On Monday morning, Daisy walked into the office punctually. Her job was relatively idle, and her position was in the far corner of the large office. After casually checking her work email and retweeting a few mandatory posts from her boss on Twitter and Facebook, she silently typed "Murphy Stanton" and "The Wolf of Wall Street" into the Google search bar.
With a light tap on the enter key, a slew of related content appeared before Daisy, with many reviews of "The Wolf of Wall Street"—both good and bad. Seeing the comments labeling it a "bad movie," Daisy clenched her teeth in anger, wishing she could drag those people through the internet and the screen to beat them up.
Beating them wouldn't be enough; she should hang them on a big hook and roast them in an electric oven. Once they were slightly charred, she would pull them out, smear them with oil and salt, and then continue roasting.
They should be roasted eighteen times until they die, finally becoming crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, to be sold as barbecue at the market!
Taking her eyes off the comments, Daisy's attention was drawn to a line of headlines at the bottom of the page.
"The Wolf of Wall Street' Explodes at the Box Office, Murphy Stanton's New Film Tops North American Weekend Box Office!"
Daisy clicked on the link after reading just the headline; clearly, the first-weekend box office numbers for "The Wolf of Wall Street" had been released.
This was a fresh North American box office report. Daisy temporarily set aside other thoughts and read it carefully.
"'The Wolf of Wall Street' premiered in North American theaters on Thursday night, earning $9.4 million that evening. This result not only far surpassed Murphy Stanton's previous film 'Inglourious Basterds' but also set a new North American R-rated film advance screening box office record. It then expanded to 3,960 theaters on Friday, earning $31.6 million, undoubtedly claiming the day's box office champion."
"On Saturday, the film earned another $27.4 million, slightly up from Friday's post-advance screening earnings, showing a good box office trend. It then earned $20.25 million on Sunday, bringing the three-day North American box office total to $79.25 million, easily claiming the North American box office champion. Murphy Stanton continues to demonstrate his strong box office appeal!"
"Among the film's first-weekend audience, 77% were male, dominating the demographic; 58% of the weekend audience were over 25 years old, showing a relatively clear age distribution; 46% of the audience came specifically for Murphy Stanton's brand, while 31% identified as fans of lead actor Robert Downey Jr."
"In terms of word-of-mouth, 'The Wolf of Wall Street' received an 'A+' from CinemaScore, with a popcorn index of 93%, indicating overwhelming audience approval. Based on audience feedback, the film is expected to reach $250 million in North America."
"The film's media reviews are also predominantly positive, with Rotten Tomatoes recording a 90% positive rating out of 225 media outlets, with an average score of 8.2. MetaCritic, a reputable media outlet, recorded an average score of 81 from 49 media outlets, indicating strong professional reviews."
Reading this, Daisy was slightly dazed. Murphy Stanton was still the same Murphy Stanton, his talent in filmmaking truly remarkable.
However, she suddenly shook her head, recalling the protest at the Los Angeles police station and feeling a surge of dissatisfaction with Murphy Stanton.
They supported him so much and organized a massive protest, yet the police chief was merely dismissed and investigated for possible misconduct, far from what she expected.
How could they let the police chief off so easily? Daisy shook her head, muttering to herself, "Turns out Murphy Stanton isn't as tough as his films portray; he's just a softie!"
They should have captured that police chief, using the smallest surgical knife to slice his flesh piece by piece until only the skeleton remained!
With this thought, Daisy decided to rewatch a few "Saw" movies that night, hoping to come up with better ways to torture those bastards!
Yes, that's the plan! She took out her phone and added this to her schedule.
With the release of "The Wolf of Wall Street's" first-weekend box office numbers, the media and the internet became even more heated. Many people criticized the film, while even more praised it, and some bystanders cheered on, enjoying the spectacle.
Although dozens of Oscar voters continued to fiercely criticize the film, the core members of the Academy remained silent. These seasoned veterans of Hollywood had seen all sorts of scandals over the decades and wouldn't easily reveal their stance.
In truth, all these disputes were for the Oscars.
