King of Hollywood

Chapter 439: Chapter 161 It’s Just the Beginning

The haunting chant began once more, and after casting the Heart of the Ocean into the sea, Old Rose returned to her bed with a smile. The camera slowly panned across her old photographs, as if to proof that she had fulfilled her promise to Jack.

The scene shifted back to the wreckage of the Titanic, the light grew brighter as the camera advanced, the corridor appeared intact again. Passing through the doors, it entered the grand banquet hall, where everyone was waiting for her arrival. Then, amid thunderous applause, two young souls embraced tightly on the staircase, under the watchful eyes of all.

Such a dreamlike ending finally signaled the closure of the film. Amid Celine Dion’s ethereal voice, the credits slowly began to rise. The cinema was silent, people basked in the beautiful melody of “My Heart Will Go On” and quickly relived the experience, then the lights came on, and a deafening applause erupted like a dam had burst, overwhelming and powerful.

Everyone chose that moment to release the emotions built up in their hearts; not only were many women teary-eyed, many men were also visibly moved. Over the decades, few movies had resonated so strongly with so many people besides Titanic, but this was just the beginning.

“This is a masterpiece, a truly great work of art, not only is the pacing expertly managed, but Cameron also presents us with a grand and exquisite canvas using movie effects, almost perfectly recreating every detail of the Titanic from those years! It is truly astonishing!” — Variety

“The film’s themes are disaster and love, or rather, love in disaster. Cameron cleverly embeds a doomed yet tragically beautiful fictional romance within the catastrophe of the Titanic, elevating the emotions of the male and female leads, thereby touching all viewers.” — Washington Post

“Even though Adrian’s nearly 300 million investment might not be fully recouped, Titanic remains a successful film. Cameron has pushed his imagination and current film technology to their limits, telling a poignant story filled with intense emotions. The love story between the protagonists may seem like a fairy tale, but it has won the applause of all viewers!” — USA Today

The next day, nearly all media outlets were overflowing with praise, as if the film was flawless. While this was undoubtedly influenced by Fox and AC Media’s PR efforts, the quality of the film played a deciding role, as evidenced by the rave reviews from ordinary people eagerly awaiting the movie.

However, this did not cause Titanic’s box office to soar qualitatively. Over the weekend, in nearly 2,500 theaters across North America, it garnered about 29 million US dollars. Although the results were decent and it secured the second spot at the box office, it was insignificant compared to the nearly 300 million investment. Many other films thus snickered at this, acknowledging the film’s quality but relishing Adrian’s failure. Since entering the industry, he had never faltered, growing from a small film company to today’s scale; even his modesty drew envy.

“Insufficient market expectations, PR was good, but overconfidence skipped even a screening, thinking that a global box office of 500 million would be enough, would serve him right,” said a manager of a certain company.

Like Eyes Wide Shut, Titanic wasn’t screened pre-release. For an artsy film like Eyes Wide Shut, skipping screenings was fine since it wasn’t aiming for box office returns. But for a commercial film like Titanic, skipping screenings seemed unjustifiable. Screenings have two purposes: firstly, to gather feedback from random attendees to identify issues early for corrections, although as these are screenings, not many might attend, and feedback is usually personal, not representative. However, the primary purpose is film critics’ reviews.

It’s been said that critics’ reviews before an official movie release greatly guide public opinion. Most people check movie reviews before deciding, easily swayed by herd mentality—films with mostly positive reviews often become their first choice. Although some American critics might be biased, many maintain an esteemed and fair view.

Therefore, studios never neglected critics who attended screenings and also squashed those purely nitpicking.