I am Hollywood

[Chapter 1142: Low Start, High Rise]

Late at night, at the Shell Villa by the glass curtain wall.

Eric carefully read through the midnight screening box office data for Iron Man, and soon received calls from Jeffrey Katzenberg, distribution president Robert Thompson, Marvel Entertainment's CEO Avi Arad, and others.

Thanks to the good word-of-mouth leading up to Iron Man, everyone had high expectations for its midnight screening box office, generally believing it should be around the $10 million mark. Although the company had not released any related predictions externally, most box office estimation agencies had provided similar forecasts.

At this moment, the midnight box office was below expectations, and the reality had to be faced.

The group's opinions were clearly divided into two camps.

One side believed that they should proactively disclose the midnight box office figures to maintain control of the narrative. After all, $7.6 million in revenue, while not reaching expectations, certainly couldn't be termed a failure. The other side hoped to conceal the information temporarily, waiting until the box office numbers for Iron Man's opening three-day weekend were out, then taking appropriate measures based on the actual situation.

Eric did not allow this issue to devolve into a major argument; he decisively chose the former approach.

Hollywood was fixated on Iron Man as the kick-off for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, making secrecy virtually impossible. If Firefly Group chose to remain silent about the midnight box office, and the news was leaked by other media, the company would undoubtedly be at a disadvantage.

Having made the decision, the next step was to draft a specific execution plan.

...

As Eric discussed with Robert Thompson, he heard soft footsteps approaching.

Turning his head, he saw Anne Hathaway coming over, wearing only a large men's t-shirt. The t-shirt's hem revealed her delicate, fair legs, which were quite enticing. The girl evidently had just woken up, her expression lazy; upon seeing Eric look at her, she smiled shyly.

Eric continued his conversation with Robert Thompson, signaling for Anne to be quiet and gesturing towards her slippers.

Anne clearly understood Eric's gesture. With a playful smile, she slipped off her slippers and began to walk over, but Eric pointed to the coffee pot on the coffee table and made a gesture towards the kitchen.

There was a small bar in the corner for making coffee. Seeing Eric pointing further toward the kitchen made Anne realize that he wanted to send her away. Although slightly reluctant, she obediently picked up the coffee pot and quietly walked towards the kitchen.

Being considerate, she stayed in the kitchen for about twenty minutes. When she returned with the coffee pot by the curtain wall, Eric had already hung up the phone and was casually checking his emails.

...

Seeing Anne approach, Eric set his laptop aside and asked with concern, "What woke you up?"

"I noticed you weren't around," Anne explained softly, sensing Eric's usual gentle tone had returned. She hesitated slightly until Eric smiled and extended his hand, prompting her to come sit on his lap like a little cat.

Eric wrapped his arms around Anne's waist and said, "You need to learn to proactively avoid certain things; it will be beneficial for you."

The softness of his voice left no room for Anne to feel dissatisfied; instead, she felt it was only right. She nodded obediently, "Uh-huh, I got it."

"Good girl."

Eric complimented softly, lifting the hem of her t-shirt and easily unveiling her youthful, delicate body. Soon, soft, fleeting gasps began to resonate from the sofa by the curtain wall.

...

As expected, early the next morning, some North American media outlets ran stories like "Iron Man's Midnight Screening Disappoints, Opening at $7.6 Million, Far Below Expectations."

Most casual moviegoers wouldn't delve into a deeper analysis of the underlying implications.

Thus, if Firefly Group had previously decided to conceal the midnight box office, they would have surely been thrown off course by the media, which had taken the opportunity to push their narrative. Should this occur, more neutral media outlets might also jump on the bandwagon, further exacerbating the situation.

Given Iron Man's midnight earnings fell short of expectations, audiences subconsciously mght connect this to the film's quality and even think the movie wasn't worth watching.

Fortunately, Eric had not made that decision last night.

With careful preparation, the entire Firefly system demonstrated its robust narrative control capabilities.

In no time, ABC, NBC, and other TV channels, alongside Firefly's allies like The New York Post and The Washington Post, as well as Hearst Corporation and Yahoo -- controlling over 70% of news portal traffic -- simultaneously exerted their influence. It was akin to a military operation, seamlessly commanding the entire narrative landscape.

