I was Mistaken as a Monstrous Genius Actor [EN]: Chapter 459

-[‘Clown: The Birth of a Villain’ will have a pre-release on February 9th in 33 theaters in LA and New York. The release period is about two weeks. Of course, after the ‘Academy Awards’ schedule, the worldwide release schedule will proceed. Our ‘Columbia Studio’ is attempting various challenges, and your support is a great help. Thank you.]

‘Columbia Studio’ made a strong statement about their challenge for the ‘Cinematic Universe’ and the ‘Academy Awards,’ announcing the pre-release date of ‘Clown: The Birth of a Villain’ as February 9th. They also provided the locations and information for the 33 movie theaters in LA and New York where the pre-release would occur.

With this, all details regarding the pre-release of ‘Clown’ were made public.

Of course, this announcement was just the beginning. ‘Columbia Studio’ had already planned an intensive promotional marketing campaign for ‘Clown: The Birth of a Villain’ leading up to the pre-release. Even though it was a limited pre-release in only 33 theaters, it was still a significant investment, and the results needed to be positive.

While the pre-release also served to meet the eligibility requirements for the ‘Academy Awards,’ the short two-week period was essentially a preliminary gauge of the overall box office potential of ‘Clown: The Birth of a Villain.’

The audience and expert reviews, performance metrics, word-of-mouth, and overall buzz would all be closely monitored.

If the pre-release performed well, it would naturally boost the chances for the ‘Academy Awards’ and positively impact the subsequent worldwide release. Therefore, ‘Columbia Studio’ had to put considerable effort into this pre-release. As expected, the announcement immediately sparked a flurry of reactions on social media, with comments pouring in from around the world in numerous languages, including Korean and English.

-Pre-release? This is just a pre-release to qualify for the Academy Awards.

-Why only LA and New York?! And 33 theaters is way too few! Damn it! I give up.

-Isn’t this movie supposed to be the first in Columbia’s planned cinematic universe? But it’s starting off strangely, it feels like it’s going to flop for some reason?

-Great! One of the 33 theaters is close to my house!!

-Hey Columbia, do you really think Kang Woo-jin can achieve anything at the Academy Awards?

-I’m curious, but… going to LA to see a movie is… impossible.

-I wonder how the movie turned out? If the trailer is all there is, it’s not worth watching.

-Open the reservations right now! I’ll book it immediately!!

-If you watch the movie in the pre-release, you can see if Kang Woo-jin will be cursed or praised at the Oscars.

Meanwhile, Kang Woo-jin was meeting with the cast and crew of the movie ‘Guest.’ Jennifer Thurman, the CEO of ‘A8 Media,’ was staring intently at Kang Woo-jin, whom she was meeting in person for the first time, as he was receiving everyone’s attention.

“Ah.”

She quickly regained her composure and extended her hand to Kang Woo-jin.

“It’s our first time meeting, right? Nice to meet you, I’m Jennifer Thurman from ‘A8 Media.’”

Woo-jin, maintaining a stoic expression, shook her hand.

“I’m Kang Woo-jin.”

A low, resonant voice brushed past Jennifer’s ear.

‘Wow, he seems much more cynical than I expected? He also has a subtle, rough edge.’

Kang Woo-jin was internally observing her, though he showed no outward signs.

‘He’s so tall, almost as tall as me?! Awesome. Anyway, everyone in America is so big.’

Just as these misunderstandings were accumulating, Miley Cara, the female lead of ‘Guest,’ suddenly approached Woo-jin.

“You’re the last one.”

“I made it on time.”

Following her, Chris Hartnett, smiling, also joined in, placing his hand on Kang Woo-jin’s shoulder.

“Miley, you have to be patient, Kang Woo-jin is a star, you know? Anyway, Woo-jin. I wasn’t sure if you would come, but you made it.”

“The timing worked out.”

At this, Miley Cara suddenly raised her eyebrows.

“You two are already comfortable with each other? How did you get so close?”

Chris shrugged.

“Woo-jin and I are friends both in ‘Clown’ and in real life.”

After glaring at Chris Hartnett for a moment, the blonde Cara spoke directly to Kang Woo-jin.

“Be comfortable with me too.”

Kang Woo-jin almost lost his composure at Cara’s serious expression, unsure if she was sulking or not. He barely managed to keep his tone indifferent as he replied.

“I don’t care.”

“Damn it, I don’t like that I became comfortable with you after Chris.”

“Hey, hey, Miley, that’s a bit harsh, isn’t it?”

The three actors continued their conversation without hesitation. Kang Woo-jin’s presence among Hollywood’s top stars didn’t seem out of place. In addition, the director and key staff of ‘Guest’ also joined the group, surrounding Kang Woo-jin. Jennifer Thurman, who was quietly observing this, had a deep smile on her face when a freckled male employee approached and asked.

