The broadcast of the interview immediately had an effect.
On one hand, spurred by the news of Matthew Horner and Charlize Theron's upcoming engagement, the media once again brought up the couple's romance for further speculation, dragging out every newsworthy event from their past for public consumption.
Particularly, Matthew's backstory is certainly inspiring—after all, he was a complete nobody before he turned twenty.
Thus, the tabloids were filled with headlines like "From Chauffeur to Life's Winner: Matthew Horner to Marry Oscar-Winning Actress" and "Fairy Tale Becomes Reality: Poor Boy Wins Princess's Favor."
These were mere hype, of course. Although Charlize Theron had entered the industry earlier and won an Oscar for Best Actress, in terms of real wealth, Matthew was now much better off.
The newspapers and internet hype helped to further expand the influence of "Mr. and Mrs. Smith," attracting more people to buy tickets and head to the theaters.
For a movie in its theatrical run, any publicity, whether positive or negative, that can spark discussion is beneficial. In fact, overwhelming negative reviews are a hundred times better than no reviews at all.
People's psychology is indeed strange; when the majority of people or media are discussing how terrible a film is, some will actually buy tickets to see just how bad it is.
Some poorly reviewed movies and their distribution companies even promote that you can't critique the film if you haven't seen it, trapping fans into watching it in theaters.
Although "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" was not well-received by critics, the audience reception was decent, and its current 7.4 rating on IMDb was moderate for a commercial entertainment film.
On the other hand, with the engagement details revealed, the gates of the Horner estate in Beverly Hills became a gathering spot for paparazzi and entertainment reporters, with hundreds flocking there, blocking the estate's gates with cameras and camcorders.
An NBC entertainment channel van parked across from the Horner estate's main gate early on Saturday morning, seemingly preparing early for coverage of the engagement ceremony.
Fortunately, the Horner estate was quite isolated from other residences. Matthew had also hired professional security personnel from a reliable company some time ago, effectively preventing overly enthusiastic reporters from crossing boundaries.
Besides security, the estate had also hired two housemaids, one through a recommendation from List and the other found by Helen Herman.
Moreover, the estate's maintenance was handled by List's contacts.
Media attention naturally translated into intense promotional coverage, which helped maintain interest in the film. After all, the poor critical reception of "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" could still impact its future box office performance.
Beyond traditional promotions, Matthew also placed great importance on the powerful influence of the internet.
"Hello, Brian."
In a small park in Westwood, Bella Anderson stood by a stone table surrounded by trees and walked forward to greet the tall young man approaching from the building, "We meet again."
Brian List glanced at her somewhat unusual auburn hair and responded, "Miss Anderson..."
"Bella!" Anderson insisted, "I told you last time, just call me Bella."
Brian List nodded and asked, "What brings you here this time?"
Bella Anderson gestured towards the stone bench by the table, "Let's sit down and talk."
After sitting down at the table, Brian List said, "Bella, get to the point, I have another appointment soon."
"It's like this," Bella Anderson said directly, "Now some critics and competitors want to suppress Matthew by giving 'Mr. and Mrs. Smith' bad reviews, especially slandering Matthew and the film on the internet."
"I've read many of these critics' columns," Brian List said, frustrated. "Those guys are just looking for trouble!"
The critics who endlessly disparage entertainment films for being superficial, lacking substance, and not engaging in deep cultural reflection are simply idle.
Those who incessantly degrade commercial entertainment films probably enjoy appearing tasteful with their preferences. If they really had such refined tastes, they wouldn't watch a film like "Mr. and Mrs. Smith." To then criticize it means they enjoy self-torture.
The real appeal of the film lies in the interactions between Matthew and Charlize Theron. If someone can't appreciate even this, their grandstanding about the film's supposed lack of depth or societal commentary is utterly senseless.
Brian admired the critics for their ability to write long columns just to state the obvious—that the film was a straightforward entertainment piece—and still manage to gather evidence to support their claims.
Many critics these days lack quality, their columns filled with unfounded accusations and irresponsible criticism. This type of review serves more for the writers' emotional venting than anything else, lamenting how the film wasted their precious time. Indeed, they waste another two hours ranting about it—a total failure.
