Everyone is clever

Which would win the favor of the audience: a family-friendly film suitable for all ages or a film targeted at adults with a strong authorial style?

The answer to this question seemed quite obvious.

Starting from this Friday, "Finding Nemo" demonstrated its unrivaled dominance.

On the very first day of its release, it effortlessly earned $35.53M.

As always, it showcased the immense box office appeal of Pixar Animation Studio.

In contrast, Lyman and EuropaCorp's "Miscreant" faced fierce competition in the summer holiday season and had no resistance at all.

Its daily output further declined, barely reaching less than $10M.

After consuming a substantial portion of its potential fan audience, this outcome was quite normal.

Although the audience reviews were good, compared to "Finding Nemo", "Miscreant" had an evident inherent flaw.

That was the target audience.

After the first weekend, "Finding Nemo" topped the weekly box office chart with a gross of $82.58M in just three days, ending the dominance of "Miscreant" on the chart.

Under its strong impact, the performance of "Miscreant" in its second weekend was not too hot or too cold. It neither suffered a significant drop nor exhibited a reverse growth momentum.

However, what somewhat pleased people was that at least it had stabilized.

On Saturday, "Finding Nemo" began to slightly decline at the box office, compared to the previous weekend. It garnered $23.5M after consuming a significant portion of its early viewers.

Of course, "Miscreant" didn't fare well either. Its daily box office continued to slide, earning $7.85M from 2,200 theaters.

Given this box office situation, it would be much more challenging for "Miscreant" to break the $400M mark in North America without a miracle.

Nevertheless, the current achievement of $365.75M had already exceeded EuropaCorp and Paramount Pictures' joint expectation of North American grossing over $300M.

With the arrival of a new week, the box office results from the previous weekend were compiled successfully.

"Finding Nemo" firmly held the top spot with a gross of $78.45M, while "Miscreant", which had been released for a month, fell to second place with $26.87M.

This result represented a steady 35% decline from the previous week.

In such a scenario, the film's screening theater count inevitably took a significant hit, plummeting to 1,800.

In a kind of chain reaction, if the box office performance was lackluster, theaters would not prioritize the film, leading to further underperformance, subsequent reductions... ultimately leading to its withdrawal from theaters.

And now, after all, it's the summer blockbuster season, and the box office market is quite heated. More films will join the competition one after another. The number of theaters and screenings will only be further compressed, making way for others.

Even if Paramount Pictures did all the work possible, it couldn't change this inevitable pattern. Putting aside everything else, only interests are the eternal truth.

As for EuropaCorp, responsible for overseas distribution, they had long pushed into the market and started harvesting box office revenue in major international regions.

In the UK, the first week's box office was $3.87M. As for France, it's, after all, Lyman's home turf, and the fan response was strong, directly earning $12.58M.

In terms of market capacity, it might even be more promising than the United States.

Overall, the screening performances in so many overseas markets were pretty good.

...

Paris, France, EuropaCorp headquarters.

"I received invitations from several film companies again today. You are truly in constant demand for roles these days," said Luc Besson, tossing a cigar to Lyman. He then casually placed a stack of documents in front of him, teasing, "You are under the spotlight in the industry now. Even here in France, things are restless for you. The invitations are no less than those in Hollywood."

Lyman didn't pay it much mind. EuropaCorp had long known about his plans to start a new film, and they were well aware he had no time for roles.

Furthermore, back when "3 Idiots" had decent box office results, many people were like sharks smelling blood, constantly circling. How could he escape this time?

No profit, no early bird, it's the same for everyone.

Directors who have already achieved success like him would naturally be eyed by people.

Pay respects to the high, step on them when they're low.

Reality, well, Hollywood has always been the most realistic.

"I'm here today for another matter," Lyman said.

For what? Naturally, it was about James Wan's film project, "Saw".

Perhaps some might wonder, why would Lyman need money when he has money, connections, and knows many executives from distribution companies? Why did he still come to discuss with Luc?

Youngster, who doesn't want to do independent productions, who doesn't want to engage in a risk-free venture?

But, is that possible?

The depths of the film industry have drowned countless ambitious individuals.

Is there business without risks? Investment is no different.

He wasn't foolish enough to produce the film single-handedly. Financing and the operation of borrowing eggs from chickens were the norms in this industry.

Those who only eat alone rarely end up well.

Why?

Lyman had directed several movies, all of which were blockbuster hits, and he had earned his fair share. But he had never taken the lion's share. The true beneficiaries were always the distribution companies EuropaCorp and Paramount Pictures.

If these movies didn't share their profits with these companies, would they be so heavily promoted? Would they achieve such effortless box office success?

You don't even need to think about it; in dreams, everything's possible, right?

In this industry, compromise is often needed more than toughness. Among the various resources of the film industry, Lyman only held on to the word "work". As for distribution channels, who should he look for?

The ambitious Hollywood studios?

It's better to continue working with EuropaCorp. At least Luc was a smart person and understood how to tread carefully.

"Do you want to sign the distribution rights for this film with EuropaCorp? That James Wen, if I recall correctly, he was the assistant director for your previous film."

"Yeah, he came to see me a few days ago. I talked to him and thought about giving him a hand on this project," Lyman thought for a moment, then continued, "We can discuss the specifics when he finalizes his shooting schedule."

"Rest assured, since you have this idea, I'll definitely support it," Luc readily agreed.

For him, maintaining a good relationship with Lyman and deepening the cooperation between both parties was undoubtedly a positive move, no matter how you looked at it.

"Well then, that's it. I'm tired, and I'll head home to rest," Lyman said, explaining his plans for coming back to France and then bidding farewell.

"Take care, I'll have someone escort you," Luc said with a smile.

"Yeah, just drop me off at home."

Lyman naturally wouldn't refuse the goodwill extended by EuropaCorp.