Hollywood Domination Chapter 344: Jennifer’s wild words and the box office of “Avatar” on the first day
"This is really the best movie I've seen this year, or even in years. The special effects are impeccable. Congratulations, James, you really completed a masterpiece."
At the press conference after the premiere, a reporter from The Times took the first question, and following his words, there was spontaneous applause in the venue, expressing the support of the reporter group for the film. The recognition of the film, and the main creative members sitting on the stage couldn't help smiling—compared to the general response at the Tokyo Film Festival in September, this time Imax premiered, and indeed achieved the effect the organizers wanted. "But we all know that this movie cost a lot of money. Before seeing the finished product, everyone was wondering how the $350 million was spent, but now I think everyone's doubts should be reversed. Such a grand As a result, is $350 million enough?"
There was a lot of laughter on and off the stage—so far, Fox has not disclosed the cost of the film, and 350 million is just speculation from the outside world. This may have a lot of concerns. After all, if the film is not effective Otherwise, the high cost may be detrimental to the box office and the company's stock price, but now, in such an atmosphere of unanimous praise, this concern seems to be completely dispelled. It is time to use the budget to make the last wave of powerful publicity. If Ken shows his tone at this press conference, the reporters will have one more news point to hype. This is a win-win result.
"The numbers circulated by the media are indeed somewhat different from the real results," said Fox President Jim Gianlopoulos who answered the question. At this time, he also took the initiative to take over the conversation, showing an inscrutable smile, ""Avatar" is indeed the most expensive movie in history. Fox's total expenditure is more than 550 million US dollars, but we still believe in this project. Profitable.”
550 million more? How much is it? The reporters stretched their wings of imagination one after another, while Jenny and James on the stage exchanged a knowing smile: In fact, Fox's total expenditure is only this amount, and Jim is now completely taking advantage of the situation to put money on his face. ——However, if you want to count the convenience provided by News Corporation, the parent company of Fox, the marketing cost of "Avatar" is indeed more than the current figure. This is also the benefit of having a big company as a backer, at least for the past few months The advertising fee for the prime time of the TV station is not a small amount, and under the direct attention of the group president Rupert Murdoch, Fox TV station has not charged the film company a single fee-at least not for the time being.
"Will there be a sequel to "Avatar"?"
"If the box office is good, it will definitely be. Part of the huge amount of money spent on this movie is to construct the world of Pandora. It has left us a reusable legacy worth millions or tens of millions. It's a waste."
"In the 11 years since Titanic, have you been fully focused on creating Avatar?"
"Actually, the inspiration for "Avatar" even predates "Titanic", but the technical level was not enough at that time, so I could only hide this idea deeply. After filming "Titanic", I got A sum of money, or a credit card, I decided to push the technology in the direction I wanted, to mature it, so you could actually say I've been working on this movie for 11 years, but the actual preparation The work has been going on for about 4 years, which is actually not very long for a cartoon..."
In the face of this masterpiece, too many people have too many things to ask, and Cameron has also become the focus of the crowd's attention, but he did not monopolize the limelight for too long, so he drew the crowd's attention in his answer. To Jennifer, "It's true that filming is tough because it's territory that no one has ever entered, and we're dealing with brand new problems, and a lot of times solving it means extra money, but getting around it hurts The quality of the film, if not for the help of my friends and colleagues, Jennifer Jefferson, Jon Landau, and of course Kevin Riley, maybe "Avatar" would not be able to meet you at this time. "
Everyone is very familiar with Jon Landau, Cameron's golden partner, but now he is behind Jennifer Jefferson in the thank you list—— without mentioning more When the names of high-level investors such as Murdoch and other names are mentioned, it shows that in Cameron’s heart, Jennifer really played a big role in the filming of the film-these subtexts made some agile reporters look at Jennifer. It was different, and the target of the question was immediately shifted, "Jennifer, we all know that Dameng is the investor of this movie, and you are also one of the producers. What kind of role did you play in the movie production? ?”
Most of the time, as an egg person, Jenny is very modest in life and in interviews, but faced with this question that implies a challenge, she knows that this is not the time to keep a low profile, but to show up at the right time. Showing my own strength, "Of course, the most important job of all producers is to find money. I think I have done a particularly good job at this point—"
The reporters all laughed, and Gianlopoulos added in a timely manner, "Jennifer played a very important role in firming up Fox's investment decision. 3d, pushing movies into the 3d era thoroughly.”
