Chapter 183: Just the Beginning

In the new week, Murphy continued promoting with the crew across major North American cities. The film also kept showing in theaters and, due to its relatively good opening weekend performance, the number of theaters screening it in North America increased to nearly 2,500, almost reaching the limit for a B-movie's distribution.

As the weekend passed and weekdays arrived, the daily box office of any film began to shrink, and "Planet Terror" was no exception.

On Monday, the film's daily box office plummeted from the weekend's $5 million range to around $1 million, taking in $1.35 million that day; Tuesday, traditionally a discount day in North American cinemas, saw a slight rebound with $1.46 million; Wednesday dropped again to $1.14 million; and Thursday's daily box office fell below the $1 million mark, earning $950,000.

"Planet Terror's" North American gross for the second week's four weekdays added another $4.6 million, on top of the already earned $15.7 million, pushing the total over the $20 million mark to $20.3 million.

This nearly tripled the production cost line, and even without counting the income from overseas rights sold during the Cannes Film Festival, this $8 million production could be considered a success.

Its success wasn't as astounding as "Saw's," but looking across the entire history of North American cinema, how many films like "Saw" exist?

The unexpectedly high income also led Miramax to increase its marketing investment for "Planet Terror." The film's promotional materials constantly appeared on TV during late-night slots and on websites frequented by movie fans.

Such marketing efforts attracted many viewers, especially those not typically fans of B-movies. However, the influx of general audience members also led to a continuous decline in the film's audience ratings.

On IMDb, the rating dropped below 8, settling at 7.9, but the proportion of negative reviews in the comments section was noticeably increasing.

The polarization of audience opinions was an unavoidable issue for "Planet Terror." Although Murphy had anticipated this, with the support of B-movie fans, the film achieved decent box office results. Like all niche genre films with limited appeal, the box office inevitably took a dive the following weekend.

And the drop was often more significant than those of mainstream commercial blockbusters with solid word of mouth.

During its second weekend, "Planet Terror" continued to be shown in nearly 2,500 theaters, but its screen count and seat occupancy rate noticeably decreased. When the latest North American box office statistics were released, "Planet Terror's" weekend gross had fallen by 58% compared to the previous weekend, dropping out of the top five and earning $6.6 million over three days.

After ten days in North American theaters, the total gross reached $26.9 million, nearly reaching Miramax's expectation of $30 million.

However, the competitive summer season meant "Planet Terror's" significant drop in its second weekend box office indicated it couldn't continue screening in over 2,000 theaters. The following week saw a sharp decrease in theater count, dropping to just over 1,600.

In the period from late June to early July, new films were continuously released, including high-profile works like "The Bourne Identity."

Additionally, after increasing marketing investment, Miramax began reducing its support for "Planet Terror," especially with the upcoming release of "Gangs of New York," co-produced by Miramax and Touchstone Pictures.

Comparing the casts, Murphy, James Franco, Jessica Chastain, and Robert Downey Jr. couldn't compete with the powerhouse team of Martin Scorsese, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Daniel Day-Lewis.

The film industry heavily depends on marketing, and a film like "Planet Terror," with mixed reviews, losing strong promotional support meant its box office couldn't maintain a high level.

In its third week, "Planet Terror's" daily box office fell below $500,000, barely managing to add $1.7 million over four days, struggling towards the $30 million mark.

Fortunately, the weekend performance slightly improved, and in its third weekend, "Planet Terror's" box office decline exceeded 60%, but the $2.75 million earned pushed the total North American gross past the $30 million milestone.

In its fourth week, the number of theaters dropped to just over 1,150, earning $1.95 million over seven days.

After exhausting its market potential in four weekends, "Planet Terror" continued to generate some box office revenue and remained in theaters without being immediately pulled.

Murphy and others concluded their North American promotional tour and returned to Los Angeles.

Back in LA, Murphy visited Fox Searchlight to meet the newly formed "Saw 2" crew and had a discussion with James Wan. Despite the circumstances, Murphy felt at ease knowing he had chosen a capable director.

If it were someone else, Murphy might not have bothered, but since Wan was also Chinese, Murphy had strongly recommended him to Fox Searchlight.

Every director's start is challenging, and while it's unclear how Wan managed to impress Lionsgate, it wasn't as simple as presenting a script and having the studio executives beg him to direct.

There were undoubtedly many unknown hardships.

A successful first step makes the journey smoother. If "Saw 2," directed by James Wan, succeeds, Wan won't lack investment opportunities, and Murphy doesn't plan to delve further into horror films. If all goes well, Wan could remain a horror master in Hollywood.

After exchanging ideas with Wan, Murphy felt more confident about the project and began addressing other affairs at Stanton Studio.

He and Paul Wilson cleaned out the studio's basement, selling old cameras and police scanners, and replaced outdated furniture and equipment with new ones.

Now, Stanton Studio was no longer the small company on the brink of bankruptcy. Murphy needed new equipment to improve work efficiency and appropriately raised the salaries of Paul Wilson, Rosa Rodriguez, and the financial officer.

Additionally, Murphy renewed contracts with his lawyer, Robert, and accountant, David, to handle legal and tax matters, respectively.

Given the complex tax system in the US, having a competent accountant was essential, but Murphy implemented oversight measures to prevent being swindled, a common occurrence in Hollywood.

Murphy temporarily moved out of his rented house, had it cleaned, and signed another year's lease, preparing for new work and life.

These tasks took several weeks to complete, and by mid-August, "Planet Terror" had ended its ten-week run in North American theaters, officially withdrawing from all screens.

After ten weeks, "Planet Terror," while not as explosive as "Saw," still achieved a box office total of $38.75 million in North America, nearly five times its production cost. This performance satisfied both the investors and the theaters.

Especially Miramax, Harvey Weinstein personally called Murphy to express willingness to continue their collaboration, provided Murphy was interested.

Such a stance was understandable, as "Planet Terror" not only recouped its costs from the North American box office alone but also generated significant profits, even after paying Murphy a substantial share.

According to the director's contract, if "Planet Terror's" North American box office exceeded $10 million, Murphy would automatically receive a $100,000 incentive, or 1% of the box office.

This was a tiered bonus agreement, with Murphy's share increasing by 1% for every additional $10 million in box office revenue. Thus, with a total of $38.75 million, Murphy would receive a 3% share, amounting to approximately $1.16 million.

Even for Murphy, now with some wealth, this was a considerable sum.

Following the agreement, after paying the remaining $300,000 of Murphy's directorial fee, Miramax initially paid $400,000 of the share, with the rest to be paid within the next six months.

After the film's withdrawal, Miramax, in collaboration with Blockbuster, released a director's cut DVD of "Planet Terror" featuring more extensive scenes. The DVD performed well in sales and rentals, ranking in the top five in both markets.

However, these developments were no longer of primary concern to Murphy.

His focus was always on the future, and this journey through Hollywood was just beginning.

___________________

(Support with power stones, comments or reviews)

If you guys enjoy this story, In support me on Patreon and get access to +200 advance Chapters

Read Ahead

Patreon.com/INNIT