Idol Group (×) Knights of the Round Table (√)

[Here, I want to give special mention to the film's producer Shinji Matou. He is not only a genius Magecraft but also a top-notch film producer.]

He was the initiator of Mission Impossible: Impossible, not only writing the script but also personally selecting Diarmuid and the other members of the crew, and his choices were undoubtedly very successful.

[This is a very important point: a good Director can only manage one film crew at most, but a good producer can drive the entire industry.]

Based on my observations over the past few years, Shinji Matou, as a producer, has a keen eye and a very long-term vision, enabling him to discover a lot of entertainment content that has not yet been noticed by others.

Good producers possess this unique vision and broad perspective. They can grasp the market and develop excellent projects. When these projects are handled by Magecraft, they will bring unprecedented prosperity to our industry.

I believe that in the future, the entertainment industry will be the most powerful source of funding for us Magecraft in our pursuit of mystery.

All the praise for the Mission: Mission Impossible movies at the beginning was superficial; only this last part is Waver's true purpose in writing this article.

By using projects like Mission Impossible: Impossible, which were controlled by Shinji Matou but in which he did not fully contribute, as typical examples, the aim is to promote the film and entertainment industry to the Magecraft community and attract Magecraft to invest.

To be honest, the Modern Magecraft Department doesn't really lack this kind of money, but Waver and Kenseth need more support from Mage Families.

He possesses mysterious information such as blueprints for the Jewel Sword and knowledge of Age of Gods Magecraft;

In his other hand, he held a large sum of money that the Magecraft used to research mysteries;

These two Magecraft elements guide the Magecraft in the direction he desires.

Waver believed that this was the true future of the Modern Magecraft Department.

"I just don't know if I'll be able to see that day..."

After sending his film review to the editor of the Clock Tower's internal newspaper, Waver yawned, shut down his computer, and prepared to go to bed.

He didn't know how long it would take for the day he longed for to arrive, but he knew it was definitely the right thing to do to live longer.

If he didn't go to sleep and continued cultivating immortality, Waver felt that the probability of him dying suddenly would likely increase indefinitely.

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

Before any discussion about Mission Impossible: Impossible even started at the Clock Tower, a storm had already swept through the entertainment industry.

First, the premiere of Mission Impossible: Impossible was a huge success, receiving overwhelmingly positive reviews from audiences.

Then there's Diarmuid, a young actor who became a world-class star.

Despite Diarmuid's fame after Fate/Zero's release, his foundation is not solid due to the lack of a Lead Actor film.

Now, his fans can finally properly praise their No. 01 actor.

In fact, Shinji underestimated Diarmuid's charm.

It's worth noting that there are many women working in major entertainment media outlets, and 80% of them are already fans of Diarmuid.

Those who haven't yet are simply too low-ranking to have had the opportunity to meet Diarmuid in person.

The influence of these female professionals is astonishing. Although Mission Impossible: Impossible is a Type-Moon film with a strong Shinji Matou flavor, it has unusually received positive reviews from the vast majority of media outlets.

This wasn't the sarcastic praise of the past, but genuine affirmation.

For example, the Los Angeles Times praised Diarmuid's Acting Skills and commented that Mission Impossible: Impossible "captured the audience's attention and showcased masculine charm to the fullest."

The Times, however, believed that the success of Mission Impossible: Impossible lay in its excellent casting.

The New York Times described the film as. "A groundbreaking film that rekindled the excitement audiences felt when watching the first James Bond movie."

Even the group of film critics who had always disliked Shinji Matou and considered themselves to be high art were divided, with several female film critics unanimously giving Mission: Mission Impossible extremely high praise.

For example, a well-known film critic who is obsessed with good looks, writing under the pen name [Bonte Bonnie], openly commented in her column:

[This movie only tells us one thing— Diarmuid is incredibly cool! I really like him; most of the scenes in the movie perfectly showcase his resilient and determined character, as well as his elegant and handsome appearance.]

[The only thing that bothered me about the movie was the final few scenes. Because of all the explosions and chases, Diarmuid's handsome face was obscured by dust and blood! God, that's practically a crime!]

Of course, not all media outlets and film critics could like this film; the male critics, in particular, were less forgiving.

Shinji's "old friend," Kouichi Ippei, wrote, "Diarmuid's performance from beginning to end was like a fashion show!"

Another film critic, Sakumo Fukada, criticized. "Diarmuid didn't distinguish himself from a secret agent; he just played a cool version of himself from beginning to end."

