Chapter 168: The Worst Director

"Freedom!" On the television, a savage-looking William Wallace let out a soul-shaking roar. Yet this slogan—one of the most resonant in North America—failed to strike a chord with the young men sitting in front of the screen. Two of them even curled their lips in disdain.

"Everyone knows the importance of freedom. He certainly shouts it loud enough."

The young man named Christensen was highly dismissive of the movie trailer playing on the television. "A traitor and an informer screaming for freedom. Is there anything more ridiculous?"

"Exactly. I read the media reports and made a special trip to the library to look it up."

The bespectacled young man, Evans, slightly raised his voice. "Numerous historical records show that William Wallace was a deeply disgraceful figure. He was a traitor!"

"I absolutely hate traitors like that!" someone chimed in.

Just as Hollywood movies often portrayed, informers never came to a good end, regardless of their motives. In the mainstream culture of this land, traitors and informers were deeply despised.

They switched the channel to ABC. Unlike the earlier movie trailer, this was a historical analysis program covering medieval Scotland. It prominently featured William Wallace, who, historically, was certainly no positive figure.

More notably, the network had brought in an expert.

"See that? That's Professor Smith from Yale University, a specialist in British history," Evans said, seemingly familiar with the man. "He's an academic authority. Hear what he just said? William Wallace was a traitor!"

"Who cares who William Wallace was!"

Atkinson, who had been silent until now, abruptly turned off the television. "What does European history have to do with us?" he said carelessly. "To hell with William Wallace!"

"Yeah, exactly," Christensen agreed. "It's not like we planned to watch a movie about Europeans anyway."

Not too far away, a family sat gathered around their television, watching a program on Viacom's CBS Television.

"Although Saving Private Ryan is R-rated by the MPAA, the National Parent Teacher Association urges parents nationwide not to take their underage children to see this film, as its bloody and cruel scenes..."

As the television program continued to play, the head of the household, Tyrese, turned to his wife. "Honey, this film isn't suitable for us to watch as a family."

Before his wife could answer, their seventeen-year-old son, Little Tyrese, interrupted with clear dissatisfaction. "Dad, this is a Duke Rosenberg movie! It's a guarantee of awesomeness! Think about Independence Day last year..."

"Sorry," Tyrese said, shaking his head firmly. "Judging from what the media is reporting, this movie isn't suitable for you!"

The media industry could guide public opinion and influence the masses. This remained incredibly obvious even in the age of the internet explosion, let alone now, during the golden age of traditional media.

The Summer Season had already raised its curtain, and promotional campaigns were entering their final sprint. Like all competing films, both Braveheart and Saving Private Ryan endlessly smeared their rivals while promoting themselves to win over more potential viewers.

No one could deny one simple fact: the middle and lower-income classes were the main driving force behind Hollywood box office numbers. Even though movies were a relatively cheap form of entertainment, in a nation heavily burdened by debt, even the middle class had a strict limit on their monthly entertainment budget. A person who paid to see one movie during this period was very likely not going to pay for another.

Every viewer who walked into a competitor's theater represented a loss in their own box office figures.

The competition extended far beyond mere publicity.

As AMG's chief film selection expert, Lynch had been fielding nonstop calls from several studios ever since he attended the test screenings for Braveheart and Saving Private Ryan. Paramount Pictures wanted to secure more theaters for Braveheart while simultaneously squeezing the release scale of Saving Private Ryan. Warner Brothers and Twentieth Century Fox harbored the exact same goal, only their target was to squeeze their competitor, Braveheart.

"Lynch, where do you think we should tilt our resources?"

Sitting opposite Lynch was Paul, the head of AMG's distribution department, who held massive sway over theater allocations. "Both sides are putting pressure on us right now."

"Paul, let's cast aside the subject matter, and let's set aside the actors' box office appeal," Lynch said.

When it came to a matter that directly impacted his future earnings, Lynch didn't hesitate for a second. "Let's just talk about the directors! What has Duke Rosenberg delivered over the past three Summer Seasons? And what about Mel Gibson? I believe you know better than I do just how crucial a director is to a film!"

Paul considered this for a moment and gave a slight nod. The theater chain's resources were limited. With two massive productions premiering at the same time, they inevitably had to favor one over the other. Right now, the test screening audience reception and the theater representatives' internal ratings for both films were neck and neck. That made the directors' past track records the perfect deciding factor. Duke Rosenberg's Independence Day had brought the theater chains a massive windfall just last year.

Even though he had just attended a reception party hosted by CAA, Paul could only apologize when it came to his own job and performance metrics. Besides, Duke Rosenberg's agency, ICM, had also hosted their own reception, so no one could really complain.

