Leonardo DiCaprio received a faxed document. Everyone else glanced over at him as he flipped through it. His expression remained unchanged, neither pleased nor disappointed, as if the data was entirely within his expectations.
"What's the opening day box office?" Carey Mulligan asked curiously, tilting her head to look but refraining from going over. Outside of work, she had no other relationship with Leonardo DiCaprio, and their statuses were far apart. Other than facing the media, they barely spoke, so she naturally didn't want to go over and find herself unwelcome.
Tobey Maguire, Leonardo DiCaprio's close friend, went over to take a look and then sat beside DiCaprio. A few others followed, seemingly unbothered by DiCaprio's lack of reaction.
Seeing this, Carey Mulligan turned to her agent, Koltentopp, and asked, "Weren't you curious about yesterday's box office? Why not go take a look?"
Koltentopp glanced at Carey Mulligan. His client always had small cunningness but lacked great wisdom.
Nevertheless, he stood up and went to check the faxed document, quickly returning.
Seeing Koltentopp return, Carey Mulligan eagerly asked, "How much was yesterday's box office?"
Without answering immediately, Koltentopp first pulled out his chair and sat down. Then, unhurriedly, he said, "Just over $10.5 million."
"What?" Carey Mulligan seemed unable to believe the number, raising her voice involuntarily. "Just that much?"
Though her voice wasn't particularly loud, it was enough to carry throughout the quiet VIP lounge.
Many turned their heads to look at Carey Mulligan with astonished expressions. Leonardo DiCaprio also glanced at her but didn't say anything, quickly turning away. Only Tobey Maguire, seated opposite DiCaprio, noticed his friend's face tighten momentarily.
As one of Hollywood's top superstars, seeing a new, heavily invested film he's been preparing for years be crushed by a second-week release, it's no wonder DiCaprio felt aggrieved.
On the other side, realizing she had misspoken, Carey Mulligan quickly fell silent.
Agent Koltentopp subtly shook his head. No wonder she could never truly rise to stardom despite all the effort. Years ago, she foolishly clashed with Murphy Stanton. Besides being proud and willful, her judgment of people and situations was indeed lacking.
The VIP lounge fell into complete silence, remaining so until boarding the plane.
After takeoff, Carey Mulligan took out her phone and began browsing news about "The Great Gatsby," quickly finding many articles, especially regarding the film's reception.
After a day of release in North America, CinemaScore had given "The Great Gatsby" a B+ rating from audience surveys, while MetaCritic had compiled reviews from 31 media outlets, averaging a score of 62.
For a remake, this seemed decent.
But Carey Mulligan wasn't convinced. While browsing on her phone, she muttered, "Pretty average. I should have taken that other film."
She clearly remembered "The Dark City" had an A+ audience rating on CinemaScore even now. There were two rating levels between A+ and B+, meaning the two films were three grades apart in audience perception!
And there was no need to mention the media scores. One was nearly 90, the other just barely passed...
Just then, she checked boxofficemojo and saw that Friday's box office numbers were out. Unsurprisingly, "The Dark City" topped the list with $44.6 million!
In second place was "The Great Gatsby," starring her and Leonardo DiCaprio, with only $10.52 million, less than a quarter of "The Dark City."
The gap was indeed too large! Carey Mulligan silently complained to herself.
She then put away her phone, turned her head, and looked out the airplane window. Memories flashed before her eyes like the clouds in the sky.
Though the past could never be retrieved, after years of ups and downs in Hollywood, Carey Mulligan finally understood one thing: her younger self had been utterly foolish to give up a future superstar director so easily!
How wonderful it would be if time could turn back!
Despite the pleasing second-week Friday numbers, "The Dark City" crew continued their relentless promotion across North America and overseas, employing all possible strategies to attract more viewers.
This even included making some seemingly sensational statements.
For instance, in an interview with French media in Paris, Henry Cavill claimed that Chris Darnell had very strong "terrorist" tendencies.
"The reason I like Chris Darnell is that he's almost a bad guy. He walks the line between good and evil. He has dark thoughts, but he always manages to keep them in check, ensuring he's still on the side of justice. Chris Darnell may appear to be a righteous hero, but his true motives are not so pure. Fortunately, he uses altruism to restrain himself, ensuring he's still a good guy."
When discussing a character burdened with heavy responsibilities, this could be said. But for a terrifying character like the Magician, it was necessary to be cautious with words. James Franco, when interviewed in North America, approached discussions about the Magician from an entertainment perspective.
"In fact, the purpose of making films is to entertain and tell a good story. I like how Murphy constructs narratives in a fictional New York City, a non-existent reality. This allows the film to resonate broadly with audiences, as each viewer can project their environment into the film. During this process, some viewers might interpret the film politically, and that's unavoidable."
As for Murphy himself, he updated a post on Twitter and Facebook: "Every hero has their journey and beginning: Why do we fall? So that we can learn to pick ourselves up. Every hero also has their end: Who you are is not important, what you do is."
The promotion for "The Dark City" was far from over.
Of course, not everyone liked the film. Some criticized it as a dumb and foolish Hollywood industrial product.
Murphy never denied this. Though he was recognized for his distinctive style, all his films were essentially industrial products. And it's not just typical summer blockbusters; even the Oscar-winning films and "The Shawshank Redemption" were products of the Hollywood industrial system.
Every summer movie season brought along a small group of literary-minded viewers complaining about sequels, popcorn flicks, and excessive special effects. Yet they grumbled about these movies while queuing to watch them.
To them, all commercial films were brainless.
Just as some people have no interest in art films and automatically ignore them, both sides often overlook that a classic film, even an enduring classic, requires both artistic and entertainment values.
Put another way, movies today must balance artistic and entertainment qualities. They're not mutually exclusive.
Commercial films cater to the public taste and are meant to entertain.
For instance, Picasso's paintings might bore some viewers because they neither understand nor care about them. They can't grasp his art.
The same applies to art films.
Strictly speaking, films shouldn't be divided into commercial and art categories. But given the industry's evolution, this distinction persists.
Especially in Hollywood, the boundary is clear.
Compared to art films, commercial films might seem vulgar and formulaic. But no matter how formulaic commercial films are, their formulas adjust with the times. In a few decades, these commercial films might be studied for their unique period imprints, just as we now look back at films from Hollywood's golden age. That too can be fascinating.
Who knows, it might even spark nostalgia.
Honestly, Murphy didn't endorse Hollywood's film homogenization and mindless popcorn flicks. Still, he believed they should be viewed with a bit of leniency.
Hollywood commercial cinema is the most prominent representation of contemporary postmodern art forms. Its commercial nature, consumerism, market orientation, and broad impact on the global film industry make it a focal point of popular culture.
Hollywood has evolved from classical to contemporary cinema. The classical era was its initial development phase, emphasizing popularity and entertainment, reflecting common traditional moral and spiritual values.
With rapid technological advances, Hollywood commercial films underwent significant changes in production. Extensive use of computer media technology and large studio setups allowed for scenes previously hard to depict, resulting in more polished productions and captivating visuals. This progress was built on massive investments. While Hollywood's film technology advanced, it continued using a fixed traditional model for storytelling, prioritizing entertainment. That's because films were primarily seen as profit-generating products, not art.
"The Dark City" is unique but essentially a typical commercial film. With the summer season in full swing and the awards season far off, Murphy prioritized box office success above all.
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