Chapter 318: The Sudden Surge of Negative Reviews

"I watched The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. It was an outstanding film, Michael, you made the right decision."

With the premiere of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers underway, Michael Bay returned to International Creative Management, chatting with Michael Ovitz about his thoughts on the film.

"I admit, there's a gap between Gilbert and me. After watching this movie, I finally realized that the gap is so huge it's beyond my imagination." Michael Bay looked somewhat dejected.

Michael Ovitz reassured him, "Benjamin, don't be so hard on yourself. After all, he's Gilbert.

And besides…"

"Besides what…"

Michael Ovitz gave a mysterious smile. "I don't think The Two Towers will have such a smooth ride either. Gilbert is bound to face some setbacks."

Michael Bay's heart skipped a beat. He immediately asked, "What did you do?"

"Nothing," Michael Ovitz gently shook his head. "I haven't done a thing. It's just that some people don't want to see him being so arrogant."

Hearing this, Michael Bay frowned deeply, thinking of some unpleasant possibilities.

"Gilbert isn't going to end up like Michael Jackson, is he?" Michael Bay asked worriedly.

He certainly didn't want that to happen. If he was going to defeat Gilbert, he wanted to do it himself, not see him taken down by outside forces. Gilbert couldn't fall—he had to stay standing until Bay could beat him fair and square.

"No, just a little lesson," Michael Ovitz said as he handed Bay the marketing plan for Pearl Harbor. Then he continued, "Don't be too happy about it. Gilbert is one of us, after all. It's just a small lesson, nothing that will really hurt him."

Meanwhile, on a small Caribbean island, a group of people had gathered.

They were indulging in pleasures, each holding at least two young women, with another one serving them from below. Everyone was completely uninhibited, and since they had all done the same, there was an unspoken trust between them.

"Nate, are you really going through with this?" asked an old man who appeared to be in his sixties, directing his question at a man in his thirties.

The man called Nate had an air of arrogance about him, his face showing impatience and restlessness.

Nate scoffed, "Marvell, you're getting senile. We've invited Gilbert to the island so many times, yet he keeps making excuses not to come.

A filmmaker with that much global influence, and he dares to stay out of our circle? That's unacceptable."

Hearing the word senile, Marvell felt a flash of anger. But he held it back and instead sneered, "So your solution is to send an army of fake reviewers to smear his movie?

Listen, kid, if you want to take down someone you can't control, internet trolls won't do the trick—you need a gun…"

When problems arise, the simplest solution is to eliminate the person who caused them. That's how things worked—not just in their circle, but across North America's various power networks.

Now, Gilbert had become the center of a problem.

The reason was simple: his influence had grown too vast. He had millions of fans across the U.S. and the world. A director of his caliber, who was also far more active than traditional "old guard" filmmakers like Spielberg, was a serious concern for them.

If they couldn't bring him into their fold, then he posed a direct threat to them.

Nate smirked at Marvell's suggestion. "Marvell, let's not get ahead of ourselves. If we resort to those kinds of methods, you and I will become public enemies."

He turned his attention to the stage, where a dozen young girls were performing an exotic dance. Nate's hands roamed freely over the woman in his arms, clearly enjoying himself.

After hearing the sounds that pleased him, he finally spoke again. "A little lesson will suffice. Then, we offer him some incentives, and he'll come over to our side."

"Is that so?" Marvell remained skeptical. He knew that Gilbert hadn't made it this far on luck alone.

To put it bluntly, Gilbert himself was a powerful network. Anyone thinking of moving against him had to first consider the cost. There was also a strong chance that it could backfire.

But it wasn't Marvell's decision to make. The man called Nate was the one in charge this time.

After The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers achieved incredible numbers in its early and midnight screenings, the film officially opened in 4,150 theaters across the U.S. the next day.

This set a new record for the widest theatrical release in North American history—a truly massive opening.

However, just as The Two Towers was taking American theaters by storm, something unusual happened. Suddenly, sites like IMDb saw an influx of negative reviews.

"The Two Towers is the worst, most boring movie I've ever seen…"

"I strongly advise everyone not to watch it. Otherwise, you'll regret wasting over two hours of your life."

"Terrible movie. I slept through all three hours in the theater."

"Gilbert has ruined his own reputation. The Two Towers is clearly a product of his arrogance. He no longer cares about his audience or respects them."

There were countless reviews like these. As a result, when IMDb finally unlocked its user ratings, the film's score quickly dropped—falling to 8.9.

Using online troll armies wasn't a new tactic. Ever since Gilbert himself first employed them in film marketing, this not-so-secretive, not-so-clever strategy had been widely adopted by Hollywood studios.

