The second weekend box office performance of the movie "Fast Times" was reported to Universal's distribution department, totaling US$3.2 million.
This result left Universal's distribution department, marketing department, media PR, and even several presidents speechless.
It's not that Ronald's genius shocked them, but that this result broke the rules and made them appear to be relatively incompetent.
In the second week, Universal's lab printed an additional 100 "fast-paced" copies and distributed them to theaters on the West Coast. The total screening line reached nearly 600 theaters.
Dividing the weekend box office by the number of theaters showing the film, the Universal Distribution Department discovered an embarrassing fact: the average box office per theater increased instead of decreasing.
Don't think this is a good thing, it means that the distribution department made a mistake.
Their box office estimates for "Fast Pace" were completely wrong. Without giving it more prime time slots and limited theaters, "Fast Pace"'s attendance and box office grew by relying on word-of-mouth.
The first reaction of the distribution department was to apply to their superiors for the lab to print another 200 copies to meet the needs of more and more movie theaters. This movie has great stamina, and the average box office per theater has surpassed Dolly.
"The Best Chicken Room in Texas" starring Parton.
The second director of the marketing department felt embarrassed. There was no marketing material for "Fast Pace" because the film had no marketing budget and more than half of it was canceled by Tom Mount's regional distribution strategy.
This movie has attracted a lot of media attention, and some local TV stations have begun to talk about the popularity of this movie among teenagers. At least there are more and more teenagers on the street who have a valley accent in every sentence.
This kind of movie that relies on word-of-mouth from the audience to counterattack at the box office after its release has a proper term called "Sleeping Beauty-style hit". Some newspaper reporters have already begun to use the name of another sleeper hit.
Beauty (sleeper hit) comes to call this video.
Every such report is a silent mockery of Global Marketing.
Therefore, their applications began to be sent to the desks of Shenberg, Ned Tanin and others, hoping to increase the marketing budget and at least allow several leading actors and directors to go on a road show along the originally planned route.
Received interviews from local media in Dallas, Chicago, New York, Boston and other places in Texas.
And the marketing department went a step further, proposing a plan to break away from only showing it on the West Coast, develop more copies, and seize the time to show it in East Coast and central cities.
This was not within their scope of work, but the supervisor, who was ridiculed by the media every day, couldn't bear it anymore and made cross-functional suggestions.
Otherwise, they will be ridiculed by the media on the West Coast. In the end, the movie may still be screened on the East Coast, and they will be ridiculed by the media in New York. Their mouths will be even more vicious, and there is no telling what unpleasant things they will say.
After receiving the application, Sheinberg lamented very much. He didn't fully support Ronald, which seemed to be a minor mistake.
If this movie can be released simultaneously in thousands of theaters across the country, I am afraid that the total box office will exceed 50 million, or even higher. In this era of generally weak movie box office, such box office results can be ranked in the top ten of the box office list that year.
Five.
If the two movies he supports both achieve top 15 box office results of the year, then his authority in Universal Pictures will definitely be greatly enhanced.
Moreover, this "fast-paced" film also collects a lot of pop music for interludes, which can be used as a movie soundtrack album. This will also be of great help to my voice in the music business of the parent company mca.
However, at that time, "ET" was already on track to win a big box office success, so I couldn't be wrong about my strategy of no longer taking risks.
The key is that I lack the courage to promote Spielberg. Once people sit in high positions, they tend to look forward and backward.
The only person who regrets it more than Sheinberg is Ned Tanin.
He has obviously supported Ronald once and approved the budget for Brooke Shields to reshoot. With the controversy surrounding this release, he should really support him to the end.
At that time, I still thought too much about the balance of power and maintaining the safe operation of my position, so I made a compromise.
In the final analysis, as a senior person, he lacks the ability to empathize with the broad middle-class audience. Which executive, including Sheinberg, can really tell whether a movie is appreciated by the audience?
After shaking his head and sighing, Tanin quickly expanded the scale of the screening, signed the application for screening in the east coast and central and southern regions, and then rang the bell to call his secretary.
"When will director Ronald Lee come to talk about the new distribution plan? Well... remember to remind me that I want to meet him. I have to have a good chat with such a director."
Anyway, there is another Tom Mount who is worse off than me... Tanin thought with gloating.
Tom Mount sat blankly in his office. After receiving a call from his old father-in-law last week urging him to resign, he still didn't want to admit defeat.
"Fast-paced" may also be a movie with insufficient stamina. Many of these youth exploitation films rely on sensory stimulation to attract audiences in the first week, and the subsequent box office will quickly decline. Especially this week's new Paramount film "
"An Officer and a Gentleman" is also released, and it is expected to continue to pull down some of the box office.
