For the past two days, countless Americans had been glued to the "Maidgate" scandal surrounding Brad Pitt—eating it up with relish.
Even Harvey had to feel a bit grateful to Brad Pitt.
Thanks to the sheer popularity of "Maidgate," both his own "Peach Video" scandal and the whole "Divorcegate" affair had been pushed out of the headlines.
Maybe Brad Pitt was a good guy after all!
To which Brad could only respond: "I don't want to be the scapegoat here!!!"
It wasn't until November 7 that a new entertainment buzz finally overtook "Maidgate," allowing Brad Pitt to breathe a long-overdue sigh of relief.
That buzz? Harry Potter.
Los Angeles, TCL Chinese Theatre
The premiere of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was being held.
The "Golden Trio" once again stepped into the global spotlight.
Wherever they went, waves of cheers followed—ranging from elementary school kids to polished professionals. The earliest generation of Harry Potter fans had grown up, after all.
Yang Mi watched from the side, a little envious. How amazing would it be to have that kind of influence someday?
But the "Cho Chang" she played had a fanbase of her own. On the left side of the red carpet, a small group of Chinese fans and overseas Chinese students waved posters of Yang Mi and shouted her name with excitement.
Seeing them, her mood lifted in an instant.
So many fans… Whee!
"Yang Mi, look over here!"
"Yang Mi! Can I get your autograph?"
"Ahhh! Cho Chang is so beautiful!"
Beaming, Yang Mi picked up her skirt and hurried over to sign autographs, her smile as radiant as a blossom.
…
"...Before we filmed the Yule Ball scene, all us younger actors took group dance lessons. The art department went all out—they turned the entire Great Hall into a glittering winter wonderland of silver and snow. It was stunning... Oh, and the costume department worked incredibly hard too! They made all these fabulous gowns. Ron's vintage robes were—ha—something else..."
"...There's a scene where the champions dive underwater to fight creatures called Grindylows and save their friends. To shoot that, we worked closely with Robert [Pattinson], Stanislav Ianevski, and Clémence Poésy. We spent a lot of time learning to dive..."
"...Haha, when we were filming the cold war between Ron and Harry, Daniel and I actually had a bit of a fight beforehand to get into character. It worked great on camera..."
The "Golden Trio" was being interviewed on the red carpet.
Yang Mi also answered a question.
"Yes, I really like Cho Chang as a character—but as for dating Harry, I don't think it should've happened at that point in the story. From a narrative perspective, it was Cedric's death that motivated Cho to stand up against the Dark Lord. So in her sixth year, even against her parents' wishes, she joined Dumbledore's Army, led by Harry. That was when she truly fell for him.
In real life? Haha—we're just friends!"
…
Inside the theater, screams echoed through the audience.
Some younger children were so frightened, they started to cry.
This film wasn't like the first three—it wasn't an all-ages adventure anymore. Goblet of Fire was rated PG-13, meaning kids under 13 needed to be accompanied by an adult.
In fact, this was the turning point: the Harry Potter series began to grow darker and more mature.
Director Chris Columbus had stepped away from the franchise, and this installment was helmed entirely by a British director—Mike Newell.
And there was no doubting Newell's directing prowess.
Originally, Warner Bros. had wanted to split Goblet of Fire into two movies, released a few months apart.
But Newell insisted he could condense the novel's sprawling plot into a single, cohesive film. Martin believed in him—and supported that decision. (Well, how could he not? Newell directed it in the original timeline, too.)
In the end, Warner relented—and the film we now know as Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was born.
…
There was no question about the Harry Potter franchise's impact.
After the film's release, the North American box office soared. In less than ten days, it had grossed over $200 million—specifically, $225 million. Globally, it was approaching half a billion dollars.
On November 12, Time Warner transferred a hefty sum—$240 million—to Martin's account at JPMorgan Chase.
This was Martin's cut from last year's sales of Harry Potter merchandise.
Now, he was once again plagued by a familiar problem: How the hell am I supposed to spend all this money?
That same day, Mark Zuckerberg gave Martin a call.
"Martin, I have a great idea. I'd love to hear your thoughts."
Martin paused—then suddenly lit up.
Wait… is this it? Is this the Facebook moment?!
"Dude, it's hard to explain over the phone. Why don't we talk when I get back to campus?"
"Uh, sure. Sounds good."
Mark was a little puzzled. Why did Martin sound so excited?
Wait a second… I haven't even told him what the idea is yet?!
Mark had also been admitted to Harvard, majoring in psychology.
Strangely enough, while he wasn't quite as dazzling or gifted as Martin as a kid, he was still a bit of a prodigy.
He'd been fascinated by computers from a young age. He started programming when he was ten, and by high school, he was already coding games—like his own version of Risk.
As a high school sophomore, he received job offers from major IT companies, including Microsoft.
Microsoft even offered him a $950,000 salary.
And what did Mark do? He turned it down.
Not only did he reject the job, he chose to enroll at Harvard—and not even in computer science! He picked psychology instead.
Genius, as it turns out, often means doing things your own way.
Still, Mark never gave up on programming. Even at Harvard, he turned his dorm room into a mini startup incubator.
He roped in two roommates—Dustin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes—to help him build a website.
"Martin, what did he say?" asked Dustin, curly-haired and bespectacled, looking every bit the future CTO—just a younger, geekier version.
"He said he's coming to meet us," Mark said proudly. "Relax, Martin's been like a brother to me since we were kids. He'll take this seriously."
"Awesome! I heard he knows Mr. Obama," Chris Hughes chimed in, clapping his hands.
This future Facebook spokesperson was a huge Obama fan—and would one day become the online organizing director for Obama's 2008 presidential campaign.