The female models and actresses CAA had brought to their party were certainly beautiful, but not tempting enough for him to risk his job. Paul knew very well that if he got fired over poor performance, he would have to kiss these PR parties goodbye forever. Beautiful women were everywhere, and it wasn't like they were Sophie Marceau!

Then again, the Sophie Marceau he had seen at the party had been truly stunning. It was no wonder the European media dubbed her the darling of French men. If only...

Shaking his head, Paul abandoned the thought. Famous actresses were not easily manipulated, and without offering any substantial benefits, getting close to them was far too difficult.

In the City of Angels, Los Angeles, Paramount Pictures—the only major studio still geographically located in Hollywood proper—was making its final pre-release preparations for Braveheart.

"The prints are in place."

"CAA has stated they will fully cooperate with our post-release promotional plans..."

In the conference room, one piece of good news after another was reported to CEO Sherry Lansing. However, the next words out of the distribution director's mouth cast a shadow over the room.

"Braveheart only secured 2,203 theaters for its opening weekend! The theater alliance refuses to invest any more resources!"

Sherry Lansing's expression darkened, though she asked in a steady tone, "What about Saving Private Ryan?"

"2,542 theaters!"

The moment those words were spoken, the atmosphere in the room grew heavier. Braveheart hadn't even officially premiered yet, and it was already falling behind.

"There's more..." the distribution director added. "We've negotiated through multiple channels, but the British are standing firm. They refuse to allow Braveheart to enter the British market anytime soon."

"They're interfering with free trade!" someone said angrily.

Shooting a cold glance in that direction, the distribution director continued. "Britain isn't outright rejecting the film; they're just delaying its release, which doesn't violate any trade agreements between the US and the UK! Furthermore, rumor has it that 10 Downing Street is pulling strings behind the scenes!"

The person who had just spoken obediently shut his mouth. Although both were capitalist nations, if 10 Downing Street wanted to quietly intervene, no one could ignore their power. Besides, the film's subject matter was bound to severely irritate the bigwigs at 10 Downing Street.

"Keep pushing the PR in Britain. We cannot afford to give up such an important market," Sherry Lansing said, her brows furrowed tightly. "Ramp up the promotional efforts in North America. As long as the film performs well enough at the box office, securing additional theaters down the line won't be an issue."

"What about Saving Private Ryan?"

"Keep suppressing it. I will ask the conglomerate for help and mobilize more resources." Sherry Lansing paused to think for a moment before turning to the heads of the PR and publicity departments. "Didn't CAA draw up a post-release promotional plan targeting Saving Private Ryan? We will support and cooperate with them."

As long as they could drag down the box office numbers for Saving Private Ryan, these competitive tactics were merely a minor matter.

Likewise, if Saving Private Ryan wanted its box office to explode, it had to squeeze out the breathing room of other films in the same release window. Twentieth Century Fox's PR and publicity departments hadn't been sitting idle, either.

They were contacting the media and theater chains, provoking people's sensitive nerves, leveraging News Corporation's channels to covertly collude with the British, and utilizing maneuvers in the overseas market to fracture Paramount Pictures' promotional strength in North America.

The fact that Braveheart's North American theater count was firmly suppressed by Saving Private Ryan wasn't just due to its subject matter, actors, and director; it was equally tied to Paramount Pictures having its PR resources split by the situation in Britain.

This omnipresent rivalry clearly demonstrated the absolute brutality of the North American film industry's most important release window—the Summer Season.

It went even further than that. In the lead-up to the premieres, both sides engaged in clashes, both open and covert, over everything from the premiere theaters to the guest lists.

First, news broke that Saving Private Ryan was set to host its premiere at the Shrine Civic Auditorium, but Paramount Pictures stepped in and snatched away the venue's booking for that day.

Next came the guest lists. The stars managed by the two rival talent agencies, ICM and CAA, naturally became the top choices for invitations.

However, CAA had to face another harsh reality: their internal divisions were massive. Tom Hanks and Eno Martin had successfully invited quite a few CAA stars to support CAA's ostensible rivals...

CAA's internal conflicts were gradually spilling into the public eye, while the competition between the two movies had already become completely public.

Ultimately, Saving Private Ryan was locked in to hold its premiere at the Hollywood Chinese Theater. As the two massive Summer Season productions approached the moment of their official clash, everyone in North America—from fans to film critics, from the media to Hollywood insiders—kept a close eye on this fierce competition.

Duke had never feared competition. He was already poised and ready, just waiting for his soldiers to smash through every obstacle and storm the beachhead of the North American theaters.