Chapter 886: The San Fernando Valley Version of The Interview

Standing before the mirror in the walk-in closet, Duke acted like a plastic mannequin, letting Scarlett Johansson fuss over him. Fancying herself a fashion authority, Scarlett held suit after suit up against him, shaking her head every time. She clearly wasn't satisfied with his wardrobe.

"Your clothes are either gray or black," Scarlett muttered in dissatisfaction. "They make you look old."

"Darling, I'm already old." Duke shrugged. "You know I've worn this exact color and style of suit for years."

He wasn't a star who needed to catch people's eyes, so he never paid much attention to his premiere outfits.

After helping Duke into a newly tailored dark suit, Scarlett Johansson studied him for a moment. She swept her falling blonde hair back, picked up a bow tie to test the look, shook her head, and pulled out a necktie instead.

Knowing Duke didn't care about his suits, she simply changed the subject.

"Are we sure it was the North Korean government?"

Standing opposite Scarlett, Duke watched her carefully adjust his suit.

"How do you confirm something like that?" he asked. "The funding sources for the three hackers' accounts do point back to North Korea, but they belong to a civilian organization. Darling, you know..."

The necktie wasn't a good fit either. Scarlett patted him lightly and walked over to where the bow ties hung. Duke watched her beautiful back as she walked away.

"The North Korean government isn't stupid," he continued. "They definitely won't admit it was an official operation. The excuse of a spontaneous civilian organization is enough for them to answer to the international community."

"But what about their international reputation...?"

Shaking her head, Scarlett walked back over. "I forgot. North Korea hasn't had an international image for a long time, and they don't care how Western society sees them anyway."

She stepped up to Duke and held a bow tie against his neck to check the fit.

"Don't you think we're going a bit overboard?" she asked.

"Hey, darling." Duke spread his hands. "This is a spontaneous act by the American media. It has nothing to do with me."

"Alright, alright." Scarlett helped him put on the bow tie, deliberately pinching his chin. "My boyfriend is a pure, kind, and good man..."

She burst into laughter before she could even finish.

"I just went with the flow and gave it a little push."

Duke shook his head. "This really has nothing to do with me. The real culprit smearing North Korea is the Federal Government, not us."

"The Federal Government is America's biggest scapegoat," Scarlett muttered. She checked her watch. "Isn't O-Coal supposed to give a speech? It's almost time."

Duke nodded, walked over to the lounge table, and picked up the remote to turn on the wall-mounted LCD TV. He switched it to CNN; the White House press conference was about to begin.

After the Central Intelligence Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation released a series of evidence linking the hacker accounts to Iran, a wave of anti-North Korean movements swept across America. Large-scale protests advocating to "support freedom of speech, oppose terrorist threats" broke out successively in New York, Los Angeles, and Washington. The media vehemently condemned the North Korean government, further inciting the public's anti-North Korean sentiments.

"The government continues to support and endorse Warner Brothers' release of films like The Interview."

On the TV screen, O-Coal spoke directly into the microphone, personally expressing the Washington Authorities' stance on the Warner Brothers hacking incident.

"America strongly supports these filmmakers and production companies, as well as their belief in the freedom of expression," he said. "We believe that this form of artistic expression is worthy of praise, and we should not surrender to intimidation and threats just because it might offend certain people's views and ideas."

O-Coal directly elevated the incident to a severe national security issue.

"North Korea attacked an American company with the intent to cause destructive consequences, and even threatened American artists and other individuals in an attempt to restrict their right to free expression," he stated. "The US takes this matter 'seriously' and will implement sanctions against individuals and entities associated with the North Korean government."

As a powder keg that would explode at the slightest spark, the North Korean government issued a corresponding statement at almost the exact same time—O-Coal was a stupid pig!

Furthermore, the North Korean government declared a state of emergency. Portions of their military massed near the 38th Parallel, and they were once again preparing to open fire on South Korea.

North Korea had always relied on two major weapons to deal with the pressure of international public opinion. The first was running their mouths; no matter how ridiculous their rhetoric sounded, they would endlessly issue declarations so absurd they defied comprehension. The second was: whoever dares to provoke me, I'll beat up South Korea. Regardless of who actually offended them, South Korea was always the one taking the beating...

"Looks like this has nothing to do with us anymore."

Turning off the TV, Duke walked over to the lounge table, poured a cup of tea for Scarlett, and brought it back to hand to her.

"We can just sit back and watch the North Korean government and the Federal Government flame each other," he said. "We'll be able to save a massive amount on promotional and marketing expenses while achieving results far beyond our expectations."

"North Korea and South Korea..." Scarlett took a sip of tea and asked with some concern, "A war won't actually break out, will it?"

Duke didn't even have to think before he replied, "Of course not."