With the endorsement of Gianlopoulos, her role in financing negotiations has been determined, but Jenny did not expect Jim to show his favor so clearly. She looked at the other party with a grateful smile and continued, "Besides, of course As a producer, I also helped James through the whole story - when we talked about producing, basically you can think of me as a support like Jon, whether I am a star or not is very important to this point In fact, it doesn't matter..."
"Is this the story that attracted you to join the crew of "Avatar"? Or the concept of 3D shooting? What do you think of the future of 3D?"
"I think in five years, the technology used in "Avatar" will become mainstream, and like James said, people are more and more used to watching movies on mobile phones now, we have to use some movie-specific technology They are attracted to movie theaters, which is one of the reasons why I joined the crew. 3D will definitely be the mainstream in the future, including imax. Big screen, differentiated experience, this is the way for the future development of movies. Of course, this does not mean We don't pay attention to the story, a good story is the foundation of everything, and I think the story of "Avatar" is very successful."
"Yes, we think so, but you don't show your face at all in the film, do you mind that?"
"When I joined the crew, I thought about it systematically. If I minded, of course I wouldn't join, right? I can see what you mean. After the absence of real people, the connection between actors and movies seems to be Being ripped apart, the acting is gone, Neytiri's charm doesn't seem to have anything to do with me, you feel that way, don't you? But what I want to prove is that even animated characters have room for acting , I'm talking about Andy Serkis, he went ahead of me in this regard, he also gave me a lot of confidence, even if you perform through facial capture technology, the audience can still feel your face Acting skills, you can still be moved by you and be emotionally invested in you. Of course, I don’t recommend newcomers to perform this type of role. It is difficult for people to connect the role with the real person when the audience’s awareness is low, especially Na The dehumanization of beauty is deeper than Gollum and King Kong."
I didn't expect Jennifer's thinking to be so clear!
Anthony Hill, an entertainment reporter from The Times, was interviewing Jennifer for the first time. He listened to Jennifer's answer in surprise, and constantly adjusted his opinion of her in his heart——Jennifer. Of course Jefferson often accepts interviews, but Anthony is almost always dubious about the words in newspapers and magazines, especially Jennifer. There are too many news related to her. If they are all accepted, Jennifer's image will be too much So many contradictory elements. Over the years, his main impression of Jennifer is still the following key words: Actress, really good acting, good luck, always falling in love with young handsome guys, and her education level does not seem to be very high.
Because of this stereotype, although there are some tall reports in newspapers and magazines, it is indeed hard for Anthony to believe that Jennifer is as shrewd and great as the legends say, and will be the next generation leader in the film industry. She single-handedly produced "A Week with Marilyn Monroe", and he also believed that this movie must have a hero behind the scenes, including her company's big dream, and the master behind it must be someone else. Because judging from Jennifer's itinerary, it is almost impossible for her to take care of these jobs. This can only be a publicity strategy-of course, this does not mean that she must be miserable. Anthony just believes that she will be that kind of person. An artist's character, more romantic and casual, not at all interested in this complicated field of production and financing.
However, in today's interview, since Jennifer began to answer questions, he has continuously felt the error of his previous impression: Is she not well-educated? However, there are many long words in her speeches, and she even feels a bit sloppy. Some stars start to stutter as soon as they get out of the line during the interview, and some stars who don’t even express their meaning can’t compare with her. She speaks the proper nouns related to 3D very slickly, and she can feel it. Including Fox and Cameron's attitude towards her, and they didn't feel like mascots or nominal producers at all. It can be seen that Jennifer is a member of the team and really played a big role in the production process. effect. And her calm, indifferent professional feeling is completely different from Oscar's excited and passionate confession - Oscar's several testimonials, she is like a standard artist, but now she is like those Ivy League graduates The group of elites who have quick thinking and superior intelligence.
"Can you talk about your thinking as the decision maker of Dameng and your decision to invest?"——In the end, he was still a little skeptical, so Anthony raised his hand and asked a tricky question.
"Interesting question," Jennifer smiled at him, with a gleam of humor in her eyes, "so you're assuming that the bosses of every company ignore the quality of movies and only want to make movies that make money? ?”
