Chapter 66: The Opening

Amidst the media's widespread acclaim for "Run Lola Run," the weekend quickly passed.

However, February 16th, being the third Monday of February and President's Day—a federal holiday in the USA—meant that this week's box office was calculated over four days, from February 13th to February 16th. This was a key reason Orion Pictures chose this particular release date.

February 17th, Tuesday.

Due to the recent hectic schedule, Orion Pictures' President, Mike Medavoy, hadn't rested much over the holiday weekend. Still, he arrived early at the office today.

Sitting in his office, reminiscing about the ups and downs of the past year at Orion Pictures, Medavoy even felt a sense of relief as if he had survived a great ordeal.

In 1985, Orion produced and released 12 films, with the most successful, "Desperately Seeking Susan," only earning $27 million at the North American box office, and nine of them facing losses.

Due to a series of box office failures, Orion faced a severe financial crisis at the start of 1986. The fate of being taken over by the well-known Wall Street firm, Warburg Pincus, loomed, which would have resulted in the dismissal of the existing management team.

In a critical moment, CEO Arthur Krim managed to persuade his friend, media mogul John Kluge, to purchase 6.5% of Orion's stock, providing the much-needed liquidity to save the jobs of the company's employees.

Then, things began to look up.

The summer release of "Back to School" brought in over $90 million at the North American box office, freeing the company from financial woes. Last year, another key release, "Platoon," had also exceeded $40 million at the box office to date. Based on current trends, this film was expected to easily breach the $100 million mark.

Additionally, in terms of awards, Orion had a successful year. With "Platoon," "Hannah and Her Sisters," and "Hoosiers" earning critical acclaim, Orion garnered 18 nominations at the upcoming 59th Academy Awards, more than any of the major studios.

Now, in 1987, Orion seemed to be continuing its streak of good fortune.

The year began with a little box office 'dark horse' picked up from the hands of the major studios.

"Run Lola Run."

Although the first weekend's box office data hadn't been seen yet, based on feedback from various sources over the past few days, Medavoy had no doubt that this film would give Orion a strong start to 1987.

As he was casually flipping through a document, thinking about these matters, his secretary knocked and announced, "Ms. Johnston is here."

"Let her in," Medavoy replied, then stood up and asked, "Did the weekend box office data arrive?"

The secretary shook her head, "Should I hurry them up?"

"No need, just bring it directly to my office later, and bring two coffees," he instructed as he turned around to greet Janet, who had just entered, "Ms. Johnston, early as always."

Janet smiled and shook hands with Medavoy, saying, "Aren't you the same?"

"It's my job, I have to put in the effort," Medavoy replied, gesturing for Janet to sit down in the guest area. He sat opposite her and mentioned, "It's usually here by nine-thirty, it should be about time."

Janet had overheard Medavoy's conversation with his secretary and nodded slightly.

As they settled, Medavoy was about to ask about Simon's recent activities when the office door opened again. The secretary held up a fax, saying, "Mr. Medavoy, the box office data has arrived."

Medavoy sensed the hesitation in his secretary's voice, which brought an uneasy premonition. He stood up, took the box office report from her, and after a glance, his expression changed as he turned to ask, "Are you sure this is correct?"

The secretary seemed still unsettled and replied, "Mr. Medavoy, should I call to confirm?"

Though he felt the data in his hands was likely accurate, Medavoy nodded his approval.

Janet stood and reached out, "Mr. Medavoy, may I see it?"

"Oh, of course," Medavoy handed her the box office report, adding, "The data should be correct, but this is truly incredible, much higher than I anticipated."

Janet didn't respond but focused on the report, spotting the name "Run Lola Run" and its box office number.

$5.51 million.

Not bad at all.

That was Janet's first thought. Then she calculated mentally: $5.51 million, with a fixed 15% box office share negotiated by Simon with Orion, meant her side would take home over $800,000 just

 from these past four days. Even accounting for future copy fees, they had already broken even.

