However, the actual losses may not be as significant.
The cinema's main source of revenue is, in fact, food.
As it turns out, no one dislikes free things.
Starting from May 2nd, with free movie screenings of a new film by renowned
Hollywood director Steve Kevin, there was an instant surge of enthusiastic participation from numerous people. Among them were both African Americans and Caucasians, with the common trait of being individuals who enjoy taking advantage of freebies and are movie enthusiasts.
Within the three cinemas, the showings of "Get Out" were packed with crowds.
New Line Cinema and Warner Bros. each dispatched their own surveyors to gather feedback from the audience of "Get Out".
Ronald was a surveyor specialized in audience and quality research for Warner Bros., and he had a stout physique characteristic of the lower-class American population. Of course, Ronald wasn't that exaggerated, but he weighed over 200 pounds.
At first glance, he appeared to be a slightly comical middle-aged chubby white man. However, he wasn't particularly thrilled about today's assignment, but he had no choice.
Being the kind-hearted person among the surveyors, this nearly forty-year-old guy ended up being forced to come here when no one else wanted to.
As a white man referred to by black people as a "dead white man," Ronald felt hesitant to approach the strong-bodied black individuals walking out of the movie theater in groups.
In his inherent impression, black people could sometimes be unreasonable. Once, he had invited black friends to share his favorite foods, watermelon and fried chicken. However, his friends flew into a rage and ended their friendship with him when they learned about his gesture. Later, he realized that, for a white person to offer these two foods to black people, it was considered racially insensitive.
Since then, Ronald had no interest in making friends with black people anymore. He never knew when he would unknowingly offend a black person and end up being innocently beaten.
Seeing groups of black people leaving, Ronald knew that if he didn't conduct the survey, he wouldn't be able to complete his task for the day. Suppressing his concerns about the unpredictable behavior of black people, Ronald approached several black individuals who seemed to be in a cheerful mood.
Of course, the main reason was that these black individuals appeared to be less physically intimidating.
"Excuse me, could you all please wait for a moment? I'm a Warner Bros. staff member, and our company is the distributor of the film 'Get Out.' Would you mind cooperating with me for a survey here?" Ronald politely asked.
The few black individuals glanced at each other, and the strongest-looking one stepped forward.
"We're okay with that!"
Finally, Ronald smiled and took out pen and paper to begin the survey.
"On a scale of S to E, how would you rank 'Get Out' among the movies you've seen?"
"S!"
"It has to be S!"
"..."
The black individuals eagerly responded one after another.
Although it wasn't the only film with a black protagonist, "Get Out" was the only commercial blockbuster with a black lead.
They thoroughly enjoyed watching it, with the highlights being the white girlfriend and her defense of them.
In the latter part of the movie, the protagonist took down the manipulative white individuals who wanted his body.
"Do you recommend this movie to your friends and family?" Ronald asked again.
"Of course."
The group of black individuals responded in unison.
Ronald carefully recorded this information. All the data would eventually be aggregated to Warner Bros.' decision-making level, where it would be used to determine whether to increase the promotion for "Get Out" or to cut losses early.
However, based on Ronald's years of experience, he could already sense a strong buzz surrounding the film.
Throughout the day, he surveyed hundreds of black and some white individuals. The black audience consistently rated the movie between S and A, while the white audience's ratings fluctuated between A and C.
Clearly, this was a film primarily appealing to black audiences aged sixteen and above.
At the same time, in other theaters belonging to Warner Bros., the company's surveyors had also collected their data.
They gathered all the collected information and headed back to Warner Bros. Studios.
In the CEO's office, several top-level executives of Warner Bros., including the president, were watching the survey data related to "Get Out."
"Has the first-day box office numbers come in?"
Jeff Robinov glanced at the data and asked directly.
An employee beside him quickly handed over the data sheet and said, "Yes, it's out. The film premiered in 1,000 theaters with 4,000 screens, and the first-day box office exceeded 10 million."
"The detailed data shows a total box office of 10,820,000."
One of the high-level executives, who was not familiar with the details of "Get Out," looked at the production and marketing costs displayed in front of him and couldn't believe it.
"President Robinov, based on this, does it mean that Kevin's directorial work will recover all the production and marketing costs in just two days?"
Other executives also showed joy on their faces.
"Yes, that's right!"
"Steve Kevin, just 24 years old, has unlimited potential."
"In his first two films, he has managed to achieve great success, bringing huge profits to both New Line Cinema and us."
Although Warner Bros. was not involved in the first film, "Saw," they were the overseas distributor collaborating with New Line Cinema. Through overseas distribution, Warner Bros. also received a share of the profits.
That's why Warner Bros. took the initiative to approach Kevin for the second film.
The consecutive success of two films would undoubtedly greatly enhance Steve Kevin's reputation in the industry.
It was likely that countless investors would approach him for his next film.
Warner Bros. had to maintain a good relationship with Kevin.
For a successful director, having a continuous track record of success was of vital importance to a film company of their scale.
However, the specifics of how to win over Kevin and what price to pay would need to be considered.
"We'll discuss Kevin later. Did everyone go through the information in their hands?"
"Yes, we have."
Everyone nodded in agreement.
Robinov continued, "Based on this information, it seems that 'Get Out' still has a lot of untapped potential, especially considering the impact of the Los Angeles riots. The black community is currently filled with dissatisfaction toward white people."
"Although the military suppressed the riots and they have ceased, they lack an outlet to vent their emotions."
"It seems that 'Get Out' has appeared at just the right time. This can be seen from the unanimous positive reviews from the black community in the data."