Amidst the laughter of the reporters, Anthony had a feeling of being reversed, and he was really taken aback by Jennifer's agility-this underlying logic was discovered from many interviews There is one commonality, and I didn’t point it out on purpose just now. If Jennifer doesn’t understand how the company’s decision-makers view the problem, or answers the question according to the meaning of the movie itself, then it is almost certain that she has no company management experience. .
"But, of course, this is actually a very correct assumption. Of course, the operator must be responsible to the shareholders. We must make a movie that is at least logically possible to make a profit, right, Jim?" Wearing a Dior dress today, Jennifer, who was dressed in a more ordinary way, not as heavy makeup as many premiere actresses, smiled and said to the president of Fox Films, and Jim also nodded in response to the chuckle of the audience, "So what everyone cares about One question is for sure, is it possible for Avatar to be profitable, like maybe the film won't get back its cost at the box office, but I think it can be profitable from the dvd market - yes, that's a good question, I think "Avatar" will have a very good DVD sales, because even if you remove the 3D, it still has very beautiful scenery and details, which will attract audiences to buy it and watch it again and again."
Although she seemed to be the only star at the reception, for insiders, both Jon Landau and Jim Gianlopoulos are rare big-name figures, let alone the world King Cameron, this is his 11-year-old work, and his exposure rate is much lower than Jennifer's in normal times, and interview opportunities are even rarer. However, at the reception where big names gathered, Anthony found that Jennifer grabbed the audience's attention effortlessly. Her calm and calm attitude, humorous and professional conversation made her no less inferior to Gianlopoulos around her. Exudes her own 'ceo charm' - this charm is very different from her screen image, when listening to Jennifer, you will not even think of her as the world-renowned movie star, but accept Her identity as an entrepreneur: Realizing this also made him have a thin layer of goosebumps all over his body, although he didn't know why-he knew that Dameng had developed extremely well, but seeing Jenny on the spot Foo's demeanor as an entrepreneur still makes him awe-inspiring, and he feels like he is witnessing a miracle.
Jennifer continued, "And I can tell you that when I first When I first came across this story, considered whether to invest, and really looked at it from the perspective of a company owner, I really didn’t think about how great 3D technology is. In fact, what I saw was that after the market After many years of brewing, this technology has a good profit prospect. Before "Avatar", many blockbuster films have adopted this technology, and people began to recognize and accept this technology, and were attracted by it. They think 3D is advanced. Like the computer wave sweeping the world, it is the representative of the next generation. ——Just like the holographic projection in science fiction films is very popular, this kind of three-dimensional visual effect was difficult to achieve 20 years ago, at least very difficult Realized without damaging the viewing effect. At that time, red and blue 3d was an outdated old shareholder, but now, polarized 3d has redefined the term, and the entire industry has gradually realized that this may be the development direction of movies. And thanks to the attempts of these pioneers, including James' experiments and public relations, the box office of "Avatar" has a ground for explosion."
James waved at her, as if to tell Jennifer to stop kissing his own ass, which also caused a burst of chuckle. Jennifer smiled and continued, "It's been 10 years The first full-length 3D movie with real people, with a lot of special effects, has an unparalleled advantage in this point, I think it will get a good box office in China, of course, this does not guarantee that the film will be popular in China The box office will pay for itself—but my team and I believe that "Avatar" has great potential overseas. Because when we look at the global box office situation over the past 10 years, we will find that the movies that make money in the United States, It may not make money in the UK, and movies that make money in the English-speaking cultural circle may not make money in other countries. Many good types of movies, such as Jim Carrey and the comedies of the bad guys, are very profitable locally, but audiences around the world are not. Like, ah, I've seen several of my friends in the UK get confused looks when I mention the bastards, and that really illustrates my point. Generally speaking, the higher the cost, the more special effects movies, the more likely it is to get a good box office around the world—"
"But your movie is an exception." Anthony couldn't help but praise Jennifer—even he himself was a little surprised, because generally speaking, his attitude in interviews is relatively reserved, and it can even be said that he is somewhat reserved. Tricky.
Everyone laughed lightly again. Jennifer imitated James and waved at Anthony, which made Anthony's heart rise by a few centimeters—because of his profession, he had seen many beauties There are not a few people who can be compared with Jennifer in terms of appearance, but Anthony has never been so proud and proud of any interaction from the other party, and even has an incredible sense of dream.
