Chapter 57: First Day Box Office Results

So Ethan recruited a team and began his operation to steal the disc from the CIA and obtain the identity of the mole.

...

As the director, Kevin naturally knew all the details that followed.

With the knowledge of the plot, Mission Impossible became somewhat less interesting for him.

Kevin's attention was focused on the audience's reactions.

A qualified commercial blockbuster, given an appropriate duration, should aim to keep the audience engaged throughout without any dull moments. Kevin achieved this.

In his version of Mission Impossible, he didn't strictly adhere to the original, but added various small details.

Having analyzed all the issues of Mission Impossible, as someone who once held the entire Douban database, Kevin knew what needed improvement.

For instance, the story was rough, and some parts lacked convincing power.

Here, Kevin made up for many details.

He made the whole story more realistic and complete.

Next were the action scenes Kevin arranged for Agent Ethan.

Designed by the team led by Yuan Ba-ye, the best action choreographer from Hong Kong and currently the most powerful in the world, the action sequences combined the elegance of Chinese martial arts with the crisp and precise moves befitting a secret agent.

The audience couldn't help but exclaim in amazement, marveling at Tom Cruise's skills in the film.

In these action scenes, Kevin chose not to rely on editing tricks, but instead imposed strict demands on Tom Cruise himself.

He insisted that Cruise fully master the choreography, with slight adjustments made in post-production to enhance the pace. Whether the fight scenes were visually impressive or not depended entirely on Cruise's abilities.

Based on the preview results, Cruise's performance was indeed impressive.

As expected, the audience was highly satisfied with Ethan's fighting scenes.

A movie that lasted just over an hour quickly came to an end.

Kevin and Jolie leisurely left the cinema, surrounded by expressions of satisfaction with Mission Impossible.

As for the discontent of some artistic youths, Kevin completely ignored it.

As a pure commercial film, Mission Impossible had no artistic pretensions. Kevin didn't allow it to have any artistic elements at this point.

Of course, the lack of artistic elements didn't prevent it from becoming a classic movie.

Now, Kevin's goal was to become a true heavyweight in Hollywood. He needed a substantial amount of money, not anything else.

He could make up for the Oscars later; missing out on MGM and Marvel opportunities would be a thing of the past. His calculations were clear in his mind.

...

Having received the feedback he desired, Kevin took Julie straight home.

On the other side, MGM President Reed spent the entire night without sleep.

Unlike confident Kevin, he deeply understood that sometimes the quality of a film did not have an absolute correlation with its box office performance.

The box office of this movie was directly related to his future as the president of MGM, so he couldn't ignore it.

As the major theater chains compiled all the information and reports, Reed nervously asked the staff responsible for summarizing the data, "What was the first-day box office of Mission Impossible?"

The staff took another look at the data in front of them and excitedly replied, "President, Mission Impossible achieved a box office of 25.68 million on its opening day!"

"That's the second-highest opening day box office of the year, with only Jurassic Park ahead of it. And mind you, that's a blockbuster by the renowned director Spielberg!"

Reed also became excited. "So, we succeeded?"

"After all these years, is MGM finally going to achieve glory again?"

"Quick, call Kevin for me. I need to share this news with him."

Regaining his composure, Reed immediately wanted to share this joy with Kevin and promptly instructed his secretary to call him.

...

One person secretly hid on the outside couch, enjoying some leisure time, while using a computer to browse through some information.

Upon hearing the phone ring, Kevin quickly answered, "Hello, Kevin. It's Reed. The first-day box office of Mission Impossible is out."

"How much?" Kevin calmly asked, confident that it wouldn't be too bad.

The voice on the other end of the phone revealed a surprising number that delighted him. "It's 25.68 million dollars!"

"The first-day box office of Mission Impossible is 25.68 million dollars!" exclaimed Reed excitedly.

Kevin remained calm and composed as he asked, "Reed, based on your experience, what do you think the final global box office for Mission Impossible could be?"

Reed hesitated for a moment, roughly calculating according to MGM's formula, before replying, "At least 500 million dollars or more!"

"In that case, don't forget our agreement. I can't wait to join the MGM family," Kevin stated openly, expressing his thoughts to Reed.

Reed had no objections. Kevin's directorial prowess had once again been proven in Mission Impossible, making him the talent that MGM needed most at this moment. His addition would undoubtedly strengthen the studio.

"Of course, MGM welcomes your inclusion. We'll start formal negotiations after Mission Impossible finishes its theatrical run."

"MGM will definitely satisfy you!"

Kevin nodded and ended the conversation.

On the other side, Warner Bros. and Paramount also received the news from theaters almost simultaneously.

The astonishing first-day box office performance of Mission Impossible surprised them as well.

However, along with their excitement, Paramount also felt regretful.

The feast that was within their grasp had inexplicably been snatched away by a few outsiders.

This caused them great pain, but on the other hand, they held the rights to the sequel, and Steve Kevin had laid a solid foundation for them.

The next step was for them to make money effortlessly.

Paramount began contemplating early plans to invite Kevin and Tom Cruise to shoot Mission Impossible 2.