"Keanu Reeves has changed the public's perception of pretty boys, proving that even without the bulging muscles of traditional action stars, one can still star in action films..."
"Speed is an incredibly exciting action movie. Director Gilbert. used unprecedented filming and editing techniques to keep the audience on the edge of their seats from beginning to end. The entire film, over 100 minutes long, is packed with thrilling scenes and shots."
"Friendly reminder: don't drink too much soda before watching this movie, or you might burst your bladder because of it..."
Naomi Watts read the media reports to Gilbert., visibly happy. "Gilbert., our movie is a hit!"
"Hmm," Gilbert. simply nodded, his face showing little excitement, remaining as calm as usual.
"You look so serious. Did the movie not meet your expectations?" Naomi Watts asked.
"Not at all," Gilbert. shook his head. "I just think this achievement is to be expected."
Naomi Watts looked at the man she admired, secretly impressed. As a supporting actress, she was so excited she couldn't sleep for nights after the film's impressive reception. But Gilbert. seemed completely unfazed; he ate and slept as usual, showing no excitement or worry. Such a person was born to achieve great things.
Actually, Gilbert. had felt excited, but he was good at hiding it. In his view, the film's success was inevitable, as it had already been proven in its previous life. If it hadn't succeeded, then he would have been the problem. So, more often than not, he was concerned about the box office feedback. Fortunately, the feedback from theaters was excellent, which relieved Gilbert.
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Besides the film reviews, the rumors about Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock continued to be hyped. Naomi Watts, on the other hand, was overlooked. She looked through reports from over a dozen newspapers before she finally found her name. However, the petite woman wasn't discouraged; at least she was mentioned, indicating progress. With the first step taken, the second would follow.
After the midnight screenings, Speed officially opened across North America on April 30th in 2,800 theaters. In terms of screening numbers, it was slightly lower than Sylvester Stallone's Cliffhanger, with 300 fewer theaters. However, the two films were neck and neck on their opening day.
On Friday, April 30th, Speed took in $9.246 million at the box office. Including the midnight screenings, its first-day box office reached $10.371 million, setting a new single-day box office record in Gilbert.'s career. Cliffhanger, thanks to Stallone's appeal and better screening availability, earned $11.214 million, narrowly winning the day's box office championship. Under the pressure from these two action films, other movies had very little room to breathe and were almost non-competitive.
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The next day, due to Speed's excellent box office performance, theaters increased its screenings, with the number of theaters rising to 3,000. And Speed certainly didn't disappoint, taking the daily box office crown with a single-day gross of $15.248 million. Its direct competitor, Cliffhanger, earned $14.952 million, losing to Speed and settling for second place.
The two films engaged in a back-and-forth struggle, and on the last day of the opening weekend, Speed won again. It earned $11.195 million on Sunday, securing the first weekend box office championship of the 1993 summer season with a total of $36.814 million. Cliffhanger took in $9.173 million on Sunday, coming in second with $35.635 million.
The direct showdown between Speed and Cliffhanger attracted attention not only in Hollywood but also among many moviegoers. It was clear that a director who had only made two films, Gilbert., combined with a "pretty boy" actor like Keanu Reeves, could defeat veteran action star Sylvester Stallone, causing a sensation in the entire North American film market. Anyone who followed movies and loved watching them would know that Speed was the winner of the opening weekend, and Stallone was the loser.
The Los Angeles Times reported this grand event on its front page, praising Gilbert.'s achievement. Variety magazine featured a simple cartoon: Jack, the male lead from Speed, knocking out Rocky in a boxing ring. Rocky is the most iconic character in Stallone's film career, but now he was defeated by a "pretty boy" actor, which was simply unbelievable. The level of disbelief was akin to telling Americans today that the ancient country across the Pacific would become the world's second-largest economy in a few decades.
But Gilbert. and Keanu Reeves indeed achieved this feat. In the fiercely competitive summer season, they teamed up to defeat the combination of Renny Harlin and Sylvester Stallone.
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"Smash!" A wine glass shattered, and Stallone's developed muscles rippled up and down; he looked very angry.
"Don't get agitated, Stallone. I've seen the movie; Speed is really good," his agent said, gesturing for Stallone to calm down.
Stallone, who came from a street fighting background, had a bad temper. He clearly couldn't calm down and glared fiercely at his agent. "You actually went to see that annoying guy's movie?"
The agent was helpless and explained, "I have to understand our opponent to devise a strategy, right?"
"So, what strategy have you come up with?" Stallone stared coldly at his agent, ready to punch him if his answer wasn't good enough. At this time, Stallone's temper was exceptionally bad, and he would often hit and scold those around him.
His agent clearly understood the action star's personality and didn't beat around the bush, stating directly, "To be honest, I initially didn't believe a young director in his twenties could make much of a film. But it wasn't until I saw Speed that I understood that its victory was no accident."
"So what do we do?" Stallone asked.
The agent replied, troubled, "There are no problems with the movie itself, so we can only look for problems with the people. Mr. Ovitz is very good at that, so let's consult him for a countermeasure!"
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Meanwhile, Michael Ovitz was also having a headache because Speed's box office performance was simply too good, too outstanding. This made Michael Ovitz incredibly regretful; Gilbert. was almost part of CAA (or so he thought). If he had been more resolute, swallowed his pride, and handled it himself, Gilbert. might have already been signed to CAA, and Speed would have become part of CAA's packaging services.
But it was too late for regrets. Gilbert. proved with Speed that he didn't need CAA's packaging services. His work, without packaging services, defeated Cliffhanger, which had them. This was no small blow to CAA. They had boasted about how good their packaging services were, but now several works had proven that films could succeed without being operated under packaging services. This was CAA's core interest and could not be violated.
Gilbert. would absolutely not accept CAA's packaging services. Given time, Gilbert. would become another James Cameron. The "truck driver" (Cameron's nickname, referring to his humble beginnings) had already made CAA look bad; if another Gilbert. emerged, CAA would lose face completely. Since it touched their core interests, they had to act!
So, Michael Ovitz and Martin Bob discussed how to suppress Gilbert. But could a director who had already made a name for himself be suppressed so easily? Don't forget, Gilbert. had two giants, Disney and Warner, backing him. If you tried to suppress their money-making machine, would they just let you get away with it? That's right, Gilbert. was now Disney and Warner's cash cow.
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The only way was to make Gilbert. fail, and keep failing, so that Disney and Warner would no longer protect him. So Michael Ovitz came up with a plan: young people are impulsive and easily angered, and also easily lost. The previous strategy of finding dirt on him didn't work, so they would use a strategy of excessive praise, causing Gilbert. to lose himself amidst all the adulation. In short, it was a strategy of "killing with praise."
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