Amber stood on the small boat, wearing a form-fitting outfit adorned with green metallic scales resembling fish scales.
Surrounding her, lights simulated flashes of lightning, while torrential "rain" poured from sprinklers, cascading around the boat suspended in mid-air.
The boat rocked, creating the sensation of sailing on the sea.
This scene being filmed was when Aquaman and the Sea Queen ventured to the Trench Clan to seek the Trident, encountering the Trench sea monsters. The weather was unusually harsh, after all—the Trench Clan dwelled in the Mariana Trench, their people degenerated into sea beasts.
"The sea monsters are coming."
Amber gripped the railing, looking at the surrounding blue screens, letting out a shrill cry.
Jason Momoa, trident in hand, burst out from the cabin, beginning to lash out at thin air.
In post-production, computers would create the scene of the boat surrounded by countless sea monsters.
....
While Martin leisurely filmed Aquaman.
Zack Snyder was tensely producing Justice League.
Unlike Martin's complete hands-off approach, during filming, Warner CEO Alan Horn specially dispatched DC Entertainment Chief Creative Officer Geoff Johns and Warner Bros. executive vice president Jon Berg to supervise, requiring at least one of them to be present at the studio every day.
Zack Snyder knew why the two were at the studio—clearly, they didn't trust him.
He self-deprecatingly told his assistant: "It's nothing; I can think of them as nannies."
He pretended to be relaxed: "I don't mind too much, because their ideas—injecting some humor and such—aren't entirely unreasonable, haha."
...
Time came to July 7, 2017.
It premiered.
Rupert, who had snagged premiere tickets, was so excited he barely slept that night. The next day, right after school, he and his two classmates who also got tickets headed to the Grand Theatre in Los Angeles.
It was rated PG-13, so the 14-year-old Rupert and his friends could watch it unaccompanied.
"This movie's gotta be great—I've been looking forward to it forever."
"Of course—it's a Martin Meyers production."
"Yeah, Martin produces, must be a masterpiece."
Anya walked the red carpet with Martin, a bit excited.
Though no longer a Hollywood newbie, Anya still rarely received this much camera attention. She was slightly nervous, her body pressing against Martin's arm, a little tense.
Martin naturally waved to the reporters while saying to Anya: "Honey, don't be nervous. Just pretend those guys are glowing pumpkins."
Anya smiled, trying to calm herself.
They reached the interview area.
The first question wasn't about the movie but a recently hot political issue.
"Martin, right now U.S. mainstream TV is hyping a pretext: Russia influenced this U.S. presidential election outcome. What's your take on that?"
Martin smiled: "Making conclusions without investigation and evidence is irresponsible. We can't create news based on 'suspicions.' If there's proof Russia interfered in the U.S. election, I'll condemn it, but without seeing evidence, I have no comment."
The second question was about It.
"Mr. Meyers, why did It get a PG-13 rating? Did you influence that?"
Martin glanced at the questioning reporter: "In terms of influence in Hollywood, I'm far from the six major studios. Have those film companies ever been questioned like this?"
Then he smirked: "When you think of horror films, what comes to mind? Grotesque, bizarrely dressed psychopathic killers, screaming and chasing desperately fleeing innocent victims, gutting them in bloody scenes? Or those explicit erotic elements? Like A Nightmare on Elm Street, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Wrong Turn, and so on?"
"Alright, alright, that's all true. From 1919's German film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari creating the first classic, the greatest hallmark of the long history of horror films has been these vulgar, tragic, bloody, shocking elements."
"We insiders are both fond of and curious about these horrific erotic elements—this embodies the unique charm of horror films. However, horror films aren't just that, like my The Sixth Sense, Hide and Seek, The Others."
"French philosopher Jean Baudrillard once said that the greatest hallmark of horror films is the ability to 'create horror material from everyday life, emphasizing a dynamic historical view close to real-world living, turning everyone's reality into a horror realm (like bus ads).' In other words, the elements needed for horror films aren't just about attracting viewers with stimulating visuals, but creating an environment close to the viewers' lives—no need for violence, gore, explicit sex, etc. As long as the audience's emotions are immersed, scaring everyone isn't that hard."
"And my It is just like that."
Another reporter asked: "Martin, what are your box office expectations for It?"
Martin smiled confidently, pinching his thumb, index, and middle fingers together in a "seven" gesture: "I think this film's global box office won't be less than 700 million."
In the original timeline, It grossed 740 million worldwide, breaking the horror film box office record, ranking second on the R-rated box office list (behind Deadpool).
But in this timeline, the R-rated box office champion had long been claimed by Martin's version of Joker, with a global gross of 1.236 billion USD.
Deadpool's 783 million wasn't enough.
The R-rated box office runner-up wasn't Deadpool either, but Martin's Suicide Squad, with a global gross of 803 million USD.
In this timeline, It wasn't R-rated but PG-13, expanding the audience base, so the box office would be much higher than the original timeline.
Martin saying 700 million was a conservative estimate—his real thought was that his It should at least hit 1 billion USD!
Ending the interview, Martin led Anna to the banquet hall for more socializing.
Then, the movie began.