Chương 998: Chapter 1000: Good News
[Chapter 1000: Good News]
Eric led Mayer to the second floor, opening the door to a guest room. He turned to her and said, "Here, you can stay here for the next couple of days. There should be new toiletries in the bathroom cabinet. If you need anything else, you'll have to buy it yourself."
Mayer pulled her suitcase into the room and took a few steps inside. It was a very spacious bedroom, decorated in bright white with a private patio and bathroom. The large bed, wardrobe, and desk were all styled very simply but exuded an unmistakable air of elegance and luxury. On the desk sat a rare 21-inch LCD computer monitor that was quite uncommon at the time.
After looking around, Mayer turned to see Eric standing at the doorway, clearly not intending to come in. She hesitated for a moment, unsure of what to say.
Noticing the shift in Mayer's expression, Eric smiled and said, "Well, I'm heading to my study upstairs. Feel free to make yourself at home. The first floor has a library and a game room, and the basement has a home theater. If you feel like going out, you can take the car that Carter and the others left behind."
When Mayer realized that Eric was about to leave, she found something to say, "Eric, do you need me to help prepare dinner?"
"Oh, there's a restaurant at the corner. Just give them a call for a reservation, and we can go there for dinner tonight."
Mayer didn't know the restaurant's phone number but didn't ask further, figuring she could handle the small matter. She nodded in response.
Watching Eric leave as his figure disappeared at the top of the stairs, Mayer eventually closed the door and stood still for a moment before opening her suitcase to begin unpacking.
...
Eric didn't have to organize any belongings; Drew had arranged everything perfectly in his absence. This mansion contained all his life essentials, even the pencils on his study desk were neatly placed according to his personal habits. It was almost like his second home.
After settling Mayer in, Eric headed to his study on the third floor.
He booted up the computer and clicked on the Yahoo browser icon on the desktop. With practiced ease, he typed Google's search engine address into the URL bar.
The familiar search engine page popped up immediately. Besides web searches, there were links for images, email, maps, and a shortcut to Yahoo's homepage. Compared to the earlier beta version, the official Google search engine had seen some minor adjustments, but overall, not much had changed.
Yahoo's main focus at that time remained on its portal services, even though the company had internally decided to prioritize search engines in the coming years. However, Yahoo hadn't aggressively marketed the standalone Google search engine yet. After all, they were preparing for an upcoming IPO, and the emphasis was still on the concept of an internet media company.
After clicking a few buttons above the search box, Eric logged directly into his work email and found the box office report for the new week.
...
From June 12 to June 18, in its second week of release, The Day After Tomorrow had a 43% drop in earnings compared to its opening week, making $63.69 million for the week and totaling $175 million. It held the second place on the North American box office chart for 1998, falling behind the Easter release of Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, which ended up making $186 million.
Additionally, since it achieved near-simultaneous release in most overseas markets, The Day After Tomorrow accumulated $226 million in overseas sales during those two weeks. There was no doubt that The Day After Tomorrow would be another Hollywood blockbuster with significant overseas profits.
Based on the box office data from the last two weeks, the Firefly distribution department projected North American earnings for The Day After Tomorrow to be between $230 million and $250 million, with overseas earnings expected to range from $400 million to $500 million, leading to an overall global box office expectation of around $600 million to $700 million.
While not enough to be deemed a phenomenon, The Day After Tomorrow undoubtedly had global selling power. Considering a production budget of $120 million and a distribution budget of $50 million, the film was set to net over $100 million in profit solely from the global box office.
...
After glancing at the box office information for other films in the report, Eric's attention shifted to The Matrix 2, which was officially releasing today.
Despite selling the rights to produce the Matrix sequel, Firefly retained the rights to develop merchandise related to the Matrix series.
Compared to the lengthy processes for VHS and television broadcast rights, revenue from film-related merchandise was almost immediate upon the film's release.
The opening of The Matrix 2 would surely boost sales of related products, even though the Matrix merchandise wasn't as lucrative as those of animated films or Jurassic Park. That said, Firefly had found it easy to generate income in this field with almost no marketing resources needed.
Even though Eric hadn't given specific instructions, the assistant's office still sent the organized information about The Matrix 2 to his email.
Opening the email, the first thing that caught Eric's eye was the midnight showing revenue of $9.95 million for The Matrix 2.
The near $10 million midnight gross set a new record for North American midnight box office sales. Just last year, Eric's own film Casino Royale had only earned $5 million in midnight showings.
However, Eric wasn't entirely surprised; the 007 series had become a cultural phenomenon. Though well-known, it didn't have many die-hard fans, meaning not many viewers were willing to stay up for midnight showings.
The Matrix series was different; the stunning first film had propelled the series to icon status, gathering a large number of devoted fans, making high midnight show earnings understandable.
Of course, the record-breaking midnight gross of The Matrix 2 also stemmed from natural growth in the North American film market. Arguments could be made even for upcoming films like Star Wars: Episode I and the recent Charlie's Angels 3 likely set to refresh that record.
After noting the comments attached below the midnight box office data, Eric turned to the film reviews, as that was what truly interested him.
The email first listed the positive reviews for The Matrix 2.
"I enjoyed this film; I sincerely recommend it to everyone. However, it lacks some of the elements that moved me in the first installment." -- The New York Observer.
"Compared to the first, the Wachowski brothers have matured in their skills." -- Salon.
"You don't need to grasp the deeper meanings of the Matrix series to enjoy this film comfortably." -- The Hollywood Reporter.
"While it introduced some new elements, the film no longer captivates and excites like the first." -- Variety.
