Chapter 390: Big Hit

In the second week of its release, *National Treasure: Book of Secrets* took in another 28.2 million dollars over the three-day weekend; compared to last week, the drop was only 30%, a result that was somewhat unexpected.

It seems the box office trend is actually incredibly good.

Currently, the film has been in theaters for ten days; the total box office for the first seven days was 78.8 million dollars, and adding the 28.2 million from this three-day weekend, it has already reached 107 million dollars.

Not only is the golden Hollywood producer Jerry Bruckheimer excited, but even Disney CEO Robert Iger is somewhat surprised.

It must be said that the word-of-mouth for this film is not particularly good, and the opening week's box office was not as expected, yet the box office drop is incredibly healthy.

Robert Iger has shifted his primary focus away from the promotion of *New Pirates of the Caribbean*.

If this healthy drop rate is maintained, the final North American box office for *National Treasure: Book of Secrets* will not be the 150 million dollars he estimated.

The box office for the first seven days was also nearly 20 million more than the 60 million he had anticipated.

"Robert, I said it before, Nicholas's box office appeal is extremely powerful, and this is still a sequel film with great potential; the box office will already surprise people, it's not something those reboot films with too much uncertainty can compare to..."

As a golden Hollywood producer, Jerry Bruckheimer's status and influence are still very high, and he is an honored guest of the executives at all major Hollywood studios.

At this moment, he is sitting in Robert Iger's office, repeating the words he said countless times before in order to secure the release window for *New Pirates of the Caribbean*.

In the past, whenever he said these things, he would eventually be blocked by Robert Iger with the line, "Because the director of *New Pirates of the Caribbean* is named Cao Yang," leaving him with things he wanted to say but could only keep bottled up inside.

A director who has never failed can simply shut everyone's mouth, including golden producers like Jerry Bruckheimer who are renowned throughout the film industry.

But now, Jerry, sitting in Robert Iger's office, has enough confidence.

As he says these things now, all Robert Iger can do is personally pour him a cup of coffee and ask quite considerately, "Jerry, would you like milk?"

"No, I like the mellow fragrance that comes after the bitterness."

Jerry Bruckheimer is implying something.

Before the box office numbers came out, you said the director of *New Pirates of the Caribbean* is Cao Yang, and I endured it; after all, that guy is one of Hollywood's biggest directors and has never failed, which is indeed irrefutable.

Now the box office numbers are out, and although it looks like it's not as expected, it wins on stability; according to the current drop rate, 200 million dollars in North America should be no problem, and at least 400 million globally.

Box office is confidence!

With confidence, would I, a golden producer with huge influence in Hollywood, still endure? Could I still endure?

Then wouldn't I have achieved such a good box office for nothing?

"Ahem!"

Robert Iger placed the coffee in front of Jerry Bruckheimer and said softly, "That is Cao Yang, after all."

He is reminding Jerry Bruckheimer that although your *National Treasure: Book of Secrets* appears to be a success again, Cao Yang has also never failed; you should stop while you're ahead and not go too far.

"Ha!"

Jerry Bruckheimer laughed.

"Jerry, *National Treasure: Book of Secrets* made 28.2 million dollars over the three-day weekend; what is its ranking? Not first, not even second, but third!"

He picked up the coffee, took a sip, and continued: "I think you understand what I mean. The second-place *Alvin and the Chipmunks* made 45 million dollars, and the top-ranked *I Am Legend* by Will Smith reached as high as 76.5 million dollars!"

Without a doubt, the competition for this Christmas season is exceptionally fierce, and what is certain now is that *I Am Legend* has already exploded.

Robert, it's not that I'm looking down on *New Pirates of the Caribbean*, but you tell me, in a situation where there is a massive hit like *I Am Legend* in the week before its release, how can a reboot film turn things around?"

Jerry Bruckheimer put down his coffee, laughed out loud, and stood up, saying as he walked toward the door:

"Robert, the Christmas season is not the summer season; it doesn't have that kind of volume. What you need to do now is shift resources and move the promotional resources allocated to *New Pirates of the Caribbean* over to *National Treasure: Book of Secrets*."

Having said that, he pushed the door open and walked out without hesitation.

Jerry Bruckheimer believes that as the CEO of Disney, Robert Iger cannot be swayed by emotion; he will make the right choice.

Robert Iger was not angry at Jerry Bruckheimer's rudeness.

He would be only too happy to have more "Jerry Bruckheimers" be rude to him.

To Robert Iger, this is not rudeness, nor is it a challenge to his authority; it is having personality.

Of course, if you don't have Jerry Bruckheimer's ability and cannot produce profitable films, then doing this is not having personality, but rather being crude, unreasonable, and challenging authority.

Robert Iger wouldn't mind letting you feel the power and majesty of a Disney CEO.

He sat in his boss chair and thought for a moment, then opened the famous review site Rotten Tomatoes; he didn't look at the freshness index of *National Treasure: Book of Secrets*, but instead went to look at the reviews first.

Rotten Tomatoes reviews are divided into two types: general audience reviews and professional critic reviews. Robert Iger was not looking at the evaluations of professional critics, but at those general reviews that represent the movie-going public.

"This is a family film full of suspense and humor that challenges the intellect and is suitable for the whole family to watch together."

"The plot unfolds step by step in suspense quite cleverly, yet uses humor to dilute the tense atmosphere; it's very suitable for solving mysteries with children."

"This is an adventure; a family with children follows the protagonists in the film to complete this journey of exploration."

Robert Iger stroked his chin and muttered to himself: "Has it become a family-friendly adventure?"

The positioning of this film was not a family-friendly film, but an adventure blockbuster; unexpectedly, by some twist of fate, the humor within diluted the tense atmosphere of the adventure and it became family-friendly.

He now also understands why the drop rate for *National Treasure: Book of Secrets* was so small.

What kind of films are most popular during the Christmas season?

One is large-scale, interesting commercial blockbusters, and the other is family-friendly films.

The North American Christmas season is similar to the Chinese Spring Festival season; it is also a holiday for families to reunite, so naturally, they watch interesting commercial blockbusters and family-friendly films.

Robert Iger picked up the phone, originally intending to instruct the marketing department to shift some of the promotional resources for *New Pirates of the Caribbean* to *National Treasure: Book of Secrets*.

But the words stopped on his lips, and he paused.

Thinking of the fact that Cao Yang has never failed—even if *New Pirates of the Caribbean* isn't a massive hit, as long as it doesn't lose money, it is a success.

And shifting resources suddenly is something that certainly cannot be hidden; wouldn't that offend Cao Yang?

Robert Iger was silent for a moment, then made up his mind and ordered: "Add... 6 million in promotion for *National Treasure: Book of Secrets*."

Then, thinking of the super-high box office of 76.5 million dollars for *I Am Legend* over the three-day weekend, he decisively ordered: "Add another 10 million dollars in promotional resources for *New Pirates of the Caribbean*, and notify China Film and the Youth Film Studio."

Since *I Am Legend* has exploded, the original promotional plan definitely won't work, so add to the budget!

Robert Iger is gambling.

A director who has never failed is worth him taking a gamble.

He just doesn't believe that a director who has never failed will fail with him.

Robert Iger is no longer hoping for *New Pirates of the Caribbean* to be a massive hit; as long as this film can have a box office similar to *National Treasure: Book of Secrets*, he will be satisfied.

Actually, for an average director, this requirement is considered quite high.

For a reboot film whose previous installment failed, with a similar investment budget, to have a box office that can match a sequel whose previous installment sold well—no matter how you look at it, this requirement is not low.