Chapter 191: Overtaking

Publicity in America naturally emphasizes public relations, but the seven major Hollywood studios all maintain close ties with specific media outlets. For instance, 21st Century Fox, Fox Television, and *The Wall Street Journal* all belong to Murdoch's News Corporation; Time Warner, the parent company of Warner Bros., controls the HBO network.

If your Warner film wants to appear on my Fox television program, of course it can, but you have to pay. If you want my *Wall Street Journal* to help you hype it up, that also requires a kickback. If you don't pay, then don't blame *The Wall Street Journal* for upholding its conscience and evaluating your film from an objective perspective.

Therefore, the seven majors' film promotion often chooses media outlets with close relationships. It is impossible to win over all media to sing your praises; the PR costs would be too high and highly uneconomical.

So now, when the "Big Mouth" (Julia Roberts) saw this row of newspapers all offering praise for *The Sixth Sense*, she couldn't help but be stunned.

Just then, Richard Gere walked over and couldn't help but ask, "Morning, Julia. Has something happened?"

Julia Roberts handed the stack of newspapers her assistant had brought over to Richard Gere: "Take a look, they've practically blown *The Sixth Sense* up to the heavens!"

Richard Gere quickly flipped through the headlines of the papers, his brow furrowing.

Julia Roberts' agent also said, "Don't be anxious yet, Julia. I'll go find out what's going on~"

At this moment, the film's producer, Ted, walked over: "No need to ask. I've already looked into it. The word-of-mouth for *The Sixth Sense* has exploded. It's not just these critics; I even got the premiere ratings from CinemaScore. Over 50% of the audience gave it an A+!"

"Over 50% A+? Ted, are you serious?!" The Big Mouth wondered if she had misheard.

All of them were industry veterans who dealt with films year-round and understood the significance of CinemaScore surveys. In fact, as long as a film can get an A—meaning A- or above—it's considered a good review. Generally speaking, if a film can get an A- or above from half the audience, it means the word-of-mouth is quite good.

But now, with *The Sixth Sense* achieving over 50% A+ ratings alone, didn't that mean the word-of-mouth had exploded? Had it reached the level of a classic? Just thinking about it made them feel it was somewhat unbelievable!

"I wish I were joking, but unfortunately, this is the truth..." the producer said, shrugging helplessly.

"Damn it, to run into something like this!" Julia Roberts' originally beautiful mood instantly turned sour. No one would feel good running into such an opponent during the same release window.

She had originally thought that since Bruce Willis was doing a transformation piece and giving up his specialty in action, her romantic comedy with Richard Gere should be an easy win. Who would have thought he'd rise up based on the acting skills he'd been roasted for in the past!

Afterward, she thought of the director, Wu Yuchen. Could this young director really have the Midas touch? Not only creating blockbuster after blockbuster, but also successively helping two "hard-as-rock" guys, Stallone and Bruce Willis, successfully transform with explosive acting performances.

It seemed that if she had the chance in the future, she definitely had to befriend this Wu Yuchen. His talent and market sense were both top-tier, and he was on an upward trajectory. They didn't necessarily have to become best friends, but getting on familiar terms was never a bad idea.

Julia Roberts cast these thoughts aside, immediately returned to the current situation, and said decisively, "Ted, you need to increase the promotion. We must grab the opening weekend box office championship!"

"Of course, that's exactly why I came to find you. Over the next two days, you and Richard will have to work as hard as possible. If we take the opening weekend box office title, we can maintain the advantage."

Seeing the atmosphere in the room was a bit heavy, the producer Ted smiled and spoke to lighten the mood:

"Hey, Julia, Richard, actually the situation isn't that bad. Even if *The Sixth Sense* has rave reviews, it's still just a horror film after all. No matter how good it is, can it be better than *The Silence of the Lambs*? The box office for *The Silence of the Lambs* was far worse than your previous *Pretty Woman*!"

Julia Roberts and Richard Gere both revealed smiles upon hearing this.

*The Silence of the Lambs* was hailed as the most classic crime-horror film, sweeping five major awards at the 64th Oscars—Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, and Best Screenplay—truly achieving a clean sweep of that year's Oscars.

