[Chapter 978: Marketing Strategy]
The promotional campaign was executed to the standards of a blockbuster film, with an advertising budget set at $50 million. Even by bundling promotions for three films, the studios remained quite confident about the opening box office of the movies.
No one expected that the first-day box office for Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me would turn out to be such a surprise.
A first day gross of $15.37 million solidly landed it at the top of the daily box office chart, even breaking the Easter opening box office record in Hollywood.
At this rate, by the end of its first weekend, the box office could reach around $45 million. If the box office trend remained stable, the film could potentially approach $70 million in its opening week.
$70 million for the first week was already on par with the opening box office for some of the biggest summer blockbusters.
Prior to this, internal expectations at Fox for the first-week box office of Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me had only been around $30 million. With that $30 million opening, the film would have been expected to reach around $60 million during the entire Easter frame, allowing Fox to recoup its production costs.
However, it appeared that they could reach Fox's original target in just two days of the weekend. Even if Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me's box office trend flattened out afterward, its remarkable beginning meant that recovering the production costs during the first week was almost a given.
In comparison, Warner Bros.' City of Angels garnered just $5.51 million on Friday, less than a third of Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me's earnings.
...
Despite the stark contrast in first-day box office numbers, City of Angels wasn't too far off Warner's box office expectations. The first day's take of $5.51 million indicated that the film would likely earn around $15 million during its first three days and could total around $25 million in its opening week.
As a romance film with a more artistic flair, especially featuring box office draws like Nicolas Cage and Meg Ryan, Warner Bros. had initially been optimistic that City of Angels would maintain a decline of only 20-30% in subsequent weeks, which could bring its North American total to around $70 million.
Combining Cage and Ryan's overseas box office appeal, Warner Bros. anticipated it would recoup costs and make a profit through international distribution.
That was also Warner Bros.' internal expectation for City of Angels.
However, with Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me's blockbuster opening, Warner's confidence shifted instantly.
It was clear that if Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me could pull in such incredible first-day earnings, then along with the simultaneous release of Species and The Wedding Singer the following week, City of Angels wouldn't fare too well amidst the pressure.
Moreover, the film faced harsh criticism from the media and film critics, who seemingly united against it, casting a shadow over the "Easter Movie Package" launched by the three companies involved.
Although the three companies were media groups in themselves and controlled two of the four major television networks in North America, they found it challenging to control another traditional channel -- newspapers, which played a significant role in determining a movie's reputation.
Each city, from a massive metropolis like New York to small towns with populations in the tens of thousands, had its local newspapers. While the media group owned several influential print outlets, it couldn't sway the thousands of newspapers across North America. Each one impacted its local readership.
Given that Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me was a raunchy comedy, it would never gain the approval of traditional print critics, leading to predictable negative reviews.
Still, with $15.37 million on the first day, neither Fox nor Firefly could allow traditional media's poor reviews to derail the ongoing box office trajectory.
...
Due to family issues, Elisabeth, who had gradually taken over all filming operations under 20th Century Fox, had returned to New York. Joe Roth, the president of the group, was no slouch either. Upon seeing the first-day earnings Saturday morning, he quickly gathered the Fox distribution department executives to discuss the marketing strategy going forward for Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me. Of course, he wouldn't forget to invite Eric. However, despite it being the weekend, Eric had too much work to manage to fit in that meeting.
It was a consensus that without Firefly's initiative in the Easter Movie Package, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me wouldn't have shone as brightly.
Given his position in Hollywood and his relationship with Elisabeth, Joe Roth couldn't afford to overlook Eric. In lieu of the marketing meeting, Roth took a trip from Century City's Fox headquarters to Firefly Cinemas to have lunch and carefully review the upcoming plans.
So, beginning Saturday afternoon, the media controlled by the three companies started staging a counterattack against the negative reviews that Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me had received.
Of course, both Fox and Firefly had no intention of defending the film against traditional media criticism. Instead, they took a different approach, using the stark contrast of its popular reception among audiences against the harsh treatment from critics to aggressively slam the traditional film reviewers for being overly critical, old-fashioned, and lackluster in their entertainment appreciation.
"Movies are ultimately a form of entertainment for the masses, not a means to please a few critics. If Hollywood were only about satisfying film critics' preferences, it wouldn't be as strong as it is today; rather, it would face the same fate as European cinema, growing increasingly niche."
"Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me took in $15.37 million on the first day, which already proves its popularity with audiences. Most people head to the theater after a busy week not for a lecture or to learn philosophy; they want a chance to forget their troubles and simply enjoy a good laugh."
...
Firefly and Fox's defense of Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me naturally stirred a backlash from traditional media and critics.
However, in contrast to the initially one-sided negative reviews, through a coordinated effort across print, television, and major websites, the three companies quickly regained the upper hand.
Suddenly, with the rhetoric of "Movies are just entertainment; audiences shouldn't be swayed by critics" spreading rapidly, the emerging internet media platforms received a renewed surge of attention.
