Chapter 52: Second Place at the Box Office

In the North American market, the release of movies doesn't take too long. For the most part, after the first day, you can estimate the future trends. As long as you collect enough data on the first-day box office, audience demographics, and audience word of mouth, it's generally easy to see whether a film will be profitable or not.

Of course, there are some exceptions, like "Titanic". Who could have predicted its future based on the first-day box office and audience reception?

But overall, the North American film market is quite mature. Whether it's the target age demographics, the distribution of various types of films, word-of-mouth screenings, or viral marketing methods, there are mature operational methods.

Movies with box office potential are welcomed by theaters, which are commercial companies and adjust resources based on the market response to films.

Actually, even before Lion's Gate Entertainment contacted, frontline theaters had already started increasing screenings of "The Purge" franchise.

Theaters are businesses and will adjust based on a film's market response. If a film starts strong but doesn't perform well in terms of box office revenue and audience reception, theaters won't invest too many resources in it.

Conversely, if a film performs well, theaters will increase screenings.

Moreover, horror films released during Halloween can't monopolize screenings.

Lion's Gate Entertainment mobilized resources and actively contacted theater chains. While the number of theaters showing "The Purge" didn't increase much, the average screen ratio increased by almost six percentage points.

As the number of viewers increased, it was not surprising that the word-of-mouth for "The Purge" was completely polarized.

For some viewers, watching this film was as refreshing as drinking a chilled cola in midsummer. But for others, the film was utterly worthless.

IMDB, founded in 1990, is an online database about movies, actors, TV shows, TV stars, and film production. Even ordinary movie fans, as long as they register, can rate and comment on a film on the website.

The website, which has been around for eight years, has accumulated many users and is one of the most famous movie websites.

Currently, "The Purge" franchise has an average rating of 6.4 on IMDB, which is neither high nor low for a horror film.

But there is a very peculiar phenomenon: most of the ratings from thousands of users are concentrated above 7.5 and below 4.5.

Another point, the box office performance of "The Purge" franchise in some southern states is very poor.

The weekend quickly passed, and a new week arrived on time.

As dawn broke, the newsstand on Burbank Thirteenth Street opened its doors. The owner took out the latest magazines, placed the best-selling ones in prominent positions, and prepared to hang up DC and Marvel superhero comics.

Just as he finished these tasks, several newspaper delivery cars arrived one after another, and dozens of bundles of newspapers were stacked in front of the newsstand.

The owner looked back at the newsstand and shouted loudly, "Lisa! Come out and work!" Seeing no response, he shouted angrily, "Damn it! Come out and work!"

His shout echoed far away, and the plump woman immediately squeezed out from the newsstand's entrance.

"What are you shouting about!" The plump woman's voice was loud too. "I'm here, aren't I?"

She came to the pile of newspapers, casually picked up two bundles with her fingers, and quickly moved all the newspapers into the newsstand.

Then, she helped the owner arrange the newspapers.

After finishing everything, the sun had already risen above the horizon.

The plump woman wiped her sweat and picked up a newspaper. As usual, she sat on the chair in front of the newsstand, and the chair squeaked again.

One by one, people came to buy newspapers, and the owner collected money and handed over the newspapers, busy and joyful.

The plump woman flipped through the entertainment section and saw a huge headline on the front page—"Halloween 7" landed the North American box office champion last week, followed closely by the dark horse "The Purge" franchise!

"The Purge" franchise? The name sounded very familiar. Where had she heard it before? It seemed...

The plump woman suddenly remembered and her face was full of shock. How was this possible? She couldn't help but look up at the sky. Was it the end of the world? Or did aliens arrive?

Was there something wrong with the newspaper? She grabbed another copy of the newspaper, a professional Hollywood reporter, and quickly flipped through to find the weekend box office report.

"Scream Queen Jamie Lee Curtis returns to horror. "Halloween 7", starring her, opened last Friday and took $16.1 million over the weekend, topping the North American box office charts."

"In second place on the box office chart is "The Purge" franchise, the biggest dark horse in the North American film market last week. This horror thriller film brought a surprising box office performance, grossing $15.2 million over the weekend and becoming the box office runner-up."

The plump woman bypassed the detailed report on "Halloween 7" and hurriedly looked for the analysis of "The Purge" franchise.

"According to CinemaScore and several market research firms, "The Purge" franchise is expected to challenge $40 million in final North American box office..."

Seeing this, the plump woman's head buzzed. That spendthrift who passed by her every day, was he really making a turnaround?

Why? She bustled every morning to help with newspapers, barely making a few thousand dollars a month, while this spendthrift could earn tens of millions of dollars with just one movie?

She couldn't help but think of some novels she had read about counterattacks, which she detested the most!

"What are you thinking?" A shout exploded in front of her. "Didn't you hear me? Give me a copy of 'Vogue'."

The plump woman quickly regained her senses, took the magazine and handed it to the customer. When he left, she tugged at the owner's clothes and said, "That... that spendthrift..."

The owner reminded her, "Ron Anderson!"

"Yes! Ron Anderson." The plump woman swallowed and corrected herself. She couldn't casually call him a spendthrift anymore; rich people were not to be trifled with. "Not a spendthrift, but Ron Anderson."

She hurriedly continued, "Remember the movie Ron Anderson invested in that we talked about a while ago? It premiered last week."

"Lost money again?" was the owner's immediate reaction.

Shaking her head, the plump woman said, "No. Today's newspaper reported that Ron Anderson's new movie grossed $15.2 million in its first week, and market experts predict it may exceed $40 million in the end..."

The owner was quite surprised. "Is he turning things around?"

The plump woman looked up at the office building behind her and muttered, "No more jumping off buildings, I guess."

The owner flipped through the newspaper and glanced at the related reports. He said, "Mr. Ron Anderson took ten years to become a millionaire, but Mr. Ron Anderson Jr. is about to become a multimillionaire."

After a moment of astonishment, suddenly a voice came, "Give me a copy of the Los Angeles Times."

The owner quickly took the money and handed over the newspaper. Seeing that familiar face, he quickly said, "Good morning, Mr. Ron Anderson Jr. Congratulations on the success of your new movie."

Ronan smiled and said, "Thank you."

With a briefcase in one hand and a newspaper in the other, he walked into the office building, encountering many familiar faces along the way.

Some of them were particularly enthusiastic today and greeted him actively.

Regardless of who they were, Ronan politely smiled and responded to everyone.

As he pushed open the company's door, before he had fully entered, several "popping" sounds were heard, and countless streamers floated down from above, landing on his head and body.

"Wow!"

Excited shouts rang out as well.

Ronan looked at the initiators, George and Robert, and said with a smile, "We did it!"

Excited shouts echoed in the office again.

Only they knew that without experiencing near-bankruptcy despair, one couldn't truly appreciate the sweetness of success.

"Ronan!" Robert excitedly shook Ronan's hand. "Besides your father, you're the second person I truly admire!"

George also walked over, his face wrinkled with a big smile. "You led us to success!"

Mary reached out and hugged Ronan. "Ronan, your father must be proud."

Only they knew that Ronan was the key to this success.

Ronan removed the streamers from his head and said loudly, "Everyone, we will continue to succeed!"

(About the box office issue, in 1998, there were fewer cinemas and screens than in 2013, and ticket prices were cheaper. Lionsgate, which was just starting out, couldn't match Warner Bros. in distribution. The film's cast also lacked established stars like Ethan Hawke. The total box office was definitely lower than the original version.)