Hollywood Immortal

[Chapter 385: Absolutely Could Not Be Allowed to Succeed]

While Linton was at home shooting Madonna's art photos those few days, the publicity for Independence Day had ramped up into an even more intense phase.

With piles of dollars being thrown around, almost every outlet was running stories and scoops about Independence Day, and the gossip about Linton and Cristiana and Nicole Kidman had reached new heights. MCA and UPN started running different versions of Independence Day promo spots at multiple dayparts.

Beginning June 28, the four major networks ran 30-second Independence Day promos during prime time.

A polling firm had just completed a survey of 53,000 people aged 15 to 40 in 20 major U.S. cities. Ninety-seven percent had heard or seen news about Independence Day. Forty-eight percent said they were excited and planned to see it in theaters, while 18 percent said they would decide based on reviews and word of mouth.

In short, things looked great.

The exhibitors' communications were even more encouraging: opening day bookings had reached an unprecedented scale -- 3,600 screens.

But one group was getting restless.

---

It was June 30. Chicago -- the house of famed film critic Roger Ebert.

Independence Day was set to premiere on July 2 and open wide on July 4, yet Roger still hadn't received an invitation from Universal or Linton Films. That had never happened before.

Summer and holiday releases were the busy season for career film critics. Big studio pictures always needed them to cheerlead for publicity. That unwritten rule had been in place for more than a decade. For Hollywood's big-money spectacle films, PR budgets were huge and top critics were worth courting -- distributors sometimes allocated six-figure PR fees just for critics' outreach.

As America's top film critic, Roger Ebert had never been ignored by a major studio release. He made well over a million dollars each summer from such PR work.

Last December he had already received the studio release slate for the coming summer and had his eye on big-budget projects like Batman Forever, Waterworld, Independence Day, and Congo. By past practice, distributors would invite him to screenings and offer substantial PR checks.

In fact, Warner's Batman Forever in May, Universal's Waterworld in June, and Congo in mid-July had each brought him checks of no less than $200,000. Getting paid to do the job was the basic principle of his trade. Roger prided himself on professional integrity; he had given high marks to Batman Forever and Waterworld, two strong thumbs-up reviews.

Batman Forever's good buzz and box office seemed to vindicate his judgment and made him feel his reviews had helped the films' success. As for Waterworld, he had done his job -- the film itself was just mediocre, and its flop wasn't his fault.

The only time he had stepped out of line was last winter over The Man from Nowhere, the Linton Films picture. He had accepted $200,000 from Linton Films and had intended to write a favorable review. But when Linton had crossed the six major Hollywood players and triggered their coordinated campaign against him, could he in good conscience keep backing Linton? Besides, the six studios had paid him an extra $200,000 as consolation. A seasoned man knew when to change sides; he had accepted the other offer.

Return the PR money to Linton Films? No way. He had earned the money. He wasn't the only one who'd acted that way.

Roger had seen the Independence Day Super Bowl ad and the two TV trailers. As he expected, the trailers were all cheap melodrama and endless explosions -- by his judgment, the film looked like a guaranteed turkey. For him to give it a glowing score, praise it, and thumb it up would require a suitably satisfying check.

So he waited for an invitation. He waited and waited -- until the end of June, and nothing had come.

Could Linton be holding a grudge over The Man from Nowhere? Was Linton deliberately snubbing him for Independence Day promotion? That would have been a bold move. Did Linton not know he was North America's top critic?

Sensing something wrong, Roger asked his agent to investigate.

---

His agent Holz closed the door and went straight to Roger's study. Roger, sipping coffee, hurriedly asked, "How is it? Have you got to the bottom of it?"

"Yes. I checked. For Independence Day's campaign, Universal and Linton Films didn't invite any critics," Holz reported.

"What?" Roger stared at Holz in disbelief.

"Universal and Linton used every publicity method -- fan events, media and exhibitor screenings -- but they held no critic screenings and didn't court any professional critics."

Roger's expression grew serious. "They didn't invite a single critic? How dare they. What were they trying to do?"

"Could it be retaliation for The Man from Nowhere?" Holz suggested.

"No. If it were just Linton striking back, there were still a handful of critics who had stood by him last year. Why weren't those people invited either? Maybe the box-office success of The Man from Nowhere convinced Linton that critics didn't matter to a film's grosses."

Roger didn't want to believe it, but his instincts told him that might be the real reason.

He thought quietly for a few minutes and then realized a serious issue that could affect the entire critics' community.

If critics were sidelined and Independence Day still became a smash like The Man from Nowhere had, how would Hollywood regard critics in the future? Would it undermine critics' role and income when big studio pictures opened?

This wasn't a small matter. It could impact more than just him; it could harm the interests of critics as a whole.

No. He absolutely wouldn't allow that to happen. He absolutely could not let Independence Day succeed, because if it did, critics would lose their influence over big commercial pictures and his good days would be gone for good.

"Holz, I want you to do three things," he said.

"Go ahead."

"First, contact CAA. I remember Linton had deep clashes with CAA. Ask if they'd be willing to run a campaign to discredit Independence Day, and how much they could pay for such work.

Second, contact the distribution departments at Disney and Paramount. Disney's Pocahontas opened yesterday, and Paramount's Congo would open July 12, right before and after Independence Day. Ask if they wanted to undercut Independence Day and how much they'd pay.

Third, I'm calling a meeting of critics' leaders. Contact David Denby in New York, Kenneth Turan in Los Angeles, Todd McCarthy at Variety, and Claude Hank at The National Film Registry -- tell them it's about matters vital to critics' future and that they must come to Chicago tomorrow to discuss."

*****

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