For example, one review went like this: "It's terrible. I slept for two hours in the movie theater."
This left the fans who came to scold him confused: "Buddy, it's a series. How did you watch it in a movie theater?"
The paid troll even replied, "My mistake, but anyway, it's not good."
Once they confirmed he was the enemy, the fans immediately called reinforcements and surrounded the troll, attacking him relentlessly.
However, the score drop was unavoidable. There were also people who rated the series low because of Rebecca and David's deaths.
During the weekend after episode ten aired, the score for Edgerunners fell to 9.0. But without a doubt, this series was destined to become a classic.
What the audience cared about most was whether the series would continue.
On his personal social media account, Gilbert revealed that follow-up projects were already in development—not only films, but theme parks and various merchandise.
In addition, a large-scale video game would be developed in the future, allowing fans to experience the cyberpunk world personally.
The moment this news was released, fans cheered with excitement, leaving messages saying that Adam Smasher must appear in the game.
It seemed the fans' hatred toward Adam Smasher showed no signs of stopping—everyone wanted to teach him a lesson in the game themselves.
During the time Edgerunners was airing, the sales of related merchandise alone reached 244 million dollars.
Rebecca's plush figures went completely insane after episode ten, achieving 6.5 million dollars in sales in a single day and continuing to generate revenue afterward.
Sales of other toys and figures were also excellent, and several model vehicles sold particularly well.
Watermelon Video even held giveaway events on its platform, sending merchandise to lucky viewers. Amazon's official site began taking preorders for the Edgerunners artbook, with preorder numbers already exceeding one hundred thousand.
In Hollywood, when it comes to commercial development of a major IP, the professionals are extremely skilled—methods are diverse and abundant. Gilbert did not need to worry about any of these details; professionals handled it all.
After the full release schedule of Edgerunners ended, Gilbert temporarily wrapped up all work relating to the show and set off for China with Ivanka.
And on the very weekend after Edgerunners concluded, Mango Studio's Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix premiered.
This was the fifth film in the Harry Potter series, still starring the Gryffindor trio. Having continuously starred in the series, they had already become world-famous movie stars, immensely popular across the globe.
Naturally, their salaries continued rising as well.
According to the latest contract, Harry Potter's actor, Haley, received a salary of 15 million dollars plus fifteen percent of box office revenue.
Initially, the actor's agent demanded twenty million plus twenty percent. But the producers were firm; if negotiations failed, they were ready to recast. Combined with Haley's own choice, this contract was signed.
Emma Watson's salary also rose to ten million dollars, along with ten percent of box office revenue. This made her the highest-paid actress under twenty years old, earning more than many veteran actors.
One must know—this year Scarlett took on Captain America for only eight million dollars, and her earlier paychecks were even lower.
Of course, Emma Watson could only earn this kind of paycheck in the Harry Potter films. In other films, she was lucky to ask for six million and without box office bonuses.
Thus Emma Watson envied Emma Roberts very much. Rebecca was clearly an iconic character, no worse than her Hermione.
If she had gotten the role of Rebecca back then, Emma Watson could have proven that she could break free of Hermione's label, and her salary would have risen as well.
So Emma Watson thought: in the future, she must work harder at Melon Manor—she needed to fight for opportunities instead of letting them slip away.
Naturally, ever-increasing actor salaries were not something investors wanted to see, because the money came directly out of their pockets.
However, Hollywood had decades of experience in this area, and there was plenty of room to manipulate the numbers.
For example, when Disney distributed Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, it could establish a separate subsidiary to handle distribution, with its bookkeeping managed independently.
The funds used by this new subsidiary would be borrowed from Disney. Although it was essentially left pocket borrowing from the right pocket, a debt would be created out of thin air.
So when settling accounts, there would be a sum meant for repaying the debt. Technically, it was "repaying," but in reality, it was Disney moving money from one pocket into another while creating an expense on paper.
Just like that—right hand passing money to the left—the film might look profitable at the box office, but the accounts showed a loss.
And if there was a loss, of course there would be no box office bonus.
Even the most professional accountants at PricewaterhouseCoopers would need several months to untangle these messy ledgers. Many Hollywood stars weren't well-educated and certainly couldn't understand them.
And Hollywood studios actually didn't use these tricks most often on the stars—they used them on Wall Street.
Because of disputes over accounting tricks and profit-sharing loopholes, many cases had been brought before the Delaware Court of Chancery. But these lawsuits often dragged on for years, sometimes more than a decade, and still might not be resolved—leaving Wall Street utterly exhausted.
The most typical example was The Lost World: Jurassic Park. A private equity fund from Wall Street invested fifteen million dollars—but in the end didn't receive a single cent back, losing everything.
But in reality, The Lost World: Jurassic Park was a global box office sensation; Spielberg alone earned two hundred million dollars from the project.
The angry private equity fund sued the film's production company, Universal Pictures. Yet to this day, the case remains unresolved—and more than ten years have already passed.
Gilbert actually quite liked the trio, but personal feelings never affected his business judgment—when something needed to be squeezed, it still had to be squeezed.
It was just that he didn't have to do it himself, so he didn't feel any guilt.
No matter what calculations went on behind the scenes, nothing stopped Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix from achieving massive box office success, earning 83.59 million dollars in its opening weekend in North America.
This opening weekend performance was quite impressive, and even more surprising was the overseas box office.
This time, the film opened simultaneously in thirty-three overseas markets alongside North America, and the opening weekend overseas box office reached 153 million dollars.
Combined with North America's opening week earnings, the film grossed a total of 236.59 million dollars worldwide in its first weekend, claiming the weekly box office championship.
Without a doubt, Harry Potter had cultivated countless fans around the world, and these fans continued generating revenue for the film series.
The UK's The Guardian published a set of data showing that since the release of Harry Potter, tourism to the United Kingdom had increased by thirty percent year-over-year.
These tourists boosted spending in British dining, lodging, and cultural merchandise to varying degrees. British style even became a dream aesthetic pursued by middle-class individuals in Asian countries, especially China, Japan, and South Korea.
Even greater revenue was generated within the massive industrial chain surrounding the franchise. This chain, worth ten's of billions of dollars, was something Warner Bros had no intention of relinquishing.
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