The film critic's assessment was correct, and that was exactly the effect Shinji wanted.

This film critic's statement is indeed a bit low in emotional intelligence; Second Master prefer the more emotionally intelligent statements from other media outlets.

[Diarmuid delivered his best Acting Skills to date (he's only done this twice in his career), the role of Agent Ethan seemed tailor-made for him.]

As for the audience reviews that Shinji values even more, according to data from research institutions, the overall reviews for Mission Impossible: Impossible reached excellent, which is A or above.

Many box office forecasting agencies estimate that Mission Impossible: Impossible will gross no less than $150 million in North America and at least $500 million worldwide.

Don't underestimate this box office figure. Although it's far behind Shinji's Fate series, you have to understand that in today's film market, there are only a handful of films worldwide that reach the $500 million mark each year.

Seeing the initial success of the film's word-of-mouth, Shinji decisively mobilized all his online supporters to promote Mission Impossible: Impossible.

Anyway, Super Eight doesn't need as many people for promotion now, and its competitor Godzilla has been pushed off the shelves by itself.

Shinji decided to invest all his resources in Mission Impossible: Impossible, hoping that the film's rave reviews would drive its box office success.

Just then, those viewers who had seen "Super Eight" had their CDs full after a month-long hiatus and were worried about having nothing to watch.

This Mission Impossible: Impossible movie perfectly met their needs.

A huge number of movie fans seemed to have found an outlet, flocking to theaters to enjoy this spy action film, bringing huge box office results to Mission Impossible: Impossible.

Chapter 266 Idol Group (×) The Knights of the Round Table (√)

At his computer desk in the Type-Moon Company office, Shinji was browsing his email inbox, including one from the Type-Moon publishing department.

The email explicitly stated that Mission Impossible: Impossible earned $5.67 million in its Thursday preview screenings in North America.

This number isn't particularly high, and it's even lower than that of "Super Eight," which was released last month.

But Shinji Matou knew very well that Mission Impossible: Impossible was ultimately a non-sequel film.

Putting aside the difference between 2D and 3D movie tickets, the investment and marketing of the two films are not even in the same league.

The production cost of Mission Impossible: Impossible was only one-third that of Super Eight, and the publicity cost was less than half.

With lower investment, the pressure to recoup costs is naturally lower as well.

More importantly, since its official wide release on Friday, Mission: Mission Impossible's occupancy rate has been more than double that of other films released at the same time.

Based on such a favorable situation, Shinji estimates that it will only take a week for Mission: Mission Impossible's box office revenue to cover the project's investment costs, and even make a profit.

The revenue generated from Mission Impossible: Impossible was pure profit for Type-Moon.

"This excellent box office performance is a good thing."

Shinji chuckled, resting his head on his hand. "This gives me even more confidence in the negotiations."

"Shinji Matou, that's where you're wrong."

An aged voice entered Shinji's ears; Johnny Kitagawa pushed open the door and walked in.

"Oh my, oh my! It's such Kitagawa grace our humble company with his presence!"

As Shinji revealed a sly smile, he quickly got up and led the old man to sit down on the sofa.

"You're still as cunning as ever!" Johnny Kitagawa said irritably. "I came here with sincerity, but you still want to use your film's performance to outdo me."

"How could you say that, sir? I have great respect for you."

Listening to Shinji's insincere flattery, Johnny Kitagawa gave a cold snort of annoyance.

Shinji maintained his smile, "I'm young and lack confidence. Without a track record of film achievements, what merit do I have to sit across from you?"

Johnny Kitagawa knew that Shinji was subtly provoking him, but he also admitted that what Shinji said was true.

This negotiation was different from previous ones; Johnny Kitagawa truly came with a certain degree of sincerity.

But the reason he would genuinely come to negotiate with Shinji was ultimately because of the outstanding box office performance of the two films, "Super Eight" and "Mission Impossible: Impossible".

"Congratulations, Mr. Matou."

Johnny Kitagawa took a sip of the tea Shinji handed him and said, "After the success of Mission Impossible: Impossible, your Type-Moon Company can be considered to have secured a place among Japan Film Company."

"No, we're still far behind the established Big Four," Shinji replied. "In terms of output, we're still far behind them."

That's true, but the problem is that if every Type-Moon film had the box office success of Mission: Mission Impossible and Super Eight, and they had the output of Shochiku or Toei, then the Japan film market would truly be dominated by Type-Moon.

