Hollywood Director 1992

[Chapter 21: Opening Weekend Box Office]

On Thursday, Buried sold 1054 tickets at the United Theatre, pulling in $6,256, finally above the $6,000 mark.

William Mason was pleased with the box office numbers. He faxed the data for the first six days of Buried's run to United Theatres headquarters, applying for an extension of the film's showing. With the steady rise in ticket sales, the headquarters approved Mason's request.

...

Link re-signed a distribution contract with United Theatres. This time, he didn't have to pay a deposit. Instead, they agreed on a 60/40 split according to the contract -- United getting 60% and Link taking the remaining 40%. This arrangement lasted for one week. Whether they would continue this partnership hinged on Buried's box office performance in the coming days.

...

By Friday, Buried was set to continue screening at the United Theatre, just as renovations at the Burbank United Theatre wrapped up. In addition to Buried, the cinema started showing films like Chaplin starring Robert Downey Jr., the thrilling film The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, the comedy My Cousin Vinny directed by Jonathan Lynn, and the action crime movie Juice featuring the famous rapper Tupac.

With the increase in films showing at the same time, Buried's screening opportunities diminished. Last week, it seemed like there was a showing of Buried in every one of the ten screens if someone showed up. Now, they had to schedule based on attendance rates; films with higher occupancy got more screenings. This didn't bode well for Buried, as the other films had major distribution companies backing them, generating buzz, and publicity. Buried felt more like a small indie project without any marketing support.

However, as Chaplin, The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, and others began screening, the increased foot traffic at the United Theatre could benefit Buried's box office. Whether this was a good or bad turn of events would depend on how competitive Buried really was.

...

Link also understood Buried was at a crossroads. On top of having employees hand out flyers at the shopping mall to attract an audience, he spent his nights drafting a plethora of movie reviews for newspapers. His pieces included interpretations of Buried, reviews of the film, and critiques of the other movies opening at the same time. As he mentioned other popular films, he made sure to slightly promote Buried as well.

His writing was solid, and three of his reviews got picked up by outlets including the American Forum, The Hollywood Reporter, and Variety.

...

"Such a waste of time!"

Mason shook his head as he watched Link's strategy unfold. He was skeptical about Link's methodology. The movies opening alongside Buried had substantial distribution companies behind them. When a film launched, these companies poured in vast amounts of resources into advertising. They had media coverage and celebrity endorsements, which equated to high visibility.

Link handing out flyers was like bringing a knife to a gunfight; it just didn't resonate as effective competition.

...

The weekend passed quickly.

Mason anticipated that Buried would struggle against the competition and might sink below $3,000 by the end of the opening.

However, when he received the box office numbers from the weekend, he was taken by surprise. Over the three-day weekend, Buried sold 4,607 tickets, earning an impressive $24,800 -- an average of $8,285 each day. Among the ten films screening, Buried ranked fourth, only trailing behind The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, My Cousin Vinny, and Chaplin.

With little advertising, Buried managed to rely on word-of-mouth, achieving more than $8,000 in daily earnings -- a remarkable feat in the indie film space. Mason understood this data's significance and contacted United Theatres headquarters, asking if they should take Buried seriously and expand its screen count.

Buried showed potential, selling well in Burbank. Mason figured if they released it in other cities, it might do well there too. The theatre chain, being a profit-driven entity, would not pass on such a money-making opportunity.

That day, he received a response from headquarters. If Buried could maintain an average of over $6,000 per theater by Thursday, they agreed to consider expanding the screenings. It would depend on the upcoming box office data.

Mason didn't immediately relay the good news to Link. Buried still lacked a distribution company, and they had other uncertainties. He worried that the film's performance would dip below that critical $6,000 threshold, leaving them empty-handed.

...

However, counter to his expectations, as the new week began, Buried continued to maintain ticket sales between $6,500 and $8,200. By Thursday, the average income stood at $7,135, even surpassing Chaplin by $327.

Mason promptly sent the new figures to headquarters.

Headquarters approved his request to increase Buried's screenings to five theaters -- two in Los Angeles, two in New York, and one in San Francisco.

...

Once Mason received the confirmation, he called Link to share the good news. He also instructed Link to bring his lawyer to finalize the distribution contract.

"What a great piece of news, William. Thanks a ton!" Link exclaimed.

"No, this is all due to you. If you hadn't insisted on releasing Buried, I wouldn't have been able to help at all," Mason replied.

"Fair enough, I'll also thank myself then."

...

With the new phone he had just purchased, Link set his pen down and rubbed his wrist. In addition to writing reviews, he had been preparing a new screenplay. According to the system prompt, higher personal participation and better film quality lead to increased box office subsidies, so the second film cannot be a big project.

To avoid complications, the second film could not be a big project. The larger the project, the more people would be needed, which would diminish his involvement. Low-budget films typically had shorter shooting schedules, with some movies completed in mere days. After considering various options, Link decided to use Paranormal Activity as his second film.

Paranormal Activity, released in 2009, had a production cost of $15,000 and was filmed in just seven days using a handheld camera. It featured just two main actors. Upon its release, this film grossed over $200 million globally.

With the system's support, if the box office numbers could double, Link could potentially become a multimillionaire thanks to this film. However, he still wasn't clear on how the system's "4x box office subsidy" functioned. Did it mean multiplying the original box office from the past, or was it from ticket sales in this timeline? Or was it based on production costs?

He hoped it was the first or even the second option, but not the third. If it depended on production costs, Buried's total earnings could be only a few hundred thousand -- that would be tough.

He intended to use Buried as an experiment, to better understand the system's workings before embarking on his second film.

---

Knock, knock, knock!

"Link, you coming to the bar?" Chris Barnes shouted from outside.

"Not tonight, I've got things to work on."

"Okay then, don't sweat it too much if Buried isn't doing well. This is just your first film; nobody gets it right on the first shot. Keep at it, and you'll surely become a genuine director one day."

"Thanks! You really know how to cheer someone up."

After seeing Chris off, Link stood at the window for a moment, watching the scenery below, before returning to his desk to finish the screenplay.

*****

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