Chapter 128: Weekend Box Office and Expectations

[Chapter 128: Weekend Box Office and Expectations]

Charlie couldn't help but punch the old guy on the shoulder, of course, not too hard, so as not to break the bones of the guy with osteoporosis directly. "Shut up, old man. You still dare to talk? You nearly ruined my career. I should have climbed the ladder step by step, and now I have become a movie company owner who works hard every day, living in constant fear."

Craven frowned, "You're obviously bragging. You're still that shameless bastard! Just wait, my Scream won't be any worse than yours. You'll give me, a talented director like me, your sincere respect! Goodbye, Boss Corleone. Remember to send me an invite to the celebration party!"

...

Maggie was playing with Charlie's arm as they walked out. "Honey, Director Craven is quite capable in genre films. I didn't expect you to have so many friends. You two seem to get along like best frenemies."

Charlie smiled, "Exactly, but don't mention anyone else tonight. The rest of the time is just for us!"

Actually, he wanted to reveal the truth to innocent Maggie.

That old Craven guy initially could hang out with him; neither of them was a saint. They critiqued actresses on set and secretly visited strip clubs together.

But after that one party where Charlie lost his temper and beat someone up, Craven was equally serious and, together with Jill Messick, kicked Charlie out of the production team. He ended up with no friends.

Now he was acting friendly again, obviously because Charlie had become the boss of Corleone Studios!

...

"Hello, sir and ma'am, may I have a moment for a short survey?" A young man wearing the company logo approached politely as they stepped outside.

"Sorry!" Charlie tipped his hat slightly and waved him off.

Then he heard someone behind replying faintly to the interview, "Probably a B grade, there aren't enough exciting scenes!"

...

Maggie looked at him admiringly, her eyes sparkling as she got into the car. "Charlie, did you see that? So many people participated in the survey. Wrong Turn must have brought a fresh feeling to everyone!"

"Haha, thanks. But beautiful lady, their praise can't compare to the admiration in your eyes that intoxicates me!"

...

Corleone, Mafia and many other companies were busy with the film's release.

Even in the evening, they worked overtime coordinating with various supply channels, confirming details.

But Charlie played the laid-back boss, joking around with Maggie.

They then went to a disco nightclub and danced until late at night.

She happily pulled Charlie along, feeling like she owned the whole world.

The two young people spent a wild night in the hotel room, having an original conversation, debating deep scientific questions about black holes, which was bigger -- the sun or the moon, and how long comet tails really were.

The all-night discussion gave them both a thorough mental and physical cleansing!

...

Meanwhile, the movie market warmed slightly ahead of Thanksgiving.

Inside Corleone Studios, Mord was excitedly telling Etto and Lamont, "Hahaha, boss is so awesome! Our movie, even releasing alongside Star Trek, the T800 robot's movie, took second place for opening weekend box office! We lost only $3 million to the champion, we won!"

"Yeah, I knew we'd make it!" Lamont said happily.

They each held a copy of The Washington Post, which reported last weekend's top ten movies.

Star Trek: First Contact opened in 2,812 theaters, earning $29.13 million.

Following closely was Wrong Turn, opened in 2,600 theaters, making $26.24 million!

Then Warner Bros.' Space Jam was in its second week, ranked fifth was Jingle All the Way.

Third place already dropped sharply to $14.5 million.

The Hollywood Reporter headline read, "Two giants battle, splitting the last pre-Thanksgiving weekend box office! Corleone Studios' low-budget horror film unleashes astonishing force against Warner's sequel blockbuster!"

This good news quickly spread through the entire company.

Jon Favreau was thinking about his last accidental idea and hoped to build good relations with the company's executives. He grabbed some materials, "Guys, look, although those damn critics are hostile towards us, they praised that old sci-fi movie to the skies. However, the professional CinemaScore doesn't see it that way."

This survey company had just signed a cooperation contract with Corleone Studios; they would provide more professional data for the new film company rather than only cooperating with theaters as they did for Fifty Shades of Gray.

CinemaScore was founded by Ed Mintz in 1979. They had specialized teams in major North American cities, conducting random surveys every Friday.

They referred strictly to the market, going directly to theaters. Their questionnaire included viewers' age, gender, grades from A to F, and collected data on whether people rented videocassettes and if they felt marketing matched the content.

Each film had about 400 randomly distributed cards.

They had a 65% response rate and a 6% margin of error!

Apart from reporting results to media and consumers, they sold data to film studios.

CinemaScore's results were well-regarded in the industry. Many media thought their box office predictions were "surprisingly accurate." Even movie company executives regarded it as "not always correct, but a very good indicator."

The report listed data: Wrong Turn had 456 survey responses, with 58% giving A- grades, quite a miracle for a horror movie.

Star Trek: First Contact only had 46% A grades, despite excellent reviews, including Roger Ebert calling it one of the best Star Trek films.

However, that didn't matter!

The Chicago Daily quoted CinemaScore's prediction: "Star Trek's North American box office would struggle to reach $100 million, while the horror film Wrong Turn drew a large 30+ male audience and attracted young and middle-aged workers. Box office was predicted to exceed $100 million domestic."

Jon exaggerated, "We made one of the top 10 horror films in history! Besides The Exorcist, which keeps re-releasing, we might even be the first to reach large-scale distribution!"

"Hahaha, right." At that moment, Pierza happily walked over with several colleagues, "Guys, the box office far exceeds expectations. Even more exciting, the Horror Theme Park plan is likely to truly succeed! Corleone Studios will create a cultural icon!

By the way, where's Charlie? We need to discuss the follow-up marketing; Disney has decided to ramp up promotional investment."

Mord scratched his head, "Uh, boss has been busy with a girl these days."

*****

https://www.patreon.com/Sayonara816.