Chapter 185: Opening Weekend Box Office

Malibu.

On the new Monday, the windows were left open from the night before, and the cool morning breeze continuously teased the curtains leading to the terrace, slipping into the bedroom.

As the sky brightened, Janet opened her eyes, knowing Simon must have already awakened but was accommodating her by not moving. So, she wriggled and soon was lying fully on top of him, her cheek against his chest, mumbling, "Can we sleep a bit more?"

Simon wrapped his arms around Janet's waist, enjoying the feel of their skin touching, and whispered, "The designer hired by the company has finished the model of the Batmobile. Do you want to see it this afternoon?"

Janet responded somewhat sluggishly with a grunt, then said, "Not interested."

"Alright then."

Simon smiled, patiently indulging Janet as she lingered on him for a while before, with a dissatisfied huff from her, he lifted her to the side and began to dress and freshen up.

It was seven o'clock in the morning.

After jogging on the treadmill for half an hour, Simon took a quick shower, dressed, and began preparing breakfast for the two of them.

Just as he had placed two sandwiches in the toaster, Simon took out some oranges from the refrigerator to make juice, when Janet, wearing only a large men's shirt, drifted in from outside.

As he cut the oranges, Simon turned to glance at her and smiled, "Why not sleep more?"

"Without you by my side," Janet came over to hug Simon, tiptoeing to kiss him on the lips, then suddenly paused, raising her hand above her head to his mouth, and after a few gestures, her eyes widened in surprise, "You've grown taller?"

Janet's beautiful eyes always held an attraction that Simon found hard to resist, especially when she widened them in surprise.

Nodding, Simon admired her lovely eyes and smiled, "Seems like I've grown a bit."

Janet immediately felt saddened, wrapping her arms tightly around Simon, burying her head in his shoulder, lamenting, "Oh no, my boyfriend is still growing taller, and I'm already an old woman."

Feeling Janet's half-joking, half-serious insecurities, Simon lifted her face, which was as delicate as an eighteen-year-old's, kissed her, and comforted, "It's okay, darling. You care so much about maintenance, even ten or twenty years from now, you'll look just the same."

Janet rubbed her cheek against Simon's, then playfully pressed, "What about thirty years later?"

"Well, by then, I'll also be fifty years old."

Hearing this, Janet buried her head in Simon's shoulder again, whimpering, "A fifty-year-old man, definitely more attractive to young girls."

Simon, helpless, said, "I'm already attracting young girls now. It's inevitable."

Janet punched him lightly, "You little rascal."

After a moment of affection, Simon sent her off to get dressed, and soon brought the breakfast to the dining table.

When Janet returned, she had changed into a casual t-shirt and pants, feeling melancholic about her boyfriend growing taller yet since realizing Simon's certain tendencies, she rarely wore her favorite high heels anymore.

High heels can deform the feet over time.

Usually, people sit across from each other at the dining table, but Janet liked to sit next to Simon.

After taking a sip of orange juice, Janet gently bit into her sandwich, seemingly forgetting the earlier matter, and said, "Mom called yesterday, asking when you're going to Australia?"

Having decided to shoot "Batman" in Melbourne, Daneris Entertainment had already sent people to scout the location, and Simon himself would definitely visit Melbourne before filming starts.

After thinking for a moment, Simon said, "Next month, after taking over New World Entertainment, I'll focus mainly on preparing for 'Batman.'"

"The Australian government has been supporting the film industry a lot these years. Shooting there, the project can get a significant tax rebate," Janet tilted her head, clearly not very familiar with the details, and added, "Anyway, dad will surely help you."

After breakfast, Neil Bennett and Ken Dixon had prepared the car, and Simon headed to work in Santa Monica, while Janet went to an architectural design company in Beverly Hills.

The plot in Point Dume Park had been secured, and Simon provided a sketch based on the memory of the Iron Man mansion. Recently, Janet had been overseeing the design work. The project was expected to start next year. However, building such a villa on the tip of Point Dume was challenging, and Simon knew he might have to wait two or three years to move in.

Since it was on the way, Janet and Simon shared a ride to the Santa Monica downtown area before switching to Ken Dixon's burgundy Range Rover to head to Beverly Hills.

Simon's original Chevrolet SUV had been replaced by Janet with a black Range Rover. As they entered the Daneris Entertainment headquarters on 4th Street in Santa Monica, Simon noticed the crowd gathered outside the company had grown.

"Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" had been a success, not only for Daneris Entertainment's reality shows but also prompting other production companies and networks to develop reality show projects that didn't require writers. After the Producer's Guild's proposal was rejected by the Writers Guild, due to the shift caused by "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire," Simon heard the new contract being brewed by the Producer's Guild was even more stringent than the previous one.

The strike had lasted six months, and the WGA had little choice.

If no agreement was reached next month, with the autumn season already delayed, the Producer's Guild might decide to continue the standoff. But with thousands depending on it for their livelihood, if the WGA continued, it could lead to the union's dissolution.

As the initiator of the current situation, in recent days, there had always been writers gathering outside Daneris Entertainment to express their dissatisfaction. This was common in Western societies, and Simon had grown accustomed to it. As long as they didn't interfere with Daneris Entertainment's operations, there was no issue.

However, upon arriving at the headquarters parking lot, Simon realized the new group wasn't members of the Writers Guild. In fact, there were two groups.

