"The Wall Street Journal… weird, right? A financial paper reviewing movies? They said Pearl Harbor is like a depthless Marvel comic, with a flimsy story that turns World War II into a goofy symphony. Ugh, that ticks me off—Marvel comics are awesome! Typical financial rag, spouting nonsense."
"Variety's take is kinda fun. They start off harsh, then soften up. They say Pearl Harbor has jaw-dropping visuals, but the script and story are as shallow as the lead actors' performances."
"The Chicago Sun-Times review… oof. Pearl Harbor's got a dull, outdated love story, and even the war scenes lack depth. Half an hour of planes bombing ships, explosions, bodies flying, and people dodging attacks—it's pointless. Just a horrifying massacre that doesn't move or entertain anyone."
"Haha, this one's even better! Los Angeles Daily News says the movie's so bad and bland that HBO's already given up on fighting for TV rights."
"I love this bit from The Hollywood Reporter. It's David Bordwell's review—he calls Pearl Harbor a straight-up crime that duped everyone. The film keeps comparing itself to Titanic, but honestly, it doesn't have a single thing that holds a candle to it."
"The New York Post says… Hey, are you guys even listening to me?!"
Rose Byrne stood by the bed, clutching a stack of newspapers, glaring at the three tangled up in action.
Dunn was pinning Charlize Theron and Penélope Cruz beneath him, switching between them like a wild animal on the charge. The visual impact? Way more explosive than Pearl Harbor.
Charlize giggled and stretched out a soft, slender arm, waving at Rose. "Come join us!"
Rose had been tight with Natalie lately—similar ages, more in common—so she just huffed, standing there like a mannequin. She shuffled through a few more papers, trying to ignore the heat rising in her chest, and kept reading calmly.
"Forget Pearl Harbor's reviews—they're all trash. A lousy movie like that daring to measure itself against Titanic? What a joke. I'll read the Unsinkable reviews instead."
"Ahem, here's Kenneth Turan from the Los Angeles Times. He says The Unsinkable keeps the polish and pacing of Titanic. The two leads teamed up to throw in obstacle after obstacle—full of surprises and suspense. The film breaks through constant conflict and struggle, showing the nobler side of humanity. It's a commercial flick with depth, breadth, philosophy, and thought."
"The New York Post says The Unsinkable, based on a real Coast Guard rescue, nails the atmosphere and keeps the thrills coming. It doesn't even need clichéd romance to shine—it's already plenty gripping."
"Oh! Charlize, someone's praising you! Big-time critic Jonathan Rosenbaum says you're the gorgeous standout in The Unsinkable's sea of guys. You set the movie's rhythm. Not a ton of screen time, but you're the finishing touch—fits Dunn Walker's feminist push perfectly… Huh, why does this feel like brown-nosing to me?"
…
Thanks to a weak early promo push, The Unsinkable's opening weekend box office lagged way behind Pearl Harbor. But everyone who saw it? They couldn't stop raving.
Mainstream critics showered The Unsinkable with praise, calling Dunn Walker and James Cameron's second collab a massive win. No matter how the box office shook out, this was a dazzling commercial hit.
In short: its reputation was off the charts!
Meanwhile, Pearl Harbor's reputation didn't just soar—it imploded.
The kind of implosion that leaves casualties.
The reviews were a total landslide of hate, like a bucket of ice water dumped on Pearl Harbor's blazing-hot hype train.
Some level-headed critics broke it down: in theory, Pearl Harbor wasn't that bad. It didn't deserve to be called a complete flop.
The problem? Its marketing team kept tying it to Titanic, building sky-high expectations in fans' minds.
Titanic's place in movie history? Untouchable. It's the Gone with the Wind of our time!
Pearl Harbor cozying up to a legend like that during its campaign? Bold move. The higher the hopes, the harder the fall!
That massive gap between expectation and reality didn't just disappoint regular moviegoers—industry folks couldn't help but pile on too.
Has Jerry Bruckheimer lost his mind?
Who gave him the guts to stack Pearl Harbor up against Titanic?
Was it Disney pulling strings, or Michael Bay calling the shots?
