Made In Hollywood

Theatrical releases, promotions, and public attention are all focal points of competition among summer blockbuster films, but ultimately, all of this serves the films' releases. The success or failure of summer movies is ultimately determined by market response and box office performance. As long as a film sells well and stands out from fierce competition, any negative media coverage will eventually be dismissed as mere farce.

Thus, on May 7, when Deep Impact held its North American premiere, the three DreamWorks founders jointly appeared to promote the film.

With an $80 million investment, Deep Impact was undeniably a big-budget production at the time. DreamWorks also hosted a lavish premiere for the movie.

However, an unsettling sight marred the event—near Chandler Hall, where the premiere was held, numerous youth rights protection organizations held protests. The red carpet ceremony was overshadowed by the sound of demonstrations, and Morgan Freeman himself did not attend the premiere.

Protests became the recurring theme during the first week of Deep Impact's release. The four major television networks repeatedly broadcast scenes of the protests and the reasons behind them, inevitably leading to a loss of potential audiences.

Rated PG-13, Deep Impact was targeting family audiences, but the scandals and protests—especially the call to boycott the film by the National Parent-Teacher Association—deterred many parents from taking their children to see it.

The quality of a film is merely its foundation for success, while numerous external factors influence its ultimate performance.

So, as the new week began, Steven Spielberg's expression darkened considerably.

"Many young viewers still chose our film," said Melody Hobson, DreamWorks' deputy CEO, maintaining her composure amidst the grim faces of the three DreamWorks founders and the head of CAA. "We haven't lost much with the younger audience demographic. But the family segment…"

She glanced at the statistics in her hand. "A considerable number of families turned to Disney's family-friendly film The Parent Trap instead, due to the Morgan Freeman incident. Moreover, reduced screening availability from theater chains also significantly impacted us."

David Geffen's sharp gaze swept over Martin Bob's face as he coldly demanded, "Box office numbers! I want the opening weekend box office figures!"

Melody Hobson stated directly, "Across 2,410 theaters, Friday grossed $7.57 million, Saturday $9.21 million, and Sunday $6.24 million. Deep Impact earned $23.02 million in its opening weekend, falling short of our projected $40 million."

Martin Bob suddenly spoke up. "However, we still outperformed The Parent Trap's $19.88 million, securing the top spot on the weekly box office chart."

Hearing this attempt at consolation, David Geffen's expression grew even darker. "Weekly box office champion? A weekly champion with less than $30 million—what use is that to DreamWorks? Martin, is this the success you guaranteed DreamWorks? We overestimated your capabilities!"

The comment was harsh, and Martin Bob had no rebuttal. He had vowed that Deep Impact would bring a significant change for DreamWorks.

It did bring a change, but it worsened DreamWorks' situation instead.

David Geffen's gaze toward Martin Bob and Steven Spielberg grew colder. Though his expertise was music, he understood the basics of film operation. Unless Deep Impact somehow turned into Titanic, the film would definitely underperform against DreamWorks' expectations.

The management at DreamWorks had to answer to its shareholders and investors.

Even Duke did not anticipate that the underperformance of Deep Impact in its first week would create an early rift among the DreamWorks founders.

However, this had little to do with him. Duke's primary concern remained Deep Impact's box office trajectory.

For such a large production, an opening weekend per-theater average of less than $10,000 was unremarkable. If weekday performance did not improve, Deep Impact would lose its current level of theater count by the time The Matrix debuted the following weekend.

But how difficult is it for an underperforming film to maintain a stable trend?

Deep Impact was no Titanic!

On Monday, the drop was moderate, grossing $5.11 million. By Tuesday, however, weighed down by negative publicity, daily earnings dipped to $4.75 million.

On Wednesday, Deep Impact made only $4.01 million...

Before the release of The Matrix, Deep Impact had grossed $34.89 million in North America over six days—failing even to reach DreamWorks' projected opening weekend figure.

At this point, Warner Bros. had stopped targeting Deep Impact in the media and shifted focus to the following week's release of Godzilla. Regardless of the source of Jean Reno's scandals, Warner Bros. continued stirring the pot. Given Time Warner's deep-rooted presence in New York, by Wednesday, Jean Reno himself was summoned by the NYPD. Unfortunately, as a Frenchman with less fame than Morgan Freeman, the impact was far less significant.

