Chapitre 132: Chapter 131: Two Preview Screenings
Mel Gibson is thinking about how to outsmart Gilbert, and Gilbert is plotting against Mel Gibson as well. The key figure in all of this is Sophie Marceau.
Sophie Marceau is currently in a dilemma—should she accept Sheena Boone's invitation and side with Gilbert, or should she follow Mel Gibson's plan and try to seduce Gilbert?
But thankfully, Sophie Marceau still has time to decide. The two big figures' most important task right now is the summer blockbusters, so their personal grudges are temporarily put aside.
On March 21,Gilbert attended the Oscars with Cameron Diaz. Last time, he went with Naomi Watts, so this time, he brought Cameron Diaz along. If he can attend next year, he might switch to Charlize Theron—one woman per year, perfect.
At this year's Oscars, Forrest Gump was a big winner, taking home Best Picture and Best Director, while Tom Hanks achieved a rare back-to-back Best Actor win. The film had also been the box office champion in North America the previous year, marking a double victory with awards and ticket sales.
Thanks to this film, Tom Hanks became a Hollywood giant, ushering in his era, and he became one of the two best Tommies in the industry. When film fans talk about the best movie stars today, after Tom Cruise and Tom Hanks, they might mention other names.
It's not that Schwarzenegger or Stallone weren't great, but the 90s truly belonged to these two.
Real Steel also brought home some awards, with Dr. Dre winning the Oscar for Best Original Song for his work on the film's soundtrack. Dr. Dre never imagined that one day he would receive an Oscar, even if it wasn't a Grammy. Still, he was very happy, after all, it was the Oscars.
When accepting the award, Dr. Dre specifically thanked Gilbert for inviting him to create and perform the theme song for Real Steel and for his cameo in the film.
Real Steel also won the Best Visual Effects award, which was unsurprisingly claimed by Industrial Light & Magic. In recent years, they had monopolized the Best Visual Effects category, showing the strength of their special effects studio.
After collaborating with Industrial Light & Magic, James Cameron started getting ideas for his own special effects studio, which he later named Digital Domain, to serve his own projects. He also told Gilbert to keep an eye on Digital Domain's business and not just focus on Industrial Light & Magic.
What James Cameron didn't know was that Gilbert was also considering starting his own effects studio, though he hadn't decided on a name yet. After all, he couldn't just call it "Melon Effects Studio," could he?
After the Oscars, the promotional campaign for The Rock kicked into high gear, with the three main stars starting to appear on TV programs to promote the film. Some high-rating programs even saw Gilbert attending. Meanwhile, offline posters and TV ads flooded the market, announcing to the public that The Rock was coming.
By early April, The Rock held two preview screenings for theater representatives and media critics.
Given Gilbert's current influence, these preview screenings were something that could be done or not. However, after consulting Gilbert, Robert Iger still decided to host the two screenings.
Unlike the initial The Shallows movie, where Gilbert had to carefully attend screenings, speak well, and smile in hopes that those who held the fate of his film in their hands would notice him, things were different now. Gilbert had moved up in status. Now, he didn't even need to show up in person, leaving it to the PR team to handle the event. The attendees didn't mind at all and instead focused on watching and evaluating his movie seriously.
This was the change brought by status—he didn't need to appear in person, but the effect was still significant.
The purpose of the preview screenings was to allow theater chains to assess the film's quality and make initial judgments. The better the film, the easier it was to convince theaters to increase the number of screenings.
For small companies, being able to hold a preview screening for a major film like The Rock was a luxury, but that's how Hollywood worked, especially for A-list blockbusters.
Although Gilbert didn't attend, the event still had a strong presence, with major theater chains such as Regal Cinemas and AMG Cinemas showing up.
After viewing The Rock, the representatives were full of praise for the film.
The representative from Regal Cinemas and the executives from Touchstone Pictures said, " Gilbert's style has matured. I'm optimistic about the film's prospects in theaters, and we will fight for the largest number of screens possible."
On the AMG side, they didn't give a definitive commitment but expressed their intention to push for the highest support possible from company executives.
The theater chain's response was expected by the Touchstone executives, who were pleased. It seemed that May's summer blockbusters would belong to Gilbert, Touchstone Pictures, and Disney.
Before the theater preview, the production company had already held an internal screening, and all three major investors were highly satisfied with the film.
Although other companies had several other films set for release in the summer, such as Warner's new Batman movie and 20th Century Fox's Die Hard 3, Disney had chosen The Rock as their key project for May. This showed the importance they placed on the film.
The media screening was just as well attended, with many well-known critics present, including Roger Ebert, who had been praising little Gilbert's films, and Kenneth Turan, who often criticized the lack of artistic depth in Gilbert's work.
Naturally, inviting such famous critics was costly.
Roger Ebert, who had hosted a golf tournament and yacht party with blonde models, wasn't cheap to please. Disney likely paid at least six figures in public relations fees to host him. In those days, television and newspapers were the main sources of information, and influencing critics was crucial.
At the media screening, critics could write their reviews during or immediately after watching the film and hand them over to Touchstone staff.
Touchstone received two very different reviews. One was from Roger Ebert.
In his review, Roger Ebert highly praised Gilbert's cinematic language, the excellent performances of the three lead actors.
"Every frame of the movie is beautiful, with stunning, dazzling shots and fast-paced editing that creates a tense atmosphere, making this action-packed film even more exciting.
With the fast-paced car chases and explosive action scenes, no one will be able to resist this movie in the summer."
The second review came from Kenneth Turan.
"The film was quite boring. The constant explosions were almost like a lullaby, making me want to leave the screening as soon as possible.
The emotional depth of General Hammer's character and his motivations could have made for a good film, but unfortunately, the director completely ignored this aspect.
Having been in the film industry for several years, Gilbert seems to be moving further away from the art of filmmaking. I'm really disappointed..."
Looking at the two contrasting reviews, Gilbert couldn't help but laugh. It was rare to see two of the most famous critics in America give completely opposing views of his film.
He shook the reviews in his hand and said to Robert Iger, "This is pretty interesting. After all, they are well-known critics. We can't ask them to stay quiet just because they're invited. Let them post their reviews!"
What Gilbert was referring to was Kenneth Turan's review. Despite being treated to a nice time in Los Angeles, he still gave the film a bad review.
Roger Ebert's review, of course, was glowing.
"It won't be long before I see Roger Ebert giving my movie two thumbs up and recommending it to the audience,"Gilbert said.
Robert Iger said, "Before Ebert heads back to Chicago, he wants to have dinner with you."
"Sure, I'll have my assistant arrange a time. After all, he gave my movie such great reviews. It's the least I can do," Gilbert agreed immediately.
Roger Ebert continued, "Regal Cinemas, AMG Cinemas, and other major theater chains in North America have all promised to give The Rock the maximum number of screens, with guaranteed scheduling."
Such promotional matters were usually not discussed directly with the director, but Gilbert's position was different. His studio was one of the film's investors, and Roger Ebert personally valued him.
Every time before a movie's release,Gilbert was always nervous.
Hearing this news, he breathed a sigh of relief. Theater chains typically had a good eye for quality. Their commitment was a sign that they had faith in the film's commercial potential.
After these two preview screenings, The Rock didn't hold a fan screening and moved straight into the distribution phase, awaiting its official release.
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