Chapter 131: Lesson

The morning sunlight streamed through the glass into the office. As the new workweek was about to begin, the door was suddenly pushed open from the outside. A young white man, around twenty-five years old, walked in. He was holding a briefcase and moving rather quickly. Out of habit, he closed the door behind him with a bang.

"Rick!" The people who were already in the office immediately glared at him angrily. One of them, an older man, gritted his teeth and whispered a warning, "What are you doing? Do you want to get us all killed?"

"I..." Rick looked at the glaring eyes of his colleagues. Being a newcomer, he had no idea what was going on. "Wha...what's wrong? I closed the door like this last week too."

Another person whispered, "Last week was fine, but not this week!"

Rick was even more confused. "Why...why not now?"

Someone pointed to the left, where Harvey Weinstein's office was located.

"Oh, I get it." Rick suddenly realized, "Is the boss having a meeting?"

The person who initially warned him couldn't help but cover his forehead, worrying about this guy's stupidity. Rick still didn't understand, so he put down his briefcase and sat at his desk.

To avoid being implicated or becoming a target of the boss's inexplicable anger, the oldest person in the office lowered his voice and warned, "Rick, don't make any noise on this floor today or for the next two weeks, especially when closing the door. Be gentle, or else the boss..."

He made a throat-cutting gesture with his hand.

"But..." Rick still didn't get it. "Why is that?"

The older man shook his head. "Because of a film. A film that the boss failed to secure and personally gave up."

Rick suddenly understood. "Could it be 'Saw'?"

"That's right, it's that one." Another person whispered, glancing to the left as if afraid their boss would hear. "Over the weekend, 'Saw' did quite well at the box office. The boss wasn't in a good mood when he came to the office today."

Another person added, "When I came in, I saw Jones Butler from the marketing department being called over. He's probably going to be the boss's scapegoat and punching bag."

In the office on the left, Jones Butler sat at the desk, her head slightly lowered, her dark face tense, and she didn't say a word.

Opposite her, Harvey Weinstein leaned back in his large executive chair, his chubby face expressionless.

"Sorry, boss," Jones Butler knew she had to speak up first. "I misjudged this project, causing the company to lose a high-market-value film."

She wasn't new to the workplace and understood some basic survival rules. Today was Monday, the day the new North American box office rankings were announced. From the moment she entered, she knew Harvey Weinstein was angry about losing the 'Saw' project. Regardless of who led the negotiations or who pressured Murphy Stanton to sell the rights cheaply, the mistake had to be hers to bear.

When a subordinate makes a mistake, it's the subordinate's fault. When a leader makes a mistake, it's still the subordinate's fault.

This universally applicable workplace principle was well understood by Jones Butler.

Her head remained slightly bowed, as if the mistake was entirely hers.

This was partly true. By now, she knew she had underestimated both 'Saw' and Murphy Stanton, especially the latter, who had resisted Miramax's $7 million and a film contract offer, opting instead to go with Fox Searchlight.

This alone had been a significant miscalculation.

Similarly, she and Miramax's marketing department had evaluated the film's market potential, believing that with proper management, it could easily achieve a $10 million box office in North America. Including overseas and other rights income, Miramax could expect an eight-figure profit.

But now it was clear that this was wishful thinking. The actual profitability of 'Saw' could far exceed expectations, possibly doubling or tripling the projected profits.

And this was under Fox Searchlight, a distributor far less powerful than Miramax. The minimal resources Fox Searchlight invested in 'Saw' meant its success was largely due to its market appeal and the tastes of horror fans.

As she thought about it, Jones Butler's mind flashed with Murphy's face.

She acknowledged that she had significantly underestimated the director's capabilities and ambitions.

But she wasn't alone in underestimating Murphy Stanton. So had the person opposite her.

"This was a film that should have belonged to Miramax!" Harvey Weinstein finally broke the silence, his tone icy and stiff. "The marketing and screening departments need to review why such a film slipped through our fingers!"