Whether it was the people criticizing "The Wolf of Wall Street" or those singing its praises, the root of the conflict boiled down to one thing: elevating oneself by belittling the competition!
In a sense, this is like the U.S. presidential election. Similarly, in Oscar campaigns and PR, a certain level of discrediting the competition is allowed.
Historically, the Oscars have seen far more extreme cases than this. Compared to those ruthless smear campaigns, the controversies faced by Murphy and "The Wolf of Wall Street" are insignificant.
In the past, media mogul William Randolph Hearst was enraged by the depiction of himself in "Citizen Kane." He not only mobilized all his publicity machines to ban the film but also tried to destroy it by offering money to the studio. When that failed, he even resorted to a personal attack on director Orson Welles, attempting to frame him with a young girl in his hotel room.
Fortunately, a kind-hearted policeman warned Welles in advance, allowing him to escape unscathed, but "Citizen Kane" wasn't so lucky and ultimately lost out at the Oscars.
More recently, there have been numerous instances, the most typical being Harvey Weinstein, with whom Murphy had previously worked.
In fact, Harvey Weinstein has been known for being the most unscrupulous player in the Oscars game over the past twenty years.
One of Weinstein's most infamous victories was "Shakespeare in Love," where he used all sorts of underhanded tactics to undermine Steven Spielberg's "Saving Private Ryan." When it came time for the crucial second vote, numerous negative stories about "Saving Private Ryan" surfaced, questioning the film's depiction of Omaha Beach, among other things.
Ultimately, "Shakespeare in Love" unexpectedly won Best Picture but later became a laughingstock in the face of time.
To be fair, Weinstein's PR strategies weren't as excessive as Hearst's. His usual tactic was to leak the opponent's dirt to the media, using their voice to drag the competition down.
For example, in 2003, while still at Miramax, Harvey Weinstein's "Chicago," directed by Rob Marshall, competed against the highly regarded "The Pianist." According to Hollywood standards, "The Pianist" was the clear favorite for Best Picture.
However, during the award season, the media began to rehash director Roman Polanski's personal scandals, ultimately leading to "Chicago" winning Best Picture.
To this day, Weinstein's most criticized move wasn't "Shakespeare in Love" but his relentless attacks on "A Beautiful Mind." He claimed the film deliberately concealed the protagonist's homosexuality and labeled John Nash as anti-Semitic.
Given the strong influence of Jews in Hollywood and across America, the latter accusation was particularly venomous.
Nevertheless, Weinstein couldn't single-handedly dominate, and the Oscars weren't solely Weinstein's game. "A Beautiful Mind" had strong backing from its production and distribution companies, eventually winning Best Picture.
To avoid an unnecessary war, Weinstein later had to call Universal Pictures, the distributor of "A Beautiful Mind," to apologize.
Unlike other rumors, this was the only confirmed case of Weinstein's "black PR."
The Academy does allow some degree of discrediting opponents, but there are limits. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences isn't just for show. After the "A Beautiful Mind" incident, even Harvey Weinstein learned to tread more carefully, making it hard to identify the true culprits behind such tactics, as in Murphy's case.
"The problem is that the PR behind the Oscars has been around for a long time. It's no secret to the American media or public."
On the flight back to Los Angeles, Gal Gadot asked curiously, "Why does the Academy still allow it to exist?"
"It's similar to political campaigns. 'PR' represents the competitive will and the spirit of striving to win."
Murphy had enough knowledge on the subject. "Although there might be deviations in the process, the lack of PR indicates a lack of basic competitive posture. In this nation that values free competition, this would be seen as an unqualified competitor."
In his judgment, PR for the Oscars, like the campaigns for the presidency and congressional seats, would continue to provide gossip for the public in the foreseeable future.
Bill Rossis had already flown back to Los Angeles to prepare for the award season PR for "The Wolf of Wall Street" with 20th Century Fox. Murphy focused more on increasing his exposure, which could boost ticket sales and attract the attention of award committee members.
Upon arriving in Los Angeles, Murphy received some news that could further boost the film's box office performance.
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