After leaving the theater and returning home, many viewers began promoting the movie online on their own. This caused the film's popularity to spread quickly, attracting even more people to the theaters.
The next morning, while Wayne was enjoying breakfast with Mia and two others, overlooking downtown Los Angeles, he received a call from Sera.
"Opening night box office: $3.8 million, with a 79.1% seat occupancy rate."
"Rotten Tomatoes Fresh Rating: 98%, MTC Score: 82, IMDb Score: 9.1."
"CinemaScore Rating: A."
"Alright, Sera, calm down. I know these results are great. We might even win one or two box office championships again. But don't forget, we already sold it to DreamWorks."
"..."
Sera's excited voice on the other end of the line suddenly stopped, and she hung up with a hint of frustration.
Wayne put down his phone, exchanged a glance with Mia, and both couldn't help but laugh.
It was understandable, though.
A $3.8 million opening night for preview screenings!
Although DreamWorks took an aggressive approach by scheduling the previews in 500 theaters—more than many low-budget films get for their full release—that box office number still translated to an average of $7,600 per theater, an excellent result. For comparison, look at the previous numbers for *The Acceptance Letter*. There's no doubt this was outstanding.
A 79.1% occupancy rate confirmed it.
But Wayne knew that part of this success was undoubtedly tied to the upcoming Halloween season. In North America, it's almost a tradition to watch a few horror films leading up to Halloween, like how people eat dumplings during the New Year.
The high scores from Rotten Tomatoes, MTC, and IMDb also pointed to the film's excellent quality.
Rotten Tomatoes scores mostly come from mainstream media and professional critics, so DreamWorks' heavy PR efforts likely played a role in securing those high ratings.
MTC, which focuses on an artistic evaluation, rarely gives high scores to horror movies, so an 82 was impressive.
IMDb is more like where general audiences leave reviews. Though *Happy Death Day* was excellent, opinions differ when it comes to gore and slasher films. Some people just don't like it, which is why it got a few low scores.
As for CinemaScore's A rating, it mainly predicts box office success. At this time, an A means the North American box office could surpass $100 million.
If it really reached that prediction, DreamWorks, which bought the movie for $39.5 million, would make a hefty profit.
With a North American box office gross generating over $20 million in profit, plus revenue from overseas and DVD sales, the total profit could exceed $100 million!
To put that into perspective, even without considering the upcoming releases of *How the Grinch Stole Christmas*, *What Women Want*, and *Cast Away*, only six films released in Hollywood this year made over $100 million in profit.
When these numbers were released, countless people's eyes turned red with envy.
Especially the three major studios that had been part of the negotiation but lost out on the deal over a minor payment issue. On that day, several acquisition experts and department heads were called in for a chat with their bosses.
A $100 million profit was enough to make even the "Big Seven" studios jealous in this era!
Fortunately for Wayne, he sold the film's rights outright, rather than opting for a box office split, so all the envy was directed at DreamWorks, not Hemera Pictures. Hemera reaped only fame and recognition.
In that sense, Wayne might have missed out on $100 million, but he successfully used DreamWorks as a shield, diverting all attention away from himself. Not a bad trade-off.
On the other hand, Charlize Theron, who had been happy with the results of *Return to Glory*, suddenly found herself feeling envious when she saw *Happy Death Day*'s stunning numbers.
Wayne had no choice but to comfort her, once again using his body as a means of consolation.
After all, from a certain perspective, *Return to Glory*, like other films released during this Halloween season, would see its box office affected by *Happy Death Day*, becoming a stepping stone for its success.
In the days that followed, *Happy Death Day* continued to break records. On its official opening day, it grossed a whopping $17.4 million, followed by an even higher $21.9 million on Halloween itself.
With a $58.5 million opening weekend, it claimed the Halloween weekend box office crown without any competition.
Including the $17.7 million from the seven-day preview screenings, *Happy Death Day* had only been in theaters for three days, but its North American box office had already reached an astonishing $76.2 million.
It was clear that DreamWorks, which had spent a fortune buying the film, had hit the jackpot.
As Wayne predicted, director James Wan and actress Jessica were also big winners.
Thanks to this film, James Wan's reputation in the industry skyrocketed. Even after the first day's preview results were out, production companies and agents were already knocking on his door.
It's no exaggeration to say that as long as his next movie was a horror film and its budget didn't exceed $15 million, there would be a line of people in Hollywood willing to throw money at him.
As for his agent, although Wayne had signed with WMA and Jessica had recently switched from CAA to WMA, signing with Mike, James Wan chose to stick with CAA after much consideration.
While CAA's terms can be harsh for strong-willed stars and directors, their package deals and services are highly efficient and convenient for those who prefer less hassle—perfect for someone just starting out like James.
Plus, CAA was no longer as aggressive as it was ten years ago, as they feared a repeat of the backlash they faced when all the major studios teamed up against them.
Jessica's success came primarily in the form of fan popularity.
Like Wayne's rise to fame after *The Acceptance Letter*, Jessica, who had initially gained a fanbase from that film, skyrocketed to become one of Hollywood's hottest second-tier stars. She even surpassed Wayne in terms of fanbase, thanks in no small part to the *lsp* (old-fashioned guys) crowd, who are not to be underestimated.
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