After years of waiting, Star Wars fans finally ushered in a new Star Wars series, but "The Phantom Menace" has been constantly complained about since the premiere ended, and even some extreme Star Wars fans have criticized George? Lucas personally destroyed the good image of the series in their minds.

No matter how hard the spat and bashing is, this is a Star Wars series, although George? Lucas is indeed not good at storytelling, but he is one of the best technical directors, and the special effects of "The Phantom Menace" are definitely the best in this era.

After attending the Star Wars premiere, Duke deliberately participated in a high-level meeting of Marvel, and he didn't say much, after introducing his agent in Marvel Comics, he only advised Marvel to temporarily stop the indiscriminate authorization of his comic book characters.

With Duke's investment, Marvel's financial problems have improved a lot, if it weren't for the fact that the business was really difficult some time ago, the entire company could go bankrupt at any time, and Marvel would not have sold its heroes cheaply.

This weekend, Duke stayed in New York, and as the weekend passed three days and the new weekly box office list was released, "The Phantom Menace" did not set an unprecedented record of more than $100 million in the first weekend box office as expected by the media, but only took the top spot at the weekly box office with more than $65 million.

Affected by Star Wars, other films released during the same period have declined, and Duke's "100,000 Urgent" is no exception, with a three-day weekend harvest of $5.98 million and a total of $79.13 million at the North American box office when the number of North American theaters plummeted to 2023.

With the release of more summer blockbusters, the market space of "100,000 Urgent" will be further compressed, according to Duke's estimates, the film's profitability is certainly not a problem, and it is very difficult for the North American box office to cross the $100 million mark.

Just after the weekend, Duke received a strange phone call. He was asked to go to a café on Long Island for a good chat.

It was a very old café, and there were not many customers, and when Duke entered, he found a girl in a baseball cap, sitting in the corner reading the newspaper, and walked over unhurriedly.

"A latte. Thank you. ”

Casually asking for a cup of coffee, Duke sat in a hardwood chair and looked across from him.

Natalie? Portman was dressed in a simple student denim suit, with a Yankee hat on his head, and a stiff face with obvious no makeup, and faint freckles and small moles on his cheeks could be clearly seen.

"Thank you."

Taking the coffee from the waiter, Duke asked, handing over the tip. "Looking for me?"

"Nothing." Natalie's words were flat, "Just wanted to read something to you." ”

"Reading?" Duke frowned strangely.

On the night of the premiere, he just used his past understanding and current observation and speculation to deliberately want to tear off the camouflage on the other party's face and see what was hidden behind it.

And after a busy job, such a game is also a good spice, isn't it?

Natalie didn't answer Duke's words, and instead her eyes fell on the newspaper. A crisp voice sounded softly, "After last weekend." "100,000 Urgent" has a total of $79.13 million at the North American box office and will break the $80 million mark at any time. The film cost only $10 million, and no matter how you look at it, this film can be considered a success. ”

The girl coughed deliberately, as if to remind Duke to listen, "But the truth is the opposite, the reason why this film was a big hit." Duke? Rosenberg has played a key role in building a successful personal appeal over the years, and according to a survey by an authoritative organization, nearly half of movie fans enter the theater because of the director! ”

"The quality of "One Hundred Thousand Urgent" is definitely not as good as the box office table, this is an extremely mediocre work, and the film is a big hit. Just confirmed Duke? Rosenberg is consuming his credibility, which is often the beginning of a downhill road for the director, and the audience will pay for his "100,000 Urgent"? But will the audience still pay for his next bad work......"

Read this, Natalie? Portman suddenly stopped, a hint of pride flashed in his eyes, and he looked up at Duke, "This is the famous film critic Roger?" Albert's op-ed. ”

"Oh......" Duke didn't say.

Natalie didn't want to let him go, "Any feelings?" ”

Duke didn't answer her, but asked calmly, "Honey, what do you want to see?" Disappointed? Depressed? Ambition? ”

"No, I've never thought of it that way, I know these words won't do anything for your cheekiness!" She closed the newspaper, stared at Duke and said, "I just want to fight back!" I want to sue you that I'm not that good at bullying! ”

She stood up, tossed the newspaper to Duke, picked up her bag, placed a dollar on the coffee table, and walked out of the café without looking back.

Duke couldn't help but be stunned, then shook his head and smiled, as if he had really the Jewish girl.

He also took out a banknote, put it on the table, and followed Natalie out of the café together.

