The Oprah Winfrey Show

The executives all nodded repeatedly as they listened.

Only then did Robinov say:

"Based on this, I think Get Out has a good chance of surpassing $100 million at the North American box office."

"However, since it is a film aimed at Black audiences, its overseas box office may be much lower."

"Of course, generally speaking, North America is still our biggest source of revenue, so that is not a major problem."

"My suggestion is to increase promotional investment for Get Out in North America and negotiate with theaters to increase the number of screens and showtimes."

"Any objections?"

"Agreed!"

"Agreed."

"..."

Get Out was clearly on the verge of becoming a massive hit. At this point, these executives would not begrudge such a small investment. That investment would bring them returns of more than ten times over in the future.

Unless they were spies, no one would stop something like this from happening.

Warner Pictures and New Line Cinema each took action, launching promotions for Get Out.

This included having Will Smith call on people near major Black communities to watch the film, as well as appearing on television programs to promote it.

At Kevin's villa,

a small party was unexpectedly underway.

The guests included Kevin's core team, along with some nearby neighbors and their friends.

Tom Cruise and his wife were conspicuously among them.

As important CAA clients with no competition over resources, Tom Cruise was not stupid enough to show hostility toward him.

Seeing Kevin grilling meat, Cruise approached with a glass of wine.

"Congratulations, Kevin. Get Out is another success."

Cruise said with a broad smile.

"Cruise, Far and Away comes out in two weeks, right? I hope your new movie explodes at the box office!"

Though Kevin knew perfectly well that Tom Cruise's new movie would flop, he certainly could not say so outright.

Besides, that was a good thing for him.

While the conflict between the two films was not particularly intense, the release of Far and Away would inevitably take up some of the big screens that belonged to Get Out.

The direct result would be lower box office earnings.

But if Far and Away flopped, its impact on Get Out would be extremely limited.

After hearing Kevin's congratulations, Cruise raised his drink and toasted him before joining the party.

Nicole Kidman linked her arm through Cruise's and asked in confusion,

"Cruise, isn't he your competitor?"

"Far and Away comes out in two weeks. During this release window, Get Out is the film that poses the greatest threat to you."

Cruise wore a smile, but there was a trace of disdain for Nicole Kidman in his eyes.

His marriage to Nicole Kidman was absolutely not about so-called love.

He valued Nicole Kidman's looks, while Nicole Kidman coveted his fame and connections.

In his eyes, Nicole Kidman was certainly not a particularly intelligent woman.

Unfortunately, he did not know that after their future divorce, Nicole Kidman would ride his fame straight to the top and become Hollywood's leading actress.

"Darling, there should not be conflict between directors and actors. Do you understand?"

"Especially not with a director like Kevin, whose potential is limitless."

"Although he has only succeeded with two low-budget films so far, no director would stop there. Sooner or later, he will begin making big-budget productions."

"When that time comes, we will definitely have opportunities to work together."

Nicole Kidman nodded, a strange glint passing through her eyes.

Compared to being the woman of a superstar, being the woman of a great director seemed to offer more advantages.

Naturally, Kevin had no idea what Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise were thinking.

He was busy strengthening his bonds with his team.

Only a sufficiently stable team would allow him to produce films in his own style more effectively.

Although Saw and Get Out generally maintained the pacing and plot of the originals, Kevin had also planted a few foreshadowing elements within them.

He had already considered this while filming Saw.

That was the film universe.

The existence of a film universe could bring enormous benefits to the box office of films within that universe.

In his previous life, Marvel had earned hundreds of billions of dollars through its IP, and there was still more to come.

And those hundreds of billions were merely a single scoop from Marvel's gold mine.

But before building the Marvel universe, he wanted to get some practice by creating a horror film universe of his own.

Jigsaw carried out divine punishment in God's name. Kevin had added a few Cthulhu elements to it, preparing an identity for Jigsaw as a follower of an evil god.

Meanwhile, in Get Out, the people of the town who made deals with the devil had no idea that the price they paid for trading with the devil—an evil god—in this way was that, after a certain number of years,

their souls, their bodies, everything they had would belong to the god.

Just like the tiger's ghost servants from Kevin's memories of his previous life, helping the tiger hunt down more prey.

Of course, this was only a preliminary idea.

Building a film universe was not that simple.

Most crucially, Kevin wanted to use this film universe to acquire the capital needed to obtain Marvel.

That was his ultimate goal.

A day later,

the print media was flooded with topics related to Get Out.

"Get Out, another classic work by director Kevin. In this film, the director incorporates greater humanistic concern, guiding others to pay attention to the discrimination faced by Black people in the United States..."

"A must-see film for Black people: Get Out. Tense, thrilling, and anti-discrimination, fighting for the status of Black people. If you do not watch it, you are not Black!"

"..."

Moral coercion, emotional incitement—Warner Bros. wielded every tactic with practiced ease.

Inside the villa, lying in bed,

Kevin looked over the newspaper reports and rubbed his chin, considering how to further expand his influence.

Print media alone could only make people vaguely remember the name Kevin.

It was far from enough to build his personal brand image.

The phone suddenly rang. Jolie swiftly picked it up and handed it to him.

"Hello, Kevin. The Oprah Winfrey Show has invited you to appear on their program!"

Dean's cheerful voice came from the other end of the line.

The Oprah Winfrey Show was one of the most famous talk shows in the United States during the 1990s.

Its host, Oprah Winfrey, relied on her natural eloquence and gift for speaking to firmly hold the audience's attention.

Although Kevin had never met her, he had heard the name before.

In this era, she was an absolute celebrity.

Appearing on her talk show would undoubtedly greatly increase the audience for Get Out.