Chapter 833: Marriage Should Take Its Natural Course

Duke and Warner Brothers were no longer the only ones paying close attention to the Chinese market. Universal Pictures and Sky Film Studio had long since set their sights on the region. The promotional campaign for Fast and Furious 5 was also underway in China, and they naturally played the Vin Diesel card.

But that card wasn't particularly effective in China. The Fast & Furious franchise was only on its fifth installment, and of the previous four, only Fast and Furious 4 had actually been released in Chinese theaters. Compared to his B-list status in Hollywood, Vin Diesel's fame here wasn't very high, especially since his filmography outside the Fast & Furious series was rather lackluster.

The people in this land were kindhearted and easily moved, but they were equally clear-cut about what they loved and hated.

Duke knew this perfectly well. Fast and Furious 7 in his past life had proven it thoroughly. Back then, Paul Walker had been slightly less popular than the current Vin Diesel, yet his death had created one of the key prerequisites for that film's massive breakout success.

Therefore, long before Universal Pictures and Sky Film Studio launched their Chinese marketing campaign, rumors that Vin Diesel was a sadist were already swirling all over the local internet. Those two videos were highly downloaded on certain websites. Preconceptions were a powerful thing. Before the "nostalgia marketing" campaign surrounding "Vin Diesel's death in a car crash" even began, his reputation on the Chinese internet wasn't completely ruined, but it was hardly much better.

Racing movies like this certainly suited the tastes of Chinese audiences, but under the insane promotional blitz for The Avengers, Fast and Furious 5 didn't draw much attention.

Besides, compared to the somewhat unfamiliar Vin Diesel, Scarlett Johansson's frequent appearances in Chinese media made her far more appealing.

Before the weekend arrived, thanks to the maneuvering of the China Film Group and the Warner Greater China Region, Scarlett appeared in an exclusive interview on National Television. Nowadays, all of Hollywood was laser-focused on coming to China to open up the market, and many promotional matters were no longer as sensitive as they had been in previous years.

Just like Duke, Scarlett was perfectly happy to show her best side to the public when she needed to drum up attention.

During the broadcast, she appeared beautiful and elegant, exuding both sex appeal and poise.

"I want to be a character actor. That is what I truly admire most."

When discussing her identity as an actor, she described herself this way: "I am a strong, independent modern woman."

Scarlett also brought up the topic of her figure, which had drawn a lot of fan attention because of Black Widow. "In my opinion, female stars in Hollywood are too thin. And those supermodels, bodies like that are just terrifying. I enjoy my own body. The core of beauty is confidence, not weight."

The topic inevitably shifted to Duke. After all, in this era of high-speed information flow, celebrities like them had almost no privacy to speak of.

When speaking of Duke, Scarlett appeared completely at ease, neither deliberately avoiding the subject nor leveraging it for hype. "Duke is an incredibly brilliant man. But if you get to know him deeply, you'll realize that the real him is completely different from what is presented in his on-screen works. In his movies, you see his crazy side, not his quiet, steady side. In reality, he is a very quiet person."

In this day and age, even the questions asked by this network inevitably leaned toward gossip.

Faced with the host's question about marriage, Scarlett answered naturally. "A lot of people I know seem to think marriage is a very romantic thing, but when my parents divorced, I learned everything there was to know about it. Marriage should take its natural course."

Although National Television had long since stopped monopolizing the Chinese broadcasting landscape, the program still sparked a massive response among Chinese film fans the moment it aired.

However, Warner wasn't the only Hollywood studio to establish a branch in China. Universal Pictures also had the Universal Pictures China Branch, and even David Ellison's Sky Film Studio had set up a Chinese office.

The Chinese media smearing Vin Diesel so severely and dealing such a blow to Fast and Furious 5's "nostalgia marketing" naturally didn't escape the notice of the Universal Pictures China Branch. The Chinese market was already a massive pie; Universal Pictures and Sky Film Studio certainly wouldn't sit by and watch all of this happen.

In the face of profit, capital always revealed its true colors.

Just as Duke had said and done, Universal Pictures and Sky Film Studio didn't need to find out who the mastermind behind the scenes was. It was enough to simply recognize the biggest beneficiary.

One of the main promotional focuses for The Avengers in the Chinese market was Scarlett Johansson, so she became the exact target Universal Pictures and Sky Film Studio took aim at.

It wasn't easy to get certain news to appear in China's traditional media, because the mainstream outlets here didn't actually operate as private corporations. However, restrictions on the internet were much looser.