Everyone has a tendency to follow trends, especially with rhetoric that challenges conventional thinking. Driven by this narrative, many individuals felt compelled to jump into the fray and create a stir online, scoring Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me on movie review platforms.
Of course, there were negative consequences as well. Some well-known traditional film critics who had previously made their mark on sites like Yahoo Movies and IMDb protested against the marketing strategies of the three companies by withdrawing from the online platforms.
However, in the grand scheme, their actions didn't have much of a substantial impact.
...
Following this wave of marketing momentum, the box office trend for Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me remained unaffected by the overwhelmingly negative media reviews. In fact, these critiques appeared to backfire somewhat.
After earning $15.37 million on Friday, the movie grossed $17.65 million and $13.97 million on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.
Ultimately, the film's three-day opening weekend box office totaled $46.99 million.
In stark contrast to the rising momentum of Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, City of Angels seemed to fade into near obscurity, ending its opening weekend with a mere $15.16 million -- less than a third of what Austin Powers brought in.
...
Despite having Natasha Henstridge, who had just finished filming for Iron Man alongside him, Eric remained incredibly busy over the weekend.
On Saturday, he watched recent footage from Iron Man with Joss Whedon and took part in determining the follow-up promotional strategies for Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me.
On Saturday night, Eric attended a party hosted by the Coppola family and caught some scenes from Sofia Coppola's directorial debut, The Virgin Suicides.
And Sunday was just as hectic.
As the new week rolled in, Eric's first order of business was to tackle the releases of the second-generation Fireflyer MP3 player from Firefly Electronics and Nokia's first music phone, the M-100.
The launch events for both products were scheduled for 2 PM in San Francisco, but filming for Iron Man wouldn't pause for that. After completing morning shoots, Eric hurried off to San Francisco for the product launch.
...
After a significant six-month ramp-up in production capacity, Firefly Electronics had boosted its output for the Fireflyer series music players to 2 million units each month. This event was essentially the global launch for the Fireflyer 2 and Nokia's M-100 music phone.
The upcoming Easter weekend would see the Fireflyer 2 hitting both the North American and major European markets simultaneously. Additionally, the Yahoo Music Store would open across several major European countries, while the Nokia M-100 music phone would first test the waters in North America, establishing a connection with Yahoo Music Store there.
The venue for the product launch remained at the Marriott Hotel in San Francisco.
Eric took off from Los Angeles at noon, arriving at the Marriott about half an hour before the launch event began.
This time, Eric planned to just attend as an audience member to show his support for the product launch. Thanks to the detailed preparations from the high-level executives at Firefly Electronics, there was certainty that this event wouldn't encounter any mishaps, like a performer being unable to attend.
As the event drew near, the main ballroom was packed with guests and media from various outlets. The scale of this press event for Firefly Electronics was significantly larger than when the first-generation Fireflyer was launched.
In addition to invited media, many uninvited reporters had gathered outside the Marriott, eager to cover the event but unable to gain entry -- a situation that hadn't occurred during the initial Fireflyer launch.
...
Inside the Marriott, Eric felt relaxed as he sat in a large conference room that was specifically allocated by the hotel for the event. He had been in regular contact with several high-ranking executives from Firefly Electronics lately and was well aware of the event's preparation progress, and therefore had no worries about any unexpected issues arising.
At the conference table, he chatted briefly with a few executives before signaling for Christina Aguilera, who was the guest performer for the event, to come sit beside him. "So, you're releasing your first album by the end of the year?"
Christina still bore that petite demeanor as she seated herself obediently next to Eric. "Yeah, I've already released two singles as trial balloons, and they've both performed well, so the label has started choosing songs for me."
As she finished speaking, the girl looked at Eric with wide, shimmering eyes, like a little kitten asking for food.
Given Eric's fondness for Christina, Firefly Records was leaning even more toward her. Although Christina was an impressive vocalist, this time, Firefly Records did not plan for her to take the vocal explosion route but rather a standard teenage pop style.
Initially, Christina had also started with a teen pop approach, and her best-selling album was one that featured the title track Genie in a Bottle.
However, that market had already been captured by Britney Spears. As Britney rose to prominence, Christina's popularity waned in comparison, leading her to pivot toward a more powerhouse vocal direction. Although Christina later earned numerous Grammy awards due to her exceptional singing talent, her career couldn't quite match up to Britney's.
Recollecting these thoughts, Eric didn't immediately satisfy the expectant kitten beside him. Instead, he asked, "By the way, what's Britney been up to lately?"
"She's starting to prepare her own single," Christina sounded a little cautious at Eric's mention of Britney, but still responded dutifully. "The label is still following the path you set for us."
"I, I said what?"
Eric paused, trying to recall; he had said too many things over the years.
Seeing Eric's puzzled expression, Christina smiled and offered a gentle reminder: "You know, that I'm supposed to have a slightly rebellious image while Britney goes for that sweet girl-next-door vibe."
*****
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