[Chapter 889: Breaking the Mold]
Los Angeles.
In the affluent area at the foothills of North Santa Monica, it was well past midnight, yet Amy Pascal was still poring over the negotiation materials with Cablevision regarding Rainbow Media.
As a woman, Amy had once bravely walked away from a lucrative position at Columbia Pictures to assist Drew in establishing Flower Films, which had eventually led her to an opportunity at MGM, one of the seven major film companies. But Amy Pascal had no intention of becoming complacent. Regardless of the field, it was always harder for women in high positions to gain recognition compared to men. Over the years, Amy had grown indifferent to the opinions of others, but she still wanted to prove to everyone that she was just as capable as any man.
On the other side of the study, her husband Bernard Weinraub was reviewing a freshly completed press release. He glanced at the digital clock on the desk; it was already a quarter past midnight. Usually, at this time, they should have been resting, but he knew his wife wouldn't sleep until she received the day-one box office data for Casino Royale. After hesitating for a moment, he didn't disturb his wife, who was seriously focused on her reading, and instead picked up a book from the table, quietly flipping through its pages.
Amy Pascal noticed her husband's actions and checked her watch. Turning to him, she said, "Bernie, why don't you head to bed? I might need to wait a little longer."
Bernard Weinraub shook his head with a smile. "No need. I'm actually curious to see how much Casino Royale can rake in on its opening day."
Amy Pascal offered him a gentle smile and didn't press him further. She got up to brew a pot of hot coffee and returned, pouring herself and her husband a cup each.
Bernard Weinraub lifted his coffee cup, looking at his wife as she sat back down. "From today's reviews, this should be the best-reviewed live-action film of the summer. How much do you think it might earn?"
Amy Pascal shook her head. When discussing this topic with others, she often acted confident, but with her husband, she felt no need to pretend. "That's really hard to say. Two years ago, GoldenEye received similar praise with ratings around 8, yet its global box office only totaled $350 million. That's mainly because the 007 series isn't as popular in the crucial North American market. This time, while Casino Royale received even better reviews and had many favorable factors, we can't be certain whether audiences will show up. Additionally, starting from May with The Fifth Element, a series of disappointing live-action films may have dampened audience interest in Casino Royale."
Bernard Weinraub, a playwright and film business reporter for The New York Times, listened to his wife's somewhat pessimistic tone. He thought for a moment and said, "I think the reality might be the opposite of what you think. The audience's demand for live-action films is definitely higher than for animated movies. A string of bad films could actually make the market more eager for high-quality commercial cinema."
Amy Pascal chuckled, "Let's hope you're right. But the production and marketing costs for Casino Royale totaled $160 million, which is double that of GoldenEye. The pressure on the company is significant. If Casino Royale doesn't perform well at the box office, even just moderately, it could complicate some of our upcoming production plans."
"Oh, are you talking about the Lord of the Rings trilogy you mentioned last time?"
Amy Pascal nodded, but didn't elaborate further. Despite being her husband, she felt it unnecessary to divulge too many details.
Bernard Weinraub didn't press for more information and casually changed the subject.
...
Before they knew it, another half hour had passed, and Amy Pascal's phone on the desk finally buzzed. She picked it up, answered, and after chatting for a bit, her eyebrows raised in surprise, repeatedly asking for some details to confirm.
Bernard Weinraub gathered some numbers from her conversation, his eyebrows raised in astonishment. He believed that, following a summer of disappointing films, Casino Royale would likely perform better than anticipated, but he never expected the day-one box office figure to be so high.
Once Amy Pascal hung up, Bernard Weinraub eagerly asked, "$30.5 million?"
Amy Pascal placed her phone back on the desk, exhaling with a visible sense of relief and excitement. "Yes, including the midnight showings' $5.3 million, the opening day brought in $30.5 million. Oh my God, $30.5 million! It's unbelievable! I was thinking if we could manage $20 million on day one, everyone would be extremely satisfied. Keep in mind, GoldenEye's opening day ticket sales were just a little over $9 million. Oh my God, $30.5 million -- it's incredible!"
Bernard Weinraub, hearing his wife's constant exclamations, felt no sense of her being unprofessional. As someone well-versed in Hollywood trends as a film business reporter, his own shock was just as strong as hers.
To put things in perspective, the highest opening day performance previously was Godzilla, which managed $23.75 million thanks to a massive promotional campaign. Even the surprising hit Finding Nemo had an opening day total of just $20.2 million.
With outstanding reviews, there was no way Casino Royale would follow the dismal box office trajectory of Godzilla or Batman & Robin.
So with an opening day box office of $30.5 million, weekend numbers for Saturday and Sunday would surely not be much lower. Even if it averaged $30 million a day, Casino Royale's first weekend box office would reach a staggering $90 million, and crossing the $100 million mark in its opening week was certain. Even more impressively, Casino Royale was poised to set a series of box office records.
...
Given how surprising this box office number was, as Amy Pascal received the news, many executives and journalists in Hollywood were suddenly jolted awake in the middle of the night by phone calls. Reactions varied -- some were bewildered, some excited and unable to sleep, and others even suspected it was a hoax. Countless newspapers rushed to revise their reports overnight.
In a summer where live-action blockbusters were struggling, the staggering first-day box office for Casino Royale was undeniably eye-catching. The following day, several North American media outlets even speculated about the possibility of inflated figures for the opening day.
