"HBO invests $230M in the creation of "Pacific War", set to make a grand debut!" ""The Pacific" sets off a frenzy of war-themed works after a nine-year hiatus following "Band of Brothers"!" "Hanks and Spielberg join forces once again to craft a brutal war narrative." "With a production cycle spanning three years, "The Pacific" is finally about to premiere."
"Exceeding the expectations of a classic, "The Pacific" carries HBO's ambitious spirit of self-breakthrough."
"... "Confident", a declaration from Steven Spielberg."
...
The day after the premiere concluded, news about "The Pacific" spread like wildfire. With HBO and the signatures of Tom and Steven, not to mention the jewel that was "Band of Brothers", "The Pacific" had been capturing public attention since its conceptualization stage. Through the twists and turns of adapting the early scripts, the controversies of mid-term financial preparations, and the difficulties in assembling the cast later on, after more than three years of meticulous preparation, the television series was finally ready to shine. It could be stated without exaggeration that the anticipation had already gone beyond the charts.
The grandeur of last night's premiere had further fueled people's eagerness.
"With an inexperienced newcomer in the lead role, can "The Pacific" replicate the brilliance of "Band of Brothers"?"
"Renly Hall: Emerging as a comet among the cast of actors."
"Tom Hanks: Renly is the central figure in the entire series."
...
Comparatively, the attention focused on Renly was indeed limited. Referring to the experience of "Band of Brothers", in order to present the authenticity and balance of the production, "The Pacific" also hadn't cast big-name stars. Therefore, the actors chosen were almost all unfamiliar faces, and there was essentially no distinction between newcomers and supporting actors.
Moreover, "The Pacific" was both an ensemble piece and a television series. Even with Tom and Steven joining forces for the production, the focus was predetermined not to linger on the actors.
Even Damien Lewis from "Band of Brothers" hadn't sparked much discussion back then. In fact, after the broadcast of "Band of Brothers", no actor had immediately shot to stardom. The success of that series stemmed from the ensemble, not individuals.
This time, at least a few media outlets individually mentioned Renly's name, attempting to attract the audience's attention from different angles. This was the benefit brought by Renly's stunning performance at the premiere.
Without a doubt, major media outlets had all reserved space for "The Pacific" on important sections. The spring season in the North American film market was already somewhat lackluster, and now a heavyweight production had finally arrived. People naturally wouldn't want to miss out.
On the world's largest movie, actor, and TV online database website, IMDb, even before "The Pacific" premiered, it had become a hot topic, igniting waves of attention. Since the series hadn't aired yet, IMDb hadn't opened its rating system or discussion forums. It had merely updated HBO's official trailer and detailed shooting information.
However, this still couldn't dampen the enthusiasm of netizens. On the most anticipated works ranking, "The Pacific" had skyrocketed to the third position, trailing only behind this summer's popular films "Toy Story 3" and "Inception". It had left works like "Iron Man 2", "Twilight: Eclipse", and "Shrek Forever After" far behind, demonstrating an unimaginable appeal.
Just like "The Shawshank Redemption" reigning over IMDb's top 250 films for over a decade, "Band of Brothers" had dominated the top 250 TV series list on IMDb for nearly ten years. Even more incredible, while "The Shawshank Redemption" held a commanding 9.2 score, "Band of Brothers" had earned an astonishingly high 9.5 score among over 240,000 ratings, truly a miracle within a miracle. This clearly illustrated the divine status "Band of Brothers" held in the hearts of its audience.
Now, the sibling series of "Band of Brothers", "The Pacific", was about to air. The audience's anticipation and enthusiasm had reached an overflowing point.
It wasn't just IMDb; discussions about "The Pacific" on Yahoo's community forum had also gone off the charts. Thanks to the imminent broadcast of the series, the passion of countless "Band of Brothers" enthusiasts had been rekindled. It had become the most popular topic on the forum for a 24-hour period, attracting over ten thousand users to participate in discussions.
As a television series, "The Pacific" had already exceeded all expectations. In the years following the end of "Band of Brothers", only the grand finale of "Friends" could match its viewership, whether it was the topical hit "Lost" or the stunning success of "Prison Break", they couldn't even compare.
What's even more interesting was that "The Pacific" was airing on HBO, a cable channel, which, in other words, meant it was a premium channel. Not every household in the United States subscribed to HBO. In cable television, ratings and the number of viewers weren't their focus; professional reviews and feedback from subscribing users were the core competitive factors. However, now, "The Pacific" had ignited an incredible wave of viewership among the audience.
