Chapter 74: Exceeding Box Office Expectations

After signing her name on the notebook and watching the brunette girl leave with admiring glances, Carey Mulligan had never felt so good. This feeling wasn't just intoxicating; it was addictive. Once wasn't enough; she wanted more.

"Too bad modern audiences aren't too interested in directors..." Murphy silently lamented, patting Carey Mulligan's shoulder, who was still lost in reverie, before heading towards the car.

To be honest, he also wished to be recognized by fans, to be met with surprise requests for autographs, and then to be looked upon with admiration, as if he were a god-like figure.

Just like how many viewed James Cameron.

But such things were merely wishful thinking now. "Hard Candy," with its small budget and limited marketing, couldn't wield such power.

After dropping Carey Mulligan off at Julian Ferris's place, Murphy returned home to continue watching splatter horror films and prepare for his new film project.

The only difference was that, in his spare time, he frequently contacted Jones-Butler to get first-hand data on "Hard Candy."

Starting from this Monday, "Hard Candy" expanded to 160 theaters across North America. For a film with a production cost of $300,000 and modest marketing efforts, this was already quite impressive.

Even with Miramax's capabilities, the only way to further expand screenings was for "Hard Candy" to achieve solid box office results this week.

But "Hard Candy" was destined to be a niche film. Even if Murphy imbued it with a B-movie vibe, its essence remained niche.

In fact, the attendance rate observed by Murphy and Carey Mulligan mirrored the overall attendance rate of "Hard Candy."

No one could expect this film to have packed screenings and surpass the ten-million-dollar mark in its first week. Murphy never even entertained such thoughts; he wasn't that naive or lowbrow to lack even the most basic understanding of films.

On Monday, "Hard Candy" didn't show a surge in box office performance despite doubling its theater count to 160 across the United States. It earned close to $40,000 in ticket sales. Tuesday was the traditional discount day for cinemas in North America, with ticket sales slightly increasing to nearly $45,000 for the day.

By the end of that Friday, "Hard Candy" had grossed $210,000 in North America over five days.

Adding to the just over $100,000 from the previous weekend, the total North American box office had crossed the $330,000 mark, surpassing Murphy's production costs.

During the weekend, which was the prime time for theaters, "Hard Candy" earned $320,000, bringing the total box office to over $600,000.

However, after expanding screenings, the weekend box office per theater dropped to around $2,000, a rather average performance. "Hard Candy" wouldn't get another chance for wide release.

Under Miramax's management, the film continued to appear in more theaters. In the third week, the theater count increased slightly to 180.

The box office trend of "Hard Candy" remained relatively stable, with $160,000 earned over five weekdays and $250,000 over the weekend. The North American box office gradually approached the $1 million mark.

However, after two weeks of stable screenings, most of the potential theater audience had been exhausted. Starting from the new week, "Hard Candy" experienced a sharp decline in box office, with daily ticket sales falling below $10,000 and barely reaching $50,000 over five weekdays.

With the arrival of a new weekend, such results inevitably led to a drastic reduction in theater count for "Hard Candy," leaving fewer than 100 theaters screening the film. The box office trend continued to decline, earning $60,000 over the weekend, clearly entering the late stage of screenings.

In North America, a hot film could be screened for over six months, but it usually applied to mainstream commercial films or acclaimed works with awards. For a niche film like "Hard Candy," hoping to have a sustained presence and maintain a certain attendance rate was nothing short of wishful thinking.

After four weekends of screenings, the North American box office of "Hard Candy" barely exceeded $1 million, reaching the purchase cost line set by Miramax.

Of course, Miramax wouldn't receive all of this box office revenue. They were still far from recouping their investment.

Although North American box office was just one source of income, with overseas screening rights and potential revenue from videotapes and television rights, Miramax could still potentially profit.