The Best Director

Who said these words? There was a haughty laugh, a “LOL” that scoffed at the idea of ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ meeting its Waterloo. Wang Yang, who had been silent since the verbal war began, suddenly made a bold statement, determined to shock everyone with his words. Everyone was somewhat taken aback that he didn’t engage in a debate but instead directly slapped the critics across the face.

This statement was extremely risky; not to mention the humiliation he would face if he failed, becoming a joke that he could never live down. Talk show hosts and award ceremony presenters would use it as fodder for years to come. Even if he succeeded, he would be labeled a madman or a bad boy.

The 23-year-old prodigy Wang Yang wasn’t new to making such statements. Although “400 million” was unprecedentedly specific, his bold claims, like Will Smith winning an Oscar or predicting “10 million viewers,” were always shocking. The scary part was that his proclamations often came true. Was it arrogance, pretentiousness, or idiocy? Or perhaps he was just stating the “simple truth,” which was one of the reasons his fans adored him.

However, “400 million” was different from his previous declarations, which were merely personal aspirations and goals that didn’t involve anyone else or hurt anyone – at most they were just a bit of bravado. But this time, if you say ‘MIT-21-TEAM’ is going to face off with Steven Spielberg, that’s just tabloid gossip. On the other hand, “400 million” was a clear, open challenge.

“I’m done arguing with you all. Those who bet against me will see! Even if you don’t like it, countless viewers will. ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ will still cross 400 million worldwide!”

Compared to the arguments and sarcastic debates from different perspectives, Wang Yang’s box office proclamation was more exciting and garnered more media attention and love. There were no words wasted, only a confrontational charge that demanded attention. Was he displaying extreme arrogance or merely stating the truth?

Yahoo Entertainment’s headline read, “Prodigy Wang Fearless Against ‘The Lord of the Rings 3,’ ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ Aims for 400 Million Global Box Office.” Rotten Tomatoes titled, “The Spit War Escalates, Wang Wants to Prove Magic with 400 Million Global Box Office.” BOM’s headline said, “Prodigy Wang’s Rebuttal, A Bold Box Office Declaration in the Face of Doubt”…

In fact, whether it’s Wang Yang’s fans or his haters, none of them foolishly considered this to be a wild boast because ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ had effortlessly won the North American box office in its first week with 74.6852 million; and what about oversea? ‘The Devil’ was simultaneously strong and impressive in many other regions.

Especially in several main markets, the opening results were strong and dominant: Germany with 575 theaters grossed 7.1 million US dollars, accounting for 32% of the market share; France, one of the filming locations, with 507 screens made 6.82 million US dollars, taking 38%; Italy’s 467 screens earned 4.85 million, representing 25%; Australia took in 4.21 million, 29%; the United Kingdom 6.61 million, Mexico 7.51 million, Hong Kong 1.05 million… The total overseas market in its first week was 48.32 million at the box office.

The global box office total for the week was 123 million US dollars, with Austria, Brazil, Denmark, Greece, Netherlands, Norway, mainland China, Japan, and other places scheduled for release.

123 million is still 277 million away from the bold claim of 400 million, a very large number that wasn’t unachievable. Everyone knew that the performance of ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ in the second week would be a decisive factor, as ‘The Lord of the Rings 3’ had its opening weekend two days after premiering.

Last year, ‘The Hangover’ insanely took in 617 million against films such as ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers’ and ‘Catch Me If You Can’, defeating all rivals in terms of cost-profit ratio and creating a new era for R-rated comedy. This year ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ also seemed to have no reason to fear ‘The Lord of the Rings 3’. Their markets didn’t clash; some liked the epic and Gollum; others preferred fashion and comedy.

“I just love this Prodigy Wang. Box office and public opinion are the best proof! If he reaches 400 million, should those idiot critics kiss his ass?” Anicia-M said in her blog post; Aparna, a die-hard ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ fan, commented on Jeffrey Westhoff’s blog at The Northwest Herald, “You’re just a pathetic trash!” Dute J’s comment on Wang Yang’s blog was uncertain whether it was sarcastic or not, “Prodigy Wang, I support you!!! But don’t you think 400 million is too little? How about 500 million instead!!!”