Who knew that the report he saw today on Monday, the dazzling numbers in the "Fast-paced" column, gave him a heavy blow. In the second weekend of its release, the box office had already exceeded 8 million, and it is expected to exceed 10 million by the middle of next week.
.
The application to expand the film to a nationwide release on the third weekend is also placed next to it, which looks like a provocation to oneself.
Alas, these department heads have probably heard some rumors and are no longer afraid of themselves.
Tom Mount opened the drawer and took out the resignation letter he had prepared. He straightened his tie in front of the mirror in the closet, combed his hair, smoothed the wrinkles on his suit, and opened the door to Sheinberg's room.
Walk to the office.
"This is my resignation letter." Mount handed the resignation letter over Sheinberg's desk.
"You don't have to be like this..."
"I insist." Mount unbuttoned the metal buttons of his suit without losing his grace and sat down across from the desk.
"We are old friends. I will set up a private production company, have a distribution contract with Universal, and Universal's share investment in the new company as a joint venture..."
"Of course, everything will be taken care of." Sheinberg swept Mount's resignation letter into a drawer.
"Have a drink, Tom." He took out a bottle of brandy and poured a glass for his old rival.
"The lawyers will take care of the contract matters, but Universal's investment in your personal production company will be reduced to half of the usual amount. Do you have any objection?"
"You!" Tom Mount stood up in protest.
"Sit down," Shenberg scolded.
Mount was startled by his sudden scolding and sat down again.
"This is the final condition. I have reached an agreement with MCA's... Mr. You will not be held accountable for your various dereliction of duty during your time in the company, as well as these romantic affairs that the lawyer helped you settle."
"You!" Mount was furious when he heard that he had given his father-in-law the legal documents that the company's lawyer had used to handle his romantic debt.
He was about to get up and leave, but when he thought that he no longer had a high-level job and needed the Universal President's nod to green-light his production company's movie, he sat back down.
Seeing his slumped appearance, Shenberg felt a sigh of relief in his heart.
"Everything else is as usual. Your position will be retained in the company for six months, and the office will be reserved for you until the end of the year. Universal will sign a hair contract for five movies with your new company, invest..., and hold a proportion of shares...
, I will ask the lawyer to give you the documents."
"Drink some." Shenberg picked up the wine glass and clinked it with Mount.
In the office of the copyright department downstairs, two film buyers from Global Television Network and NBC Los Angeles were still waiting in the conference room for the department head to return from the meeting.
"This fast-paced film was the first choice of our Global Television Network, and we should be given the first-round broadcast rights."
"No, no, no, NBC's television network on the West Coast is bigger than Universal's. We should air the first round first."
The manager sitting opposite them looked at the performance of the two buyers and felt funny in his heart. It wasn't until he saw the TV station's entertainment news broadcasting more and more news related to this movie that he remembered that he still had a broadcast contract in his hand.
to seek the right to premiere.
This director is really amazing, and now even social news has news about his movie.
The door was pushed open, and the head of the copyright department pushed in.
"Gentlemen, good news and bad news."
"The good news is that Universal has agreed to sell the TV broadcast rights to both of you at the same time. Each company will have ten broadcast rights." He handed over the contract as he spoke.
"The bad news is that the movie will expand to nationwide screenings next week, and your premiere will have to be postponed until after the movie is released."
At the same time, in the president's office of Paramount Pictures, president Michael Eisner was talking to production director and vice president Katzenberg.
"The box office performance of An Officer and a Gentleman remains stable, and the distribution department expects it to have a box office of over 100 million."
"What's the status of our contracts with the two leading actors?"
"Deborah Winger still has a film contract, and Richard Gere has fulfilled it."
"How's the rest of the production going?"
"Brian De Palma's new film has encountered some difficulties, but they can be handled."
"Okay, let me know if there's anything you need me to do."
Eisner pointed to a column on the box office report and asked Katzenberg, "What is this Universal fast-paced movie? The director's name seems familiar?"
"It's a youth exploitation film. Ronald Lee was originally the screenwriter, and we also competed for the script he wrote for Jane Fonda. And recently he helped Lou Adler reshoot the ending of the film."
"Oh, how's the quality?"
"Except for the ending that looks like a music video, everything else is rubbish and it will be difficult for it to be released in theaters."
"Ha. Well, since it's a music video, why not send it to MTV to play it, and then release the movie. If it doesn't do well at the box office, sell it to cable channels as a late-night movie."