The Greatest Showman

Chapter 48 – Anticipation of the Masses

“HBO Invests 223 million to Create ‘The Pacific’, Set to Debut Soon!”

“After ‘Band of Brothers’ Nine Years Ago, ‘The Pacific’ Once Again Raises the Wave of War-themed Productions!”

“Hanks and Spielberg Collaborate Again to Create a Cruel War Story.”

“The Production Cycle Lasted Three Years, and ‘The Pacific’ is Finally About to Premier.”

“Beyond the Expectations of Classics, ‘The Pacific’ Carries HBO’s Ambitious Desire for Self-Breakthrough.”

“‘Confident,” Steven Spielberg’s Declaration.”

…

The day after the premiere, news about “The Pacific” spread like wildfire. With HBO and the signatures of Tom and Steven, not to mention the previous success of “Band of Brothers”, “The Pacific” has been highly anticipated since its conception. After experiencing setbacks in the early adaptation of the script, controversy over mid-term funding, and difficulties in assembling the cast in the later stages, it has undergone a long preparation period of more than three years. Now, the TV series is finally about to shine, and it can be said that the anticipation for it has really exceeded expectations.

The grandeur of the premiere last night made people look forward to it even more.

“Can ‘The Pacific’ reproduce the brilliance of ‘Band of Brothers’ with inexperienced newcomer as lead actor?”

“Renly Hall: A Newcomer Who Appeared in the Cast Like a Comet.”

“Tom Hanks: Renly is the Core Character of the Entire Series.”

…

In comparison, the attention focused on Renly was quite limited. Following the experience of “Band of Brothers,” in order to present the authenticity and balance of the production, “The Pacific” also did not use big-name stars for casting, so almost all of the actors were unknown faces, and there is no essential difference between newcomers and seventh-line actors.

Moreover, “The Pacific” is a group drama and a television series. Even though Tom and Steven joined forces to create the production, the focus was destined not to stay on the actors.

Even Damian Lewis from “Band of Brothers” was not able to generate much discussion back then. In fact, after the broadcast of “Band of Brothers,” no actor was able to immediately become a big star because the success of the series came from the whole, not individuals.

This time, at least several media outlets separately mentioned Renly’s name, trying to attract the audience’s attention from different angles, which was the benefit brought by Renly’s stunning performance at the premiere.

Undoubtedly, major media outlets have all left a place for “The Pacific” on important pages. The North American film market in the spring season was already somewhat thin, and now a heavyweight work has finally appeared, so people naturally didn’t want to miss it.

On the largest online database of movies, actors, and television, IMDb, “The Pacific” has become a hot topic even before its debut, sparking a wave of attention. Since the series has not yet been broadcast, IMDb has not opened its rating system or discussion system on it. It has only updated HBO’s official trailer and detailed shooting information.(T/N – Translator fun fact – While I am translating chapters of this novel, I always have IMDb open in another tab to check the info of every movie mentioned here, just in case the name of the movies or the actors wasn’t translated correctly.)

Nevertheless, this has not stopped netizens’ enthusiasm. In the most anticipated works ranking, “The Pacific” has risen to the third place, trailing only this summer’s popular works “Toy Story 3” and “Inception,” leaving behind all other famous works such as “Iron Man 2,” “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse,” “Shrek Forever After,” and showing unimaginable appeal.

Just like “The Shawshank Redemption” dominated IMDb’s list of the top 250 films for over a decade, “Band of Brothers” has led IMDb’s list of the top 250 series for nearly ten years. What’s even more incredible is that “The Shawshank Redemption” dominated with a high score of 9.2, while “Band of Brothers” had a score of 9.5 among more than 240,000 ratings, which can be regarded as a miracle within miracles, showing the godlike status of “Band of Brothers” in the hearts of viewers.

Now, the brother series of “Band of Brothers,” “The Pacific,” is about to be broadcasted, and audience’s enthusiasm has completely exceeded the expectations.

Not only on IMDB, but also on the discussion board of Yahoo’s community, the discussion about “The Pacific” has already broke the records. Thanks to the upcoming broadcast of the series, it has awakened the enthusiasm of countless “Band of Brothers” fans and has become the most popular series on the discussion board in 24 hours, attracting more than 10,000 netizens to participate in the discussion.

As a television series, “The Pacific” has attracted a lot of attention. Since the end of the broadcast of “Band of Brothers” years ago, only the final episode of “Friends” can rival its popularity. Whether it is the popular “Lost” or the stunning “Prison Break” that swept across America, they cannot be compared to “The Pacific”.

