Across America, Starting with the Boxing Champion

Chapter 457 Captain America is released (10/10)

 Only one day later, another good news came from China.

In the men's 400-meter freestyle event, Link defeated the American team's Hansen, the South African team's Van der Berg, the Australian team Sprengel and other swimming stars. With an astonishing time of 3 minutes, 28 seconds and 16 seconds, Link once again refreshed the world of this event. record.

On the fifth day of the competition, Link won five gold medals in a row and set world records in four events. The remaining five events all entered the finals.

 After the news came back, the American media rushed to report on it. They were all amazed by Link's achievements in the World Swimming Championships, praising him as the "Sea King", "Torpedo" and "Nuclear Submarine".

This also caused many media outlets to criticize Link the day before, saying that he bullied Taylor and was a big scumbag. Just the next day, these media outlets turned to praise him and praised him as the best and most powerful man in the world. .

This rapid change is not the conscience discovery of media practitioners, nor is it the result of the public relations of Paramount Music and Link, but the public likes to watch this kind of news, and reporting this kind of news can gain a greater sense of identity.

 Because now Link is competing outside on behalf of Team USA, and the people are happy for his achievements.

If the mainstream media ignores the wishes of the people and still scolds him in the back, then it is a wrong stance.

 Not only ordinary people will not accept it, but capital will not accept it either.

Those congressmen who claim to represent the people cannot accept it. They will use their personal influence to criticize the media, speak for Link, build a wave of goodwill in front of the people, and win some votes.

Under this situation, the media had no choice but to abandon their original critical articles, quickly change their stance, and start speaking good words for Link to please the readership.

“Haha, great, great, Link is such an amazing guy, I’ve said before that having him play Captain America will bring us a lot of surprises.

 Look, the newspapers are full of praise for Link, saying he is Superman, Captain America of the swimming team, and a nuclear-powered submarine.

 Haha, they are all Qualink’s articles. How much publicity expenses will this save for our company?

Dear Link is really amazing, and it was the best decision to cooperate with him. "

  Frank Abrams, President of Global Distribution and Marketing at Paramount Pictures Headquarters, held a stack of newspapers and talked non-stop to several subordinates at his desk. The smile on his face never stopped.

ˆ “.”

 The management of the distribution department looked at each other and curled their lips secretly.

Just a few days ago, in this office, Abrams scolded Link with a black face, saying he was a **** and a big trap. He also scolded the production company and Marvel Studios for not being able to choose actors for bringing such a big trouble to Link. Being Captain America is asking for trouble.

Also scolded Link for causing Paramount Pictures to go bankrupt.

Just two or three days later, President Abrams quickly changed his stance and praised Link. He even shamelessly said that it was his suggestion to choose Link to play Captain America. In the end, he even used the word 'dear'. It's so shameless to dare to use it.

“Tom, I will allocate another five million to your department to continue to hype up the news about Link’s victory at the World Championships. The more exciting it is, the better.

The Captain America of this swimming team is very good and can be hyped up. Our goal is to make Link the real Captain America.

"Captain America" ​​is about to be released. Link is competing outside and cannot attend the premiere ceremony and other promotions. We also need to explain the situation to the fans and ask them to come to the theater to support Link's movie. This is also to support Link to continue to win gold medals. .

 Our box office performance will not disappoint Link, and Link's performance in the game will not disappoint us either. "

CEO Abrams said enthusiastically.

 “Okay, Mr. President.”

 Tom, the director of the publicity department, nodded and followed.

Ablands continued to delegate tasks to several other supervisors.

Now the mainstream media is helping to promote Link, which is also equivalent to helping them promote the movie. At this time, "Captain America" ​​is equivalent to standing at the forefront of public opinion. If they don't take the opportunity to push the boat and set sail, it would be stupid. .

 For veterans like them, they would never make such a stupid mistake.

· Driven by the promotion and distribution department of Paramount Pictures, more and more media are joining the ranks of promoting Link and "Captain America".

