Chapter 123: Beat Those Bad Guys

"Is Duke Rosenberg a sadist?"

This was the eye-catching title that Sean Connery saw in Roger Ebert's film review column after flipping through the *Chicago Sun-Times*, and it inexplicably made him feel good.

"Last night at midnight, I watched *Independence Day* in the theater. I simply could not endure the noise and explosions, and had to leave early. This film far exceeds the limits of human endurance. The plot is mediocre, the climax is cheap, there are countless plot holes, and the logic is chaotic. I absolutely, absolutely, absolutely hate it…"

In a lengthy review, Roger Ebert not only denounced *Independence Day* to the extreme but also awarded it a thumbs-down—representative of a terrible film—giving it an extremely low score of 2 points!

After reading Roger Ebert's review, Sean Connery felt a lot better, even though he knew his $500,000 played a part in it, and he turned to read more newspapers.

"Duke Rosenberg is a standard devil; he can destroy the audience's most beautiful impressions of film. His works never care about your soul, only about your wallet. In *Independence Day*, humanity saved the Earth but couldn't save this terrible movie!"

David Denby from *The New Yorker* mocked *Independence Day* to the fullest, giving it a pitiful score of 1 point, while Todd McCarthy from *The Hollywood Reporter* was slightly kinder, awarding it 3.5 points!

"Most of the time, *Independence Day* tests the audience's patience with implausible dialogue and slick clichés. As punishment, everyone involved in this film, including director Duke Rosenberg, should do some community service!"

Similarly, other media critics did not let this film off the hook.

"Before watching Duke Rosenberg's movie, you must take motion sickness pills. *Independence Day* is filled with boring explosions and noise. For director Duke Rosenberg, not blowing up a major city center in the first act might even be considered restraint!"

Compared to this, Kenneth Turan from the *Los Angeles Times* was relatively polite, though his score of 5 points was still below passing.

"*Independence Day* is a small step for science fiction action films but a giant leap into the abyss of stupidity!"

— *Chicago Tribune*

"Who is the worst film of the summer? The answer is obvious—*Independence Day*!"

— *Village Voice*

"In *Independence Day*, director Duke Rosenberg turned all the actors into mindless robots. One thing you must praise Duke Rosenberg for is his ability to bring excellent actors down to his level!"

— *Rolling Stone*

"This film has bathroom breaks, and the urine you release is guaranteed to flow more smoothly than any dialogue in this over two-hour-long movie!"

— *USA Today*

"Hollywood has no shortage of directors who like to play with explosions, but no one is as completely obsessed with explosions as Duke Rosenberg. Other directors typically have eighty percent plot and twenty percent action explosion; *Independence Day* has twenty percent plot and eighty percent action explosions. You wouldn't miss anything even if you skip this movie!"

— *The New York Times*

"Noisy," "stupid," "evil," "unbearable," "hopeless garbage disposal machine"—North American film critics used various harsh terms for *Independence Day*.

Seeing these reviews, Sean Connery showed the brightest smile he had in the past year, while another person in Beverly Hills also smiled brightly.

"Excellent reviews."

In the garden, Tom Cruise put down the newspaper and looked at his publicist. "Lyle, keep in touch with that vampire. I want him to attack Duke Rosenberg regularly!"

"These are part of the agreement," the publicist nodded. "Roger Ebert's reputation for getting paid for his work is still reliable."

After a moment of thought, Lyle specifically reminded, "Tom, you're a front-line superstar. There's no need to get into a smear campaign with a behind-the-scenes director. It's not a good deal, and this time you have no direct competition. Speaking out casually will only bring negative impact."

"I understand."

Though Tom Cruise wanted to do something personally, he wasn't a fool. With someone to advise him, he could figure out what to do and what not to do.

He just wanted to see Duke Rosenberg fail but did not want to bring disaster upon himself.

With the critics collectively denouncing the film, Warner Bros. and 20th Century Fox could not ignore it. After Duke leisurely spent the morning, he headed to the Independence Day studio in Burbank, where a meeting was specially held by the studio and the distribution party.

"Wait here."

Duke brought Scarlett Johansson into his office and handed her two DC comics, reminding her, "Don't run around, or I'll send you home tonight."

