Chapter 53

Next, it depends on whether the box office is strong enough.

According to the Hollywood rule that a 1:3 box office ratio is barely breaking even, Galaxy Pictures internally expects $50 million to break even.

The target is around $80 million, similar to the original box office in the previous life.

This would revitalize the entire Galaxy Entertainment in one go.

Otherwise, Galaxy Pictures is burning money to make movies, and Galaxy Music is burning money to produce a new album for Taylor—

the whole company doesn't have many employees, but salaries and daily expenses are still a significant amount.

If the box office is below $60 million this time, the entire company might struggle to survive.

Small production companies usually choose to co-invest with major studios to share the risk.

Happy has never seen a gambler like Xu Can, going all-in with his entire net worth to film an action movie that subverts tradition.

This guy is simply crazy!

However, when the first-day box office for *John Wick* came out,

it was Happy Hogan's turn to go crazy!

"How... how much?"

"Uh, the specific numbers are on the screen, Mr. Hogan."

The employee points unceremoniously to the large projection screen in the conference room.

According to real-time box office data detected by industry internal data,

*John Wick* grossed $45.75 million on its premiere day!

In North America, it surpassed *Night at the Museum*, *300*, *TMNT*, *Miami Vice*... released this year in one fell swoop.

It currently ranks as the 2007 North American premiere day box office champion!

Numerous major Hollywood studio productions released in the same period, such as *Disturbia*, *The Reaping*, *Invisible*, and *Next*,

were crushed into dust by the debut work of this unknown startup, Galaxy Pictures!

"Yes!! Woo-hoo!! Give me five! Xu!"

Happy finally jumps up in excitement; he has been on pins and needles since the day the film was greenlit.

Seeing the solid results, the weight on Happy's heart is finally lifted.

The first-day box office is almost enough to break even; every day after this is pure profit!

And it's going to be in theaters for a whole month!

An excited Happy intends to high-five Xu Can, but Xu Can is sitting on the side playing with his phone as if nothing happened.

As the person involved, he doesn't have the slightest emotional fluctuation—is this the composure of a superior?

In reality, Xu Can had anticipated these results before filming; he was slightly surprised, but not amazed.

"Don't be too happy yet; *Twilight* is coming next week."

The vampire youth romance blockbuster produced by Summit Entertainment is about to clash head-on with *John Wick*.

Lionsgate spent nearly half of its investment on promotion for this work.

Plus, it's an adaptation of a global bestseller, and the overwhelming resources in the early stages have created crazy hype.

Even walking three blocks, Xu Can can see two giant posters of Stone.

It's conceivable that this film will inevitably have some impact on the box office of *John Wick*.

"Do you think we should invest in promotion? It's not too late to add more!"

Happy suggests hurriedly, but is interrupted by Xu Can.

"Forget it, investing in that is meaningless; it won't work without ten or twenty million dollars."

Xu Can, in his suit and leather shoes, is exactly like John Wick in the movie.

He maintains the calmness of an assassin and waves his hand slowly.

"Instead of spending this money on ads, we might as well invest it in movies."

"The new Marvel project you mentioned?"

"Exactly. We will co-produce it with Marvel and won't seek other partnerships."

"No way? You're going all-in again?"

"Of course, nothing ventured, nothing gained."

"I f***ing..."

Happy's good mood lasts only a few seconds before he's left speechless by Xu Can's words.

The box office for *John Wick* hasn't even cooled down, and he wants to invest it out again!

And it's a Marvel movie!

"*Spider-Man*'s success doesn't mean Marvel can succeed! They sold all their popular characters; what's left for them?"

In Happy's eyes, Xu Can is completely blindly confident.

A young man gets a little success and gets carried away!

As someone who has "been there," he must persuade Xu Can!

Being the COO at Marvel and helping them develop movies is fine, but don't throw your entire net worth into it!

"Iron Man," Xu Can says nonchalantly without looking up.

"Huh?"

He knows Xu Can wants to work with Marvel, but what is Iron Man?

As a non-hardcore Marvel fan, an average reader who occasionally flips through a few comic books,

Happy at most knows Spider-Man, Captain America, Thor, Superman, Batman, The Flash...

To this day, he can't tell the difference between Aquaman and Namor,

can't tell who is in the X-Men, and doesn't know how many major events the Avengers have had.

In North America, the vast majority of ordinary moviegoers are like Happy, not knowing American comics like the back of their hand.

Iron Man, in the eyes of passersby, is completely a third-tier character,

only able to make cameos in major events.

Is his personal story interesting?

"Xu..."

Happy wants to try his best to persuade him, but is interrupted by Xu Can waving his hand.

"That's enough, Happy. I know you mean well, but I have my plan."

Xu Can stops looking at his phone, his eyes sharp as a blade, just like John Wick in the movie!

"So, trust me, OK?"

"Fine, no problem, no problem..."

Happy nods hurriedly, no longer persuading him.

After all, this company was built by Xu Can with his *Spider-Man* salary,

and he has absolute say.

Happy, bearing the title of President of Galaxy Pictures, is just an employee.

As Xu Can's agent, it's even more impossible for him to defy his financier.

And Xu Can's look just now really made Happy's scalp tingle!

Xu Can is also stunned.

He didn't mean to be fierce to Happy just now.

This agent, who has followed him since he was down and out, now helps him solve problems and handles all the big and small matters of the company.

He is truly very dedicated.

Xu Can might be influenced by the character, occasionally triggering character fusion in certain situations.

Fortunately, this situation doesn't affect daily life and rarely happens, so Xu Can doesn't pay much attention to it.

"Looks like I'll have to play some positive characters to balance it out later; being both a god of death and a clown, I really doubt my mental state later on."

Xu Can laughs at himself.

With the first-day box office a success, it naturally topped the North American box office list for the first weekend.

*John Wick* grossed $120 million! Second only to last year's powerful fantasy blockbuster *Pirates of the Caribbean 2*!

"What the f***?"

Even Xu Can is surprised by this result!