Atlanta, Georgia State University.
This university was founded almost a century ago. But being a public institution, it naturally couldn't compare with private universities and wasn't part of the Ivy League.
Early in the morning, John Jr., exhausted from yesterday's party where he drank too much, returned to his dorm. He had woken up in a trash bin.
He shook his sleeping roommate: "Josh, wake up, Josh! Time for class!"
"Damn, zombies!"
Josh reacted sharply, kicking John Jr., and woke up.
"What the hell are you doing?!" he exclaimed.
Luckily, the kick wasn't strong, and John Jr., rubbing his stomach, stood up.
"Sorry, it was a stress reaction," Josh said, looking at his friend.
"I had a nightmare about zombies, lots of zombies."
"Bro, 28 Days Later came out last year, and you still can't get over that movie?" John Jr. said.
"No, it wasn't 28 Days Later, John. It was The Walking Dead. Last night, I was at Tina's dorm, and someone switched the TV to HBO, and it started."
"It's a new show, a real zombie show, you get it? A zombie show!" Josh emphasized each word.
"I've never seen such an exciting show, the apocalyptic atmosphere was even stronger than in 28 Days Later. It was amazing!"
"Tina and I were about to, you know, do something, but the TV distracted us. You should've seen what was happening in the dorm last night—I've never seen so many people in there."
"Half the university gathered, everyone was calling their friends. Luckily, Tina and I got the front couch, while those who came later had to stand on tables just to see something."
"What?! Seriously?" John Jr. was shocked. He knew about zombies, but a zombie show—now that was something new.
"Of course! If you don't believe me, check the university forum. I'm sure people are already talking about it."
As they walked to class, John Jr. noticed that many students were indeed talking about zombies.
As soon as they entered the classroom, Beatrice stood up and loudly asked, "Josh, did you record last night's episode? Do you have The Walking Dead on tape? Can I watch it?"
"And me!"
"And me too!"
"I want to see it as well. Everyone says it's an incredible show, but I missed the airing."
"Me too. When I got to the dorm, there were just too many people."
Josh shook his head: "Who said I recorded it? I don't have a tape. I'm also looking for it. I need to rewatch the episode—I missed a lot of it last night because everything happened so suddenly."
"Alright, guess we'll have to check the forum for help."
Finally, class ended, and it was noon. John Jr. found a computer and logged into the university forum. Sure enough, there were plenty of new posts, almost all discussing The Walking Dead.
At the top was a photo of the packed dorm room with the caption: "Zombies have come to life!"
"Just a show... Is it really that good?" John Jr. grew more and more intrigued.
Similar scenes weren't just happening at Georgia State University, but in many educational institutions across America. College students could watch in the dorms, and high schoolers watched at home after school.
Many parents also got hooked on the show, sometimes even watching it with their young children, without considering the possible psychological effects.
In just one night, HBO, with the release of a single episode, made The Walking Dead a hit. The internet was buzzing with discussions, and interest in the show skyrocketed.
At the MGM building, Eric entered his office, grabbed a cup of coffee prepared by Chen Xin, and felt the temperature was perfect.
Turning on his computer, he Googled The Walking Dead. Instantly, tons of links appeared.
After checking the number of pages, he saw there were already over a hundred. Although some of them had been created before the premiere, the speed at which it spread still amazed Eric.
It was important to remember that it wasn't 2010 yet, the year The Walking Dead originally aired in the other world. The internet wasn't as widespread, many people still used large, bulky monitors, and laptops were too expensive for most.
Furthermore, the show didn't have the seven years of popularity built by the comic books. Yet, despite this, the series managed to attract so much attention overnight—this spoke volumes about its quality.
Another factor to consider was that the relatively limited availability of the internet meant people still spent their evenings watching TV. After work and dinner, the television remained the primary source of entertainment.
Moreover, there weren't yet as many high-quality shows with explicit content as there would be in the following years, and viewers' tastes hadn't become as spoiled. The Walking Dead brought something fresh.
"We need to create Facebook quickly. Its social features will help promote shows."
Thinking this, Eric went to IMDb. As expected, The Walking Dead already had a profile, featuring an image of Rick riding a horse through Atlanta.
He checked the number of reviews—5,322 people, with a rating of 9.5. Of those, 72% had given it 10 stars, while 1.3% had given it 1 star. Of course, this rating wasn't yet an indicator of the show's final quality, as there were still few reviews.
As more episodes were released, it was inevitable that not every one would be as intense and gripping as the first, which had many large-scale scenes.
The increase in ratings would also inevitably lower the average score, which was a normal occurrence.
Currently, the highest-rated movie on IMDb was Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back with over 600,000 ratings.
In second place was Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope with over 500,000 ratings.
This showed the enormous influence of the Star Wars series, especially in the Western world. But these films had been around for over 20 years and had built a massive fanbase.
In third place was The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, also with over 500,000 ratings, trailing A New Hope by only 50,000.
In fourth place was The Matrix, with over 480,000 ratings.
In fifth place was The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, which had amassed over 430,000 ratings in just five months since its release—an incredible feat.
Eric scrolled through the pages and read the reviews.
Almost all of them were positive, with keywords like "thrilling," "realistic," "fresh," "humanity," "survival," and "morality."
