Entertainment tycoon since 83

Chapter 416: Not Caring Enough
“Perhaps, it’s not just a matter of the number of theaters that open it.” Huang Ze said, “This film has the potential to win an Oscar.”

"Of course!" President Warner understood that Huang Ze was right.

Hollywood judges are basically lifelong members. Once you become a judge, you will be a judge until you die.

With the development of medicine, the average life expectancy of Americans is 75. Those who can become judges have good economic conditions and a higher life expectancy.

This resulted in a large number of elderly people on the judges' panel.

For these people, the Golden Age of Hollywood, when musicals flourished, is their favorite and their white moonlight.

Nowadays, when a musical film competes for awards, the result is predictable.

No one can say no!

"I think it's not just a question of winning an award, but a question of how many awards it is eligible to win."

"Huang, you have made a classic musical!"

"Thank you for the compliment!" Huang Ze smiled and did not comment.

This movie is truly a classic among musicals.

Since the distribution of this film in North America was Warner's responsibility, there was not much else to discuss. Huang Ze just asked in passing when it would be released.

The other party did not give a specific time, only saying that it will probably be released in November.

"Oh, by the way, Lilo and Stitch will be released on August 3rd."

"Yes!" Huang Ze nodded, "Do you need me to go to the premiere? And attract some of my fans at the same time."

If this was a live-action film shot by someone else in the company, even if it was written by Huang Ze, he would be too lazy to go, but after all, "Lilo and Stitch" is an animated film.

It is also the first animated film that the company has invested a lot of effort in.

If this film fails, it may even affect the negotiations on the release conditions for the subsequent "Mulan" and "Finding Nemo".

Huang Ze had no choice but to bear the hardship as a boss in order to make a successful debut for Xinghai Animation.

"If you're willing to go, that would be great. Many of your fans are minors. If they hear that you're there, they'll be willing to pay for movie tickets."

"Okay, see you then!"

……

August 3rd.

Huang Ze was sitting in a movie theater, still acting as an emotionless signing machine.

When the show time came, I put away my pen and, without thinking too much, continued to watch "Lilo & Stitch", a movie I had already watched several times.

It was not until the end of the movie that I tilted my ears and tried to listen to the audience's cheers.

Huang Ze felt a little relieved after hearing some of the children's very penetrating voices, "Daddy, I want to watch it again" and "Daddy, I want a Stitch."

Apart from anything else, this drama is still attractive enough for children.

After the first round of screenings, questionnaire interviewers approached the audience walking out of the theater with questionnaires.

Many of them came with their children.

In response to the questionnaire, he pointed at the child and said with a smile, "From my perspective, this animation is average and a bit childish. Of course, it's watchable and the story structure is okay. I would probably give it a "B"."

"A, Daddy, it has to be A." The eight-year-old son refused to give in. "This movie has to be A!"

"Look, this is what I want to say." The father smiled and said, "Give it an A."

"Damn, I want a Stitch too." Another audience member who was surveyed also brought a child with him. The child screamed and pointed at the blue doll in the theater's merchandise store.

Although the box office results had not yet been released and no one knew what the results would be, Huang Ze still ordered a batch of 10,000 Stitch dolls from his mother's toy factory, and then provided them to Warner's distribution channels, having them distributed to the movie merchandise stores in various cinemas, with sales starting as the film was released.

"Okay!" The father couldn't refuse such a request, so he said B+ and bought a doll for his six-year-old son. "I have Stitch too!" The son grabbed the doll's ears and moved them, "Why can't my Stitch talk?"

"That's a movie, a movie!"

……

Huang Ze kept signing for the next three days.

Soon, the box office figures for the first three days of the weekend came out.

Friday box office grossed $1.6 million!

Two million two hundred thousand dollars on Saturday!
One million four hundred thousand dollars on Sunday!

It grossed $5.2 million in its first weekend.

It may not seem like much, but the problem is that these are numbers created by 500 cinemas, and on average a single theater saw over 10,000 people in the first weekend.

The box office was good, and the collected questionnaires showed that word of mouth was also good. Warner Bros. did a public relations round of counting the number of venues to 1,000 the following Monday.

Four days later, the box office revenue reached 7 million US dollars in four working days.

The next weekend grossed $6.5 million in three days.

The box office reached 18 million US dollars in ten days.

Such numbers prompted Warner to increase the number of theaters showing the film again, directly to 1,600 theaters.

Seeing that the situation here was good, Huang Ze returned to Hong Kong Island.

As soon as I landed, I didn't go anywhere else, but immediately came to Xinghai Animation.

The employees of Star Ocean Animation already knew the situation of "Lilo & Stitch" in North America, and they all had smiles on their faces.

"Haha, laugh if you want to."

Huang Ze laughed loudly, "I'm back tonight, let's have dinner together tonight."

"Boss Huang, what do you think our company's movie 'Star Trek' will earn at the box office?"

"Based on the current situation, fifty million dollars will definitely be no problem, and one hundred million is not impossible to count on. Once the box office exceeds fifty million dollars, I will give everyone bonuses."

"Okay, let's not talk about this anymore." Huang Ze pressed his palm down to calm everyone down. "You can be happy and you should be happy. After all, you are seeing the children you have worked so hard to raise succeed."

"But, there is one thing I want to make clear to everyone!"

"We are happy, but we cannot let it affect our work on Mulan and Finding Nemo."

“We will strive to make our second and third children successful, so that audiences around the world can see the fruits of our labor!”

After painting a lot of big promises for everyone, Huang Ze focused on the newly purchased equipment and the hundreds of newly hired employees. He gave a speech and then went back home to enjoy a leisurely life.

While enjoying life, he visits his own companies from time to time.

As a result, when he inspected ATV, he found that Liang Shuyi was particularly enthusiastic.

"Mr. Huang, congratulations! The screenwriter's anime is a big hit in North America."

"I knew that Mr. Huang would succeed as soon as you made a move!"

"but……"

"But what?" Huang Ze asked.

"Mr. Huang, are you not caring enough about our TV station?"

(End of this chapter)