Chapter 179: First Day Box Office

"This is a blatant disregard for all Black people!"

Luther stood in the center of the spacious living room, his voice ringing with conviction. "This is Hollywood ignoring the contributions our ancestors made to this country! They've marginalized us for too long, and we have to make our voices heard!"

"Luther is right!"

Another Black man who had attended the premiere of Saving Private Ryan stood up. "The Omaha landing scenes were entirely white! Hollywood has once again one-sidedly denied Black people's contributions to World War II!"

"So what do we do?"

No one knew the status of Black people in this country better than they did. "Tell us, what should we do?"

"Gather as many people as possible..." Luther thought for a moment before continuing. "Starting tomorrow, we'll split into two groups. One will head to the Los Angeles City Hall Cinema, and the other to the Fox Building in Century City."

"Is that a good idea?" someone asked worriedly. "Could it trigger a sensitive reaction from the California State Government? The events of '92 weren't that long ago."

At the thought of that brutally suppressed Black riot, a few people looked hesitant.

"We're just doing a sit-in." Luther wasn't stupid. "We're only protesting Saving Private Ryan and calling on all Black people to boycott the film. We won't do anything extreme."

The men left one after another to use their influence, urging more people to join tomorrow's protest for the dignity of Black people and their ancestors. Only Luther and a few others remained hidden at home, happily counting the figures on their checks.

Not far away in a Latino neighborhood, Rodriguez was doing the exact same thing.

Under the cover of night in the Chicago suburbs, nearly ten young people walked into a movie theater together. Upon reaching the lobby, they discovered that the usually hassle-free ticket counters had a long line for the first time this year.

"Kim, is Saving Private Ryan really as good as you say?"

Hearing his friend's skepticism while waiting in line, the leader spread his hands helplessly. "This is my second time watching it today. If the movie wasn't good, would I be back for seconds?"

"Mitt, it's my second time too!" another friend chimed in. "If Kim was just an idiot who got fooled by the movie, could we both be idiots at the same time?"

"I just ran up to the front to take a look."

One of the people who came with them walked back from the front of the line. "Most of the people buying tickets are choosing Saving Private Ryan. It's well over half of them."

"Which goes to show, when you walk into a theater and don't know what to watch, just follow the crowd."

Standing behind the ticket window, Criswell watched nearly ten more people buy tickets for Saving Private Ryan, a rare smile touching his lips. He wasn't happy for the movie, of course, but for the theater's ticket sales.

Foot traffic at the theater had surged since the afternoon, with nearly two-thirds of the audience coming for Duke Rosenberg's new film, Saving Private Ryan. It made Criswell think of Independence Day's release last year; that young director was absolutely the theater chains' best friend and partner.

In fact, if they could have a Duke-style film premiering every week... no, every month, theaters wouldn't ever have to worry about their performance.

Hollywood simply had too few directors like Duke Rosenberg!

Sighing with that thought, Criswell took today's sales records and returned to his office.

Today, his theater had sold a total of $25,075 in tickets. Of that, $16,756 came from Saving Private Ryan, while Braveheart—which had been expected to rival it—was suffering an outright disaster, scraping together just $3,231 in sales.

Never mind comparing it to Saving Private Ryan; even Die Hard 3, which had already been out for a week, easily crushed it with $4,214!

Braveheart was truly a movie with high expectations and a dismal trajectory!

With a sigh, Criswell suddenly recalled the reactions he had heard from many moviegoers and realized this was actually quite normal.

After all, a story about Scotsmen—starring a lead actor heavily branded a traitor by the media prior to release—really didn't stand a chance against a movie that told the story of American heroes. Moreover, Twentieth Century Fox had chosen an extremely targeted release window.

Memorial Day was approaching. For the past few days, memorial events had been taking place continuously across the country, many of them closely tied to the largest war in history.

Setting down the reports, a flash of determination crossed Criswell's eyes. It was time to make a decision!

He dialed the operations manager and spoke in an unquestionable tone. "Starting tomorrow, increase the screen share for Saving Private Ryan to seventy-five percent! Leave only one auditorium exclusively for Braveheart! Aside from keeping one evening theater open for Die Hard 3, use all the freed-up screens to show Saving Private Ryan!"

The audience loved the movie, and it brought massive revenue to the theater. Criswell was simply making what he deemed a very correct choice!

...

"Honey..."

Demi Moore walked into the room and spoke quickly to Bruce Willis. "John is here. It seems important."

