The test screening of Final Destination went much smoother than The Purge. After the screening, Embassy Pictures secured an additional 500 theaters from major North American theater chains, adding to the initial 2,000 theaters. Final Destination would open on an impressive scale of over 2,500 theaters in North America.
Additionally, several chain theater companies promised that the opening day screening rate would not be less than fifteen percent.
North America is the most mature commercial film market in the world. Major theater chains have long established criteria for evaluating film quality. Final Destination's eerie atmosphere, even for non-horror fans, was deeply felt.
If The Blair Witch Project succeeded purely through deceptive marketing, Final Destination could attract audiences with its inherent quality beyond just marketing.
With the theaters confirmed, Michael signed the loan agreement, transferring substantial funds from Relativity Entertainment to Embassy Pictures, preparing to produce 3,500 copies of the film.
Kingsman and Final Destination were about to be released successively, and both films' post-release promotions reached their critical stages.
The former had limited funding, with outdoor advertising only visible in minority communities. The media placements were mainly in newspapers and TV stations targeting minority audiences.
This film, centered on an Arab protagonist with positive African-American, Asian, and Latino supporting characters defeating white terrorists, was politically correct but primarily aimed at minority audiences.
In this era, truly marketable minority stars like Will Smith were not many.
In another ten years, Michael would dare to invest in making multiple black-led films, with less risk than using white leads.
The pre-release marketing budget for Kingsman was only $2 million, with overall promotional expenses planned to be kept under $5 million.
For Final Destination, the media and theater screening reactions were excellent, prompting Michael to temporarily increase the overall marketing budget to $10 million.
With substantial funds poured in, the pre-release promotional momentum was strong. Posters and advertisements for Final Destination were easy to find in newspapers, magazines, radio, TV, and outdoor billboards. Two different trailers were also aired during prime time on NBC, ABC, and several popular cable channels.
Stores like Blockbuster and Walmart, which sold and rented DVDs and videotapes, had posters prominently displayed early on.
The effect was directly proportional to the investment. Even the hype caused by the marketing gimmick of The Blair Witch Project was achieved with tens of millions of dollars.
With good test screening results and high investment, if this were a PG or PG-13 film instead of an R-rated one, Embassy Pictures could have secured even more opening theaters.
Since the film's editing was done by Jessica Felton, it also bore the influence of Michael, the producer, with notably increased gore. By Michael's standards, it was almost as gory as Final Destination 3.
This catered to the demands of mainstream North American horror film audiences.
It was still the late 1990s. Horror films without enough blood weren't considered scary by traditional horror fans.
After the release of The World Is Not Enough, Kingsman, which was released as a trailer, received a lukewarm response. Perhaps most audiences were not used to seeing an Arab face so frequently on screen.
In contrast, Final Destination garnered widespread attention.
The media reviews from the test screening, previously withheld by Embassy Pictures, were now released at the right time. The participating media outlets gave favorable reviews.
Premiere magazine gave the horror film high praise.
Variety, a highly influential entertainment magazine, also gave a very positive test screening review, awarding it four out of five stars.
"The story of Final Destination is simple. The title alone explains the entire plot. However, compared to traditional horror films, it is unique. There are no monsters leaping out with a roar, nor sudden appearances of vengeful ghosts. Instead, it's about the fear of Death relentlessly pursuing a group of students who narrowly escaped disaster. The fear stems from the unknown process of awaiting death, creating the film's most outstanding concept. The horror it generates is gripping and breath-taking."
In his office, Michael set aside the newspaper and picked up a statistical report.
This report, prepared by a third-party market research company hired by Embassy Pictures, was a market barometer based on surveys from the internet and general moviegoers, aimed at timely adjusting the film's promotional strategies.
According to the report's data, Final Destination generated less societal attention compared to The Blair Witch Project.
Random street surveys showed that less than twenty percent of people under twenty-five had heard of Final Destination, whereas nearly fifty percent had heard of The Blair Witch Project before its release.
As for the discussions sparked online, the two films weren't even in the same league.
Based on these figures, Michael estimated that Final Destination's North American box office wouldn't surpass The Blair Witch Project.
Although he had no specific memory of Final Destination's box office in his previous life, he knew it was a success; otherwise, there wouldn't have been so many sequels.
Even the Grim Reaper has a hard job, constantly claiming lives on screen to generate profits for the film company.
A knock on the door prompted Michael to say, "Come in." Mary entered, pulled out a chair, and sat across from him.
She placed a document in front of Michael and said, "The $50 million from Sony Columbia Pictures for the overseas rights to The Blair Witch Project has been credited. You mentioned reserving twenty percent as a contingency fund for establishing Embassy Pictures' overseas distribution channels. I've signed an agreement with them in the form of a middleman commission. Here's the contract; you need to sign it."
Michael reviewed the document and signed it.
Mary handed over two more contracts. "These are the latest loan agreements for the Kingsman and Final Destination projects, which also need your signature."
After reviewing them, Michael signed and said, "Keep the accounts clear. The financials for these two projects need to be sent to Abu Dhabi."
"Are we going back to Abu Dhabi?" Mary asked.
Michael replied, "Not for now. I'll invite the relevant personnel to Los Angeles. If they don't want to come, let the proxy accountant handle the settlement."
Since meeting that Samir, Michael had felt increasingly uneasy about Abu Dhabi.
Having lived in Los Angeles for two years, he had worked tirelessly to build his current situation from the brink of bankruptcy. This included countless hours of hard work and study, leading to almost no sleep before midnight.
Strictly speaking, he had only slept early on a few nights with Carmen Kess.
After all this effort, with his career finally taking off, someone lurking in the shadows made him uneasy.
Using Abu Dhabi Investment Authority's investment had helped create a favorable situation. The Authority wasn't foolish, and Mansour had long had plans.
But if given the chance again, Michael would still seek financing from Abu Dhabi.
Securing funding for the first film was incredibly difficult.
If Michael were genuinely a "friend of the Arab people," Abu Dhabi Investment Authority would surely provide the necessary funding. However, he knew he wasn't. The only connection to the Arabs was financial.
If the UAE had no money, would he still go to Abu Dhabi?
His friendship with the Arab brothers could only be measured in money.
Mary also didn't want to return to Abu Dhabi. Although Abu Dhabi seemed prosperous, even after visiting several times, her ingrained impression of Arab countries remained as savage, ignorant, and backward.
Hearing Michael say she, as the finance director, didn't need to go to Abu Dhabi to settle the future earnings of the two films, Mary shifted the topic, "Final Destination is having its premiere in early December. Can I bring a few friends?"
"Of course," Michael agreed. "They're welcome to support us."
With no star actors and James Wong only recently gaining fame, Michael was somewhat worried the premiere might be underwhelming.
He had even preemptively informed Robert to hire some "fans" to attend.
Mary smiled, "I can bring four or five friends to support."
Michael reminded, "Call Robert. He's in charge of the premiere."
The premiere was organized by an external company, with Robert overseeing it for Embassy Pictures.
Mary nodded, preparing to leave but suddenly remembered another document, handing it to Michael. "Earlier, you asked me to post a job ad for a professional ghostwriter. Ten people applied. I filtered them down to three qualified candidates."
Michael skimmed through the resumes and said, "Alright, I'll arrange for their interviews."
After Mary left, Michael called Embassy Pictures' receptionist, Eva, and handed her the resumes, asking her to contact the applicants and schedule their interviews for the next day.
All three candidates were under forty and had published novels in newspapers and magazines. One was even a screenwriter struggling in Hollywood, all experienced individuals.
The receptionist quickly scheduled the interviews for the next morning.