At present, Wang Yang’s average global box office per movie is 466 million, with two films surpassing 500 million; one of them is ‘High School Musical’ starring Jessica.

“Too ignorant! In front of ‘The Lord of the Rings 3,’ he’s going to die a terrible death!” “I don’t think it will make 400 million! I even doubt it can surpass 200 million.” … The praise faction and the detractors continued to be pessimistic, and they could only place their hopes on ‘The Lord of the Rings 3.’ Other than this behemoth, currently, no one else could stop that DV kid; however, critics like Jeffrey Westhoff had yet to speak up, all waiting for a clearer picture after the weekend.

Quickly, the thin calendar on the wall flipped through a few pages, December 19th passed, the 20th faded away, the 21st became history…

“Men of Gondor and Rohan! My brothers! I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me. A day may come when the courage of men fails, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship, but it is not this day. An hour of wolves and shattered shields, when the age of men comes crashing down, but it is not this day! This day we fight! By all that you hold dear on this good earth, I bid you stand, Men of the West!”

In the packed ‘The Lord of the Rings 3’ screening room, the audience felt bursts of blood boiling, many with moist eyes, silently chanting, “Fight to the death!”

“Just like in 2002, Oscar Renta designed a series of sky-blue gowns at his own press conference, and then I remember Yves Saint Laurent…”

Although both adapted from novels, in terms of charm and spectacle, a light comedy naturally can’t compare with a fantasy epic, but these are two different worlds, bringing different sensations. The screening room for ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ had only a few spots empty in the corners and back rows, with female viewers thoroughly enjoying the show, finding beautiful clothes much more interesting than fighting and killing; where there are women, there are men who can’t afford to upset their girlfriends. Since the Christmas slot is so long, it’s entirely possible to watch two movies.

The weekend of December 19-21 became the past, ‘The Lord of the Rings 3’ effortlessly took the crown with a box office of 72.62 million dollars, and then… something that made some people lament and go crazy happened!

The momentum of ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ had not weakened at all, unaffected by the poor reviews, which perhaps even played a role in “hype.” Its box office only dropped by 31.9%, sweeping a weekend box office of 34.9684 million dollars, and its North American total box office suddenly soared to 109.6 million dollars.

The newly released ‘Mona Lisa Smile’ in 2677 theaters took in 11.5228 million dollars. With a higher production cost (65 million dollars), stars like Julia Roberts with stronger box office appeal, it was thoroughly defeated by the female-centered ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ in terms of box office and reviews, beaten by a “confused, arrogant, conceited, crazy” Wang Yang.

The film industry gave it a rotten tomatoes freshness of 35%, 44%; audience favorability 61%, IMDB score 6.5, truly a rotten work,

In fourth place was ‘Love is Compromise’ with 11.4167 million dollars, ‘The Last Samurai’ with 7.769 million…

Meanwhile, in the overseas market ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ continued its strong “dark horse” stance, with declines mostly around 30%. Unlike in North America, six out of ten overseas critics were “praise faction,” often remarking “subtly brilliant works.” According to surveys, it was the favourite Christmas slot of female office workers in many countries, with many OLs even saying it was “the best movie I’ve ever seen,” “the peak work of Wang Yang’s directing career.”

“Do you think it will make 400 million? I think it will.”

Probably after this second week, it will be down to 200 million! Calling it a box office dark horse is not because of its critical reviews, but because it stood up against the first week of ‘The Lord of the Rings 3’ without falling behind! That’s the world-famous ‘The Lord of the Rings’ we’re talking about! A giant work that will undoubtedly provoke a global storm… Could it be that ‘The Devil Wears Prada,’ this marvelous Wang Yang fashion cruise ship, is calmly sailing towards the lighthouse of 400 million box office?

Even the executives of New Line, the producer and distributor of ‘The Lord of the Rings 3,’ couldn’t help but marvel at this box office report, “It’s really too amazing!”

