Although some preparations have been made, the subsequent storm of public opinion is even more violent than everyone imagined.

After the New York Times article splashed a spark, it seemed that all of a sudden, many of the media's original surprise and appreciation of "Lola Run" turned into doubt.

In fact, this kind of skepticism has existed since the release of "Lola Run".

In any case, it seems a little too bizarre for a young man who is only 18 years old and has no chance of going to a formal film school to suddenly make a great film like "Lola Run".

It's just that, before the New York Times article, everyone was engulfed by an atmosphere of admiration and admiration for genius teenagers. Even if someone raises an objection, it is often perceived as jealousy.

Now, authoritative newspapers such as the New York Times, which have a strong influence around the world, have taken the lead in questioning, coupled with the covert promotion of people with intentions, all those statements that were originally suppressed by the mainstream wind have become noisy.

"Puppet or genius? The core position of "Lola Run" is difficult to execute. ”

"Analysis of the film soundtrack process, on why Simon Westeros could not have done the soundtrack of "Lola Run" himself. ”

"Stunning shots, fake behind-the-scenes. ”

"Eighteen-year-old scam, deceived the entire federation of film marketing at once. ”

Simon Westeros High School Classmate: He worked hard, but he couldn't be a film director. ”

"The real 'capital' and 'technology' of "Lola Run", Janet Johnston, the daughter of the tycoon, and Kathryn Bigelow, a top student at the Columbia Film School. “

"The former lighting engineer of "Lola Run" accused Simon Westeros of being a fool. ”

“......”

“......”

For a while, not only newspapers, but even major radio and television stations in North America also participated in this discussion, and began to be keen to find all kinds of evidence that Simon Westeros could not have the ability to shoot "Lola Run".

On the other hand, Simon's team was quick to fight back. However, instead of rushing to clarify the facts, the finger was pointed at Mark Hollington, who published the questioning article in the New York Times.

Early the next morning, Daenerys Films issued an official statement through the Los Angeles Times, reprimanding Mark Hollington for making the conclusion that he could not shoot "Lola Run" based on Simon's upbringing, which was based on his own incompetent pride and prejudice, and even a kind of discrimination against the people at the bottom of the federal Union with his own shallow superiority of the wealthy middle class.

In the United States, the big hat of 'discrimination' is too lethal.

Mark Hollington responded immediately, publicly stating that he only asked Simon Westeros to stand up and prove that he had the professional ability to shoot "Lola Run", and there was no intention to discriminate.

This time, Simon did not respond again.

However, News Corp.'s New York Post soon published an article criticizing Mark Hollington's request for a man to 'prove his innocence' as a very bad rogue move. Since Mark Hollington believes that "Lola Run" was not filmed by Simon Westeros, he should personally produce solid evidence, otherwise, rashly questioning it is a serious infringement of the right to reputation of others. Simon Westeros has every reason to file a defamation lawsuit against him.

In such an exchange, Mark Hollington, who could not parry, was suddenly silenced.

It's just that since the storm of public opinion has already set off, it is impossible to easily dissipate it. In the days that followed, through the excavation of more details about Simon's growth and past, through the analysis of the content of the "Lola Run" film, and even through the mess of information provided by 'Hollywood insiders', all kinds of doubts still came one after another.

With the help of WMA, Fox Films, Orion Pictures, etc., Simon also came and went.

At the same time, Brian De Palma, David Giller, Robert Redford and other Hollywood insiders who have a good relationship with Simon have also begun to speak out for Simon.

In addition, after two days of emergency consultations, Ronald Goldberg, president of Fox Films, approved Amy Pascal's departure request ahead of schedule.

Daenerys Films immediately held a press conference to announce that Amy Pascal, the former vice president of production at Fox Films, will soon join Daenerys Films as the company's president.

The announcement of this news undoubtedly made many members of the public who began to waver under the influence of all kinds of bombardment and questioning news re-strengthen their confidence in Simon. After all, if Simon were just a young man with nothing to show for himself, it would never be possible to recruit a vice president of a major film company to work for him.

However, soon some newspapers took the initiative to expose the 'truth', claiming that Amy Pascal jumped to Daenerys Films just to personally take charge of "Here Comes the Grim Reaper", which will be invested by Fox Films and with Simon Westeros as the 'producer', which just shows that Fox Film has doubts about Simon Westeros' ability.

