Chapter 290: Astonishing Appeal

In North America, the majority of horror films are quickly consumed at the box office, especially the bloody ones. "Dawn of the Dead" saw a noticeable drop in box office receipts on Sunday, falling by 40% from Saturday, earning $7.1 million.

By Monday, when the box office statistics were released, "Dawn of the Dead" unsurprisingly claimed the top spot on the North American box office charts with a gross of $34.1 million!

In just three days, the film's North American gross had surpassed its production cost line.

A movie with a production cost of only $28 million, reaching a first weekend box office of $34.1 million, didn't need to do much to garner widespread attention.

"Wow, $34.1 million, that's a bit exaggerated, isn't it?"

Putting down the newspaper, Doug Lyman turned to Azizah Gozeman across him and said, "The 'Bourne' franchise didn't make that much its opening weekend, only about $27 million."

Azizah, who was looking at a fax document, looked up and said, "How can you compare the staying power of a horror zombie flick with a spy action movie?"

Doug nodded, acknowledging that despite the different genres, there was still some comparability between the two films, one a remake and the other adapted from a popular novel, both with a solid fan base...

However, with the "Bourne" franchise having a production cost of $60 million, "Dawn of the Dead" was less than half that amount.

With this comparison in mind, Doug suddenly had a thought: Matt Damon's drawing power during the "Bourne" days seemed lesser than Matthew Horner's now.

"What do you think the total North American box office for 'Dawn of the Dead' will be?" he asked Azizah.

"Definitely not as much as the 'Bourne' movies." Azizah was sure of this, "According to Cinema Score predictions, 'Dawn of the Dead' will end around $80 million."

This number was close to what Doug had in mind, and he remarked, "A production cost of $28 million! A North American box office of $80 million, plus international sales, could bring the global box office to around $200 million. Universal Pictures is making an impressive profit this time."

Clearly, "Dawn of the Dead" was destined for success.

Azizah seemed a bit sentimental, "If only our project could achieve such a high return on investment."

Though Azizah didn't say it, Doug knew the pressure was quite substantial. A production budget of $100 million, while not the highest in today's Hollywood, was still significant, and a failure could potentially land Azizah on the blacklist of major Hollywood studios, cutting off mainstream large-scale production opportunities in the future.

As a director, Doug's situation wasn't much different, but thankfully he still had the ongoing "Bourne" series to bolster his resilience.

Aware of such pressures, it was this that made Azizah resolve to hire two popular actors, demanding high salaries but also promising substantial box office appeal and media buzz, like Matthew Horner. If what happened with Scarlett Johansson wasn't meticulously planned, Doug wouldn't believe it.

The current box office for "Dawn of the Dead" was a testament to that promotional success.

For some reason, Doug felt that comparing them solely from a star's perspective, Matt Damon couldn't match Matthew Horner. After attending the premiere last week, he had specifically asked around, and what Matthew Horner had said at the party was genuine and modest.

He considered the needs of the project and compared Matt Damon with Matthew Horner.

Matt was slightly better as an actor, though not by much, and also a decent screenwriter, which wasn't very useful here.

Matthew Horner, on the other hand, had a more appealing physical appearance and a rugged demeanor that was very appealing to North American audiences. He consistently trained in martial arts and firearms, making him a plug-and-play type of actor, and he had a solid reputation for diligence and professionalism in every crew he worked with. Everyone who had worked with Matthew always had the words "hardworking" and "professional" to say about him.

Another point—Matthew Horner was less scrupulous!

Doug wouldn't underestimate this trait, reflected in the "Dawn of the Dead" project as the overwhelming media hype.

This approach had drawn in many who otherwise wouldn't have been interested.

A thick skin and a flair for self-promotion are absolute advantages for a Hollywood star.

A knock interrupted Doug's thoughts. An assistant came in with a fax document for Azizah, took a quick glance, and said, "The internal stats from Universal Pictures are out."

Doug looked curiously at Azizah, who didn't keep him waiting and said, "The first weekend on-site audience survey for 'Dawn

 of the Dead' categorizes the viewers into four groups: those influenced by the original film, those attracted by Matthew Horner himself or related news, those who found no better options at the cinema, and other factors."

He glanced at the fax again, "The first category accounts for 37%, the second for 35%, with the rest being the third and fourth categories."

"That means..." Doug stood up, "a third of the weekend box office for 'Dawn of the Dead' came from people who came because of Matthew Horner?"

He was a bit surprised, "That proportion is quite impressive!"

Azizah was calm, "It's not entirely correct to say they all came for him. A large part of that one-third was influenced by the hype."

Doug nodded, but said, "Still, it should be credited to him."

Stars in various ways capture attention and convert it into economic benefits for the films they lead, which is precisely the value of stars in commercial cinema.

Compared to these, skills like acting are secondary.

Azizah handed the fax to Doug, saying, "No need to wait any longer, we've settled on the script, let's send Matthew Horner an audition invite for late May."

Having proven his solo box office capability, modern action roles also had strong appeal, so they decided to send him an audition invite early, giving the actor time to prepare and adjust his schedule, and also to accommodate relations with Helen Herman.

Doug agreed, "Matthew Horner is indeed a good choice." He suddenly remembered another issue and asked, "What about Brad Pitt?"

Just last week, Brad Pitt's agent got some information from the crew and recommended him.

"Not to worry!" Azizah said directly, "Have you noticed Brad Pitt's track record? He's a well-known A-list star, but how many films has he single-handedly carried at the box office? In the last three, no, make that five years, his only real blockbuster has been 'Ocean's Eleven', and he wasn't even the lead!"

Doug recalled briefly, and it seemed accurate.

Azizah continued, "Among the current A-list male stars, Brad Pitt is one of those with relatively moderate commercial appeal. Plus, he wants to bring funding into the project, and we don't lack funds; $100 million will soon be secured."

"Do we reject him?" Doug asked.

"No, send him an audition invite too." Azizah had his own thoughts, "We wait. Brad Pitt's 'Troy', as the absolute male lead, premieres in early May. Let's see if he can carry a big-budget commercial production on his own."

This was the most prudent approach. If 'Troy' underperformed at the box office, and Brad Pitt didn't show sufficient drawing power, they could find a reason like 'not fitting the role' during auditions to reject him.

Additionally, Azizah was wary of Brad Pitt bringing funding into the project, as actors who bring funding often want to be producers, which can complicate things significantly if issues arise.

Hollywood has seen negative examples of this, with Vin Diesel funding and then bullying directors on set.

Azizah wouldn't allow such troublemakers in his crew, and Brad Pitt's reputation in this area wasn't very good.

Moreover, accepting funding would mean reworking many of the initial plans, just negotiating would take a lot of time.

For now, Azizah wasn't in a hurry to decide, waiting until after seeing 'Troy's' box office stats wouldn't be too late.

Doug and Azizah discussed some more preparations for the film before Doug left his office. Azizah saw the door close from the outside and thought for a moment, then dialed Helen Herman's number.

"Helen, you mentioned recently that you were curious about the script for my new project?"

Since they decided to invite Matthew Horner to audition, Azizah didn't mind doing a favor, "I have a copy here that's not in use, come by when you have time to pick it up! And remember, no spreading the word! Alright, that's it."

He hung up the phone, pulled out a copy of the script from a drawer, and prepared to wait for Helen Herman to come and collect it.

Helen had been following up on new work constantly, and with Universal Pictures and the 'Dawn of the Dead' crew not scheduling much post-release promotion, Matthew was soon back to shooting 'National Treasure', with the remaining scenes mostly indoor shots in a studio.

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