"Flame grenade launchers, you can begin."
With Mavi's command, the Russian bodyguards standing a distance away fired four ultra-high temperature flame grenades, armed with improved thermite, one after another at the M1A1 main battle tank they'd seen earlier.
With a few startling "bangs," the flame grenades instantly flew out of the launchers and struck the front of the main battle tank!
The explosions fully ignited the thermite inside the grenades, and immediately, four scorching flames, like comets hitting Earth, appeared before everyone, emitting intensely blinding white light.
These four jets of heat were a whopping 700 degrees hotter than the 1650-degree flamethrower they'd seen before! They directly burned four large holes right through the tank's armor.
That sight was absolutely something none of them had ever witnessed. So many people's expressions looked like they'd been choked while eating, frozen and unable to react.
Mavi, wearing sunglasses, watched the magnificent "fireworks" in the distance. These effects were truly amazing. With the technology Hollywood film companies had at the time, they likely couldn't replicate this even if they saw the real thing. After all, one was real and one was fake; you could see many clues in the details.
After burning through the first main battle tank, Mavi's Russian subordinates immediately got busy preparing for the next shot. That involved driving in a super crane, lifting a tank with special steel cables, and then smashing it onto another one.
This shot represented the telekinetic ability of Jean Grey. The scene of a main battle tank weighing over 40 tons being dropped from a height of 10 meters was definitely something you would never see normally!
With an earth-shattering impact, rubble flew everywhere, and dust billowed. The originally intact concrete ground was smashed into a large crater with many cracks. The main battle tank that was hit was deeply embedded in the concrete, its front crushed inwards. Even its cannon was bent...
In the blink of an eye, three M1A1 tanks were destroyed – that's six million US dollars gone just like that. Stephen Chow, Uncle Wolf, and the others watching from a distance couldn't help but sigh in utter amazement.
They had seen rich people wasting money, but they had never seen anyone waste money quite like this. The key thing was that his spending was very skillful. The production of this promotional video wasn't just full of gimmicks and eye-catching; it was also likely to have a significant positive effect on Marvel Studios' stock price, Marvel Comics' stock price, and sales of Marvel merchandise once it was released.
So, the money he spent would essentially be earned back in minutes. It was like making money just by having fun – something ordinary people simply couldn't replicate.
"Mr. Chow, how are we supposed to learn this method of filming movie special effects? It's too simple and... well, brutal..." a female employee from Xinghui Company said to Stephen Chow, pointing out the core issue.
That Russian big shot was creating genuinely shocking, real-life scenes. The amount of money being spent was far, far more expensive than filming one of their movies!
After all, Xinghui Company filmed commercial movies purely for box office results. They didn't have the driving effect of stock prices and merchandise. And they certainly didn't have the foundation and development of a broad entertainment concept like the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
After hearing the female employee's words, Stephen Chow didn't know how to answer that question. He could only stand quietly to the side, simply going along with what the host was doing.
...
Three hours later, the promotional trailers for the X-Men series were officially finished filming. The five M1A1 main battle tanks finally completed their mission perfectly under intense bombing from the Russian Air Force.
And Mavi, the mastermind behind it all, then took Stephen Chow and his production team to the backstage editing room to observe the film's post-production rendering and refinement process.
"Mr. Stephen Chow, this is our Marvel Studios post-production effects team. They will introduce and answer your questions about movie post-production later." Having shown them all the impressive things, Mavi naturally wouldn't let his guests come all this way for nothing without sharing some knowledge.
After all, Stephen Chow could be considered the first director in China to really attempt movie special effects. To promote the development of the country's film industry and give audiences a better viewing experience, Mavi felt he should contribute, treating it as doing a good deed and accumulating merit.
The place Mavi brought everyone to not only had the most advanced filming equipment from Hollywood, but also lots of props and setups specifically for special effects production, as well as advanced terminal equipment.
Stephen Chow and his Xinghui Company employees were absolutely blown away and couldn't take it all in. These instruments were way, way more impressive than what the American film company they had worked with before had.
If Mavi's production team were to film Shaolin Soccer, the special effects scenes would probably have the immediate feel of a true blockbuster! It would definitely add a lot to the movie.
"Mr. Mavi, thank you so much for your hospitality!" Stephen Chow quickly thanked Mavi. Having dreamed of becoming an actor and director since he was a child, he could be said to have dedicated his entire life to the film industry.
The key thing about Stephen Chow was that he was kind and low-key, with almost no scandals, and he rarely got into arguments. Being introverted, he was actually quite easily misunderstood, leading to awkward situations.
For example, when Stephen Chow was a child, he would deliberately throw the meat his mother had cooked onto the dinner table while eating, acting very disobediently. Because of this, his mother would get angry and spank him. Decades later, when the two were on a talk show, his mother still mentioned this old story, saying he used to be very naughty.
However, Stephen Chow then explained that because their family was very poor when he was little, they only had meat to eat once in a long while. And his mother was always reluctant to eat it herself. That's why he deliberately threw the meat on the table, pretending he didn't like eating it...
After hearing Stephen Chow's explanation, his mother hugged him and cried out loud. This misunderstanding between mother and son had been hidden for decades, showing just how incredibly introverted Stephen Chow was.
"You're welcome, Mr. Stephen Chow. If anything comes up in the future, don't hesitate to find me, no matter how much trouble it is. After all, I still owe you a movie ticket!" Mavi replied with a smile. He then instructed the Marvel team to take good care of his guests from Hong Kong.
He himself, not wanting to disturb them further, returned to his Moscow mansion. He planned to "drink and chat happily" with Stephen Chow, Uncle Wolf, and the others during dinner.
...
Two weeks later, the X-Men series promotional trailers were freshly released, thanks to the production team working hard against the clock. News that Marvel Company was going to film X-Men 1, 2, and 3 had already been released back when the trailers were being filmed.
After two weeks of anticipation, both the Marvel official website and Ma V's streamer account were receiving enthusiastic messages from netizens and fans every single day. "Great Ma V! When will the X-Men filming be finished? Who are the actors playing Wolverine and Jean Grey? Can you reveal it if it's convenient?"
(End of this chapter)