Chapter 479: Disappointment and Defeat

Chapter 479: Chapter 479: Disappointment and Defeat

Following the crowd, the two walked together into the spacious and grand main screening hall.

Inside the deep blue-toned screening hall, over a thousand seats were almost fully occupied.

The seats in the dead center of the front row were all reserved for the senior executives of Universal Pictures and the film’s creative team.

Hugh Jackman, female lead Kate Beckinsale, a host of supporting actors, as well as the production and screenwriting teams, were all seated.

Irene and Adelaide chose seats in the middle-to-back section, not crowding into the front-row creative team area.

The lights had not yet completely gone out, and fragments of conversation rose and fell all around.

Many critics held notebooks, quietly exchanging their expectations and concerns about the movie, while industry insiders whispered about the film’s twists and turns during its development history.

"Back then, Universal forcefully snatched this project away from Irene. At the time, how many people were optimistic about this gothic monster theme."

"But subsequent troubles came one after another; A-list actors took turns turning down the role, the script was revised over and over again, and the VFX team failed to meet expectations. Who knows if the final product can be saved."

The fragmented discussions drifted into her ears intermittently.

Irene sat quietly, leaning her body against the back of the seat.

Before long, the overhead lights in the hall slowly dimmed, and the entire venue gradually fell silent.

Universal Pictures’s iconic spinning globe logo slowly emerged on the huge silver screen, and the melodious studio soundtrack sounded, officially announcing the start of the film.

The screen image shifted, and the gloomy ancient castle of the Eastern European Carpathian Mountains appeared in view.

Dark clouds filled the sky, shrouding the mountains, and the spires of the gothic architecture pierced the grey sky.

Irene’s gaze fell upon the big screen, and she began to recall the images of the original Van Helsing from her past life in her mind, watching the finished film currently playing while silently making comparisons in her heart.

It was clearly perceptible that due to countless compromises, revisions, and personnel changes during the development process, this work "snatched" away by Universal had drifted quite a bit from the original version.

The finished film currently in Universal’s hands probably wanted to highlight their financial might, making the scenes grander, but the constantly crammed-in monster scenes made the three storyline threads of the werewolf, Dracula, and Frankenstein’s monster even more chaotic.

In order to cram all the characters into a runtime of just over two hours, the screenwriters heavily cut down on character inner portrayals, and many key plot twists were handled even more hastily than in her previous life.

Character motivations became vague.

One second they were making a choice, and the next second their behavioral logic jumped.

The characters’ emotional shifts lacked sufficient plot foreshadowing.

Hugh Jackman’s performance still maintained its standard; he tried his best to interpret Van Helsing’s fortitude and struggle, but the flaws of the script itself were right there.

No matter how good the actor’s acting skills were, it was very difficult to fill the loopholes in the story structure.

She finally understood why there were rumors of Hugh Jackman harboring bitter complaints about the script.

The finished product in hand was already unrecognizable compared to the script he saw when he first signed on.

The surrounding audience initially held expectations and quietly watched the screen.

But as the plot progressed, a subtle commotion slowly spread through the screening hall.

"Wait, why did he suddenly do that? There was completely no foreshadowing beforehand."

"How did this storyline pop up again? Are not there too many characters?"

"The action shots made me a bit dizzy; the editing jumps way too fast."

Adelaide sat by Irene’s side, keeping peripheral vision on Irene’s expression.

He saw that Irene’s eyes were focused, her gaze locked firmly onto the screen, and her expression calm, making it impossible to tell whether she was satisfied or disappointed.

This serious and engaged appearance made a trace of doubt involuntarily rise in Adelaide’s heart.

Could it be that he was influenced by industry rumors beforehand and was wearing colored glasses to view this work?

Could it be that through all kinds of hardships, Universal had by a stroke of luck polished out an unexpectedly brilliant blockbuster?

But just as this thought arose, the whispered complaints coming from the seats behind him instantly pulled him back to reality.

Several film critics in the back row lowered their voices, making no secret of their disappointment as they continuously discussed the loopholes in the plot’s logic.

Most of Adelaide’s suspended heart dropped back down.

A full two-plus hours slowly elapsed, the grand final battle came to a close, and the scrolling end credits appeared on the screen.

According to premiere custom, after the film concluded, applause like a surging tide ought to have sounded.

But at this moment, inside the huge screening hall, there were only sparse, scattered claps of applause, scattered across various corners, sounding exceptionally awkward.

Most of the audience sat in their original seats, their faces written with fatigue and confusion, without the slightest excitement of being moved by the story.

Before the creative team could walk to the front of the stage for live communication, many audience members had already stood up directly, packed their belongings, and walked silently toward the exit of the screening hall.

Some walked in a hurry, unwilling to stay even a second longer.

In the front row seats, the complexions of Universal’s executives could be described as ugly.

One by one, their faces were ashen, lips tightly pursed, struggling to maintain decency, yet deep in their eyes, thick disappointment and defeat could not be concealed.

For a project they poured huge amounts of capital into and spent two years tossing about, receiving such cold feedback right at the premiere site made everyone in their hearts clear that things were terribly wrong.

Irene did not stay to participate in the subsequent segment of the creators taking the stage, nor did she plan to stay and deal with a bunch of media wanting to probe her views.

Following the crowd of people getting up to leave, she quietly stood up and walked outward along the aisle side by side with Adelaide.

Before completely walking out of the screening hall, she heard the staff members at the door responsible for collecting initial feedback from the audience holding paper and pens, stopping several ordinary departing guests to softly ask about their viewing impressions and invite them to give simple evaluations and grade ratings.

"The plot is too chaotic, too many characters are piled up, and many places do not make sense. I can only give it a B-." A man shook his head and said bluntly.

Another woman nearby chimed in: "Some parts of the special effects look very cheap, and the story is laid out too grandly without being explained clearly, but for Hugh Jackman, a B."

Several interviewed audience members in succession gave roughly similar evaluations.

Few people gave high scores in the A category, at most giving a B, and there was no lack of voices giving a C directly.

This first-hand feedback from the scene fell word for word into the ears of Universal’s accompanying staff, and the expressions on their faces grew increasingly heavy.

The initial word-of-mouth at the premiere almost foreshadowed what kind of public opinion storm this movie would face after its theatrical release.

Stepping out of the screening hall, Hollywood’s evening breeze rushed over, washing away the enclosed and stuffy air inside the screening hall.

Adelaide turned her head to look at Irene: "It seems Universal’s big gamble is most likely going to lose miserably. Spending so much manpower and financial resources, tossing about for two years, and in the end getting this kind of result."

Irene gently let out a breath, turning back to look at the brightly lit building of the Egyptian Theatre.

The camera flashes on the red carpet were still flickering, but defeat could already be glimpsed inside.

"Project development is never something that can be successfully piled up relying solely on capital and connections." Irene’s tone was calm.

"Back then they only saw the potential contained in this theme, while ignoring the reverence needed by creation itself. The summer box office competition is naturally cruel; next, we will see how Universal cleans up this mess."

Adelaide nodded slightly: "The pit Universal stepped into this time is enough for the entire industry to take good warning. Speaking back to the X-Men Origins: Wolverine project we talked about earlier, tomorrow we can make an appointment to sit down and chat carefully about the script direction. There are quite a few difficult points, and I really need your thoughts."

"No problem." Irene nodded in agreement.

The evening breeze from the street brushed past her hair, and the commotion of the theatre behind her was gradually left behind.

Someone else’s grand premiere had drawn to a close, while Irene’s numerous projects were still waiting to be pushed forward.