"Iron Man's midnight box office hit $7.6 million, setting a new record for superhero films."

"Iron Man triumphs in its first outing, successfully launching the Marvel Cinematic Universe."

"Marvel Entertainment's CEO Avi Arad praises Iron Man's midnight box office performance, greatly boosting confidence in the Marvel Cinematic Universe."

"..."

In contrast to the few unfavorable news pieces that lacked the investiture of rigorous effort from media outlets, the organized mouthpiece of the Firefly system effortlessly diffused any potential negative ramifications that Iron Man's underwhelming midnight performance might have had on the film.

The essence of media narrative guidance ultimately hinged on the simple inversion of "Persistent Failures" and "Resilient Comebacks."

...

With Firefly's narrative influence, after a large-scale release, the positive acclaim for Iron Man grew further across the broader media spectrum and audience, reaffirming both the film's high quality and its narrative resilience.

"Before 1999, not many people might have known Iron Man, but after 1999, I think everyone will know Tony Stark."

"A delightful superhero blockbuster."

"Eric Williams perfectly portrayed a flawed but extremely likable superhero, though I couldn't help but feel this may have just been a character close to his own essence."

"..."

Amid the overwhelmingly positive media reviews, even with wide release, Iron Man's overall ratings stayed impressively above 9.

...

On internet platforms, Iron Man quickly amassed a large group of fans.

"Iron Man is so cool! I can't wait to see it for the third time."

"Tony Stark is so handsome -- oh, I mean Eric is so handsome."

"Our billionaire has not just wealth but also acting skills."

"Our billionaire has more acting talent than wealth."

"Agreed."

"Larry Ellison certainly commands the driver's seat, haha."

"The interaction between Tony Stark and the Vanity Fair reporter was breathtaking, and I instantly felt my flirtation skills were uplifted."

"First, you need $10 billion."

"First, you need $400 billion."

"Life is already this tough, so let's not tell him the truth."

"Natasha Henstridge is so beautiful."

"Looking forward to Underworld."

"Looking forward to Iron Man 2."

"Looking forward to Iron Man 3, 4, 5, 6, 7."

"Looking forward to Spider-Man."

"..."

...

With media and audience support overwhelmingly in favor, alongside Firefly Group's backing, Iron Man soon transformed from a 'bomb' film into a 'tentpole' event movie with greater box office potential.

Amidst the accolades, Friday quickly passed.

The following morning, Iron Man's Friday box office data erupted, reigniting another media frenzy.

Opening day: $35.23 million!

Including the midnight screening, within less than thirty hours of its release, Iron Man's cumulative box office had already reached $42.83 million.

While Iron Man was a film Eric starred in, the media naturally considered him the core of the movie, thus drawing comparisons with Eric's previous film, Casino Royale.

Compared to Iron Man's $7.6 million midnight earnings and $35.23 million opening day take, Casino Royale's box office figures were obviously inferior, with respectively $5.3 million and $30.5 million recorded.

Without a doubt, Iron Man was setting new career highs for Eric once again.

As a superhero film, these comparisons became much more striking.

Iron Man's final production budget was $120 million, exceeding the original $100 million budget plan, yet it was still $5 million lower than Warner Bros.' Batman & Robin, which had faced many issues just two years prior.

For two films with comparable production costs, their box office performances could not have been more different.

At the time of its release, Batman & Robin had not even included midnight figures in its calculations, as it only managed to bring in $16.11 million on its opening day, which was less than half of what Iron Man earned on its debut, while the film's box office for the first weekend stood at merely $42.86 million -- just a mere $30,000 higher than Iron Man's combined debut and midnight earnings.

A simple comparison saw media thoroughly dismiss Batman & Robin; evidently, the two films were no longer comparable.

After the opening day, Iron Man's Saturday box office hit another high of $37.35 million.

On Sunday, while there was a 30% drop compared to Saturday's performance, it still raked in an impressive $26.03 million for the day.

