Chapter 297: Charlatan

For a high-quality film to become a massive hit, it needed complementary marketing. For that marketing to meet or exceed expectations, it had to be targeted. Simply put, they needed to figure out the film's core audience and devise a promotional strategy that would actually reach them.

Therefore, throughout the early stages of a film's release, the various surveys and feedback loops never stopped.

Ignoring The Matrix's IMDB rating—which had practically been overrun by paid online shills—the audience approval ratings released by relevant polling agencies after the three-day opening weekend held steady at around ninety percent. There was absolutely nothing to worry about on that front.

Detailed demographic surveys showed that The Matrix's mainstream audience gave the film high praise simply because it was extremely cool.

At the same time, there was another demographic: those who loved analyzing a film's details, even drawing conclusions that the writers and directors had never thought of. This group existed in significant numbers and often served as the most vocal contributors on major film forums.

So, while resting on Sunday, Duke had a phone call with Jamie Jensen, the head of Warner Brothers' marketing department. Soon after, various interpretations of The Matrix began surfacing across the internet and traditional media.

Articles like "The Details You Missed in The Matrix," "Director Duke's Deep Lore for The Matrix," "The Matrix and Christianity," "The Matrix's Interpretation of Eastern Buddhism," and "The Matrix: The Opposition and Complement of World Rules" could frequently be seen online and in print.

Some of these were specifically written by ghostwriters hired by Warner and Duke, basing their work on the film. But the vast majority were penned by moviegoers whose imaginations had run wild after being gently guided in the right direction.

These articles were unlikely to sway potential viewers who hadn't yet seen The Matrix, but they were an excellent way to coax audiences who had already watched it back into theaters to search for new details and answers.

Outstanding films never lacked fan interpretations. But as to who actually penned the many seemingly sincere analyses published while a movie was in theaters, even Duke, who could be considered a relatively veteran Hollywood director, couldn't say for sure.

Perhaps one phrase best described the interpretations of films like The Matrix: marketing was everywhere!

The Matrix had ramped up its promotional offensive, and the upcoming Godzilla was no exception.

Inside the Sony Columbia Pictures headquarters on West Washington Boulevard in Culver City, Michael Ovitz walked straight into Shinobu Ohga's office as if the place were empty. After giving the man a nod, he sat down in the chair opposite him.

Neither Ovitz nor Ohga looked particularly pleased.

"Is Jean Reno's trouble sorted out?" Ohga asked.

"It's handled," Michael Ovitz said. He took the water delivered by the secretary, took a sip to calm his slightly ragged breathing, and added, "After we paid some money, the other party dropped the charges against Jean Reno."

His brows remained locked in a frown. "Warner's media outlets are still refusing to let it go."

Ohga was something of an America expert; otherwise, he wouldn't be sitting in such a high position at Columbia Pictures.

"The Matrix and Godzilla are going to clash this weekend," he said. "Warner Brothers definitely won't pass up the chance to hit us."

At this, both Ohga's and Michael Ovitz's expressions tightened.

"Is Duke Rosenberg's film really unstoppable?" Ohga couldn't help but ask. "We and DreamWorks exerted so much pressure and stirred up so much negative press, yet The Matrix just keeps rising!"

"I believe that without our suppression and attacks, The Matrix's opening weekend box office would have been even higher!"

Tapping his fingers lightly against the armrest of his chair, Michael Ovitz recalled the numbers. "$18.67 million on Friday, $19.97 million on Saturday, and $15.44 million on Sunday. $54.08 million for its three-day opening weekend! That opening weekend box office ranks second among R-Rated Films!"

The force of his fingers tapping against the armrest gradually increased. "And if we hadn't intervened? The Matrix absolutely would have broken his own $59.24 million opening weekend record for an R-Rated Film, which he set with Saving Private Ryan!"

Ohga fell silent. They had pulled so many strings and nearly pushed the competition to a white-hot fever pitch, yet the results were still too negligible.

Ohga felt a particular sense of powerlessness whenever he thought about the performance of the other films released that same weekend.

Deep Impact's second-weekend box office had plunged by over fifty percent, taking in only $11.2 million. Two weeks into its run, it had only grossed $48.59 million. Compared to the film's massive budget, it couldn't be considered a success at all.

Taxi earned a mere $220,000 over three days, and was outright axed by the North American Theater Alliance the moment the weekend ended...

The lackluster performance of concurrent releases directly led to a massive surge in theaters showing The Matrix across North America starting that Monday—reaching 3,312 locations, pushing its screen share over sixty percent in one fell swoop!

If it were just a simple popcorn flick, Ohga wouldn't have been worried. But the film's audience reception remained sky-high, even setting off a massive craze across North America. Starting yesterday, one could walk down the street and see people wearing black trench coats and dark sunglasses almost everywhere. These people were obviously fans of The Matrix.