But what was the final box office for *The Silence of the Lambs*? A global total of 272 million. Although that was a very good result, the global box office for *Pretty Woman*, which Julia Roberts and Richard Gere teamed up for, was as high as 463 million. The release dates of these two films were less than a year apart.

To put it bluntly, the horror genre has an inherent disadvantage, not to mention that romantic films are currently a global craze. After thinking this through, the Big Mouth regained her confidence and revealed a bright smile once again.

Confidence is one thing, but the two of them were still putting in the effort for the promotion. With Julia Roberts, the "Big Sister" of Hollywood and currently the most popular female star, and Richard Gere, an A-list male star, they were met with cheers and applause from fans wherever they went, pursued by all sorts of reporters, and the response was very enthusiastic.

That night, Julia Roberts, who had been running promotion all day, didn't rest early. Instead, she applied a facial mask and waited with Richard Gere for the first day's box office results.

When she saw the producer Ted, who had come personally with the documents, wearing a full smile, the Big Mouth couldn't help but say with a laugh, "Ted, I think it must be good news!"

Ted shook the document in his hand and said with full confidence, "Of course, with you two, we are the undisputed number one!"

On the other side, Wu Yuchen and Bruce Willis were also looking at the opening day box office:

"First place: *Runaway Bride*, 12.53 million."

"Second place: *The Sixth Sense*, 10.80 million."

"Third place: *The Blair Witch Project*, 7.23 million."

Wu Yuchen looked at the first-place *Runaway Bride*, which led *The Sixth Sense* by over 1.7 million in box office results. He thought to himself that as expected of Hollywood's Big Sister plus Richard Gere; his and Bruce Willis's combined drawing power was still slightly lacking compared to them!

Bruce Willis was quite satisfied: "Wu, I think the box office is very good. And I see that everyone seems to have a very high opinion of us. We should end up with a pretty good result!"

This time, with Bruce Willis's transformation, he naturally wouldn't use the box office standards of his past action films to demand results from *The Sixth Sense*. He felt that if it could cross 100 million in North America this time, it would be a victory. The key was that the explosive word-of-mouth this time made him very happy. Didn't he see the media all praising his acting as noteworthy?

Wu Yuchen thought to himself, you're at least one of the hottest people in Hollywood right now, how can you be so lost in joy just because the newspapers praised you a few times? Don't you have any ambition to compete with the Big Mouth for the opening weekend box office championship this time?

Wu Yuchen asked the producer: "James, do you think we can take the opening weekend box office championship this time?"

James rubbed his chin and said, "Saturday's box office is very critical. Of course, there is hope. The box office difference between us and *Runaway Bride* isn't much, and our word-of-mouth is very good. Today's CinemaScore rating will also be released to the public, which should get more people into the cinemas."

CinemaScore ratings are only released to the public once enough data has been collected; otherwise, the sample size is too small to be convincing.

Wu Yuchen nodded as well. He had a premonition that the rating for *The Sixth Sense* was very high, though he didn't know exactly how much.

"Bruce, we need to put in more effort for the promotion over these next two days. Don't let that woman Julia Roberts keep you pinned underneath her!"

"Actually, being pinned by her isn't so bad~"

Bruce Willis joked, but then immediately added:

"Oh, of course, I still enjoy being on top more!"

That night, after returning to his room, Wu Yuchen was wrapped up by a delicate body. Jennifer Connelly pressed against Wu Yuchen's back, wrapped her arms around his neck, and asked:

"Darling, how much box office do you think our *The Sixth Sense* will get?"

Wu Yuchen smiled, turned around, lifted her perky buttocks, pressed her against the wall, and kissed her. After a moment, he pulled his lips away and said, "I think it will be over 600 million!"

Jennifer Connelly giggled and patted Wu Yuchen's chest: "Oh, darling, don't use such lies to coax me like a child~"

Clearly, she didn't believe *The Sixth Sense* could have such a high box office, thinking this was just Wu Yuchen's sweet talk to please her.

Wu Yuchen raised an eyebrow, gently bit her lip, and asked with a smile, "Then how much do you think it will have?"

Jennifer Connelly blinked her alluring eyes and breathed like an orchid: "Two hundred million. Can you satisfy my wish?"

Jennifer Connelly didn't hold very high hopes. She thought that if this film could break 300 million globally like Wu Yuchen's previous two, that would be great. In her view, breaking 200 million was already a good result, after all, the box office performance of *The Silence of the Lambs* was right there.