In the end, over its opening weekend, Iron Man grossed over $100 million in North America, totaling $106.2 million, becoming Eric's first film to surpass $100 million in its opening weekend. His previous film, Casino Royale, only achieved $91.05 million during its first three days.

...

Despite lacking a core fanbase to boost the midnight numbers, the box office figures for the opening weekend showed the immense strength of Firefly Group's marketing prowess.

In a bold move to open the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Firefly Group unprecedentedly allocated an $80 million marketing budget -- almost 70% of the production costs -- significantly surpassing the average 30% to 50% marketing expense typical in the industry.

Iron Man's partnerships for co-branding marketing also turned out to be unprecedentedly significant.

Given Iron Man's total production and distribution costs approaching $200 million, the film ideally required around $600 million in worldwide box office to recoup its entire budget. That $600 million figure coincidentally matched the global earnings of the original Iron Man.

From the outset, Eric had no intention of profiting from Iron Man's box office, focusing instead on creating profits through post-release DVD sales and merchandise. Even if Iron Man itself didn't yield profits for Firefly Group, as long as it could successfully launch the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Eric would consider it a win.

The current situation, however, exceeded all expectations.

Surpassing $100 million in the opening weekend was tremendous. Although North America had not fully entered summer vacation yet, which limited weekday box office potential to some extent, the film's total box office for the first weekend was at least projected to reach around $130 million.

And while May might not be the most crucial summer release period, gains often lay within losses.

Throughout May, apart from Iron Man, the films that followed in the next three weeks -- Paramount's The General's Daughter, Columbia Pictures' Entrapment, and Universal Pictures' Notting Hill -- clearly posed little threat to Iron Man.

This indicated that throughout May, Iron Man could freely unleash its box office potential without obstruction.

Based on Iron Man's current acclaim, the film was likely to maintain a weekly drop of just 30% to 40% over the next three weeks. It could even cross the $300 million mark in North America within a month, and its total domestic box office could potentially reach the $400 million milestone.

That $400 million in North America should be sufficient for Iron Man to recoup all its production and distribution costs.

Furthermore, due to Eric's elevated profile, the film's overseas box office also outperformed expectations.

Through Firefly Group's vigorous efforts, and with key international markets like the UK, France, and Japan releasing concurrently, Iron Man's opening weekend overseas ticket sales also crossed $100 million, even slightly surpassing North America's early estimates at approximately $126 million.

Within three days, Iron Man's global box office had already achieved $232 million. It was nearly certain that the film would easily exceed the original's global $600 million box office.

In the aftermath of these figures, Eric began to realize that the original Iron Man's global box office potential should far exceed $600 million, largely due to problems inherent with the distributor, Paramount Pictures.

Currently located in Hollywood, Eric noticed without bias the extreme conservative attitude exhibited by Paramount, which had clearly been influenced by the decisions of its leadership, making a mark of shortsightedness in film production and distribution.

The most glaring example happened three months ago with the release of Paramont's Payback, produced by Mel Gibson.

Having not invested in the project, Paramount showed no dedication to its distribution, even releasing the $90 million production into February -- a period considered a graveyard in the film industry -- and unwilling to allocate even a slightly better Easter weekend release.

Despite facing discrimination in distribution, Payback ultimately achieved $80 million in North America.

It's easy to see that had the film been given a better release window -- even just the subsequent Easter holiday -- its box office success in crossing $100 million would have been practically guaranteed, benefitting Paramount significantly. Instead, Paramount reserved the Easter weekend for its own obscure project, the paltry The Mod Squad, which barely scraped past $10 million.

Originally, Iron Man and Iron Man 2 both had Paramount as their distributor, with Marvel serving as the producer. One can imagine how Paramount would treat these two films. In the end, both Iron Man and Iron Man 2 only barely broke even with global grosses around $600 million.

By the time Iron Man 3 rolled around, the distribution fell to Disney. While the film's reception hit a new low for the series, it raked in a staggering $1.2 billion worldwide, nearly equal to the total of the first two entries' global box offices. Clearly, the Marvel Cinematic Universe's meteoric rise also contributed to this success. However, it stands abundantly evident that the lower box office performance of the first two films was deeply interwoven with Paramount's conservative standards in distribution.

*****

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