However, reality quickly silenced the critics.
After $30.5 million on the opening day, Saturday saw Casino Royale's daily box office not only hold steady but rise to a new high of $33.85 million. On Sunday, though there was a noticeable drop, the day's earnings still reached $26.7 million.
From June 27 to June 29, Casino Royale's first weekend box office amassed an unprecedented $91.05 million. Moreover, even Finding Nemo felt the pressure from Casino Royale, with its box office falling 40% to just $28.38 million in its third week. Batman & Robin was even worse off, with a 63% drop from its first weekend, leaving it with just $15.73 million in its second weekend, leading to a total ten-day box office of $75.2 million -- less than Casino Royale's first weekend ticket sales.
Once the first weekend box office figures for Casino Royale were announced, even those previously skeptical about the film's prospects were compelled to reconsider their stance, beginning to analyze the reasons behind Casino Royale's record-breaking earnings.
...
"Perhaps from the very beginning, we had vastly underestimated the commercial potential of MGM's spy film universe.
In retrospect, when the new James Bond made his daring leap from the cliff in the first film's cameo of Charlie's Angels, Eric Williams had already laid the groundwork for this massive film initiative. Through the sequels to Mission: Impossible, Charlie's Angels, and 007, MGM had been using cameos to intertwine the three major spy film narratives, subtly blending their previously unrelated fanbases over time. By the time MGM officially announced their Spy Universe initiative, a significant potential moviegoing audience had formed around these three series.
At this point, we must reference another seemingly trivial event that occurred in July 1995 when MGM announced their Spy Universe plan. According to media reports of that period, MGM purchased all rights to Spectre from Kevin McClory for $2 million. The background to this event is tangled and reaches decades back, but I'm certain that in the future, Kevin McClory will definitely regret this business transaction.
Returning to the main topic, alongside securing the rights to Spectre, MGM, Flower Films, and DreamWorks Studios merged under Eric Williams' direction. The three major spy franchises officially launched their crossover initiative with Spectre as the ultimate antagonist starting from Mission: Impossible 2. Until the release of Casino Royale, the MGM Spy Universe had already established a solid foundation of popularity with five films: Charlie's Angels 1, Mission: Impossible 1, GoldenEye, Charlie's Angels 2, and Mission: Impossible 2. The explosive box office performance of Casino Royale was a direct result of the synergy built up over several years among these three established franchises, showcasing their powerful box office potential."
...
This article in The Hollywood Reporter provided a profound analysis of the underlying factors behind Casino Royale's soaring box office, reigniting Hollywood's excitement that hadn't cooled from the Titanic's success, and prompting many to search their film rights database for potential franchises to build their own cinematic universe.
Although Firefly's plans for creating a Marvel Cinematic Universe hadn't been officially announced, it was already common knowledge in the industry. Inspired, a producer at Warner Bros. quickly submitted a proposal to establish a DC Cinematic Universe to the upper management. Unfortunately, following the dismal performance of Batman & Robin, Warner Bros. would not be starting any new DC adaptations for years; the producer's report was promptly tossed in the trash by higher-ups at Time Warner.
...
As The Hollywood Reporter analyzed the box office success of Casino Royale, another important Hollywood magazine, Variety, published its insights on Casino Royale's record-breaking box office on its official website at the end of the first week of its release.
"'The audience craves good films, and if movie studios merely aim to chase the success of Titanic without putting forth the meticulous effort that Titanic required, they are bound to fail.' Eric Williams' words at the London premiere of Casino Royale served as perhaps the most authentic commentary on the summer blockbuster's performance.
It's true that any studio investing tens of millions or even over a hundred million in a film wants to succeed. But it's been well acknowledged since the dawn of cinema that a film's budget does not directly correlate to its quality. The abilities of the screenwriters, actors, directors, producers, and other key people greatly influence a film's success. The two ambitious films that preceded Casino Royale, Godzilla and Batman & Robin, both had budgets exceeding that of Casino Royale. However, only Casino Royale flawlessly achieved all the hallmarks of a blockbuster: seamless storytelling, explosive visuals, sharp dialogue, and well-rounded characters. Through Casino Royale, Eric Williams proved his extraordinary talent in directing and producing once again after a four-year hiatus. During those years, when many assumed that this young director, who had ascended to the heights of Hollywood through films like Home Alone, Ghost, Twister, and Jurassic Park, would retire to enjoy his wealth, he instead resurrected and redefined a three-decade-old spy franchise, demonstrating to us all what a true comeback looks like.
Although June saw both The Lion King 2 and Finding Nemo perform excellently, this didn't alter the position of live-action films as the mainstream demand in cinema. However, during what was supposed to be an optimal season for live-action films, a series of mediocre, poor, or obscure releases continued to shake the confidence of moviegoers. Statistics showed that from the start of the summer season on May 30 until the release of Casino Royale, North American ticket sales had declined by 18% compared to the previous year, even when excluding the massive animated hits in The Lion King 2 and Finding Nemo.
Nevertheless, despite the disappointments with summer live-action films, moviegoers' desire to watch films didn't vanish. The spectacular debut of Casino Royale precisely filled the vast market gap left by the earlier months of the summer. And so, amid widespread astonishment and skepticism, Casino Royale towered over all with an opening day of $30.5 million, a weekend total of $91.05 million, and a first-week gross of an incredible $117.51 million, shattering all box office records in Hollywood."
*****
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