Chapter 352 The Christmas War
At a video store in Washington Square Park on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, New York, a long line of people had already formed at the door.
The reason why so many people gathered so early is because this video store has newly arrived the DVD of "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers", which creates this unique scene.
The DVD of "The Two Towers" was sold out before, so many people didn't buy it.
At this time, many movie fans vowed to buy a set and collect it.
"There are so many people!" Bacher Lutz and Evans also came to line up.
Originally, the two thought they could be among the first 100 people in line, but when they arrived, the queue was already very long.
Some even came with tents, and it looked like they were queuing up in the middle of the night.
Evans was a little anxious: "If I had known, we should have come here and lined up last night."
Butcher Lutz was steady: "It's okay, we will be here soon, there are more than a hundred in front of us."
"What I'm afraid of is that by the time we get there, the DVDs will have been sold out." Evans worried.
Bacher Lutz shook his head and said: "No..."
Having said that, Bacher Lutz couldn't help but have some worries in his heart. What if the DVDs are sold out when he comes to them?
Someone was discussing before: "Are you going to buy the regular version or the deluxe version?"
Another person replied: "Of course it's the deluxe edition. I heard it has the trailer for The Return of the King. I want to see it."
The first trailer for "The Return of the King" can only be seen on the "Two Towers" deluxe edition DVD.
It’s also worth the effort for fans to see the trailer.
In order to increase the selling point of the deluxe version of the DVD, the trailer content inside will not appear on other platforms for a short period of time.
In fact, it is now possible to upload videos on the Internet platform, and videos exist.
But it is different from the later common 1080P, which can be as high as 2K4K image quality. Nowadays, the image quality of online videos is almost the same as 270P or 360P.
The reason is simple: the software and hardware are not up to par.
So although it is very convenient to put videos online, there are still very few movies that release trailers online, only a few stills at most.
Trailers are still mainly played offline on large screens and TVs.
Putting a trailer on the DVD is also an option, but of course, only sequel movies can do this.
Of course, Bacher Lutz and Evans were here to buy the deluxe version, and they couldn't help but want to check it out in advance.
After two such wonderful movies, both of them were curious as to whether Little Gilbert would end the series.
After a long queue, it was finally the turn of Bacher Lutz and Evans.
They were very lucky that the DVDs were not sold out, so they bought two sets of deluxe edition DVDs.
Arriving home as fast as lightning, Bacher Lutz and Evans quickly turned on the TV, connected the DVD, and couldn't wait to play it.
The opening of the trailer was extremely shocking, with a dense army of orcs advancing on the wilderness. When the screen turned, the majestic Minas Tirith occupied the entire TV screen.
Humans are fighting bloody battles, bonfires are lit on the snowy mountains, the terrifying Eye of Sauron and Mount Doom, etc.
In just three minutes of trailer, enough information appears.
Although they didn't see any more big scenes, these scenes in the trailer alone made Bach Lutz and Evans extremely excited.
Evans was jumping up and down with excitement. He touched his head and shouted, "God, why do you have to wait more than five months? I really want to see this film sooner."
Bacher Lutz also felt the same way: "Yes, it has been a long five-plus months, and time flies so slowly!"
"I want to watch it again..." Evans took the remote control and went back to the beginning of the trailer. The two of them watched the trailer a dozen times.
Bacher Lutz tried to analyze the footage of the trailer: "Director Gilbert Jr. was very smart, he did not edit the key scenes.
In this trailer, there are scenes of humans being attacked by an army of orcs. "
"Indeed," Evans also said: "I have read part of the original work, and I remember Aragorn led the Southern Army of Gondor to rescue Minas Tirith."
After watching the trailer, the two felt disappointed.
The five long months are really difficult for loyal movie fans.
At this time, there are already a lot of discussions about the trailer of "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" in online forums, post bars, and chat rooms.
Some fans who are knowledgeable and have read the original film began to analyze every detail of the trailer, which then aroused the attention and discussion of netizens.
"Director Gilbert Jr. is very shrewd. He did not show the most shocking scenes in the film, but retained suspense."
"I remember that the Battle of Minas Tirith in the book was quite exciting, but very little was revealed in the trailer. I don't know how Director Gilbert Jr. will film this part."
"Needless to say? Of course it is an epic picture. I have a hunch that it will definitely surpass the Battle of Helm's Deep."
"Chicago, I'd like to find someone to watch "The Two Towers" again this afternoon. Is anyone there?"
"I, I, I, I'll come..."
Of course, the film wasn't liked by everyone.
Some people are rebellious and want to show that they are different from others, so they leave negative comments.
However, the negative reviews were not large-scale, and there was no enemy trolls to lead them, so they were quickly overwhelmed by angry fans.
