘Juno’ means you’re behind the times!”, the viral spreaders launched a tidal wave of attacks, using software developed by IT professionals hired by the company, along with mice and keyboards, they began an unabashed bombardment phase, making “JUNO” appear everywhere online: “‘Juno’ is a good movie, it has three Golden Globe nominations, Natalie’s acting is superb, Juno is trendy…”

If ‘Juno’ itself had been a bad movie, the effect might have been a spontaneous backlash by the netizens, like “Please, that’s just a bad movie,” or “What’s there to see in a garbage film.” But ‘Juno’ wasn’t a bad movie, and Fox Company hadn’t gotten into the mindset to fight an information war, so there were no voices of disgust on the internet, and people who had seen ‘Juno’ would even agree, saying, “Indeed, it’s a good movie.”

The influence of the bombardment wasn’t something that could be fully accomplished in just a day or two, but closing or even overtaking the $646,700 gap didn’t seem difficult.

On the 28th, when moviegoers checked the box office data for the 27th, they were surprised to find that ‘Juno’ had risen again, winning the sixth round. It took in $10.1536 million on the 27th, bringing its weekly total to $61.8652 million; ‘Cast Away’ earned $9.2931 million on the 27th, for a total of $61.6514 million. ‘Juno’ leaped over the insurmountable cliff, not only closing the $646,700 gap but also surpassing it by $213,800!

Fans of ‘Juno’ were ecstatic about this, as the story of the pregnant teen took the top spot in the weekly box office rankings for the first time! Supporters of ‘Cast Away’ were somewhat flustered, thinking how on earth could this happen! Tom Hanks’ die-hard fans even appealed on fan forums, “Let’s go to the movies again tonight to see Tom’s award-winning performance!” The viral spreaders had long been watching these well-known fan forums and quickly reposted on Natalie Portman and Wang Yang’s fan bases, urging everyone to push back: “The moment of battle has arrived, let’s go see ‘Juno’ again, we have to win the weekly championship!”

Young people, it seems, are more impulsive than middle-aged individuals and display even more “fandom,” at least in how they respond online.

As the 28th became the past and the dust settled, who would be crowned the weekly box office champion of Christmas week? Once the latest box office data was out, media outlets and movie fans alike scrambled to check. On the 28th, “Cast Away” raked in $7,999,300 at the box office, totaling $69,650,700 for the week; “Juno” took in $8,754,600, with a weekly total frozen at $70,619,800 US dollars! In the seventh round, “Juno” won and, with a $969,100 lead, snatched the Christmas week’s weekly box office championship for December 22-28!

“Juno,” with a budget of $15 million, defeated “Cast Away,” costing $90 million?! The 39-year-old genius ensemble beat the 92-year-old Oscar lineup?! Did the miraculous Wang Yang once again defeat his senior from University of Southern California, Best Director Robert Zemeckis?!

The latest weekly box office data and reports wrote just that. Sitting atop the winner’s throne was “Juno” with $70,619,800; in second place was “Cast Away” with $69,650,700; third place went to “What Women Want” in 3,044 theaters, with $30,786,000; fourth place was held by “Miss Congeniality” in 2,668 theaters with a box office gross of $21,020,500. The popular critically acclaimed movie “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” ranked eleventh, showing in only 143 theaters, but it took in $6,085,000 at the box office, averaging $42,500 per theater, ranking second. First place went to the Coen Brothers’ new film “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” which amassed $66,400 and was previewing in only 5 select theaters.

Although 14 movies premiered this week, media focus was concentrated on the battle for the weekly championship between “Juno” and “Cast Away”—that’s also where the movie fans were looking. The box office battle between the two movies was so close that the winner wasn’t decided until the last day, which is rare, especially since there were many off-screen dueling elements between the two. Consequently, as this Christmas battle concluded, the media engaged in various commentaries and reports.

“An absolutely thrilling Christmas battle!” wrote The Cinema News, after providing a rundown of last week’s box office, “As we usher in the new century, we’ve also witnessed the final box office battle of this century, a Christmas gift from the young and old. From the first day to the last, the difference in box office between the two movies never exceeded one million, unprecedented in its intensity. Despite being the favorite, the old hands ultimately lost the war, which seemed like a passing of the torch, telling us that the new century is coming, and the young are on their way.”

The entertainment and film media and websites are innumerable. Yahoo Entertainment headlines “Bad girl defeats Robinson Crusoe, Director Wang Yang works miracles!”; Hollywood Reporter chimes in with “Young whirlwind sweeps through, Wang Yang & Natalie dominate the week’s box office.”… Naturally, many media outlets also favored “Cast Away,” expressing regret that it could only take second place: “Cast Away narrowly defeated, they remain the best partners.”…

The entertainment section of The New York Times focused on why “Juno” was such a success and why it could take the champion’s throne. They believe the film itself is a work beyond doubt, but its box office success, apart from an impressive promotional strategy, owes much to how Wang Yang expertly navigated the clash between independent and commercial cinema. He consistently told his story in narrative form, always keeping “Juno” cool—the girl was the most endearing screen heroine of the year.

