Chinese Entertainment: Academic Director

Chapter 287 Unexpected Box Office Success

On the 15th, Cao Yang received a call early in the morning from Jason Simmons, president of Fox Searchlight.

"Jason, why are you calling me so early? Have the box office results for 'Juno' come out?"

Cao Yang yawned. Yesterday, he had spent the entire day with the "Juno" crew, promoting the film at the cinema and giving media interviews, which had exhausted him.

There was no other way; he was the biggest star in the entire "Juno" crew, and he had to appear in the media more often to boost box office sales.

He put in so much effort not for the 20% global box office and subsequent revenue share of "Juno," but to prove that films adapted from his novels, even with low budgets and no big stars, can still be huge hits.

Especially after Fox Searchlight successfully secured the Oscar for Best Picture for "Juno," everyone knew the film was a success, but how successful it truly would be depended on its box office performance.

This film is crucial to whether Cao Yang can further enhance his influence in Hollywood.

"Haha, yes, dear Cao, not only are the box office figures for 'Juno' out, but the North American weekend box office rankings are also out. Interested in taking a guess?"

Jason Simmons then kept everyone in suspense.

Okay, it's clear Jason Simmons is very happy, and Cao Yang can't spoil his fun.

"20 million? Did 'Juno' gross over 20 million at the box office?"

Cao Yang tried to guess.

The budget for "Juno" was only $600 million. Although Fox Searchlight spent another $2000 million over six months to prepare for the Oscars, to outsiders, "Juno" was just a small-budget production with a budget of a few million dollars.

If a small-budget film costing a few million dollars can gross 2000 million dollars on its opening day, it would be considered a huge success from any perspective.

However, considering that this is the Oscar-winning film, and yesterday was Mother's Day, with these added benefits, the $2000 million box office on the opening day is reasonable... my ass!
Regardless of any additional factors, Cao Yang's estimate of 2000 million is already a huge success for "Juno".

Movies that gross 20 million on their opening day have never grossed less than 100 million in North America after their theatrical run.

In a side-by-side comparison, Tom Cruise's "Mission: Impossible III," which is still showing in theaters, grossed 48 million yuan in its opening weekend, but only a little over 17 million yuan on its opening day.

Well, actually, it's impossible to compare them like that, because Mission: Impossible III was a flop.

"Haha, you're too conservative. You can be a little bolder."

Jason Simmons laughed and said, "Okay, I won't make it hard for you. Let me tell you, 'Juno' grossed $2410 million on its opening day. That's definitely a bombshell at the start of the summer season."

Holy crap, 2410 million?
Cao Yang was startled. He remembered that his film "Despicable Milk" grossed 4700 million yuan in its opening weekend and over 1600 million yuan on its opening day.

Although Saturday and Sunday box office revenue is slightly higher than Friday's, with "The Dirty Milk" grossing just over 2000 million on Sunday, "Juno's" 2410 million box office revenue is indeed a bit too high no matter how you look at it.

This box office performance has even surpassed that of "District 9".

District 9 grossed over 64.7 million in its opening weekend, and I'd guess it will gross a little over 23 million on Sunday.

"Jason, are you sure you're not mistaken?"

If it grossed $2410 million yesterday, "Juno" could very well gross over $2 million in North America, possibly even reaching between $2.3 million and $2.5 million.

How is this possible? Before his rebirth, Cao Yang had paid attention to this movie, mainly because the female lead, Peggy's sister, had become Peggy's brother, and the movie's box office revenue was too amazing.

He recalled that the film received four Oscar nominations: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, and Best Original Screenplay.

In the end, they only won the Best Original Screenplay award.

Thanks to its Oscar nominations, the film ultimately grossed $143.49 million in North America and $231.41 million worldwide.

Compared to its investment of over 600 million, this film was a box office smash.

According to Cao Yang's estimate, with the support of the Oscar for Best Picture and his own influence, "Juno" may gross between $1.5 million and $1.8 million at the North American box office.

"Haha, that's right, you heard me right, buddy. Yesterday's box office was 2410 million, which greatly exceeded my expectations."

Jason Simmons paused for a moment, then said:
"I discussed it with the person in charge of market research at the company, and it may be related to yesterday being Mother's Day, plus our strong publicity and the fact that it was an Oscar-winning film, which is why we had 2410 million yesterday."

The person in charge of market research told me that yesterday might have been a special case, and that the film would return to its deserved box office performance after Mother's Day, but I don't think so.

I think even if yesterday was a special case, as long as we seize the opportunity, "Juno" still has a good chance of hitting 200 million yuan at the box office.

I've already discussed it with several department heads, and the company will allocate an additional ten million US dollars for film promotion and purchasing critic opinions.

Is there anything I can do for you?

Fox Searchlight has added another ten million dollars to its advertising budget, and Cao Yang wondered if he should do something too.
"Haha, dear Cao, I'm relieved to have your promise. I'll contact you when I need you."

Jason Simmons was about to hang up when he remembered something and said in a very regretful tone:
"Oh right, I forgot to mention, in the North American weekend box office rankings, Mission: Impossible III took first place with $24.5 million over the three-day weekend, while Juno took second place with $24.1 million in one day. It's such a pity they're only $400,000 behind, haha..."

After hanging up the phone, Cao Yang shook his head with a smile. This guy was a bit too Versailles-like.

For the next week, Cao Yang thought Jason Simmons was just talking.

Little did he know, the president of Fox Searchlight arranged four interviews, two public talks, and a charity event for him in a row, treating him like a beast of burden.

However, neither Fox Searchlight's $20 million Oscar campaign fee nor the recently added $10 million for publicity and "comment control" costs were mentioned in terms of Cao Yang's share, so Cao Yang couldn't refuse the activities arranged by them.

In the second week, the North American weekend box office charts came out, and as expected, "Juno" surpassed "Mission: Impossible III," but it still didn't reach the top of the weekend box office charts.

The top spot went to the newly released "The Da Vinci Code," starring Tom Hanks and Jean Reno, which grossed $7700 million in its opening weekend, far surpassing "Juno's" $4500 million.

However, with $24 million from last Sunday, $45 million from the three days of this weekend, and $36 million from Monday to Thursday, "Juno" took eight days to successfully break the $100 million mark at the box office.

Based on the current box office trend, as well as the positive word-of-mouth and the heated discussions it has generated, it is indeed possible that the North American box office will reach 200 million.

Meanwhile, "The Promise" has been showing for three weekends, and its total box office has reached 64.

It's estimated that Chinese-language films will no longer fetch high prices in North America.

(End of this chapter)