"Yes, I have two movies that are an exception," Jennifer admitted with a smile, "but they are only exceptions, and in general, special effects are still a common excitement for audiences around the world, even—if we allow If you mention other movies here—"
She looked at Gianlopoulos and others inquiringly, and several people on the stage smiled and let her play freely. Anthony even had a feeling that even Jon Landau and Gianropoulos Such a big shot was attracted by Jennifer's talk and wanted to hear more from her.
"Even like "Transformers" and "Harry Potter". It can be said to rely on special effects." Jennifer said with a smile, "This is very beneficial to "Avatar", so I think this project has extremely high profit potential, and the focus of profit is overseas—— I even think that the global box office of this movie may surpass that of "Titanic", or even 2 billion, 3 billion—"
There was a low exclamation at the reception, and even James and others were shocked. Anthony raised his eyebrows in surprise: "Interesting, has Jennifer never expressed this point of view before?" Isn't this what they've already thought of at the reception?
Of course, such rhetoric may not pass the review of the PR department, 2 billion? 3 billion? Is this a dream? Such predictions are no longer bold and confident, but stupid. ——But if Fox and Jennifer have discussed it, let her use her star status to say such sensational words and add some heat to the movie promotion...
"Yes, that number sounds incredible, like 10 years ago someone said, 'Hey, you know what, I think one day mobile phones will rule the world, and even start to decommission computers',3 It's as counterintuitive as someone saying years ago, 'Has anyone ever considered doing away with the phone's keypad, I mean, with touch only,' so it sounds like lunacy," Jennifer said It’s not that she just said a number on a whim, on the contrary, now she showed a gentle smile, as if she had a well-thought-out discussion, “But the fact is, if you can see this ure, you will find that such a conclusion is not There is no basis, the technical reserves have reached this point, and there may be lucky people at any time—and at the same time very powerful people, who will become the chosen ones to realize the pace of advancing the times. It’s like I’m saying now,’ In 10 years, the Chinese market will become the second largest or even the largest market in the world, surpassing the United States, you will definitely think that I should come to the premiere with a high today—"
She was interrupted by laughter again, and Jennifer also shook her head self-deprecatingly, and twirled her fingers around her temples, "But if you consider China's population base of 1.2 billion, and it is entering a fast economy During the development period and the fact that the urbanization process has begun, you will find that this idea is not so absurd, it has solid data as a basis. The same is the market's fascination and desire for 3D technology-I am very fortunate that I can Join "Avatar", because filming needs a threshold, as I said, to push the times forward, you need luck and strength, and "Avatar" is currently the only movie with the strength to achieve this level , I believe it will also have this strength, and how much will the total global market be? For a movie, is $3 billion the limit? Please note that we are talking about a market formed by a population of 6 billion Ah."
The scene fell into silence, and Anthony was still looking for loopholes in Jennifer's logic—he was shocked to find that he had been convinced, at least...at least from the perspective Jennifer said, 20 It is not impossible, after all, the ticket price of 3D is indeed more expensive-and Cameron has already proved before that the total global box office of a movie can reach 1.8 billion, including inflation and market growth, Maybe $3 billion is not a wild statement...
"Very fresh opinion, but what I want to know is," before he recovered, someone had already asked the question, "you said "Harry Potter" and "Transformers" The overseas box office is indeed very good, but they also rely on the foundation formed by the world's best-selling cultural carriers, "Avatar" has a first-mover disadvantage in this regard, are you sure it can achieve the good results you envisioned?"
""Avatar" is indeed an original story, and it's also the first movie, which has a negative impact on the box office, but it doesn't have a global best-selling cultural carrier..." Jennifer dragged her voice, and suddenly let out a mouthful White Fang laughed innocently, "well, fellas—aren't James and I a global guarantee?"
…
Under her confident, frank and innocent smile, the atmosphere in the venue was a bit dumbfounding at first, but in the end, no one knew who started it, and the reporters praised Jennifer for her dedication to herself with warm applause and laughter. A clear understanding of...
"You just said that this prediction is based on a large amount of data, and we have also heard rumors that Dameng seems to have an independent data analysis team. Can you introduce the situation in this regard?"
"Do you think that even if you don't show your face, it's completely CG, which will have no effect on your fans?"
