Reed and Kevin glanced at each other and simultaneously asked, "How much was the first-day box office?"
Seeing both top executives of MGM inquire at the same time, the staff member didn't dare to delay and directly reported the data compiled from the records.
"The first-day box office for Pirates of the Caribbean is $28.86 million."
Based on his experience and the internal ratings for Pirates of the Caribbean, Reed immediately estimated the film's North American box office.
Finally, he came to a conclusion.
"It seems that Pirates of the Caribbean will have a North American box office of no less than $200 million, or at the very least, a minimum of $200 million."
Reed murmured to himself, clearly shocked by the figure.
This was because Pirates of the Caribbean was about to surpass the North American box office record set by Mission: Impossible.
What was even more significant was that this was a family-friendly commercial blockbuster.
This type of film would also perform well at the international box office.
With that in mind, surpassing $500 million in worldwide box office was not a problem.
This meant that MGM and Warner Bros. would receive three times their direct investment and also earn a substantial share of the subsequent rights.
Reed looked up and joyfully said to Kevin, "It's no wonder you're called Director Kevin. Another successful commercial hit."
Faced with Reed's praise, Kevin remained calm and responded lightly, "I anticipated this a long time ago. No one understands the future performance of Pirates of the Caribbean better than me."
"By the way, we can start preparing for Pirates of the Caribbean 2 in advance. However, I will only participate as a screenwriter and producer. We'll need to find another director for the actual filming."
Reed's expression turned a bit unpleasant.
Although the probability of the sequel's box office failure was low, it would be best to have the original director handle it if possible.
But Kevin was not willing, and no one could force him.
Reed nodded and temporarily put this matter aside. He then suddenly asked, "Kevin, when will the celebration party for Pirates of the Caribbean be held?"
"Um... about a month from now," Kevin pondered for a moment and set the date.
For the new project, Kevin hadn't found inspiration yet, so he wouldn't start filming for the time being.
During this period, he needed to clean up the company's operations and assess the current situation of Marvel.
There was a little over a year, at most two years, until Marvel's rights would be up for sale as they faced the risk of dissolution.
Kevin still had a significant funding gap at the moment, so he needed to figure out how to acquire Marvel Entertainment, which was valued at $600-700 million.
…
After learning about the first day's box office, Kevin didn't take much rest and continued to lead Captain Jack Sparrow, played by Johnny Depp, in promoting the film across major theaters in the United States.
Within a day, Captain Jack Sparrow's unique charm instantly won the hearts of the American audience. Wherever they went, fans of Captain Jack Sparrow flocked to see him.
To ensure Captain Jack Sparrow's safety, Kevin had to urgently contact Warner Bros. and send multiple security personnel to protect him.
Inside a theater in Texas.
"Captain Jack Sparrow, we love you!"
"Depp, please give me your autograph. My son wants your signature."
"Hey, Captain Sparrow, you're the pirate king of the Caribbean. Keep up the good work!"
...
Under the protection of the security guards, Depp occasionally accepted items from fans and signed them one by one. Judging from the smile on his face, it was evident that Johnny Depp was delighted to meet his fans.
From 10 am until 6 pm, Depp didn't even have time to eat, as he continued to sign autographs and chat with fans about interesting anecdotes from the Pirates of the Caribbean series.
And Depp's efforts yielded visible results.
With countless photos taken with children, most of the parents didn't come empty-handed and purchased some merchandise. As the actor portraying Captain Jack Sparrow, Depp received a percentage of the profits from merchandise featuring his likeness as a token of appreciation for using his image rights.
Furthermore, due to his enthusiasm towards the fans, Depp gained even more popularity among them. Many fans voluntarily returned to the theaters to watch Captain Jack Sparrow's movies once again.
Under this wave of enthusiasm, the box office numbers soared on the second and third day. The second day alone garnered $32.12 million, benefiting from the holiday period.
Thus, the total box office revenue for the opening weekend, commonly known as the first weekend in the industry, reached a staggering $59.94 million, completely shocking all the film companies.
Moreover, it set the third-highest opening weekend box office record of the year, only surpassed by The Lion King and The Flintstones.
However, according to assessments by industry professionals, the trajectory of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise was exceptionally stable, with much higher potential than the aforementioned films.
Subsequently, on the fourth and fifth days, and until the second weekend, there was a significant drop in box office numbers. At this point, Kevin's Captain Jack Sparrow promotion team finally took a break.
Of course, Kevin himself continued to appear in Warner-controlled media programs with the most popular character, Captain Jack Sparrow, along with the female lead, Salma Hayek, further increasing the exposure and hype surrounding Pirates of the Caribbean.
Salma Hayek, through special camera filters and the power of makeup in the Pirates of the Caribbean film, immediately became a recognized Hollywood sex symbol, rising to become an A-list actress. Countless other actresses were envious of her success.
There were whispers behind the scenes that she only secured the role by climbing into Steve Kevin's bed, but such discussions were mostly kept in secrecy.
No one dared to openly criticize her or Steve Kevin. With Steve Kevin's current status, even a superstar wouldn't dare to directly offend him. If a top-tier actor offended him, their career would be in jeopardy.
Steve Kevin was the kind of person who could easily disrupt someone's life without necessarily offering any benefits.
...
Taking advantage of this rare opportunity, Kevin returned to his villa, where he hadn't been for a long time. He had someone clean the villa.
On the side, he went to Chinatown with Chen Zhiwen and bought a bunch of supposedly secret kidney-tonifying Chinese herbal medicines passed down from ancient Chinese physicians.
He brought them home and carefully regulated his body.
He had been a bit too indulgent in the past couple of years. It was only now that Kevin realized he needed to take good care of his health, or else he wouldn't be able to handle it anymore.
During his rest time, Kevin also searched for his next subject through television, media, the internet, and other channels.
The time to sell the rights to Marvel was getting closer and closer. Judging by the timeline, he still had about two movies' worth of time. Within this time, he needed to earn enough money to purchase Marvel.