Of course, Jean Reno's misfortune was also partly due to his nationality. If he were an American actor—or even British or Australian—such incidents would likely never have occurred.

Actors from continental Europe are second-class citizens in Hollywood—not just in name, but in reality.

"Paul, I just want to remind you, The Matrix is an R-rated film!"

In the office of the Artist Management Group, Michael Ovitz was on the phone with someone. "Don't forget that R-rated films have a relatively limited audience! Emperor Cinema has invested too many resources into this film, and it's highly likely that it won't achieve the desired results."

"Thank you for your reminder."

The familiar voice on the other end of the line was entirely businesslike. "Emperor Cinema has already decided to continue scaling back screenings of Deep Impact. The vacated screens must be given suitable films to show, and We believes there is no better choice than the work of the 'King of the Summer Box Office.' I understand your point, Michael, but we can't leave our theaters empty. If not The Matrix, should we choose that French film, Taxi?"

"We've been old friends for a long time, Paul." Michael Ovitz continued, "I won't interfere with Emperor Cinema's regular business operations, but next week, the project I'm responsible for, Godzilla, will be released. I'm asking you to allocate more theaters and screens for it."

"That won't be a problem."

Although he said so, the underlying message in the voice on the other end of the phone remained unchanged. "As long as The Matrix doesn't perform as expected,We will reduce its screening scale. The theaters that become available will undoubtedly be allocated to Godzilla."

After hanging up, Michael Ovitz knew that his call had essentially been futile. If The Matrix performed well, Godzilla would have no chance of exceeding its planned screening scale.

Reaching this point in time, Michael Ovitz was very clear that all he could do now was wait for the market's response once The Matrix was released.

He had joined forces with DreamWorks to create a scandal for Keanu Reeves, and even leveraged his connections with Spielberg to prevent The Matrix from securing a PG-13 rating. He had also put aside his pride to lobby theater chains and make various arrangements. What would the outcome of all these efforts be?

The Matrix was bound to be affected. Warner Bros.' decision to lower its opening weekend box office expectations confirmed this. However, despite all his machinations, Michael Ovitz found that he was not as confident as he had imagined.

The title "King of the Summer Box Office" was nothing more than media hype. It hadn't been officially recognized by Hollywood, but it still said a lot.

Godzilla was the first project Michael Ovitz had taken on since returning to the entertainment management business. Its success or failure was directly tied to AMG's future development. It simply could not fail.

Initially, Ovitz's expectations were based on comparisons with the two Jurassic Park films. He believed Godzilla's North American box office earnings should exceed those of The Lost World: Jurassic Park but fall short of the first Jurassic Park. After all, North America's appetite for monster movies was an undeniable fact.

Now, Michael Ovitz decided to lower his expectations for Godzilla. If this PG-13 film could match or come close to the R-rated The Matrix, it might already be considered a victory.

Michael Ovitz's cautious optimism stemmed from the current market's high expectations for The Matrix.

Advertisements, trailers, screenings, online promotions—every hint of information pointed to it being a masterpiece of superior quality.

The buzz was especially strong online. Those who had attended preview screenings became ideal conduits for spreading the word.

"If you don't want to miss out on a groundbreaking sci-fi film, you must watch The Matrix," a user named Shiller wrote repeatedly in the "Explosion Fanatics" chatroom, using his handle "Duke of Destruction." "This film is unbelievably cool, unbelievably dazzling. I swear, if you don't watch it, you'll regret it for the rest of your life!"

"I also attended a screening in Los Angeles," wrote another user named "Big Ship Hits the Mountain." "The film uses so many unprecedented techniques and scenes, especially the action sequences. I honestly don't even know how to describe it."

The internet, as the fastest and most uninhibited medium for sharing information, shortened the distance between people and allowed them to share their views instantly.

The Matrix, with its strong ties to the digital world, had generated unprecedented buzz even before its release.

Would this online buzz translate into actual box office numbers? That would depend entirely on how The Matrix performed after its release.