From Flower Vase to Film Emperor in Hollywood

"Honestly, this situation has spiraled out of control."

"Originally, logically speaking, this would be a good thing. DreamWorks wouldn't need to put in any effort, and the major media outlets would have already started promoting it spontaneously."

"But this is Hollywood. There's no such thing as a free lunch. It's already obvious that things are getting out of hand."

"In my opinion, there's more than one mastermind behind the scenes."

"Anyway, you're the center of attention now. When someone becomes famous, they attract a lot of attention, both good and bad. Even without any direct conflict, there are countless people who simply dislike you. When they see an opportunity, one or two will jump at the chance to join the fun."

"As a result, we are now under attack from all sides, caught in a situation of being praised to death…"

The situation was slightly tricky—

Edgar's concerns were not unfounded.

Back then, after Leonardo DiCaprio became an overnight sensation with "Titanic," the overwhelming and countless fans created quite a stir. His every move was placed under a microscope for scrutiny. Even a simple yawn could make reporters frantically press their flashbulbs.

Of course, there was a dense swarm of praise, adoration, and attention.

But at the same time, critical, nitpicking, and analytical gazes were everywhere.

One moment they'd say Leonardo was fickle and abandoned his lovers, the next they'd say Leonardo was hurting his fans, to the point where Leonardo had to hide in a remote rainforest, because it was one of the few places on Earth where people didn't recognize him.

It was against this backdrop that every one of Leonardo's works stood at the center of controversy. Regardless of the investment scale or market positioning, any work starring Leonardo was subject to criticism.

To wear the crown, one must bear the weight.

The matter was that simple.

Now, Ansen is also facing such a test. Although Ansen hasn't reached Leonardo's level—after all, "Spider-Man" didn't break the record of "Titanic," and this is only the second work to reach such heights—the overwhelming focus is still pushing Ansen into the limelight.

A kind of praise to death.

Especially considering the production lineup of "Catch Me If You Can," it's almost a guaranteed topic of discussion. Judging from the current momentum, if the movie doesn't easily sweep over $300 million at the box office, the major media outlets might eagerly jump to attack Ansen for flopping.

Moreover, there's another detail here.

This year's summer blockbuster season saw high expectations for "Minority Report," a collaboration between Steven Spielberg and Tom Cruise. Both the director and the male lead are at the top of Hollywood's pyramid, at the peak of their careers. People eagerly anticipated that this film would write a summer box office miracle.

Tom Cruise was also very active, even unprecedentedly attending the "Spider-Man" premiere to assist with promotion.

However, after the film's release, it encountered a double whammy of poor reviews and box office failure. This avant-garde science fiction film was generally considered profound and difficult to understand, with a wide audience complaining that they "didn't understand it," leading to a complete cold reception in theaters.

In fact, the film's box office performance was still not bad, with $132 million in North America and $350 million worldwide; but the film's production cost was as high as $100 million, coupled with extravagant spending on publicity and distribution, which led to the production company, 20th Century Fox, suffering a heavy loss.

What's worse, the strong alliance of Tom Cruise and Steven Spielberg failed to create an effect greater than the sum of its parts. Amidst sky-high expectations, such results were far from satisfactory.

Rumor has it that Tom Cruise was furious.

"Catch Me If You Can" is being released after the unexpected failure of "Minority Report," and is widely regarded as Steven Spielberg's counterattack to wash away his shame.

According to authoritative reports from "Variety," Ansen beat Leonardo to win the acting opportunity in "Catch Me If You Can," breaking Steven's recent habit of insisting on working with big-name actors, which has also kept the spotlight on "Catch Me If You Can" rising.

If the box office fails, it remains to be seen whether the media will push all the responsibility onto Ansen, or whether they will think that Steven is stuck in a creative bottleneck.

But without a doubt, various reasons have placed tremendous pressure on "Catch Me If You Can."

On the surface, all the major media outlets are now frantically praising "Catch Me If You Can," confidently stating that the film's box office will definitely create good results.

In Edgar's eyes, these voices are all heckling and praising to death.

However, the key is here—

Not only can't they, but they also need to express their sincere gratitude with a smile.

Edgar was indeed worried about this.

However, this is also a good thing, a happy trouble, continuing the momentum of "Spider-Man," and pushing Ansen to the crossroads of stepping into a top superstar. Even if the film's box office really fails, it's not necessarily the end of the world; but if the box office succeeds, then it will be a major breakthrough.

Worrying on one hand, and looking forward to it on the other.

This is Edgar's current contradictory mood. He is formulating a detailed strategy for the upcoming publicity itinerary. DreamWorks has DreamWorks' publicity plan, but Edgar also has his own development plan as an agent.

However, amidst the torrent of words, Edgar realized that Ansen seemed to be distracted.

"Ansen."

"Ansen!"

Edgar called out loudly, his expression slightly helpless.

With great difficulty, Ansen finally came back to his senses, raised his hand to signal to Edgar, but did not respond, but looked at the baby-faced man standing aside.

The baby-faced man was standing aside obediently, as if he was being punished, never sitting down; but his eyes kept secretly looking around.

"Noah…"

Ansen called out.

Noah realized that he had been caught, immediately stood at attention, looked straight ahead, and blurted out, "Mr. Wood!"

Ansen couldn't help but smile, "How is it, how is the decoration?"

Noah blinked his eyes, "Very good."

Before he realized it, Noah had already blurted it out.

Immediately after, Noah reacted and was about to apologize. He shouldn't casually comment on his employer's residence. This was obviously the wrong thing to do; but he was still half a beat too late, and Ansen took the words first.

"That painting, what's wrong with it?"

Noah was stunned and said reflexively, "Is that a real Degas?"

The corners of Ansen's mouth turned down slightly, "Are you worried that I'm hanging a fake?"

Noah's fair and tender cheeks instantly flushed red, and he looked at Ansen helplessly, his expression almost crying. He mumbled for a long time, but still couldn't squeeze out a sound.

A smile flashed in Ansen's eyes, "I will ask my father later. The real Mr. Wood. As for now, you might as well sit down first and appreciate the decoration. My father will be very happy, because someone finally knows how to appreciate it."

Noah didn't realize that he had been drawn into Ansen's rhythm. He looked over with bright eyes. Although he didn't make a sound, a faint sigh of admiration could be heard deep in his throat.

Edgar looked at Ansen in surprise—

Sure enough, amazing.

With Edgar, no matter how much he trained, he couldn't train this baby-faced man well; but when he came to Ansen, he was like a tamer, making Noah obediently listen in less than an hour.

Involuntarily, Edgar gave Ansen a thumbs up.