The first-week box office results for Pearl Harbor had just been released, and Duke, along with Warner Bros., received detailed data. To address the situation, Magic Ring Studio held a special eting to discuss counterasures.
"Although Pearl Harbor opens a weekend apart from our film, competition still exists."
In the conference room, Duke paced back and forth in front of his seat before stopping. "The Shrek movie that premiered the weekend before is a DreamWorks Animation production. Typically, theater counts for major films don’t significantly drop in their second weekend..."
"That’s right," Charles Roven nodded. "As long as the film isn’t too bad, the theater count for major releases won’t decline sharply in the first two weekends."
"It’s an animated film, clearly catering to a different audience than ours."
With one arm crossed and the other propping up his chin, Duke frowned slightly. "The North Arican Theater Alliance has guaranteed no less than 3,600 screens for our film, but I want more!"
"Duke, that’s going to be difficult," Doug Walter reminded while rubbing his temple. "Don’t forget, it’s the sumr blockbuster season."
With so many big productions competing for the juicy slice of theater availability, even Warner Bros. cannot claim a significant portion.
"The Fellowship of the Ring runs 165 minutes long."
Duke pulled out a chair and sat down. "Given the sa number of theaters and showti slots, our total screenings will inevitably be fewer..."
A two-hour movie and a two-and-a-half-hour movie will have different numbers of screenings in the sa theater in a day, which directly impacts box office revenue.
Doug Walter understood this well. The success of The Fellowship of the Ring and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone during the Thanksgiving season directly determined whether he could compete for Warner Bros.’ CEO position next year.
"Duke, what’s your plan?" he asked.
"Have you noticed the audience feedback for Pearl Harbor?" Duke shifted his gaze toward Doug Walter. "Its opening weekend audience approval rate is only 69%, with an IMDb score of 6.7. As for the dia? Utterly critical."
In reality, given the staggered release schedules of several films, neither Warner Bros. nor Walt Disney had taken many aggressive actions.
But competition is unavoidable in the sumr season, and they hardly needed to do much.
Charles Roven picked up where Duke left off. "If Pearl Harbor sees a sharp box office drop in its second week, theaters will definitely reduce its screenings."
"Those freed-up screens..." Doug Walter’s eyes glimred with excitent. "We can fight to claim a large portion."
Duke stood up again, resting both hands on the conference table, emphasizing, "Doug, let’s keep our promotions focused on The Fellowship of the Ring. Pearl Harbor’s audience feedback is terrible. We don’t need to do much—just give it a push online..."
"I understand." Doug Walter nodded, then turned his gaze to Panny Kallis. "Looks like we’ll be working together again."
Online trolling isn’t so advanced or mysterious tactic. Hollywood’s major studios are not run by fools. The sensational successes of The Blair Witch Project and The Matrix were clear enough to reveal the traits of online marketing.
Duke had never intended for his trolling strategy to remain a secret—underestimating the intelligence of Hollywood and corporate Arica would be naive.
Most major Hollywood studios had established dedicated online marketing departnts.
As the birthplace of the internet, North Arica had an advanced network deeply embedded in work and daily life. This brought trendous influence along with it.
Neither Panny Kallis nor Warner Bros. would put much energy into attacking Pearl Harbor. Instead, they would leverage the current wave of criticism and stir the pot a little online.
The opening weekend box office for Pearl Harbor gave Michael Ovitz a brief sigh of relief. Nearly $60 million in ticket sales marked the best debut for his integrated services strategy.
Though the weekday box office showed a downward trend, Monday and Tuesday grossed $10.56 million and $9.10 million, respectively, putting Pearl Harbor close to the $100 million mark. If all went well, it could surpass $100 million within its first week.
What kind of achievent is this? The Matrix did no better! And with a favorable rating advantage, Pearl Harbor’s subsequent box office performance could be even stronger.
Suddenly, the office door swung open. Martin Bob barged in without waiting for Ovitz to speak. He said anxiously, "Michael, the situation is not looking good. Online negativity about Pearl Harbor is increasing rapidly. Currently..."
"Is it Rotten Tomatoes?" Michael Ovitz waved dismissively. "That so-called freshness score reflects critics’ reviews. Don’t pay attention to them."
He wasn’t foolish. Decades in the business had shown him that critics’ opinions on sumr blockbusters had minimal influence, especially with Gen X audiences. These viewers didn’t care about critics’ voices.
"It’s not that..." Martin Bob looked visibly agitated. "You’d better see for yourself."
Prompted by him, Michael Ovitz opened several influential film-related websites.
The IMDb score had dropped from 6.7 to a failing 5.9.
CinemaScore ratings were only 5.8.
More alarming than these scores were the scathing comnts flooding online. The overwhelming negativity painted a stark picture of how bad Pearl Harbor was.
"They turned a war movie into a love story. Enough with the pointless love triangles!"
"Michael Bay directing romance? It’s a joke. The movie is dood!"
"Make sure you sit near the aisle because you’ll definitely need to hit the restroom at least three tis!"
Flipping through the comnt sections of major film websites, Ovitz found a few positive reviews, but they were drowned out by a tsunami of harsh criticism.
"The movie is so dull you’ll keep muttering ’boring, boring, boring’ while watching."
"The three leads lack appeal. Ben Affleck looks cocky as always, which suits his personality. Josh Hartnett resembles a young Richard Gere but doesn’t showcase much acting talent. Kate Beckinsale seems like she’s imitating Nicole Kidman. At best, this movie might get her noticed."
"It’s a bloated 3-hour film about the events of December 7, 1941, but it mainly serves as a backdrop for an Arican love triangle. What a disappointnt. Michael Bay will never be Duke Rosenberg. I’d rather look forward to The Fellowship of the Ring!"
Ovitz’s lips twitched as he read comnts about Pearl Harbor veering toward promoting The Fellowship of the Ring.
"I’ll wait for The Fellowship of the Ring to heal the damage caused by Pearl Harbor!"
"Why waste ti on Pearl Harbor when you can save for The Fellowship of the Ring?"
Ovitz closed his computer, took a deep breath, and controlled his emotions. He turned to Martin Bob and said sternly, "Have our PR team contact Disney imdiately and launch a crisis response!"
His tone reflected the seriousness of the situation. From the massive success of The Blair Witch Project, Ovitz understood the internet’s power—it could elevate a film or crush it.
But he was already at a disadvantage. Pearl Harbor’s diocrity made it easy for trolls to amplify negative perceptions, accelerating its downfall.
On Wednesday, Pearl Harbor’s daily box office fell to $4.63 million, and by Thursday, it dropped further to $4.05 million.
Although the week wasn’t over, Ovitz’s dream of crossing $100 million in the first seven days had beco unattainable.
And this was just the beginning. In its second weekend, DreamWorks Animation’s Shrek debuted, drawing audiences away from Pearl Harbor. Coupled with relentless online criticism and poor word-of-mouth, Pearl Harbor’s weekend box office plumted by 60%, grossing only $23.62 million.
With $42.34 million, Shrek easily claid the weekend box office crown.
While Pearl Harbor crossed the $100 million mark dostically, its severe downward trend led most forecasting agencies to slash their box office predictions. Many doubted it could reach the $250 million goal set by Ovitz and Touchstone Pictures, with so even skeptical of surpassing $200 million.
"Two hundred million?"
In his office, Ino Martin played with a formal invitation as he remarked to Tom Hanks, "If Pearl Harbor reaches $150 million dostically, Michael Ovitz should count that as a win."
His tone grew heavier. "Next up, they’ll be facing not just an animated film but Duke Rosenberg’s movie!"
.....
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