WebNovels

Chapter 727 - Chapter 727: Duke and Spielberg

In North America, with one screening after another of FuryRoad, its overwhelmingly positive reception swept through the film market like a storm.

In a live interview with CNN, fans who had just seen the film were full of praise, showering it with comments like, "Great film, blood-pumping excitement!", "Fury Road– the name says it all!", "Unforgettable style and wild imagination!"

Of course, as an R-rated film, its audience couldn't possibly be as broad as Duke's previous PG-13 rated works, and naturally, some people didn't like it.

"Felt pretty weird from start to finish..."

"Found a type of film I absolutely don't want to watch..."

"The visuals were intense, maybe I just don't like this kind of movie, couldn't get into it at all..."

There were certainly a few reviews like that.

However, among those who entered theaters to see this film whether regular viewers or professionals over 95% were full of praise.

On Rotten Tomatoes, a site that aggregates critics' reviews, the film had been out in North America for nearly a day, and Fury Road maintained a rare 100% Fresh rating.

Keep in mind this was a Duke film. In the past, after any of his films premiered, the Rotten Tomatoes score would usually plummet below 70% with lightning speed.

It must be said, with veteran critics like Roger Ebert gradually fading from the public eye or rather, being automatically ignored by the public the new generation of critics understood that this industry didn't carry such overwhelming influence anymore. They hadn't experienced the so-called era when critics could sway public opinion, and the conflict of interest between them and Duke wasn't nearly as sharp as with the old guard of professional critics.

But things like Rotten Tomatoes few commercial directors or studios actually care. It has nothing to do with summer box office numbers.

Nowadays, the internet has already become not just an indispensable part of society, but an extremely important one. Online opinion is playing an increasingly larger role in a film's market performance.

Whether it's IMDB reviews or instant-sharing sites, public sentiment in North America was overwhelmingly one-sided.

"Director Duke Rosenberg, cinematographer John Schwartzman, stunt coordinator Jimmy Carter, and production designer Hannah you and your entire families are legends!"

"Totally high the entire time the first thirty minutes already had me dumbfounded multiple times. But the movie clearly had no intention of slowing down! If you had to divide it into five or six parts, each dramatic pause between action segments lasted maybe thirty seconds, and then it was back to being high again... Tom Cruise barely said a word in the first two-thirds but still looked amazing, and Charlize Theron's badass goddess vibes were just impossible to resist!"

"Cool beyond belief, explosively awesome! Duke has raised Hollywood blockbuster action design to a new level so many variations in the car chases. One climax after another, no filler at all. The sandstorm sequence's visuals and effects were the most stunning. The emotional and dramatic scenes were brief and just right. Tom Cruise and Charlize Theron looked so good it was almost unbearable. IMAX is a must! Blazing to the max, absolutely insane!"

"My inner thoughts the whole time watching—so this is what film can do. This insane??!"

In contrast to the overwhelming acclaim for Fury Road, The Adventures of Tintin, which premiered at the same time, received a much more lukewarm response.

"Even though it's a Spielberg film, I have to say it's terrible. Apart from technically impressive aspects, the story was dragged out and lacked suspense. Totally unconvincing. Lacked imagination."

"Just watched it plot was cliché, and there were all these cheap gags unrelated to the narrative. Tintin's character was a complete failure. Always had that smug look on his face, and the one who should have been adorable Snowy wasn't cute at all!"

"Too many coincidences in the story, everything tied together sloppily. After watching, I personally found it very average."

The online discourse translated directly into box office performance. Due to its R-rating, Mad Road didn't reach the same staggering attendance as The Dark Knight or Transformers, but it was still the highest-grossing film of the weekend. Meanwhile, The Adventures of Tintin lagged far behind Fury Road in both attendance and number of screens, even performing far below the industry's lowest expectations.

For a film with a budget over $100 million and a promotion budget of equal scale, and directed by Spielberg no less, people thought its opening day gross would surely exceed $10 million…

But The Adventures of Tintin shocked everyone.

On its opening Friday, the film's per-theater average was only $1,145, and across more than 3,500 theaters, it grossed just $4.05 million.

This result not only stunned the public but also prompted major theater chains to start adjusting their plans and reduce the number of showings for the film.

Whatever David Ellison's reaction might be, Duke had no interest in finding out. His focus was still on his own film.