Watching movies is a form of leisure. For him, if a movie has excellent visual effects, that alone
qualifies it as a good film. Yet, for some, nothing counts unless it has deep, meaningful content.
Why must every film strive for depth and meaning? Isn't insisting on profound social themes pretentious?
Why target Matthew? Why do critics consistently rate his films poorly, as if they have something against him?
Entertainment films are just that—entertainment. Those who don't appreciate them should stick to European cinema, which they then complain about for being too obscure.
"Mr. and Mrs. Smith" as a commercial film, has everything it needs—Matthew Horner, an exceptionally handsome leading man, paired with Charlize Theron, a top Hollywood beauty, along with naturally flowing, thrilling action scenes...
Isn't that enough? For an entertainment film, this is quite impressive. What more could those critics possibly want?
Would they prefer Matthew and Charlize Theron sit together, discussing the meaning of life, marriage, and the mysteries of the universe?
Brian was certain that if that were the case, "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" would have been disastrously received.
Seeing Brian deep in thought, Bella Anderson waited a moment before speaking, "You have a lot of influence among the film fans in West Hollywood." She knew this was one of Matthew's staunch supporters, and his father had significant business dealings with Matthew's side. "Brian, mobilize people to speak out on the internet, especially on influential movie sites like IMDb."
Brian understood her point and nodded, "No problem, leave West Hollywood to me."
"Try to mobilize as many people as you can," Bella Anderson urged. "We can't let those haters keep bashing Matthew unchecked."
"Don't worry," Brian confidently replied, "I can't promise a crowd, but getting a hundred people involved is definitely doable."
Bella Anderson stood up, "Alright, I won't keep you from your date. You have my number, call me if you run into any issues."
Brian also stood up, "I'm off then. Goodbye, Bella."
Bella Anderson waved goodbye, and after Brian disappeared into the woods, she turned off the recorder in her pocket and called a taxi on her phone, quickly leaving the park to meet another contact in Santa Monica.
Her workload today was quite heavy, involving visits to several places.
According to Bella Anderson, including the female lead Charlize Theron, the crew of "Mr. and Mrs. Smith," as well as the production company Peak Entertainment and the distributor Universal Studios, were all engaging in various forms of reputation management and marketing for the film.
After joining the industry, Bella Anderson learned that the seemingly fair and comprehensive internet movie rating systems were not as authentic as they appeared. While the ratings might become more accurate over time, during the theatrical release, they were influenced by many factors.
Internet reputation management and marketing had gained increasing attention from Hollywood's major companies this year.
Starting from Saturday afternoon, represented by sites like IMDb, the positive reviews for "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" began to rise noticeably.
"A rare gem of an action movie, absolutely thrilling. The film starts with suspense, seeming like a flashback film, then a crossover, but it's actually an action romance. The leads have similar charisma, a stunningly attractive couple!"
"'Mr. and Mrs. Smith,' featuring Matthew Horner at his most handsome and Charlize Theron at her most beautiful, then the two stars fell in love through the film. This movie represents a major Hollywood genre, the theme being 'Even spies are human.' But this one is cool, very cool, and also very funny. Beyond looking good, there's nothing much to say, especially the final gunfight, bango! Bango! Just awesome!"
With many reviews scoring eight or nine out of ten, by Sunday morning, "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" had quietly climbed back up to a 7.6 rating on IMDb.
Meanwhile, Saturday's box office stats were released.
Boosted by massive promotional hype, "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" continued to perform well on Saturday. Not counting the preview shows' $8.8 million, it saw a 26% increase from Friday, taking in another $25.2 million. Although Sunday's screenings had just begun, the North American box office had easily surpassed fifty million dollars.
In comparison, "Danny the Dog" and "Kingdom of Heaven" continued to be thoroughly outpaced, earning $2.9 million and $3.1 million respectively on Saturday.
The crown for the weekend's box office champion in North America indisputably belonged to "Mr. and Mrs. Smith."
___________________
(Support with power stones, comments or reviews)
If you guys enjoy this story, In support me on Patreon and get access to +200 advance Chapters
Read Ahead
Patreon.com/INNIT