As time approached midnight, the streets of Los Angeles became noticeably quieter, yet the city remained brightly lit, especially in the editorial offices of the Los Angeles Times. At midnight, the lights were often the brightest.
However, the atmosphere at the newspaper office tonight was unusual. The editor-in-chief, who rarely appeared at this hour, had suddenly arrived and summoned several section editors to his office.
In the editor-in-chief's office, Michael Parks, the editor-in-chief of the Los Angeles Times, instructed the section editors, "We're publishing a special edition tomorrow."
The section editors immediately perked up. Publishing a special edition meant something significant had happened that day or the previous week.
One of the editors curiously asked, "What type and content for the special edition?"
"Entertainment special!"
Hearing this from the editor-in-chief, the section editors exchanged puzzled glances. The Los Angeles Times was one of the top three newspapers in the country, known for serious and factual news, and a leader in the industry. It was not a tabloid filled with gossip and irresponsible entertainment news.
Editor-in-chief Michael Parks quickly dispelled their confusion, saying, "It's not about gossip, it's about movie news, focusing on Murphy Stanton and 'The Dark City'!"
The editors suddenly understood. Murphy Stanton's new film "The Dark City" had sparked a near-frenzy at the box office since its release on Friday. In just a few days, it had broken every conceivable record in the North American movie market and box office. Publishing a special edition for such a director and movie was completely justified.
"I will personally write a box office report," Editor-in-chief Michael Parks instructed his assistant, "Once the weekend box office statistics come in, bring them to me immediately."
For any media outlet, this was a busy night. Especially for the entertainment section editors, who stayed up all night brainstorming ways to praise Murphy Stanton and his blockbuster "The Dark City."
As the darkness over the city slowly faded, and the black curtain gradually lifted, the eastern sky revealed a sliver of white. Copies of the newspaper were delivered to newsstands and paperboys. It wasn't just Los Angeles; newspapers like the Los Angeles Times had a comprehensive distribution network across the country, reaching every corner of the United States.
As the sun illuminated the streets of Burbank, Kevin Feige walked into Marvel Studios' office building and went straight to his office.
Just as he sat down, his assistant brought in freshly brewed coffee and his work schedule for the day. Kevin Feige took a sip of the coffee, finding the temperature just right, and nodded approvingly.
Putting down the coffee cup, Kevin Feige called out to his assistant, "Bring me today's major newspapers."
Understanding her boss's habits, the assistant immediately added, "Boss, the Los Angeles Times has published a special edition on 'The Dark City.'"
Kevin Feige didn't respond immediately but instead picked up the work log and glanced at the schedule. Seeing that there were no urgent matters, he said, "Bring me a copy of the Los Angeles Times first."
The assistant quickly fetched a copy of today's Los Angeles Times from the rack and placed it on Kevin Feige's desk. Seeing no further instructions, she left the office.
Taking the Los Angeles Times, Kevin Feige skipped the other sections and directly grabbed the special edition to read.
"This week marks the beginning of the traditional summer movie season in North America. Every summer kickoff sees highly anticipated blockbusters. Last year, 'The Avengers' set an extraordinary record during the opening weekend, heightening this year's expectations!"
"In the midst of this anticipation, the long-awaited new film by Hollywood super director Murphy Stanton, 'The Dark City,' premiered in 4,660 theaters in North America last Friday. In its opening weekend, it grossed an astounding $242.9 million, with a per-theater average of $52,124. It not only topped the North American box office charts but also shattered various box office records, becoming the highest-grossing opening weekend film in Hollywood history. 20th Century Fox and Stanton Studio's $220 million investment was swiftly recouped."
"Starting with the Thursday night previews, 'The Dark City' declared its intent to set box office records with a victorious stance. The $45.8 million it grossed exceeded the $43.5 million earned by 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2' two years ago, making it the new king of North American previews. The film's Friday performance was equally impressive, with a single-day gross of $102.6 million (including previews), earning the title of the highest single-day gross in film history. On Saturday and Sunday, the film earned $75.5 million and $64.8 million, respectively, setting new North American records for both days!"