Medavoy noticed Janet's slight raise of the eyebrows and the satisfied smile on her lips, understanding that she, being new to the industry, might not fully grasp what the box office numbers for "Run Lola Run" signified. He almost wanted to shout, "Is that all your reaction?"

Meanwhile, in Century City, Beverly Hills, less than a mile from Orion Pictures, Ronald Goldberg of Fox Studios was waving a box office report, loudly questioning his assistant, "5.51 million dollars! How is this possible, could the theaters have made a mistake?"

His assistant, holding a folder, was calm and assuredly replied, "Mr. Goldberg, I've already called to confirm, it's correct."

Listening to his assistant's composed tone, Ronald Goldberg sighed deeply and waved her away.

Returning to his seat, Goldberg pulled open a drawer next to his desk, glanced at a box of cigars, but closed it again and picked up the box office report to scrutinize.

The 7th weekend of 1987 North American box office data.

First place: "Platoon"; $12.87 million; Orion.

Second place, "Cruel Destiny"; $6.31 million; Buena Vista.

Third place, "Show Off"; $5.99 million; Fox.

Fourth place, "Run Lola Run"; $5.51 million; Orion.

Fifth place, "Over the Top"; $5.15 million; Warner.

Among the top five, besides "Platoon," which broke ten million, the other four films' earnings didn't seem significantly different. However, a closer look at the number of screens for each film revealed a stark disparity.

Among the five, every film except "Run Lola Run" had a substantial number of screens. Even Fox's "Show Off" was shown on 932 screens. The other three films each had over 1,000 screens, with Sylvester Stallone's "Over the Top" hitting a massive 1,758 screens.

In contrast, "Run Lola Run" was shown on only 207 screens, not even a quarter of "Show Off" and about one-eighth of "Over the Top."

Yet, with a meager 207 screens, "Run Lola Run" had grossed an astonishing $5.51 million, forcefully making its way into the top five of the North American weekend box office.

How could one not be amazed?

Moreover, with such a strong opening, what would come next?

Bear in mind, Orion had only distributed "Run Lola Run" in a few West Coast states like California, Nevada, and Oregon, as the second-tier standalone film company couldn't reach the international market. Yet, the central and eastern U.S., not to mention northern Canada, hadn't even seen the film yet.

If the box office momentum continued.

Ronald Goldberg suddenly shivered lightly, almost afraid to continue the thought. His mind was also filled with recent events.

Simon Westeros had completed "Run Lola Run" and first contacted Fox Studios. After the film was well-received at Sundance, Westeros still leaned towards giving Fox the distribution rights, even after it won at Sundance, Fox still had the opportunity to secure the film.

But.

All those opportunities were missed.

Now.

Oh God.

What exactly had he missed?

Leaning back in his chair, Goldberg quickly contemplated, then pressed the intercom button on his desk phone. His assistant came back in.

"Give David Geffen a heads up, I want to see the dailies for 'The Butterfly Effect' this afternoon. Also, what's the other script by Simon Westeros called?"

His assistant promptly reminded him, "Final Destination."

"Right, 'Final Destination.' Contact WMA, get the script over here, and also, Simon Westeros..."

Goldberg paused, not yet decided, and his assistant proactively added, "Mr. Goldberg, Simon Westeros is currently in Arizona, involved in shooting a movie funded by De Laurentiis Entertainment called 'Night of the Living Dead.'"

Goldberg was briefly puzzled, "Is there anything special about this movie?"

"No," the assistant shook her head, "But the director is Kathryn Bigelow. During the shooting of 'Run Lola Run,' Kathryn Bigelow was Simon Westeros' directorial assistant; he's probably returning a favor."

Hearing this, Goldberg recalled who Kathryn Bigelow was but didn't inquire further, simply waving his hand, "Let it be for now, just go ahead with the earlier tasks."

Regardless of how stunned, discomposed, and regretful the executives of other studios that had a chance at distributing "Run Lola Run" might have been, the film's remarkable box office performance over its opening weekend quickly spread and featured prominently in many evening newspapers that afternoon.