Chapter 104 Single Theater with Twenty Thousand

In the office, Robert kept checking the time frequently, which seemed to pass by very slowly. The clock had just struck twelve.

Garcia Rodriguez sat behind the computer, quickly logging into his email, but there were no new messages. He began to refresh the webpage frequently, occasionally glancing at his phone.

David Villia couldn't sit still, pacing back and forth. Beads of sweat dotted his forehead. He was in charge of the marketing for this film, and although there had been many positive developments today, no one dared to guarantee success until the box office results were in.

Ronan sat calmly on the couch, his face unusually serene, though there was a hint of anxiety in his heart.

The marketing for "The Purge" had been handed over to Lionsgate, as he had limited funds at the time. However, for "The Blair Witch," from buying the film to marketing and distribution, the total investment had already reached tens of millions of dollars.

With such a large investment, if they couldn't get the corresponding returns, it would cause a lot of trouble, even if most of the money came from financing.

But what if they succeeded?

Thinking about the huge success of this film in its past life, even Ronan couldn't help but feel a bit envious.

Success would gradually replenish the cash flow, allowing for the realization of more plans and goals.

"We have a new email!"

Garcia Rodriguez's voice attracted everyone's attention. Ronan looked over, asking, "Is the data in?"

"It's here!" Garcia quickly replied. "200 theaters, 200 screens, Friday's box office is $4.12 million!"

David widened his eyes, looking at Garcia in disbelief. Without hesitation, he asked, "How much?"

Garcia repeated, "Four point twelve million dollars!"

David leaned forward, his face flushed with excitement. He exclaimed, "Four point twelve million dollars! My God! Four point twelve million dollars!"

"Twenty thousand dollars per theater on a single day..."

After saying this, Garcia couldn't hold back anymore, his breathing became rapid, and he clenched his fists tightly!

The output of this day was higher than the annual revenue of Embassy Pictures!

Embassy Pictures had a bright future ahead!

Ronan stood up, exhaling heavily, a joyful smile unconsciously appearing on his face. Despite investing so much, it was false to say there was no pressure.

This moment of relief from pressure brought the prospect of success!

Robert approached, looking at Ronan, and said, "We've succeeded once again."

The look in Robert's eyes towards Ronan was full of fervor. Since the beginning of last year, Ronan had led them to create numerous successes.

The two Abu Dhabi funding scams... No, financing, the successful operation of "The Purge," obtaining tax refunds from Germany, acquiring distribution companies, establishing their own distribution channels...

All of this, which was previously unthinkable, had now become a reality under Ronan's leadership.

Suddenly, footsteps were heard from outside the office, followed by someone pushing open the door from the outside. Thomas, the head of the theater distribution department, and Terry, the head of offline distribution, rushed in.

Although they hadn't directly participated in the promotion of "The Blair Witch," they had been preparing for the release of "Final Destination." However, they had been following the developments here.

"How much is the box office?" Thomas asked urgently.

David walked over and immediately gave Thomas a bear hug.

Seeing David, who had been somewhat gloomy before, suddenly become so enthusiastic, Thomas was a bit bewildered: Could this be the legendary "hidden passion"?

"Four point twelve million dollars!" David slapped Thomas's back hard. "Twenty thousand dollars per theater on a single day!"

Thomas gasped, "Twenty thousand dollars per theater on a single day?"

Terry was also surprised. Having been in the film distribution industry for ten years, he had never personally experienced such a situation.

Then, Thomas and Terry's gaze fell on Ronan. The seemingly far-fetched plan he had formulated had not only succeeded but had also been a great success!

Garcia didn't bother with his subordinates, his gaze complex as he looked at Ronan. In the promotion of this film, they were more like executors, while Ronan was the real leader.

As a result, this young man had brought about marketing campaigns that might become classic textbook cases in the future with his fantastic ideas.

Garcia sighed, sometimes ability really had nothing to do with age.

Twenty thousand dollars in box office revenue per theater on the first day. How much would it be for the three-day weekend?

This brought about a kind of excited anticipation.

"I'll go tell them the news!"

Terry gestured towards outside the office, then quickly walked out. In no time, cheers erupted outside the office.

Ronan stood up, his voice filled with excitement as he said, "Let's focus on work first. David, continue to allocate the remaining advertising funds according to the plan. Robert, contact the printing factory and FedEx, and have the 3,000 copies ready. Garcia, communicate with the major commercial chain theater companies and request additional theaters and screenings for next week, aiming for over 2,500 theaters."

"Got it!"

