After the movie ended, Ryan said a quick goodbye to the Warner representatives, grabbed Nicole, and made a swift exit. The reporters had all gone to the press conference; if they didn't take this opportunity to leave, were they going to wait for a full-on media ambush?
He had already notified Warner ahead of time that he wouldn't be attending the post-premiere press conference. He wasn't stupid enough to voluntarily become a target for media fire. Besides, with Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston—two massive stars—present, there was more than enough gossip fodder for the tabloids.
Indeed, all the reporters and paparazzi were packed into the theater's press hall. They had reached a tacit understanding: they absolutely had to bring up the old conflict in front of Ryan Jenkins and try to reignite the controversy. If they could provoke him into taking another shot at Tom Cruise, that would be perfect.
However, when the film's crew appeared, they realized—the kid had slipped away!
Everyone knew Ryan Jenkins was young but not easy to deal with. But such a strategic retreat was rare for him.
After the Thanksgiving holiday, Ryan shouldered his backpack and returned to campus, focusing most of his energy on the script for Léon: The Professional. As for the journalists who started targeting him again due to the release of The Bodyguard, he completely ignored them. His life had become a simple back-and-forth between home and school, and he barely went anywhere else. Those guys couldn't do anything about him.
> "The Bodyguard features a fresh concept, blending suspense, action, gunfights, entertainment, and romance into a compelling film that builds upon cliché but still draws the audience in!"
> "The film doesn't rely heavily on big, intense set pieces, but rather devotes much of its screen time to portraying the most beautiful human emotion—love. From suppression at the beginning to explosive release at the end, the emotional arc is handled brilliantly. It's an exceptionally well-done romance."
> "Rather than the film's somewhat formulaic plot, attention should be paid to the soundtrack and the songs featured throughout. Without question, Whitney Houston's rendition of I Will Always Love You at the film's end will become a classic!"
> "Kevin Costner brings to life a stoic yet passionate, tough yet warm-hearted bodyguard. Meanwhile, Whitney Houston, in her big-screen debut, delivers a bold and free-spirited performance, portraying a stubborn, worldly, proud yet kind-hearted female pop star with a longing for love."
With the new film released, reviews of all kinds poured in. Amidst the mixed opinions, the movie finished its first week.
Indeed, just as many reviews said, the film was filled with clichés—yet it was moving in its familiarity. Whether it was Kevin Costner or Whitney Houston, both were undeniably megastars with immense appeal.
Moreover, audiences across the U.S. were already deeply curious about the film. Even if they had caught snippets of the story from news footage, it didn't stop them from eagerly buying tickets to see firsthand what kind of miracle Ryan Jenkins had created in just over three hours.
Facts proved that hype, controversy, and promotion—along with Ryan Jenkins' rising golden reputation—had an enormous impact on box office performance.
After four days, the film debuted at number one on the North American box office chart, earning an impressive $41.15 million. Though there was a bit of fluctuation in the second week, it still brought in $25.5 million. At that point, the film not only recouped its costs but had already begun to generate profit.
On another front, The Bodyguard's impact wasn't just limited to the box office. The film had released its soundtrack in advance, and the single I Will Always Love You not only debuted at number one on the Billboard chart in its first week, it also broke the weekly sales record for a single, selling over 630,000 copies.
Whether it was the box office, the single, or the full soundtrack album—Ryan and Jenkins Pictures had a stake in all of it.
Of course, where there's love, there's also hate. A critic from The Hollywood Reporter wrote:
> "This is a movie completely devoid of originality—filled with cliché plots and overacted performances. Aside from a few decent songs, it's utterly worthless. Whitney Houston should go back to singing rather than trying to start a movie career! Especially Ryan Jenkins—if all his scripts are like this, then the title of 'genius' is seriously exaggerated!"
Unfortunately for that critic, his opinion didn't reflect that of the film studios. Ryan's screenplays had consistently found success. If one or two hits were a fluke, what about three or four? Even the most slow-witted industry insiders now understood that Ryan Jenkins had an incredibly sharp instinct for what the general audience wanted.
So far, of the four screenplays he'd written, apart from the breakout The Sixth Sense, the others all repackaged tired old Hollywood tropes with new concepts—old wine in new bottles—and still sold extremely well in the market.