This, indeed, could be called a marvel.
Amidst widespread anticipation, on the night of March 21st, "The Pacific" finally made its official premiere!
William Taylor was among the eager viewers. As a fervent fan of "Band of Brothers", he had been counting down for two weeks. A week before, he had cleared his schedule for this particular Friday, leaving no room for any other activities. Even his parents knew about his "special plan" for tonight. He was only eighteen this year and would be entering college in September.
"Billy, Billy." Huffing and puffing, a voice rushed in from outside. Graham Hughes practically burst through the door, his mouth still carrying his greetings. "Mrs. Taylor, Mr. Taylor, good evening."
However, William paid no attention to the creaking door but instead put his finger to his lips, motioning quickly. "Turn off the lights at the door. Three minutes left." He even lowered his voice, as if he were truly in a movie theater, fearing to startle other viewers.
Graham had no time to wipe his sweat; he just plopped down next to William. He took out popcorn and cola from his backpack and turned to give William a glance. Both of them wore similar smiles in their eyes. They adjusted their sitting positions on the couch, cradling their popcorn and fixing their eyes on the television screen.
At this moment, advertisements were playing, but the two of them seemed to be enjoying the most exhilarating movie in the world, their eyes fixed unwaveringly on the screen.
William's mother walked to the door, glanced at the two sitting so uprightly and tensely, and couldn't help but shake her head with a smile. "You guys are so nervous. Anyway, they'll definitely release it on DVD or even Blu-ray later…"
"Mrs. Taylor!" Graham and, weirdly, William exclaimed simultaneously, and the response they got was a considerate closing of the room door. The two of them turned their attention back to the TV screen in unison.
"It's starting!" William's voice actually trembled a bit, and Graham held his breath, his pupils seemingly dilating.
Not only at the Taylor's residence, at this very moment, on this Friday night, in this festive night, in this night welcoming the weekend, countless families across the United States had chosen to stay at home. It wasn't because they were too old to go out at night or too exhausted from work to venture out; it was solely to watch "The Pacific"!
Furthermore, there were people who, to watch the series live, chose to go to the homes of friends who subscribed to HBO, bringing a case of beer, inviting a group of friends, gathering together like a party, and enjoying this special night. Moreover, some even went directly to bars, with the sole purpose of tuning into the bar's HBO channel, hoping to find like-minded strangers to watch together, just like watching football or the World Cup.
This spectacle played out across various corners of the North American continent. Even if it wasn't a crowd of thousands, it wasn't far off.
According to later statistics, the premiere of "The Pacific" that night set a new record for both viewership ratings and the number of viewers in the past two years, easily surpassing the achievements of "Band of Brothers" from years ago.
Although HBO-led cable television networks weren't concerned about ratings, focusing instead on overall subscriber satisfaction, the frequent breaking of viewership records was still astonishing.
Viewership performance for American TV series consists of two metrics: the number of viewers and the viewership rating. Both have professional explanations and definitions, but, simply put, the former represents how many people watched in the United States, while the latter indicates what proportion of the audience was in the age range of eighteen to forty-nine, commonly considered the prime consumer group.
Before this, the viewership record held by HBO was the grand finale of the classic series "The Sopranos", which aired in 2007. The number of viewers was 7.1 million, and the viewership rating was an unbelievable 11.9. A simple comparison revealed that cable TV shows that relied on ratings considered anything above 3 to be cause for celebration, and anything above 5 was a rarity.
Now, the number of viewers for "The Pacific" had reached a staggering 5.9 million, with a viewership rating of an astonishing 4.6. It had beaten out all network TV shows that evening, becoming the viewership champion. After "The Sopranos" had swept the entire nation with its grand finale, "The Pacific" had become the most outstanding HBO show in the past two years!
It's worth mentioning that "The Pacific" was a miniseries. The real money-making parts of such series were DVD and Blu-ray sales, video-on-demand, and award nominations at ceremonies. However, now, this miniseries had stirred up a frenzy upon its debut, and even well-funded HBO was all smiles.
All signs indicated that "The Pacific" had started off well, continuing the glory of "Band of Brothers", seemingly within arm's reach.
The screening of the first episode quickly ended. The runtime of less than an hour made time feel nonexistent. Watching the subtitles scroll up on the TV screen, William's expression grew somewhat strange, and Graham also shot him a puzzled look. Then, William furrowed his brow and said, with a hint of uncertainty, "… Why do I feel like something's missing?"