Chapter 174: Impressed

In the early hours of the morning, the clamor of Los Angeles had quieted. The sprawling mansion was pitch black, save for a single light in the study indicating its owner was still awake.

Seated at his desk, Thomas Rothman felt no trace of sleepiness despite working through the night. Twentieth Century Fox was the North American distributor for Saving Private Ryan; the film's box office run would directly impact the studio's quarterly earnings. Judging by the revenue from Independence Day, Duke Rosenberg's latest project was even critical to their annual performance.

He checked the time. The midnight screenings for Saving Private Ryan on the West Coast should be wrapping up. The North American midnight box office figures would be released shortly, and someone would forward the data directly to him.

A soft knock sounded at the study door, and a middle-aged woman stepped inside.

"Still not sleeping?" she asked.

She walked over, made two cups of coffee, and handed one to her husband. "Are the numbers not in yet?"

"Not yet," Thomas said.

Seeing his wife sit down opposite him, Thomas said gently, "It's late. You should go back to bed."

His wife shook her head. "I'll wait with you."

Time seemed to crawl. Thomas's brow remained furrowed until the phone finally rang. He picked it up, murmured a few words, and a touch of joy finally showed on his face.

"The midnight figures?" his wife asked.

"They're here!"

Thomas nodded, but didn't elaborate. Instead, he turned to the cabinet behind him, pulled out a bottle of red wine and two glasses, and poured them each a drink.

"It looks like good news!"

Raising her glass to clink lightly against his, the middle-aged woman said, "You only drink this bottle when you're especially happy."

"6.23 million dollars!"

Setting down his glass, Thomas laughed. "And an A rating from ninety-six percent of the midnight audience!"

That figure wasn't quite as high as Independence Day, but the film's subject matter carried a natural disadvantage. More importantly, thanks to fierce competition from Braveheart, Saving Private Ryan had opened in a few hundred fewer theaters than Independence Day. Earning such a massive midnight box office under these conditions was enough to prove exactly how powerful Saving Private Ryan really was!

"Is that young director really that outstanding?" the middle-aged woman asked, sounding somewhat amazed.

"Even better than you can imagine!"

Thomas replied with absolute certainty. This might only be the midnight screening, but he had total confidence in the film, because it was a Duke Rosenberg production! That name was a guarantee of success! It was the ultimate box office safeguard for the Summer Season!

A dozen minutes later, Thomas and his wife returned to their bedroom. For the powerful CEO of Fox, it was an exceptionally peaceful night's sleep.

Inside a luxury suite at the Beverly Hills Hilton Hotel, Aerin Lauder had just woken up. Her first order of business was to have the day's newspapers sent up.

"Aren't we eager?" Anna teased.

Aerin handed over a tip, closed the door, and returned to the sofa with an armful of newspapers. "Because I absolutely love this movie."

She flipped through the papers. The entertainment front pages were practically plastered with reports on Saving Private Ryan and Braveheart. Aerin didn't care about non-American history, nor did she have any interest in Australian barbarians or whatever it was about, so she simply filtered out the news on the latter, locking her eyes solely on the coverage of Saving Private Ryan.

Being in Los Angeles, the first one she opened was a copy of the Los Angeles Times.

"Saving Private Ryan is a great war film. Its realistic battle scenes, magnificent sound effects, soul-stirring plot, and unique narrative style all deserve to be praised with the most glorious rhetoric..."

Tossing the paper aside, Aerin picked up a copy of her hometown's New York Times.

"This is the most realistic war film. This realism stems from realistic camera work and fluid editing. In the authentic atmosphere shaped by Duke Rosenberg, we feel the reality and brutality as if we were there! Aside from that, Saving Private Ryan also leaves endless room for reflection!"

Even though none of the major critics' columns mentioned the film, the news coverage was not lacking, nor were the entertainment reviews, and they basically leaned toward praise.

"Worth mentioning is the film's opening combat sequence. Director Duke Rosenberg perfectly displays his directorial talent in this scene. The meticulous audio and visual processing not only authentically recreates the blood and brutality of war, but also brilliantly conveys the psychology of the figures on the battlefield, delivering a tremendous shock. Calling it 'the most spectacular war sequence ever put to film' is no exaggeration."

Anna walked over, sat down next to her, and picked up one of the papers Aerin had tossed aside to flip through.

"Why are the critics only reviewing Braveheart?" Aerin asked, dropping her paper and propping her chin on her hand. "They're collectively ignoring Saving Private Ryan!"

"It's normal," Anna said without raising her head. "It's no secret that the critics don't like Duke, but attacking a film like Saving Private Ryan is a very troublesome thing. If I were a critic, I'd choose to ignore it too."