Outside, the street was empty and quiet, and there were no pedestrians around, so Duke took a quick step and walked side by side with Natalie.

"I'll call the police." Natalie didn't look at him.

"Whatever." Duke gestured to a Bentley parked on the side of the road in front of him, "Nat, I think you've made a mistake, my car is in front of me." ”

Natalie's face began to darken, "Are you so rude to the opposite sex?" ”

"No, no, Nat." Duke shook his head as he walked, "I've always been polite to people, but when I face you, I always have an impulse......"

"Impulsive?" Natalie paused, turned to look at Duke, and said sarcastically, "Go with me. The urge to get in bed? ”

"You're mistaken."

Duke didn't stop, passed by her, and said lightly, "I just want to see what is hidden under your smart, calm, and indifferent appearance of fame and fortune." ”

Walking to the car, Dukla opened the door, turned around, and said, "Want to see Natalie?" Portman is not really different from other actresses. ”

"Are you satisfied now?"

Duke didn't answer her at all, and pointed to the co-pilot's position, "You shouldn't be driving, right?" Get in the car and I'll take you back. ”

Natalie walked over, stood by the car and looked at Duke for a moment, then glared at him viciously, turned to the other side of the car, pulled the door open and sat in the passenger seat.

"Home?" Duke started the car, "Or go to school?" ”

"Turn left at the second intersection ahead and go forward for a mile." Natalie pulled her baseball cap down, covering half of her face, "I'll get off there." ”

Following Natalie's directions, in just five minutes, Duke saw the place where she was going to get out of the car, which was not a school at all, it looked like a bar no matter how it looked.

Natalie pulled the car door, got out of the car, and looked back at Duke, "Go, I'll treat you to a drink." ”

Looking at the bar signage, and then at Natalie, Duke frowned slightly, if memory serves, Natalie? Portman turns 18 next month......

Although the legal provisions in this area are often nonsense, if anyone really cares, it is definitely a troublesome matter.

The clever girl seemed to have guessed Duke's thoughts, and suddenly raised an eyebrow, "If I'm drunk, you can send me home." ”

Hearing these words with a faint seduction, Duke immediately came to his senses, and stood in front of him, but a girl with extremely complicated thoughts who was not yet eighteen years old, and this was New York again......

"Another day, I might be back in New York next month."

By next month, she will turn eighteen, and Duke pulled out a big smile, "I'll find a place where we can drink together, and we will never stop if we don't get drunk." ”

"Okay." Natalie clasped her hands to her chest and raised her eyebrows, "You know my number. ”

After saying that, she turned her head and walked towards the bar on the side of the road, her brown eyes kept flashing, obviously turning her brain quickly, and when she walked to the front of the bar, she glanced back and saw that the black Bentley had disappeared into the distance.

Natalie didn't mean to go into the bar at all, so she changed directions and walked down the sidewalk towards the school.

"You're in luck." She muttered.

In the following days, Duke kept in touch with the New Zealand side, staying in New York for the time being to deal with investments and stocks, and he also reminded his mother to switch to other types of investment products if she had a large amount of related stocks.

In addition, Duke also met twice with Victoria's Secret executives and reached an agreement on angel models starring in "The Lord of the Rings" and how to operate in a high-profile manner, but unfortunately Victoria's Secret angels went to Miami for location, and he did not have the opportunity to meet the few Brazilian models who had just joined.

At the same time, the North American box office of "100,000 Urgent" continued to decline, and after "Star Wars Prequel: The Phantom Menace", it experienced the impact of "The Mummy" and "Ace Cheap Spy 2" for two consecutive weekends.

It is true that the works of well-known directors are more attractive to audiences, but they cannot change the huge gap in investment and genre.

If it can be changed, the major Hollywood companies don't need to make big investments, just pull the first-line directors and actors together, and shoot whatever they want.

By the end of May, "100,000 Urgent" walked with several commercial masterpieces for three consecutive weeks, and the number of North American theaters fell to 421, with a total of 88.13 million US dollars at the North American box office, and the box office of a single theater was less than 100 US dollars on the same day, which was inevitably forced to be lowered by major theaters.

In the end, Duke's real Yàn film received $88.13 million from the North American box office market.

The film has also been pushed into the overseas market, and the overall table is not much different from North America, in the 45 countries and regions that have been released, it has received more than 90 million US dollars, and the screening is not over, and it is not difficult for the global box office to finally exceed 200 million US dollars. (To be continued......)