Made in Hollywood

"The explosion devastated New York and Los Angeles like dominoes, with flames spreading, vehicles flipping, buildings toppling, and the whole world shattering in a sea of ​​red fire, especially when the White House and Empire State Building were blown to smithereens from top to bottom. , I feel the whole theater is shaking."

The employees in the Los Angeles office of APP research consulting firm are destined to have a busy weekend, collecting first-hand live feedback after midnight in major theaters.

"I burst into tears when the pilot took the plane to attack the alien spaceship in a suicidal way to protect his family!"

"A majestic alien invasion, epic and magnificent Earth counterattack, an excellent and wonderful sci-fi blockbuster!"

"The film did not disappoint. I was shocked when the major cities in the United States were bombed! Facts have proved that the work directed by Duke Rosenberg is indeed worth looking forward to!"

"The plot is compact, the scene is grand, the concept of energy protection is very interesting, and nuclear strikes are ineffective. The idea of ​​using a computer virus to paralyze the alien spaceship is too creative at this time!"

James, who is located in a movie theater near Beverly Hills, has collected almost all positive reviews. The audience at the midnight audience gave the film a very high evaluation, especially the explosion scene and the final battle, which were praised by countless fans.

Although there were also unsatisfactory comments such as "the plot is too simple, there are flaws", "except for special effects, there are no other highlights", the number of people is very small, not even one-twentieth of his random interviews.

Gifts were given out, and questionnaires were taken back. James got the statistics of midnight shows from the cooperative theater chain. During the same period, four or four films in this theater opened midnight shows, and the rest were "Independence Day" in this theater Direct competitors on the weekend, and from the audience distribution point of view, these competitors are obviously not in the stream.

Among the audience who walked into this theater to watch the midnight show, 91% chose "Independence Day", and the other three films could only share the remaining 9% of the audience!

After collecting the questionnaires and materials, James walked out of the theater and hurried to the company. The company still has a wider range of statistics and more detailed work to do. After dawn, it will be reported to Warner Bros. and 20th Century Fox as soon as possible.

For these employees of the survey and consulting company, there is basically no rest time on the day of the big production North American painting, and it is normal to work throughout the early morning.

In fact, many of the people they interviewed had difficulty falling asleep.

After saying goodbye to Allen and Jones, Kunites returned to his bachelor apartment, took a shower and lay on the bed, but couldn't save sleep, the collapsed Empire State Building, the blown up White House and the Statue of Liberty on the beach. Like, it flashes through my mind from time to time. The nerves that had been stimulated to extreme excitement in the theater were quickly awakened, and the body seemed to be in a state of adrenaline surge again.

And the evil appearance of aliens and the desire to destroy human beings occasionally make him feel inexplicable horror. When looking out the window, does the fantasy really have aliens destroying the earth?

Not only these, the film also brings excitement. At the moment when mankind is facing extinction, the United States and its leaders bravely shouldered their due responsibilities and led the world to victory. The heroic American soldiers are simply Protector of the world.

For a moment, Kunites had the idea of ​​being called up to the army...

Jim in Chicago, just after watching the midnight show, ran to the ticket window where the theater had already closed, and asked to buy tickets for tomorrow. Many people followed his pace, causing the hospital to temporarily open the ticketing system to get excited for the crowd. Fans work overtime to sell tickets.

Jim, who bought three tickets, came home, pulled out his brother and brother who had fallen asleep, and spit to them about what an amazing movie "Independence Day" was...

Dante from Pittsburgh and his friends went straight to the bar after watching the midnight show, drinking cold beer and discussing the wonderful points of the movie, which aroused the attention of many people. After many people inquired about it, they said that they would leave tomorrow. Go to the cinema and watch the movie "Independence Day" in which the President of the United States fights aliens!

For many people, this is destined to be a sleepless night, especially professional film critics who return to the studio after watching the film and rush to write a film review.

In the studio on the outskirts of Chicago, not only did Roger Albert not sleep, but his manager also rushed over, and it seemed that there was something extremely important.

"I got two offers for $500,000."

The agent sat across from Roger Albert's work desk, his tone was flat, as if this had happened countless times before, "About "Independence Day"!"

"Oh..." Roger Albert put away the pen, raised his head and adjusted his glasses, "Warner Bros. and Twentieth Century Fox?"

"It has nothing to do with the producers and distributors." The agent didn't ask Albert to wait and said directly, "From two different PR companies, they want you to put forward some criticisms on the film review of "Independence Day" ."