“…CEO, he’s a special appearance, but this atmosphere is kind of… Kang Woo-jin seems like the lead?”

Jennifer chuckled and replied, looking at Kang Woo-jin, who was at the center of attention among Hollywood’s big names.

“That’s influence and control, the power that makes powerful people gravitate towards you without you doing anything.”

After watching the scene for several minutes, Jennifer Thurman seated everyone. Soon, a U-shaped table was filled with influential figures, and the movie ‘Guest’ was ready to begin with this group.

And.

“Woo-jin.”

Choi Sung-gun whispered to Kang Woo-jin.

“Columbia announced the pre-release date of ‘Clown.’”

“…Is that so?”

“Yeah. Looking at the comments, it’s a mess. Anyway.”

Choi Sung-gun, shaking his head, added.

“I also sent your family the plane tickets.”

After that.

‘Clown: The Birth of a Villain,’ which had been officially announced, quickly gained attention around the world, including Hollywood.

『BBX/Columbia challenges the ‘Academy Awards,’ announces the pre-release date of ‘Clown: The Birth of a Villain’!』

And in Korea and Japan, etc.

『[Breaking News] Kang Woo-jin’s ‘Clown: The Birth of a Villain’ to pre-release in 33 theaters in LA and New York on February 9th to aim for the ‘Academy Awards’』

Of course, Korea was in an uproar.

-Ah!! Ack!!! Please pre-release it in Korea too!! Please!!!ㅠㅜㅠㅜㅠㅜㅠㅜㅠㅜㅠㅠ

-Ha….I’m dead….I’m booking a flight to LA right now!!!

-A pre-release is pretty specialㅋㅋㅋㅋSince we’re seeing it before the Academy Awardsㅋㅋㅋ

-But what happens if it gets dropped from the Academy Awards nominations after the pre-release?

-What do you mean what happensㅋㅋㅋㅋIt’s just screwed

The public in Hollywood and around the world were even more vocal. Thanks to this, the pre-release promotion of ‘Clown’ was gaining momentum on its own, but ‘Columbia Studio’ didn’t let up and immediately the next day.

-【‘Clown: The Birth of a Villain’】3rd Trailer｜Columbia Studio

They released an additional trailer and various media pieces, further boosting the promotion.

For several days, Hollywood was buzzing about ‘Clown: The Birth of a Villain.’ However, another issue quickly emerged, with another movie closely following ‘Clown’ in the spotlight.

『LA TIME/Miley Cara to work with Chris Hartnett in their next project!』

It was the movie ‘Guest.’ The news that Miley Cara and Chris Hartnett, who had close ties to Kang Woo-jin and had both recently finished filming movies, were confirmed as the two leads. It was already generating buzz with Kang Woo-jin’s involvement, but when Cara and Hartnett were confirmed as the leads, the attention was bound to intensify.

Korea was even more excited than Hollywood.

-NoㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋMiley Cara and Chris Hartnett are the leads?ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋIs this realㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

-Wow….This is crazy….It was already a bit surprising that BW Entertainment was the main investor…but now the top-tier Hollywood stars are the leads….

-CrazyㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋThis is 100% related to Kang Woo-jinㅋㅋㅋㅋCara was already close, and Hartnett seems to have become close during this Clown filming

-Go, Detective Agency!!!

-↑It’s not Detective Agency, it’s Guest, a Hollywood remake

-NoㅋㅋㅋㅋIf Guest does well, Kang Woo-jin and BW will rise even moreㅋㅋㅋㅋ

It was natural, given that two world-class top stars were suddenly confirmed as the leads.

‘Guest’ itself was a Hollywood production, but since the original work was Kang Woo-jin’s ‘Detective Agency’ and BW Entertainment was the main investor, this news was immediately reported in domestic news as well. While the world was going crazy with issues related to Kang Woo-jin, such as ‘Clown,’ ‘The Beast and the Beauty,’ and ‘Guest,’ the protagonist himself was surprisingly quiet.

Kang Woo-jin, that is.

‘Dubbing the kissing scene is harder than I thought, singing the OST was easy though.’

Currently, Kang Woo-jin was so busy with various schedules every day that he was completely overwhelmed. The most pressing matter was ‘The Beast and the Beauty,’ which had entered full-scale editing a few days prior. Filming was complete, but post-recording was also crucial, as many CG [Computer-Generated Imagery] effects would be used.

For about a week now, Kang Woo-jin had been going back and forth between sound studios and recording rooms.

-♬♪

He was doing the vocals and post-recording for ‘The Beast.’ Not only that, but he also had to participate in post-production meetings and promotional schedules related to ‘Clown,’ as well as advertisements, interviews, photoshoots, and event appearances. On top of that, he couldn’t neglect his personal social media and ‘Kang Woo-jin’s alter ego’ filming.

Time, each day, melted away and disappeared.

‘Ugh! I’m so out of it, so out of it!’

