章 878: Chapter 879: One Day Equals a Week
[Chapter 879: One Day Equals a Week]
Erik's assistant office was almost responsible for every aspect of his work and life, resembling a butler team. The girl at that moment sent the email with a seemingly familiar demeanor, clearly not the first time she had done this.
Drew knew what Erik was waiting for. After sending the email, she patiently curled back into his arms and started talking softly.
By midnight, the laptop that had been on all along chimed with a new email notification. Erik got up, opened the email to take a quick glance, and smiled as he scooped the already drowsy girl into his arms, heading towards the bedroom. In a lively party, the girl could stay up all night, but in such a tranquil atmosphere, she had already started to show signs of fatigue.
Feeling Erik's gentle movements, she snuggled closer to him, curling up like a little cat, and mumbled, "Erik, um, how much is the Boeing?"
Erik chuckled, his tone indulgent as he replied, "Enough for you to buy a plane."
...
The next morning, the major newspapers in North America buzzed with excitement because this week's North American Friday box office chart was full of headlines, as almost every mainstream publication prominently featured the single-day box office rankings.
Finding Nemo: $20.21 million.
Contact: $6.86 million.
The Lion King II: $6.22 million.
Godzilla: $5.95 million.
Con Air: $3.08 million.
Even those who were completely indifferent to box office numbers could easily grasp what had happened just by glancing at the myriad of commentary headlines in the major newspapers.
"Finding Nemo outperformed The Lion King II on its opening day."
"Contact opened with $6.86 million, Paramount's targeting strategy failed."
"Godzilla plummeted 66% compared to last week."
"Amblin Entertainment is unhappy with Paramount's investment in the promotion of Contact, causing a rift in their partnership."
"Summer animated films shine bright, with all previously released live-action blockbusters struggling, Batman & Robin and Casino Royale likely following suit."
...
In this string of news reports, the latest issue of The Hollywood Reporter provided a more detailed analytical article.
"First, the author must mention Titanic once again. As of last week, this legendary mega-project with a total investment of $265 million had garnered a global box office of $2.133 billion, wrapping up in North America with a final box office of $600.298 million. The astonishing box office figures directly brought Firefly Group $860 million from global box office shares, leading to net profits nearing $600 million after deducting costs.
Furthermore, Titanic's merchandise sales also surpassed $850 million. The North American soundtrack album sold 5.6 million copies in just ten weeks. Interestingly, this number only accounts for physical sales. Reports indicate that the North American Recording Association refused to acknowledge the 1.25 million digital album sales from the Titanic soundtrack at Yahoo Music Store. The overseas sales of the soundtrack also easily exceeded 7 million copies, and industry analysts estimate that Titanic's global album sales could eventually reach 30 million copies. This alone could bring the Firefly Group an additional $900 million in revenue. Collectively, Titanic is expected to generate no less than $2 billion in net profits for the Firefly Group over the coming years. So far, only Firefly has been able to achieve net profits exceeding $2 billion annually among major media conglomerates in Hollywood.
Stimulated by the massive profits created by Titanic, I have heard more than once in the past six months about plans for new 'super blockbuster' films being developed by the seven major film companies in Hollywood. However, the box office performance of the recent live-action films will undoubtedly sober up the already overexcited Hollywood.
Perhaps the most reflective film for Hollywood is Godzilla, a CGI blockbuster like Titanic.
Sony Pictures' ambitious $220 million project had aimed for a $1 billion global box office before its release. However, after a disappointing start and a barrage of negative reviews, its second Friday box office dropped to fourth place on the chart, a staggering 66% decrease from the $17.5 million it made its opening day, bringing in only $5.95 million. Expectations for its second-weekend box office were reduced to between $22 million to $25 million, with the North American total barely reaching $130 million. Additionally, Godzilla's overseas performance was equally disappointing, receiving strong pushback from Godzilla fans in Japan, its most crucial market.
According to insiders, Sony's management has urgently suspended plans for a Godzilla sequel, and those responsible for the project may face job loss.
As the director and producer, Roland Emmerich faces a tarnished reputation post-Independence Day. Moreover, before Godzilla's release, Firefly suddenly announced that Michael Bay would take over directing Firefly's renowned disaster film series, The Day After Tomorrow, likely influenced by the subpar quality of Godzilla. It was well-known that Emmerich had once been considered as the director for The Day After Tomorrow, and Firefly was responsible for much of Godzilla's special effects production. Learning of Godzilla's quality before its release was hardly a challenge for Firefly.