Sony Columbia Pictures was also worried about The Matrix's merchandise. In just three days over the weekend, merchandise alone pulled in $24 million—a figure second only to the two Jurassic Park films in recent years. Putting aside whether this massive merchandising boom would affect the upcoming Godzilla products, the sheer promotional boost this merchandise gave to the film's box office couldn't be ignored.

Box office success drove merchandise sales, and massive merchandise sales fed right back into the box office. The most typical example: when someone who hadn't heard of The Matrix saw those bizarre outfits, they would inevitably wonder what they were, then ask around to find out. Driven by curiosity, a portion of those people would inevitably become potential moviegoers.

Despite his total confidence in Godzilla, Ohga knew that for Godzilla to succeed, it had to weather the shockwave of The Matrix's second-weekend box office. Judging by the latter's persistently high audience ratings, that shockwave would not be small!

Ohga sat in silence. Michael Ovitz was silent as well.

The Matrix's box office haul—far exceeding the outside world's $35 million opening weekend estimates—made him genuinely feel the pressure. He had studied the box office trends of Duke's films; none of them suffered massive second-weekend drops. From The Rock to Chicago, the box office legs during their first few weeks were not only stable but often remarkably dominant...

They had to find a way to suppress The Matrix's fiery momentum.

This was the very problem Michael Ovitz had been pondering on his way over.

While Michael Ovitz and Ohga huddled together, quietly discussing countermeasures, the staff involved in The Matrix's marketing and distribution inside the Warner Building in Burbank City were practically beaming. The massive opening weekend box office virtually guaranteed the film's success, which meant hefty bonuses were waiting for all of them.

"$54.08 million, beating our estimates by nearly $20 million!"

Inside the Warner Brothers CEO's office, the head of distribution, Doug Walter, was smiling brighter than the California sun.

"Duke is Duke. The King of the Summer Season never disappoints when he makes a move," he said. "With Duke on our side, we can definitely snatch up even more market share."

Jeff Robinov opened a bottle of red wine and poured some into two glasses. After Doug Walter picked one up, he raised his glass toward him.

"To the King of the Summer Season's renewed success!" Jeff said.

"To Duke!" Doug Walter drained his wine and added, "Duke is sick and can't participate in the promotional tour."

"The film's fiery momentum is already in motion. Whether Duke participates or not won't have much of an impact," Jeff replied.

Setting his glass down, Jeff Robinov thought for a moment.

"Tonight, let's head to Malibu to check on Duke," he said.

"We definitely should!" Doug Walter said matter-of-factly. "I think every top executive at Warner Brothers ought to pay a visit to Duke Manor in Malibu."

Jeff Robinov laughed. "Even though Duke loves creating explosions on screen, he doesn't like his personal life being too chaotic."

Doug Walter nodded in understanding. "Then just the two of us will go."

Tucking the wine and the bottle away behind the office bar, Jeff Robinov spoke again.

"You know, my greatest regret and my greatest stroke of luck both involve Duke," he said.

As an excellent subordinate, listening attentively to one's boss was a necessary quality. Doug Walter immediately put on a look of curiosity.

"Duke coming to me with the Speed project, only for me to reject it, is my greatest regret," Jeff Robinov said. He seemed to be reminiscing about the past, his words full of emotion. "Later, overruling the dissenting voices within the company to strongly back Warner Brothers' collaboration with Duke on The Rock was my greatest stroke of luck."

This wasn't exactly a secret. Doug Walter knew full well that after the previous CEO stepped down, Jeff Robinov had been able to seize the CEO throne largely because his full-throated push to collaborate with Duke on The Rock and Independence Day had achieved massive success. It was his most crucial political capital.

In fact, from his perspective, if it hadn't been for that partnership with Duke Rosenberg, the person sitting in the Warner Brothers CEO's chair today definitely wouldn't be Jeff Robinov.

The moment quitting time arrived, Doug Walter and Jeff Robinov got into a car and left Burbank, rushing toward Duke Manor by the sea in Malibu.

Back over in Culver City, Michael Ovitz's RV had just pulled onto West Washington Boulevard when the assistant in the passenger seat turned around and handed Ovitz a newspaper.

"This is a local San Francisco paper," the assistant explained briefly. "It only circulates in the California area. There's a piece of news regarding The Matrix on the second page of the entertainment section. I think you'll be interested."

Michael Ovitz flipped through the paper and found the news report his assistant mentioned. After reading just two lines, his eyes instantly lit up.

"Find someone to verify this immediately. I need to confirm whether it's true or false. Also, get me in touch with the editors-in-chief of our closely affiliated media outlets!" Ovitz ordered.