This kind of promotion is not only carried out in the United States, but also in all parts of the world, including the United Kingdom, France, Japan, Germany and other countries and regions where "Captain America" ​​is being released simultaneously.

 This also caused confusion among many foreign people who did not know that Link was a swimmer.

World boxing champion, music superstar, movie star, billionaire, **** Link is also a good swimmer?

Also won five gold medals at the World Championships?

Really or falsely?

  —

After a period of intensive publicity, "Captain America" ​​was released in 4,115 theaters in North America on July 22, the seventh day of the World Championships, with a weekend box office of US$70.82 million and a single theater box office of nearly US$18,000. This week's box office rankings champion.

Although the premiere score of 70.82 million US dollars is not as good as the US$1.69 of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" released on July 15, it is also not as good as "Batman: The Dark Knight", "Transformers 2", "Caribbean" Pirates 2, Spider-Man 3, The Twilight Saga and other blockbusters.

  But it had better debut box office performance than several other films of the same type this year.

Before "Captain America", "Thor", released in June, had an opening box office of US$65.7 million, "Green Lantern" had a box office of US$53.2 million, and "X-Men: First Class" had an opening weekend box office of US$55.1 million.

The cost of "Captain America" ​​is 140 million US dollars, including the 3D version. Compared with the US$150 million cost of "Thor", the US$160 million cost of "X-Men", and the US$200 million cost of "Green Lantern", the cost of Captain America is also lower. Some.

Judging from these data, Captain America is a success at the box office.

 It also has a relatively good reputation in terms of word-of-mouth.

 34 American media gave the film an overall score of 71, including 9 media including "Complete Movies", "Box Office Magazine" and "Chicago Reader", which gave the film a score of 80 or above.

 12 media including "Hollywood Report", "Time" and "Washington Post" gave it a rating of 70 or above.

 Relatively harsh media such as "Rolling Stone", "Variety", "Wall Street Journal" and "Village Voice" all gave it a score of 40 or above.

 The freshness rating on Rotten Tomatoes is 75%, with 84 people supporting it and 28 people opposing it; the audience score on Yahoo is B.

 The reputation is much better than the hit movie "Green Lantern", a little better than "Thor", and on par with "X-Men".

The media are also relatively positive when evaluating the leading actor Link.

"Chicago Tribune" commented that "Captain America" ​​is the most stylish super hero blockbuster this year. Link is undoubtedly the most perfect Captain America, and almost no one can surpass him in the future, because Link himself is the living Captain America.

 The Washington Post believes that "Captain America" ​​is undoubtedly a reliable movie.

Not only does it allow superheroes to save the world, but its box office success also saves some face for the increasingly sluggish superhero movies. Link is also a reliable Captain America.

In the current swimming competition of the World Championships in Dahai City, when the main players of the US team, including Phelps, Hansen, and Vanderkaij, failed one after another, Link single-handedly turned the tide and won six gold medals in six events. , refreshing four world records, stabilizing the number of gold medals of the American team in the first place in one fell swoop.

Based on this alone, Link, the Captain America, is blameless.

　　The review in "Village Voice" magazine was harsh, saying that it was unnecessary to watch a contrived and cliched film for more than two hours.

Although Link is the only highlight of the film, the director did not make perfect use of Link's artistic face and delicate and gentle performance style like director Woody Allen did in "Midnight in Paris".

It also did not show the bravery and strength of Link in "Fighter" and "Suicide Squad", and focused on family and brotherhood, making Link's performance always in a very exaggerated state.

 The charm of Link + Captain America＜Link himself, I hope the next one will do better.

  —

 "Come on, Link! Come on, Link!"

While "Captain America" ​​is being released in more than 20 countries around the world, the 14th World Swimming Championships are also in full swing.

 The World Aquatics Championships are the highest-level international swimming events hosted by the FINA General Assembly.

It has been held every two years since 1973. In March 2007, after defeating Doha, China successfully won the right to host the 14th World Swimming Championships in 2011. This was also the first time that China hosted the World Swimming Championships. .

 Including five major events: swimming, diving, synchronized swimming, water polo, and open water, and 68 small events.

