In an inconspicuous corner of the theater, a round-faced man wearing a hat sat quietly in his seat.
The people around were so absorbed in the movie that they didn't recognize that this person was Jim Gianopulos, chairman of Fox.
In fact, this is normal. Jim is a senior executive of a film company. He is neither a star nor a director.
There is no need for him to appear in public very often, so ordinary movie fans naturally don't know him.
With Jim's identity, he would definitely have received an invitation to the premiere.
However, the relationship between Washimine Entertainment and Fox has become as bad as it can be.
Reporters from News Corporation were able to come in as media personnel, but he, a high-ranking enemy official, certainly could not be invited.
So, this time, Jim came to the premiere of "Madoka Magica" quietly.
Fortunately, as the chairman of Fox, Jim will definitely have no problem getting a ticket to the premiere through his connections.
Murdoch Jr. also knew that he was attending the premiere.
After all, Jim's reason for attending the premiere was to "spy on the enemy."
Murdoch Jr. is also aware of this statement and will not cause any major trouble.
If Murdoch Jr. wasn't afraid of losing control of his emotions, he would have wanted to come and take a look.
Although there is no idiom "know yourself and know your enemy" in Europe and the United States, understanding the situation of the opponent is something that all commercial companies will do.
Jim looked at the screen. He had been silent since the beginning of the movie.
As the most powerful figure in Fox after Murdoch Jr., Jim definitely has business capabilities.
Jim also has his own criteria for judging the commercial value of a film.
The reason why Jim is so concerned about "Madoka Magica" is very simple. If this movie fails miserably, it is very likely to affect Fox's "Avatar".
You have to know that both movies focus on the 3D visual spectacle. If the former movie fails, the latter movie will definitely suffer as well.
Therefore, the most ideal result Jim hoped for for "Madoka Magica" would be that the film's reviews were not high, but the special effects were touching.
Then Fox's "Avatar" will be able to make a lot of money by relying on the popularity of the 3D market.
After watching the posters, trailers, and various promotional content for the movie.
Jim realized that this was a big gamble between Kiryu Nanaya and Washimine Entertainment.
Moreover, it is a project where you earn little if you win, but lose a lot if you lose.
Even if the box office of the movie can reach the level of "Titanic", I am afraid that the box office profit will not be much higher than that of ordinary movies.
Of course, this only refers to the box office results. If you take into account various movie-related peripherals, the movie "Madoka Magica" is still very profitable.
"But it's still not as good as Fate and Marvel."
Even though they are rivals, Jim has to admit that Nanaya Kiryu has a good vision in the film business.
Jim bets that the commercial profits of the Fate series and the Marvel series will definitely exceed Fox's profits from Titanic.
To be honest, from a businessman's perspective, Jim himself would definitely not agree to the "Madoka Magica" project.
It's not because of money. Didn't "Avatar" have a lot of investment?
The key reason why Jim is not optimistic about "Madoka Magica" is that the project itself lacks the potential to be a big hit.
The protagonists are all female, and the subject matter is relatively unpopular Japanese magical girl themes.
Even though Washimine Entertainment has been packaging it in the shell of a superhero movie, some essential things cannot be changed.
But as the movie played before his eyes frame by frame, Jim gradually realized.
It turned out that the thoughts that I had before, which were caused by prejudice and worry, were wrong!
This movie starring a heroine is really worth watching!
At least Jim himself wants to know what happens next in the movie.
This is not easy, as Jim, a film practitioner, handles thousands of projects every year.
It's not to the point where I don't even watch movies, but it's just pure work.
Ordinary movies really don't arouse Jim's interest in watching them.
After all, due to commercial needs, the plots of Hollywood's big-budget commercial films are generally very formulaic.
The same is true for Cameron's "Avatar".
But this movie is different.
While following the selling points of commercial films, the plot setting goes against the commercial films.
The most obvious example is the beginning of the movie.
Generally, commercial films will start with as intense a plot as possible to grab the audience's attention.
But "Madoka Magica" wasted the golden time at the beginning of the movie just to pave the way for Mami's death.
But the effect is surprisingly good.
Jim could clearly feel that the audience around him were completely focused on the screen.
Even if everyday plots reappear later, the audience will not be as bored as before.
Jim unconsciously looked in front of him, and with the help of the light from the screen, he could vaguely see the director's back.
