Chapter 79: Mutual Smearing

If he had followed his previous habits and way of thinking, Duke would have had to be humble and cautious when faced with such questions. He would need to praise his competitors a bit, then slightly criticize himself and *The Rock*. Otherwise, it would have invited criticism.

However, having lived in this country for over twenty years, while his mindset wasn't fully Westernized, it had certainly adapted. A little humility was acceptable, but being overly humble would be seen as weakness or a lack of confidence. Especially here in the fiercely competitive Hollywood. If others stepped on him and he still remained overly humble, he would just be seen as an easy target, someone with no backbone.

"I watched *Interview with the Vampire*, but I didn't finish it."

Earlier that morning, Duke had gone to the theater to briefly get a sense of his competition. "Maybe it's not my type of movie. The biggest impression it left on me was that the pacing was slow, and the content was dull..."

The audience burst into laughter, followed by applause. Most of them were action movie fans, and to some extent, they were familiar with Duke's style.

Spreading his hands, Duke shrugged, interacting silently with the audience.

"It seems I'm not the only one who feels that way," Duke continued. "In the theater where *Interview with the Vampire* was showing, I saw quite a few people who were bored, zoning out, and some, like me, even left early because it felt so tedious."

This wasn't just an empty claim. According to data from research firms, compared to fast-paced popcorn movies like *The Rock*, *Interview with the Vampire* did indeed have a higher rate of people leaving mid-movie.

"And there were issues with the actors as well." Duke had no intention of stopping. "Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt's vampires certainly looked elegant and handsome enough, but their acting..."

He shook his head directly, "To be honest, I think Kirsten Dunst outperformed both of them by far!"

"You think Tom Cruise's performance in the film was problematic?"

Host Leno immediately latched onto Duke's point, eager for the kind of material that boosts ratings. "Can you elaborate?"

"Actually, it's a pretty obvious issue." Duke spread his hands, speaking without hesitation. "From *Top Gun*, or even earlier, to *Days of Thunder*, *Born on the Fourth of July*, and *Far and Away*, Tom Cruise has left a strong impression. But did people truly remember the characters in those movies?"

Leno thought for a moment, then shook his head, as did many in the audience.

"The reason is simple: in all those movies, Tom Cruise turned every character into Tom Cruise!"

After Duke said this, a wave of understanding swept over the audience, many of whom clearly agreed with his assessment.

This was something widely acknowledged. Tom Cruise, like another well-known actor from a certain blockbuster, was infamous for playing himself in his roles. The difference was that the latter had made an effort to break out of that mold by transforming into a more mature, rugged figure, while Cruise had spent decades doing little more than playing it cool, looking handsome, and relying on his looks, with little visible improvement in his acting.

Smearing others is a skill that requires some finesse, and Duke wasn't just talking nonsense. Everything he said about *Interview with the Vampire* and Tom Cruise's acting was based on objective facts.

When Duke returned to the dressing room, he realized he'd forgotten to throw some shade at Sean Connery. But on second thought, it didn't matter. Whether he smeared him or not, Connery's image was already in shambles. Just the other day, Nancy had mentioned that Connery's divorce was going through the courts, and his wife and son might even sue him for domestic violence!

After leaving the NBC studio, Duke called Nancy Josephson into his car.

"Nancy..."

After starting the car and pulling onto the road, Duke asked, "I heard Tom Cruise is a Scientologist?"

"Yes, that's true." Nancy Josephson nodded. "He was introduced to Scientology by his ex-wife."

"I've heard the reputation of that church isn't great?" Duke turned the car onto Seventh Street.

Nancy was sharp and caught on quickly, "Duke, are you suggesting..."

"I'm sure plenty of tabloids would love to report on it."

Hearing Duke's casual tone, Nancy was slightly dissatisfied, "That should be the PR team's job, not the agent's!"

"Hey, dear." Duke tilted his head towards the passenger seat. "Don't forget, your earnings are tied to my investments. Suppressing *Interview with the Vampire* and boosting *The Rock*'s box office benefits us both."

Nothing was more persuasive than financial interests. Before they even reached Duke's studio in North Hollywood, Nancy had already pulled out her phone, contacting Warner Bros.' PR department and activating her own media connections through ICM.