"It's not like there aren't critical voices," Aerin said, digging out another paper and showing it to Anna. "Some papers are criticizing this movie too."

"Oh?" Anna asked, her interest piqued.

The criticism wasn't aimed at the film's theme or the ideas it conveyed, but at other aspects. It seemed as if someone were deliberately targeting it.

A representative from the National Parent Teacher Association had attended the Premiere and publicly condemned the film for its excessive bloody and cruel scenes, arguing that the R-rated classification was not enough to stop mentally immature minors from entering theaters, and suspecting director Duke Rosenberg of intentionally glorifying violence.

There was also a Black organization in the Greater Los Angeles area arguing that the film deliberately ignored the contributions of minorities in World War II, suspecting it of racial discrimination...

"Suspected of racial discrimination?"

In the D-Day Studio, Duke was somewhat surprised to see this news. "Did these people get kicked in the head by a pig? Or do their brains really have less capacity than a normal person's?"

"Duke!"

Sofia Coppola tugged at him and reminded him quietly, "Watch what you say."

Sofia Coppola wasn't the only one here; Nancy Josephson and Penny Kalis were present as well. Duke also knew perfectly well that racial issues were an untouchable minefield. Even though he hadn't said anything substantive, he still shut his mouth.

However, everyone, including Duke and the seasoned publicist Penny Kalis, refused to take the Black organization's protest seriously.

First, this was Hollywood's basic rule of the game—white people dominated everything. Second, the film was historically accurate; the status of Black people had not yet seen significant improvement back then, and during WWII, Black soldiers were largely assigned to segregated units.

Compared to that, the protest from the National Parent Teacher Association representative was slightly more troublesome. While it certainly didn't represent the voice of the entire association, it could still cause a lot of negative fallout.

"Leave it to me," Penny Kalis volunteered. "I request your authorization, Duke. I'll convene a press conference regarding this matter as soon as possible."

"You have it!" Duke nodded, then turned to Charles Roven. "Are Paramount and CAA behind this?"

"Highly likely."

Having seen this kind of competition far too many times, Charles Roven remained completely calm. "We don't even need to investigate. Any negative news or hostile moves against Saving Private Ryan can be directly attributed to them."

"Alright then, Charles," Duke said without any hesitation. "Get in touch with the PR and marketing departments at Warner, Disney, and Fox. Push them to launch the post-release promotional plans, and make sure they invest enough resources."

He thought for a moment. "I remember Fox had people investigate Mel Gibson after I suggested it, and they dug up quite a bit. You can tell them to release it when the time is right."

Standing up and clapping his hands together, Duke said loudly, "Ladies and gentlemen, whether we win this competition depends on our actions over the next few days!"

From the reaction of some media, it was clear that Paramount Pictures and CAA were making their moves, but the D-Day Studio—temporarily spearheaded by Duke—and the co-production team were making theirs as well.

These moves weren't just about promoting their own film, but about doing everything possible to strike down the competition!

After parking her car, Sarah hurried through the corridor and into the Los Angeles Times editorial department. Due to work arrangements, she had missed yesterday's Premiere of Saving Private Ryan and had just finished catching up on it. The reason she was able to go watch a movie during work hours was entirely because she had the editor-in-chief's support; she was going to write a report on Saving Private Ryan.

Some media outlets were already discussing whether this rescue was worth it or not. As one of the Big Three Newspapers in America, if the Los Angeles Times made this topic a page focus, it would inevitably trigger a heated debate, thereby attracting even more attention to the movie.

Sitting down at her typewriter, Sarah realized she was going to take Duke Rosenberg's side yet again. Honestly, standing on the side of a winner felt exceptionally good.

Having seen the film and confirmed its quality, combined with the persuasiveness of Duke Rosenberg's past track record, Sarah hardly had to think about it; she was certain this would be an extremely successful film!

Meanwhile, seventeen-year-old Little Tyrese had just returned home, only to be met with the fierce gaze of his father, Old Tyrese. That very afternoon, ignoring his father's previous warnings, he had run off to the theater to watch Saving Private Ryan.

"Dad, I promise you, the movie absolutely isn't glorifying violence!" Little Tyrese swore to his father. "It's an incredibly moving war film, and the best war film. Those saying it's bloody and violent are clearly biased. I swear on the Tyrese Family honor, this is a movie worth watching over and over!"

Seeing his father hesitate, Little Tyrese continued, "Dad, the Braveheart you suggested watching is actually about a traitor and an informant, and it's about Scottish people who have absolutely nothing to do with us..."

After a brief argument, the Tyrese family changed their viewing choice, just like what had happened among many families and friends that afternoon. Much like the majority of audiences this weekend, they decided to go watch Saving Private Ryan.

More than ten miles from the Tyrese home, a dozen Black men had gathered together.