America Tycoon: The Wolf of Showbiz

On the second weekend of the summer season, "John Wick: Chapter 2" opened wide across North America in 3,875 theaters, finally giving the movie market the look of a proper summer season.

The first weekend, Warner Bros. had a dud, but this film truly ignited the market.

On its opening day Friday, North American box office takings were $29.24 million, knocking "Gods of Egypt" off the top spot, which had just opened the previous week.

The latter, affected by the onslaught of the new release and its terribly poor word of mouth, only took in $2.63 million that day.

At this rate, "Gods of Egypt" would struggle to cross the $50 million mark at the North American box office.

In stark contrast, "John Wick: Chapter 2," with a production budget of only $75 million, not only exploded at the box office on its opening day but also saw a surge in audience acclaim.

From IMDB to movie forums, from Twitter to Facebook, you could see rave reviews left by fans everywhere.

"Martin's exhilarating action film kept me thrilled throughout!"

"Powerful and entertaining, this is definitely a landmark work in the genre of minimalist action films!"

"After watching this, I don't need to see any other action films this year. Stallone and Jason Statham really should come and learn, your stuff is outdated!"

"Martin has proven once again that he is the toughest star in Hollywood, without a doubt."

With overwhelming audience acclaim, Saturday's box office for "John Wick: Chapter 2" took a further step, securing the box office lead with $31.20 million.

"Gods of Egypt" dropped below $2 million in earnings that day.

Over the weekend, "John Wick: Chapter 2" took the weekend box office crown with $78.55 million!

The epic that opened the previous week plummeted in its second weekend, earning only $6.18 million.

Although Warner Bros. had botched big investment projects like "Catwoman" before, the appalling performance of "Gods of Egypt" broke all sorts of worst records for Warner since the new millennium.

Internationally, "John Wick: Chapter 2" opened in over forty countries and regions outside North America, easily collecting $81.32 million.

"Gods of Egypt" did slightly better overseas in its opening week than in North America but only earned $12.21 million.

.......

In the luxurious and spacious office of the Warner Building,

As the distributor and producer of "John Wick," Daniel had been closely monitoring the sequel's performance. He got the weekend box office data as soon as it was released.

It was no surprise; the second installment received raving reviews and sold hugely at the box office!

Most importantly, it left plenty of suspense for a third installment.

Daniel could imagine that the box office for the next one would climb even higher.

As for "Gods of Egypt," it was better left unmentioned.

He sighed inwardly. Warner Bros. should not have given up their collaboration with Martin. If Moses had been played by Martin, the situation might have been different.

The new management team brought in by Kevin Tsujihara felt unreliable.

Daniel checked the time, picked up his briefcase, left the office, and went to the top floor to enter a small conference room.

Hamada and Jon Berg also arrived in succession.

Before long, Kevin Tsujihara entered the conference room, and the four-person meeting about movie business began.

The failure of "Gods of Egypt" was an unavoidable topic.

Jon Berg, of course, wouldn't let the responsibility fall on him, stating, "The lessons from this defeat are profound. On suitable projects, we must select appropriate directors and actors. Ridley Scott's style is too conservative, and Christian Bale recommended by CAA simply doesn't have the drawing power as a leading man in a major production."

Daniel, who had already come to an understanding with him, agreed, "I suggest that the company avoid using Bale as the leading man in future medium to large productions, and all actors recommended by CAA should be thoroughly assessed."

Poor Bale, the two Warner executives firmly pinned the blame on him.

Kevin Tsujihara, who was still able to handle board pressure, didn't want to delve too much into the responsibilities of his trusted subordinates, figuring Bale was the perfect scapegoat, saying, "I'll have someone inform the subsidiaries to be cautious in future dealings with Bale."

Daniel promptly suggested, "Chairman, for some big productions, we could completely extend an invitation to Martin Davis! Although we no longer collaborate on distribution, on the acting level..."

Kevin Tsujihara, not one to be magnanimous, immediately interrupted Daniel, "Hollywood has many male actors with box office appeal, not just Martin Davis."

He didn't want to discuss this person anymore and moved on to the next topic, "Hamada, has 'Green Lantern' completed all its post-production?"

Hamada responded, "The score and both the opening and closing credits have been added in full, and the merchandise is being rolled out progressively. We expect to spread over $30 million worth of merchandise across the US by the end of the month."

"That's too little," Tsujihara said. With a production budget of $200 million and over a hundred million in marketing and advertising expenses, he wanted to see returns as soon as possible, and there had been successful precedents.

"I remember 'The Dark Knight' sold over $40 million in various merchandise in North America within the first ten days. Your plan is too conservative; we need to have at least $50 million worth of merchandise laid out within two weeks and also have manufacturers prepare an additional $30 million worth of goods ready to be sent to major cities across the US at any time."