It was so disturbing until Friday, March 13th.

A lot of things have also come to a tipping point.

Because on this day, the box office data of the tenth film week in 1987 was officially released.

Although the media turmoil on weekdays inevitably made many ordinary people doubt the truth behind the scenes of "Lola Run", in just a few days, the box office of this film was not greatly affected.

In the new week, the box office figure of "Lola Run" finally reached $25.62 million, with a cumulative box office of $57.71 million.

Obviously, just the large-scale national release in the first week almost doubled the North American box office of "Lola Run". In the next two to three weeks, as long as there is not much drop, the total box office of "Lola Run" will successfully break through the $100 million mark.

Following "Lola Run" is still "Lethal Weapon".

The $15 million-dollar blockbuster grossed $8.82 million in its first week.

Although the screen size is more than 100 yuan more than that of "Lola Run", and the reputation is not bad, the box office appeal of "Lethal Weapon" is obviously far from being compared with "event movies" like "Lola Run", and the box office scale is naturally only one-third of it.

Even, counting the subsequent "Field Platoon", "Ghost Street 3" and "Angel Heart", the last four films in the top five box office this week combined for a single week box office of only $27.63 million, which is completely comparable to the box office data of "Lola Run".

In the afternoon.

Inside a cliff mansion in Palisad, Los Angeles.

Catherine Bigelow took the coffee handed over by Janet, saw Janet sit down beside her like a little girl, smiled and hid to the side, not letting her stick to herself, and then said to Simon on the other side of the sofa: "Haven't you been out for the past few days?"

Simon looked at Catherine, who had just returned from Arizona, and was very moved. During this time, although there was a lot of trouble in the media, many people I have known in the past six months, Brian de Palma, David Giller, Sandra Bullock, Jonathan Friedman, etc., have provided him with enough attention and support.

Hearing the woman's question, Simon nodded and said, "Yes, I can't do anything when I go out anyway, so I just stay at home." ”

In recent days, the number of reporters guarding outside Simon's mansion has not diminished in the slightest, and in order to avoid these troubles, Simon has either contacted the outside world by telephone, or Michael Medowa, Pat Kingsley and others have come in person, and he has not gone out at all.

Doing so does make me a lot quieter. However, much of Simon's work has basically stopped.

Although Ronald Goldberg approved Amy's departure early out of self-interest, Fox was dragging his feet and refusing to sign a contract for "Here Comes the Grim Reaper" as soon as possible.

For "The Butterfly Effect" a month later, although Fox will not secretly do the same thing as those others, and has offered to help, he is obviously now waiting to see how the situation develops.

To be sure, this has continued until now, and regardless of the outcome, it will be difficult for Simon to completely shake off the doubts for a long time to come. Some things, even if they are false, are said 10,000 times, and it is difficult for them to clear up again.

Catherine held the coffee cup, saw Simon looking at herself, slightly sideways her eyes, and said, "So, what are you going to do next?"

"It's time for this to be over," Simon replied, "I'm going to New York tomorrow, and I've already contacted NBC's "Tonight Show," and I'll make some explanations and statements on the show next Monday." ”

Although Catherine had not encountered the current situation, she also felt that this kind of thing could not be ended so easily, and asked, "Is this okay?"

"There will definitely be follow-up media actions," Simon gave Catherine a reassuring look, and instead asked about the woman herself: "What about you, I remember that the schedule happens to be closed this week, right?"

Catherine nodded, and added, "However, I have to go to Oklahoma next week to get some exterior locations." Then I'll go back to Los Angeles for post-production. ”

The story of "Night of the Blood Corpse" takes place in Oklahoma, but due to the climate, tax refunds, etc., the filming location is Arizona, and in order not to look too goofy, it does need some location supplements.

Simon said, "I'll help you then." ”

Catherine smiled shyly and said, "In the future, there will definitely be people who say that my film is not made by Kathryn Bigelow." ”

Simon smiled and said, "That's just right, I happen to have this kind of trouble." ”

After chatting for a while, Jonathan Friedman, Mike Medowa, Pat Kingsley, Amy Pascal and others came to Simon's residence one after another. I'm going to New York tomorrow, so it's impossible for everyone to go, so this afternoon I just need to sort out the next coping strategies again.