Chapter 84: First-Day Box Office (Pirates of the Caribbean)

On the second day, as summer approached, the scorching sun shone through the curtains onto Kevin's face.

Kevin slowly woke up from the room he had bought from Hayek, still feeling groggy.

He closed his eyes for a few more seconds to refresh his mind. Once he felt more awake, Kevin gently spoke to Hayek beside him:

"My dear, today I'm going to check the first-day box office at MGM. You just rest at home for the day."

"I've prepared breakfast for you."

After hearing Kevin's words, Hayek, still in a drowsy state, made a humming sound from the bed to indicate agreement. Kevin then got up, dressed, and attended to his personal hygiene.

After preparing a simple breakfast for Hayek, Kevin left the house and directly got into the car driven by Chen Zhiwen.

It must be said that being Kevin's bodyguard and part-time driver was indeed a tough job.

When Kevin wasn't in the villa area, Chen Zhiwen often had to keep watch nearby throughout the night.

Of course, the salary Kevin provided was more than sufficient, so Chen Zhiwen couldn't complain and would obediently do his job.

….

MGM, President's Office.

Reed anxiously awaited the data analyst under his command to report the box office figures for Pirates of the Caribbean in various states across the United States.

As a well-established film company, MGM's stock value had soared by 20% since Kevin joined the company.

And this value had the potential to rise even higher at any moment.

People in the market were eagerly awaiting the box office performance of Kevin's latest work, Pirates of the Caribbean, so they could decide whether or not to buy shares of MGM in circulation.

In other words, MGM was heavily influenced by Kevin now.

As the President of MGM, Reed was deeply concerned about this.

Although Kevin's addition to MGM was undoubtedly a good thing, having such a significant impact was not necessarily ideal.

After all, Kevin was only the third largest shareholder, holding a 10.5% stake.

Given this premise, Reed actively sought out other directors and projects to diversify MGM's portfolio.

However, so far, the profits from those endeavors were insignificant compared to Kevin's.

...

With energy and enthusiasm, Kevin walked into MGM and headed straight for the President's Office.

As one of the major shareholders of MGM and someone who had made a big splash at the Oscars, he had unimpeded access within the company.

"Director Kevin."

"..."

As people saw Kevin, they greeted him one after another. Everyone knew that he was one of the most influential figures at MGM.

Although Reed held the title of President, Kevin, as a major shareholder of MGM and the strongest supporter of the company's current performance, had more power within MGM.

Facing the greetings from the staff, Kevin responded warmly.

A few minutes later, Kevin arrived at the President's Office.

Seeing Reed pacing back and forth, Kevin directly asked, "Has the first-day box office for Pirates of the Caribbean come in?"

It was Saturday, June 28th.

Both Warner Bros. and MGM had deliberately scheduled their releases for this holiday period.

And today was the day to reap the results.

With a production cost of 100 million dollars and a marketing budget of 20 million dollars, this was a big-budget film that surpassed the original Pirates of the Caribbean in terms of production cost.

Although the original Pirates of the Caribbean had a claimed production cost of $120 million, an accident during production had caused significant damage to the film reel.

At least $30-40 million of production costs had been wasted.

On the other hand, Kevin not only avoided such mishaps but also collaborated with the Tourism Bureau to create a Caribbean-themed town, saving a considerable amount of money.

With the investment going in and out, the film's budget had not decreased but rather increased.

Reed, with an expectant look, tried to keep calm and slowly said, "Don't worry, Kevin. The box office data is being compiled, and it will be available shortly."

"Although not all of it is in yet, based on the preliminary responses, the first-day box office results have been explosive."

Looking at Reed's hopeful face, Kevin simply smiled calmly.

"Reed, I'm not worried. Pirates of the Caribbean will undoubtedly be a success in my hands."

"Despite the lack of successful pirate films in the past decade, I will be the exception."

Kevin spoke with great confidence.

In the previous life, before Disney filmed Pirates of the Caribbean, there hadn't been a profitable pirate film in twenty years. In reality, Disney made a large-scale promotional film for their Pirates of the Caribbean to increase rides for their theme park.

In other words, Disney wanted to spend a lot of money to advertise their own theme park project.

Unexpectedly, the box office for Pirates of the Caribbean exploded, and Disney made a huge profit.

A film that could reverse the decline of pirate films over twenty years and set the trend, how could it fail just because it was released ten years earlier?

This was a film that led the era.

Kevin was very confident about this.

Kevin's confidence made Reed take notice.

Kevin's background had been investigated by MGM, Warner Bros., Paramount, and many other Hollywood companies.

An orphan who had worked hard to get into the University of Southern California, Kevin had earned the title of a genius director with a short film he made at USC.

Then, relying on the connections from CAA, he officially debuted and received investment for his first film, Saw.

At this point, Kevin chose not to receive a salary but instead obtained a small share of the box office revenue. Film companies were not surprised by this choice; they were willing to accept it.

The reasoning was simple: many inexperienced directors dreamed of having their first film become a box office hit, but in reality, only a fraction of a percent achieved that level of success.

Investing the director's share into the film would only make the film better, and film companies had no reason to reject this condition.

The only unexpected thing was that Kevin had planted a seed in the film, and the film companies didn't think much of it; they just wanted to take a chance on an unknown director and make a small profit.

As a result, the director's share, along with subsequent rights, made Kevin immensely wealthy.

After that, there was no stopping him: Saw, Get Out, Mission: Impossible...

Kevin's continuous success elevated his status in Hollywood.

He became a major figure in Hollywood.

His growth was like a legend.

Reed looked at the confident Kevin with a complex expression.

...

A well-dressed staff member walked in, holding a stack of documents.

The staff member appeared excited and spoke quickly, "Mr. President, the first-day box office results for Pirates of the Caribbean are in, and it's a hit."