At the same time, the emergence of “Juno” filled a long-standing void in the market, and the market’s “thirst” was also one of the important reasons for its unprecedented success. They joked, “If ‘Sweetheart’ had been good enough, ‘Juno’ wouldn’t have had a chance.”

“The success of ‘Juno’ makes us exclaim, ‘So, this is another way to shoot a teenage pregnancy’, and it shows the market the demand and potential for this kind of thematic material,” The New York Times concluded and predictively wrote at the end of the article: “After ‘Juno’ has reinterpreted and redefined teenage pregnancy, we believe there will be more and more similar film and television works entering the market. Whether they are as good as ‘Juno’, we will only know in time.”

The gossip papers, of course, paid even more attention to the off-court elements, exaggeration and feigned seriousness being their style all along. “Daily Entertainment,” having made a fair amount of sales volume from Wang Yang, headlined with: “The University of Southern California Avenger strikes again, the marvelous Yang defeats predecessor Robert Zemeckis!”

In their report, they wrote: “Following Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, Robert Zemeckis has become the new victim; the 20-year-old Marvelous Yang, with his childhood idol Natalie Portman at his side, mercilessly defeated his once-upon-a-time idol. The new century is about to arrive, what else will this wondrous lad bring us? Classic movies? A new record for the Oscars? We’re waiting expectantly!”

Strangely enough, the headline’s accompanying picture showed a young man wearing a Lakers jersey, excitedly bug-eyed, at the Staples Center, with Wang Yang, Jessica, as well as Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake seated behind him in the courtside seats. The caption read: “Did Jessica’s little brother already foresee Marvelous Yang’s victory? (Pictured: Joshua Alba)”

The Los Angeles Times, meanwhile, managed to land an interview with Robert Zemeckis; this latest feature, a mix of promotion and entertainment, naturally included mentions of Wang Yang. Robert Zemeckis commented: “He’s a very thoughtful, very good young man, and ‘Juno’ is a rare, excellent film. I don’t mind being ‘defeated’ by it in the least.” He joked further, saying: “In fact, I had talk with Yang quite early on, and I even thought about adjusting the release schedule to avoid his ‘revenge,’ but you see, I still couldn’t escape, haha.”

Fans familiar with the two knew they were good friends despite the age difference, and not long ago Marvelous Yang sponsored 5 million US dollars to the training academy Robert was building. So the reporter asked another question: “Do you think Wang Yang will be your successor?” Robert burst out laughing, replying: “Haha, no, no, no, I don’t think anyone is his mold. I’ve even forgotten what I was doing at the age of 20, definitely not taking the Christmas week box office crown. He has his own path, he is truly unique, and the things he does will be much more than me.”

However, not everyone thought Wang Yang was “a very good young man”; the parent points he had earned in ‘The Pursuit of Happyness’ seemed to have suddenly run out, and he had even lost a lot more. On the “Latest Parent- Recommended Movie Ranking,” ‘Juno’ was nearly at the bottom, with several middle-aged parents commenting directly: “‘Juno’ is a very good movie, but I wouldn’t want my middle school daughter to watch it, I don’t know what she would take away from it, hopefully not an interest in getting pregnant.” “My daughter sees Juno as a role model, she’s been talking in a weird tone these past few days, which worries me a lot.”

Even Wang Yang’s die-hard fan, film critic Roger Ebert, expressed his concern. His review published in the Chicago Sun-Times read: “I watched this film with my little daughter, and Marvelous Yang was still that Marvelous Yang, still brimming with sunshine in the movie, very comfortable to watch. But it was the smart-mouthed little girl who stole all my attention, watching Natalie Portman perform is a treat; I think it’d be cool if I had a daughter like that. But when I came to my senses, the trouble is, I don’t support teenage pregnancy, nor do I want my daughter to be part of it, baby, don’t let daddy down!”

But for the movie itself, Roger Ebert still offered praise, describing it as a “masterpiece that can be watched three times in a row,” commending Natalie Portman’s acting as “worthy of Oscar consideration,” and he finally gave ‘Juno’ his trademark “Two-Thumbs-Up!”

The Christmas atmosphere had not yet faded, but in less than two days, the new year’s chimes for 2001 would soon ring. The box office week from December 29 to January 4 officially kicked off a new round of battle; what the moviegoers cared about was whether ‘Juno’ could continue to hold the weekly box office crown into the new century, or would ‘Cast Away’ viciously strike back to seize the honor of the second week’s champion?

“Kill them all!!!” Natalie’s deafening shout came through the phone, Wang Yang laughed and wrinkled his brow as he moved the phone away from his ear, rubbing his ear and leaning against the balcony looking up at the starry sky, he smiled into the phone, “Buddy, you almost scared me to death!” Immediately, Natalie shouted again: “Kill them all!!!” (To be continued)