While Gilbert was keeping an eye on Van Helsing, David Ellison was also watching The False.
After The False's premiere ended, David Ellison immediately received first-hand information. As he had expected, The False received unanimous praise.
"As expected, Gilbert's films won't so easily lose points in terms of reputation." David Ellison smiled bitterly.
Although he disagreed with competing against Gilbert in the same release slot, now that things had already come to this, Michael Ovitz could only do his best to handle his own work.
"At present, our publicity campaign is going well, attracting a lot of attention. Presumably, fans of this type of film will head to the theaters to see our movie."
David Ellison suddenly had an idea: "Michael, can't we get the media to attack The False?"
"That's unrealistic," Michael Ovitz shook his head and said. "If it comes down to throwing mud at each other, there are no winners, and…"
"And what?"
"And we alone can't beat Disney and Warner…"
David Ellison felt it was a pity and asked again: "Then can we exploit religious issues to attack Tom Cruise?"
"That we can try," Michael Ovitz thought it wasn't a bad idea. "But don't expect too much. The impact won't be significant."
Tom Cruise's faith had always been a target of attack. Every time he released a new movie or hosted some kind of event, old controversies would resurface.
Unless something major broke out—for instance, if Scientology committed some grave misdeeds and Tom Cruise was involved in such a heavy scandal—the effect wouldn't really be great.
According to the trajectory of the previous life, during this period Tom Cruise had already broken up with Nicole Kidman, offended Spielberg with his big mouth, and later Mission: Impossible 3 flopped, causing Paramount's parent company, Viacom, to lose a sum of money—though Tom Cruise himself still profited greatly.
As a result, Viacom chairman Sumner Redstone was very displeased, and the company's media launched a frenzied smear campaign against Tom Cruise. For a time, Tom Cruise fell into unprecedented trouble.
It wasn't until 2011, with the box-office success of Mission: Impossible 4 and his breathtaking climb, that Tom Cruise returned to the center stage of Hollywood.
But that was the path of the previous life. A person's fate largely depends on the people around him.
This time, Tom Cruise met Gilbert. Not only did he win the Academy Award for Best Actor, but his marriage with Nicole Kidman was happy and they even had a second child.
His commercial appeal remained strong, with one blockbuster after another, and he enjoyed countless fans.
Even in Scientology, thanks to his status and contributions, Tom Cruise had become a figure ranked just below the top leadership of the church.
And all of this was the result of the powerful butterfly effect caused by Gilbert, which changed Tom Cruise's life trajectory.
Although Tom Cruise himself didn't know what his original destiny would have been, that didn't stop him from maintaining a close relationship with Gilbert.
Actors trying to survive in Hollywood all understood a profound truth: you must either cling tightly to a powerful thigh, or become a powerful thigh yourself.
In this regard, Tom Cruise did it very well.
After the premieres of the two films ended, online viewing reports came out immediately, much faster than traditional print media.
And the results matched the intelligence both sides had gathered: The False's reputation soared, while Van Helsing, even after distributing red envelopes, still received mixed reviews.
Roger Ebert had already attended a preview of The False earlier and had written a short review at the time, praising the film.
Later, for the official premieres, he chose to attend Van Helsing's.
Even though Michael Ovitz worked hard on PR, taking Roger Ebert on a fishing trip and arranging eighteen models to serve him,
once Ebert returned to Chicago, he was still merciless. That very day, he posted a review on his IMDB account, strongly criticizing Van Helsing.
"The biggest failure of Van Helsing lies in the fact that it resurrects those classic monster images but fails to make them frightening.
Though the film's visual effects are stunning, the story is weak, and the background of the three major villains' gathering is unclear.
Director Stephen Sommers has explored this type of subject deeply—the Mummy series is a prime example.
But unfortunately, this Van Helsing does not bring the same sense of horror as The Mummy, and it is disappointing.
I hear Stephen Sommers is going to take over the Pirates of the Caribbean series. Hopefully, under Gilbert's supervision, he won't ruin it."
Another critic, Wendell Zeller of The New Yorker, wrote: "The film's lack of star power is a major weakness. Although Hugh Jackman has become an A-list Hollywood actor, he still cannot compare with either of the two Toms.
And Charlize Theron completely overshadowed Kate Beckinsale. Perhaps Miss Beckinsale will regret not accepting the invitation to join The Lord of the Rings.
Moreover, the flimsy story is Van Helsing's greatest flaw. Compared to the well-told story in neighboring The False, Van Helsing is like chicken ribs—tasteless and unappealing."