"The glory of 'The Dark City' is unparalleled, and the statistics speak for themselves."
"Record-breaking opening—4,660 theaters; highest preview gross—$45.8 million; largest preview opening—grossing $45.8 million across 3,860 theaters; largest IMAX midnight opening—grossing $4.21 million across 185 IMAX theaters; highest single-day gross—$102.6 million; highest Saturday gross—$75.5 million; highest Sunday gross—$64.8 million; highest IMAX opening weekend gross—$42.37 million; fastest to surpass $200 million—two days and fourteen hours..."
"Due to the outstanding box office performance of 'The Dark City,' this weekend's total North American box office also set a new record. Previously, the first weekend of May 2012—when 'The Avengers' premiered—was the highest-grossing weekend in U.S. box office history, generating $249 million. However, this weekend, driven by the immense market heat of 'The Dark City,' the total North American box office reached $289.5 million, making this the highest-grossing weekend in Hollywood history!"
"Each of these titles proves the immense commercial success of 'The Dark City.' The reasons for its success are summarized as follows—its audience is 52% male, with a balanced gender ratio, indicating its appeal to both men and women. Murphy Stanton's high-quality film 'Chaos City' dominated network rentals and DVD sales in the past two years, building a loyal fan base for 'The Dark City.' Murphy Stanton himself boasts an enormous fan base and incredible box office appeal. James Franco's portrayal of the magician is divine, and along with Margot Robbie's superb performance, their acting prowess has elevated the film."
"In terms of word-of-mouth, CinemaScore's audience rating remains at the highest grade of A+; IMDB user rating is 9.7; Rotten Tomatoes freshness rating is 97%, with critics' average score of 9.1. Metacritic, which aggregates reviews from major publications, shows an average score of 88 from 89 media outlets. Among them, 46 major publications, including Variety, Empire, Entertainment Weekly, The Hollywood Reporter, and Time, have given the film a perfect score of 100."
"Next weekend, 'The Dark City' is certain to surpass $300 million at the North American box office. Given the current trend, it is highly likely to become the summer's box office champion of 2013. Whether it can dethrone 'The Avengers' as the highest-grossing summer film remains to be seen..."
At this point, Kevin Feige set the newspaper down. The series of box office records set by "The Avengers" just a year ago had crumbled under the powerful assault of Murphy Stanton and his "The Dark City," leaving Feige, the CEO of Marvel Studios, with a bitter taste in his mouth.
But at the same time, he felt fortunate that Walt Disney's decision-makers had accepted his suggestion to delay the release of "Iron Man 3" to the Christmas season. Otherwise, if it had faced off against Murphy Stanton's film, the best outcome would have been mutual destruction.
"Mutual destruction?" Kevin Feige shook his head. Rational thinking told him, "Iron Man 3" would have certainly been utterly defeated!
He even believed that "The Avengers" wouldn't have fared well against "The Dark City."
Stan Lee, that old fool, had suggested releasing "Iron Man 3" at the start of this summer to directly compete with Murphy Stanton's film, a move that would have buried Marvel's superhero films! Fortunately, the distribution department at Walt Disney wasn't as foolish as the senile Stan Lee!
Kevin Feige shook his head, suddenly thinking that some people were even more foolish than Stan Lee. Those people were the decision-makers at Warner Bros. and DC Comics.
For the sake of some fees and profit shares, they had abandoned Murphy Stanton at the height of their success, choosing Zack Snyder to lead the entire DC superhero film series, resulting in a disaster. The current state of DC's superhero films was so poor that even Ben Affleck wanted to quit playing Batman...
This indirectly led to the current success of Marvel's superhero films.
What if Murphy Stanton had continued to lead the entire DC series? Kevin Feige didn't dare to imagine...
"The Dark City" grossing big on its opening weekend attracted immense attention and became a media sensation.
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