Chapter 209

Mission: Impossible III, as the first summer movie of the year, opened in North America with a weekend box office of $47.7 million across 4,054 theaters.

In comparison to last year's summer opener Kingdom of Heaven, which grossed $19 million on its opening weekend, it was certainly much better. However, the word-of-mouth and results did not seem to meet Paramount's expectations.

Tom Cruise had been a hot topic since last year. This year, the media constantly covered and discussed news about his girlfriend's pregnancy and the birth of their child.

However, the result wasn't great. Last year, Tom Cruise was heavily criticized by both the media and fans for his impulsive actions, and this year, his over-the-top promotion of his relationship and child only made things worse.

The Mission: Impossible series, being Tom Cruise's ace series, had his personal appeal absolutely impacting the movie's box office.

As summer started, the entire Paramount publicity team closely monitored any news about Tom Cruise. Whenever they noticed any childish behavior or outlandish statements that might damage his image, they would immediately conduct public relations.

"Boss, Cannes Film Festival is opening next week. Do you want to check it out?" Phyllis Jones suggested. 

"The Cannes Film Festival, huh? We can indeed take a trip to France," Charles had ample free time as Dona Langley was managing Capet Pictures now.

"By the way, I heard that Taylor Swift from our record company is about to release her first album?" Charles suddenly asked.

"Yeah, little Taylor Swift will debut with a single this month. The company is arranging for her to participate in some promotional activities like TV interviews and guest performances to increase her popularity. Her first self-titled album, Taylor Swift, will be released in September!" Phyllis Jones remembered it clearly because Taylor Swift was the only singer the boss truly valued at Capet Records.

Back at their lakeside villa in downtown Manhattan, Charles went straight to his private theater and watched the final cut of 300 with Phyllis Jones.

"The cinematography is really good. Also, movie technology has improved a lot in recent years," Charles said, leaning on the sofa. He was pleased with the muscular, testosterone-fueled actors in the film.

"Yeah, 300 only took two months to film. The crew wrapped up in October last year, and most of the work was on special effects. We organized audience test screenings by the end of last year to tweak the film based on their feedback," Phyllis Jones almost drooled watching the screen. The movie has quite a bit of appeal to women too.

"The final cut is good, and a November release seems appropriate," Charles couldn't help but feel a bit embarrassed by how badly the film portrayed the Iranians.

Since 300 was mainly shot in front of a green screen with a lot of special effects, Capet Pictures had begun organizing test screenings very early on.

When Charles first viewed the film, only about 70% of the rough cut was complete, and the ending was still undecided.

Marketing a film involved putting in a lot of effort, and data research was an essential part of the process.

Even before the editing was finished, test screenings had begun. Adjusting the film based on audience reactions was standard procedure for distribution companies. That's why few directors in Hollywood had final cut rights.

"When the movie is released, Iran will definitely protest!" Phyllis Jones laughed. The ancient Persians were primarily from what is now Iran.

"Hah, who cares? With the current US-Iran relations, the Persian army is portrayed as bizarre, grotesque, corrupt, and evil. The political implications are pretty clear. 300 is all about the righteous West fighting the evil Iranians," Charles didn't care much about Iran's reaction.

"Look at the Greek army, a few hundred strong, and all mighty and heroic," Charles said. He certainly wasn't worried about Iran.

"Protests are inevitable, but I think Iran will go all out in boycotting 300," Phyllis Jones agreed with Charles. Given how the movie portrayed them, it would be surprising if Iran didn't boycott it.

"But boss, our 300 is truly great. It's a blend of film and comic book, merging cinema with comic art! The battle scenes are thrilling, and the visuals have an epic feel. I believe it will achieve good box office results."

Charles smiled, hugging his girl and giving her a firm kiss. "Absolutely. Director Zack Snyder did an excellent job on this film. Once 300 is released, he'll surely become famous."

Zack Snyder, are Warner Bros and DC ready for him?

*****

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