Chapter 550: A Sea of Negative Reviews

However, the backlash on Friday was only the beginning. When the first-day North American box office figures for Flyboys reached Larry Ellison, who had been following them closely, even someone as arrogant as he was understood that David Ellison's Hollywood career was off to a disastrous start.

An opening day of $4.12 million could hardly be considered outstanding by any measure.

Though an outsider to the film industry, Larry Ellison knew full well that such numbers stood no chance of dominating the charts.

"Mr. Ellison..."

Standing across the desk, the secretary watched her boss's changing expression and managed to maintain her composure. The founder of Oracle was not known for his restraint.

Larry Ellison briefly glanced over the box office figures for Flyboys before looking up.

"What about the box office for Batman Begins?" he asked.

During the New York premiere, he had made bold claims in front of Duke Rosenberg. Although he was used to shrugging off his empty boasts and rarely felt anything akin to embarrassment, a crushing defeat would still be a bad look.

Knowing her boss's temperament, the secretary didn't hesitate.

"Batman Begins brought in $12.13 million yesterday, making it the daily box office champion in North America," she said.

"An eight-million-dollar difference?"

Larry Ellison frowned slightly. The gap between the two was simply too large; the next time he ran into Duke Rosenberg, it would be rather humiliating.

That thought only circled in his head for a moment before he tossed it aside. A man in his position wouldn't lose his composure over a single failure.

Besides, the box office figures of two movies were nothing in his eyes.

His only regret was that his son, whom he had always considered a genius, was likely facing a severe setback right at the start of his career.

But this wasn't entirely a bad thing. Failure was a rare and valuable lesson.

Of course, no one wanted to taste failure, and David Ellison was no exception.

Inside a luxurious mansion in Beverly Hills, David Ellison sat on the living room sofa without saying a word. Megan Ellison looked at the statistical reports sent over by Walt Disney, then glanced at her brother's expression. She smartly refrained from mocking him.

Although he had grown up accustomed to astronomical numbers, and even a total box office flop wouldn't cripple him financially, he wasn't as worldly as Larry Ellison. Remembering his overflowing confidence and looking at the first-day numbers right in front of him, how could he possibly be happy?

Yes, Flyboys might still have a chance to turn things around. But David Ellison had attended the USC Film School and had deeply studied the Hollywood film industry over the past two years; he knew the odds of a comeback were incredibly slim.

Moreover... why would Duke Rosenberg just sit back and let him bounce back?

Rising from his chair, David Ellison paced back and forth across the living room.

"Is there really no one who can go up against Duke Rosenberg and his work during the summer season?" he murmured.

Those words reached Megan Ellison's ears. She blinked and thought for a moment.

Counting on her fingers, she said, "It seems that really is the case. Robert Zemeckis, Michael Bay, Steven Spielberg, Mel Gibson, Anthony Minghella, Ridley Scott..."

She rattled off a string of famous directors' names.

"All of them have lost in direct confrontations with Duke Rosenberg," she concluded. "So, your movie failing is completely normal."

"Completely normal?" David Ellison was so furious his hair nearly stood on end. "Why can't I win just once?"

Megan Ellison shrugged, acting as if she hadn't been the one arguing with Scarlett Johansson a while back.

"Because he's Duke Rosenberg," she stated as a matter of fact. "He's the explosion maniac, the king of the summer season, the number one man in Hollywood commercial cinema!"

David Ellison's face instantly turned dark. He glared fiercely at his younger sister but couldn't utter a single word of rebuttal, because the data was sitting right in front of him.

If Flyboys had won, he could have run over to Duke Rosenberg to mock and show off. But now he was the loser, and even facing his underage sister, he had no argument to make.

What could he use to argue back? The $4.12 million opening day gross?

According to estimates from Michael Ovitz, Walt Disney, and himself, the opening weekend box office for Flyboys was supposed to be around $40 million. That meant the first day's gross had to exceed $10 million at the very least!

Yet the actual data wasn't even half of that estimate. Furthermore, judging by the current audience word-of-mouth, whether the opening weekend could even break $15 million was in question.

The film had failed at the box office. If the audience reception were good enough, they could still turn a profit through downstream ancillary revenues. However, the word-of-mouth for Flyboys was even more disastrous than its first-day numbers.

