Chapter 413: Phenomenal Level

Chapter 413: Chapter 413: Phenomenal Level

The entire film industry sector online, industry media, and the circle of film critics were all flooded with this film.

Everyone was marveling at the transformation and power of this sequel, which once again refreshed the industry’s recognition of Irene’s handling capabilities.

Irene’s status as a commercial director became increasingly unshakeable.

The four-day holiday passed in a flash.

When Irene finished her break and returned to the Transformers film crew, she could clearly feel that the atmosphere on the entire set was completely different.

From top to bottom, whether it was lead actors like Chris Evans and Scarlett Johansson, or grassroots staff like photography, lighting, stagehands, and props, everyone looked at her with shining eyes, full of extreme admiration, submission, and awe.

As soon as Irene stepped onto the set, before she even walked to the monitor station, the crew members who were busy with their own work subconsciously stopped what they were doing.

Their gazes converged on her, and whispers of discussion and praise quietly spread across the set.

The first to take the initiative to come forward and congratulate her was Chris Evans.

He had just finished rehearsing a set of solo shots, casually took off his costume jacket, and walked quickly to Irene, with a sincere and hearty smile on his face.

"Congratulations, Irene!" Chris said, his tone full of heartfelt admiration, his eyes shining. "These past few days, the whole internet has been filled with the box office success of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest. Breaking records in a single day and leading the pack by a wide margin in the first week—it is truly shocking. Honestly, there are very few directors in the entire Hollywood industry who can shoot a commercial sequel to this level and completely break the sequel curse. You are truly amazing."

After working together on set for this period, Chris had long since completely recognized Irene’s directing ability and industry vision.

The regrets of past audition failures and the anxiety of facing special effects blockbusters had long since turned into the good fortune of learning from a top director.

He was genuinely happy for Irene’s achievements and felt increasingly fortunate that his decision to join Transformers and get on Irene’s line was the most correct one.

Following closely behind, Scarlett Johansson also walked over slowly, her eyes full of admiration and a smile.

"Congratulations on booking the annual box office champion." Scarlett said softly. "I specifically checked the online reviews. It is not just the explosive box office data; the audience word-of-mouth and casual viewer feedback are all unanimously positive. It lacks that perfunctory, assembly-line commercial feel, and possesses both quality and heat—this is the hardest thing to achieve. To be able to make a commercial blockbuster to this extent, your ability is almost on par with Steven Spielberg in Hollywood."

Having worked in Hollywood for many years, Scarlett knew very well how difficult it was to break out of the fierce summer season and break the industry curse that sequels are bound to fail.

Especially now, when Michael Bay’s assembly-line commercial films are rampant and most directors only know how to pile up special effects and explosions, Irene’s ability to handle both high box office and maintain the quality of the film is enough to make everyone in the industry admire her.

There are actually quite a few films where the sequel can continue the glory of the previous one, such as Spider-Man 2 and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban released this year, which also had good results, but they all had IP backing.

Only Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest truly managed to rely on an original IP to set up such a huge world, making many people unconsciously think of George Lucas back in the day, who also completely originally conceived, wrote, and produced Star Wars: A New Hope, and then soared to become the most beloved science fiction film in the hearts of Americans.

Clearly, Irene Coppola now also possessed this kind of ability.

Facing the continuous sincere congratulations from everyone, Irene always wore a gentle and calm smile, without the slightest arrogance or ostentation of reaching the pinnacle of the box office.

She nodded in response one by one, her tone gentle and humble, without any airs of a top director.

"Thank you all for the recognition. The box office results are the result of the joint efforts of the entire production team and everyone in the crew, not my own credit alone." Irene said with a smile. "I also hope that for our next film, Transformers, everyone will work together to create new achievements and bring everyone new surprises."

The explosive box office results of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest swept through the entire Transformers crew like a scorching heatwave, completely igniting everyone’s enthusiasm for work.

Originally, the crew already had an excellent atmosphere of high efficiency and low internal friction.

After witnessing with their own eyes the top IP that Irene personally handled refresh the film history record again and sweep the annual box office list, the enthusiasm of the entire staff was raised to a higher level.

Whether it was the lead actors, supporting roles, or behind-the-scenes staff such as photography, lighting, special effects, and stagehands, everyone was holding their breath, their spirits fully charged.

Everyone knew that filming with such a genius director who could win an Oscar and sweep the global box office could not only learn top industry experience but also have a high probability of participating in creating the next legend in film history.

Everyone’s attitude towards the lens, movement, scheduling, and polishing details became more rigorous and proactive, and the overall efficiency of the set visibly improved again.

Time passed quietly, a full month flashed by, and the fierce battle of the North American summer season gradually drew to a close.

However, the box office stamina of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest was still terrifying, with no signs of fatigue.

Relying on the excellent word-of-mouth fermentation and the sustained heat of audiences watching it twice or three times, the film’s North American domestic box office steadily accumulated to $356 million, and the global box office strongly broke the $600 million mark, surging all the way, leading the 2004 global box office list by a wide margin, completely locking in the annual box office champion throne in advance, and becoming the most indisputable phenomenal hit in Hollywood this year.

Just as Pirates of the Caribbean was continuing to soar and dominate the internet, Irene also successfully completed her private creative plan, successfully finalizing and writing the scripts for two Oscar-contending art films: The Pursuit of Happyness and Juno.

After countless late nights of desk work after work, detail changes, and dialogue polishing, two high-quality scripts with distinct styles and profound cores were completely landed, laying a solid foundation for her art award-winning route for the next two years.

Echo Pictures sent the finalized script of The Pursuit of Happyness to the prototype character, Chris Gardner, for his review and verification, to confirm the details of the life story adaptation.

After reading the full script, Chris Gardner was full of shock and approval.

Irene’s script respected and restored his real ups and downs life trajectory to the greatest extent, from unemployment, homelessness, and sleeping in public toilets with his son, to gritting his teeth, persisting, deep cultivation in the industry, turning the tables, and counterattacking life.

All key hardship nodes, growth choices, and father-son warmth were completely preserved.

At the same time, in order to adapt to the narrative rhythm of theatrical films and enhance the film’s watchability and audience empathy, the script, on the premise of not distorting the character core and not tampering with real experiences, moderately added some plot conflicts and dramatic tension, making the character arc fuller and the story rhythm smoother.