Chapter 155: Astonishing Per-Theater Average

Malibu.

Unlike the still chilly New York, the temperature in Los Angeles in March, even in the early morning, is just right.

At a cliffside mansion on the west side of Point Dume Park.

In the seaside bedroom, the soft morning breeze, accompanied by the sound of the waves, flows through the French doors to the terrace and into the room. On the large bed, Catherine wakes up, feeling the cool air brush against her face, so she reaches out, groping until she finally grabs another pillow and quietly covers her face with it.

Laughter is heard, causing Catherine, who had covered her face with the pillow, to pause and then frustratingly elbow the man beside her a few times as if pounding garlic.

It's all this little rascal's fault.

Damn it.

How is she supposed to face Jenny now? And what if word gets out...

After taking a few elbows from Catherine, Simon also wakes up. The haze of the previous night quickly floods his mind. Looking around, he sees Janet propped up on one elbow, smiling at him, while on the other side, Catherine has buried her face in a pillow like an ostrich.

"Good morning, Jenny, and Catherine."

Greeting them, Simon sits up slightly, kisses Janet on the face, then moves to the other side. However, feeling him approach, Catherine, startled, flails at him a few times.

Janet laughs again and says, "Alright, little rascal, get lost. Go make breakfast for me and Kate."

Simon quickly dresses and gets out of bed. He asks Janet, "I was saying I'd go to New York today. Tomorrow's your birthday, aren't you planning to celebrate properly?"

Janet dismissively waves her hand, "I've already said I'm not interested in celebrating my birthday."

Seeing Janet's gesture for him to leave, Simon, smiling, leans in to kiss her cheek again before leaving the bedroom to freshen up in another bathroom. However, the vivid scenes from last night linger in his mind.

Yesterday, Simon came home late from work as usual. He had dinner with the director selected for "Steel Magnolia" to discuss some film matters. By the time he returned to Malibu, it was already past eight. While alone in his study pondering over the "Batman" script, Janet suddenly called, asking him to pick her up, but he ended up bringing back both Janet and Catherine.

Then, things just happened.

After preparing breakfast, Catherine is eventually persuaded by Janet to join the dining table, though she still avoids eye contact with Simon.

Handing a bowl of milk cereal porridge to Catherine, Simon, seeing Janet already spreading jam on her bread, asks, "So, why did you suddenly come back last night?"

Janet, biting into her bread, replies, "Kate and I went to see the sneak preview of 'When Harry Met Sally,' and then I suddenly thought of a certain little rascal."

"Oh," Simon smiles and asks, "How was the movie?"

"Better than the original script, and the cinematography was beautiful. I didn't know Manhattan could look so lovely," Janet muses, then asks, "And those interviews, were they real couples?"

"They're actors. But the interviews are real. The crew collected interviews from dozens of elderly couples and chose these materials from them," Simon explains, then looking at Catherine, who's avoiding his gaze, finds a topic, "Tomorrow's Jenny's birthday. How about we all go to Palm Springs for the next two days?"

Catherine shakes her head in panic, "No, I have to go back to New York later, for the... the movie stuff."

Simon wants to insist but notices Janet giving him a look, so he tactfully changes the subject. After breakfast, although it's the weekend, Janet sends him off to work. On weekends, he continues to work unless there's something special.

Arriving at Danerys Studios headquarters, Simon immediately receives a call from ICM, with Julia Roberts agreeing to the five-movie deal he proposed yesterday.

Then there's the matter of "When Harry Met Sally."

The film had a sneak preview in 33 theaters across major cities in North America the day before. Right after hanging up with ICM, Amy Pascal enters with a document, beaming, "Simon, this is the first-day media feedback from Disney for 'When Harry Met Sally.' The composite media score reached 9 points," Amy says, shaking her head, "It's a pity it's the Easter season. Many critics think the film won't be well-received by the youth."

"As long as the marketing is right, we can attract audiences to theaters. And the summer season also has a large proportion of young audiences, with fiercer competition. We can't push the release to the end of the year. Compared to that, I think the Easter season suits this movie better."

Simon says, flipping through the document Amy handed over, which starts with a summary of media reviews.

"A very clever romantic comedy, with a series of distinct characters that make you see your own reflection unknowingly." — Chicago Tribune.

"A movie you definitely shouldn't miss this Easter." — Hollywood Reporter.

"Compared to Woody Allen's cunning intellectualism, I prefer the freshness and humor of 'When Harry Met Sally.'" — Los Angeles Times.

"Meg Ryan's performance is memorable, and the strong chemistry between the leads compensates for any flaws in the movie." — Variety.

"Witty and warm, 'When Harry Met Sally' is destined to become a masterpiece in the romantic comedy genre." — San Francisco Chronicle.

"..."

"..."

Browsing through the media review excerpts in the document, Simon's thoughts keep flowing, "Amy, you just mentioned that young people might not be interested in this movie?"

"Yes, look at the back. Disney compiled the age distribution of yesterday's screening audience, with only 32% under the age of 25. During the Easter season, if it's a movie specifically targeting the youth audience, this proportion is usually above 50%. Moreover, the R-rating of this movie will keep a large part of the youth audience outside the theater."

"When Harry Met Sally" contains many topics related to sex, including a scene where the female protagonist simulates an orgasm in a restaurant, ultimately earning an R-rating, meaning viewers under 17 require an adult companion to watch.

Speaking of which, during the rating phase for "When Harry Met Sally," the Motion Picture Association of America's rating board stated that if Danerys Studios removed the scene of Meg Ryan in the restaurant and made some other minor adjustments, the movie could receive a PG-13 rating. However, the film's main creators, Simon, and Amy unanimously refused. Everyone agreed that Meg Ryan's scene in the restaurant would be the highlight of the film.