The CinemaScore audience approval rating had slipped below fifty percent, sitting at a pitiful forty-three percent. With an average audience grade of C and an IMDB rating of 5.6, it could practically be categorized as a terrible movie.

One had to remember, the movie had only been out for a single day. According to standard patterns, as the release continued, all those ratings would only drop further.

Then, looking at the competitor, Batman Begins had been playing for over a week. Its CinemaScore approval rating remained above eighty-five percent. Even though its audience score had slipped slightly, it was still an A, and its IMDB rating sat at an impressive 8.6!

Audience word-of-mouth represented more than just simple numbers; it dictated the film's staying power!

Sitting back in his chair, David Ellison pinched his forehead hard, trying not to let his inner depression show on his face. Say what you will, he was still a billionaire. Even if it was inherited wealth, he was still among the richest people in North America, right?

Megan Ellison teased her brother a bit more before stopping. Regardless of what that Scarlett Johansson said, she still knew whose side she was on.

David Ellison was still pondering the movie; after all, this was the start of his career.

Poor box office and terrible word-of-mouth didn't necessarily mean the end of the world for a movie. He knew this very well. Many films that swept through the awards season had dismal box office runs and were largely ignored by the market and mainstream audiences. After succeeding in the awards season, they could still recover their costs and even turn a profit.

'Can Flyboys accomplish anything during the awards season?' David Ellison couldn't help but ask himself.

No one answered him. But he quickly shook his head.

The reason was simple: the audience word-of-mouth for Flyboys was equally horrendous!

Everyone in Hollywood knew that Duke Rosenberg was heavily criticized by professional film critics. Sometimes, the reviews of his films could only be described as viciously abusive. Take Batman Begins, for example. The average critic score was 6.5, and its Rotten Tomatoes freshness rating was only sixty-three percent. Its professional reputation was truly mediocre.

But the professional reputation of Flyboys was even worse. David Ellison's eyes swept over that statistical report once again. It held an average professional critic score of 5.1 and a Rotten Tomatoes freshness rating of forty-two percent. His movie truly appealed neither to the critics nor the audience.

Even if a fortune were spent on public relations, a film like this stood zero chance of achieving anything if tossed into the awards season.

"Logically speaking, David Ellison is your rival. Professional film critics don't like you either, so they should be supporting Flyboys."

Inside the villa at Duke Manor, Scarlett Johansson was playing with a tea set, eagerly brewing black tea.

Her mouth didn't sit idle either as she continued to ask about the things she cared about. "But they trashed Flyboys so miserably. Did that bunch of vampires suddenly find their professional ethics?"

He had only rushed back to Los Angeles that morning, and Scarlett had come over in the afternoon. Although Duke was a little tired, having someone around to chat with felt pretty good.

Some sayings weren't without reason: the higher you stand, the fewer true friends you have. In the past, Duke could still banter with Tina Fey. Now, under his orders, Tina was off with Warner Brothers digging traps for Disney. Scarlett was one of the few people he didn't have to keep his guard up around, someone he could speak to freely.

Duke picked up the black tea Scarlett had brewed, took a slow sip, and gave a light nod.

"Do professional film critics actually have professional ethics?" he asked.

Scarlett set down the white porcelain pot and tucked a stray blonde curl behind her ear, deliberately putting on an expression of serious contemplation.

"If they had professional ethics, there wouldn't be any scammers in this world," she replied.

"However..." she said, returning to her previous question. "Why are they standing on our side this time?"

"The film critics aren't standing on our side. They are still standing on their own side."

Duke offered a brief explanation and held up one finger.

"David Ellison, just like the other Hollywood companies, didn't invite any professional film critics to the test screenings or the premiere of Flyboys," he said. "Those guys, with egos far bigger than their talent, will definitely remember that."

He held up a second finger.

"He is a newcomer to Hollywood. Instead of first investing in niche indie films, he immediately went for heavily commercial blockbuster productions. Professional film critics naturally won't like him."

"That makes sense." Scarlett Johansson tapped her chin. She poured herself a cup of black tea, took a sip, and added, "But their reviews this time have helped us to some extent."

"We don't gain much with them," Duke said with a nonchalant shrug. "And we don't lose much without them."

The tiny portion of the audience that professional film critics could influence nowadays was truly negligible compared to the massive capacity of the North American summer season movie market.

However, Flyboys failing in both audience and professional word-of-mouth would inevitably bring about massive negative repercussions.