Although the agent's statement was very obscure, how could Roger Albert not understand that the other party wanted him to discredit "Independence Day", thereby affecting the reputation of the film and further affecting the film's box office.

This situation has been too common in the past ten years, and he has done it many times, but as a leader in the industry, in order to take into account his own image and reputation, he will not discredit those films with professional reputation.

Of course, some films that have a strong commercial atmosphere and are not popular with professionals are definitely not among his concerns.

"Who exactly are they?" Roger Albert asked.

"It should be a star of CAA." The agent thought for a while and said, "If you guessed correctly, one is Sean Connery, and the other is also a first-line superstar of CAA."

"In fact, we don't have to consider these." The agent shook his head, "In the process of the rise of every director or star, the interests of many people will always be violated. Some people hope that Duke Rosenberg can succeed, so that they can gain from it. Benefit, some people naturally think that he is unlucky and trample him down."

"What's your opinion?" Roger Albert did not answer directly.

The agent understands the psychology of his client, and he is obviously very tempted by one million dollars, but he has to make a lofty example and let himself persuade him.

"Film critics have a guiding role in the entire film industry, and can prevent the film from being too commercialized, resulting in a lack of artistry and humanistic care. The commercial production of "Independence Day", which gathers all the vulgar elements of the summer archives, should be the object of criticism from the entire film critic circle! Roger, you are the leader of the film critics, and it is your duty and duty to remind Hollywood!"

These remarks are righteous and awe-inspiring, and they seem to be considering the entire film industry.

"What about Warner Bros. and Twentieth Century Fox?" That's the point of Roger Albert's concern.

"They did not invite film critics as usual, which has broken the tacit understanding between the two industries." The agent does not seem to care much about these two Hollywood giants, ""Independence Day" is definitely not a movie that the film critics like, why do we Not telling the truth? Presumably other critics will make the same choice.”

Roger Albert nodded slightly. Since there is no public relations, based on his knowledge of peers, I am afraid that not many people will sing praises for "Independence Day".

"Roger, the film review program you host belongs to a TV station owned by Disney, and there is the "Chicago Sun" behind it. With their support, why worry about Warner and Fox?"

The agent stood up, and he could see that Roger Albert didn't want a million dollars to slip through his fingers, "If Warners and Fox were so dazed that they would block you from theaters, it would be the critics. Huge honor, you can even hit the Pulitzer Prize again with this!"

The pen that had just been put away returned to Roger Albert's hand. He lightly tapped his chin. The manager showed a clear look. He turned and walked out of the studio. Under the starlight of the dark night sky, he made two calls in succession. The number located in Los Angeles has a satisfied smile on the corner of his mouth.

Although he is not as famous as an entertainment agent, his income is also quite large. He knows the ability of the one in the studio to attract money, and the greed that hides behind the illustrious reputation!

One million dollars, which is already more than the normal income of his customers for a year, it is strange that he is not interested, and it is not like this happened once or twice.

The night in Chicago was obscured, and the New York sky was slightly fish-mammed. David Denby was sitting in the study of his Upper East Side apartment, and a film review was nearing the end.

He is not in a good mood. Today, he was surrounded by a bunch of fans and attacked with words. The name of the film critic is not good at all. If he hadn't taken the initiative to apologize for offending "Independence Day" and fans who like Independence Day, I'm afraid it would be extremely difficult. Get away, and the resentment and neglected anger accumulated in it naturally falls on the film review.

It wasn't just a result of the theater either, just back at the apartment, David Denby got a call, a call that made him feel a little better, and $250,000 wasn't a deal for him either. Small numbers, besides, he planned to attack the bad movie "Independence Day"!

As for the rest, David Denby doesn't care at all. The New Yorker's film critics have always been known for their vitriol. Since the publishers and producers have not offered PR fees, what else does he care about?

He is not like Roger Albert, the top vampire in the industry, who not only has TV show income, but also always gets some old movie reviews to fool the nostalgic fans to cheat money, and his main income comes from the column, That $250,000 is really, really tempting.

Professional ethics? Taking money to do things is the most basic professional ethics in the film critic industry.

Just when David Denby thought so, Kenneth Turan of "Los Angeles Times", Todd McCarthy of "Hollywood Reporter" and other top professional film critics in North America were all considering the difference between dollars and film critics. story.