[Chapter 297: Jackie Chan Becomes Popular]
On August 5th, The Fault in Our Stars premiered and shined brilliantly. The film was distributed by the company itself.
In the North American market, it grossed $31.92 million in its first weekend, securing the top spot.
It accumulated $51.08 million in the first full week, remaining number one for the week.
By yesterday, after 22 days in theaters, it had earned $83.53 million in North America.
With five more weeks to go, breaking $100 million in North American box office was without any doubt.
The overseas market performance was also very promising, crossing $47 million after only one week.
It was already certain that this was another blockbuster for the company.
With two consecutive hit movies, director Anne Fletcher had fully ascended into A-list status, attracting attention from major Hollywood studios.
Charlize Theron and Freddie Prinze Jr. had become rising stars.
They had just finished their North American promotional tour and had already departed to promote overseas.
A few days ago, after Charlize completed her North American promotion, she called Linton saying she wanted to thank him in person and meet in a hotel, but Linton was busy partying with a group of women and didn't have time to pay attention to her.
But finally, after Charlize applied her charm, Linton agreed, promising to spend a couple of days with her after she returned from overseas promotion.
...
Since Pulp Fiction winning the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, the company was considering their own overseas distribution capabilities.
The distribution department had sold its rights to over 80 countries and regions, with a deal totaling $63 million.
The three major European film festivals valued art over market performance; usually, a Palme d'Or winner generally do not perform well at the box office.
But Pulp Fiction broke the norm, attracting huge audiences overseas.
After three months, the film grossed over $110 million overseas, achieving both artistic and commercial success.
Though after selling film rights, the studio wasn't involved in overseas box office revenue, it still reflected the film's popularity.
This boosted the company's confidence for its North American release at year-end.
The Weinstein brothers were confident about the film's Academy Awards chances next year and strongly recommended that the company invest resources in publicity.
Linton recalled that in his previous life, this film had indeed won several Oscars, so he immediately committed support.
"Harvey, since you both believe the film can make a splash at the Oscars, let's go all in. Develop a strategy for the awards campaign as soon as possible."
"Boss, you're giving full support?"
"Apart from the market and box office, we should also gain some awards. Now that there's a chance, I will definitely give my full support."
"Thank you, boss. We'll go all out and won't disappoint you."
Harvey and Bob were thrilled, emphasizing that this movie was essentially their project. The movie's success meant their position in the company would be more secure.
...
"Boss, Get Out's final cut is ready. Its theme naturally suits the Oscars. I think we can't miss this opportunity. We must go all out during the awards season."
"Harvey, Clinsman, what does the distribution department think?"
"Boss, Get Out's theme is against racial oppression, fitting the social equality tide and is timely. It's indeed very suitable for the Oscars," Clinsman clearly supported first.
"Boss, I also believe Get Out has a great shot at the Oscars."
Originally, Harvey wasn't too keen on Get Out competing at the Oscars since the company's resources were limited, and aiming for two films simultaneously was difficult.
But with Linton's clear stance, he couldn't argue. Besides, this movie was written and pushed by Linton himself.
"Since everyone agrees, go all out for Get Out's campaign as well.
However, when applying for awards for these two movies, there should be a focus to avoid internal conflicts.
Harvey, since you have more experience with Oscar campaigns, I'll leave that to you. Prepare a comprehensive plan soon."
"Yes, boss. I will discuss with the team and devise separate strategies according to the different characteristics of the two films, then submit it for your review."
...
The biggest surprise was Clinsman's report on the promotion of Jackie Chan and Jet Li's movie videos.
They had purchased the rights to 39 films from Hong Kong last December and released them to the video market.
Nine months later, sales exceeded expectations.
All movies had video sales exceeding 100,000 copies; 23 key titles surpassed 200,000 copies.
The best seller was Jackie Chan's Police Story 3, selling over 1 million copies.
Next was Jet Li's Once Upon a Time in China II with sales exceeding 800,000 copies.
Total sales of the 39 movies passed 8 million copies, with video sales profits surpassing $85 million.
With rental profits included, total video profits exceeded $100 million.
Thanks to the booming video sales, all movies secured TV broadcast rights.
Even the lowest sold for $50,000; the highest, Police Story 3, was aired three times, with prices increasing each time until reaching $600,000 for the last broadcast.
Once Upon a Time in China II also performed well, airing three times with a total price of about $1.3 million.
Because of this, Jackie Chan's name began to gain massive recognition in North America with many fans.
Jet Li's popularity and fan base were just slightly behind.
Thanks to their video sales and TV broadcasts, a small regional craze for Kung Fu began to stir in the North American market.
So far, TV broadcasting rights for the 39 movies fetched $12 million.
With video sales, rentals and TV rights combined, company revenues had exceeded $115 million.
