Chapter 115: Redemption
Walking through the long corridor, Holt pushed open the door and entered, heading straight to the balcony where he saw his biggest client, Roger Ebert, wearing glasses and sitting behind a small round table drinking afternoon tea. Ebert gestured for him to sit down and poured him a cup of tea.
"Any invitations?" Ebert asked his agent.
Like Hollywood, the summer blockbuster season, closely linked with the awards season during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, is also a peak income period for professional film critics. Although the influence of professional critics during the summer is far less than during the awards season, major commercial productions often rely on their reputations to promote and generate buzz for their films. For decades, these two industries have been closely intertwined, both competitive and cooperative, forming an unwritten rule.
Especially for high-investment commercial blockbusters, the costs of publicity and public relations are even higher, requiring the endorsements of top film critics. Sometimes, production and distribution companies can even offer seven-figure PR budgets.
The income of professional film critics appears to come mainly from columns, contributions, reviews, and books. Some top critics also receive invitations to television programs, ensuring a considerable annual income.
However, this is only the visible income. Last year, Roger Ebert's columns and television programs brought in just over $800,000, but during a summer season, his private income reached seven figures!
Despite publicly criticizing the increasing investments in Hollywood commercial productions and championing independent films, this merely reflects his stance against vulgarity and mainstream appeal. These top critics have spent twenty years or more to achieve their current status, fully aware that only high-investment commercial productions can lead to lucrative junkets.
Since last year, Roger Ebert had received the list of films likely to be released during the upcoming summer. He had already set his sights on major projects such as "The Lion King," "Independence Day," and "True Lies." According to past conventions, the production and distribution companies would surely invite him to the preview screenings.
As the dollar depreciates, Roger Ebert had long had plans to raise his fees, and Walt Disney was also on board. For just "The Lion King," he received a check for $300,000.
Getting paid for work is the most basic principle in the industry. Roger Ebert is still quite principled; not only did he give "The Lion King" a high score of 9, but he also gave it a thumbs up. The film's excellent reputation and booming box office seemed to confirm his judgment, even making him feel that his review played a key role, just as it had for "Bonnie and Clyde."
Film criticism is difficult to quantify by box office numbers. In the past two years, perhaps due to his keen insight or sheer luck, films like "Terminator 2," "The Silence of the Lambs," "The Rock," and "The Lion King," which he endorsed, all achieved significant box office success. This easily creates the illusion that his reviews have a guiding influence on the entire film market.
Even industry leaders like Roger Ebert can have ordinary emotions; they can be proud, delusional, overestimate themselves, and have greed.
With the income from "The Lion King" securely in hand, Roger Ebert had been waiting for the invitation to "Independence Day." According to the timeline, the preview screening should be held soon, considering it's already mid-June and the film's release is just half a month away.
He had, of course, seen the advertisements and the two trailers released in succession. There was no doubt that Duke Rosenberg, as he expected, could not control his destructive impulses and ultimately went down the wrong path. The trailers were filled with cheap sentimentality and continuous explosions. If the entire film followed this rhythm, it would definitely be a disaster!
To get him to praise such a terrible film, they must pay a significant price!
"I've received a few invitations."
Putting down his teacup, Holt understood Ebert's implication and said directly, "But no invitation for 'Independence Day.'"
"I remember their screening is about to take place, right?" Ebert's brows furrowed slightly behind his glasses.
"The day after tomorrow."
Upon hearing his agent's words, Roger Ebert's fingers lightly tapped on the table. "They didn't invite me?"
"Not at all." Holt shook his head. "Warner Bros. and 20th Century Fox didn't invite any film critics!"
"What?" Roger Ebert looked up at his agent.
Holt confidently stated, "The producers invited fans, media, and theater representatives, but didn't invite any professional critics."
Roger Ebert's expression gradually turned serious. "What do they want?"
Since the 1960s and 70s, the film criticism community has reached a tacit understanding with Hollywood studios: as long as a film holds a preview screening, professional critics are an indispensable part of the process. This unwritten rule has fundamentally changed the previously low income of film critics.