"Are you discussing how to deal with those bad guys?" Scarlett looked at the comics as she asked Duke.

"You know quite a bit." Duke smiled.

"You're my brother, after all…" She wrinkled her nose and waved her little fists. "Duke, beat those bad guys!"

Nodding, Duke affectionately ruffled the little girl's golden hair, turned around, and left the office. He entered the adjacent meeting room, where many people were already seated. After the representatives from Warner Bros., Jeff Robinov, and Fox, Tim Fisher, arrived, a brief meeting quickly commenced.

"The audience's word of mouth, current attendance rates, and approximate box office numbers have all exceeded our expectations."

Without any lengthy preambles, the meeting got straight to the point. The head of production, Charles Roven, spoke first, "However, *Independence Day* has encountered significant trouble with its professional reputation; professional critics are almost universally attacking our film. According to current statistics, the overall rating from critics is only 3.8 points!"

Following Roven's words, the meeting room fell into a brief silence. The critics' reputation is indeed not the key factor in the success or failure of summer blockbuster films. Past professional reputations only serve as a promotional tool, but no one can deny that top critics, including Roger Ebert, can influence a segment of the audience, which could impact *Independence Day*'s future box office trajectory.

The negative reviews from several top critics may not seem significant, especially with other reviewers rallying to support the film, but now that all top critics are speaking out in unison, even Duke, who is usually dismissive of them, must pay attention.

"Based on the information we've received…"

Everyone present, representing their companies, formed a common interest group. Tim Fisher shared information directly, "Someone is working behind the scenes against *Independence Day*… or rather, against Duke."

Duke smiled faintly at him but felt no concern. The interests of both sides were tightly bound together; moving against him and *Independence Day* meant attacking the cake of Warner Bros. and 20th Century Fox.

Tim Fisher and Jeff Robinov understood this as well and didn't linger on that topic. The key issue now was how to respond to minimize the negative voice brought by the critics.

"Our PR department should take action…"

"Warn those critics and, if necessary, revoke their complimentary tickets…"

Hearing the suggestions being made one after another, Duke remained silent. While he might lack the professional expertise of many present, when it comes to the understanding of low-reputation, high-box-office films, perhaps no one in this room could surpass him.

Once upon a time, *Independence Day* was a typical example of low professional reputation but high box office. In the years to come, such films would be more numerous. If this were ten years later, the negative evaluations from critics would be hardly worth worrying about. Even if they collectively spoke out, the online trolls could easily drown them out…

In this not-yet-fully-developed internet era, the critics' influence was definitely greater than in the future. But Duke had anticipated the possibility of the current situation when he suggested excluding critics from the screenings and had prepared accordingly. The methods he proposed for the future were not peculiar; however, at a time when the critics' voices still held weight, this was not something other directors would dare to do lightly.

"Critics' attacks may not be a bad thing."

In the meeting room's silence, Duke suddenly spoke, "Instead, it could be something we can use for publicity!"

Without waiting for others to respond, he turned to the side, "Charles, do we have statistics on audience demographics?"

"Yes, I have statistics from the midnight and morning shows." Charles Roven flipped through the documents in front of him and replied, "According to the statistics, the audience for *Independence Day* primarily consists of ages 15 to 35, with those aged 17 to 25 accounting for sixty-seven percent of the viewers!"

"In other words, the mainstream audience of *Independence Day* is those aged 17 to 25!" Duke glanced around and continued, "I wonder if everyone understands the mindset of this age group? I'm 24 this year, still within this phase, and I believe I have a decent understanding of the current youth."

Everyone looked over, and Duke didn't hold back, saying directly, "This is the most rebellious stage, where they don't trust any authority and are always questioning the critics' viewpoints. It's also a very curious stage, full of interest in new things, possessing an adventurous spirit to try everything, and often having the determination to implement it…"

"Actually, this is a group that critics find hard to influence!"

As his voice gradually lowered, Duke's words were exceptionally clear, "Movie critics criticize us with a professional eye! We can directly fight back in another way. Movie fans lack channels to make their voices heard. Why don't we let the voices of fans who like "Independence Day" appear in the mainstream media?"

.....

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