"The massive marketing, the investment of the cover characters, the controversy caused by the film itself, and the personal charm of Mel Gibson have created the film's extraordinary premiere this weekend."

Sitting in the cafe of the Regent Hotel in Beverly Hills, Hoddle from Derbych Cinemas was full of annoyance. More than a month ago, the seemingly unintentional choice missed the box office feast of "The Crucifix"!

Although I know that the success rate of films released by Embassy Pictures is very high, who would have thought that even films with the theme of "The Passion of Jesus" would be successful.

Hoddle touched his nose, and he regretted it for sure, but now that things have come to this, he can only find a way to make up for it.

As for what the side who puts pressure on him will think, it is not within consideration.

No matter what, I have rejected the first weekend, and there is an explanation. It is nothing more than a screening later. Now it is the off-season of the movie, and the theater is deserted. Even if it does not rely on box office profits and no customer traffic, it is just a decoration. Since "The Passion of Jesus" can attract a large number of viewers, why should we not be able to overcome the profits?

Hoddle looked at the newspaper in his hand carefully, and the front page of the entertainment page was extremely eye-catching.

"The Passion of Jesus is the best in North America!"

Thinking about the heat caused by the controversy, the box office champion seems to be the treatment this film deserves.

Hoddle did not expect that the results of "The Passion of Jesus" were completely different from those of Martin Scorsese's films on the same theme.

At that time, the controversy caused a big box office crash, but now the controversy has led to a big box office hit on the weekend of the painting.

Why is this? Does the results lead to different times?

The controversy has actually become directly linked to the box office.

"Despite protests by religious figures, Mel Gibson's new film "The Passion of Jesus" was not affected at all at all. On the contrary, the overwhelming coverage of this film by major American media over the past few weeks undoubtedly means that it has been a free advertisement for it. After the opening weekend screening, "The Passion of Jesus" won $86.21 million in North America, far apart from the $39.82 million in the second place "First Love" and won the North American box office championship."

Seeing the figure of 86.21 million US dollars, Hoddle was shocked. This was not an ordinary box office big sale, but a huge box office big hit!

If you remember correctly, the full copyright of the film that Embassy Pictures seems to have bought out for $40 million, and the box office in North America alone was $86.21 million in the first weekend. Can this deal be more cost-effective?

Ronan Anderson's vision is really amazing, but he was under pressure from some people, thinking that abandoning videos with this kind of theme is nothing, and he turned into a fool.

After giving up "The Passion of Jesus" on the first weekend, Hodel felt that Derby Cinema Company suffered a lot of losses, but fortunately it was a favor. In the future, those people wanted him to do things like abandoning the films that Ronan Anderson was optimistic about, so he directly criticized them!

Movies that can bring massive passenger flow are not screened. Should you play your floppy movies?

Hoddle continued to read the newspaper.

"The Crucifix" set the best single-day box office record in February, the best weekend box office record of the North American film market, and the best weekend box office record of the best Hollywood film. After major Hollywood companies refused to release the Crucifix, Embassy Pictures exclusively bought out the film, and its current box office results also prove the company's unique vision."

This traditional film off-season, and theatres are hard to live, and Hoddle is very aware of this.

The release of "The Passion of Jesus" undoubtedly injected a shot in Hollywood's box office sales in February, allowing it to wipe out its bleak and sluggish decline.

Hoddle knew exactly what to do next. After putting down the newspaper, he drank the last little coffee, looked at the time, and rushed directly to the Embassy Films office in Burbank.

One was a distribution company and the other was a theater company. Although there was an unpleasant quarrel between the two sides, Thomas still took the time to meet Hoddle.

Embassy Films is also a businessman, and profitability is the most important thing.

"Congratulations to your company's "The Passion of Jesus" for its big sale." As if nothing had happened, Hodel sent his congratulations: "Mr. Thomas, the accuracy and uniqueness of the Embassy Film Company's film selection are admirable."

Thomas said lightly: "Thank you."

Hoddle smiled all over his face: "The film sells well at the box office, and the next step is to expand the scale of the screening?"

Thomas certainly knew why Hodell appeared at Embassy Pictures and said directly: "The relevant work is already done."

Hearing that the other party didn't mention the topic of Derbyqi Cinema joining the expanded screening, Hoddle had to take the initiative: "Derbyqi and Embassy Films have been partners for many years. We have always been very happy in recent years. Can we add more than 100 theaters under Derbyqi to the list of expanded screenings of "The Crucifix"?"

"You can consider it." Thomas said very seriously: "But it will take some time. After all, you rejected the "Crucifixion" last time, so we didn't prepare much of the corresponding copy."