Then many movie company executives and producers suddenly slapped their foreheads, that’s right! Wang Yang is absolutely correct! Tolkien’s ‘The Lord of the Rings’ is only one book, but there are so many beautiful brand clothes, handbags, and too many fashion-related stories! The female protagonist could be an assistant to a fashion magazine editor, a fashion designer, bridal gown designer, model, an ordinary office lady chasing fashion trends, a shopaholic…

Women love these! This is absolutely a gold mine, an absolute trend! They all know that the beacon of Best Director Yang has lit up once again, this time pointing towards fashion, female white-collar workers! Those noisy film critics won’t be able to deny that “TDWP” is destined to be a trendsetting masterpiece.

Because they’re sure they’ll try to dig into this gold mine, producing these urban fashion movies that can easily spare some of their $30 million budgets; and Fox Company has already discussed the possibility and plan to bring “Sex and the City” to the big screen. Hollywood Reporter revealed this industry news: “Following R-rated comedies, the recently dazzling fashion light comedies have been favored by many film merchants, including Fox, Touchstone, Warner Brothers, and other companies all aiming to enter the female white-collar market.”

“Best Director Yang is leading the way once again!”

This news excited the fans of Wang Yang, the supporters of “TDWP”; it was like a chest full of ammunition, enough to take down those film critics. Grace L expressed her complaints in her review, writing: “I can’t stand it! Yang always throws them into a frenzy, a load of musicals, a load of pregnant teenagers, a load of R-rated comedies that haven’t been released yet, and in the next two years, we’ll be seeing a load of fashionable women… Can we get a load of card games too?”

Indeed, there are.

In Warner Brother’s new film plan for 2004, there’s a movie called “Lucky Card Player,” with the same 21 points, the same Las Vegas backdrop, the screenplay is to be crafted by Oscar winner for Best Adaptation (Forrest Gump) and famous screenwriter Eric Roth, as well as Curtis Hanson, who directed popular films among the youth like “Wonder Boys” and “8 Mile,” will also serve as the director and producer.

This “Lucky Card Player” is quite ambitious, with Warner intending to invite young stars like Drew Barrymore to lead, targeting the youth market, and there’s even an intention to “create a new record in the genre.”

“It’s completely different from ‘MIT-21-TEAM’; this is a love story with poker cards as the main setting. Because I’m very interested in the trials one must go through to become an excellent card player, everyone could encounter bottlenecks and trouble when focusing on something, the same with playing cards… So the story I want to tell is roughly about how a card player, by establishing a successful romantic relationship, smoothly takes their card skills to a new level.”

Curtis Hanson also stated that he is himself an outstanding card player, producing “Lucky Card Player” is purely out of interest and passion; he also said he appreciates the style and pace of “21,” but “Lucky Card Player” isn’t some imitative copycat, what he wants to shoot is about romantic people and love.

When Wang Yang first heard this news, he was really speechless, for he had actually visualized this movie, made in 2005 and released in 2007. The success of “MIT-21-TEAM” made “Lucky Card Player” appear prematurely, but it’s purely an even worse crappy movie than “Winning 21,” wrong in every aspect even within its refined genre. Variety’s review stated: “If you see it as a top choice for weekend entertainment, what a sad life you must lead!”

If they haven’t gleaned anything from “MIT-21-TEAM,” and Eric Roth is no help, Wang Yang thinks that in a year or two, there will be countless viewers just as disappointed as him, shouting “I’ve seen stupid movies, but never one as stupid as this!”

What “Lucky Card Player” would be like in the future is unknown, what those fashion movies in the incubation stage would turn out to be is unknown, but the robust present of “TDWP” is well-known to all.

Watching its box office bypass even “The Lord of the Rings 3” and soar day by day, the approving film critics began to feel a sense of powerlessness; what was left to do? What to say? Roger Ebert, Joe Morgenstern, Stephanie Zacharek, and others knew that they had made a wrong judgment purely from a business standpoint and wondered why. Roger Ebert shook his head indignantly at home, “Stupid, shameful! How could so many people watch this TV fashion show! What’s wrong with this world? What’s wrong with those women?!”

“You’re wrong,” “You don’t understand,” “You should really give ‘TDWP’ the highest rating,” shrugged the younger female members of the Ebert family when asked for their opinions.

