If she had the choice, Laila didn't want to expose her strength so early. The Eastern philosophy was to "make money in silence," and alerting her competitors too soon wasn't something to be happy about. But now that it had come to this, she didn't care. She wasn't afraid of competition and had confidence in carving her own niche amidst it.
By the third week, the buzz had finally started to die down. And on that Friday, "Pirates of the Caribbean" finally faced its first formidable opponent - "Pearl Harbor," a war epic co-financed by Faiza and Faaris, directed by a top explosive director, and featuring a cast of A-list stars. Speaking of "Pearl Harbor," it boasted quite terrifying resources. Whether it was the director, the actors, or the crew, all were of the highest industry standards. Just looking at the names in the cast was enough to attract the audience to the theaters.
Compared to Faiza's recklessness and disregard for consequences, Faaris was much smarter. Ignoring Faiza's orders to release their films simultaneously, he chose to start two weeks after their rival. This way, he could avoid the peak of Laila's film, minimizing the impact on his own box office.
Unlike Faiza, he never underestimated Laila's capabilities. Even if all the news he received about her film was negative, he didn't let his guard down.
As it turned out, his caution was correct. Laila's film indeed created a summer miracle, heating the summer box office right from the start. It was easy to imagine what would have happened if he had scheduled "Pearl Harbor" to compete directly with "Pirates of the Caribbean" - it would have been mutually damaging without any benefits.
Now things were different. He believed that the fading "Pirates of the Caribbean" was no longer a worthy obstacle for "Pearl Harbor" to overcome. He would use this film, in which he had full confidence, to cleanse the shame of his previous defeat.
Faaris was a proud man. After Laila had adorned the premiere of her film with the glittering star-studded red carpet, he also invited many renowned celebrities to "Pearl Harbor's" premiere, choosing the Chinese theater as well.
Perhaps the atmosphere wasn't as intense as "Pirates of the Caribbean" had created, but the promotional campaign for "Pearl Harbor" was still quite intense. With Faiza's substantial financial backing and Faaris's strategizing, the film's promotion was well-executed. However, due to the outstanding performance of the pirates, "Pearl Harbor" didn't shine as brightly as it should have.
Early the next morning, the previous day's opening day box office figures were in everyone's hands.
$23.5 million! Another impressive opening day box office.
This achievement had many people exclaiming that the summer box office was too fierce this year. In just over half a month, two films with excellent box office results had been released, and people were eagerly anticipating what would come next.
However, this result left Faaris dissatisfied because it was $5 million lower than Laila's film. This was a significant gap, one that he wouldn't have cared about in the past, but now, such a small difference cost him the first battle.
The people below him weren't as pessimistic as he was. It was only the first day, and they had two more days over the golden weekend to rake in box office revenue. There was no need to be disappointed over a small setback.
When Louise received "Pearl Harbor's" box office results, she immediately went to see Laila. Although she had been wondering why they had to compete head-on with each other, it was clear that these two films were designated as rivals.
In the previous round, they had used "Kill Bill" to defeat Faiza's "The 13th Warrior." This time, "Pirates of the Caribbean" was tasked with conquering "Pearl Harbor."
"$20 million is a very threatening box office figure. I think we need to prepare for it, or our box office numbers might drop significantly. Do you think we should invest more in advertising?" Louise asked, placing the box office report on the table with a smile.
Laila shrugged and casually tossed the report with the box office numbers onto the table. "It's okay. They can't threaten us."
"You don't think this box office figure is good?" Louise didn't seem as relaxed as Laila. In the summer box office, this was still a pretty good result. Their film was only in its third week, and to earn more, they needed more screens. If they didn't have enough screens, their box office would drop significantly.
"It's not bad, just not as good as ours," Laila replied truthfully.
Louise couldn't argue with that. "Don't you think we should do something to counter them? They keep talking about surpassing 'Titanic's' box office, and I think we should pay attention."
"Louise, if it were so easy to surpass, do you think people would still call me the '300 Million Director'?" Laila joked, poking fun at her unflattering nickname.
Louise saw that she could make light of that title, realizing that Laila had stopped caring about it. Although she had appeared indifferent in the past, she wouldn't have engaged in media banter if she truly didn't care.
"Their advertising budget is much larger than ours. Don't you think we should increase our advertising spending?" Louise inquired.
"You can increase it if you want," Laila didn't mind. Who would complain about making more money? "You don't need to worry too much. Even if we don't do anything, other films can help us defeat them."
Louise was puzzled. "What other films?"
She asked this question instinctively, but as soon as she asked it, she realized it was a foolish question. The only films that could threaten "Pearl Harbor" were those released simultaneously.
Thinking about it, she contemplated which film could possess such allure. There seemed to be only one that fit the bill, but was it that one?
"Are you talking about 'Fast & Furious'?"
Laila smiled. "Don't you think it will be an interesting movie?"
Louise furrowed her brow. She couldn't see anything interesting about that movie. From the information she had received, it was a high-speed car racing film. The director had an average track record and no significant work. The cast wasn't top-tier Hollywood, so how could such an unremarkable film pose a threat to "Pearl Harbor"?
"If I'm not mistaken, the budget for 'Fast & Furious' is $38 million, but 'Pearl Harbor'..."
Louise didn't think just anyone could make a high box office film with a low budget. The cost difference between the two films was five or six times, and she couldn't see how "Fast & Furious" could pose a threat to "Pearl Harbor."