Before the applause fell, the reporters couldn't wait to ask new questions one after another. This rare high-quality press conference has been held for more than an hour, which is rare in terms of time. Stop asking questions, on the contrary, their enthusiasm was already very high, and now it has reached a new level...
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Cameron's epic masterpiece, which took more than ten years to create, presents a unique and magnificent scene. After "Titanic" turned out and became the world's box office champion 12 years later, Cameron once again contributed out
A film that will captivate the world. —— "Variety Show"
James Cameron proved that he is indeed the king of the world. He brought science fiction into the 21st century in a jaw-dropping way. This is "Avatar"! —— "Hollywood Reporter"
Great surprise experience, out of five stars! ——"Empire"
There is no movie event that has redefined cinema more than Avatar. ——The Times
Unfulfilled expectations that Avatar would be a bad movie, and it was a good movie. The Guardian
This is the brightest movie of the decade. ——"The Sun"
The special effects are impeccable, the story is a bit corny, but the cast saves everything, Anthony Ryan is amazing and Jennifer Jefferson once again proves her superstar nature. ——jo
Almost all the media participating in the premiere ceremony gave full marks. This kind of enthusiasm is in stark contrast to the tepid response of "Avatar" from film critics before. At the same time, the headlines on the entertainment page They are all occupied by Jennifer's rhetoric - generally speaking, the premiere ceremony cannot make headlines in the entertainment section, but now almost all magazines, newspapers and websites, whether it is serious professional media or vulgar gossip tabloids, are Reporting Jennifer's rhetoric.
"Jennifer Jefferson Suspected of Insanity? The premiere boasted that "Avatar" will take away 3 billion at the box office"
"The box office of "Avatar" will surpass that of "Titanic" and become the new No. 1 in the world? No, Jennifer dares to think more than this"
"At the premiere, Jennifer's optimistic statement shocked the CEO of Fox and the king of the world?"
——Although hundreds of media are reporting on this matter, the headlines of the news are nothing more than changing the original content, focusing on the sentence 'Jennifer thinks "Avatar" may win the box office of 2 billion, while While critics have had good things to say about "Avatar," they have also expressed caution in reporting about her arguments.
"It's a good movie. I think the threshold of 1 billion may not be too big a problem for "Avatar", but 2 billion is an unimaginable number." Todd McCarthy of "Variety" He exaggerated the film in his own review, but mildly disapproved of Jennifer's remarks, and some of the more vehement critics were less polite.
"I think this is a bit of grandstanding, maybe Jennifer's insurance for "Avatar" after the box office failure of "Nine", but it did receive the effect of publicity." A film critic who asked not to be named said in When asked this question, he also explained why he did not want to be named, "I am worried that Jennifer's crazy fans will attack me. I know this is a feature of her fan base. Even she has suffered. This problem is troubled."
"I am not an expert on overseas markets."
"It might be possible in theory, but until it happens, I'm sure Gianlopoulos—not even Murdoch—wouldn't have dreamed of such a good thing."
Maybe it was influenced by Jennifer's fame, maybe it's because she has always had a good relationship with film critics, and she has been almost the darling of film critics for many years, maybe it's because she has always had the ability to discover blockbuster movies Potential, there is no authority, and celebrities have publicly stated that Jennifer's words are delusional, but their mild opposition is enough to explain everything. Many fans are secretly anxious, thinking that Jennifer is looking for trouble for herself-from the perspective of public opinion, after Jennifer said so, even if "Avatar" won a box office of 1 billion, she still will not be praised by public opinion as A wise investor will become a laughingstock instead. Even if you have such an idea, why don't you think about it casually? Why must it be said at the press conference?
Of course, except for Jennifer's fans, the public's attitude towards this matter is more gloating, and they want to wait to see how she wrestles. As for the real movie fans, they just watch and laugh at such news Lol, what they pay more attention to is what the premiere audience who have seen the movie say on imdb and other movie websites.
ershall: "I didn't get enough praise for "Avatar" before. This movie is unbelievable. Neytiri even subverted my concept of mate selection. It turns out that I have no problem with alien women!"
epereira21: "I became a kid again in 150 minutes, thanks to Cameron! The 3D of the video is amazing!"
yidaln: "Compared to "Avatar", all the sci-fi movies released this year have become children, J.J. Abrams is a very good director, and his "Star Trek: Reboot" is a great movie , was well received by critics and audiences, and Todd thinks there are some exciting shots (except that Abrams is too fond of glare). But in front of "Avatar"? Doesn't feel like a piece of the era, and it's not Star Trek's fault, it's Avatar's problem, "Avatar" completely redefines special effects movies and 3d, it's totally out of place with all sci-fi movies - if You think my statement is too exaggerated, go to the movies, go to 3dimax movies, if you don’t think it redefines your life after watching it, you can come back and scold me.”