These are all reasons and excuses. Hodel didn't understand these truths, but the film market was cold in February. Finally, there was such a hot film. He refused because of pressure, which led to a crack in the cooperation between Derbyzi and Embassy Films. Now he must take the initiative to make up for this crack.

When he entered Embassy Film, he remembered another thing Thomas mentioned. Embassy Film will release more than a dozen films this year, and even a floppy theme like "The Passion of Jesus" can be used as a hit. What about other works with stronger commercial elements?

After all, Derbyzi is a small theater company and does not have much capital.

If the company that puts pressure in the future gets rid of production difficulties, it is impossible to bow to them again.

For those who run a commercial company, the interests of the company are important, and this does not damage the face of self-esteem, which is actually nothing.

"I'm too short-sighted." Hoddle said extremely seriously and seriously: "Mr. Thomas, I solemnly apologize to you and Embassy Pictures for this. I have been regretting this for a while. It shouldn't have affected the good cooperation between Derbizi and Embassy Pictures for many years for some inexplicable reasons."

"It's okay." Thomas said so, without any clarification.

Hoddle gritted his teeth and said, "Derbye screened "The Passion of Jesus", and the theater's share was reduced by 5%!"

After all, the other party is a theater company, and Thomas cannot force it too much and said, "Since Derbyzi is willing to continue to cooperate with the Embassy Pictures, we will not ignore the needs of our partners. Mr. Hodel, I will notify the distribution department later to ask them to prepare copies for Derbyzi."

"Thank you." Hodel said hurriedly: "Thank you very much."

Thomas smiled and said, "You're welcome. We are partners, so cooperation should be win-win."

Hoddle said a few more polite words, then said goodbye to the Embassy Films, and as soon as he got on the bus, he hurriedly greeted the people below and told them to prepare for the release of "The Passion of Jesus" at the Derby Cinema.

Cinemas are like shopping malls. Only with customer flow can there be profits. The box office is the most intuitive data that reflects the customer flow of a film.

After closing the phone, Hodel's anxiety improved instantly, but not long after he was happy, his phone suddenly rang out ringing. He looked at the number displayed, and his original good mood began to be gloomy again.

He answered the phone, listened a few words, and said, "Sorry, I can't do this. Derbizi is a commercial company and it is impossible to ignore such excellent films as "The Crucifix". This gentleman, we refused to release "The Crucifix" on the first weekend, and the losses were as high as millions of dollars. Who will make up for this part of the loss? Of course, I don't mean to make up for it. After all, our friendship is extraordinary, but I can't continue to reject this film. Derbizi has hundreds of employees, and I also need to be responsible for their salaries."

Not knowing what the other side of the phone said, Hoddle's face became even more gloomy and he said in a low voice: "This matter has ended here. I hope you will not make such excessive requests in the future. I will not agree. Just like that, goodbye."

After hanging up the phone, Hoddle felt relaxed. It was right that the other party was a top company in the film industry, but he was not a shareholder of Derbyzi. The favors had been paid back and he would not be responsible for their bad things in the future.

Hollywood, Paramount Studios, Shirley Lansing listened calmly to the assistant reporting the latest situation.

"The people below just fed back the information." The assistant said as concisely: "Those small theater companies have contacted the Embassy Film Company and asked to join the screening of "The Crucifix". Before this weekend, the number of screening theaters in North America will increase to more than 3,500."

Shirley Lansing gently rubbed her eyebrows and said, "I didn't expect this movie to explode like this."

The assistant asked carefully: "What are we going to do next?"

"According to the previous strategy, withdraw the power of relativity entertainment." Shirley Lansing also concluded that when facing relativity entertainment, Paramount Pictures was not as powerful as imagined. It was undoubtedly unwise to disperse its power to attack the two companies, DreamWorks and Relativity. She said slowly: "According to what I said last time, the matter of Relativity Entertainment is left to the group company for handling. Our goal is DreamWorks."

The assistant quickly replied: "Okay, I'll let them give up contact with the theater company."

No matter how small moves are done, it is actually useless. In the face of the huge benefits that may bring in "The Passion of Jesus", many problems are not problems at all.

Shirley Lansing continued to consider the issue of DreamWorks, and as for Relativity Entertainment, it was completely thrown aside.

This time I went up rashly to bite, but the meat didn't bite and almost collapsed.

She gradually gained a clear understanding. In the past few years when the six major companies were completely attracted by DreamWorks, Relativity Entertainment had developed into a powerful company.
Chapter completed!