What a laugh!
The movie's long, boring, dry, flat love story was unbearable. That level of romance daring to stand next to Jack and Rose's epic love?
Talk about guts!
Even nice-guy Ridley Scott shot Dunn an email, saying he was glad he didn't team up with Bruckheimer on Black Hawk Down. If it'd turned out like Pearl Harbor, his reputation would've been toast.
…
Monday rolled around, and Dunn strolled into the office to check the latest numbers.
Last night, Saw aired on TARZ TV, pulling in 14.5 million viewers. Of those, 3.08 million were paying subscribers—up 530,000 from when Spider-Man aired!
Before Dunn decided to hike TA Network's prices, its subscriber count had already topped 3 million.
But once the rates went up, users griped, and paid memberships dropped by 30%.
Now, thanks to Spider-Man and Saw, TARZ's subscriber base was bouncing back!
And it was sparking an even bigger pool of potential users!
That was straight-up good news.
It proved Dunn's roadmap was spot-on—TA Network was headed in the right direction!
Compared to that win, the movie side of things wasn't as rosy.
Last week's box office numbers were in. Over the three-day weekend, Pearl Harbor racked up $53.63 million in North America.
Sure, that was half of Disney's lofty $1.2 billion prediction, but it was still enough to snag last week's box office crown!
Runner-up was DreamWorks Animation's first CG flick, Shrek, with $50 million in North America.
Dunn Films' The Unsinkable? Just $43.69 million, landing third place for the week.
For a movie with a $200 million budget, that was a downright awful haul!
Pearl Harbor's rep might've been garbage, but bad buzz hadn't fully sunk in by opening weekend. Its carpet-bombing promo campaign still dragged tons of fans into theaters.
The Unsinkable had killer reviews, sure, but this wasn't the internet age—word spread slow. Its promo disadvantage left it crushed by Pearl Harbor in that first weekend tally.
Still, Dunn wasn't sweating it too much.
In his past life, James Cameron's Titanic had an even shakier start. Lousy early hype, a measly $26 million opening week, and critics tore it apart.
Then the buzz kicked in. Titanic's magic took over, turning it into a cinema legend and box office monster.
To Dunn, The Unsinkable matched Titanic in story, effects, delivery, emotion, and production quality—no question.
Sure, its actual shoot only took 10 months, but Cameron had been prepping it since 1998.
That's a year ahead of Pearl Harbor!
Confidence was one thing, but Dunn wasn't about to sit back and let Pearl Harbor own the box office.
When it was time to act, he'd act!
He picked up the phone and dialed Ron Meyer, Universal Pictures' chairman. "We need to tweak The Unsinkable's marketing strategy."
"Oh?"
Ron had just skimmed the data report too, and he was stressing. He knew full well why The Unsinkable trailed Pearl Harbor—Universal's promo game couldn't touch Disney's.
Good thing Dunn didn't sound like he was pointing fingers.
"Go ahead, I'm all ears."
Dunn didn't hold back, laying it out like an order. "Shift all of The Unsinkable's marketing to lean on Titanic. Say it's me and James' second collab—our second Titanic!"
"Huh?"
Ron froze, then it clicked.
Brilliant!
Pure genius—young folks think fast! This move could knock Pearl Harbor flat on its face!
Dunn wasn't done. "Also, I've already reached out to The Hollywood Reporter. I'm doing an exclusive interview about The Unsinkable, tying it straight to Titanic. Make sure your team's ready to back me up."
Ron's mood shot through the roof.
Dunn stepping up himself?
That was huge!
One interview from Dunn could outshine $10 million in ad spend for The Unsinkable!
With him in the ring, how long could Pearl Harbor keep dancing?
Ron took a deep breath and boomed, "Alright, you go for it! Universal's got your back—I'm throwing in an extra $10 million for promotion. I promise, by the end of this week, The Unsinkable will be the star of every TV channel and newspaper!"
Dunn grinned. "Thanks, man! Honestly, this summer's a cakewalk for us. Win this May showdown, then June's got Mr. & Mrs. Smith, July's got Jurassic Park 3… We're teaming up to own the whole damn summer!"