Negative reviews mostly centered around the scary scenes, particularly the one featuring the half-decomposed female zombie crawling on the ground, which had frightened many viewers.
Knock, knock, knock.
Eric's father and Bordeaux entered the office, the latter holding a stack of newspapers.
Eric's father was beaming with joy, his smile nearly splitting his face: "Eric, look at these reviews! Even the harshest critics are giving their recommendations! Hahaha!"
Eric unfolded the newspapers and saw that The Walking Dead was mentioned in the entertainment sections.
The Independent: "Ever since I learned about this MGM project, I've been following it closely. We've seen sitcoms, urban dramas, crime thrillers, but a zombie series—this is something new."
"Although there have been many zombie films on the big screen, this is a first for television. After watching the first episode, I realized that The Walking Dead is a success. Congratulations to MGM and HBO!"
ABC Entertainment Online: "Frank Darabont is one of my favorite directors. I loved his The Shawshank Redemption. When I heard he was working on a zombie series, I thought it would be his second flop after The Majestic. But it turns out that The Majestic was just a random misfire."
"Frank Darabont, along with MGM, has given us an amazing post-apocalyptic adventure. If the following episodes keep up this level, I'm sure The Walking Dead will win an Emmy this year."
Los Angeles Post: "Last night, I was invited to watch HBO's new show The Walking Dead. Honestly, zombies don't really interest me. The opening scene felt like a copy of 28 Days Later—coma, hospital, waking up in an apocalypse. I thought it was just a poor imitation."
"But when I saw Morgan and his son deciding whether or not to kill their wife and mother, who had become a zombie, and the survivor camp debating whether to save Rick, I realized there was something more here. The struggle with humanity is what makes the series meaningful, and The Walking Dead does this better than 28 Days Later."
"If the show doesn't focus too much on the zombies, it'll be enjoyed and accepted by a wide audience. That's why I recommend it."
"Eric, MGM didn't pay for any bribes, HBO only ran a regular advertising campaign, and The Walking Dead is already taking over the market."
"Have the viewership numbers come in?" Eric asked expectantly.
Eric's father hesitated slightly: "During prime time, there were 6.2 million subscriptions. Maybe that's below expectations."
Eric frowned. If this were 2010, that number would be impressive, but for 2003, it wasn't enough for a project as expensive as The Walking Dead.
But then his father suddenly exclaimed: "But the 11 p.m. rerun pulled in 9.5 million subscriptions, just shy of Band of Brothers, which had 10 million. We did it!"
"Yes!" Eric jumped up, punching the air. This was the power of good content. If something isn't too far ahead of its time, like Waterworld, it would be loved by audiences even a decade earlier.
It's worth noting that the 9.5 million refers to HBO subscriptions, not individual viewers. One subscription could represent an entire family, so the actual number of viewers could be two or three times higher.
"Eric, the rerun numbers show The Walking Dead's potential. Even if we're currently trailing Band of Brothers, I'm sure we can overtake them, maybe even as early as next week," his father said confidently.
"No need to comfort me, Dad. Band of Brothers was directed by Spielberg. Its budget and advertising are three times bigger than The Walking Dead. I'll be happy if we surpass them, but I won't be upset if we don't."
"Glad you see it that way. Now I can confidently kick Zach Thomas's ass!" His father punched the air with his left hand and laughed as he left the office.
After he left, Bordeaux handed Eric a report on the preparation of Happy Death Day. This project was already being prepped for launch. Since the budget was small—just $5 million—after getting approval, Eric had assigned it to Wu and didn't oversee it much.
The work was nearly complete, and they had come for final approval.
The quality of a film primarily depends on the director, screenwriter, and actors. Other factors are secondary.
Besides Eric, the script was written by Christopher Smith, a new writer from the Writers Guild. In a few years, his career would take off thanks to the film Triangle.
Considering his potential, MGM signed him for three films. The directors were Anthony and Joe Russo, the famous Russo brothers.
In the future, they would direct films like Community, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame.
You could say that half of Marvel's successful films would be directed by the Russo brothers. But right now, it's 2003, and they are far from their rise. At this point, they had only made a couple of unremarkable films.
Eric was pleased with this choice, as Anthony Russo knew how to play with the editing of time and space. They would probably handle Happy Death Day well.
MGM signed a five-film contract with the Russo brothers. Five films could take seven to eight years, and a famous director wouldn't agree to such a contract. But for the Russo brothers, it was an opportunity.
The lead male role went to Benjamin McKenzie, a newcomer who would later become known for playing James Gordon in the series Gotham. But the lead female role was still vacant, and Eric needed to make a decision.
He took a pen and wrote down the name Gal Gadot.
According to his plan, after shooting Transformers, Gadot was supposed to take a break, and then MGM was planning to shoot The Hunger Games with her as the lead. These two major projects could make her a star.
But due to the current circumstances and financial pressures on MGM, The Hunger Games had to be postponed until next year.
Eric decided to play it safe: if Transformers wrapped up before the start of Happy Death Day, the lead role would go to Gadot. If not, he would find another actress.
After all, Hollywood was full of young, talented women, and giving this role to someone else wouldn't be a bad move.
Since Transformers had finished filming, Eric decided that the lead female role in the new project would be played by Gadot. It would be a good way to raise her profile before the release of Transformers and attract more viewers to the Autobots films.
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