Chapter 287: Unexpected box office

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

"Jason, calling me so early, is the box office for *Zhu Nuo* out?"

Cao Yang yawned. Yesterday, he spent the whole day running promotions in theaters and accepting media interviews with the *Zhu Nuo* crew, which exhausted him.

There was no way around it; in the entire *Zhu Nuo* crew, he was the biggest name, so for the sake of the box office, he definitely had to appear in front of the media more.

He was working so hard, not for the 20% global box office and subsequent share of *Zhu Nuo*, but to prove that a film adapted from his own novel, even if it is a small-budget one, even without big stars, can still sell well.

Especially after Fox Searchlight successfully operated *Zhu Nuo* for the Oscar for Best Picture, everyone knew that this film was a success, but how successful it could be still depended on the box office performance.

It can be said that this film concerns whether Cao Yang can further his influence in Hollywood.

"Haha, yes, dear Cao. Not only is the box office for *Zhu Nuo* out, but the North American weekend box office chart is also out. Any interest in guessing?"

Jason Simmons was playing coy at this moment.

Alright, it could be seen that Jason Simmons was very happy, and Cao Yang couldn't dampen his spirits.

"20 million? Did *Zhu Nuo* hit 20 million in box office?"

Cao Yang tried to guess.

The cost of *Zhu Nuo* was only 6 million US dollars, although later, for the sake of the Oscars, Fox Searchlight poured another 20 million US dollars into it over half a year. But to the outside world, *Zhu Nuo* was a small production with a cost of a few million.

For a small production of a few million US dollars, if it could get 20 million US dollars in box office on its opening day, it would be considered a big hit from any angle.

However, considering that this was an Oscar Best Picture, plus yesterday was Mother's Day, with these additions, a 20 million US dollar box office on the opening day could be considered reasonable... my ass!

Regardless of what additions there were, the 20 million Cao Yang guessed could be considered a big hit for *Zhu Nuo*.

Films that can reach 20 million on their opening day do not have a North American box office of less than 100 million after they are taken off the screens.

Comparing horizontally, Tom Cruise's *Mission: Impossible 3*, which is still being screened, had a first-weekend box office of 48 million, but the opening day box office was a little over 17 million.

Well, actually, it's impossible to compare like this, because *Mission: Impossible 3* is considered a flop.

"Haha, you are too conservative, you can be a bit bolder."

Jason Simmons laughed and said, then added: "Alright, I won't make it hard for you. Let me tell you, *Zhu Nuo*'s opening day box office was 24.1 million. This is definitely a big bomb for the start of the summer season."

Holy crap, 24.1 million?

Cao Yang was directly startled. He remembered that the first-weekend box office of his *Milk* was 47 million, and the opening day box office seemed to be over 16 million.

Although the box office on Saturday and Sunday was more than on Friday, *Milk*'s Sunday box office was a little over 20 million, but no matter how you look at it, *Zhu Nuo*'s 24.1 million box office was indeed a bit too high.

This box office has even surpassed *District 9*.

*District 9*'s first-weekend box office was over 64.7 million, and the Sunday box office was estimated to be a little over 23 million.

"Jason, are you sure you didn't make a mistake?"

If it got 24.1 million in box office yesterday, *Zhu Nuo* is very likely to exceed 200 million in North American final box office, and could even reach between 230 million and 250 million.

How is this possible?

Before his rebirth, Cao Yang had paid attention to this film, mainly because the lead actress, Sister Page, became Brother Page, plus the film's box office return ratio was too shocking.

He remembered that this film had four nominations at the Oscars that year: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, and Best Original Screenplay.

In the end, it only won Best Original Screenplay.

Because of the addition of these Oscar nominations, this film finally achieved a box office of 143.49 million in North America and a global box office of 231.41 million.

Relative to the investment of over 6 million, it belongs to the box office explosion film.

According to Cao Yang's estimation, with the blessing of the Oscar Best Picture, plus his own influence, *Zhu Nuo*'s North American box office might be between 150 million and 180 million.

"Haha, that's right, you didn't hear it wrong, buddy. Yesterday's box office was 24.1 million, which also greatly exceeded my expectations."

Jason Simmons pondered for a moment and then said:

"I discussed it with the person in charge of market research at the company. It might have something to do with yesterday being Mother's Day, plus our promotion was effective, and it was an Oscar Best Picture, which led to yesterday's 24.1 million.

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

I think that even if yesterday was a special situation, as long as we seize the opportunity, *Zhu Nuo* is still very likely to hit the 200 million box office mark.

I have already discussed it with the heads of several departments in the company, and the company will add another 10 million US dollars to promote the film and buy the opinions of film critics."

"Is there anything I need to do?"

Fox Searchlight added another 10 million US dollars in promotional expenses, and Cao Yang felt, should he do something too?

"Haha, dear Cao, with your promise, I can rest assured. When I need you, I will contact you."

Jason Simmons just wanted to hang up the phone, but then thought of something else, and said in a very regretful tone:

"By the way, I forgot to say, on the North American weekend box office chart, *Mission: Impossible 3*'s weekend box office was 24.5 million, ranking first, and *Zhu Nuo*'s one-day box office was 24.1 million, ranking second. It was only 400,000 short in box office, too bad, haha..."

After hanging up the phone, Cao Yang smiled and shook his head. This guy was a bit of a "Versailles."

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

Who knew that this president of Fox Searchlight arranged four interviews, two talk shows, and one public welfare activity for him in succession, simply treating him like an ox.

However, Fox Searchlight's 20 million Oscar-chasing expenses, and the recently added 10 million promotion and "comment control" expenses, were not mentioned for Cao Yang to share, so Cao Yang couldn't refuse the activities arranged by them.

In the second week, the North American weekend box office chart came out, and *Zhu Nuo* unsurprisingly surpassed *Mission: Impossible 3*, but it still didn't reach the top of the weekend box office chart.

Ranked first was the newly released *The Da Vinci Code*. This film starring Tom Hanks and Jean Reno had a first-weekend box office of 77 million, far exceeding *Zhu Nuo*'s 45 million.

However, *Zhu Nuo*'s 24 million last Sunday, plus the 45 million for the three days of this weekend, and the 36 million for the four days from Monday to Thursday, took eight days to break the 100 million mark in box office.

According to the current box office trend, as well as the good reputation and the heated discussion it caused, it is really possible for the North American box office to reach 200 million.

At the same time, *The Promise* has also been screened for three weekends, and the total box office has reached 640,000.

It is estimated that Chinese films will not be able to sell for a good price in North America in the future.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 288 =====