What’s even more interesting is that “The Pacific” is broadcasted on HBO, a pay television network, which is not subscribed by every household in the United States. For HBO, ratings and viewership are not their main concerns, but rather professional reviews and feedback from subscribed users. And now, “The Pacific” has sparked an incredible discussions frenzy among audiences.

This is truly a spectacle to behold.

Under the eager anticipation of many, “The Pacific” finally premiered on the evening of March 21st!

William Taylor is one of the many viewers eagerly awaiting the premiere. As a fanatical fan of “Band of Brothers,” he started counting down two weeks ago and he even specifically cleared his schedule for this Friday evening a week in advance. Even his parents knew about his “special plan” for tonight – he is only eighteen years old this year and will start college in September.

“Billy, Billy.” A voice panted as Graham Hughes rushed into the room, almost bursting open the door, with greetings still lingering on his lips. “Good evening, Mr. and Mrs. Taylor.”

But William paid no attention to the creaking door, and instead put his finger to his lips and quickly waved, “Turn off the lights at the door, we have three minutes left.” Even his voice was deliberately lowered, as if he was really in a movie theater, afraid of startling other viewers.

Graham didn’t even have time to wipe his sweat, as he sat down beside William, taking out popcorn and cola from his backpack. He turned to look at William and the two of them showed a similar smile. They adjusted their sitting positions on the sofa, holding the popcorn in their arms and staring at the TV screen intently as if they were about to watch the world’s most exciting movie.

Currently, an advertisement was playing, but the two of them were so focused on the screen that it looked like they were watching something interesting.

William’s mother walked to the door and looked at the two of them sitting upright, shaking her head and laughing, “You guys are too nervous. Anyway, there will definitely be DVDs or Blu-ray discs available later…”

“Mom/Mrs. Taylor!” William and Graham shouted in unison, and her response was the action of closing the door sympathetically. The two of them looked back at the TV screen again.

“It’s starting!” William’s voice was trembling, and Graham held his breath, with his pupils dilated.

Not only the Taylors, but at this moment, on this Friday night, on this festive night, on this night welcoming the weekend, countless families across America have chosen to stay at home, not because they are too old to go out for nightlife, or too tired from work to give up going out, no, they stayed home just to watch “The Pacific”!

In addition, some people chose to go to friends’ homes that had HBO subscription in order to watch the series live as soon as possible. They brought a dozen beers, invited a group of friends, and gathered together like a party to enjoy this special night. Even more so, some people went directly to bars, just to watch the HBO channel and hoped they would find like-minded strangers to watch it together, just like watching football or the World Cup.

This kind of scene was happening in every corner of the North American continent, even if it was not a packed house, it was still not far off.

Later, according to the statistics, the premiere of “The Pacific” on that night set new records for both ratings and viewership in the past two years, easily surpassing the achievements of “Band of Brothers” back then.

Although HBO was not concerned about ratings, they care about overall subscriber satisfaction, and only paying viewers are the ones they need to pay attention to. But the frequent breaking of viewing records was still eye-catching.

The viewing results of American TV series are divided into two data points: the number of viewers and the ratings. Both have professional explanations and definitions, but to put it simply, the former represents how many people in the United States watched it, and the latter represents how many of the viewers were aged between 18 and 49. This age group is generally considered to be the core consumer group.

Before this, HBO’s viewing record was held by the finale of the classic series “The Sopranos” aired in 2007, with a viewership of 7.1 million and an unbelievable rating of 11.9. In simple comparison, for cable TV series that rely on ratings for survival, a rating over 3 is enough to celebrate, and a rating over 5 is a rare occurrence.

Now, “The Pacific” has a viewership of 5.9 million people and a stunning 4.6 rating, killing all cable network dramas that night and becoming the champion of ratings! It became HBO’s most dazzling performance in the past two years after “The Sopranos” swept the entire American market!

It is worth mentioning that “The Pacific” is a mini-series. The real money-making part of such a series is the sale of DVDs, video-on-demand, and the awards competition at the awards shows. But now, this mini-series started off with a bang, and even HBO, which is not short of money, is overjoyed.

All signs indicate that “The Pacific” has started off on the right foot and the glory of “Band of Brothers” seems to be within its reach.

The airing of the first episode quickly ended, and the duration of less than an hour made it feel like time has passed in a flash. As the end-credits on the TV screen was scrolling up, William’s expression was somewhat strange, and Graham also was casting a skeptical glance. Then, with a frown, William said in disbelief, “Why do I feel like something’s missing?”