After the premiere, Gilbert embarked on a nationwide promotional tour with the main cast and crew.
Cameron Diaz was busy with her audition for The Mask, and Gilbert told her to definitely fight for the lead female role in that film. Although Gilbert was a scoundrel in romantic matters, his vision in filmmaking truly impressed Cameron Diaz. So, she obediently listened to Gilbert and went to the audition. This film was being prepared by New Line Cinema, a second-tier production company, and the male lead had, unsurprisingly, been set as Jim Carrey.
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## Critical Reception
Following the premiere, the media reviews and ratings for Speed were released.
Roger Ebert, film critic for The Chicago Sun-Times, once again gave Gilbert's new film two thumbs up: "Among many films, we've seen a lot of content similar to Speed. But few are as good as Speed; the film is full of high positive energy."
The Los Angeles Times also commented: "The film's director and his team have created a complex and brilliant visual effect. These effects incredibly fit the film's content, constantly stimulating the viewing experience."
Kenneth Turan, film critic for The New Yorker, remarked: "The film's ending is clean and frantic. Speed becomes the film's best gimmick, and the film fully exploits the theme of 'speed.'"
Of course, the media wasn't entirely positive; there were still many negative reviews. For example, The Washington Post commented: "The film's plot is excessive, a relentless public transport battle between protagonist Reeves and his opponent. Even with difficulties, it needs to consider a final stop before the mold jumps off."
And renowned film critic Tursk Leich stated: "The film has many logical flaws, many plot holes, and it focuses too much on explosions. If it had focused on the inner world of the villain Payne and understood why he did what he did, the film's rating would have gone up a notch."
At first glance, these words seemed fine, but upon closer thought, they were full of traps. What "exploring the characters' inner world"? Is that what audiences like? Gilbert was sure that if he had made movies the way Mr. Leich suggested, he would never have gotten directing opportunities at such a young age. Film companies don't look at a film's artistry; they look at Gilbert's films' profitability.
Of course, it's normal for reviews to be both good and bad. Such debates can even pique audience curiosity, driving them into cinemas.
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## Midnight Showdown
On April 30th, at midnight, the midnight screenings of Speed officially began. The film opened its midnight shows in 1,500 cinemas across the U.S. on 3,800 screens. This number was a significant improvement compared to the midnight show figures for Final Destination. This indicated that exhibitors were very optimistic about Speed, hence the high number of allocated screenings.
As the start of the summer blockbuster season, the competition in early May was always fierce. Speed wasn't the only film opening with midnight showings. Cliffhanger, an action film produced and distributed by Columbia Pictures, packaged and handled by CAA, and starring Sylvester Stallone, also opened its midnight shows at midnight on April 30th.
One was a new film from an established action star, while the other was a combination of a new director and a moderately famous handsome actor. By all accounts, the film starring the established action star should have been more popular. In fact, despite a series of marketing efforts that made Speed widely known in North America before its release, more audiences chose Cliffhanger for the midnight showings. No wonder CAA was so confident in pitting this film against Gilbert's. Michael Ovitz's judgment was indeed correct; Sylvester Stallone's muscular appeal was clearly much stronger than Keanu Reeves's.
But if the film market only relied on the appeal and fame of actors and directors to earn box office revenue, there wouldn't be so many miracles. What makes Hollywood so captivating is that it's a place where miracles happen.
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## The "Hold Your Pee" Test
At a cinema near UCLA, Lewis and Sarati Merton's group had already bought their tickets, eager to be among the first to support Speed. At the ticket counter inside the cinema, many moviegoers were lining up to buy tickets.
"Three for Cliffhanger, please."
"Two for Cliffhanger..."
"Two for Speed..."
Lewis observed the ticket sales and couldn't help but feel a little anxious for Gilbert: "It looks like Cliffhanger is more popular than Speed."
Sarati Merton had already anticipated this: "That's normal, Lewis. From reputation to investment to appeal, Speed is inferior to Cliffhanger. It's completely normal." Despite saying that, Lewis still hoped Speed would be more popular.
The movie started soon, and Lewis and his friends entered the screening room and took their seats. It seemed the initial promotional efforts were very effective; the theater, located in a bustling area, had about 40% occupancy for the midnight show. Many of these audience members were watching a Gilbert film for the first time. They had only heard about it before, but this time they came out of curiosity.
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## Audience Reactions
Sitting next to Lewis was an unusual pair: a white male and a Black male, who appeared to be good friends. Although racial discrimination was explicitly opposed at the time, not many white people befriended Black people. However, a Black person who could befriend a white person was, psychologically speaking, already like a white person, different from Black people in lower classes. But none of this was important. What mattered was that both of them were interested in seeing this film because of the Super Bowl halftime commercial.
The young white man was drinking coke and chatting with the young Black man. They were talking about recent interesting things and seemed very happy. Lewis noticed the white man had drunk a lot of coke and, for the sake of his viewing experience, reminded him, "Hey, buddy, I advise you to drink less coke."
The white man asked curiously, "Why?"
"Because you won't have time to go to the bathroom later," Lewis replied.
The white man was clearly skeptical: "Really?"
"Of course, just wait and see."
Seeing Lewis's confident demeanor, the white man was half-believing, but still put his coke down. He clearly didn't believe there was any movie that could keep him glued to his seat.
But soon, the white man realized he was wrong. From the very beginning, the film completely captivated him and the entire audience's attention.
"Holy cow, this movie is amazing! Who's this Jack? He's so handsome."
"Indeed, I can't believe it. He's won me over, even though I'm a man."
As the film progressed, Keanu Reeves, under Gilbert's direction, gradually revealed his charm. This universal charm, captivating both men and women, was like a fatal poison, making it impossible to stop watching. Amidst the intense and thrilling plot, even Sandra Bullock, whom Lewis initially found average, became sexy and captivating.
The white man who had drunk too much coke was already holding his pee. He didn't want to miss a single shot, but his bladder was about to burst. Unable to hold it any longer, the white man quickly ran to the restroom to relieve himself. Lewis noticed that as the white man ran to the restroom, his eyes remained glued to the big screen, unwilling to miss a single frame.
Lewis didn't want to miss anything either, so he quickly turned his head back to enjoy this fantastic film. How long had it been since he had such an exhilarating movie experience? Lewis felt that this was the best film Gilbert had directed in his career, even though, counting this one, Gilbert had only directed three films.
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## Post-Midnight Show Comparison
At the midnight showings, although Speed lagged far behind Cliffhanger in terms of initial appeal, Speed completely triumphed in terms of audience word-of-mouth after the midnight shows. It seems the two films are in for quite a fight during the summer blockbuster season.