Chapter 122: It Will Never Succeed

"Is Duke Rosenberg a sadist?" This was the striking headline Sean Connery saw in Roger Ebert's film review column after opening the Chicago Sun-Times, and it brought him an inexplicable sense of satisfaction.

"I watched Independence Day at a midnight screening last night. Unable to endure the torture of the noise and explosions, I had to leave early. This movie completely exceeds the limits of human endurance. The plot is mediocre, the climax is cheap, the plot holes are endless, and the logic is a mess. I hate, hate, hate, hate it..."

In his lengthy review, Roger Ebert not only trashed Independence Day relentlessly, but he also gave it a thumbs-down—the hallmark of a terrible film—and awarded it an abysmal 2 out of 10!

After reading Roger Ebert's review, even knowing his $500,000 had played a part, Sean Connery's mood improved considerably. He went on to open more newspapers.

"Duke Rosenberg is an absolute demon. He can destroy an audience's most beautiful impressions of cinema. His work never cares about your soul; it only cares about your wallet. The humans in Independence Day saved Earth, but they couldn't save this trash film!"

David Denby of The New Yorker relentlessly mocked Independence Day, giving the film a pitiful 1 out of 10. Todd McCarthy of the Hollywood Reporter was slightly kinder, scoring it a 3.5!

"For most of its runtime, Independence Day tests the audience's patience with flimsy dialogue and glib clichés. As punishment, everyone involved in this film, including director Duke Rosenberg, should be forced to do community service!"

Likewise, critics from other media outlets showed no intention of letting the film off the hook.

"Before watching a Duke Rosenberg film, you must take motion sickness pills. Independence Day is filled with tedious explosions and noise. Of course, for director Duke Rosenberg, not blowing up a major city center in the very first act might be considered exercising great restraint!"

By comparison, Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times was rather polite. Although his 5-point score didn't even reach a passing grade, it was the highest rating given by any top-tier critic.

"Independence Day is a small step for sci-fi action films, but a giant leap into the abyss of stupidity!"

—Chicago Tribune

"What is the worst film of the Summer Season? The answer is obvious—Independence Day!"

—The Village Voice

"In Independence Day, director Duke Rosenberg turns all of his actors into mindless robots. There is one thing you must praise Duke Rosenberg for—he has the ability to drag outstanding actors down to his own level!"

—Rolling Stone

"There are plenty of moments to pee during this movie, and the piss you take is guaranteed to flow more smoothly than any dialogue in this two-plus-hour film!"

—USA Today

"It's not that Hollywood lacks directors who like playing with explosions, but there is no one like Duke Rosenberg, who is an absolute explosion fanatic. Other directors use eighty percent plot and twenty percent action and explosions. Independence Day, however, is twenty percent plot and eighty percent action and explosions. Even if you miss this kind of movie, you won't have any regrets!"

—New York Times

"Noisy," "stupid," "evil," "unbearable," "hopeless garbage disposal"... the film critics of North America threw all sorts of vicious words at Independence Day.

Reading these reviews, Sean Connery revealed his brightest smile in nearly a year. Meanwhile, another person, also in Beverly Hills, was smiling just as radiantly.

"Absolutely brilliant reviews."

In his garden, Tom Cruise set the newspaper down and looked at his publicist. "Riles, keep in touch with that vampire. I want him to target Duke Rosenberg every so often!"

"That is part of the agreement," the publicist nodded. "Roger Ebert's reputation for delivering when paid is still reliable."

Thinking for a moment, Riles deliberately warned him, "Tom, you are a huge star in front of the camera. There is no need for you to trade mud with a director who hides behind the scenes. It's a terrible trade-off. Besides, you two don't have any direct competition this time. Making casual public comments will only bring negative repercussions."

"I understand."

Although he wanted to do something personally, Tom Cruise was no fool. As long as someone was beside him to remind him, he knew exactly what he should and shouldn't do.

He only wanted to see Duke Rosenberg suffer; he didn't want to get dragged down with him.

With critics unleashing such a massive wave of negative reviews, Warner Brothers and Twentieth Century Fox were bound to take notice. Duke only got to relax for the morning before hurrying to the Independence Day Studio in Burbank, where the studio and the production and distribution companies were holding a special meeting about the situation.

"Wait here."

Leading Scarlett Johansson into his office, Duke tossed her two DC comics and instructed, "Don't run around, or I'm taking you home tonight."

"Are you going to discuss how to deal with those bad guys?" Scarlett asked, taking the comics and looking up at him.

