章節 122: Chapter 123: The Shocked Eva and Martina

"Can you still manage?" Wayne asked with a concerned expression.

"I should be fine," Wen Ziren said, unable to suppress a yawn. He shrugged and added, "But once post-production is done, I'm probably going to need a good rest."

"Good to hear," Wayne said with a mischievous smile. "How about I help you throw a party with some actresses from San Fernando Valley?"

Wen Ziren couldn't hold back this time. He raised his middle finger and cursed, "F**k you, Wayne! Have I offended you? Are you trying to kill me?"

They didn't talk much more. Once the screening equipment was ready, the viewing began, and the lights dimmed.

Though it wasn't his first time attending a screening of a rough cut, sitting for over three hours was undeniably boring.

Still, this was an essential part of post-production. Even though Wen Ziren had the final cut of the film, Wayne couldn't just ignore the process completely.

If Wayne was relaxed about it, Wen Ziren surely wouldn't be.

With great power comes great responsibility. If *The Dark Side* flopped, Hemera Pictures would only lose some money—$14 million, which they could easily afford.

But if that happened, Wen Ziren, who held the rights to write, direct, and have final cut, would bear most of the blame.

The reputation and influence he had worked so hard to build through *Happy Death Day* would be instantly halved. After all, he only had two movies to his name at this point.

So as soon as the screening ended, Wen Ziren eagerly looked at Wayne.

"What do you think?"

"It's really good!" Wayne sincerely responded after comparing it to the original version in his head.

Although the rough cut was still a bit bloated and slow in parts, the acting and cinematography were clearly superior to the original by one or two levels.

As for the pacing, there was no need to worry. Wen Ziren, a renowned horror director from his past life, held the final cut.

And as everyone knows, pacing is one of the most critical elements in horror films.

Adding Matt Damon's star power into the mix, this movie could easily score over 8 on IMDb and a B or B+ on CinemaScore.

"That's good!" Wen Ziren stared at Wayne for a couple of seconds, confirming he wasn't just being polite, then finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Now you can contact the distribution companies and prepare for the official screening," Wen Ziren said, a confident smile returning to his face.

Though, combined with his gaunt and dark complexion, he looked more like a character straight out of a horror movie.

Two days later, on the afternoon of the 18th, Wayne, out shopping with Martina, suddenly received a notification from the system that *The Dark Side* was complete, along with a deposit of $42 million.

"Honey, what's wrong?" Martina, who was holding his arm, immediately noticed that he had stopped walking and asked curiously.

"It's nothing," Wayne said, flashing a dazzling smile. "I just remembered you might need a more formal dress for the screening the day after tomorrow."

Martina's eyes instantly lit up.

A formal dress? Those are expensive! Even a moderately fancy one could easily cost tens of thousands of dollars.

"Honey, you're so good to me!"

Martina couldn't help but wrap her arms around Wayne's neck and passionately kiss him.

In that moment, countless people glanced their way, especially the men, who couldn't hide their envy as they looked at Wayne.

The official screening arrived two days later.

As expected, even more distribution companies attended than in previous screenings. Even after expanding the theater by knocking down a wall to nearly double the space, it was still packed.

And while there weren't any heavyweights like Spielberg this time, many of the representatives were high-ranking individuals. Even the least important among them were renowned senior film buyers attending with their bosses.

Moreover, the Big Seven studios, including Disney, all sent representatives.

Interestingly, although Miramax was under Disney, Harvey Weinstein personally rushed over when he heard that Hemera Pictures had another movie for sale.

But that's understandable. *Gifted* had been in theaters for 25 days now. Although daily ticket sales had dropped from the opening, the box office remained remarkably steady.

As of yesterday, *Gifted* had grossed $81.87 million in North America and $52.63 million overseas, already surpassing its global box office target of $130 million. It's estimated to reach $144 million before going out of theaters.

Not only did this bring Wayne an unexpected income of $48.4 million, but it also netted Miramax an estimated $40 million in profits, with a return rate exceeding 130%!

Additionally, *Accepted*, *Happy Death Day*, and *Gifted*—each with different directors and actors—had all performed remarkably well at the box office, further solidifying Hemera Pictures' reputation, or rather, Wayne's talent for spotting hits.

*The Dark Side* combined Wayne's creativity, Wen Ziren's direction, and Hemera Pictures' production expertise.

Who cares if Matt Damon had two box-office failures in a row or if the leading actresses were newcomers?

No distribution company with a shot at success would want to miss this screening.

"Oh my God! Warner Bros, Fox, and Universal all sent their VPs to this screening?!" Martina and Eva Green, sitting in a corner, listened to Anne's whispered explanation with wide-eyed shock.

"That's nothing. Spielberg himself came to the last screening!" Anne boasted, looking just like Megan bragging to Liu Qiqi before.

"Oh my God! Are you talking about Steven Spielberg?!"

"Exactly!"

Eva Green couldn't help but exclaim softly again.

Although DreamWorks couldn't compare to the Big Seven, it was still the top production and distribution company right below them, even bigger than Silver Pictures, Lionsgate, and Miramax.

(End of Chapter)