 The main venue of the competition is at Oriental Sports Center in Dahai City.

 On the ninth day of the competition, the men's 1500-meter freestyle event was being held in the swimming pool.

 In the third track, it is Link who is wearing a blue sharkskin suit.

 Compared with the competitors in the eight tracks around him, his speed is obviously much faster.

 After the third turn, his speed became faster and faster, directly leaving behind the second Canadian player Colon by one-third of the track, and even more than other opponents.

 “This pervert!”

In the audience area, ‘Flying Fish’ Phelps clenched his fists and cursed with a distorted expression.

 “Don’t be jealous! Don’t be jealous, Link is not an ordinary person, he is Captain America.”

Teammate Ryan Lochte consoled him.

"How could I not be jealous? This pervert is a boxer. He works out his muscles in the training ground every day. How come he can swim so fast in the water? Also, he shoots movies every day, sings and picks up girls, and he hasn't practiced seriously a few times in a year. , why is it unfair to swim faster?”

Phelps said with a look of envy and jealousy.

Compared with Link crushing other opponents in the freestyle event, what made him even more unhappy was that Link participated in the medley competition for the first time and beat him to second place in the 400-meter individual medley track. He was third. .

 It turns out that Link is not good at this event. When he participated in the World Swimming Championships in 2009, he was not his opponent.

But in the past two years, Link has been able to beat him in this event, rising from seventh in the international rankings to second in the world, only 1.5 seconds slower than the first place. According to this growth rate, he will be in next year's Olympics. There is a great chance to win the championship in this project.

　　will also throw him further away.

 What makes Phelps even more jealous is that Link has only participated in swimming competitions in school sports meets in the past two years, and has not participated in other competitions at all. He usually only trains in the swimming pool at home and rarely goes to the swimming pool.

 This way you can swim faster than yourself.

He couldn't find any other adjective other than perverted.

“Ryan, Link said that boxing training can also improve swimming speed. Should we try it and add boxing training to our usual training?”

Phelps touched his chin and said in deep thought.

"this."

Ryan Lochte didn’t know how to answer.

From a sports science point of view, it feels a bit ridiculous. Boxing training is to increase the strength of the upper limbs and the coordination ability of the hands and feet, while swimming is more comprehensive in training and requires the cooperation of the muscles of the whole body.

The two sports exercise different muscle groups and focus on different things.

 The content of boxing training should have little effect on improving swimming speed.

But the person who said that boxing training can help improve swimming skills is the swimming great Link. His personal practice and his competition data seem to be very convincing.

“You’d better ask coach Bob Bowman about this, he should be able to give you better guidance.”

Lochte said.

Phelps nodded.

　　drop!

There was a buzzer from the swimming pool, and Link on the third track reached the finish line first.

"How long?" Phelps and other members of the American team stood up and looked at the controller's display.

 When they saw that it showed 14 minutes, 22 seconds and 17′, everyone cheered.

The original world record for this event was set by German athlete Biedermann in the 2008 Olympics. His record was 14 minutes and 37 seconds, which lasted for three years.

Link directly improved this record by 15 seconds this time.

 “Too perverted.”

 Phelps had nothing to say.

On the swimming pool track, Link sat on the shore. After waiting for more than ten seconds, the second Canadian player Corondo and the third Tunisian player Mailouli swam to the finish line. Their times were 14 minutes and 39 seconds respectively. 14 minutes and 41 seconds.

Both of them looked at Link speechlessly, muttering that it was the pervert again.

Ever since Link won six championships in a row, he has become the devil of this World Championships. Players in every discipline can't help but scream that disaster is about to happen whenever they encounter him.

Facing an opponent like Link, everyone has no idea how to deal with it.

“Hello, Mr. Baker, can I interview you?”

When Link left the swimming pool, a CCTV5 reporter came over with a microphone.

　　“Okay, beautiful reporter lady, if you have any questions, feel free to ask.”

Link said as he wiped the water stains on his face with a towel.

