#665 The Journey of Reaching $600 Million

The Power of Publicity

How significant is the impact of programs like "The Tonight Show" or "The Ellen DeGeneres Show"? Why do some shows produce excellent publicity results while others fail to create any substantial effect? What's the link between the publicity's success and the quality of the work being promoted? How much influence do the publicity teams themselves have on the overall outcome? And how do audience psychology and the trend of public opinion interact in this process?

It's a discipline, requiring continuous study and research in academic settings. Yet in real life, the result is often clear: "Crazy Love" continues to break records at the box office, fueled by the strong publicity from "The Tonight Show" and "Believe in Belief" topping Billboard charts.

The ambitious expansion strategy of Focus Pictures demonstrated their strong confidence. Even as the film was expanded for the third consecutive week, "Crazy Love" still maintained a solid performance, with its weekend box office drop controlled at an incredible 19%. This was the only film in the top 30 with a drop of less than 20%. Over the weekend, it grossed $15.4 million, with a per-theater average of $6,000, an impressive feat.

Two weeks ago, Focus Pictures faced criticism for aggressively expanding the film's release, but now it has paid off—amplifying the topic, word-of-mouth, and focus effects of "Crazy Love" to the extreme.

The gamble of a high-stakes expansion means it could either fail or soar to new heights. A slight misstep could have spelled disaster, but now it's evident: Focus Pictures' gamble has paid off. "Crazy Love" is on the rise, experiencing one of its greatest victories.

After three weeks of screening, "Crazy Love" surpassed the $40 million mark, reaching $45 million—remarkable for an independent film with a production cost of just $250,000 and distribution rights sold for only $5.5 million. This success has set Focus Pictures up to celebrate.

At this moment, the industry is keenly aware of the change in dynamics. What does a $45 million box office mean? Certainly, it implies profit, but it also means the film is receiving more attention, which can boost Focus Pictures' coffers further and significantly impact its awards-season prospects. This sets the stage for "Crazy Love" to become a contender for accolades in the 2011 awards season.

It's unclear whether "Crazy Love" is helping the awards season films, or if the reverse is true, but one thing is for sure: Renly is the biggest winner here.

By the third week of October, "Crazy Love" had dropped to second place in the North American weekend box office rankings, but it remains one of the most-watched and talked-about films of the Halloween season.

The fall season typically sees a lull in the film industry, and 2011 was no different. The highest-grossing film at that point was a 3D re-release of The Lion King, which had earned $92 million. Beyond that, few films had even cracked the $100 million mark.

Amidst this downturn, "Crazy Love" broke through. In just three weeks, it grossed $45 million and topped the box office for the week and the weekend—remarkable statistics for the fall season. Even Moneyball could not compare.

Moneyball, another Oscar-bait art film this year, has been a highly anticipated release. Directed by Bennett Miller (Capote) and with a screenplay by Oscar-winners Aaron Sorkin and Steven Zaillian, it boasts a star-studded cast including Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Robin Wright. Its all-star pedigree made it a hot topic since its debut at the Toronto Film Festival, and it was regarded as a strong contender for Best Picture at the Academy Awards.

Despite Sony Columbia's ambitious push with the film, distributing it to 3,000 theaters with a marketing budget exceeding $30 million, the market response has been underwhelming. After five weeks, the film has grossed just $63 million, a far cry from its $50 million production cost and its star-studded budget.

In comparison, "Crazy Love" has taken the world by surprise. With an unknown cast, rookie director, and a minuscule $250,000 production budget, the film has grossed $45 million in only three weeks. Its meteoric rise has led many to ask: Could Crazy Love be 2011's Juno or Little Miss Sunshine?

In the third week of October, "Smart: Ghost Story 3" premiered with high expectations, hoping to capitalize on Halloween weekend. In a thrilling box-office faceoff, it was the newly released Smart: Ghost Story 3 that took the top spot, grossing $52 million in its opening weekend—an impressive figure that easily dethroned Crazy Love from the top position. Still, Crazy Love held strong, taking second place with its impressive numbers.

In just one year, the rise of Renly has been nothing short of extraordinary.

Crazy Love's box office trajectory mirrors that of "Iron Armored Steel Fist." The latter's weekend performance showed a decline of 34%, but Crazy Love continued to hold its ground, even with a similar release timeline.

The contrast in performance is striking: While Iron Armored Steel Fist has grossed $66 million in three weeks, Crazy Love has reached $45 million—a much narrower gap than anticipated.

Compared to art films, Crazy Love stands toe-to-toe with Moneyball. Compared to commercial films, it has outperformed Iron Armored Steel Fist. The media can't help but marvel at the film's surprising box office success, calling it one of the year's most incredible journeys.

As the awards season approaches, films like The Help, Moneyball, A Separation, Midnight in Paris, Presidential Killing, and Drive all prepare for a showdown, with Crazy Love now officially in the mix.

The holiday season is near, bringing a fresh wave of competition in the box office, with titles like Puss in Boots, Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 1, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, and Mission Impossible 4 poised to dominate the market. But Crazy Love has already proven itself a contender, with its solid reputation and strong quality keeping it on the radar.

By the fourth week of October, Puss in Boots claimed the top spot, with Crazy Love still holding strong at fourth place, a drop of only 33% at the box office.

In early November, Crazy Love dropped to fifth, despite a slight 30% decline in earnings. Even so, it continued to perform strongly, with a $5.62 million weekend box office.

The film's exceptional performance is now undeniable. While Crazy Love was not expected to be a box-office hit, its success has far surpassed anyone's predictions. As the movie continues to thrive, U.S. Weekly predicts that its North American gross will surpass $100 million. All signs point to this being another literary masterpiece to break the $100 million threshold.