Huayu: Director started with art films

Chapter 173 183 [The box office of the premiere exceeded expectations, and word of mouth began to ferment]

Early morning on the 26rd.

Columbia Pictures, inside the president's office.

Hisao Morishima sat in his office, looking a little nervous. He was waiting for the premiere box office data from the theater chain.

As long as we can get over 400 million US dollars, it will be a victory!
You have to know that the premiere day was Tuesday, and it started at noon. Most of the 2500 screens across the United States showed the film one after another, not at the same time.

So for most of the day, as long as there is $400 million...

No, as long as there is more than 300 million US dollars, it will be enough.

The average movie ticket price in the United States is now around $4. Generally, the price of movie tickets in the first half month before the premiere is relatively high, and the price of movie tickets for the long-term screening will be much lower. The strategy adopted is small profits but quick turnover.

In half a day, there are only about three screenings, and some cinemas can only show two.

After all, the golden period for watching movies in any country is Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

From Monday to Thursday, there are basically very few people going to the cinema, and those who go are mostly young students.

So a single screen can earn about $1200 for three shows in half a day, and the box office on the first day can be $300 million, which is basically enough to last until the explosion on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

"Jingle Bell……"

Just at this moment, the phone on the table rang, and Hisao Morishima couldn't wait to pick up the phone and answer it.

"President Morishima, the first day box office is out..."

"How many?!"

"$378 million!"

“378 million dollars?!”

Hearing this, Hisao Morishima's face lit up. He had not expected that the final first-day box office would far exceed his psychological expectations. He hurriedly asked, "Why is it so high?"

"It seems that because of the publicity effect of the past two days, the people we sent to various cinemas to investigate not only gave the movie an A or A+ rating, but also said that they knew about the movie because of the Oprah talk show and the newspaper news in recent days. They are very curious about this thriller adapted from a true story..."

"Haha, OK, I get it. We'll continue to intensify the publicity tomorrow. The topic must not stop before Friday, Saturday, and Sunday."

"It's President Morishima."

After Hisao Morishima hung up the phone, he was in a good mood. He swept away the previous gloom and picked up his phone to call Li Yishu to tell him the good news.

"Is 378 million US dollars considered high?" Li Yishu was a little curious. The number sounded like a lot, but it wasn't much either.

Hisao Morishima said, "Haha, Director Li, you have never been to the United States, so you don't know the box office. There are very few people watching movies from Monday to Thursday. Only A-level blockbusters can make more than 378 million on the first day. Our movie "The Sixth Sense" can reach million US dollars, which is already very high."

Hearing this, Li Yishu breathed a sigh of relief. Since Morishima Hisao thought it was okay, then the results should be very good. He brought up the topic that he was most concerned about: "What about the audience's evaluation?"

"Very good. The people we sent out conducted investigations in several cities with the largest movie ticket sales, such as New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, etc. We collected data from a total of 2000 people. 500 of them received an A+ rating, about 1000 people received an A rating, and the rest received a B+ rating. The overall rating is probably A..."

This is not yet the age of the Internet, so the rating of a movie is based on real-time interviews and surveys of the audience by people sent by the film company. This makes it easier for the film company to make overall adjustments to the subsequent planning of the movie.

Generally speaking, movies with a rating of B+ or above are worth further promotion. For B and C+, it depends on the situation. After that, there is basically no need to continue investing in promotion for C and D.

According to the ten-point scale, movies with scores above 8 are worth increasing investment, while those with scores between 6 and 7 depend on the situation. Anything lower means you are just waiting to lose money.

We chatted briefly for a few more sentences.

Li Yishu also hung up the phone.

Monica Bellucci asked curiously: "How is it, dear, did we succeed?"

Monica has hardly filmed any movies in Hollywood. This is her first movie with lines as a lead role, so naturally she hopes it will be a success.

“It should be considered a success.”

Li Yishu's eyes flickered as she said, "It all depends on how the box office performs in the next few days. As long as we can survive this week and the total box office is over 40 million, we won't have to worry about the follow-up."

Generally, big-budget films premiere at midnight on Friday, and their survival is determined by the box office on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

The total production cost of "The Sixth Sense", including the money spent on publicity and promotion during this period, is only 3000 million US dollars.

It doesn't even reach the A-level threshold, so if the box office in the first week exceeds the production cost, then recovering the investment will not be a problem. And looking at the current situation, it is very likely that the final box office in North America will exceed 100 million US dollars.

What's more, Lee Yi-su knew that this movie was an example of slow and steady growth, just like "Titanic", which was screened for more than a year before it achieved a box office of 18 billion US dollars.