Most of the criticisms of Van Helsing centered around it being boring, the story being thin, and making audiences drowsy.
In contrast, the evaluations of The False were overwhelmingly positive.
After Zhao Jack and Erin returned to San Francisco, Erin wrote a review on her own IMDB account.
She had over a hundred thousand followers there, making her one of the most popular amateur reviewers.
Erin wrote: "Compared to traditional Hollywood crime films centered on heroism, The False is clearly innovative and subversive.
What audiences now expect to see on the screen is no longer heroism built on sheer passion, but the complex humanity that drives the story forward.
The narrative lines of this film are interwoven with reality and imagination. The ingenious conception and flexible storytelling make it slightly mind-bending, enough to leave the audience with lingering aftertastes."
Drake also wrote a review, but he shared it on the Watermelon social platform along with a photo of himself and Vera Farmiga. His post received many likes, shares, and comments.
"The False possesses most of the strengths found in Hollywood cop-and-crime films, with a brisk pace.
The two leading actors each play their roles: Tom Cruise exudes immense presence, with an aura that dominates whenever he appears; Tom Hanks plays the character who guides the audience while preserving humanity.
And in the end, the story has a twist, returning to the final theme of blurred truth and falsehood.
In addition, Vera Farmiga, who plays the female officer, and Dustin Hoffman, who plays the circuit board expert, Callahan Ross, are also scene-stealers.
Both of their performances are plain yet powerful, and deeply moving.
Finally, let me say, Queen Theron is stunning in the movie. You would never guess she was the same person from Monster. Gilbert is indeed the best at filming women, capturing the most beautiful side of Queen Theron."
Drake not only shared his thoughts on social media but also recommended the movie to his classmates, encouraging them to go see it.
"I'm telling you all, this movie is incredibly, incredibly mind-bending. Be careful or your brains will explode."
One classmate laughed and said: "Drake, could it be because your brain is just dumb?"
This remark made the surrounding classmates burst out laughing, and Drake got anxious: "Sam, if you watch it, you won't say that. I'll tell you in advance, Tom Cruise's role is extremely worth noting.
The final twist will make your jaws drop."
Although Gilbert was the most influential and most popular director among young people in Hollywood, this didn't mean all young people liked his films.
Several of Drake's classmates disliked Gilbert's films. Some even pretended to hate them just to stand out, because everyone around them liked them.
For such people, Drake could only say that once they went to the theater, they would immediately understand why Gilbert's films were so well-received.
And if they still acted stubborn and claimed dislike after watching, then there was nothing that could be done.
In any case, this round of persuasion was very successful. Drake managed to rally more than a dozen classmates to watch the movie together. But when they went to buy tickets, they found that all the midnight show tickets at the nearby theaters had already sold out.
If they wanted to watch, only tomorrow and the morning after were available, or the third day after. Because the tickets for tomorrow afternoon and the day after had already been sold, and the remaining seats were poor.
So Sam suggested going the morning after, which happened to be Saturday. "If the movie turns out bad, then Drake will treat us all, and we'll go party at the nightclub."
This suggestion won everyone's support. Drake countered Sam: "And if the movie is good?"
"Then I'll treat…" Sam replied generously.
"Wait," one classmate raised a question, "how do we decide if the movie is good or not?"
"That's simple—we'll vote when the time comes," Drake said. "But we must agree in advance, no cheating in the vote."
"Relax, whoever lies, their whole family dies…"
One film had even forced out catchphrases from the old internet days. Indeed, hot memes know no East or West—they only depend on context.
Meanwhile, David Ellison was watching the critics and audiences discussing The False and Van Helsing online. One could say the reviews were overwhelmingly in favor of The False, achieving a sweeping victory.
David Ellison felt a throbbing pain in his temples, but he still suppressed his anger and calmed himself down.
"Winning in word-of-mouth doesn't mean winning overall. As long as we win at the box office, that counts as success." David Ellison could only comfort himself this way.
Fortunately, he had never set his expectations too high. As long as he only lost slightly to The False, he could accept this outcome.
What he feared most was a crushing defeat, a rout—that was something David Ellison could not accept.
This current situation had been within David Ellison's expectations, as Michael Ovitz had also said before. But David Ellison, after all, was still young.
After seeing it all, he was truly furious. Being able to suppress the anger was already very difficult.
In this industry, getting angry was useless.
If anger, self-pity, or begging could make a movie's box office soar, then these Hollywood stars, who appeared so high and mighty in outsiders' eyes, would each compete to sink to new lows.
....
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