Costs remained under $10 million.
This deal made a massive profit, and it wasn't the end; it could bring sustained income in the future.
...
After Clinsman's report, besides Linton, only Robert and Mary, who looked over monthly financials, didn't show disbelief, while others expressed amazement.
It was unexpected; the company suddenly launched such a profit-generating business.
Especially Harvey and Bob felt the absurdity of it, even questioning their life choices.
Importing foreign film rights and pushing them into North American video market was a common practice for many studios and had been a key part of Miramax Films' business.
But this business had never been this lucrative.
Remember, Miramax used to import more than 10 foreign films annually.
Without Oscars, even with box office revenue, profits wouldn't exceed $3 million annually.
Of course, if Oscars were won, profits would be much higher.
But this $100+ million profit in less than a year was on a different level, like heavens and earth apart.
Harvey felt threatened, worried about his position.
"Clinsman, I remember the boss personally decided on these films, right?"
He wanted to remind Clinsman that the biggest credit for this business was Linton.
"Yes, boss took me to Hong Kong to buy them personally," Clinsman wasn't shy about acknowledging the boss's role.
Linton watched their little game but didn't want to escalate it.
"Good job, Clinsman, keep up the great work."
"Thanks, boss. We recently acquired five more films, including Jackie Chan's Drunken Master II and Jet Li's Fist of Legend. Since they already had some fame in North America, the North American rights for these movies sold for $1 million each."
"Good. These two actors' movies are worth watching. As their popularity grows, it's normal for the rights prices to increase."
...
After the meeting, Robert followed Linton to the office.
"Boss, two matters require your approval."
"Go ahead."
"First, we have too few producers to keep up with our production demand. I want to hire two more producers."
Producers were the absolute center of a movie, shouldering all responsibilities from preparation to final accounting.
A movie usually required a producer to oversee it for over a year.
Last year, the company made five movies but had only three producers.
Bob took on Pulp Fiction, and Robert himself handled Speed, solving the problem temporarily.
Currently all producers were busy. Robert just finished Speed's settlement but as general manager, he was busy with company affairs.
He couldn't be a producer long term; unless it was one of Linton's own projects.
Actually, this issue arose mainly because Linton spent five months this year outside, not pushing new projects.
"Then hurry and hire. This time make it three."
"Okay. Any specific requirements?"
"We need mature producers who can run projects independently and quickly. I'm about to start new film projects."
"Got it. I will arrange job listings this afternoon."
"And the second matter?"
"Boss, remember our conflict with Sean Connery over The Rock in April?
We won big, Roger Moore successfully took the lead over Sean, and the film's popularity helped him fully replace Sean as the top spy actor."
"Yes, you told me."
"The problem is, we defeated him too quickly. We even prepared a lot of dirt on him but never released it because media and audience overwhelmingly supported Roger Moore. Universal and we decided not to create chaos to maintain Roger's heat. I thought we could settle with him after the movie finished its run."
"I know. What's changed?"
"Last week, after settling The Rock's revenue at Universal, I talked with Levitt about exposing Sean's dirt to knock him out. But he had a different opinion."
"What opinion?"
"He said attacking Sean now would cause more harm than good and suggested leaving him alone for now."
"Why?"
"Three reasons.
First, although Sean provoked us and attacked The Rock, we ultimately won. Both the movie and Roger Moore gained popularity and heat through the media battle.
Second, Sean already paid a price. Before, he was the best spy actor, nearly A-list. But after this and The Rock's release, he became Roger's stepping stone. There can only be one top spy actor, and his status dropped to B-list or even unstable B-list.
Third, our company is growing fast, and all our movies are blockbusters, which alarms other studios, including the six major ones.
Before, Sean was the instigator, and beating him was justified. But now, with our strong wins and their losses, attacking him again could have negative consequences."
"What consequences?"
"On one hand, other studios and media might not side with us. They might unite to suppress us.
The film market is limited. Since all our films are hits, it affects others' interests. Many studios secretly envy us. We took down two A-list stars and even a megastar. Others might feel threatened."
"And?"
"On the other hand, audiences are naturally sympathetic to the underdog. Sean has dropped from A-list to B-list. If we go after him aggressively, he might play the victim in media and gain public sympathy, backfiring on us."
Linton hadn't expected so many nuances.
"What do you think?"
"Though I want to finish Sean off, I agree with Levitt. We already won; letting a defeated opponent go is fine. Plus, I think Sean's last attack wasn't entirely his own doing; CAA was behind it. He's already been punished. We set an example. Mostly, even though all our films are hits, we are still relatively small. We should hold back and avoid looking too aggressive. Keeping steady growth is the priority now."
"Right, the industry is about interests, not fights. Let's leave him alone for now and hope he learns his lesson."
*****
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