My Hollywood System - Chapter 214
“How much is it?” A question rang out in the Dream Vision meeting room.
Will was sitting at the front and his eyes were on Amanda as he asked the question.
The previous day marked the one-week run of [Spiderman] in the theaters all over the globe.
Unlike the norm, Will had decided to release the movie globally at once. One of the main reasons movies usually have different release dates is because it takes time to sub and dub the movie, and studios prefer to do this part after the release in the home country, however, Will was confident in the success of this movie and thus decided to go with a global release.
Today, the Dream Vision was having one of the usual meetings to discuss the progress and planning of the ongoing and future projects, however, the main agenda for the day was [Spiderman].
More specifically, the box office stats of [Spiderman].
Hearing Will’s question, a smile appeared on Amanda’s face as she replied, “Much better than we expected. Yesterday, our movie grossed 57 Million in our country and 41 Million on the international stage, totalling to about 98 Million Dollars. This takes the first week’s tally to 379 Million Dollars. This is about 80 million dollars more than our estimate.”
Will nodded. He was happy with the results. Not only because of the movie’s success but also because these numbers proved he could unravel the Marvel’s uncapped potential in this world, while also instilling more confidence in him on the plans for the next movie to develop the MCU in this universe.
“What are the second week’s estimations?” Will asked.
Amanda glanced at the file in her hand for a moment before replying, “We’re estimating at least 80% of the first week. The hype for Spiderman is still ongoing and I believe it’s yet to peak. Going by the numbers, it won’t be an overstatement to say we might touch the $1 Billion mark before the movie’s run ends.”
Will pursed his lips, “That’s good. The more hype we have, the better.”
Just then, Jeffery, who had been silent all along spoke up, “I think we might cross that goal sooner.”
Will smiled at him, “Optimism is good for business.”
Then turning his head towards Amanda, he asked, “How well did our rivals do? I noticed a lot of hype about that as well. Hopefully we fared well against them.”
Amanda nodded, “Yes, there was a lot of talk regarding the supposed clash. And I feel very good while saying that we have thoroughly beaten Ashton’s Darklow. I think the difference is close to $250 Million.
Will replied with a thoughtful expression, “Oh, let’s hope he has learnt his lesson and this curbs his pride to a few notches after this. Next time he will surely think twice before trying to clash against us.”
Amanda nodded, “Yes and as you had predicted, they tried to increase the screens for their movie, but that didn’t help because there was barely anyone to watch the movie.”
Will nodded, “What are the other agendas we have for today?”
A young man, who was the newly hired secretary replied, “It’s mainly the plan for Andrew’s promotions. The marketing team has come up with a few plans and scheduled some talk show nights with you and Andrew as the primary guest.”
Will asked, “Have you matched it with my schedule?”
“Yes, I have.”
“Good,” Will nodded. His current schedule rarely gave him free time, much less become part of promotions himself. The number of his public appearances that year could be counted on one hand.
Will then thought of something and said, “Add Damon too to this list. He’s important to push the hype train.”
The young man nodded, “Noted.”
…
While the meeting was going on in the Dream Vision office, the social media platform Sparrow was cooking up a storm.
Hollywood Statsguy: #Spiderman bags a staggering $379 million in its opening week! #Darklow falls behind at $67 Million.
ashley_said_what: Damn, the difference is huge! And for some reason, this was quite expected. Darklow turned out to be a big blunder, with too many plot holes and ass pulls from the director that the story made no sense by the time it concluded.
loliateyourcat: Yeah, this difference was as expected. #Spiderman won the clash on the second day itself when #Darklow amassed $12 Million compared to around $65 Million of #Spiderman.
hogwartsfailure: I am glad I changed my plans at the last moment and went to watch #Spiderman. It was so worth it!
Joe Not Exotic: Same here, tho my friends were more interested in #Darklow. And now, because of them, I had to see #Spiderman again later on the weekend. I didn’t complain.
