[Chapter 244: We Must Not Give Up]
As everyone exited the theater, they noticed a brightly lit movie merchandise store across the street. Halassa grabbed his friend and said, "Cloverfield, let's go get one of those Ghostface masks."
The store was packed with movie fans fresh from watching Happy Death Day. Everyone was surprised to find, besides the Ghostface masks, movie character dolls of Cristiana, Monica, and Noriko Sakai. There were three doll models for Cristiana and Monica, priced at $199, $99, and $69 respectively. Noriko Sakai had just one model, priced at $69.
Thanks to previous media hype, Cristiana and Monica drew a large crowd of enthusiastic fans admiring their stunning beauty. When fans saw their dolls on display, they eagerly rushed to the counter.
"I want the biggest Cristiana doll and a Ghostface mask. How much does that come to?" a young man asked the clerk.
"$218 total, sir."
"Wrap it up; I'll pay with my credit card."
"I want the largest Monica doll with a Ghostface mask..."
"I'll take one of each Cristiana doll and a mask," Cloverfield eagerly said, a devoted fan of Cristiana, pulling out his credit card.
"I want all three Monica dolls and a mask," said Halassa, a Monica fan, following suit.
"Put me down for one of every doll from Cristiana, Monica, and Noriko Sakai," more fans chimed in.
Meanwhile, the merchandise counter for A Bronx Tale next door stood empty. The salesperson, with nothing to do, went over to help at the Happy Death Day counter.
...
Linton Manor, 3:00 A.M.
While Linton happily played games with Cristiana, Monica, and Noriko Sakai, he got an excited call from Harvey.
"Boss, great news."
"Is it about the midnight screening of Happy Death Day?"
"Yes! The midnight show just ended with an 80% attendance rate. It played in 1,300 theaters across 2,100 screens, and it brought in $940,000 at the box office."
"That's fantastic news."
"Even better, our movie merchandise is flying off the shelves. Stores are already calling to restock."
"Good work. Keep monitoring the publicity and promotional efforts to secure this momentum."
"Absolutely, boss. We're sticking to the plan. Starting 9 a.m. today, Ryan will lead the promotional roadshow, joined by Cristiana, Monica, Noriko Sakai, and Matt Damon. They'll tour major cities over two weeks."
"Keep it up. When the movie officially launches, everyone will get bonuses based on their contributions."
After he hung up, the three women who had been eavesdropping hurried over, excited.
"That's awesome, sweetheart. I'm ready to reward you."
"Honey, I need to gather enough energy."
"Darling, I'll fight till dawn."
Their lively and cheerful singing resumed as the night wore on.
...
The following morning, after breakfast, Cristiana, Monica, and Noriko Sakai energetically headed to the company to meet director Ryan and kick off their promotional roadshow across major U.S. cities.
Linton continued working with the crew to prepare for the film's release. Since Cristiana, Monica, Noriko Sakai, and Izumi Sakai were out promoting, and no one else was clinging at home, Linton decided to stay at the crew's hotel in Universal Studios.
This made it convenient for Sophie Marceau, Winona, and Heidi Klum from the neighboring crew, who moved into Linton's room that evening. They happily played with him.
Of course, Charlize Theron was also around but did not join the group activities. She would occasionally seek out Linton and monopolize his time for the evening.
Though this annoyed Sophie Marceau, Winona, and Heidi Klum a little, the visits were infrequent -- about once a week -- and with Linton's reassurance, they reluctantly accepted it.
For convenience, Linton simply opened another room next door just for his evenings with Charlize Theron.
...
Halloween is traditionally when the audience flock to horror movies. Thanks to its shocking storyline and suspenseful plot, Happy Death Day's box office performance was eye-catching.
The film opened in 2,800 theaters over 5,400 screens on Friday, reaching $5.73 million on opening day. Combined with $940,000 from midnight showings, the total first-day gross was $6.67 million, making it the day's box office champion.
Second place went to The Narrow Road, released the previous weekend, with $3.78 million.
Third place was Last Action Hero, also out last weekend, with $3.27 million.
Happy Death Day continued to gain momentum, earning $8.82 million on Saturday, $7.85 million on Sunday, and $6.29 million on Monday, despite some states observing a holiday closure.
For the four-day opening weekend, North American box office totaled $29.63 million, securing the weekend's top spot.
Even better, merchandise sales -- featuring Cristiana, Monica, Noriko Sakai, and Ghostface masks -- were booming. The company had to rush additional orders to meet demand.
Crucially, word of mouth was excellent. Audience surveys by CinemaScore gave the film an overall grade of A, far surpassing typical horror movies.
CinemaScore projected around $90 million for the North American box office.
This success stunned many industry insiders. A horror film made on a $7 million budget earned four times its production cost its opening weekend while maintaining strong staying power.
Its profitability was equivalent to robbing a bank.
So far, Linton Films had produced and invested in five hit movies, each a huge success. Even horror films, traditionally profitable only through home video sales, were now thriving at theaters.
This forced major Hollywood studios to pay closer attention to Linton and study his and Linton Films' strategies.
Six of the seven major Hollywood studios, excluding Universal Pictures, grew anxious at missing out on such a cash cow.
They held internal meetings, resolved to approach Linton Films for acquisition or investment, or at least to secure rights for distribution or upcoming projects.
...
Meanwhile, the competing film A Bronx Tale, launched by CAA to challenge Happy Death Day, made only $8.67 million over the same weekend, nowhere near the same level.
CAA's Hellraiser 3, debuting last week, grossed under $800,000 and theaters had largely dropped it.
Not only could they not dent Happy Death Day's dominance, these two films struggled just to maintain normal theater schedules, becoming an industry joke.
Luckily, CAA kept their plans to attack Happy Death Day internal, sparing them public ridicule.
This outcome sobered industry executives like Michael Ovitz and Martin Bob, reminding them that movies from Linton Films were no easy target.
On the same stage, if quality and level weren't high, any attack could backfire, damaging their own interests.
Plans for a media campaign against Happy Death Day were scrapped as futile.
Martin even suggested to Michael Ovitz, "What if we don't release Interview With the Vampire at the same time as The Rock?"
"You think Interview With the Vampire can't beat The Rock?"
"No -- Tom Cruise's star power makes me confident about Interview With the Vampire's box office. But if The Rock is strong, both movies might harm each other, affecting our total revenue," Martin explained vaguely, avoiding admission of fear.
Ovitz rejected the idea, determined to use Interview With the Vampire to counter The Rock. "Trust Tom Cruise's appeal. We can beat them. This is our best shot. We must not give up."
*****
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