Victim

The talent agencies, including CAA, acted swiftly.

First, after the column featuring Brad's interview aired on television, the other lead actors followed suit. They participated in various talk shows or late-night entertainment programs, following Brad's approach. They did their best to divert attention from themselves and, instead of taking the fall, they passed the ball—or should we say, the blame—to the director, Wolfgang Petersen.

Their words were deliberately vague, not too pointed, to encourage the audience's spontaneous imagination.

Even some die-hard fans had long wanted to white-wash their idols but lacked a suitable opportunity. Now, they had a good platform.

It was just like a certain film that had performed poorly in the market. Still, many fans would say, "My idol is great, their performance is excellent, and compared to before, there is so much room for improvement..."

In any case, the failure of the movie had nothing to do with my idol, so please don't criticize them.

Comparatively, it was all very consistent.

Even the process of whitewashing was eerily similar.

From this, one could see that the entertainment industry was truly a strange place.

At first glance, it was all glamorous and beautiful, but upon closer inspection, it was murky.

This tactic worked.

As the actors spoke out, and considering Brad and Orlando's good looks, there were signs of a shift in public sentiment.

However, this wasn't enough; it was just the beginning.

Suddenly, while some mainstream newspapers continued to judge and mock the failure of "Troy", they gradually shifted their focus to the director.

Some said he had changed the script at the last minute; others claimed he had arguments with the assistant director during filming.

In any case, the initially harmonious atmosphere on the set at the beginning of the release had turned into various disagreements.

Wasn't this just shooting themselves in the foot?

But that didn't matter. What mattered was that all the unfavorable aspects regarding the actors were now smoothly transferred to the director. The actions were quite coordinated.

It was just a pity for director Wolfgang Petersen.

He was genuinely pitiful.

To say that he wasn't responsible for the failure of "Troy" was undoubtedly a falsehood.

But this one-sided situation was clearly too ruthless.

He had worked hard for over twenty years and had made seven or eight decent films. Just this one failure had wiped out all his efforts.

Furthermore, if you really thought about it, how much influence could one director have?

This was Hollywood. The reasons were clear to everyone:

First, the industry was producer-centric. The script was written by screenwriters, and where to shoot, where not to shoot—producers had a say in all of it. It wasn't just up to the director to do as they pleased and create a work according to their own will.

Secondly, the most critical aspect of film production, post-production editing, wasn't solely decided by the director either.

In these two key aspects of filmmaking, the director didn't have much say. Could it really be said that he bore the greatest responsibility?

Wolfgang Petersen felt wronged.

During the filming, there was interference here and there, and now that it had failed, it was all his fault.

What a miserable situation.

But alas, who made him the director?

Just like John Woo, who scurried back to the mainland in a hurry, or Ang Lee, who took over "The Hulk" after a mishap. Many times, the director was the first one to be sacrificed.

There was no logic or fairness in this.

After all, they had all failed. Who cared about sentiments?

...

Plan B's office.

Brad Grey reported the latest developments, "Right now, the media and audience criticism are all focused on the key behind-the-scenes creators, like Wolfgang."

Upon hearing this news, Brad wasn't particularly pleased. Because no matter what, for the next period of time, he would need to lay low and minimize his appearances in the public eye.

Furthermore, his career had indeed been affected. The steps he had taken to climb higher had slowed down.

"Did those people say anything else?" Brad inquired.

Brad Grey shook his head, "Even if Wolfgang were to accept media interviews, this public opinion has already shifted beyond his control. Moreover, they simply don't have a platform to speak out. Who would care about what a director says?"

Hmm, very realistic.

After this incident, it seemed like director Petersen's future was finished. Unless he could, like Ang Lee, return to the public eye with a successful work. But before that, he needed to find a suitable project.

Many film companies would classify directors like him as "uncooperative". After all, in the industry, you don't pursue the ones who failed; there was no logic in that.

And the reality was just as such.

For several years after this, Wolfgang Petersen produced nothing more and returned to his home country, Germany.

If it hadn't been for Akiva Goldsman, a reputable producer and screenwriter in the industry with works like "A Beautiful Mind", who rekindled his career, Wolfgang would have struggled to make it back to Hollywood in his lifetime.

And the project he took on, "Poseidon", was only a medium-budget production. To save money, most of the actors were newcomers.

As for why directors found it challenging to have a platform to speak out, it was because the media power was controlled by the six major Hollywood studios.

Since Warner Bros. had aligned itself with the talent agencies, there was no room for mistakes.

In just a few days, the one who suffered the most torment was director Wolfgang Petersen.

Everyone was trying to save themselves, but he was the only one who couldn't be saved.

Watching the senseless media attacks and thinking back to the good times before the movie was released—the praises from the actors and Warner Bros.' friendly attitude—it had all suddenly turned into a mirage.

He had even reached out to Warner Bros.' top executives, but they simply didn't like him. Those days, he made frantic phone calls.

The attitudes of the movie studios and investors who had once wanted to collaborate with him had also taken a 180-degree turn.

The diplomatic words from these people left him feeling exhausted.

The promised conditions in the contracts had long become null and void. Since the movie was destined to fail, he not only couldn't get the promised box office rewards but also had a significant portion of his subsequent compensation harshly reduced.

But he had no way to appeal because it was all stipulated in the contract, black on white, and he had personally signed the shooting contract.

Why was his salary divided into multiple installments, and even more times than that?

It was all for the situation he was facing today.

For the production side, they appeared to be at a disadvantage compared to the distribution side. However, when compared to directors and screenwriters, they were the much stronger party.

Many times, this inequality developed step by step.

Petersen had given up.

After another unsuccessful negotiation, faced with the most realistic circle, he could only leave dejectedly.

Hollywood was still Hollywood, unchanged.