"I don't know if we are lucky or not."
Ronald Meyer of Universal Pictures sighed as he looked at the data they gathered.
Universal was happy that The Equalizer changed its release to August, giving Johnny English time to breathe... However, their expectations were met with disappointment.
Johnny English was released on July 18, starring Rowan Atkinson.
"July 18..." He weakly muttered.
The Equalizer changed its release but Johnny English still met a strong opponent that said week. It was Bad Boys II, starring Will Smith and Martin Lawrence. This movie was also directed by Michael Bay.
The hardest opponents were usually sequels of successful movies and Bad Boys II fit the criteria really well.
Johnny English only made $9 million on its first weekend, while Bad Boys II made a whopping $46 million at the box office.
Clearly, Bad Boys II dominated the theaters, stealing most tickets from Johnny English. Between the two, moviegoers would definitely choose Bad Boys II since it had a better premise and a successful franchise.
So even though Johnny English dodged The Equalizer, they still lost against Bad Boys II. Their hard work was futile.
"Perhaps it's a good thing that Johnny English only $40 million. We should lower the promotion budget for this week."
Suddenly, a knock came from the door, informing Ronald that someone wanted to meet him.
"Sir, Peter Jackson is here." The secretary announced.
"Tell him to enter."
Ronald returned to his serious expression, he casually hid the disappointing documents related to Johnny English.
Peter Jackson, his success this past few years was recognizable. He revived the glory of Lord Of The Rings by bringing this piece of literature to theaters, starting another culture for the Americans to follow.
Star Wars became a culture.
Lord Of The Rings also became a culture.
And yes, even Harry Potter became a culture.
They were not movies anymore, they were culture. Almost everyone in the United States knew about these movies.
Peter Jackson was a master in starting that culture.
So far, New Line Cinema has already released two Lord Of The Rings, and the last part of the trilogy was set to be released in December this year.
Peter Jackson already finished the filming of the trilogy and he only had to focus his attention on post-production.
Being one of the in-demand directors in the industry, Peter Jackson was invited by Universal Pictures to direct one of their projects.
The title of this project was King Kong. Universal Pictures was ready to pay the director at least $20 million just to direct this project.
The Big Six only trusted the past performances of the directors and Peter Jackson passed the test. His last two movies were all successful, in fact, very successful.
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring grossed $883 million worldwide.
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers grossed $949 million worldwide.
Of course Universal Pictures wanted to hire Peter Jackson, hoping that he would bring them profits. Universal Pictures already understood that it would be impossible to work with Director Grey, something that Ronald Meyer regrets sometimes.
Four of the Big Six gained a lot by working with the director, while Universal Pictures and Walt Disney had none.
"Peter, how's it going?"
"I'm doing fine. I'm here because I want to ask about King Kong."
"Of course, of course. Feel free to ask me." Ronald Meyer smiled, quite satisfied that the director showed interest in the project.
"Actually, I heard that you intend to sell the copyrights of King Kong to Sony-Colombia, is that true?"
"What!?"
Ronald stood up in surprise.
'Who the hell spread these false rumors?'
...
...
...
July 28, it had been three days since the premiere of Lara Croft: Tomb Raider - The Cradle of Life.
Just as usual, the cast of the movie had to promote the movie by going to different states, showing on some local TV Shows, or guesting on famous shows such as The Tonight Show with Jay Leno or The Oprah Winfrey Show.
Within those three days, the movie grossed $21.78million. It might be smaller compared to Pirates Of The Caribbean and Bad Boys II but this was clearly a victory for Paramount Pictures. They understood that Bad Boys II and Pirates Of The Caribbean were directed by superstar directors and it would be hard to copy their performance.
In fact, Paramount Pictures hoped that they would have a chance to work with Kazir Grey, Michael Bay, and Peter Jackson. Knowing that these directors were the Kings of the box office of this era.
Steven Spielberg rarely makes movies outside of DreamWorks. The director focused his attention on his own company.
James Cameron never accepted projects after Solaris which was a huge failure. There was news that James Cameron was working on something, about CGI and motion capture technologies.
Robert Zemeckis is currently focused on The Polar Express.
Quentin Tarantino was never a mainstream director and his movies were not family-friendly.
And even if these directors worked with Paramount Pictures, the chances of making a profit were not sure.
They were not Kazir Grey, a director who never made a bad movie... Except for his three horror movies.
Even before the new century arrived, the industry knew the importance of talented directors. They were the mind of the movies and hiring someone to be the director of a big movie should be taken seriously.
If Paramount had a chance, they would also pay Director Grey $20 million plus box office share just to work with him. Because the director was the sure definition of making profits