"Friday alone, including midnight screenings…"

On a flight to Phoenix, Tina Fey reported to Duke the latest numbers just released by Warner Bros., "Fury Road grossed $24.35 million across 4,050 theaters. Given the current trend, The Adventures of Tintin's opening weekend numbers will be far below even our single-day total."

Duke nodded. This had already exceeded his expectations. Warner Bros.' excellent promotional campaign was definitely a key factor in this box office performance.

As one of the top film awards in the world, the Cannes Palme d'Or still held some weight.

However, he shifted the topic to another area. "Those protestors didn't cause too much trouble, did they?"

"According to feedback from Warner Bros., their impact wasn't particularly big."

Seeing Scarlett Johansson pour a cup of black tea for him, Tina Fey nodded to her first before continuing to Duke, "And in the areas where they were the most disruptive, various feminist organizations also took some countermeasures. So far, the impact on the film seems minimal."

She paused to think, then added, "Someone's definitely stirring things up behind the scenes."

"Hmm…" Duke thought it over, then said, "No need to worry about it for now. Our focus should stay on promoting the film's word-of-mouth."

Scarlett Johansson had just poured Duke's tea and sat down to glance at the script in front of her. Hearing this, she couldn't help but look up. "So we're just going to let it go like that?"

Duke ignored her question and instead gestured toward the script with his eyes. "Well? Interested?"

Over the years, he had registered and filed several scripts with the Screenwriters Guild. This realistic-style sci-fi script was one of them, and it was the very project Duke had once mentioned to Scarlett where a female lead carries the entire film on her own.

Originally, he had planned to wait a few more years until Scarlett had matured further before bringing this project to light.

But after returning from Cannes, Duke had specifically asked Nancy Josephson to look into it. Just like what had happened before, as someone strongly supported by the Jewish powerhouses of William Morris and all of Hollywood, Natalie Portman was already preparing to launch a charge toward the peak of her career.

William Morris had bundled a film called Black Swan, clearly aiming for the Oscars two years from now.

Duke had never been the forgiving nice guy. If this were a year ago, he might have sat back and watched everything unfold again. But now, he definitely no longer had such thoughts.

The first Best Actress Oscar winner born in the '80s? It didn't necessarily have to go to Natalie Portman. After all, she wasn't the only outstanding Jewish actress in Hollywood.

Scarlett Johansson closed the script. "It's very interesting. I'm in! It's just that space scenes are a bit troublesome to shoot."

Taking a sip of the black tea, Duke reminded her, "I'll get someone to provide you with specialized training. This film won't begin pre-production until next year. You have plenty of time. I have faith in you."

"Mm, I have faith in myself too," Scarlett's eyes twinkled, and she added, "But if I don't do well by then…"

"No worries…" Duke interrupted her, raising an eyebrow and saying, "Then I'll tie you to a rocket at the Kennedy Space Center and let you personally experience what it feels like to be in the sky!"

Scarlett shrank back a little, then turned to look at Tina Fey sitting beside her. "You'll help me out by then, right?"

Tina Fey shrugged but said nothing.

While Duke was busy promoting Fury Road, Spielberg was busy with publicity for The Adventures of Tintin. The two films were going head-to-head. Although neither director had ever made any statements targeting the other, there were always people and media outlets eager to sow discord, hoping to stir up a dramatic feud between them.

The Jewish power base in Hollywood and the media industry was indeed strong, but anti-Semitic groups were not nonexistent either. If two prominent Jewish directors could go head-to-head, it would certainly be something they would love to see.

After attending a promotional event at the Santa Monica Commercial Plaza, Spielberg had just exited the venue when he was stopped by a reporter.

"Steven…" The reporter thrust a microphone toward him. "Releasing The Adventures of Tintin this weekend is it aimed at Fury Road? Rumor has it that Duke Rosenberg was involved in suppressing DreamWorks in the past. Are you unhappy with him? What's your opinion of Duke Rosenberg?"

Spielberg looked at the reporter deeply. His relationship with Duke was indeed average, but there were no serious personal grievances, and certainly no boundary-breaking business rivalry.

"In my view, Duke Rosenberg is one of the outstanding directors in Hollywood. He represents the present and the future of Hollywood…"

At their level, even if competition existed, they would not easily initiate a conflict, as that often meant unpredictable consequences.

Moreover, Spielberg was already older and wouldn't be as impulsive as younger people.

It wasn't just Spielberg who was being asked such questions Duke was too.

The plane landed in Houston, and just as Duke walked out of the airport, he was surrounded by a group of reporters waiting there.

More Chapters