The roar of a powerful engine echoed as a private jet thundered down the runway and soared into the sky, quickly climbing into the stratosphere. After receiving the notification from the flight attendants, the passengers unbuckled their seat belts. Among them was Vin Diesel, who also unfastened his seat belt and requested a drink from the attendant.
The "Fast & Furious 6" crew was heading to Europe for promotions, and the distributor, Universal Pictures, had provided this business jet for the crew.
The cabin space wasn't vast, but Vin Diesel occupied the best four seats in the front by himself. The other cast members were seated at the back; none dared sit next to him.
Vin Diesel heard murmurs behind him and turned to see Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson joking with Michelle Rodriguez. They fell silent under his gaze.
Vin Diesel was satisfied with their reaction. After all, in this crew and this series, he was the true boss!
He didn't care if the others thought he was overbearing. These "rookies" wouldn't have brought the franchise to its current success if he hadn't returned as a savior. Expecting them to carry the series was a joke.
In a crew under his control, his will must prevail.
Vin Diesel knew his actions were forceful, and he understood the crew's private discontent. But that was his style—those unhappy could leave. Without the "Fast & Furious" series, what major roles could these "rookies" land?
The cabin was unusually quiet. Vin Diesel took a sip of the drink brought by the flight attendant. It suddenly struck him that it was Saturday, meaning the previous day's box office stats should be out. He asked for a laptop and opened his email.
Sure enough, a new email from Universal Pictures titled "North America Friday Box Office Report" was in his inbox.
"There should still be ten million dollars left for a single day..."
Vin Diesel felt a bit nervous. "Fast & Furious 6" had grossed over $97 million in its opening weekend. Evenly spread, the daily box office was over $30 million. If Friday's box office was still around $10 million, that would be a significant drop, but dropping below $10 million would be catastrophic.
He was well aware that his nervousness stemmed from the overwhelming pressure of Murphy Stanton's "The Dark City."
After a day of screenings, the noir crime film had exploded in popularity, hailed as a masterpiece by fans. Even critics who usually disdained commercial films were praising it, kneeling in admiration. This translated to high screening rates and occupancy in theaters.
Other films, including the well-performing "Fast & Furious 6," could only tremble under the shadow of "The Dark City."
Vin Diesel moved the mouse and opened the email. The first page featured Murphy Stanton's "The Dark City," unsurprisingly. What did surprise Vin Diesel was the film's box office: $102.6 million on Friday!
The single-day box office exceeded one hundred million dollars!
This wasn't a weekend total but the box office for the first day of release. It shocked Vin Diesel. "Fast & Furious 6" had grossed over $97 million in three days, but "The Dark City" surpassed that in just one day...
"One can't compare oneself to others," Vin Diesel shook his bald head. "What is my crew compared to Murphy Stanton's?"
Luckily, there was only one Murphy Stanton in Hollywood.
Vin Diesel understood that "The Dark City" was fundamentally different from last summer's blockbuster "The Avengers." The latter was character-driven, with limited impact from the director, while "The Dark City" was entirely a director's film. The former could succeed without Joss Whedon, but the latter wouldn't have its current success without Murphy Stanton.
Vin Diesel couldn't help but look at the film's stats again: "The Dark City" had an A+ CinemaScore from theatergoers, a 9.7 IMDb rating, and had already entered the Top 250, currently at number one. Rotten Tomatoes showed a 97% fresh rating, and Metacritic had an average score of 89 from 65 media outlets...
Seeing this, Vin Diesel realized that "The Dark City" had likely broken records.
He quickly checked online and confirmed that "The Dark City" had indeed broken records. Its $102.6 million first-day gross not only broke the North American single-day record set by "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2" ($92.1 million) but also set the highest Friday gross in North American history and became the first film to surpass $100 million in a single day.
Murphy Stanton had etched his name deep into film history!
Vin Diesel sighed, knowing he couldn't compare himself to Murphy Stanton. Comparing himself to Stanton would only shatter his confidence.
He moved the mouse to the next page. Despite the ominous feeling, he had to see "Fast & Furious 6" box office results.
The next page revealed "Fast & Furious 6" was second, which relieved Vin Diesel. But the figure—$8.95 million—disappointed him.
The $8.95 million Friday gross for "Fast & Furious 6" barely exceeded "The Dark City's" leftovers...
Vin Diesel frowned. The film seemed to be experiencing a steep decline in its second weekend due to "The Dark City's" impact.
Fortunately, he was somewhat prepared and not overly disheartened.
He didn't bother with the remaining films' stats, closed the laptop, and decided to get some sleep. Constantly comparing his film to Murphy Stanton's was self-torture. It was better to get some rest.
Saturday, being a rest day, saw packed theaters across the U.S., with "The Dark City" screenings averaging over two-thirds occupancy. Nearly 200 IMAX theaters were sold out, an unprecedented event for IMAX in Hollywood.
IMAX had prepared for this. Confident in Murphy Stanton and bolstered by aggressive marketing, they decided to add more "The Dark City" showings starting at 6 AM on Saturday.
In North America, popular films often had "unusual" showtimes for maximum profit. Midnight and advance screenings had become a summer blockbuster tradition.
With online ticket sales now common, sellouts became possible. To meet the anticipated "The Dark City" demand, over 3,500 theaters nationwide, usually opening at 10 AM, started welcoming audiences at 6 AM.
And the crowd was sizable.
"I'm here to see James Franco's magician."
"This is a Murphy film; of course, I have to watch it."
"IMDb ratings are incredibly high. Isn't it worth seeing?"
Morning arrivals had various reasons but all bought tickets for "The Dark City."
Staff at busy theaters were entering their busiest period. One IMAX theater manager complained about "The Dark City's" release during a media interview.
"I worked until 3 AM last night and got up at 5:30 this morning, without going home." He pointed to his dark circles. "I didn't sleep well at all!"
"Is the occupancy good?" the reporter asked.
The theater manager smiled. "Last night's show was packed. We even added over a dozen chairs in the auditorium for those without tickets."
He sighed. "IMAX should have partnered with Murphy Stanton earlier."
However, Saturday saw a clear dip in occupancy rates for "The Dark City." The advance screenings and Friday showings had exhausted much of the audience's enthusiasm, which was expected market behavior.
As word of mouth spread, more viewers arrived at theaters, and some negative reviews inevitably appeared.
"I'd give it a maximum of 60 points. If it weren't for the fact that it's a big Hollywood director's movie, I wouldn't even give it 50. I love movies like 'Iron Man,' but 'The Dark City' is a huge letdown. Who likes all that dark, depressing stuff? And it's not even satisfying. The rambling magician is annoying."
"There's nothing interesting except for that motorcycle. It's a tedious film that drove a beautiful woman and a handsome guy mad. It's simply terrible."
No film can satisfy all viewers. Dark-themed films are often loathed by some, leading to inevitable negative reviews.
However, such negative reviews were few and far between among the general audience.
Murphy and 20th Century Fox paid no attention to these because the negative reviews were negligible!
Compared to the few negative reviews, "The Dark City" garnered overwhelming approval and praise from most viewers, and partners like IMAX were ready to mobilize resources to fully support the film.
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