His heart seemed to be tightened: Could it be that Nanaya Kiryu can really change the fate of large-scale commercial films starring women?
So many directors couldn't do it, but this man in his thirties could make it happen? Compared to Jim who was silent and surprised, Miss Katsushira was silent in surprise.
Miss Katsushira's idea is very simple, this "Madoka Magica" is really different!
Nanaya Kiryu dared to invest 250 million US dollars in the production of a commercial film with a female lead. It turns out that he has his own confidence.
Apart from anything else, she had heard people mention that the five leading actors in the film were all actors personally selected by Kiryu Nanaya - not entirely true, but that was what was said in the promotion.
Anyway, judging from the finished film, the casting was very successful.
The five current leading actors all have a natural feel, a feeling that the actors and their roles are completely integrated.
And as the plot of the film deepened, Katsushira discovered that the plot design of this film could be said to be quite exciting.
The conflicts between the characters are one after another, and the producers have obviously designed them carefully.
Although these are big-budget movies, every one of them is carefully designed from the plot to the characters.
There aren't many movies with such brilliant script designs that are pleasing to the eye and keep people watching.
[But this is only natural, after all, it is a movie by Kiryu Nanaya~]
Because he is the idol I admire, I will definitely succeed.
This is a kind of bandit logic, but Katsushira has always believed in it.
After the first conflict between Red and Blue, Homura Akemi found Kyoko and had an explanatory conversation that was similar to a setting supplement.
During the conversation, Homura mentioned the term "Witch Night".
After hearing this, Kyoko stopped playing the dance machine and turned to look at the other person.
It can be seen that this experienced magical girl is very cautious about "Witch Night".
"Is this the final boss of the movie?"
Glancing at the time on her watch, Katsushira discovered that an hour had passed in the movie, and it felt like it was about time to move on to the final main storyline.
"In the end, it still fell into the rhythm of forming a group to fight the boss. It's a pity that the profound twist was wasted."
Albert said regretfully.
Turan complained: "This guy...is his understanding of profundity just like a dead person?"
"Then the girls will probably have a conflict, and then reconcile and fight together." Albert predicted with a curled lip, "Look, isn't it starting now?"
Looking at Sakura Kyoko and Akemi Homura who have transformed into magical girls, and Sayaka who is confronting them.
Most of the audience had the same idea as Albert.
As the middle conflict of the movie, the direct infighting among the protagonists should be resolved here.
Just when the audience was looking forward to seeing the gorgeous civil war between the magical girls again, Nanaya and Kyon directly resolved the conflict with a verbal fight.
Madoka threw Sayaka's Soul Gem away, and then Sayaka stopped working.
Then everyone was blinded.
On and off the screen, except for QB and Homura Akemi, no one was clear about what was going on.
Especially when Kyoko shouted "This guy is dead" after checking Sayaka, everyone was shocked.
"What's going on?"
"Dead?"
"That's what I want!"
Albert perked up again.
Many experienced viewers have guessed some of the settings through the fact that the Soul Stone was thrown away.
So compared to Mami's sudden death before, the shock of this plot is not as intense as before.
But even so, the audience who have already guessed the setting have to admire Kiryu Nanaya's boldness in the setting.
Others who were slower to react also learned about the relationship between the Soul Stone and the magical girl through QB's commentary.
"Isn't this amazing?" said a viewer. "As long as there is magic power, there is no death. Doesn't that mean that the magical girl is invincible?"
But another viewer had a different opinion: "But isn't this disgusting? Like Kyoko said, what's the difference between a magical girl and a zombie?"
"Don't you think this strange creature called QB is a little dark? It's such a terrible thing, but it doesn't seem to care at all."
"Really?"
Many viewers also noticed the abnormality of QB. The originally cute white beast became weird in their eyes.
But the poor audience didn't know that the darkest part for QB was yet to come.
"A miracle and a price?"
Lily said with some fear: "I'd better not become a magical girl."
"Why?"
"Because I feel like a monster." Lily complained, fiddling with her legs. "I don't think my brother-in-law will like it."
Ryan reminded her quietly, "Didn't you play a cameo as a magical girl in this movie?"
"Ah! It really is here!"
Only then did Lily remember that she had played a cameo role as a magical girl tied to a cross.
"Um...sister." Lily turned her head stiffly and asked, "My magical girl, could it be Jeanne d'Arc?"
"Guess~"
Ryan gave a mysterious smile.