On Saturday morning, Rex Reed left his home early to head to the center of Chatham Town. He bought a newspaper and entered a café for his morning tea, a routine of his. He didn't need to be in the editorial office at the newspaper; just showing up two days a week was enough.
Perhaps because it was early, the café had few customers apart from the staff. Only one table was occupied. Rex ordered a coffee, sat down at his usual spot, and began reading the newspaper.
Just after he finished the political news section, someone else entered the café.
"Hey, Rex!" The newcomer greeted him familiarly. Rex looked up, nodded slightly, and responded, "Hello, John."
John, walking past him, suddenly stopped and curiously asked, "Rex, are you prepared?"
Rex looked at him, puzzled. "Prepared for what?"
John reminded him, "Aren't you reading the newspaper? Didn't you see it? 'The Scorpion King's' box office has already exceeded 10 million dollars."
They were quite familiar with each other, so John didn't linger on the topic and headed to his table.
A waitress brought Rex his coffee, overhearing their conversation. She carefully asked while receiving his tip, "Mr. Reed, you're not really going to kiss a donkey's butt, are you?"
Rex gave her a sideways glance, and she quickly walked away.
With two people asking the same question, Rex couldn't help but flip the newspaper directly to the entertainment section. He quickly found yesterday's box office report, with "The Scorpion King" at the top!
This meant "The Scorpion King" was yesterday's box office champion in North America.
He glanced at the number and was slightly startled – 13.8 million dollars!
Despite being mentally prepared, Rex was still surprised. Such a high figure was beyond his expectations. Universal Pictures had only anticipated 15 to 20 million dollars for the entire weekend.
With 13.8 million dollars just on Friday, even subtracting Thursday's advance screening of over 3.4 million dollars, "The Scorpion King's" single-day box office still exceeded 10 million dollars. The weekend total might even surpass 30 million dollars – quite a success for a film with only a 40 million dollar budget.
A mindless popcorn entertainment film doing so well? He shook his head, realizing he was too distant from the teenage audience to gauge their mindset.
His phone vibrated. Rex checked it and answered, "What's up, Carter?"
The caller was Carter Hodgson, who had approached him a while ago.
"I'm just reminding you..." the man's voice sounded from the phone, "The Scorpion King's' North American opening weekend box office has exceeded 10 million dollars."
Rex responded calmly, "I saw it."
The voice from the phone continued, "Don't forget to come to the TV station tonight. I'll be waiting in the studio."
"I always keep my word!" Rex suddenly remembered something. "Contact the TV station to transport the donkey they gave me."
After confirming they would, Rex hung up, finished his coffee quicker than usual, and left the café, heading to New York.
He wouldn't break his promise, not just for the sake of increasing his fame, but also for the latter half of the 300,000 dollars.
Does a critic need face?
In Los Angeles, in the meeting room of Universal Studios, the higher-ups of Universal Pictures were in a meeting.
"Although 'The Scorpion King' received mixed reviews, the early promotions were very effective, and the film had clear selling points and strengths..."
Sean Daniel, sitting at the table, seemed somewhat triumphant. "Today's single-day box office is expected to see a significant increase compared to Friday."
Jett Bretton, sitting across from him, said, "With 'The Scorpion King' set for a big opening weekend, should we further intensify our promotional efforts?"
"That fire will burn tonight," a marketing executive said. "If you have time this evening, pay attention to NBC's secondary channel."
Laughter ensued in the meeting room.
Philip Clayston, the production director hosting the meeting, said, "I didn't expect such a film to become Universal Pictures' first hit this year."
Everyone had limited expectations for "The Scorpion King," hence the 40 million dollar budget cap.
"The only pity is..." Jett Bretton regretfully added, "the film received poor reviews, or else we could have considered a sequel."
They all knew sequels to popular movies meant lower risks and higher profits for Hollywood studios.
The marketing executive took up the conversation, "But the male lead, Morpheus, received excellent reviews! Matthew Horner was almost unanimously praised by the media and fans, with barely any significant criticism!"
Philip nodded, suggesting, "Let's assess the potential for a 'Scorpion King' sequel. A series aligns more with our interests."
Everyone agreed. With a popular male lead, a sequel had a fundamental guarantee.
After discussing this, Sean Daniel proposed, "Our market survey showed Matthew Horner was praised by over 60% of respondents. I think we can advance the release of Morpheus action figures and toys, which should sell well and continue to promote the film."
After some thought, Philip agreed to Sean's suggestion, instructing, "Coordinate with Matthew Horner to ensure he supports our plan."
That afternoon, Matthew received notice from Universal Pictures and had no objections. As part of his contractual obligations and with his likeness being used for the merchandise, he was entitled to royalties.
Laws and regulations covered this area, like Ron Speirs' action figure from HBO's "Band of Brothers," from which he earned a few thousand dollars, albeit limited by sales volume.
Compared to his salary, it wasn't much, but this was due to the character and type of series. Fans of "Band of Brothers" probably weren't big on action figures.
"The Scorpion King" was different, targeted at teenagers who often impulsively spent on their interests.
After dinner, Matthew didn't do his usual practice. He checked several entertainment websites, where he found news and reports about "The Scorpion King." He particularly visited Rotten Tomatoes and IMDB. With increasing professional reviews and viewers, both the Rotten Tomatoes freshness and IMDB ratings continued to decline.
"The Scorpion King's" freshness on Rotten Tomatoes was only 57%, with a dismal average score of 5.3. On IMDB, the average viewer rating dropped to 6.0...
From any perspective, "The Scorpion King's" reputation was no longer mediocre but was verging on poor.
But Matthew knew that many Hollywood blockbusters with terrible ratings on these sites had explosive opening weekend box offices. These ratings impacted the film's later performance rather than its opening box office.
The impact of these site ratings on box office wasn't as direct as it seemed.
As the male lead, Matthew understood some of the production team's strategies. They focused on the first two or three weeks of box office explosion.
Such films were quick consumer goods, with market potential largely depleted after twenty days in theaters.
After browsing for a while, Matthew turned off the computer, sat in front of the TV, and switched to NBC's secondary channel, anticipating a special program shortly to start.
In the TV broadcast, the familiar host appeared first, followed by a brief introduction. Then, the famous critic Rex Reed was invited on stage.
"Rex..." the host began, "Yesterday, 'The Scorpion King's' box office surpassed 10 million dollars."
"I saw it!" Rex maintained his critical style. "But I must say, it's a bad movie!"
The host curiously asked, "Is there nothing good about 'The Scorpion King' in your eyes?"
Rex shook his head. "Not at all!" He seriously added, "I owe Matthew Horner an apology. His role was outstanding, and he performed very well."
Someone agreeing to participate in such publicity wouldn't be foolish. He clearly aimed to align with the mainstream view.
"Matthew Horner will be happy to hear that," the host brought the topic back. "Remember what you said last week? If 'The Scorpion King's' opening weekend box office exceeds 10 million dollars..."
"I will kiss a donkey's butt!" Rex took over, boldly stating, "I may not guarantee other things, but as a critic, I always keep my word!"
The host feigned surprise, "Rex, are you really going to kiss a donkey's butt?"
"Of course, I can't break my promise, right?" Rex volunteered, "I already had the donkey Matthew Horner gave me brought over..."
Soon, a gray donkey was led into the studio, and under the watchful eyes of countless viewers, Rex Reed firmly kissed the donkey's butt.
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