Of course, it was because the offer didn't satisfy Murphy Stanton's enormous appetite! Jones Butler had this thought but wisely kept it to herself.

"Leave now." Harvey Weinstein waved dismissively.

Jones Butler stood up, moved quietly, and slowly left the office.

Harvey Weinstein's eyes fell on a report on his desk, and his facial fat trembled slightly.

After all, he was Harvey Weinstein. He wouldn't entirely blame such a mistake on his subordinates. But seeing the latest statistics on the North American box office rankings from the past weekend made him feel a sense of frustration. The delicious steak he was about to eat had not only flown away but was later proven to be Kobe beef. How could that not be infuriating?

Harvey Weinstein's eyes moved down to the latest North American box office rankings.

At the top was Universal Pictures' flagship, the third installment of the 'Jurassic Park' series, which grossed $50.7 million over the weekend.

In second place was the very name that made him feel irritated—'Saw'!

This film, with a production cost of around $1 million, had grossed $17.27 million over the weekend, becoming the box office runner-up!

Even his internal estimate for the North American box office was only about $15 million.

Reality had proven that even Harvey Weinstein could be wrong.

Adding the previous earnings, what was the cumulative North American box office for this film?

Harvey Weinstein quickly did the math in his head and came up with an answer—$25.71 million!

This figure was astonishing. About twenty times the investment return ratio... Harvey Weinstein suddenly felt a bit of chest tightness, unable to believe such a huge profit had slipped through his fingers.

'Saw' had only expanded its release for a week, so this wasn't the final North American box office. There were also overseas box office and revenue from video and TV rights to consider. What would the final profit be?

Even after working on numerous successful films over the years, the estimated numbers still made Harvey Weinstein feel both thrilled and pained.

Especially the latter, which felt like it was tearing at his heart and lungs, mocking his short-sightedness and failure to recognize talent.

Along with the regret, there was a hint of what-if. Had he known the outcome, he would have definitely raised the price to secure the film instead of trying to strong-arm Murphy Stanton.

Thinking of that name, Harvey Weinstein felt even more uncomfortable. This young director had stalled negotiations with Bill Rossis and Miramax, only to turn around and sign with Fox Searchlight...

The frustration in his chest made Harvey Weinstein feel very awkward. He stood up and paced around, eventually walking to the floor-to-ceiling window. Taking a deep breath, he finally felt a bit better.

Murphy Stanton!

The name resurfaced in Harvey Weinstein's mind. With no one else around, he didn't need to hide his feelings from subordinates. He admitted to himself that he had misjudged this unknown young director who seemed to understand the market and had his own ideas.

Could this be the next Robert Rodriguez or Quentin Tarantino?

Harvey Weinstein crossed his arms and gazed into the distance. To bring Miramax to its current position, he wasn't just a complainer or regretful fool; he understood the importance of talented directors in the film industry.

Discovering Quentin Tarantino had brought Miramax rapid growth. However, one fact couldn't be denied: Quentin's films were a feast for critics and a small group of fans, not for the general audience...

But all this wasn't urgent. He needed to observe this young director and see what he could achieve with his work.

As the head of a company, Harvey Weinstein might have various quirks or inexplicable issues, but learning from failures was a basic quality.

By now, he silently acknowledged that in the negotiations for 'Saw' with Murphy Stanton, he had underestimated the opponent, leading to this failure and a potential loss of millions in profits for Miramax.

Returning to his desk, Harvey Weinstein put away the report and picked up his pen. On a blank sheet of paper, he wrote heavily: Murphy Stanton!

He placed the paper under the transparent glass layer of his desk. It was both a reminder and a lesson!

With the new week, as more copies of 'Saw' were distributed, the number of theaters showing the horror film increased to nearly 2,000. The expanded screenings brought the film to more audiences, and the enhanced promotional efforts by Fox Searchlight also drew the attention of critics.

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