Although Jennifer Connelly had become world-famous over a decade ago through the film *Once Upon a Time in America*, in reality, up until now, she hadn't even had a single film break 100 million at the box office!

If this *The Sixth Sense* could break 100 million in North America and 200 million globally, she would be satisfied.

In North America, crossing 100 million at the box office and not crossing it are two completely different concepts. The "100 Million Club" is a huge title for actors who participate in such films, which can be used directly to negotiate their market value and exchange for real money.

"A mere two hundred million, you look down on me too much. I can satisfy you tonight!" Wu Yuchen pressed his body forward against hers.

Afterward, he brushed aside Jennifer Connelly's hair, bit her earlobe, and asked, "Jenny, if the final box office breaks 600 million, how will you thank me?"

Jennifer Connelly hooked her arms tightly around Wu Yuchen's waist, held his head, and said, "Then I will be at your beck and call from now on. You will be my only God~"

Wu Yuchen laughed upon hearing this and said, "Then I want to instill some faith in you right now!"

The next morning, Wu Yuchen was refreshed. After all, he had always been one to help others; last night he had satisfied Jennifer Connelly's wish for 200 million, leaving both of them physically and mentally delighted.

And right after breakfast, he also received the survey and rating given by CinemaScore:

"*The Sixth Sense* A+: 52%, A: 27%, A-: 15%, B+: 4%, B: 1%, B-: 1%."

Next to the survey, a horizontal bar chart was placed very intuitively. Without a doubt, the long A+ bar was very conspicuous, presenting the results to readers very clearly.

At the same time, CinemaScore also gave their comprehensive rating: A+.

And attached a comment: "A very rare, yet warm horror film worthy of being listed as a classic. An A+ rating from over half the audience is enough to make you walk into a cinema to watch it!"

Finally, there was one more item: the box office forecast for *The Sixth Sense*: North American box office 180 million, global box office 350 million.

Afterward, he looked at the box office forecast given by CinemaScore for the same period's *Runaway Bride*: North American box office 120 million, global box office 250 million.

Wu Yuchen revealed a smile as he looked at this survey report. As expected of a professional organization, their insight was quite good, favoring their *The Sixth Sense* over *Runaway Bride*. And this confidence in the box office was much higher than Jennifer Connelly's!

However, even for a professional organization, it was probably hard to imagine what a terrifying box office this family film, disguised in horror themes, would create!

When Saturday ended, Julia Roberts had originally planned to rest early. After all, they had already taken the lead, and the horror genre was niche after all, incomparable to the mainstream romantic films. However, out of respect for Bruce Willis and director Wu Yuchen, she still sat for a while longer with her mask on, waiting.

"What! How can this be?"

The Big Mouth suddenly stood up, her mouth wide open, and the mask on her face almost shook off. But she didn't care about the mask anymore; she snatched it off and looked carefully at the numbers displayed on the document:

"First place: *The Sixth Sense*, 15.18 million."

"Second place: *Runaway Bride*, 13.11 million."

"..."

The Saturday box office for *Runaway Bride* had increased, but this growth rate was simply incomparable to *The Sixth Sense*. The latter had surged by 40% compared to Friday!

And now, for the total box office over two days, *The Sixth Sense* had also achieved an overtake of *Runaway Bride*, 25.98 million to 25.64 million. *The Sixth Sense* was leading *Runaway Bride* by a slim margin of 340,000.

"Ted, didn't you say not many people would come to watch this horror film?!" the Big Mouth asked loudly.

The producer Ted also had an unpleasant look on his face:

"I went to ask the surveyors, and they said this film actually isn't scary. Essentially, it's a film about family affection and mutual understanding. Children can watch it completely fine, so quite a few parents have started bringing their children into the cinemas..."

"Oh, damn it! Why didn't you investigate clearly before!" the Big Mouth complained.

What kind of films are the most terrifying during the summer and Christmas release windows? It's the family-friendly type. When the whole family goes out, the box office just keeps climbing up and up.

Ted immediately encouraged her: "It doesn't matter, the gap is only 300,000. We still have one day left, there is still a chance to catch up!" ===== CHAPTER 192 =====