War definitely wouldn't break out. At most, they would fire a few artillery shells at each other. Despite North Korea barking fiercely right now, acting as if they wouldn't hesitate to start World War III, anyone who knew enough about the country understood that North Korea were absolute experts at blowing hot air.

"Darling."

Duke smiled, reaching out to pinch Scarlett's straight nose. "If a war really does break out, we'll just set up a relief foundation."

Having finished helping Duke into his suit, Scarlett picked out her own. Naturally, she was going to attend the Premiere too.

"You're going too?" Duke frowned.

Truth be told, he was still somewhat worried. Who knew if North Korea would do something desperate like a cornered dog? He was willing to take the risk himself, but he didn't want to watch Scarlett risk her safety as well.

On October 31, 2013, the focus of the entire country was fixed on the Hollywood District in Los Angeles. Tens of thousands of Americans holding high the so-called banner of freedom spontaneously gathered at the El Capitan Theater and its surrounding areas, using their most practical actions to support the so-called freedom of speech they held sacred and inviolable.

Even though The Interview was just a small production with a $25 million investment, even though many people politely declined their Premiere invitations due to safety concerns, and even though the North Korean government continued to issue all kinds of protests, nothing could stop the enthusiasm of Hollywood and the American public for this Premiere.

Under tight security, the Premiere concluded without any incidents. Amidst North Korea's chorus of protests, the film not only premiered in North America, but would also be successively released in the other nations of the five English-speaking allies.

As for the film itself, it was a typical crude potty humor comedy. Not only did it feature a scene directly killing Kim Fatty III, it also mocked Eminem and Miley Cyrus, who were highly controversial figures across America. The discussion of the latter's "camel toe" in particular could be described as remarkably fitting. As for the other aspects, there wasn't much to say; one only had to look at the North Korean government's reaction to understand exactly what kind of movie it was.

The North Korean government was condemning it. The North Korean government wanted to ban the screening. The North Korean government was going to take countermeasures against Hollywood. The North Korean government was interfering with America's freedom of speech...

This was the promotional strategy formulated for the film by Warner Brothers' PR and marketing department: drag the North Korean government down into the mud with them and capture the attention of the entire world.

And who would really care about the North Korean government's protests?

Even with so much conflict surrounding the movie, a crude comedy could never reach the fiery popularity of a major commercial blockbuster during the Summer Season. Even if many people shouted their support for the film's release, they were merely defending their concept of freedom of speech; they wouldn't necessarily buy a ticket and walk into the theater.

Killing the man universally recognized by Western society as the world's biggest dictator was undoubtedly the film's biggest selling point, and one of the few aspects capable of drawing the North American public into the theaters.

Earning $37.21 million at the box office across over 2,600 theaters in its opening week in North America was arguably the absolute limit for this niche comedy. Aside from guaranteeing that Warner Brothers could recoup their costs, the biggest benefit was that, following the film's release, Hollywood saw a brand-new direction for profit—spoofing the leaders of hostile nations!

After the film's North American weekend box office numbers came out, the likes of Universal Pictures, Paramount Pictures, and Sony Columbia Pictures all put similar film projects on their agendas. Sony Columbia Pictures, in particular, was very aggressively contacting Warner Brothers, James Franco, and Seth Rogen to prepare to shoot a sequel to The Interview.

It wasn't just Hollywood. The San Fernando Valley, which always loved shooting adult versions of popular Hollywood films, also obtained authorization from Warner Brothers and prepared to shoot an X-rated version of The Interview. Rumor had it they even planned to include Rodman, "The Worm," who had been frequently visiting North Korea in recent years. There would be plenty of scenes featuring Rodman battling it out with the First Lady...

When this news reached Duke's ears, he didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Yet, he wasn't too surprised. After all, in his vague memories, the original The Interview had indeed received an adult version.

As for what North Korea would think about it, Hollywood didn't care, and the San Fernando Valley didn't care either.

All the leaked news was beneficial to the spread of The Interview. Moreover, after the film's release, word of mouth exploded to astonishing levels in a short amount of time. Relying on the pre-release storm of controversies—the hackers, terrorist threats, North Korea's fierce rhetoric, and O-Coal stepping forward—The Interview had ascended from a purely crude dark comedy to the status of a masterpiece. Online, many moviegoers even rated it a perfect score. It even briefly pushed The Dark Knight down on IMDB, temporarily occupying the top spot on the TOP250 list with a 9.9 rating.

On IMDB, over twenty thousand moviegoers had given the film a perfect score.

Although The Interview couldn't overcome the inherent flaw of crude comedies having relatively short theatrical runs, by the time the film left theaters at the end of December, its accumulated North American box office had surpassed $100 million. Combined with the over $100 million it raked in overseas, this small production with a mere $25 million budget reached a staggering $278.62 million in global box office revenue alone.

With such a high return on investment, it was perfectly normal for other companies to follow the trend.