It was unclear when it started, but whispers gradually began surfacing on the internet claiming that Scarlett Johansson was a political zealot. They said that not only had she actively participated in Obama's presidential election campaign, but she also publicly supported Scott Stringer, the Manhattan borough president and a representative figure of right-wing American politics, in his bid for mayor of New York. The rumors painted her as a genuine anti-China figure to the core.

Likewise, the Warner Greater China Region could see these rumors as well. In response, they mobilized their staff to heavily promote Scarlett's active involvement in charity work across the web. After all, Scarlett had participated in a massive number of charitable events over the past few years, and she even held the title of goodwill ambassador for the United Nations.

Just like large multinational corporations, the major powers of Hollywood had taken their battle for market share from North America straight overseas.

While things were boiling over in China, back in North America—Hollywood's home turf and primary market—the competition between The Avengers and Fast and Furious 5 had reached a fever pitch.

The North American premiere for Fast and Furious 5 was held at the famous El Capitan Theater in the Hollywood District. David Ellison had invested heavily in both the production and distribution of the film, and he had prepared a massive premiere for it as well.

When his car pulled up to the premiere theater, the expression on his face first flashed with joy before darkening into gloom.

The former was because he saw countless fans holding up Vin Diesel's portraits, posters, and all sorts of memorial banners—a successful result of the film's "nostalgia marketing". The latter was because, not far from those people, several equally large and vocal groups were actively protesting.

They were several famous women's protection organizations and feminist movement groups from across America. They had organized a large crowd to protest the various forms of abuse Vin Diesel had inflicted on his girlfriend, calling on women to boycott the movie Fast and Furious 5.

At the very front of the predominantly female crowd, David Ellison even spotted Vin Diesel's ex-girlfriend, who appeared to be giving an interview to reporters...

All of this made his expression exceptionally bleak.

Fast and Furious 5's "nostalgia marketing" had indeed played a massive role; David Ellison was certain of that. However, he wouldn't underestimate the influence that those women's protection organizations and feminist groups held across America, especially among women. The female attendance rate for this movie would likely be a major problem.

"Who cares!"

Walking down the red carpet, David Ellison shot a disdainful glance in that direction. In his established mindset, male audiences were the driving force of the film market. As long as Fast and Furious 5 could appeal to male viewers, that would be enough.

However, the times were already changing.

Not far from the El Capitan Theater, the Hollywood Chinese Theater was preparing to host an advance screening of Fast and Furious 5. Daniel Clyde stood hesitating at the ticket window. He had already seen The Avengers. If it were up to him, he definitely would have chosen Fast and Furious 5 right now.

Right beside him, his girlfriend stared at the bald actor on the poster and said through gritted teeth, "If you pick Fast and Furious 5, you'll be sleeping alone for the next month!"

Daniel Clyde dismissed all thoughts of watching Fast and Furious 5 without hesitation and bought two tickets for another movie.

Bill Morrison, an investigator for the CinemaScore Company, was also in the lobby of the Hollywood Chinese Theater. He was carefully observing and tallying up the relevant figures when he suddenly noticed something very strange. The number of female ticket buyers for Fast and Furious 5 was extremely low—so low that it had already dropped to nearly half the normal ratio.

He thought for a moment, walked over to a quiet corner, and took out his phone to dial a number. After it connected, he spoke a few brief words before asking the question he cared about most.

"Patterson, are there many female moviegoers buying tickets for Fast and Furious 5 on your end?"

"Very few!"

His colleague over at the Santa Monica Commercial Square quickly gave an answer. "It's only about a third of the normal ratio! It seems like female audiences really don't like this movie."

At that point, he added, "I heard that over by the El Capitan Theater, multiple women's protection organizations from across the country are staging a protest."

Hanging up the phone, Bill Morrison picked up his statistical report to look it over again. Fast and Furious 5's advance screenings and first-day presales were both quite impressive...

But when he looked at the crowd waiting in the lobby of the Hollywood Chinese Theater to buy tickets or enter the auditoriums—where women made up at least half of the people present—a massive question mark about the future trajectory of Fast and Furious 5 had already formed in his mind.

As a frontline market investigator, he was acutely aware of how crucial female audiences were to the entire film market right now. The Hunger Games, released by Duke Studio in early April, had set the best April box office record in North American history precisely because of the frenzied support from female viewers!

Losing the support of so many women meant that Fast and Furious 5's staying power was going to be a huge problem.

In front of the El Capitan Theater, protests and memorials coexisted, forming a truly unique spectacle. There were many special interest groups in North America, such as organizations for environmental protection, animal protection, child protection, women's protection, and the feminist movement.

Perhaps it would be incredibly difficult to get these organizations to actually accomplish something constructive, but when it came to disrupting something, they were absolute experts.