Everybody: I think the difference was in the main villains of the two movies. #Darklow’s Klien Miller felt like a copypaste of any other story, while the Goblin in #Spiderman turned out to be much more fleshed out.
Definitely_not_an_athlete: I would like to quote @CriticCye’s review here: “…this movie is going to change the whole superhero genre, and will set a whole new benchmark which all studios will have to vie for, including Dream Vision itself.” I agree with it.
…
In the Allen Studio’s office, the mood was much somber and depressing.
The main executives were sitting silently in the big hall, not daring to say anything for fear of irking Ashton even more.
Ashton’s mood had taken consistent dips and turned irritable after Darklow tanked at the Box office with a miserable $67 Million opening weekend. Of the total, about $30 Million came from the first day itself and over the next six days, the movie kept on underperforming.
The worst part was how the Hollywood critics were making use of this situation to gain clout by bad-mouthing Darklow even more.
A $67 Million at the box office in the first week was in no way a low amount, but in a situation like this, the audience did not look at this fact, rather, everyone was looking at Will Evans’ Spiderman, which had left Darklow in the dust.
And the critics, even the audience, were now ready to dip their hands in this mess and put Darklow on the stakes.
For the initial weekend, Ashton wanted this movie to reach the $200 Million mark, and he had thought this much would easily crush Spiderman’s stats. However, when the results came out, it turned out that not only had he underestimated Spiderman’s potential but he had also overestimated Darklow.
“I should have joined the screening.” He let out a sigh and broke the silence.
Then raising his head, he glanced at each and every executive, producer and director in the movie.
Looking at their expression, he knew everyone in the room was waiting for him to explode in anger, but the truth was, he wasn’t bothered with this.
It was just a movie in the end. Not every movie can be in the top spot. Although Will Evans’ movie beat theirs this time, he planned to come up with an even better movie against the latter next time. Although he didn’t plan to clash directly against Will Evans, at least for now.
“This movie, although turned out to be a flop,” Ashton said to everyone, “It has also given our studio a reality check. However, that doesn’t mean we will sit quietly with such a big loss. What I want you guys to do is look for a better movie. Consider the loss on this movie as a lesson learnt. After all, this is Hollywood. One movie doesn’t decide everything. We will come back, and we will come back stronger.”
The others in the room nodded. Ashton’s words had somewhat revived their mood, and they also felt relieved that he wasn’t punching their face or asking them to fork out the loss from their own pockets. Although he had never done something like this, they also hadn’t faced an unprecedented failure in the past.
The meeting concluded soon after Ashton was the first to leave. He went straight to his office, and his assistant, Ayden, also followed him.
After closing the door, Ayden walked up to him and soon handed over a glass of water.
Ashton shook his head and sighed.
“We need something big. A movie so good that it becomes a class.”
….
[EUC School Of Cinematic Arts]
A classroom of about two hundred students was attentively listening to the lecture on Introduction to Filmmaking 101 by one of the renowned professors.
“….The good news is that you’ve been preparing for a career in film for years — even if you didn’t explicitly know it!
“Watching movies can be a great way to pass the time and entertain yourself. But it’s also a vital component of learning the art of filmmaking.
“The next time you find yourself itching to do something creative, try this film appreciation exercise:
Pop in your favorite movie and grab a pen and paper. Now, really start to watch the movie. Look at the small details that make your favorite movie pop. As you watch, write down your observations or questions. Explain how these inclusions add to the movie-watching experience and further the film’s theme.
“Make an effort to do this whenever possible. You’ll start to gain a critical eye that will help you develop stronger, more cohesive films.”
After a pause, the professor stared at the students before asking, “Now, who here has been on sets and taken part in filmmaking?”
A few students raised their heads.
The professor nodded and pointed at a young woman sitting near the front who had raised her hand.
“Yes, you, what did you do on the stage? Which department were you part of?”
The young woman stood up and replied, “I am an actress.”
“An actress? That’s rare,” The professor lightly nodded, “You do look familiar, what’s your name?”
“June Roberts.”
