Chapter 111: Watershed

In Simon's view, the 1987 summer blockbuster season seemed to mark a watershed moment in Hollywood's film production and distribution model.

Starting from mid-May, a series of films featuring star-studded casts premiered, including Dustin Hoffman's "Ishtar," Eddie Murphy's "Beverly Hills Cop II," Arnold Schwarzenegger's "Predator," and Jack Nicholson's "The Witches of Eastwick."

Among these, "Ishtar" and "Beverly Hills Cop II" were prime examples of this watershed.

With a production budget of $55 million, "Ishtar's" opening week earnings of $5.7 million spelled disaster for Columbia Pictures, foreshadowing the official arrival of the era of big-budget Hollywood films.

As the sequel to the 1984 box office leader, "Beverly Hills Cop II" also boasted a substantial budget of $28 million. However, its most significant aspect was its unprecedented scale of release—2,326 screens.

While 2,326 screens might seem modest compared to the 3,000 to 4,000 screens typical for later blockbusters, in an era where most films launched on around 1,000 screens, the scale of "Beverly Hills Cop II's" release was revolutionary.

Paramount Pictures chose not to stick with the traditional Friday release, instead opting for a Wednesday debut on May 20th.

With an intense promotional campaign leading up to its release, "Beverly Hills Cop II" raked in $7.61 million just from Wednesday and Thursday, immediately pushing the same week's $5.7 million earnings of "Ishtar" to second place in the weekly box office charts.

The following week, "Beverly Hills Cop II" grossed an additional $40.03 million, accumulating a total of $47.64 million in just 9 days.

Before 1987, such an explosive start was only ever seen with the "Star Wars" series, which appealed to a national audience.

In contrast, 1986's box office champion "Top Gun" had an opening week gross of $12.21 million, and 1985's leader "Back to the Future," which also debuted on a Wednesday, had garnered only $22.02 million in its first 9 days.

Moreover, after its initial burst, "Beverly Hills Cop II" saw a significant 40% drop in the following week's earnings, a much steeper decline than the typical 10% to 20% seen in enduringly popular films.

Nonetheless, "Beverly Hills Cop II" was destined to be another blockbuster hit.

While many studios were analyzing Paramount's distribution strategy, Simon understood that beyond the era of big budgets, Hollywood was also entering a phase where films could build up massive anticipation through extensive pre-release marketing and then recoup investments quickly by launching on thousands of screens.

Having finalized his arrangements in stock index futures, the Daenerys Films production "Final Destination" also commenced shooting on May 18th.

The main filming location for "Final Destination" was in Queens, New York. Simon flew to New York when filming began and spent three days with the crew before returning to Los Angeles.

For the next while, Simon was mostly occupied with casting, location scouting, and rehearsals for "Pulp Fiction."

"Final Destination" had an 8-week shooting schedule, and if all went well, the film was expected to wrap by July 10th. "Pulp Fiction" was scheduled to start filming on July 13th, with a planned production period of 10 weeks.

Meanwhile.

Due to a series of new releases during the summer, the box office performance of "Run Lola Run" and "The Butterfly Effect" was significantly impacted.

However, by June 15th, in its 18th week, "Run Lola Run" had crossed the $200 million mark, reaching a total of $200.107 million thanks to a weekend gross of $1.36 million.

Following that.

From June 19th to June 25th, in its 12th week, "The Butterfly Effect" earned an additional $1.82 million, pushing its total earnings beyond $100 million, reaching $100.087 million.

While everyone recognized the box office potential of "Run Lola Run" and "The Butterfly Effect," the media frenzy reignited across North America when the films actually surpassed expected figures.

Amid this media fervor, Catherine's "Night of the Blood Zombies," which premiered on June 19th, benefitted directly from Simon's involvement.

The film debuted on 513 screens and, amid the buzz, grossed $7.86 million in just the first weekend, with an average of over $15,000 per theater, achieving blockbuster status.

Simon and Janet had been planning to host parties since March or April to thank those who had supported Simon throughout the year.

Seizing the current opportunity, they revisited the idea.

On Saturday,

 June 27th.

A grand party was held at the Palisades mansion.

A rough day, indeed; I didn't want to skip an update, so here's a brief chapter.