These fanatical movie fans don’t want to see anyone say anything bad about the "Lord of the Rings" movie, otherwise they will let these scumbags see the angry fans. The trailer is great, but there are still more than five months until the film's release, so the promotional campaign for "The Return of the King" can't let up at all.
The "Lord of the Rings" concert tour continues, visiting major cities in North America and then heading to Europe.
Little Gilbert also released some stills from the set of "The Lord of the Rings" through his personal social account, as well as some design sketches, etc., continuing to attract the attention of movie fans.
As usual, the second trailer for "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" will be released at the Super Bowl in February.
After the Oscars, the film will begin a large-scale promotion. But in fact, the intensity of publicity has weakened compared to when the first film was released.
Because the "Lord of the Rings" series of movies is now famous all over the world, this saves a lot of effort in promoting the film.
However, five months before the film is released, fans have begun to discuss whether "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" can defend the global box office championship next year and achieve three consecutive championships.
Judging from next year's opponents, there are "Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones", "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets", and "Spider-Man" and other films.
Little Gilbert's ancestral home is Italy, but he was born in Los Angeles.
Coincidentally, at this time, the Los Angeles Lakers had just completed two consecutive championships and were heading towards a third championship.
Little Gilbert has also been invited to attend this year's Christmas fight.
"How does it feel to watch the game in the box?" Lakers owner Buss asked.
"It's okay, but I prefer to sit on the sidelines and watch the game." Little Gilbert looked at the court, where Shaquille O'Neal received a pass from Kobe and dunked, and applauded.
"Hahaha, me too, but I have a bad heart and can't stand the excitement sitting on the sidelines." Old Bass laughed.
During this game, Little Gilbert also brought over Bingbing Li and Shu Chang who had already come to the United States.
This was the first time for the two of them to watch basketball live, and it seemed to be much more exciting than domestic basketball games.
Shu Chang is still young and has never been abroad, so this experience is very strange for her.
She is working hard to practice her English. She doesn't need to be very good, just can be coached on a daily basis.
According to the setting, Xiaoyu is a child who is not very good at English.
Of course there will be little progress after that, but that will all happen later.
While watching the game, Gilbert Jr. said to Bingbing Li: "I heard that there is a player in the Shanghai Sharks who is called Kao Ming. He is very powerful."
Bingbing Li doesn't watch the game and says he doesn't know much about it: "Do you think he has hope of playing in the NBA?"
"Of course, and he's the No. 1 pick!" Little Gilbert laughed, then turned back and continued to talk to Old Buss: "What do you think, if I buy an NBA team for fun?"
Old Bass expressed his support: "That's great. If you want to buy it, I can give you a contact and ask other team owners if they have any ideas about selling the team."
Little Gilbert waved his hand and said: "Don't be in a hurry, just take your time!"
In fact, buying sports teams is a hobby of little Gilbert. He doesn't know much about baseball, football, ice hockey, etc. I know a bit about football, and I am considering setting up a football club to play.
Basketball is quite familiar because of its vitality. It seems that starting a basketball team would be very promising.
For ultra-rich people like him, now is the time to think about hobbies instead of money.
Maybe it was because Gilbert Jr. came to watch the game. The Lakers performed very well and finally defeated their opponents by a big score and won the Christmas Day game.
After Christmas, the New Year's bell rang, and 2002 came just like this.
After Nolan finished working on the "Insomnia" project, he was officially busy with the "Spellbound" project.
Cheng Long serves as the film's action director, and Tang Jili serves as the second director.
In fact, according to Nolan's character, he will not co-direct with others.
Nolan's movie concept is to hope that every shot will be shot under his direction.
It's just that Nolan is not a pedantic and conservative person. He knows that his current status is not enough, so he does not insist on his idea of independent directing.
Little Gilbert went to the set of "The Spell" and saw that the film was well prepared.
Little Gilbert also saw Dwayne Johnson, a WWE player. He played the director of District 13 and had a small role.
In addition, Chris Tucker, who partnered with Cheng Long in "Rush Hour 2", has also joined the film, and the role of the villain Valon is played by the famous veteran actor Kevin Spacey.
The other characters are basically familiar faces from Hollywood or Hong Kong.
Those who can be called newcomers can only feel peaceful and comfortable.
During the filming process, Nolan was worried about being comfortable. He had never experienced this scene before, and he might be nervous, which would lead to poor performance.
But unexpectedly, during the early filming, Shu Chang was the one who performed best.
Needless to say, in terms of action, Cheng Long also showed his true skills and integrated his own action comedy style into the film.
Ng Mang-tat lost 15 pounds for the role of dad so that he could look like a skinny old man, full of pretentiousness.
As a producer, Gilbert Jr. certainly has to pay attention to the situation of the film.
The investment in this film was huge, and Gilbert Jr. had to ensure that the film would be shot as he envisioned it.
Fortunately, Nolan is capable enough and there won't be any big problems.
(End of chapter)