Chapter 127: Retreat or Clash?

The report passed between Martin Bob and Sean Connery, leaving a chilling silence in the living room. Neither man wanted to see that number, yet both had known since yesterday that it was inevitable, even with so many competitors taking shots at the film.

The daily box office had topped $20 million for two consecutive days. While that fell short of breaking the $31.32 million single-day record set by Jurassic Park, its weekend momentum was clearly much stronger.

Friday brought in $22.54 million, Saturday $24.29 million, and Sunday $16.25 million. The three-day weekend total was $63.08 million!

Sean Connery's hand trembled as he held the statistical report. What did this number prove? It meant that even if his interference had affected Independence Day, the three million dollars he threw at the critics had essentially gone down the drain! Nothing he did could halt the young director's advance!

Martin Bob lowered his eyes to hide his bitter resentment behind a blank expression. The North American weekend box office record had belonged to Jurassic Park. It belonged to Spielberg. It belonged to CAA. And now it was simply handed over to Duke Rosenberg and Independence Day?

He didn't want to admit it, but Independence Day's opening weekend of $63.08 million completely obliterated the $47.02 million record set by CAA's top director, Spielberg, with Jurassic Park!

Lovett, that idiot!

A sudden surge of anger washed over Martin Bob. CAA hadn't just lost a director—they had lost a treasure capable of standing shoulder to shoulder with Spielberg in the future!

'If I were running CAA, the first thing I would do is find a way to strip that idiot of his partnership!'

Martin Bob couldn't suppress the thought. Paying no mind to the dark look on Sean Connery's face across from him, he abruptly excused himself and headed back to Century City.

Slam!

The moment the agent disappeared through the doorway, an exquisite ashtray crashed heavily against the floor. Then two large hands wildly ripped into the statistical report, shredding it into countless pieces between Sean Connery's fingers...

"Why did it turn out like this? Why did it turn out like this?"

Sean Connery's angry roar echoed through the living room like a lion's. "Jack, I'm going to kill him! I'm going to kill that bastard!"

Crash...

He flipped the entire coffee table over.

His publicist, Jack, merely stood off to the side. He naturally didn't take Connery's angry words to heart, simply letting him vent and waiting until he had somewhat composed himself before speaking.

"Sean, calm down!" he urged.

"Get more money ready, Jack. I want you to buy off the media." Sean Connery's mind was still clearly clouded by rage, not yet thinking straight. "I want all the media attacking Duke Rosenberg and his movie!"

"Wake up, Sean!" Jack finally yelled, then said, "You're rich, but can you buy off Time Warner and News Group's media? Independence Day is a movie financed by their subsidiaries! Going by the opening weekend box office, the profits it will generate far exceed your entire net worth!"

There was one more thing Jack held back: compared to someone skyrocketing like Duke Rosenberg, what did a washed-up actor like Sean Connery matter? In this commercial nation, from the media to the public, from individuals to companies, everyone was chasing winners. They all flattered those at the top and trampled those at the bottom!

"What should I do?" Sean Connery gradually calmed down. "Tell me, Jack, what should I do?"

"Sean, we made a mistake." Jack sighed. "We clearly overestimated the critics' influence on audiences. They couldn't even reach a third of what we projected, and three million dollars..."

With another heavy sigh, he continued, "Don't keep tangling with him for now, unless you want to retire."

"Retire?" Sean Connery immediately shook his head.

"Then accept Mel Gibson's invitation. Only by proving your value can you win back Hollywood's respect and gain the leverage to strike back."

These words applied to everyone in Hollywood, Duke included. This was an incredibly pragmatic circle, and anyone without value was doomed to be eliminated.

Monday morning, exactly as scheduled, Duke walked into the Warner Building, ready for his exclusive interview with Time Magazine.

"Hey, Duke..."

"Director Rosenberg..."

"Mr. Rosenberg..."

"Congratulations, Duke..."

From the moment he stepped into the building, the people he encountered—whether he knew them or not—all greeted him. Their smiles were absolutely brighter than the sun on Malibu Beach, and their enthusiasm was hotter than the July air. They offered nothing but heartfelt congratulations, or at least, it appeared that way on the surface.

Duke nodded or waved to these people, his demeanor not much different from usual. If there was any real difference, it was that the pressure brought by the massive investment had completely vanished with the release of the opening weekend box office.

Independence Day had carved a bloody path right out of the fierce encirclement of its competitors!

Of course, Duke wasn't arrogant enough to consider this a purely personal triumph. Teamwork guaranteed the film's quality, while Warner Brothers and Twentieth Century Fox were the keys to the movie's promotion!

