"This time, it's definitely not happening. Mom warned me not to bother Simon again... Yeah, I'm flying to London tomorrow. Mom's coming with me, and we even borrowed Simon's private jet and the penthouse by the Thames in London. I'll also be walking in the Burberry show. Jealous, huh?... So, Ines, you need to work hard..."
"What's up with Paranormal Activity... What's wrong with $9.57 million on opening day... Wow, that's amazing... Too bad I don't have time to watch it in North America. Mom's taking me to discuss a cover during the day, and I have a CK show at night. I'll be in Europe for the next month, so I'll have to watch it there with Mom... Hmph, that's right, I'm bragging. I'm planning to be a professional model, maybe even act in movies or release some music. Even after retiring, I can be a host or producer like Mom. After all, I have two amazing dads..."
"So what if they're both playboys? Let me tell you, there are only two types of men in this world: those who can afford to be playboys, and those who can't... Gay? What's the conflict between being gay and being a playboy? They just play around with men instead... You're the one who brought it up... Oh, Mom's calling me for breakfast. Gotta go, bye."
In a spacious apartment in Greenwich Village.
Saturday morning.
Elizabeth Jagger hung up the phone with Ivanka, removed the towel wrapped around her head, quickly changed out of her bathrobe, and rushed to open the door.
Jerry Hall was standing outside, about to knock again. Seeing her daughter open the door, she lightly tapped her on the forehead. "Come on, let's have breakfast. We can't be late for the 10 o'clock meeting. I also need to help you get ready. We need to make a good impression on Helen. She's been at Cosmopolitan for 32 years. Even though she's about to retire, her connections in the fashion industry are vast. If she speaks well of you at a few events, it'll help you establish yourself in the industry."
Elizabeth affectionately linked arms with her mother as they walked, slightly defiant. "We have Simon. Even without a good impression, people in the fashion industry will treat me like a princess."
Jerry Hall pretended to tap her daughter's forehead again. "Simon can't do everything for you. He's just providing a ladder. How high you climb is up to you."
"That sounds exhausting."
"If the girls with no background heard you complaining like this, they'd probably be so jealous they'd want to strangle you."
Elizabeth grinned. "Mom, you're jealous too, aren't you?"
Jerry Hall, who had once been that girl with no background from an American farm, had worked her way up to where she was now.
Hearing her daughter's words, Jerry Hall rolled her eyes. "Yes, I regret having you."
The mother and daughter chatted as they made their way to the dining room.
Elizabeth greeted her younger brother James, who was also starting to grow taller, and sat next to her five-year-old sister Gloria. While waiting for the maid to serve breakfast, she remembered her conversation with Ivanka. "Mom, Paranormal Activity is a huge hit. Ines just told me it made over $9 million on opening day, which is 30 times its $300,000 budget."
Jerry Hall, eating her fruit salad, nodded. "I know. I saw it in the papers."
Elizabeth thought for a moment, then sighed. "I only make $2,000 per show. To earn $9 million, I'd have to... walk for a lifetime, probably. I guess I should try being a movie star. No, wait, a producer. I should invest in my own movies."
Jerry Hall let her daughter ramble on without comment.
Being a producer wasn't that easy.
Before breakfast, she had seen the opening numbers for Paranormal Activity in the papers and was equally stunned.
A $300,000 budget, and based on the opening day numbers, it was conservatively estimated to make $150 million domestically—a 500-fold return on investment. That was even higher than the recent buzz around The Full Monty. It seemed like Daenerys Entertainment was just casually picking up money.
However, upon closer inspection, it was clear that this success wasn't as effortless as it seemed.
In today's Hollywood, even among the seven major studios, aside from Daenerys, the other six would find it incredibly difficult to generate this level of hype for a film in just two weeks with such low marketing costs. For example, the other studios' most obvious weakness was their lack of an online platform.
Moreover, even if they managed to create the same level of buzz as Paranormal Activity, everything still came down to the film itself.