That's how this industry works. In front of the media and the public, people could stand together, smiling as if they were the best of friends. But behind the scenes, during competition, they'd ruthlessly throw dirt at each other. Duke wasn't the first to smear a competitor, nor would he be the last.

By Sunday, many tabloids across the U.S., especially those owned by Warner Group, started to criticize Tom Cruise's beliefs. They particularly focused on how he allegedly interfered with Nicole Kidman's religious freedom, forcing her to abandon Catholicism for Scientology after their marriage.

This is a country that prides itself on religious freedom, and generally, others can't interfere with one's beliefs. The media, too, must respect that. But tabloids are not major newspapers; they have no such ethical standards. While they attacked Cruise's religion, they also listed some of the absurd things Scientology had done to add credibility to their claims.

Some even published stories suggesting that the marriage between Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman wasn't based on love, but rather orchestrated by Scientology and their management agencies—an elaborate scheme to deceive the public.

It wasn't an exaggeration to say that many tabloids were subtly painting Tom Cruise as a cult member.

As for whether the Church of Scientology would cause trouble, the tabloids didn't care. They would welcome the attention.

While Duke and Warner Bros. were busy smearing Tom Cruise and the rest of the *Interview with the Vampire* team, their opponents were doing the same to him. They accused him of recommending actresses with whom he had close relationships, claiming his success wasn't due to personal effort but family connections, and that his movies were nothing but destruction with no creativity.

Unlike the reportedly feuding Cruise and Kidman, Duke remained calm. He simply laughed off the smear campaigns. After all, he had a resilient personality, and he had seen every kind of no-holds-barred marketing tactic in the information overload of his time.

Of course, Duke suspected that Tom Cruise's temper had something to do with *Interview with the Vampire*'s Saturday box office numbers.

No one could deny that *Interview with the Vampire* maintained a solid 8.7 rating from professional critics, far outperforming *The Rock*, which had dropped to 7.3. If these two movies were competing for awards during Oscar season, *The Rock* would have no chance.

But this was the summer blockbuster season, a time for popcorn movies to shine. CAA and 20th Century Fox had clearly overestimated the star power of big names and underestimated the impact of the film's genre. They also failed to account for the impact of a Super Bowl commercial.

On Friday, *Interview with the Vampire* did indeed outperform *The Rock* at the box office, but much of that was thanks to die-hard fans. As their enthusiasm waned after opening day, audience word-of-mouth and marketing came into play.

While *Interview with the Vampire* saw a steady decline in audience interest, reflected in Saturday's box office drop to $8.2 million, *The Rock* experienced an unexpected surge, with its box office jumping from $10.13 million to $15.66 million!

Most importantly, Duke was confident that *The Rock*'s box office numbers were genuine, while *Interview with the Vampire*'s might have been bolstered by some of Tom Cruise's own money—though that was just speculation.

Had it not been for the smear campaigns from the competition, Duke believed *The Rock*'s second-day box office could have approached $20 million. But he knew that was impossible. This was Hollywood, after all; no movie could bulldoze its way through without facing some dirty tricks.

This box office performance reinvigorated Warner Bros. executives. Though they had never explicitly told Duke, Warner had hoped for a $25 million opening weekend. If the movie hit that target, with Warner's marketing efforts, the North American box office would easily surpass $100 million.

"Who would've thought that after just two days,"

Warner Bros. CEO Kevin Tsujihara said with some amazement, "the film's box office has already reached $25.79 million. Jeff, your insistence on working with Duke Rosenberg was a great move."

Though he maintained a polite smile, it was obvious that Jeff Robinov was in an excellent mood. He replied, "The next issue is the theaters, Kevin. CAA and 20th Century Fox have been pressuring AMC and Regal Cinemas. We should act as well."

"I'll personally call their CEOs!"

If Kevin Tsujihara could secure a big win in his final phase as CEO, he wouldn't just leave with a stronger reputation; he'd also get a hefty bonus. "I'll inform the parent company to apply pressure as well."

With Kevin Tsujihara's commitment, Jeff Robinov's concerns diminished. The box office figures of "The Rock" were there, and it was impossible for theaters to give up the profits and promote a film with worse box office and potential. He also did not seek to expand the scale of the release, as long as the current number of theaters could be maintained next week, it would be enough!

...

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