“400 million? I think it’s possible.”

In the silent study, thinking about everything that had happened in the past few days, Jeffrey Westhoff grew increasingly angry. He couldn’t help slamming his hand down on the keyboard hard, with a loud snap, “Damn it! God curse him!”

Apart from some hired guns and lapdogs, real film critics and production companies, directors, and actors have never been friends. Instead, they take pride in being “blacklisted” (banned by distributors from attending screenings) and find joy in mocking and ridiculing others. However, this is based on the assumption that “film critics are right” and “the public agrees.” The development of this current spat seems to be heading in the direction of “film critics are wrong,” which is some hellishly absurd shit! That damned kid, calling him ridiculous and making him look like a fool…

“Asian kid! This isn’t over,” Jeffrey Westhoff gritted his teeth in contemplation for a while before he started typing on the keyboard. The blog on his computer screen quickly updated with a new post, “Sometimes, you’re so superficial that all you have is box office numbers.”

“Some directors are remembered because they create timeless classics, great masterpieces that last through the ages. They don’t need much box office success; one film is enough. Other directors, despite a series of box office accolades, are not remembered because they only know how to make Hollywood blockbusters—those popcorn movies where it doesn’t matter who directs. I don’t even want to describe them as films; they’re just piles of dead celluloid.”

Fans and netizens following this spat saw Westhoff seizing the opportunity to condescendingly attack Wang Yang and many other commercial film directors, like “Bedtime Storyteller” Chris Columbus, who leads them.

Westhoff pulled out “The Lord of the Rings 3” with its 94%, 100% review freshness, and 83% audience approval ratings as a weapon, “What is a movie? Just watch ‘The Lord of the Rings 3,’ and you’ll know. It deeply shakes you to your core! It has made the ‘The Lord of the Rings’ on my bookshelf start to fade, magnificent! In the cinema where I watched it, every audience member was so moved that they trembled. This should be the pursuit of all filmmakers—it will easily achieve a $400 million box office, a pile of Oscars, and the songs of history.”

“And I realized how pathetic some films are, like the recent ‘TDWP.’ It just capitalized on people’s curiosity about the fashion world and piled up something nonsensical. If Wang Yang thinks $400 million in box office means everything is great, then it’s just his wallet that’s great. High box office doesn’t mean ‘TDWP’ has any notable achievements. On the contrary, it just highlights its shallowness when its director’s pride is only in box office numbers. What’s even sadder is that Wang Yang is completely oblivious to this. All he does is loudly brag, ‘I’m going to have a $400 million box office!’ What else? He can’t say.”

“Every ‘TDWP’ audience should be angry; you’ve been used. Everyone who chose Wang Yang for the 75th Best Director should feel regret; you’ve sent him to his grave.”

Brilliant! Members of the critique group followed this line of thinking, scornfully dismissing the idea of a “$400 million box office,” insisting that ‘TDWP’ is a failure and mockingly labeling Wang Yang as superficial and vulgar. Netizens and Wang’s critics who wanted to see him fail responded with glee to this “not judging success by box office” development, convinced that “Miracle Yang” has no way out this time!

Blog critics, movie fans, and praise groups, however, sneered at the “not judging success by box office” idea, arguing that it should be “not judging failure by low box office,” while high box office films undoubtedly have their charms. They retaliated with arguments such as, “Box office doesn’t represent everything, but it does represent a lot!” “A good movie is one that wins the audience’s approval. You say it’s not good because you think it’s not? That doesn’t change the facts.”…

The 22nd passed, the 23rd passed… As the center of the storm, ‘TDWP’ continued to be a “dark horse” reaping box office profits worldwide, steadily advancing towards the $400 million box office club. With the sound of Christmas bells drawing nearer, both critics and praisers not only prepared to celebrate Christmas but were also constantly on the lookout for Wang Yang’s counterattack.

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PS: Wow, recommending “Who Am I” again. The title isn’t great, but the book is definitely exciting and well worth a read! Everyone can give it a try, and if you like collecting books, please help add it to your collection, okay? Thank you, everyone! Book number 2132124. (