If the movie wasn't good enough, the mature North American market wouldn't tolerate a bad film. The more you invested upfront, the more you'd lose.
Ultimately, it was Simon's uncanny ability to pick Paranormal Activity, just like he had chosen The Full Monty and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, that gave Daenerys Entertainment its biggest advantage. However, having a good film without the resources to back it up was equally futile.
Daenerys Entertainment had everything it needed.
Elizabeth fantasized for a while, then noticed her mother wasn't responding. She added, "Mom, when we get to London, let's go watch that movie, okay?"
Jerry Hall, who was also curious about Paranormal Activity, didn't even consider whether the film was showing in the UK and casually nodded. "Sure."
"And Simon—"
Before her daughter could finish, Jerry Hall cut her off, even putting down her fork and knife to stop eating. She looked at Elizabeth seriously. "Let me remind you again, Liz, don't push Simon too hard. He'll get annoyed."
"But he's so nice."
"Nice people, once they lose their patience, you'll have no chance of winning them back," Jerry Hall said, pointing at the dining table. "When that happens, Helen and the others will leave. Without the maids, you'll have to make your own breakfast every day. No more private jets to take you on trips. If you want to be a supermodel, you'll have to fight for opportunities yourself, and maybe even sleep with some brand executives."
Elizabeth's eyes widened as her mother painted this grim picture. "Mom, we're... pretty well-off, right?"
"That's my retirement fund."
"Even without Helen and the others, we can afford regular servants, right?"
"Yes, but they'd be my servants."
"Ugh, Mom, you're so ruthless."
"There's more. If you annoy Simon and we lose everything, I'll have to treat you like Brooke Shields' mom treated her—squeeze you dry as a cash cow."
"Mom, just to confirm, this is a joke, right?"
Jerry Hall looked serious. "No, this is a serious warning."
Elizabeth, genuinely scared, raised her hand. "Okay, Mom, I get it."
As the mother and daughter casually discussed Paranormal Activity and the "serious" topic, the North American film industry was once again in an uproar over this ultra-low-budget film that had cost only $300,000 to make.
Given the hype surrounding the film over the past two weeks, everyone knew this new genre film would do well. But no one expected Paranormal Activity to perform this well.
After all, this was late September, one of the slowest periods of the year, second only to January and February.
A single-day gross of $9.57 million? In a month like this, even a weekly gross of $9.57 million would be considered a great success.
Moreover, Paranormal Activity was a film with a production budget of only $300,000. Before its release, its rough quality had sparked debates over whether it even qualified as a movie.
Now, with an opening day gross of $9.57 million, the film was on track to make $40 to $50 million in its first week. And given the lack of competition in September and October, combined with the film's viral popularity, its domestic total was conservatively estimated to reach $150 million.
A 500-fold return on investment? That was enough to make jaws drop.
The contrast with other releases was even more striking.
On the same Friday, four new films had opened in North America. Aside from two niche films with fewer than 500 screens, the main releases were two: Paranormal Activity, produced by New World Pictures under Daenerys Entertainment, and The Peacemaker, produced and distributed by DreamWorks.
The former had a budget of $300,000, while the latter cost $50 million.
The Peacemaker, produced by Steven Spielberg and starring Hollywood heartthrob George Clooney, was based on a bestselling novel. It told a story about nuclear weapons theft, a plot that had become quite popular—or perhaps clichéd—in recent years.
Compared to Paranormal Activity's impressive pre-release media score of 8.3, The Peacemaker had already lost in terms of critical reception, with a mediocre score of 4.3.
This was likely why DreamWorks hadn't released the film during the competitive summer season.
The quality of a film was often determined during internal test screenings, especially for commercial films. This was why release strategies were often based on internal feedback.
However, with a $50 million budget, The Peacemaker was a blockbuster-level production, and its opening screen count was 2,363, significantly higher than Paranormal Activity's 2,045.