Undoubtedly, Ryan Jenkins' high script output was greatly aided by this clever tactic. Everyone knew he was taking shortcuts—but no one could deny that whether it was the wacky antics of Home Alone, the warmth of Sleepless in Seattle, or the melodramatic romance of The Bodyguard, they all had a fresh coat of creativity layered over their clichés.
And that layer of creativity? It might be cheap at times—but when it brings in profits, it becomes the most valuable thing.
Media interpretations of The Bodyguard continued. As for Tom Cruise, he was once again dragged into the public eye by reporters and paparazzi. The superstar simply went on vacation to a private island in the Caribbean once the movie premiered.
> "What deserves the most praise about this film is Ryan's bold creative choice to place a sincere, passionate romance between two people of different races and to portray it on screen. This innovation represents the progress of America!"
— Vanity Fair
Whether the original writers and director in Ryan's previous life had such intentions, he didn't know—but he himself definitely didn't. Maybe the term "headcanon" didn't exist yet, but the media and the public's interpretations of many films certainly gave life to that concept.
Whether America was making progress—why should he care?
Besides, such commentary was just lip service. Racial issues... well, that would never truly be solved. Even within the entertainment industry, the same bias persisted. Michael Jackson's experience didn't need retelling, and as for Whitney Houston—if not for her skin color, people would already be comparing her to Madonna Ciccone.
On another note, the tremendous success of The Bodyguard's soundtrack forced the entire entertainment industry to reassess Ryan's value. Everyone knew he could write songs—but that his songs could be this outstanding and sell this well took everyone by surprise.
> "Ryan Jenkins' musical talent and literacy are in no way inferior to his other abilities—possibly even more outstanding. Just think about He, which is still in the Billboard Top 10, and ____ which reached number one!"
This article came from Rolling Stone, which also interviewed others:
> "During the interview, Whitney Houston admitted that she took many suggestions from Ryan during her performance. She confessed that the ten songs Ryan wrote were like stars in the night sky to her—bright, dazzling, and precious!"
Although the eight original songs written by Ryan weren't as jaw-dropping as the two plagiarized ones, they were still excellent—two of them even made it onto the Billboard charts. As such, the soundtrack's sales could be easily imagined.
Just before Christmas, The Bodyguard crossed the $100 million mark at the North American box office, and the soundtrack had sold over 10 million copies. But Ryan knew that album sales were just the beginning. In his previous life, this soundtrack set the record for the best-selling album by a female artist.
Jenkins Pictures also welcomed its first income since its founding. After the first box office revenue split, nearly $10 million had been deposited into the company's account. While that might seem small compared to total box office numbers, the company had only invested one-quarter of the budget—$6 million—so they were already making a profit. And the film wasn't done screening yet—international box office and various derivative revenues were still to come.
Ryan and Nicole visited the company office in Burbank for the first time. It was an independent two-story building, no more than 300 square meters in total. The formal staff had expanded to nine people. The person in charge was no longer Scott Swift, but a professional performance supervisor and producer from Australia named Julis Stewart—a classic strong woman.
Kingsley and Scott had been waiting in the office early. The two chatted for a while, somewhat emotional—since when had filmmaking become such a lucrative industry? The investment they made just half a year ago was about to double, and with The Bodyguard opening overseas, it might even double again.
Even Scott now counted as an insider. They understood well—if movies were always this profitable, then arms dealers would stop pushing for military upgrades and just start making movies.
This situation existed only because of the boy who had just walked in. It was like he had been kissed by God—he could always create smash-hit works.
"Hi, Ryan. Nicole."
The four skipped the pleasantries and got straight to discussing company matters.
Ryan was an outsider in all of this. Unless it directly involved film, he rarely spoke up. Fortunately, Nicole understood his weaknesses and had taken time to study finance during her spare time. After all, it never hurt to be careful.
Ryan was still a minor, and under the law, he couldn't directly hold company shares. As his guardian, Nicole Kidman became the trustee, and naturally, she had to watch over this family business for him.
"Nicole, there's an offer for you!" Kingsley handed over a simple script.
"Which production?" Ryan was very curious. Under Nicole's glare, he took the script, flipped through a few pages, and his forehead veins bulged.
"Basic Instinct?"