Capítulo 68: Success
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Could you drop some reviews? It helps to get this fic a rating.
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What Christian and Charlize mentioned had already been communicated to the producer, Westwood, before the film's release. Both of them were feeling overwhelmed at the time. Despite the substantial attention and free publicity due to Alan's affairs, they found themselves facing a daunting schedule and competing with a slew of formidable blockbusters.
According to Christian's analysis, "Wrong Turn" might rely on a unique approach to stand out from the sea of blockbusters. However, as an industry insider, Westwood quickly realized that the film's producer for "Wolf" had a similar strategy in mind, with an 80% overlap. In this scenario, they were left with no choice but to go head-to-head, and victory would go to the bravest in this tight race.
Both Mr. Producer and Christian shared a common view on one thing, which was not out of any moral high ground but simply due to practicality—they didn't need to engage in a smear campaign against each other's films. You see, while Jack Nicholson was a talented actor, his box office appeal was only average, given his illustrious career. Even with Michelle Pfeiffer as a draw, the appeal of female stars in thriller films had its limits.
In other words, they were constrained by their appeal, and picking a fight through a propaganda war wouldn't do them much good. However, it might pique some viewers' curiosity and lead them to watch "Wolf" if they engaged in such a war, considering both actors had great acting skills.
Taking this into account, Westwood refrained from initiating a propaganda battle between "Wrong Turn" and "Wolf." But that didn't mean he did nothing. In the two days following the release of "Wrong Turn", aided by the FBI's discovery of numerous missing bodies in the Vinales Valley, he orchestrated a media storm. His intention was twofold: to maintain the buzz around "Wrong Turn" and to suppress the "Wolf" crew's potential propaganda efforts, minimizing their chances of making a significant impact.
"Thanks to Jodie Foster's additional investment, otherwise, it would have been quite costly to execute this strategy. Reducing the other party's voice essentially means spending more to control the narrative."
Mr. Producer mused, feeling a sense of accomplishment from working behind the scenes.
And so, the new week began.
"Our opening week box office reached $15 million?" Christian, despite his previous confidence, was visibly elated when he saw the actual figures.
"The situation looks even more promising than we anticipated," Anthony Westwood, with a benevolent smile, remarked.
"While 'Life and Death' may indeed be a box office disappointment, its target audience differs from ours, and it won't significantly affect our box office. As for 'The Lion King'..."
Mr. Producer burst into laughter.
"Disney has had a string of setbacks in their animation films in recent years. They probably feared it. They started with a limited release, aiming to build word-of-mouth and achieve long-term profitability."
At this time, Disney was not the entertainment juggernaut it would become in later years, holding major IPs like Marvel and Lucas Studios. Instead, it was under the leadership of the demanding Michael Eisner and undergoing a challenging transition.
"Regardless of Disney's strategy, their release of 'The Lion King' has provided us with a valuable time advantage."
Christian was genuinely pleased with the news. In reality, unlike feature films with extended screening periods, the box office potential of horror films often dwindles within a month of their release. The selling point of horror movies is their ability to terrify, and prolonged screenings tend to make many of the suspenseful moments lose their freshness due to viewer discussions. Naturally, this leads to a decrease in their appeal over time.
This rule is hard to break for most horror movies, and Christian didn't believe that "Wrong Turn" could be an exception. The plan he and Westwood had discussed was to capitalize on the two-week gap before the release of "Forrest Gump" to maximize their box office earnings. During this period, their primary competition included "Life and Death," "Wolf," and "The Lion King."
While, based on previous analysis, "Life and Death" and "The Lion King" weren't expected to have a significant impact on the box office of "Wrong Turn" due to their different genres, this was a relative perspective. The fact that "The Lion King" was resorting to long-term screenings due to a lack of confidence meant they were voluntarily stepping back, which was undoubtedly a positive development.
Christian was aware of the later-stage box office success of "The Lion King" series. The accumulated box office for this animated film was quite high, evident from the creation of "The Lion King 2" and "The Lion King 3." After all, investing in sequels for a film that didn't make money wouldn't make any sense.
However, the future profitability of the "Lion King" series had no bearing on Christian's concerns. "Wrong Turn" followed the standard horror film release model, waiting for "The Lion King" to build up enough word-of-mouth before pushing hard. They had already pocketed all the money they were expected to earn.
"It's 'Wolf,' they are truly our rivals"
Mr. Producer, who had earlier chuckled at Disney's strategy, now sighed.
"Even though Christian had some tricks up his sleeve, judging from the initial feedback, 'Wolf's' reputation appears to be on par with ours, and they have more than 2,000 screens... If not for our pre-release publicity efforts and leveraging Alan's influence, they might have surpassed our single-day box office by now."
"You don't need to measure our success against theirs."
Christian maintained an open-minded perspective.
"Think about it. What's the budget for 'Wrong Turn' and 'Wolf'? Jack Nicholson and Michelle Pfeiffer alone can bankroll them"
"Indeed."
Considering it this way, Westwood felt more at ease.
Because there were no high-profile actors among the cast, the production cost of this version of "Fatal Turn" was much lower than the historical version. It barely reached a few million dollars. Calculating that one-third of the North American box office would be the film party's profit, just the opening week's box office was enough to recover "Wrong Turn's" production costs.
Even when factoring in various production and marketing expenses, the overall cost of "Wrong Turn" was a mere ten million dollars. With the current box office trend, this cost should be recouped within a maximum of two weeks.
It was pure profit.
And this didn't even account for additional income from later video releases.
Westwood suddenly realized that perhaps "Wrong Turn", which had almost failed due to the director's last-minute disappearance before filming, might be the most profitable movie he'd ever produced.
"Christian, let's have a celebration party"
"Sounds good."
Christian nodded.
"I also have a script, and I'd like to invite several investors, including Jodie Foster, to take a look."
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