Although these reviews were positive, Eric could clearly sense that many media outlets and critics considered their reviews of The Matrix 2 merely as recognition. This was certainly not the universal acclaim that the first film had received. This sentiment matched Eric's own memories of the earlier version, as well as the feelings he had after reading the Wachowski brothers' two sequel scripts.
After reading the positive feedback, Eric skimmed past a series of brief negative reviews to find a longer critique, reading carefully.
...
"Given how strong the opening of the Matrix series was, you'd naturally maintain high expectations for the sequel, right?
However, many are bound to be disappointed; at least I personally feel that way. In this sequel, many of the excellent ideas and highlights from the first film have been diluted, and I could even say that it left a disappointing portion behind. While the film still seems stylish on the surface, it undeniably falls short of the first, and the vague philosophical musings that the Wachowski brothers deliberately included felt like mere posturing to me. I really felt let down by everything in this film; it seemed like all coherence was lost, leaving just repetitive so-called thrilling action scenes.
The first film will always be a milestone in cinematic special effects; it forever changed the landscape of the special effects film and provided us with a philosophical proposition about reality versus illusion that we can ponder for years. However, this sequel distinctly veered into the banal, and considering that it's a two-part series, it's hard to imagine what the third part might look like. It might give us an even worse conclusion. If you are a fan of the Matrix series, you certainly wouldn't want to see such a scenario unfold. Still, thinking back to how Firefly Group avoided filming according to the Wachowski brothers' pre-set scripts for the two sequels, even going as far as selling production rights, it's difficult for me to hold on to any expectations for the third part."
...
North American film critics were reputable in that they typically avoided spoilers for their audience.
After finishing the review, while Eric didn't see a narrative analysis from the critic, he could imagine the reviewer's feelings based on his own impressions when he first read the Wachowski brothers' scripts.
At the end of the email, the statistics showed that The Matrix 2 had an overall rating of only 7.3, which was significantly lower than the first film's 8.7.
Compared to the fantastic reception generated by the first film, the 7.3 rating could only be deemed barely passing.
After completing the email's review, Eric pushed the matter of The Matrix 2 to the back of his mind. After all, once it's spilled, there's no picking it back up.
The $300 million income he received from selling the rights to The Matrix sequels had been directly invested into the Clover Fund, which, based on the fund's entire value of $16 billion, meant that money had already more than doubled. With stock sales next year, the returns from that $300 million could exceed $1 billion.
Amblin Entertainment had already invested over $600 million into the two Matrix sequels. Even if The Matrix 2's global box office reached $1 billion and The Matrix 3 performed well, the enormous upfront investment meant that profits from the two sequels wouldn't approach $1 billion.
...
Closing the email page for The Matrix 2, Eric continued checking his unread work emails, soon spotting a promising message sent personally by Katzenberg.
After a year of waiting, Cameron was finally ready to start production on Spider-Man.
Katzenberg noted in his email that he had just discussed the main details with Cameron and Jon Landau yesterday afternoon, before jokingly asking Eric if he wanted to personally select the lead actress for Spider-Man.
Though he was far from Los Angeles, Eric had been following the rough cut progress of Iron Man. He had nearly daily phone conversations or emails with Joss Whedon to discuss editing specifics. Eric anticipated that when he returned to Los Angeles, the first rough cut of Iron Man would be completed, soon entering the crucial visual effects production phase.
In comparison, the progress of the Spider-Man project had been frustratingly slow. If Cameron delayed much longer, Eric would have to consider changing directors; he couldn't let Spider-Man stall the entire Marvel cinematic universe.
Fortunately, Cameron was finally ready to jump into the production phase.
As long as the project moved into substantial production, even if Cameron were to delay further, it couldn't lag too much.
With those thoughts in mind, Eric picked up his phone and directly called Cameron, who was at Firefly Studios in Los Angeles.
The call connected quickly, and after exchanging pleasantries, they discussed Spider-Man for about an hour, covering everything from the script to special effects and casting.
When Eric hung up, Cameron outlined a plan: casting and pre-production for Spider-Man would be completed in the second half of the year, and filming could begin early next year, aiming for a summer 2000 release, which was still within Eric's acceptable timeline.
...
After finishing the call with Cameron, he handled a couple more work emails when he noticed that the sky outside had darkened without him realizing it.
After flying around for more than half a month, Eric's biological clock began to feel a bit out of sync. Noticing the time, it had already passed seven in the evening.
Turning off the computer, Eric left the room. The mansion, now dimly lit, felt quiet. Descending from the third floor to the second-floor circular hallway, he saw the light on in the living room below. As he walked down the stairs, he found Mayer sitting on the couch, looking somewhat distracted while watching TV.
The TV volume was low, so Eric could tread quietly. Mayer soon sensed someone approaching, turned her head, and shyly smiled, saying, "Eric, I was just thinking about when would be a good time to call you."
"Are you hungry? Let's go," Eric said. He waited for her to stand up, noticing she still wore her light gray business suit. "Do you want to change into something else?"
"Sure," Mayer nodded, saying, "Just give me a moment."
Eric settled onto the sofa in the small living room, patiently waiting for five or six minutes before Mayer came back down wearing a stunning bright red knee-length dress.
Most women struggle to pull off red clothing, but this outfit on Mayer transformed her from a somewhat innocent girl into a professional powerhouse.
Eric couldn't help but look at her a few times and remarked, "You look beautiful."
"Thank you," Mayer replied, feeling more relaxed upon hearing Eric's compliment, "Shall we go?"
*****
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