"You know quite a bit, don't you?" Duke chuckled.

"You're my brother..." She wrinkled her nose and pumped her little fist. "Of course I care about you! Duke, beat those bad guys to a pulp!"

Nodding, Duke affectionately ruffled the little girl's blonde hair before turning and leaving the office. He walked into the adjacent conference room, which was already full of people. Once Jeff Robinov representing Warner Brothers and Tim Fisher representing Twentieth Century Fox arrived, a brief meeting quickly commenced.

"The audience word-of-mouth, our current theater attendance rates, and the estimated box office figures have all exceeded our expectations."

There were no long, rambling speeches. The meeting cut straight to the point, with first unit production manager Charles Roven speaking up first. "However, the professional word-of-mouth for Independence Day has run into major trouble. Professional film critics are almost unanimously bashing our movie. According to current statistics, our composite critic score is sitting at just 3.8!"

Following Roven's words, the conference room fell into a brief silence. Critic reviews certainly weren't the deciding factor for the success or failure of a commercial Summer Season blockbuster—historically, professional reviews mainly served as promotional hype. Yet no one could deny that top critics, including Roger Ebert, could sway a certain demographic of audiences. This was very likely to impact Independence Day's future box office trajectory.

A few top critics bashing a movie might not have much of an effect, as there would typically be other critics waving the flag in support. But now, with all the top critics speaking out together, even Duke—who despised them the most—had to take it seriously.

"According to the information we've received..."

Everyone in this room and the companies they represented were now bound by shared interests, and Tim Fisher shared the intel directly. "Someone is running a PR campaign behind the scenes, and they are specifically targeting Independence Day..."

At this point, he turned to look in Duke's direction. "...Or rather, Duke."

Duke offered him a faint smile, completely unconcerned. Their interests were tightly bound together; going after him and Independence Day meant going after Warner Brothers and Twentieth Century Fox's slice of the pie.

Tim Fisher and Jeff Robinov understood this as well and had no intention of dwelling on it. The key issue now was how to respond and minimize the negative noise generated by the critics.

"Our PR departments need to take action..."

"Warn those critics, and revoke their press screening privileges if necessary..."

Listening to the responses rolling in, Duke remained silent. Perhaps in terms of professional expertise, he fell far short of many seated in the room, but when it came to understanding movies with terrible reviews and sky-high box office numbers, everyone here combined probably didn't know as much as he did.

The original Independence Day had been a classic example of incredibly low critical acclaim coupled with incredibly high box office returns. In the new century to come, films like that would emerge one after another. If this were ten years from now, negative reviews from critics wouldn't matter in the slightest. Even if they collectively spoke out, an army of paid online shills alone could drown them out...

In this current era, where the internet was still underdeveloped and information wasn't yet flowing freely, the influence of critics was definitely much greater than it would be in the future. However, back when Duke suggested that Warner Brothers exclude critics from test screenings, he had actually anticipated this exact situation and prepared for it. His method wouldn't seem extraordinary in the future, but right now, while critics' voices were still loud enough, it was absolutely something no other director would casually dare to try.

"The critics' backlash isn't necessarily a bad thing."

Just as the conference room began to fall silent again, Duke abruptly spoke up. "In fact, it's something we can exploit and hype up!"

Before anyone could interject, he looked to his side. "Charles, do we have demographics on the audience age groups?"

"We have data from the midnight screenings and the morning shows." Charles Roven flipped through the documents in front of him, then said, "According to the statistics, Independence Day's audience is primarily between the ages of 15 and 35, with the 17 to 25 demographic making up sixty-seven percent of the viewers!"

"Which means the 17 to 25 demographic is the mainstream audience for Independence Day!" Duke looked around and continued, "Do you all understand how people in this age bracket think? I'm 24 this year, still right in this stage. I think I have a pretty good understanding of today's youth."

Everyone looked over at him. Duke had no intention of keeping them in suspense and said directly, "This is the most rebellious phase. They don't believe in any authority, and they always question authoritative opinions. It is also a very curious phase. They are full of interest in new things, possess an adventurous spirit willing to try anything, and often have the determination to follow through..."

"In reality, this is also the demographic that critics have the hardest time influencing!"

His voice gradually slowed, yet his words rang exceptionally clear and loud. "The critics are attacking us from a professional standpoint! We can strike back directly using a different method. Fans lack a channel to make their voices heard. Why don't we put the voices of fans who love Independence Day right there in the mainstream media?"