And so, it was already January 27th.

Around the end of January, Kang Woo-jin was at ‘Columbia Studio.’ Before a major YouTube filming schedule for ‘Clown’ promotion, Columbia executives had requested a meeting with Woo-jin.

Kang Woo-jin, with a solemn expression.

“······”

He was alone without Choi Sung-gun.

‘The atmosphere is so heavy, why are they making such a big deal out of it? I need to play up the concept even more.’

On the other hand, there were more than five Columbia executives sitting across from Woo-jin. There were familiar faces and faces he was seeing for the first time. All of them had serious expressions. Then, a familiar bald executive handed Kang Woo-jin a thick stack of papers.

“Mr. Kang Woo-jin, this is about what we discussed in the past. We proposed three projects to you, including ‘Clown.’ The early movies of the ‘Cinematic Universe.’ Of course, we proposed them all as ‘Joker’ projects.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“The first draft of the script for the second movie is ready.”

That is, the movie after ‘Clown.’ It was a topic that had been discussed before, but Kang Woo-jin had insisted that the script come first.

‘Oh- a script? I’m going to check it right away!’

Despite his excited inner thoughts, Kang Woo-jin replied very coldly on the outside.

“I’ll take a look at it first.”

He quietly picked up the script. Then, he read the English title on the cover once and pretended to open the first page.

-Poke!

He poked the black square attached to the script. In an instant, Kang Woo-jin’s world turned into a completely dark subspace. Kang Woo-jin, immediately dropping his act, yawned widely.

“Shall we see- what’s the grade?”

He walked towards the white squares that were listed. The first thing that caught his eye was the movie ‘Guest.’

-[14/Scenario (Title: Guest), SSS Grade]

In the meantime, ‘Guest’ had soared to SSS grade. Kang Woo-jin smirked.

“That’s right, it would be weird if it didn’t go up with Miley Cara and Chris Hartnett attached.”

Of course, there was a possibility that it would go up or down further in the future, but for now, he could be happy. Some of Woo-jin’s funds were also included in the investment of hundreds of millions.

“Hehe.”

Then, Woo-jin’s gaze, who was chuckling, moved. It was a new work that had just been updated in the subspace.

-[15/Scenario (Title: Bat: The Birth of a Hero), EX Grade]

-[*This is a very high-quality movie scenario. 100% reading is possible.]

Kang Woo-jin’s smile became even darker, like the ‘Joker.’

“This one is EX grade from the start, sweet.”

A few days later, on Friday, February 3rd, in the morning.

By now, the pre-release of ‘Clown’ was about a week away. Kang Woo-jin was inside a van. A van driving through downtown LA in the morning. What was unusual was that the van carrying Woo-jin was not headed to ‘Columbia Studio,’ nor ‘Walt Disney Pictures,’ but somewhere else.

It was one of Hollywood’s ‘Big Five’ studios.

‘Universal Movies’ huh- we’re almost there.’

Kang Woo-jin’s destination was ‘Universal Movies.’ The reason was simple.

‘I’m going to see that giant old man after a long time.’

The script reading for the movie ‘John Persona,’ where Joseph Felton was the executive producer, would start in an hour. It meant that the first filming of ‘John Persona’ was imminent right after the wrap-up of ‘The Beast and the Beauty.’

However, the script that Kang Woo-jin was reading now was not ‘John Persona.’

‘It’s fun as expected, there’s a reason why it’s EX grade.’

It was the second movie of the ‘Cinematic Universe’ that he had received from ‘Columbia Studio’ a few days ago. ‘Bat: The Birth of a Hero,’ which received an EX grade from the subspace from the start. The grade was satisfyingly high, but it would be strange to say that he would do it right away in terms of concept, so Kang Woo-jin had only received the script for now.

‘It would be stupid not to do this, I guess I should give them a definite answer soon.’

Soon, Woo-jin raised his gaze and called Choi Sung-gun, who was sitting in the passenger seat with his ponytail.

“CEO.”

“······”

“Tell Columbia that I’ll do ‘Bat: The Birth of a Hero’-”

Kang Woo-jin, who was talking, narrowed his eyebrows slightly at Choi Sung-gun’s silence and changed the question.

“CEO, is something wrong?”

Choi Sung-gun, who was looking down at his phone, raised his head and suddenly let out a long sigh.

“Ha- what is this now?”

“What is it?”

“No, it just popped up, I don’t know what to say. Just look at it.”

Choi Sung-gun turned his phone and showed the screen to Kang Woo-jin. An article was being displayed on the screen, and Woo-jin, who read the title, was outwardly calm.

“Hmm.”

But inside, he was screaming a bizarre scream.

‘Huh???! Huh??!’

It was understandable.

It was the first time since Kang Woo-jin’s debut that this had happened.

『CNM/Miley Cara came out of Kang Woo-jin’s house, the two are in love/Photo』

A dating rumor.