Chapter 481: Data Comparison

Chapter 481: Chapter 481: Data Comparison

Days moved forward methodically, with the box office statistics systems of major Hollywood theater chains operating day and night, and in the blink of an eye, it was Monday.

At ten in the morning, Robert Smith held a stack of freshly organized and printed box office reports and knocked on Irene’s office door.

With a visibly relaxed and joyful expression on his face, he laid two data reports flat on the desk.

"Irene, I am here to report to you on the latest box office performance of Taken." Robert’s tone could not hide his joy,

"The movie has been officially released for a full two weeks. Its North American opening week grossed $45.06 million at the box office, and the second-week drop was controlled quite beautifully, declining by only 12 percent, with a second-week revenue of $39.48 million. The two-week cumulative box office has reached $84.54 million."

Irene looked down at the clear numbers on the report.

Although she had anticipated it in her heart, she was still satisfied with this result.

You must know that Taken had a production cost of only $25 million, without top-tier superstars anchoring it.

The protagonist could not even be considered a first-line A-lister.

Although it had an original novel, compared to the popularity of Twilight, Taken could only enter the top 20 of the bestseller list, far less popular than Twilight.

Therefore, before filming started, many industry analysts were not optimistic about this medium-budget spy film, believing it would be submerged in the fiercely competitive summer box office season.

However, relying on a solid and compact narrative, crisp and neat action scenes, and the touching emotional core between father and daughter, the film achieved a counter-trend increase based on solid audience word-of-mouth.

Theater screening allocations continued to rise as word-of-mouth fermented.

"Now, multiple box office analysis agencies have given predictions that the final North American box office of this film can break at least $180 million." Robert continued,

"The Rotten Tomatoes fresh rating remains stable at 82 percent, and the audience popcorn score is as high as 88 points. The word-of-mouth effect among ordinary viewers continues to ferment.

Fox’s overseas distribution department is already impatient, hoping to finalize the release schedules for various regions around the world as soon as possible, wanting to strike while the iron is hot and expand overseas markets."

Irene tapped her fingertips gently on the report: "Leave the cooperation terms for overseas distribution to the legal team for careful review.

As for the sequel, launch Taken 2 next year, and increase the production budget to $50 million, but remember, cap the upper limit strictly, and it must absolutely not exceed this figure.

The charm of this series lies in the realism brought by the medium budget; blindly throwing money to pile up grand spectacles will instead ruin the original texture."

"I have noted it down, budget cap 50 million, it will not exceed the limit." Robert quickly made a mark in his notepad, changed the topic, with a hint of schadenfreude on his face as he pushed another report in front of Irene,

"In addition, the complete opening week box office data for Van Helsing has just been made public, and you might be interested in taking a look."

Irene nodded slightly and reached out to pick up the report.

The report clearly stated that the opening week box office of Van Helsing in North America was $49.27 million.

Looking purely at the numbers, it seemed slightly higher than Taken’s opening week performance.

But as long as one glanced down at the cost column, a huge chasm immediately appeared.

The total investment for Van Helsing, including overall production and promotion, exceeded $140 million, which was more than 5.6 times that of Taken.

"The opening week looks passable, but all subsequent hidden dangers have been exposed." Robert explained from the side,

"Word-of-mouth polarization is extremely serious, with professional critics mostly giving negative reviews, and the Rotten Tomatoes fresh rating is only 46 percent.

Internet forums and review websites are full of complaints from audiences criticizing the bloated and chaotic narrative, multiple monster story lines pulling against each other, vague character motivations, and cheap textures for some CG special effects.

Many viewers who have watched it are advising friends around them on social platforms not to enter the theater. After model calculations by multiple box office prediction agencies, the judgment given is quite pessimistic, estimating that the final North American box office of Van Helsing will be hard to break $150 million."

Irene’s gaze fell on that row of predicted numbers, with not the slightest surprise in her heart.

In the opening week, relying on overwhelming promotion and publicity and the gimmick of the Gothic monster theme, it attracted some curious audiences into the theater, obtaining a seemingly decent start.

However, terrible word-of-mouth would directly cut off subsequent viewing traffic, and the box office in the second week would most likely usher in a cliff-like collapse.

A blockbuster with an investment of hundreds of millions, its final North American box office might even fail to compare to a spy film with a 20-million-dollar budget; Universal’s high-stakes gamble could already foresee heavy losses.

"Universal is estimated to have a headache for a long time next." Irene gently placed the report on the desk without excessive emotion.

To her, this was just another failure case in the Hollywood industry where ambition did not match ability, not worth spending excessive mental effort to endlessly dwell on.

Robert tidied up the documents, seeing that Irene had already turned her gaze to another thick stack of paper documents at the corner of the desk, the cover of which was printed with The Devil Wears Prada audition candidate list, with hundreds of actor profiles and audition appointment forms neatly arranged.

"The audition preparations for The Devil Wears Prada are all in place." Robert reminded,

"Elizabeth over at Condé Nast has also confirmed her schedule, and she will come to observe the auditions on-site the day after tomorrow. The venue, judges, and camera recording are all fully prepared."

Irene reached out to open the candidate profiles, and actor photos came into view one by one.

The slight ripple brought by the failure of Universal’s blockbuster was completely cast behind her, and her attention had completely shifted to the casting work of this fashion workplace-themed film.

"Very well, have all the actors we invited confirmed they will participate in the auditions?"

Hearing this, Robert laughed in spite of himself: "Irene, I truly cannot imagine which actor in the entire Hollywood nowadays would refuse your audition invitation.

As long as it is an actor we have invited and who has not locked in their joining schedule yet, 100 percent of them have confirmed attendance. Actors in the circle right now who want to cooperate with you can really line up all the way from the Los Angeles set to New York Manhattan."

From winning Oscar glory with Million Dollar Baby to rewriting the pattern of commercial films with Pirates of the Caribbean, and then creating box office miracles with small investments for Saw and Taken, Irene Coppola’s name had long been a triple golden sign of box office, word-of-mouth, and awards in Hollywood.

Moreover, she was fair in casting, professional in filming, decent in treating people, did not engage in unspoken rules within the circle, was willing to give newcomers opportunities, and knew how to polish the brilliance of powerful actors.

Whether newcomers or veteran artists, they all regarded her audition invitations as precious opportunities, and no one would casually perfunctorily shirk them.

Time flew by rapidly in methodical preparation, and in the blink of an eye, it was the day of the official auditions for The Devil Wears Prada.