Chapter 390

In the second week of "National Treasure: Book of Secrets," the box office for the three-day weekend took another 28.2 million, a drop of only 30% compared to last week; this result was a bit unexpected.

It seems the box office trend is actually incredibly good.

Currently, the film has been out for ten days; the total box office for the first seven days was 78.8 million USD, plus the 28.2 million from this three-day weekend, it has already reached 107 million USD.

Not only is Hollywood gold-medal 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 isn't considered too good, and the first-week box office didn't meet expectations, but the box office drop is incredibly healthy.

Robert Iger shifted his main energy away from the promotion of "New Pirates of the Caribbean."

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

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

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

As a Hollywood gold-medal producer, Jerry Bruckheimer's status and influence are still very high; he is an honored guest of all the major Hollywood studio executives.

At this moment, he is sitting in Robert Iger's office, repeating the words he had said countless times before in order to get the slot for "New Pirates of the Caribbean."

Previously, when he said these things, he would always be blocked in the end by Robert Iger with the sentence "Because the director of 'New Pirates of the Caribbean' is named Cao Yang," leaving him wanting to say something but only able to hold it inside.

A director who has never failed can simply block everyone's mouth, including gold-medal producers like Jerry Bruckheimer who are renowned throughout the entire film circle.

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

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

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

Jerry Bruckheimer was implying something.

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

Now the box office numbers are out; although it looks like it didn't meet expectations, it wins on stability. According to the current drop, 200 million USD in North America shouldn't be a problem, and at least 400 million globally.

Box office is confidence!

With confidence, as a gold-medal producer with huge influence in Hollywood, would I still endure it? Could I still endure it?

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 was reminding Jerry Bruckheimer that although your "National Treasure: Book of Secrets" seems to have succeeded again, Cao Yang hasn't failed either; 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 USD 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 USD, and the top-ranked 'I Am Legend' by Will Smith made as much as 76.5 million USD!

Without a doubt, the competition for this Christmas slot is extremely fierce. 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 blockbuster 'I Am Legend' in the week before its release, how can a reboot film make a comeback?"

Jerry Bruckheimer put down his coffee, laughed, stood up, and walked out while saying:

"Robert, the Christmas slot is not the summer slot; it doesn't have that much capacity. What you need to do now is shift resources and move the promotional resources given to 'New Pirates of the Caribbean' to 'National Treasure: Book of Secrets'."

After speaking, he pushed the door open and walked out without hesitation.

Jerry Bruckheimer believed that as Disney's CEO, Robert Iger couldn't be emotional; he would make the right choice.

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

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

For Robert Iger, this was not rudeness, nor was it a challenge to his authority, but rather having personality.

Of course, if you don't have Jerry Bruckheimer's ability and can't produce profitable films, then doing this isn't having personality, but being rude, 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 film review website Rotten Tomatoes. He didn't look at the freshness index of "National Treasure: Book of Secrets," but instead looked at the reviews first.

Rotten Tomatoes reviews are divided into two types: general audience reviews and professional critic reviews. Robert Iger wasn't looking at the professional critic reviews, but those general reviews that represent the viewing public.

"This is a family film full of suspense, humor, and intellectual challenge, suitable for the whole family to watch together."

"The plot unfolds step by step in suspense very cleverly, yet uses humor to dilute the tense atmosphere; it's very suitable for decoding 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 an adventure for the whole family?"

The positioning of this film was not a family film, but an adventure blockbuster. He didn't expect that by a stroke of luck, the humor inside diluted the tense atmosphere of the adventure and it became a family film.

He now understood why the drop for "National Treasure: Book of Secrets" was so small.

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

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

The North American Christmas slot is similar to the Chinese Spring Festival slot; it is also a holiday for family reunions, so naturally, people watch interesting commercial blockbusters and family films.

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

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

Thinking of the fact that Cao Yang had never failed—even if "New Pirates of the Caribbean" didn't explode, as long as it didn't lose money, it was a success.

And suddenly shifting resources, such a thing definitely couldn't 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 USD for "I Am Legend" over the three-day weekend, he decisively ordered: "Add another 10 million USD in promotional resources for 'New Pirates of the Caribbean,' and notify China Film Group and the Youth Film Studio."

Since "I Am Legend" has exploded, the original promotional plan definitely won't work, so add the funds!

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 isn't counting on "New Pirates of the Caribbean" to explode now; 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 not much difference in investment budget, being able to match the box office of a sequel whose previous installment sold well—no matter how you look at it, this requirement is not low.