The latter in particular possessed a massive platform; as long as there was high-quality content that met market demands, they could stimulate all of a product's potential.

Even Duke had to admit that if a standard summer blockbuster like Independence Day had been handled by a second- or third-tier company for promotion and distribution, it might not have completely flopped, but achieving this level of success would only exist in fantasy.

"Hey, Duke..."

Just as he reached Warner's press room, Duke saw Jeff Robinov. The man was clearly waiting specifically for him. Before Duke could say anything, the Warner Brothers executive directly pulled him into a hug.

"Our record-breaking director is here!" he announced to the surrounding crowd.

Crisp laughter rang out around them as the crowd ushered Duke into the press room, with words of praise constantly drifting over.

"Independence Day snatched the opening weekend box office record right back for Warner!"

"Jurassic Park's $47.02 million only raised the record set by Batman Returns by $1.5 million, but Duke widened the gap by $16 million!"

"The first film in cinematic history to break both fifty million and sixty million in its weekend box office..."

Even though he had set a historic cinematic record, Duke wasn't overly thrilled. The number of theater screens across North America was growing at a blistering pace. It wouldn't be long before Independence Day would be trampled underfoot by those who came after.

While Duke sat for his exclusive interview with Time Magazine, the columns of professional film critics were practically exploding in an uproar.

Despite fierce attacks from the critics, massive crowds had still flooded into theaters to watch the film Duke directed, and Independence Day had even secured a record-breaking weekend box office. This fact infuriated the critics, because their reviews had been overlooked, utterly ignored by the vast majority of movie fans.

This ironclad reality proved one thing: professional film critics were nowhere near as influential as they believed themselves to be. Furthermore, they certainly didn't possess the guiding role over the film industry's development that they clamored about.

Perhaps this was even more terrifying than being ignored by audiences, as it would directly impact their future profits. In particular, Duke's exclusive interview in the Los Angeles Times had directly exposed the critics as being all talk...

Thus, when the opening weekend box office came out, the critics' attacks finally escalated beyond the scope of the film.

"The worst film in history. Going to the theater to watch it will make you want to curse. What the hell did Duke Rosenberg even shoot?!"

"Looking at yourself in a mirror for two hours would be better than watching the movie Duke Rosenberg shot."

"Do not hold a shred of hope for the plot, do not bring a tiny bit of brain with you, and do not harbor any illusions about the action choreography and set design. That way, you will have a slight chance of enduring a Duke Rosenberg-style trash film."

The critics were like a group of cats whose tails Duke had just stepped on. Their fur stood on end, and sarcastic column reviews emerged one after another, all eager to slap the label of history's worst director onto him.

These reviews flooded so many media outlets that it was hard for anyone to ignore them. As long as they were utilized properly, turning this into a major social talking point wouldn't be difficult. Both Warner and Fox were titans of the media industry; since Warner could see the benefits of detonating the controversy, Fox wouldn't fail to understand the key to it either.

Leveraging every possible condition to promote their products and bring in more profit was the most basic capability of any commercial company.

"Did the interview go well?"

Right after leaving the press room, Duke saw Nancy Josephson. He shrugged and said, "It was nothing I couldn't handle."

The two declined Warner's invitation to stay. Chatting about some of the interview's content on their way out of the Warner Building, it wasn't until they were seated in Duke's Bentley that Nancy brought up another matter.

"Have you read today's papers?" she asked.

"I feel like I've become the public enemy of the critics," Duke said dismissively.

Hearing Duke's relaxed tone, Nancy felt relieved and said, "Fox also sent an invitation. They want to invite you onto Fox Television's late-night talk show."

"What's your opinion?" Duke asked, looking at the passenger seat.

"Since it's unavoidable, let's thoroughly escalate it. The bigger the momentum of this dispute, the more beneficial it is for us." Nancy thought for a moment. "The critics' anger isn't entirely unrelated to your comments in the Los Angeles Times. They've already resorted to personal attacks, so a counterattack is necessary."

Duke nodded.

Nancy continued, "The Time Magazine interview won't be published until next month at the earliest. Judging from the drop in yesterday's box office, the critics have still caused some impact on Independence Day. The faster our counterattack, the better."

It was true. Time Warner had prepared the cover of Time Magazine for Duke, and that kind of exclusive feature wouldn't be published in the same month!

"It's not just the Fox talk show," Nancy said, handing over two invitations. "I just received Oprah's invitation."

Duke didn't know much about talk shows, but he knew that Oprah's talk show seemed to be world-famous.

"I suggest choosing Fox and dropping Oprah." Nancy's words came as a surprise to him.

"Why?" Duke asked, puzzled.