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Hamada had also reviewed the various data for "The Dark Knight" and said, "I'll revise the proposal once I get back."

Warner and DC were filled with confidence in "Green Lantern," believing the film could be a smash hit like "Iron Man," thereby leading to the entire DC Extended Universe.

Not just that, the entire resources of Warner Bros. would lean towards "Green Lantern."

With ambition, Kevin Tsujihara believed that if this initial film was successful, it would take only three years to catch up with Marvel's Avengers movie universe.

......

In Century City, CAA.

Bale walked into the agent's office alone with a backpack on.

The box office failure of "Gods of Egypt" was so dismal that Warner Bros. halted all subsequent promotions, after all, no new funds meant no new losses.

Thinking about that film made Bale's entire being uncomfortable.

If one were to tally it up, he had already botched two major productions in a row.

Fortunately, there was still Batman to fall back on.

The assistant told Bale the agent was in a meeting and asked him to wait a little while.

Bale sat on the sofa and noticed a newspaper on the low table to his left, left behind by someone unknown.

A well-known paper within the circle: "Hollywood Reporter."

Bale, out of boredom, picked up the newspaper and flipped through, uncovering content related to him.

The news headline: "The True Measure of Christian Bale's Drawing Power."

Although he knew it might be upsetting, Bale couldn't help but read the details.

"In recent years, the hottest male stars in Hollywood, besides the two Toms, Will Smith, Johnny Depp, and other traditional powers, include new forces like Christian Bale and Martin Davis.

The former, relying on two Batman movies, particularly the huge success of 'The Dark Knight,' won the support of numerous fans, with a trend of becoming a superstar. However, to cross into the superstar threshold, what counts is not empty fame but solid market achievements.

The two Batman movies seem to lay a solid foundation for Bale's path to superstardom, but in reality, this foundation is as empty as clouds in the sky, seemingly beautiful yet breaks upon a single touch.

After stepping out of the Batman series, Bale starred in two major productions, "Terminator 2018" and "Gods of Egypt." The former had a production budget of 200 million US dollars, with a North American box office of just over 100 million US dollars, while the latter had a production budget of 160 million US dollars and its North American box office will not likely exceed 50 million US dollars.

These are two indisputable box office disasters!

These two films proved one thing: without Batman, Bale's drawing power is mediocre at best. He lacks the capability to carry major productions as the lead actor. His approach to stardom has already ended before it even touched the threshold.

When "The Dark Knight" was hot, Bale's fans had a debate with Martin Davis's fans on the internet, discussing who contributed more to the film's box office, arguing it was Bale since he was the lead actor, while Martin Davis was just a supporting actor.

This argument has continued to this very day, but now there's a clear answer. Martin Davis's drawing power overwhelmingly surpasses Bale's, not to mention first-rate productions like "Inception," even medium-budget projects like "Gone Girl" and "John Wick" have reactions that totally outperform Bale's big productions!

It's sincerely advised that Bale should steer clear of major productions in the future; that's not your territory…"

The content that followed, he really didn't want to read. Bale closed the newspaper and tossed it aside.

When he took on the role of Moses, he knew "Gods of Egypt" was a project Martin Davis was optimistic about. Snatching that role was also an attempt to prove his own blockbuster drawing power was no worse than that bastard's.

The thought was beautiful, but the result was tragically sad.

Bale knew very well that the failure of "Gods of Egypt" essentially cut off his path to superstardom in Hollywood.

It would be difficult for any company or production team to cast him as the lead actor in a major production in the future.

The most important point, and the hardest for Bale to accept, was that he was inferior to Martin Davis!

At that thought, Bale's mental defenses were showing signs of waning again, so he quickly adjusted his thoughts to avoid dwelling on these things.

That bastard Martin had become Bale's nightmare.

The door opened from the outside, and the agent came in. Seeing that Bale's expression was off, he quickly asked, "Do you want me to take you to see a psychiatrist?"

Bale waved his hand: "No need, no need, as long as I don't see that bastard Martin Davis, I'll recover very soon."
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The agent, understanding Bale's psychological issues, said, "Let the past be the past."

Bale glanced at the newspaper and asked, "Do I still have a chance to become a superstar?"

"Yes, but we need to plan it out slowly," the agent reassured him, then stated the reality: "There might be some trouble in the short term, those top-paying first-line projects..."

Bale said, "After I finish filming 'The Dark Knight Rises,' I want to leave Los Angeles, leave North America, and take a break for a while."

The agent picked up a project file from the office desk: "Perfect timing, I have a film project from the East here, why don't you go take a look?"

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