Changing into formal attire, Willis and his wife walked into the living room hand in hand, warmly greeting the middle-aged man who had come over. He was the PR head for Die Hard 3.

"Any good news, John?"

Since he was visiting so late, it had to be something important. Willis asked, "Is it about the movie?"

"There is good news indeed." John didn't try to keep them in suspense. "We just got word that the box office for Die Hard 3 completely beat Braveheart today!"

"Oh, that really is good news." Demi Moore asked tentatively, "What about Saving Private Ryan?"

"You're being too greedy, Demi!" John shook his head. "There is absolutely no comparison."

"We can't compete with Duke Rosenberg." Bruce Willis seemed very self-aware. "Being able to beat Braveheart in its opening week during our second weekend is already quite impressive."

"That's not all the good news." John continued, "I have reliable information from the North American Theater Alliance that major chains, led by AMG, Regal Entertainment, and the National Theater Chain Alliance, have decided to cut the screen share for Braveheart starting tomorrow. If its per-theater average doesn't improve, they will drastically reduce its screening scale starting next Monday!"

"Bruce, what do you think?"

As Willis was one of the film's major investors, John valued his opinion highly.

"Competing with Duke Rosenberg's movie in the summer season was a massive mistake!"

Thinking for less than two seconds, Bruce Willis made his decision. "Contact Duke's agent, contact D-Day Studio, and Twentieth Century Fox. We'll join forces with them to suppress and carve up the screen share for Braveheart!"

"I'll get on it right now!"

With that, John turned and left the living room.

Intangible competition blanketed this battlefield called Hollywood like gunsmoke. The silence of the night wouldn't make the smoke disperse, and the rising sun of the day would only make it burn hotter.

Wearing athletic shorts, Duke ran all the way through the garden and directly into the villa's side door. He went upstairs to shower, changed into formal clothes, and walked down the main staircase. When he entered the dining room, Tina Fey was already waiting for him.

"Morning, Duke," the female assistant greeted him.

"Morning, Tina."

Nodding, Duke sat down at the dining table and gestured for Tina Fey to take a seat, ready to enjoy his breakfast.

Tina Fey accepted the coffee brought by a servant, thanked them, and opened the folder in her hands. "Yesterday's statistics are out."

"Let's hear it," Duke said as he cut his fried egg. "Try to relax here. I don't have that many rules."

"Right..." Tina Fey nodded. Looking at the report in her hands, she inwardly sighed that the media calling Duke the king of the summer season wasn't wrong at all. "In 2,543 theaters across North America on opening day, Saving Private Ryan raked in 20.54 million dollars!"

"That really is great news."

Raising his cup of oatmeal, Duke lifted it toward Tina Fey. "We really need to have a drink together to celebrate."

"Absolutely."

Tina Fey smiled and took a sip of her coffee, immediately returning to work mode. Knowing what else Duke cared about, she added, "As for Braveheart... following a midnight screening that only brought in 1.22 million dollars—which was far below expectations—it only earned 2.75 million dollars on its first day."

"Paramount Pictures is going to be heartbroken. I wonder if Sherry Lansing will step down over this."

Muttering this under his breath, Duke swallowed his fried egg and asked, "Is it second at the daily box office?"

"No," Tina Fey gently shook her head. "Bruce Willis's Die Hard 3 is in its second week, and it made 6.21 million dollars yesterday!"

"Looks like Braveheart is heading for a massive flop?"

Although he didn't know what its historical box office was, Duke believed that caught between Private Ryan and Willis, Mel Gibson was going to have a very hard time.

What affected a film's box office wasn't just its quality and marketing; the performance of its competitors in the same release window was just as important.

"There's also word-of-mouth. Audience approval for Saving Private Ryan has dropped to ninety-three percent, maintaining a normal, healthy decline... while audience approval for Braveheart has rapidly plummeted to sixty-nine percent."

Under these circumstances, Braveheart simply couldn't withstand the combined assault of Die Hard 3 and Saving Private Ryan. Just last night, Duke had received notice from Nancy and Penny Kalis that Bruce Willis's camp wanted to join forces with them to suppress Braveheart!

Naturally, Duke and Fox wouldn't refuse an opportunity to quickly carve up the screen share belonging to Braveheart.

After breakfast, Duke took Tina Fey and hurried to the Fox Building in Century City, where they had a press conference scheduled to address claims that the film was too gory and brutal.