“Mr. Baker, congratulations on winning the 1500-meter freestyle event and setting a new world record. How are you feeling now?”

 The reporter asked.

“It’s great! I love playing here, I’m talking about Dahai City. This is my second time here this year. I feel like I’m at home. Yes, I’m in a good mood.”

Link put on a towel and smiled at the camera.

“Mr. Baker, what do you think of the strength of the opponents in this competition?”

 The reporter lady continued to ask.

"You're asking about Corondo and Mailuli? They are all good, but it's a pity that they met me. I'm a little better than them."

“Do you know China’s Sun Yang? What do you think of his strength?”

 The reporter asked.

“Sun Yang? He doesn’t seem to have participated in the 1,500-meter event.”

Link looked at the direction of the swimming lane. There was only one Chinese player, Zhang Lin, in seventh place, still some distance away from third.

"Yes, Sun Yang participated in the butterfly and breaststroke events. He defeated Phelps in yesterday's game and won the 200-meter butterfly championship."

 The reporter lady said.

"Yes, I watched yesterday's game. Sun Yang was able to defeat Phelps in this event. His strength is very good. I think he is one of the most dazzling stars in this world championship. If he is willing, I would like to show him Ask about butterfly stroke technique.”

Not far away, Sun Yang was about to come over to say hello to Link, but suddenly heard him say that he wanted to learn the butterfly stroke technique, and hurriedly left around the pillar.

Everyone knows that Link is a freak in freestyle events.

Performance in more technical events such as butterfly stroke, backstroke, and breaststroke is average, but he is also among the top ten in the world. If he loses his skills, he will have a strong opponent in the competition in the future.

 You cannot do such things as capitalizing on the enemy.

“Mr. Baker, thank you for accepting the interview, and I wish you to set more records in this World Championships.”

"thanks, I will."

Link waved his hand at the camera, put on his headphones and left the scene.

 “Link! Link!”

When Link left the stage, there were many fans cheering for him in the audience, including Lilith Zhao and Yang Dami.

Link waved, took the initiative to sign autographs for the fans in the front row, and took photos with several athlete fans who gathered around him.

“Sister Mi, the boss is so awesome. He is a world boxing champion, a top singer, a billionaire, and a seven-time world championship swimming champion. Is he a superman?”

In the audience, Lilith Zhao looked at Link in the audience with wide eyes, her small round face full of admiration and admiration.

“That’s right, it doesn’t matter who’s the boss.”

Yang Dami smiled proudly, patted Lilith Zhao on the shoulder, and called her to greet her boss after get off work.

  —

  On July 31, the 14th World Swimming Championships concluded successfully at the Oriental Sports Center in Dahai City.

Link signed up to compete in ten events, and ended up with 7 gold medals, 2 silver medals and 1 bronze medal, becoming the person who won the most gold medals and medals in this world championship.

 Gold medal events include 50m, 100m, 200m, 400m, 1500m freestyle events, men’s 4×100m freestyle relay and men’s 4×200m freestyle relay.

 The two silver medals came from the 400m individual medley and the men's 4x100m medley relay.

 The bronze medal came from the 200m individual medley event.

At the same time, Link and the U.S. swimming team also broke world records in six events, and Link personally received Olympic tickets for ten events.

“Link, how about I train boxing with you too?”

On the plane back to the United States, Phelps approached Link and asked.

“No problem, I train at Muscle Beach Club in Los Angeles. If you are interested in boxing, come see me anytime.”

Link put on a pair of headphones and flipped through American newspapers and said.

“I’m not interested in boxing. What I’m interested in is your training methods. How do you train and why do you swim faster and faster?”

Phelps frowned and looked at him and asked.

Link smiled softly, folded the Los Angeles Times in his hand, and said, "Because I train harder, I train more than fifty hours a week, and my physical fitness has been greatly improved."

 “More than fifty hours a week?”

Phelps thought for a moment and shook his head. No one can do this. Practicing for so long every day is too much for the body, and all the practice is in vain.

“Link, do you want to learn breaststroke, butterfly stroke and backstroke? I can teach you.”