Johnny Kitagawa was clearly in a good mood. He didn't show any resistance to Shinji's Versailles literature, but instead congratulated him, saying, "Your new spy film is also good. You're the box office champion again this week."

Shinji Matou sat down opposite Johnny Kitagawa and, without any modesty, said directly, "First of all, this is Diarmuid's film, not mine."

"Secondly, being the top-grossing film of the week is no longer a surprise to me. I expect Mission Impossible: Impossible to reach half the box office of Super Eight."

Johnny Kitagawa laughed heartily, "Shinji Matou, you're very confident."

Shinji Matou shrugged. "I'm the film's producer and the company owner. If I don't even have that much confidence, then the movie is truly doomed."

"Old man, when you were promoting idol groups, you didn't have this kind of confidence either, did you?"

"That makes sense."

Johnny Kitagawa put down his teacup, looked up at Shinji Matou: "Alright, you know why I came here. So, what's your answer?"

Hearing the old man say this, Shinji sighed softly, "I'm not opposed to collaborating with Johnny & Associates's to form an idol group. It's just..."

"Only?"

"Mission Impossible: Diarmuid definitely not suitable for the role. His future film and appearance fees will be extremely high. Continuing to cultivate him as a male idol is not cost-effective."

Johnny Kitagawa nodded slowly, somewhat agreeing with Shinji's assessment.

It can be said that the high box office of "Mission Impossible: Impossible" brought drastically different results to the Lead Actor compared to the high box office of "Super Eight".

The former was almost entirely carried by Diarmuid, while the latter's main Lead Actor were indeed important, but not that important.

For those who are not Ultraman fans, it seems that even if Hiroshi Nagano and others do not appear, it will not have much impact on Super Eight.

With the outstanding box office performance of "Mission Impossible: Impossible, "Diarmuid's market value was bound to rise.

For Type-Moon Company, it's a good thing for their actors to increase their value, but it's not so suitable for male idols.

Because of his high appearance fee, Diarmuid a liability for many shows and doesn't coordinate well with other members of his team.

An idol group is, after all, a group. Even if there's a difference between the center and the servants within the group, it's still a difference in status between people.

If you put Diarmuid in a rookie group, it's like having a paramecium dance for a Tyrannosaurus Rex—who the hell would even notice!

Johnny Kitagawa asked curiously, "I know you're already preparing for Mission Impossible 2. Can you reveal Diarmuid's salary?"

Then, the old man chuckled awkwardly and said, "If it's inconvenient..."

Shinji was very straightforward. "There's nothing inconvenient about it. I'm prepared to offer him a $5 million salary, plus a certain percentage of profits. Starting with the second film, Diarmuid will be a producer."

Johnny Kitagawa nodded. "His appeal is worth the price."

The old man didn't know that Shinji could actually use his status as Master to pressure Diarmuid and reduce his pay to the level of a complete rookie, but Second Master wouldn't do that.

Shinji Matou came to cultivate the entertainment market, not to disrupt it.

If Diarmuid's fees are really lowered, what will happen to the other actors and artists?

These people have families and children, unlike the Heroic Spirit who are indifferent to money.

In fact, even for Shinji's own projects, the salaries he paid to the Heroic Spirit Actor were within the "reasonable" range in the industry.

Shinji has always opposed actors' exorbitant demands, but he is never stingy with actors' normal compensation.

In recent years, Artoria's value has been rising steadily. Apart from the annual series "A Bite of Fuyuki City," her earnings from other movies, TV dramas, and appearances are at the level of top-tier female stars.

Although her status is slightly lower than other top-tier celebrities, and she is unable to leave Fuyuki City.

But those production teams and crews aren't stupid; they dared to use Artoria because she has the corresponding market appeal.

Johnny Kitagawa then added, "Diarmuid's situation is rather special; I think we can single him out."

"Oh?"

Shinji asked, "Grandpa, what are your plans?"

"Diarmuid's popularity is too unique. I think we can manage him as a separate idol group," Johnny Kitagawa suggested. "I know you have plans for Diarmuid. We at Johnny & Associates's will not interfere; we will only send professional management personnel to assist."

At this point, Johnny Kitagawa smiled and said, "I believe that even if the operations staff of Type-Moon are very capable, they will still lack experience, right?"

"..."

Shinji tapped his hand lightly on the sofa.

Lack of experience is indeed the biggest weakness of Type-Moon, a new company, and it's certainly a good thing that the operations staff from Johnny & Associates's are willing to fill this gap.