On imdb, there are already some movie reviews marked with spoiler warnings, but the number is much less than after the premiere in previous years, and more non-spoiler movie reviews are emphasizing 3D and imax, for sure Yes, the audience who watched the premiere gave high marks, and this also made some movie fans look forward to a pure visual feast. In this era, most people who still like to go to the cinema are coveting the cinema The big screen, and the audio that they can’t prepare at home, etc., of course they are very obsessed with visual effects, especially this legendary subversive visual effect, so they must look forward to it even more. Many people have already begun to inquire about the nearest Where is the imax theater in China, and many not-so-fashionable movie fans started to google the word imax to understand this concept that is still unfamiliar to them.
——Of course, the crew cannot escape this craze. In fact, because the world premiere of "Avatar" started very late, the world premiere on the 10th will be released in the United States on the 16th, so the entire crew Now they are flying around the world to do premieres, and whether it is in New York or Los Angeles, this question is the one that the crew is asked the most—as far as the current data is concerned, the box office of "Avatar" is not that high. It’s not ideal, the midnight show is only close to tens of millions, and because of the blizzard raging on the east coast, and further blizzard warnings on the weekend, this data is still on the decline: all the ticket warehouse cities on the east coast are at risk of being refunded. With such an opening, the number of 2 billion is said, and I don't know whether it means that Jennifer is blindly optimistic, or that she is completely crazy. At least many reporters are very interested in using this question to test the director and the rest of the leading actors, to see how they start to twist around and do Tai Chi after being embarrassed.
As a matter of course, this news also caused a certain amount of repercussions among the six major Hollywood groups. Due to the difference in their relationship with Jennifer, their reactions were also inconsistent——
"2 billion to 3 billion?" Murdoch laughed angrily and amusedly on the phone, "Jim, you should control her, this girl must have been too excited at the time."
Picking up a newspaper and flicking it, the white-haired man said humorously, "Hey, but her biggest mistake is not here-the media are right, even if I am in a dream, I dare not think about it." Such a beautiful thing, from now on, I have one more thing to look forward to, and it is very likely to fail, which is really quite tortured and troubled.”
"3 billion?" Robert Iger's eyes widened, and his hand almost immediately grabbed the phone - but soon stopped in mid-air, and after a while, he pursed his lips and said After calming down, he shook his head and sighed, "Should I hope it will come true or not..."
"2 billion!" Sony's Michael Linton laughed loudly, "I think several old friends must be very anxious now. Maybe it's our luck that Sony failed to negotiate a cooperation."
"This girl is crazy." Warner's Jeff Robinoff murmured, "But I hope God can favor her again and fulfill her madness..."
He walked to the window and drew a sign of the cross casually on his body——Robin, a post-80s Shaolin abbot page, frowned: "It's impossible for her to utter such rhetoric without any purpose, and suddenly take the initiative to cause controversy , What is her purpose, is she setting up another trap?"
However, no matter what they think, these tycoons have not made any moves. In fact, they are all patiently waiting for the arrival of December 17-by then, the first day box office will be dusty. When it is settled, whether Jennifer has created another miracle, or whether she has fallen into the sand will be revealed, and they can still wait a week before that.
As for James Cameron, Jon Landau... these people who are rushing to promote the movie, why don't they pay close attention to this date? Even though they were traveling and the time difference was chaotic, they all made notes for this day in their own ways. The final result of a gamble worth 500 million U.S. dollars was about to be announced on this day. No one involved in this matter was excited , looking forward to, and afraid of being hurt?
At 5 a.m. on December 17th, East Coast time, and 2 a.m. on the West Coast, the market report on December 17 finally came to fruition. I don’t know how many people stayed up all night, paying attention to this short report. There was also a crisp exclamation in a nanny's car that had just driven out of the airport.
"29 million?" Jennifer Jefferson's voice was full of astonishment, she was already screaming, "My God—how could it be so low!"