Despite the existence of films that critics favored but which failed at the box office, and films like "Star Wars" that were trashed by critics but became huge hits, the profound influence of critics on the film industry remains unchanged. Most of the time, professional critics are those that stars, directors, and production companies need to appease.
Today, professional critics are inextricably linked to the film industry.
At least from Roger Ebert's perspective, this is true. In the past, present, and future, professional critics will continue to deeply influence the entire film industry.
Lifting his teacup and slowly savoring the black tea, Roger Ebert fell into thought. If it were merely a matter of not being invited, it would be a normal occurrence. But now, the fact that no critics were invited at all—could it be that Warner Bros. and 20th Century Fox's publicity budget was insufficient?
It certainly wasn't that. The promotional push for this film was so vigorous that funding wouldn't be an issue.
Although he couldn't fathom why Warner Bros. and 20th Century Fox would do this, Roger Ebert suddenly realized another issue that might affect the entire film criticism community.
If "Independence Day" can succeed without the influence of critics, how would Hollywood view the film criticism industry? Would it affect critics' status and income at future commercial film previews?
Suddenly, Roger Ebert realized that this matter not only concerned him but might also relate to the interests of the entire film criticism profession.
The allure of profits is like cutting flesh from one's own body. Duke's more practical promotional suggestions might touch on the interests of the criticism industry.
But he didn't care; as long as it could boost the film's revenue and bring him benefits, he wouldn't mind standing up and arguing with critics.
The greatest influence critics have is during the awards season, especially for Academy Awards represented by the Oscars. For Duke, who primarily positions himself as a commercial director, awards are naturally good, but he won't deliberately pursue them.
In Hollywood's history, how many directors who have won the Best Director Oscar have a greater influence than Hitchcock, who never won an award? Whose legacy is louder?
Of course, he wants to win the Oscar, but he won't go out of his way to please anyone or make a film specifically designed to win awards.
Naturally, an awards campaign won't adopt a promotional strategy like that of "Independence Day." The theater representatives won't take it so seriously. At today's screening, each company sent their chief viewing team. Only major investments and productions with the potential for blockbuster box office success are the types that theaters welcome most.
Sitting in the front row of the theater, Duke felt very calm, far from the nervousness he experienced during the previous two preview screenings. Behind him sat representatives from the theaters, and as he entered, these people looked at him like they were staring at fresh green cash. With two summer blockbusters previously making huge profits, the theaters clearly had some confidence in him.
While Duke was thinking about this, Sofia Coppola walked in from outside, glanced around, and came to sit beside him.
"I just got some data," she said softly to Duke.
"Is it related to us?" Duke turned to look at her. Sofia nodded, "News about our competitors. 'Interview with the Vampire' has basically been pulled from global theaters, with a worldwide box office of $221.57 million."
"Not bad," Duke smiled. "Profit shouldn't be an issue. I assume CAA still has opportunities for packaged productions on commercial hits; Tom Cruise's drawing power remains impressive."
"Glad you understand," Sofia crossed her legs. "Even if Michael Ovitz steps down this year, CAA remains a giant."
CAA will only become more substantial; Duke knows this. Even if CAA's packaged services have fully faltered in commercial productions, they continually attract new stars, and in the future, they may occupy half or more of the Hollywood actor market. Even Tom Cruise, who was once at odds with him, shows no signs of slowing down on the road to superstardom.
"Also…" Sofia added, "I just got news from Warner that 'The Shawshank Redemption,' which releases a week after us, received an incredibly high score of 9.8 at the critics' preview last year."
She looked at Duke, "I know you usually don't pay much attention to critics and think their influence during the summer is minimal, but don't forget, those who stand at the top of the film criticism industry have worked for decades and have quite a few supporters. It's hard to say that their high ratings won't create a sensation for 'The Shawshank Redemption' and impact our box office in the second weekend."
"Don't worry, Sophia," Duke remained calm, "Rather than worrying about *The Shawshank Redemption*, we should be more concerned if the lingering success of *The Lion King* and *Forrest Gump* will impact our numbers."
*The Shawshank Redemption* Even if God himself came down, he wouldn't be able to save that film at the box office.
Seeing that Duke wasn't concerned at all, Sophia decided to stay quiet, shifting her focus to the screen as it slowly began to light up.