There were still some WGA members tirelessly protesting outside Daneris Entertainment, but today, more people were protesting against "Instinct."

And from the signs like '"Instinct" is trash,' 'Westworld, San Francisco no longer welcomes you,' 'Discrimination, this is discrimination,' 'Stop smearing gays,' and the rainbow flags some held, Simon understood the issue.

Deep down, as an Easterner, Simon was neither for nor against homosexuality; he didn't have much of a stance. Thus, he found it hard to understand why the gay community was so opposed to the film, even hearing that some gay organizations in San Francisco had been distributing spoilers outside theaters to deter audiences.

Driving through the crowd into the parking lot, Simon entered the office building from the side door.

After a one-hour weekly meeting to confirm the progress of various projects, the executives dispersed to their tasks, leaving Simon and Amy in the meeting room. Jennifer brought the box office data for the past weekend.

After a long period of hard work, it was finally time to see the results.

Despite mixed media reactions, with a lean towards criticism, "Instinct" still achieved a $16.75 million box office in its opening three days, taking the crown of the North American box office for the weekend. With 1776 screens, the per-theater average was close to $10,000, a standard for blockbuster films.

Eddie Murphy's "A Trip to America," now in its third week, remained in second place.

After a 45% drop in box office the previous week, "A Trip to America" narrowed its decline to 21% this weekend, adding $10.41 million. With a stunning $36.15 million opening, the film's cumulative box office reached $66.51 million in two and a half weeks.

In comparison, the new release "Tiger Detective," produced by Warner Brothers and starring Clint Eastwood, earned only $9.07 million in its opening three days. Although not a poor performance, expected to reach about $13 million for the week, it was considered a failure compared to "Instinct's" $16.75 million.

Interestingly, this summer, Warner Brothers' releases, "Funny Farm" on June 3rd and "Tiger Detective" on July 15th, directly competed with Daneris Entertainment's "Pulp Fiction" and "Instinct."

Chevy Chase's "Funny Farm," due to lukewarm market response, was nearing its end, with a total box office not even reaching $25 million. "Tiger Detective" might perform slightly better, but still far below Warner Brothers' expectations.

Additionally, Sandra's "A Fish Called Wanda" added $5.63 million over the weekend. Thanks to strong reviews, the film's two-and-a-half-week box office reached $30.96 million.

As Simon and Amy reviewed the weekend's box office data at Daneris Entertainment, the same reports were spreading throughout Hollywood.

With $16.75 million in three days, and calculating the weekend as 70% of the week's total, "Instinct's" first week box office wouldn't be less than $23 million.

Though "A Trip to America" had just achieved a $36.15 million opening, films breaking $20 million in their first week were rare at this time. Unless it faced a significant second-week drop like "A Trip to America," "Instinct" had the potential to pursue the $100 million box office milestone in North America.

In fact, seeing "Instinct's" opening weekend numbers, few doubted it would emulate the success of Daneris Entertainment's "When Harry Met Sally" and "Pulp Fiction" in reaching the $100 million mark.

The controversy surrounding "Instinct" was too intense. Even if viewers didn't go to the theater in the first week due to the debate, the spreading discussion and word-of-mouth effect in the following weeks might lead them to watch.

With $23 million in the first week, assuming a 20% drop the following week, the film could still earn $18 million.

With over $40 million in two weeks, not only would it cover the $20 million production cost for Fox and Daneris Entertainment, but such performance would also be enough to rank among the top twenty in the North American box office for the year.

Thus, with the first weekend's box office revealed, all of Hollywood began studying the success formula of "Instinct."

The "femme fatale" was a key element captured by many film companies, along with, of course, "sex." Despite the ongoing Hollywood strike, studios were already scouting for scripts with similar elements.

However, Simon knew the fundamental reason for "Instinct's" success was the intense controversy it stirred.

In the film industry, while the quality of a movie is crucial, when its discussion reaches a certain level, even a complete flop can achieve impressive box office results.

The 1997 "The Blair Witch Project" proved this, with a production cost of just a few tens of thousands of dollars, it earned nearly $250 million worldwide, a return rate of thousands of times, making it a miracle.

Frankly, Simon's previous works also benefited significantly from the halo of discussion. The 18-year-old director of "Run Lola Run," the youngest Palme d'Or winner for "Pulp Fiction," and now the intense controversy of "Instinct."

Simon was aware that the public's curiosity would gradually cool after consecutive successful films over two years. For Daneris Entertainment's films to continue succeeding, besides ensuring quality, more effort needed to be put into marketing, without relying on shortcuts like now.

As the media debate continued, the first week passed quickly.

From July 15th to 21st, "Instinct's" box office was even higher than the media's general expectations, reaching $23.92 million. "A Trip to America," in its third week, earned $16.03 million, with a cumulative box office of $72.34 million.

Warner Brothers' "Tiger Detective" ranked third, with a final first-week box office of $13.19 million.

Given the current situation, Warner might repeat last year's performance.

In 1987, Warner's best-performing film was "Lethal Weapon," released in a low-expectation early year slot. This year, up to now, Warner's most successful film was still Tim Burton's "Beetlejuice," released during the Easter period and not highly anticipated. This fantasy comedy, nearing its end, had just crossed $70 million.

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