Both films opened on the same day, and the contrast in their opening day grosses was stark.
Paranormal Activity had made $9.57 million in a single day, and it was expected to reach a per-theater average of over $10,000 within two days—a clear sign of a hit. Meanwhile, The Peacemaker had only managed $3.05 million on its opening day—less than a third of Paranormal Activity's take.
$300,000 vs. $50 million.
A cost difference of over 160 times.
Yet the box office results were $9.57 million vs. $3.05 million.
This stark contrast felt almost surreal.
Based on The Peacemaker's opening day performance, its first-week gross was unlikely to exceed $15 million, with a domestic total of around $40 million.
$40 million domestically might have been within DreamWorks' expectations, which was why the film had been released in the slow late-September period.
The real issue was clear.
Paranormal Activity was simply too powerful, so powerful that it left everyone feeling a bit overwhelmed.
In Hollywood and beyond, just this year alone, the success of martial arts films had everyone scrambling to replicate the success of Jet Li's Lethal Weapon 4. But then Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon had come along, defying expectations.
Next, a $2 million British drama had unexpectedly won at Cannes and gone on to break box office records in the UK.
Now, everyone was chasing after British and American realistic films.
Before anyone could figure that out, Paranormal Activity had burst onto the scene.
It was all happening too fast, leaving everyone scrambling to keep up.
And compared to Lethal Weapon 4, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and even The Full Monty, Paranormal Activity was attracting exponentially more attention.
Because this film was incredibly easy to replicate.
Anyone who had seen the movie could tell that the $300,000 budget was largely due to the overhead costs of a major studio like Daenerys. In reality, with just an iRec camera and a couple of actors, and without the burden of a major studio, the film could have been made for a few thousand dollars.
This meant that everyone, from major Hollywood studios to aspiring filmmakers with no connections, could give it a try.
All you needed was an iRec.
The barrier to entry was almost nonexistent.
And even if the results were nowhere near as successful as Paranormal Activity, even a fraction of its success would be enough to make it worth the effort for countless people.
If someone managed to replicate even a fraction of its success, it could mean instant wealth, fame, and a meteoric rise to the top.
So, on this Saturday, as countless media outlets reported on Paranormal Activity's box office numbers, people across the United States—beyond just regular moviegoers—flocked to theaters to study the film, hoping to replicate its success. Meanwhile, more media outlets, eager to capitalize on the hype, sent their best reporters to watch the film again.
All in an effort to uncover the secrets behind the success of this $300,000 film that had made over 30 times its budget in a single day.
The film's buzz, already high before its release, skyrocketed even further, drawing even more audiences. In some areas, rare lines formed as people queued to buy tickets.
The New World Pictures team hadn't been in a rush to release Paranormal Activity overseas, including in the UK, which was usually open to simultaneous releases of Hollywood films. So, when the Hall mother and daughter discussed watching the film in the UK, they wouldn't actually be able to see it.
Now, with the North American opening day numbers out, distributors and theater chains around the world were rushing to contact Daenerys Entertainment.
They were genuinely anxious.
With a film like this, timing was everything.
Moreover, most international markets were also in a slow period after the summer season. With theaters experiencing low attendance, they were eager for a blockbuster to draw audiences back.
Daenerys Entertainment didn't drag its feet and quickly moved forward with international distribution, following its usual profit-sharing agreements.
The main consideration was the limited release window.
If they waited until the end of the year, Paranormal Activity's overseas box office would likely be higher, but it would also eat into the resources allocated for year-end releases, which wouldn't be worth it.
Once the decision was made, Daenerys Entertainment's vast global distribution network and efficient execution came into play.
English-speaking countries like the UK, Australia, and New Zealand quickly secured release dates, with Paranormal Activity expected to hit theaters in two weeks. Countries like Germany and Spain would follow within a month. Even more conservative markets like France and Japan, which had implicit protectionist barriers, would see the film before the end of the year.
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