Apart from Godzilla, since May, the Gaumont's $90 million The Fifth Element, Firefly's $75 million Con Air, and Amblin's $90 million Contact, all suffered from lackluster box office performance.
In its third week of release, The Fifth Element only managed a total of just over $47 million, making it unlikely to reach $70 million in North America. Con Air fared no better, raking in just $57.37 million over two weeks. Though its final gross might hit $100 million, it was still well below industry expectations. Similarly, Robert Zemeckis's sci-fi epic Contact, following Forest Gump, although produced at a cost similar to Finding Nemo, clearly did not resonate with audiences. Its first-day earnings were less than a third of Finding Nemo's opening performance and lower than Con Air's $7.7 million two weeks prior. Perhaps Amblin and Paramount could only hope that Contact could follow a box office curve similar to Forest Gump, but based on audience feedback, the chances of that seemed incredibly slim.
With four consecutive live-action blockbusters failing at the box office, concern grew for the much-anticipated Batman & Robin and Casino Royale, set to be released in the next two weeks. Meanwhile, Hollywood perhaps should take a step back and refrain from overextending themselves in pursuit of massive investments in response to Titanic's success.
However, aside from live-action films, the two animated blockbusters released during the summer period surpassed expectations in both box office and critical acclaim.
Paramount's second 2D animated film since acquiring Disney's hand-drawn animation studio, The Lion King II, faced stiff competition but still achieved a first-week gross of $55.70 million with a mere 24% drop to $42.33 million in its second week, accumulating $98.03 million over two weeks. Despite a projected 37% drop in its third week due to the impact of Finding Nemo, its long-term potential suggested that North American total might approach $200 million, significantly exceeding other released live-action blockbusters.
Finally, we arrive at the focal point of today's discussion, Finding Nemo.
Prior to its release, many considered Erik Williams's decision to sell Disney's hand-drawn animation studio foolish, as The Lion King II achieved both box office and critical success. However, after Finding Nemo, many found themselves eating their words.
With production costs only one-fourth of The Lion King II and comparable audience reviews, with significantly smoother promotional channels for Finding Nemo, its first-day earnings surpassed The Lion King II's $7.41 million performance. One could only conclude that 3D animated films clearly appealed to audiences more than 2D animations.
The film opened with $20.21 million, and with buzz surrounding its success, Finding Nemo was projected to potentially hit $90 million in its first week. Given its strong long-term potential, it was undoubtedly a candidate for becoming the first animated film of the summer season to reach $300 million in North America. More boldly, if its box office success and acclaim translated internationally, Finding Nemo might chase the record set by The Lion King, becoming another animated blockbuster surpassing the $1 billion mark globally.
Furthermore, with animation films far exceeding live-action films in ancillary profitability, a series of new cartoon characters' success would bring continuous revenue to Firefly's related ventures, including merchandise stores and amusement parks.
At this point, I even looked forward to the upcoming release of Ice Age on July 4, produced by Blue Sky Studios with joint investment from Firefly and Fox. Though the production cost was only $59 million, judging by my impressions from the trailer, Ice Age was poised to deliver yet another surprise this summer. Perhaps other Hollywood studio executives should focus more on the animation sector rather than chase the unattainable heights set by Titanic."
...
This article from The Hollywood Reporter inevitably triggered some reflection among Hollywood executives and prompted Firefly's competitors to accelerate their animations' deployment. However, Erik was well aware that Titanic was more of an anomaly. He had never allowed himself to get overexcited about it.
Erik originally planned to discuss reality TV matters with Kris Jenner on his day off. Although the Kardashian family's relentless marketing strategies were off-putting, Erik, as the ruler of a colossal media empire, had a different perspective. At his level, he routinely interacted with sixty or more senior executives at Firefly, surpassing a thousand at the managerial level, not to mention the total employee count at Firefly exceeding 120,000. In an environment like Hollywood, if one was ever plagued by obsessive moral standards, life would be uncomfortable.
Following MGM's acquisition of E! Entertainment, harnessing the talents of someone like Kris Jenner, who excelled at stirring up discussions, was undoubtedly an effective strategy to quickly penetrate the television industry.
However, early on Saturday morning, Erik received a phone call from Chris, who was in New York. The two spoke for over half an hour, forcing Erik to cancel his weekend off and urgently convene senior executives from Firefly's distribution and finance departments alongside Clover Holdings' management for an emergency meeting.
...
