Of course, being maliciously attacked and remaining calm as if nothing happened was not Laila's character. However, she didn't want others to interfere in such matters. She left the covert actions to her hidden allies.
The water army she controlled was probably the largest force on the internet, and the quality of her water army was quite high. They were also very secretive because some programmers from Facebook were responsible for managing her water army.
She didn't let her subordinates help whitewash her image. Instead, she stood on the side of the audience and used the voice of the audience to narrate their impressions of "Catwoman."
Unlike the opposing water army, who rigidly repeated two points of criticism, there were many things to criticize about "Catwoman." These were the genuine feelings of many fans after watching the movie. Laila just made sure that these feelings were disclosed to a greater extent.
One thing that many people couldn't stand was Catwoman's costume, which they felt had a strong S&M style. Catwoman was supposed to be sexy but not explicit. And Halle Berry's performance was not that great. They didn't know if she couldn't play the role of a superhero or if she naturally clashed with Catwoman, but her acting... well, many people couldn't see anything that could be called "acting" in the movie.
Especially the expressions in the first half of the movie made some viewers uncomfortable. What was the point of being so unkempt and messy? Even if it was to highlight the later sexy beauty, it shouldn't have been portrayed in such a way. While it could complement her character, moviegoers didn't pay to see that kind of appearance. The director could have expressed it more appealingly, but instead, they took the worst approach.
The final thing that people criticized was Sharon Stone as the villainous boss. What was that? She couldn't even be called a villain, more like a minor supporting character. The audience couldn't see any charm in her portrayal of a villain.
In a good movie, especially a superhero movie, the role of the villain is crucial. The best way to make a hero memorable is to have them overcome a charismatic villain. And if the villain is portrayed exceptionally well, they will receive applause.
To draw a comparison, let's take "Huan Zhuge Ge{My Fair Princess}," a TV series that was once heavily criticized on various channels. When it comes to the character Rong Mo Mo, it can only be described as universally despised. So when she was being abused, the audience found it particularly satisfying. Only such a villain can be remembered by the audience. But Sharon Stone? Apart from her face, how many viewers could remember what she actually did in the movie? Her cosmetics made the skin worse? Please, what kind of villain was that?
Compared to "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone," "Catwoman" was like a sieve, full of holes. One didn't need to deliberately look for them; there were plenty of aspects to criticize.
The interesting thing was that when the Water Army was fiercely criticizing, those who saw it also believed that they made reasonable points, and the movie was indeed that bad.
As for Laila's "Harry Potter"? Even if it was deliberately smeared, the movie's quality was solid. They could criticize all they wanted; they wouldn't hit the mark, and the few who did see it would only consider them brainless trolls.
Louise always thought that Laila was a calm person who remained unaffected by any trouble, but she didn't know that the main reason Laila was not worried was because she had confidence! She believed in herself and her movie, which made her completely unconcerned about others' attacks.
Although the water army found by Joseph and Faaris worked hard to fulfill their tasks, unfortunately, they didn't cause much trouble for Laila's movie. On the contrary, "Catwoman" experienced a noticeable decline in box office revenue due to the attacks from Laila's water army.
After three days, "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" comfortably secured the top spot on the weekly box office chart with a revenue of $98.42 million, once again setting a record as the earliest film to reach $100 million at the box office.
Meanwhile, "Catwoman" settled for second place with just over $30 million, not even surpassing the first-day box office of "Harry Potter."
This box office result shocked the film industry, even leaving some critics in disbelief.
Some of them initially believed that the first-day box office was a result of Laila's charm attracting a large number of fans, and once their enthusiasm faded, the box office would return to normal.
However, the box office results slapped those people in the face, leaving them ashamed and afraid to speak up, lest they become the subject of mockery.
Why did it achieve such high box office numbers? Many media outlets were researching this question. To them, it was just a children's movie with a cast of kids. What kind of charm could attract so many people to the theaters?
Some argued that it was precisely because it was a children's movie that it attracted more people. For example, parents would be reluctant to let their children watch movies alone, so it became a weekend activity for the whole family. As a result, they contributed three or even more tickets to the box office.
Children have close communication with each other. Once a group of children discusses a movie they love, other children who haven't watched it might feel left out or fear exclusion. So they become new viewers of the movie, along with their parents.
This assumption seemed reasonable, but was it really the case?
Soon, opposing opinions were raised.
Firstly, not all children's movies are like this. There have been many children's movies in the past, including some highly popular ones like "Home Alone." What were the box office numbers for those movies? Additionally, based on data collected from theaters, besides children and their parents, a significant proportion of young people also attended. While some of them may have chosen the movie because Laila directed it, many were attracted by the movie itself.
The media argued back and forth for a long time, but no conclusive result was reached. However, more people learned about the children's movie "Harry Potter," which broke two box office records, making it the hottest movie of the summer. In the end, Laila and her movie reaped the benefits.
Laila was also affected by the discussions and was chased by reporters for interviews. Due to not currently filming, she was finally caught by reporters outside her company several days later.
Faced with the reporters' questions, she smiled and asked in return, "Why is the box office so high? The answer is simple, isn't it? It's because my movie is great, and people love it. What's there to argue about?"
The reporters stared at her dumbfounded, unable to respond for a moment. Yes! Her movie was good, so the box office was high. Wasn't that obvious? What were they arguing about?
After an awkward silence, a reporter finally regained their composure and asked, "Director Laila, do you think your movie is better than George Lucas's 'Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace'?"