October 10th was a promising slot.
After all, it wasn't a battlefield like the Christmas or summer seasons, so there wouldn't be any big-budget productions from major studios releasing in October.
At the same time, films going head-to-head with "Saw" were also smaller-scale productions.
For instance, Miramax's "Kill Bill", another masterpiece from the brilliant director Quentin Tarantino; there was also Bovi Pictures' "The Legend of the Bear." Well, let's skip that one—it's an animated film, targeting a completely different audience.
Then there was Warner Bros.' "Mystic River", directed by Clint Eastwood, his 24th work. Starring Sean Penn and Tim Robbins, it took an artistic route aimed at awards, theoretically posing no threat.
So, if you did the math, it seemed that only "Kill Bill" needed attention.
And that was indeed the case.
On the evening of October 11th, in an office within the AMC headquarters building, Braden White was listening to the report from the theater management.
As the largest chain of theaters in the United States, AMC based its screening schedule and arrangements on real-time market data.
"Boss, Miramax's "Kill Bill" has begun its first round of screenings. According to the aggregated data, the theater with the highest occupancy rate is at 80%, and the average occupancy rate across the whole theater chain is 56%."
"Not bad." Braden White smiled. "An average occupancy rate above half means it's meeting our expectations."
"Their marketing has been good, and Quentin's reputation is strong. So, on the first day of release, having such a good occupancy rate is promising. If they manage to build good word of mouth, it will likely increase even further. Boss, I suggest we add a few more theaters tomorrow and increase their showtimes to expand the market capacity." The supervisor proposed.
"No need to rush, let's wait and see," Braden White asked, "What about Paramount? Their "Saw" premiered yesterday as well. How's its performance?"
The supervisor replied, "The data hasn't been compiled yet, the team is still crunching the numbers. I'll have them forward the call here."
In the office, both of them waited in silence. At the same time, not just AMC, but other large and small theater chains were conducting a new round of market research.
It's worth noting that exhibition is also a business; timely adjustments based on real-time feedback to allocate screening times, and extracting the fattest profits is the most fundamental operation for every theater chain.
They weren't philanthropists; of course, they would allocate more showtimes for films that were making money.
"Ring, ring..."
The phone rang, and the supervisor quickly stood up from the couch to answer the call, asking, "How's it going? How's the theater's performance?"
"Supervisor Charles, several theaters in New York are almost full."
"Full?"
"Yes, the occupancy rates are above ninety percent. The theater managers are hoping we can add more screenings for "Saw" to increase showtimes."
Two minutes later, another call came in: "Supervisor Charles, the theaters in Los Angeles are requesting more showtimes. Fans are still queuing up, hoping for an additional screening."
"Supervisor Charles, there's news from the theaters in Chicago, they're requesting additional showtimes."
"..."
Call after call came in, and Charles' hand grew weak from answering. After a brief moment to collect himself, he reported, "Out of our 56 theaters, around 30% are fully booked, 40% have occupancy rates above 70%, and the rest are mostly nearing the average... This film is really heating up."
The American film market, although the world's largest, had its audience groups clearly defined. If your work attracted a certain audience, then the films targeting other demographics would naturally struggle to draw significant numbers. This was competition. And the occupancy rate was a critical metric for theater chains. Amid this give-and-take, the effects became more evident.
At least, after hearing such data, Braden couldn't wait to ask, "How about box office numbers? Have they been compiled?"
"I'll go check," Charles promptly responded, immediately dialing the market department.
In no time, the office door swung open.
The assistant of the market department, who worked under Charles, entered with a pleased expression. "Supervisor, President, good news, the market response is extremely positive."
"Oh," Charles felt a surge of happiness and immediately took the report.
After glancing through it briefly, he placed the report on Braden's desk and said, "The box office numbers for the midnight screening and the first day have been calculated. In total, across our 56 theaters, there were five screenings, accumulating a box office of $1,123,600."
To achieve over a million in first-day box office, for a film with a limited number of theaters, this performance was remarkably good.
Thinking about it, Braden White asked again, "How much is "Kill Bill" making at the box office?"
Charles replied, "Based on our screening situation, "Kill Bill" has accumulated $867,400 in box office."
Originally, October was a relatively quiet period in the film market.
However, two strong contenders like "Kill Bill" unexpectedly performed well. Although not as well as "Saw", it was still definitely worth acknowledging.
It's worth noting that these were just AMC's internal box office statistics. In the United States, there were five or six large theater chain companies, and countless small distributors.
A rough estimate based on these performances indicated that the first-day box office plus midnight screenings for both films wouldn't be below $3M.
However, AMC didn't concern itself with that. They only aimed to secure their rightful market share and, of course, maximize their profits.
Braden White inquired further, "How are the audience and media responses?"
Charles answered, "For "Saw", most film critics didn't like it much. After all, its genre isn't something film critics usually appreciate. However, Paramount Pictures must have put in some effort behind the scenes, so most of the reviews are positive. As for the audience, it's quite extreme. Some want to watch it again immediately after seeing it once, while others can't stand it and leave halfway through. As for "Kill Bill", it's Quentin's signature style. The reviews from film critics are generally positive, and most of the audience reactions are favorable as well. But in terms of actual performance, the data speaks for itself."
Braden White chuckled, "Film critics these days are becoming less relevant. We don't need to pay too much attention to them. A bunch of people who work for money, who expects them to be impartial? Haven't you noticed that their influence on the audience is diminishing? Let's do this then—tomorrow, free up 30 theaters, allocate 20 to "Saw" and 10 to "Kill Bill". As for what happens next, we'll arrange that when the time comes."
"Alright, I'll get to it immediately."
...