“Oh, why are you willing to teach me now?”

In the past, he was planning to go to Boston to learn these three techniques from Phelps, but Phelps always said he had no time and only sent him some video materials without teaching him any core techniques.

“Don’t ask so many questions. I’m currently training at the swimming pool. Remember to come find me when you have time. Let’s train together.”

Phelps said.

 “OK!”

Link nodded in agreement and continued to read the newspaper in his hand, mainly movie news.

"Captain America" ​​has been in theaters for seven days. The North American box office has reached a total of 118 million U.S. dollars, and the overseas box office has reached 102 million U.S. dollars. The total box office in the first week has paid back, which looks very good, much better than the results of similar movies this year.

 There is also a movie starring Link in the top ten box office rankings. "Midnight in Paris" was released on June 10 and ranked in the top 13 at the box office for seven consecutive weeks.

Affected by "Captain America" ​​this week, the box office increased slightly.

 Ranked tenth with US$1.89 million, the cumulative box office in North America reached US$60.69 million, the overseas box office is currently about US$11,400, and the global box office is expected to be around 180 million US dollars.

 The delayed release of "Bridesmaids" ranked 14th on the weekly box office list with US$1.28 million.

 The cumulative box office in North America is 137 million U.S. dollars, and the overseas box office is 208 million U.S. dollars. After nearly three months of screening, the box office potential has been exhausted. The global box office is expected to be about 350 million U.S. dollars.

Based on the global box office of 350 million, Palm Beach Pictures, as one of the producers, has an income of about 75 million, and Lionsgate Pictures has a distribution income of about 21 million. Counting the box office compensation from Warner Pictures, it is about 12 million.

The total revenue is about 108 million. After excluding the investment cost of 20 million and the publicity cost of about 7.5 million, the net income is almost 80 million US dollars.

 It took more than two years to earn 80 million. From an investment perspective, it is considered a high-return investment.

 For Link personally, it is unremarkable.

Link flipped through other newspapers, wanting to see how many news articles criticized him, but he couldn't find a single negative report.

 At most, film critics commented that his performance in "Captain America" ​​was slightly lower than that of "Midnight in Paris".

On the contrary, there are many praising news.

"USA Today" praised him for continuing his magical performance at the World Championships. He first won five gold medals in individual events, and then helped the US team win two gold medals in the relay race. He is a competent Captain America.

"Variety Magazine" commented that he performed well in "Captain America" ​​and was the best Captain America. He was one of the few attractions in this boring movie and contributed more than 45% to the movie's box office.

Link flipped through it and found that he did not see any negative news criticizing himself, nor any news criticizing Taylor.

 What happened to him and Taylor some time ago seemed to have never happened.

Link smiled softly and breathed a sigh of relief. This matter was finally over. The next time he went to see the child, he could look at it confidently without fear of Taylor's face.

Hum buzz!

Arrived in Los Angeles, the plane landed gently at Los Angeles International Airport.

 When leaving the airport, Link and the members of the swimming team were treated like VIPs.

Hundreds of media reporters and thousands of fans picked him up at the airport. The reporters rushed to interview Link. The fans excitedly shouted Link's name and asked him for an autograph and a photo.

Link was also completely satisfied, and waited in front of the airport for half an hour before bidding farewell to his teammates and getting in the car.

 “It’s finally quiet.”

Link closed the car door and sighed.

 “Dear, welcome home.”

Hearing the sound, he turned his head and looked behind him, and saw Ivaca holding a bouquet of flowers and handing them over with a smile.

She had her blond hair hanging down and was wearing a women's suit skirt she wore at work. On her cold and dignified cheeks, her red lips were slightly raised, with a gentle smile that made the whole carriage suddenly light up, and the air was filled with peaches. Similar fragrance.

Link smiled softly and couldn't help but reach out to hug her. He lowered his head and kissed her rose-colored lips. Ivaca responded to him tenderly.

Ms. Anna smiled and turned to look out the window at the sparkling sea.

 (End of this chapter)