Many people watched the film twice or three times. Otherwise, given the North American movie market at the time, it would have been difficult to get a box office of 6.4 million US dollars in North America.

Although "The Sixth Sense" is not to the point where people watch it twice or three times, its release period is long enough, and as long as people continue to watch it, theaters will repeatedly show the movie during the daytime on non-weekends.

26 number.

Los Angeles Daily News: "The youngest double-gold director's masterpiece "The Sixth Sense" has triggered a wave of movie-watching! It is reported that Li, the youngest Chinese director to win the European double gold medal, recently released his latest Hollywood movie "The Sixth Sense" yesterday, May 5th..."

New York Daily: "Lee, the European double-gold director, talked about supernatural phenomena on the Oprah Talk Show a few days ago, which aroused the curiosity and attention of countless people. The Sixth Sense, adapted from real events, has been released in major theaters in the United States..."

The Hollywood Reporter: "An alternative linkage between "Ghost" and "The Sixth Sense"? It is reported that the role played by Bruce Willis, the male lead actor in the latest movie "The Sixth Sense", happens to have some incredible linkage with "Ghost" starring his wife Demi Moore. Fans who like the movie "Ghost" can go and watch this equally wonderful "Sixth Sense." "..."

The soft articles written by major newspapers that Columbia Pictures purchased in advance had a very good publicity effect.
In particular, it has completed a wave of linkage with "Ghost" which was released a few years ago, which naturally aroused the curiosity of many people and they wanted to go to the cinema to have a look.

new York.

7:30 p.m.

Tom carefully followed goddess Annie and walked out of the restaurant. The weather outside was a bit hot and humid. Tom remembered the way his good friend taught him to pick up girls and said tentatively, "Annie, there is a movie theater in front. It's still early. Why don't we go over and find a movie to watch?"

"Okay." Annie smiled and said, "No problem. I haven't watched a movie in a long time."

"Let's go!"

Tom was very excited and he quickly took Annie to a movie theater.

Anne glanced at the latest movie posters on the wall: "Tom, what movie do you want to see?"

"How about The Sixth Sense?" Tom pointed to a movie poster that said "thriller".

"Sixth sense? I seem to have some impression~~"

Anne frowned, then remembered something and said with sudden enlightenment: "I saw the director of this movie on The Oprah Show last week, and he seemed to say that this movie was adapted from a true story."

Tom nodded repeatedly: "Yes, it must be very beautiful, let's go and have a look?"

His good friend taught him to take a girl to the movies and recommend horror movies, so that the girl will be scared and throw herself into your arms, and then you can hug each other for two hours. With physical contact, holding hands and so on will be a natural thing~~
If you’re quick, you can get it done that same evening.

Annie nodded: "Okay."

"I'll go buy the tickets!"

Tom hurried to buy tickets for the nearest movie.

Twenty minutes later.

They each took popcorn and Coke and walked into the cinema.

Two hours later.

Anne cried and said, "Tom, Malcolm is so miserable. It turns out that he has died a long time ago."

"Yeah, it's too tragic."

Tom was very disappointed. He thought it was a horror movie, but it turned out to be a warm film in horror movie's disguise.

The thrilling scenes in the first few minutes allowed Tom to fully experience Anne's firmness.

But in the later plot, Tom could only watch Anne crying her heart out.

"This movie is so great, I have to go back and ask my parents to watch it too. I have to believe what my children say."

After Annie finished speaking, she hugged Tom and said, "Thank you, Tom."

"No, you're welcome."

Feeling the softness rubbing against his chest, Tom swept away his previous disappointment and a look of joy appeared on his face.

Seeing Tom's silly look, Annie smiled and said, "Are you free this weekend?"

"Yes, I'm free!" Tom nodded repeatedly.

"How about we watch it again together this weekend?"

"You want to watch more?"

"Yes, my parents are going out this weekend and won't be back all night."

"Uh-huh!"

At this moment, a woman with gray hair came up to them and asked with a smile: "Kids, I seemed to hear you discussing "The Sixth Sense" just now?"

"Yes."

Anne looked at the old woman and said kindly, "This movie is very good. If you like watching films with heartwarming themes, like Ghost, you can go in and take a look."

The old woman asked curiously, "I've seen Ghost. Is this movie the same as Ghost?"

"They're different, but both make me cry."

"I understand."

The old woman smiled and nodded, then checked the time on her watch. It was getting a little late, so she decided to go to the cinema tomorrow to see what was so special about this English film directed by a Chinese director.

(End of this chapter)