The matter was simple. After three months of buildup, the international financial oligarchs were about to unleash an attack on the Southeast Asian currency system.
During their call, Chris informed Erik that he was flying from New York to Tokyo and would likely be personally overseeing things there for the next month.
Since the meeting at the end of April, Firefly started accelerating its extraction of the Southeast Asian box office shares from Titanic while also gradually selling off its upcoming summer slate and films destined for release later that year to Southeast Asian distributors.
Firefly was very transparent with the Southeast Asian distributors, expressing concerns that the economic prospects for the second half of the year would lead to severe currency losses, thus they hoped to cash out ahead of time.
The Thai baht had just endured an attack from international currency traders in March, and the Southeast Asian distributors understood Firefly's worries.
However, most Southeast Asian distributors did not grasp the severity of the situation. Logically, even if local currencies depreciated by 10% or even 20%, the impact wouldn't be significant for companies operating locally. Stimulated by Titanic's box office success, they welcomed Firefly's move to sell off distribution rights and eagerly offered prices to obtain those rights.
Starting in early May, through various financial maneuvers, Firefly routinely collected back the equivalent of $50 million in box office shares from Titanic in Southeast Asia, and settlements for Japan's box office shares began rolling in.
Moreover, following the sale of Firefly's rights for its summer slate, including Con Air, Finding Nemo, and Jurassic Park 3, Firefly collected another $75 million in cash.
Had the distributors not been so hesitant, Erik would have even considered selling the entire distribution rights for all films slated for next year, but of course, that was merely a thought.
While $75 million might not be a fortune for Firefly, for the Southeast Asian box office -- only half of Japan's -- it marked the highest profit they could quickly extract.
Even though the finance department's statistics suggested that this aggressive strategy could lead to losses of $10 to $20 million if Southeast Asia did not face an economic crisis, Erik knew that failing to act would result in far greater losses once such a crisis hit. Had currency values halved, what could have equated to $10 million in box office would drop to merely $5 million. The Southeast Asian economy would surely suffer crushing blows, similarly impacting the film industry. While some in the industry argued that entertainment often thrives during economic downturns, Erik did not believe the public would still have the inclination to watch films in the event of a full-blown economic collapse; otherwise, Hong Kong films wouldn't have entirely declined following the Southeast Asian economic crisis.
Throughout the weekend, Erik monitored the status of funds being reclaimed across Southeast Asian nations while preparing capital for Clover Holdings to absorb more technology stocks.
The North American stock market was an exceptionally open globalized financial hub; thus, the tumultuous economic shifts across Southeast Asia would inevitably impact the rising Nasdaq index. In the coming months, once the crisis hit, the previously soaring Nasdaq index would likely experience a brief dip, representing an ideal time for Clover Holdings to invest.
...
While Erik busied himself with these matters, on Saturday, the already notable box office performance of Finding Nemo surged an additional 38%, eventually hitting $28.01 million. Sunday saw a slight decline, but the single-day gross remained high at $22.03 million. Over its opening weekend, Finding Nemo amassed an astounding total of $70.25 million, leaving audiences and industry analysts alike in awe of its remarkable box office draw.
A critic from the Los Angeles Times even quipped that Finding Nemo was "earning what others would take a week to make in just one day."
Reality was indeed reflective of that statement, as two other films produced this summer with similar production budgets of $90 million -- The Fifth Element and Contact -- had seen dismal performance; the former only grossed around $47 million over three weeks, while the latter, despite premiering alongside Finding Nemo, managed merely $20.58 million over its opening weekend. Even if its first week earnings approached $30 million, applying a conservative estimate of a 30% weekly drop meant Contact would only recoup $65 million over three weeks -- still nowhere close to what Finding Nemo earned in just three days.
Moreover, Finding Nemo was significantly more popular than past Pixar productions like Toy Story and A Bug's Life in various overseas box office markets. In the UK alone, Finding Nemo's first weekend box office tallied $13.50 million, while Toy Story 2, Pixar's previous overseas success, had only grossed $6.10 million its first weekend there.
When these statistics were published, Hollywood and North American entertainment media realized they had completely misjudged who the real box office star of the summer was.
This summer's unrivaled box office sensation was not The Lion King II, nor Godzilla, and likely would not be the upcoming Batman & Robin or Casino Royale either, but rather, the previously underwhelming and seemingly destined to be a 'sacrificial lamb' positioned between Godzilla and Batman & Robin -- Finding Nemo.
*****
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