They all responded, getting busy.

Looking at the time, it was almost one in the morning. Ronan opened the door and walked out of the office, heading to the employees' workspace.

"Chairman!"

"Chairman..."

"Chairman."

One by one, the employees stood up to greet Ronan, their eyes full of excitement and admiration. This young chairman, who had just led them to an unimaginable success.

These were all old employees of Embassy Pictures. After the company was acquired, although their treatment and benefits were better than before, in their eyes, Ronan was more like a wealthy second-generation surpassing the chairman.

Having actively participated in this promotion and distribution, achieving such excellent box office results on the first day, these people deeply realized that the company's decision to let this young man take over was a stroke of luck for them.

The company's income had increased, its scale had grown, and the films it distributed were selling well, which allowed them to have better development opportunities.

Before, Embassy Pictures couldn't bring them all of this.

Now, this person named Ronan Anderson had brought it all!

Thankfully, they were acquired!

Ronan could see that the employees were undergoing changes. Success often solved many problems.

"Thank you all for your hard work during this time!" Ronan showed the care expected of a chairman. "This month, the company's bonuses will be doubled."

"Wow!"

Some young people exclaimed excitedly.

Ronan didn't mind and continued, "It's late now, so go home and rest."

After the employees left one after another, Ronan also prepared to go home.

When he got downstairs and just got into the car, he received a call from Jessica Felton.

"How much was the box office today?" Jessica Felton asked. "I couldn't find it on my end."

Instead of answering directly, Ronan replied, "Weren't you focusing on technical research? Why are you interested in box office now?"

Jessica Felton said on the phone, "This is a film I personally edited!"

"200 theaters, $4.12 million," Ronan replied simply. "Over $20,000 per theater on a single day."

Jessica Felton was somewhat surprised. "Did your deceptive tactics work?"

Ronan felt somewhat helpless and emphasized, "This is business operation, it's marketing. How can you call it deception?"

"It seems like it worked again. I'm pretty amazing." Jessica Felton boasted first, then added, "I'm going to lie down and sleep now. Good night."

Lie down? A picture flashed through Ronan's mind. Would she be crushed?

"Remember to take a shower," Ronan reminded deliberately. "It's summer now, and if you don't shower, you'll stink when you wake up tomorrow."

After hanging up the phone, starting the car, Ronan left the company.

Back at his apartment in North Hollywood, Ronan received another call from Robert. He had already contacted several printing factories and corresponding FedEx services overnight. After paying the deposit early tomorrow morning, they would work overtime to start production.

Like Hollywood movies, printing copies had long been streamlined into mass production.

Not to mention FedEx, as long as the shipping fee was sufficient, their delivery service was calculated by the hour.

On Saturday morning, Ronan first went to Warner Bros. Studios to check on the filming of "Final Destination" and "Kingsman," then dealt with some documents before rushing to Embassy Pictures.

The remaining 100 copies had been sent out, and several theaters in the Los Angeles area would receive them today, adding another screen for screening.

Early in the morning, Garcia went to the Los Angeles branches of several major theater chain companies to discuss the expansion of screenings for "The Blair Witch" next week.

David was also coordinating with personnel online and offline to further expand the influence of the film.

The entire Embassy Pictures was inspired by the huge success of the first day's box office, entering a high-speed operation mode that had never been seen before.

After spending some time at Embassy Pictures, Ronan drove to two independent theaters in downtown Los Angeles where "The Blair Witch" was being screened to see how things were going.

The theaters were packed with people, countless discussing the film and the witch.

However, anyone who had watched the film had some complaints. Ronan could imagine this situation—entering the theater with high expectations, only to see such a poorly made video. Even though the marketing had emphasized that it was filmed by a missing person using DV, it still left some disappointed.

This essentially belonged to the type of film that tricks people into watching and then leaves.

But it wasn't worrying that some people were disappointed; discussions and controversies were what kept the film's popularity high.

Controversial films often achieved good box office results.

When he went to another theater, Ronan even saw people from CinemaScore conducting on-site surveys. He listened for a while.

The ratings given by the audience who had just finished watching were all average. Among the ratings he heard, the highest was just a B-, with most people giving a C or so, and some even giving an E.

However, for this film, using on-site audience ratings to estimate box office sales was definitely not accurate.

He looked around the two theaters, the bustling scenes made him believe that this film would at least not be worse than it was in his previous life.

The social buzz had been stirred up; even if there was controversy, many people would still be willing to see it out of curiosity.

Human curiosity was not that easy to suppress.