Chapter 26: Unstoppable Box Office

Outside the theater, staff members were already handing out surveys.

Without a doubt, nearly all viewers gave the film an A+ rating.

Sara Morton remarked, "With a film like this, who would be foolish enough to give anything less than an A+?"

"Probably no one."

Hearing this, an audience member who had also watched "The Shallows" added an extra '+' after the A, not wanting to be the one who gave a lower rating…

After sending off his aunt and her family, Gilbert anxiously awaited news from Universal Pictures.

Gilbert Sr., who had returned nonchalantly, reassured the nervous Gilbert, "Don't worry, Gilbert. If the movie doesn't succeed, you can continue working as a second director under Steven. Besides, you might still succeed."

"Let's hope so!" Gilbert could only pray and remain hopeful.

The pressure of being a director was immense, and it was not an ordinary kind of stress. Even a movie like "The Shallows," which had a $3.5 million investment, nearly gave Gilbert insomnia.

It was hard to imagine the stress on directors of films with $50 million or even $100 million budgets.

So often, a little escapism like getting intimate with someone could be an effective way to relax. Some directors, struggling with mental health issues, had even reached a point where women could no longer satisfy them.

But Gilbert only liked women and had no interest in anything else.

If someone brought in an armed helicopter or a plastic bag with a gender, he wouldn't even know where to start…

In the early 90s in North America, things weren't as exaggerated as they would be 30 years later; there were still more normal people.

Unfortunately, Gwyneth Paltrow was not around, and Winona Ryder had not visited him for weeks.

Gilbert didn't want to seek out an encounter at a bar, so he had to hold back his desires.

Fortunately, Universal Pictures did not make Gilbert wait long. The first day's preview data came in quickly.

With only 30 theaters and 30 screens nationwide, each theater showing the film nine times a day, with an average audience of 23 per showing and an average ticket revenue of $105 per showing, the total revenue for the first day of previews was around $28,350. This was a dismal figure.

However, amidst the poor box office figures, there was another piece of good news.

Universal Pictures had collected 2,362 survey responses, of which 1,736 rated the film an A+, 425 gave it an A, and less than forty gave a grade below C.

This indicated that the film was well-liked by those who saw the previews, with a very high viewer approval rating.

In addition, more than half of the viewers stated that they would definitely recommend "The Shallows" to others.

Such high praise gave Universal Pictures renewed confidence.

Perhaps because October was a slow month and Universal Pictures had no other films to release, they decided to expand the preview screenings.

The next day, the number of preview theaters increased to fifty, and on the third day, it reached one hundred.

By the fourth day, as word of mouth continued to spread, theaters were struggling to meet the demand due to the shortage of tickets.

Fans urged Universal Pictures to quickly expand the screening scale because they wanted to see "The Shallows"

At this point, Universal Pictures' top executives finally realized that "The Shallows" had great potential.

Thus, on Friday, October 25th, just before Halloween, "The Shallows" was released on a large scale.

Levit Gold, head of Universal Pictures' distribution department, kept calling theater chains, using solid data to persuade them to increase screenings of "The Shallows"

"Buddy, what are you still hesitating about? Is there a hotter film on the market than 'The Shallows' right now?"

"I understand you need to reserve space for 'Hook,' but that's coming out in November. Do you really want to leave the October slot to gather dust?"

"Alright, alright, we'll discuss it and decide soon. Neither of us wants to lose a large chunk of box office revenue."

After hanging up, Levit Gold said to Vice President Lew Wasserman, "Never before has a young director impressed me so much. Gilbert is truly a genius."

Lew Wasserman replied with a smile, "We had a similar genius at Universal Pictures back in 1975. That genius is now working on 'Jurassic Park.'"

"To having two geniuses at Universal Pictures…"

"Cheers…"

While alcohol was not allowed during work hours, good news was worth celebrating, so Lew Wesserman opened a bottle of champagne to toast.

In the face of huge profits, even Gilbert's face seemed more agreeable to Lew Wesserman

The communication with the theaters went smoothly, and by the new weekend, October 25th, "The Shallows" was released in 1,200 theaters across major cities in the U.S.

This scale still did not compare to the release scale of blockbuster productions, but for a film with only a $3.5 million investment, it was quite impressive.

Given the excellent performance of the previews, Universal Pictures increased the promotional budget to $2 million.

In the early 90s Hollywood, even a major blockbuster's promotional budget would not exceed ten million, so this investment was substantial compared to "The Reef's" production cost.

As the film was about to be released on a large scale, Gwyneth Paltrow finally joined Gilbert for nationwide promotional events, according to Universal Pictures' request. The two were portrayed as a couple, publicly showing affection.

Gwyneth Paltrow's return also temporarily solved Gilbert's lack of a partner problem.

During their promotional tour across the U.S., they frequently practiced yoga together.

There was even one instance where, in the rush of promotion, they did yoga in the car.

With the film's release, Gwyneth Paltrow also started gaining a fan base. During the promotional events, many fans held signs with her name.

Experiencing fame was exciting for Gwyneth Paltrow.

Perhaps because of knowing her daughter had finally entered Hollywood or because Gilbert had achieved success, Mr. Paltrow eased up on his restrictions on his daughter.

Gwyneth Paltrow moved into Gilbert's apartment, and they lived together as a public couple.

Meanwhile, Universal Pictures continued to invest heavily in promotion. "The Shallows" was finally being mentioned not only in second-rate tabloids but also in major media outlets like "The Hollywood Reporter," "Variety," and even "The Los Angeles Times," one of the three major newspapers in North America.

These developments proved that "The Shallows" after a long period of buildup, had finally become a hit.

Of course, no matter how good the word-of-mouth was or how it had developed, nothing was more important than actual box office numbers.

No matter what the film companies said about art, it was all nonsense.

Film companies did not invest in movies for the sake of art but for the money in the audience's pockets.

If a film didn't make money, even if it had the greatest reviews in film history, it would be considered a failure by the film company.

However, "The Shallows" succeeded in this respect. It made a huge profit.

The film earned $2,413,000 on its first day of wide release on October 25th.

This was an excellent result for a film with a $3.5 million budget, even though it was not a summer blockbuster period.

On October 26th, a Saturday, "The Shallows" achieved even greater success, earning $4,427,000 in a single day, which pleasantly surprised Universal Pictures.

And it didn't stop there. On October 27th, a Sunday, the film earned another $3,214,000 in a single day.

In its first weekend of wide release, "The Shallows" earned $9,854,000.

Adding the preview earnings, "The Shallows" had surpassed $10 million, reaching a total of $10,194,000.

By this point, "The Shallows" was unstoppable.