On March 25th, during the daytime, a commercial street near Santa Monica Square bustled with activity. The streets were filled with cars and people, and the top-notch brand stores on both sides displayed their extravagant wealth.
As Los Angeles' most prosperous pedestrian street, it was a shopping paradise for women. High-rise buildings surrounded the area.
At this moment, on the third floor of a business building, Mel Gibson stood by the floor-to-ceiling window in his office. On his desk, a spread-out newspaper had a particularly eye-catching headline.
"Effervescent" Powerfully Takes the Top Spot in Weekly Box Office, Director Lyman's New Work Receives Rave Reviews.
The headline seemed to pierce the eyes.
Knock, knock, knock.
The door was knocked, and before Mel could turn around, his assistant rushed in, panting.
"Boss, 20th Century Fox just called. They said that next week, our film's theater distribution and showtimes will be reduced."
"Okay, I know."
"Do you want to apply some pressure?" the assistant suggested.
"The United States has more than a dozen films releasing in a month. Should we really block others from screening? We've made a considerable profit over the past couple of weeks; we should give others a chance," Mel replied.
His face remained calm, and there was a faint smile on his lips. "Remember to notify Fox and remind them about the promotional budget."
That's what he said, but deep down, he wished he could push all the other films out of the theaters. After all, when it came to making money, who was willing to let go?
After all these years, he had finally made a blockbuster. He had initially thought he would make a fortune, but who could have predicted that Lyman would release a romance film and quickly snatch away a large portion of the market?
At the end of last year, they had successfully promoted "Saw" and made a considerable profit. Now, suddenly, in March, another film had emerged.
Was it trying to steal its own thunder?
Mel felt a sense of frustration and injustice. He had seen a golden opportunity slipping through his fingers. "The Passion of the Christ" was charging towards the $200M box office milestone, and suddenly, it was ambushed, dragged down mid-way, and now they were cutting the theaters.
It was important to note that although "The Passion of the Christ" was produced by 20th Century Fox, Mel's Icon Productions had also invested a significant amount in the film. It was another serious collaborative effort, with the entire film having a budget of $25M. To put it plainly, when they had agreed to make a film with such a subject matter, they had been cautious, and they hadn't dared to spend too extravagantly.
After all, if the audience didn't buy it, they wouldn't lose too much, but they could at least maintain their reputation and use it to chase after awards, just like "Braveheart".
In short, if the market didn't work out, they could always resort to awards.
However, Mel was a director with a keen eye. Perhaps the reception of "Braveheart" had awakened him, and he had grasped certain shortcuts in filmmaking.
So, what was originally planned as a religious film aiming for the Oscars turned into a cult film wrapped in sensationalism.
Then, when the film was released, there were two aspects he hadn't anticipated.
First, the audience criticized it severely, even if it was about Jesus.
Second, the more they criticized it, the more controversy it generated, and surprisingly, its performance was quite good. It was an unexpected windfall.
Moreover, Mel wasn't a director who cared too much about these things. He allowed the criticism to flow freely, and at least some industry insiders had a favorable opinion of him. Many film critics, considering his past connections and financial gain, were willing to give him some praise. That way, the public opinion didn't collapse.
Just as he was sitting in the company, looking at the rising data with delight, "Effervescent" was released.
Originally, he hadn't thought much about this film or believed that the romance genre had much overlap with his work. Different audiences, different money-making methods.
Unfortunately, too many viewers were disappointed with this time slot, and reality was slapping him in the face.
In just four days, the film directly secured the top spot in the weekly box office, and it snatched it away from "The Passion of the Christ".
Then he found out that his own movie was squeezed down to just over 1,600 theaters, with less than 20% of the showtimes.
Now he felt even more despondent.
Without theaters and showtimes, where was the market box office?
Without box office, well... what was the point of making money?
And were the audience members all idiots?
Online reviews of "Effervescent" were surprisingly good. For a movie of this genre, how could it have an 8.0 rating on IMDb?
There was also Rotten Tomatoes, freshness ratings—why had "The Passion of the Christ" suddenly become rotten?
Mel began to suspect that "Effervescent" had hired an army of trolls to boost its ratings. Or maybe they were just better at it than he was?
What was all this talk about "love leaving traces in life," or "watching a movie that made you cry," or "not being seductive or pretentious"?
There were so many positive reviews like these. Could they really not be manipulated?
He genuinely felt this way. After all, this was no secret in the industry. At the beginning, which film didn't engage in some manipulation?
Unfortunately, he didn't stop to consider why, even if manipulation was involved, there were still so many people criticizing him, and the scores just wouldn't rise.
Mel hadn't seen "Effervescent", but that didn't mean he couldn't have these thoughts. After all, colleagues were sometimes the bitterest of rivals.
If you didn't let me make money, who would treat you kindly?
Making movies was like gambling, a way to make money. Whoever got ahead took the lion's share.
Many ordinary movie fans who didn't pay much attention to filmmaking information were like this. When they read the newspaper or surfed the internet and found out that a certain movie was performing well at the box office, their first reaction was always to go see it.
Such market conformity was also one of the directions for theater adjustments.
Mel lightly picked up the newspaper on his desk and crumpled it into a ball before tossing it into the trash can.
Blocking the path of wealth, huh?
He picked up the phone and spoke in a calm tone, "Come to my office."
After hanging up the phone, he looked at his assistant again. "Get a few PR companies to come over."
"For publicity?" Mel chuckled. "Just stir up some buzz, and we're good to go."
Back when "Braveheart" was released, the box office hadn't been that great, but with a little help from Sophie Marceau, they had created some noise.
Even though the $70M investment had only garnered $130M at the North American box office and a total of $210M worldwide, it had still made some profits after the subsequent awards season.
Now, what he wanted to do was replicate the same operation.
After all, Monica Bellucci had gained some influence thanks to "Malèna".
With a little digging, there was great potential.
As for being rejected, that was impossible.
It was just a rumor, the audience enjoyed the show, and the parties involved didn't lose much. At most, find a newspaper and make a serious clarification.
Such methods had been used to exhaustion in Hollywood, but they still worked. Well, it worked in the entire global entertainment industry.
Sure enough, Monica didn't say much and directly agreed. After all, generating buzz could also enhance a female star's visibility, and it didn't cost any money, so why not?