A classic example of this strategy was the success of The Blair Witch Project, where Lionsgate effectively used online troll marketing.

Since trolls could be used to hype up a movie, they could just as easily be used to attack competing films. The world is full of smart people, and many were quick to learn and apply these methods.

Although the use of trolls was an open secret among film companies, to the average internet user, the concept was still largely unfamiliar.

Apart from a few sharp-eyed individuals who could detect the presence of trolls, most internet users had no idea what was happening and were easily swayed by the orchestrated negativity.

On the film's opening day, the production team had no scheduled promotional activities.

The press tour was set to begin the following day. So, that afternoon, Gilbert had planned a fishing trip with a few women.

Since the arrival of his yacht, it had been sitting at the dock for too long and had barely been used. Gilbert wanted to take it out himself and have some fun.

"Darling, put that fishing gear on board," Cameron Diaz instructed as she carried a crate of ice-cold beer to the yacht's fridge.

"We need to bring more food, like fruits and vegetables," Naomi Watts added. Then she turned to Gilbert. "Where did you put those dried fruits your Chinese friend sent?"

"I don't know. Ask Anzu," Gilbert replied as he carried a large bag onto the yacht and started the engine.

Once everything was ready, Gilbert prepared to set sail with Naomi Watts, Cameron Diaz, and Anne Hathaway.

But just then, the sharp sound of high heels clicking against the dock caught their attention.

Anna hurried over, calling out, "Boss, we have a problem!"

"???" Gilbert was puzzled. "Take a breath, have some water first, and then tell me."

Anna took the bottle of water he handed her, downed it in one go, caught her breath, and said, "For some reason, the internet has suddenly exploded with a wave of negative reviews about The Two Towers.

Our film's reputation is plummeting. Right now, its IMDb score has dropped to 8.8, and there are already over two thousand negative reviews."

Gilbert frowned. With his experience, he immediately realized that this was a coordinated smear campaign using internet trolls to attack his film.

"What's wrong, darling?" Naomi Watts, looking stunning in her swimsuit, approached him when she noticed the delay in their departure.

Gilbert offered her an apologetic smile. "Sorry, Naomi. I don't think I can go fishing with you today—there's a problem I need to deal with."

Naomi was understanding. "That's okay. Work comes first. We'll just cruise around nearby. Let Michelle steer the yacht."

"I'll make it up to you next time," Gilbert said before kissing her goodbye and rushing off with Anna.

Cameron Diaz, who had just finished setting things up, saw Gilbert leaving and quickly asked, "What happened?"

"Seems like something's wrong with The Two Towers…" Naomi Watts shook her head lightly. "We should head back too."

"Yeah." Cameron Diaz looked worried. With Gilbert gone, going out to sea didn't seem as fun anymore. A shame—she had even prepared a rather daring swimsuit for the trip.

Back at the estate, Cameron Diaz immediately opened a website.

She saw that IMDb was flooded with negative reviews of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, popping up like mushrooms after the rain.

The film's negative review rate had already reached nearly 15%, and its IMDb rating had dropped to 8.6—with no sign of stopping.

"Damn it." Cameron Diaz, frustrated by the comments, smacked the table twice, startling Naomi Watts.

"What's wrong, Michelle?" Naomi asked with concern.

"See for yourself…" Cameron pointed to the comments on the screen.

Naomi read them and frowned. "Why are there so many bad reviews?"

"Isn't it obvious? Someone is deliberately smearing the movie." Cameron was furious. She sat down, fingers flying over the keyboard. "I'm not letting these trolls get away with this!"

With that, she transformed into a keyboard warrior, diving into battle online.

Anne Hathaway, who had just walked in, was confused. "What's up with Michelle?"

Naomi Watts shook her head slightly. "Looks like this summer won't be a peaceful one."

On the way to Melon Studios, Gilbert listened as Anna explained the details of what had happened.

Starting that morning, an overwhelming wave of negative reviews had begun flooding the internet.

Negative reviews don't just appear out of nowhere—someone was definitely orchestrating this.

Anna offered her analysis. "Boss, do you think another film studio hired trolls to do this?"

"No," Gilbert rejected that idea. "There's no reason for them to. This weekend, apart from a few minor releases, there aren't any major films competing with ours.

Whoever is behind this has another agenda."

As for what that agenda was, Gilbert didn't have enough information to figure it out just yet.

But he quickly made a decision. "Contact Disney and Warner Bros. Also, get Marco on the line. We need a response strategy."

"Understood." Anna immediately picked up her phone to start making calls.

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