Simon continues to flip through the document, pondering for a moment, "Amy, do you know the story about the salesman who went to Africa to sell shoes?"

Amy shakes her head in confusion.

Simon can't remember exactly where the story comes from but explains it to Amy briefly, then says, "The situation we're facing now is like that salesman's. The main audience for movies during the Easter period is teenagers on spring break. Many young people not being interested in 'When Harry Met Sally,' which deals with adult themes of love and marriage, actually means we have a lot of market potential to tap into. Think about it, young people might not like movies about adult love and marriage, but I believe they will be very interested in other elements of this film."

After a moment's thought, Amy blurts out, "Sex."

"Exactly. 'When Harry Met Sally' doesn't have explicit sex scenes. However, Meg Ryan's performance in the restaurant is more suggestive. Over the next two weeks, in addition to the normal marketing process, what we need to do is use the media to hype up this scene as a topic. Young audiences are the most curious and interested in sex. If we heat up this topic, we can definitely attract them to the theaters."

This strategy of stirring up discussions by releasing controversial scenes in advance to gain attention is something Simon can easily recall numerous examples of from memory. Although there's no internet in this era, the concept of media hype works in any era. With thousands of newspapers across North America, it's still easy to hype up a topic with proper handling through widespread print media platforms.

After listening to Simon, Amy quickly organizes her thoughts and says, "Simon, I'll call Disney right now to arrange an emergency meeting. Do you want to come along?"

Simon shakes his head, "I have to go to Fox later. Goldberg has been wanting to discuss 'The Butterfly Effect' and 'Final Destination' sequels with me, and I'm finally free today."

After finishing "Final Destination," the rights to the film belonged to Fox, and "The Butterfly Effect" was no different. Simon had also considered the issue of sequels. However, getting the terms for the share of profits from "Final Destination" from Fox was already quite difficult, so Danerys Studios couldn't ask for more.

Although Simon won't have much to do with these series going forward, he can't completely let go. Helping Fox strategize a bit for the sequels, aside from a nominal fee, is more of an investment in relationships.

After discussing some details, Simon and Amy start to get busy with their tasks.

Catherine claimed she had to rush back to New York during breakfast, but when Simon came home from work, she hadn't left. After Janet's birthday, the new week began, and Simon finally sent both women on a private plane to New York.

On the other hand.

After several meetings, Disney also followed Simon's advice and began adjusting its distribution strategy.

With Disney's marketing department's efforts, the scene with Meg Ryan in the restaurant from "When Harry Met Sally" quickly became a focal point of discussion and even controversy among many media outlets, attracting more and more attention.

In the following days, the media heat for "When Harry Met Sally" continued to rise, and the first week of sneak previews soon ended.

In the week starting March 11th, a total of six new films were released in North American theaters. However, aside from "When Harry Met Sally," the other new films didn't make much of a splash. Instead, "Good Morning, Vietnam," now in its 12th week, once again took the weekly box office crown with $5.9 million in revenue, pushing its cumulative box office over $90 million.

As for "When Harry Met Sally," its first week of sneak previews ended with a box office of $1.68 million, ranking 11th in the weekly box office.

At first glance, "When Harry Met Sally," whether in terms of box office data or ranking, doesn't seem very impressive. However, considering the film had only 33 screens for its sneak preview, its box office data appears remarkable.

It's worth noting that the week's box office champion, "Good Morning, Vietnam," with 1,579 screens, had an average per-theater box office of just over $3,700. In comparison, "When Harry Met Sally" had an astonishing per-theater average of $51,000, more than ten times that of "Good Morning, Vietnam."

If the first week's box office wasn't enough to showcase "When Harry Met Sally"'s popularity, in its second week, after expanding the sneak preview to 37 theaters, the film's per-theater data not only didn't drop but, amidst widespread acclaim and discussion, rose again.

Ultimately, from March 18th to March 24th, "When Harry Met Sally," with only 37 screens, garnered an additional $2.07 million in box office, with a per-theater box office exceeding $56,000. With this $2.07 million in revenue, "When Harry Met Sally" jumped to 9th place in the new week's box office ranking.

Moreover, the other films near "When Harry Met Sally" in the rankings had screen counts almost dozens of times higher than this film.

In two weeks, through only sneak previews, "When Harry Met Sally" amassed a cumulative box office of $3.75 million, a figure that surpasses many low-budget independent films' total North American box office.

To minimize his influence on "When Harry Met Sally," Simon didn't even take the title of executive producer. As the first film under Danerys Studios not personally created by Simon, the success or failure of "When Harry Met Sally" is crucial for the company.

After "Run Lola Run," "The Butterfly Effect," and "Final Destination," Simon's talent in filmmaking has been confirmed.

However, relying solely on Simon is not enough for a film company to grow and thrive.

Only if "When Harry Met Sally," a film with no direct involvement from Simon in direction, writing, or production, succeeds, will the outside world recognize Danerys Studios' potential for growth.

Simon's wealth from the stock index futures market, over a billion dollars, ensures Danerys Studios won't face the difficult funding situation "When Harry Met Sally" experienced in its early stages. However, if Danerys Studios wants to venture into distribution, it must show North American theater owners that the company's films can perform well at the box office, even without Simon's direct involvement. This is something money alone can't solve.

Now.

With millions in box office revenue accumulated in just two weeks on thirty-something screens, the success of "When Harry Met Sally" is foreseeable.

The success of "When Harry Met Sally" will undoubtedly lead North American theater owners to reassess the box office potential of Danerys Studios' upcoming films like "Dead Poets Society" and "Steel Magnolia," making it easier for the company to push these films' distribution.

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