The greater the controversy surrounding the passion of the christ, the more attention it garnered, which greatly promoted the film.
This way, New Market Films could secure more theaters for its release. Moreover, the overseas release of 'underworld' was almost complete, with a global box office of hundreds of millions of dollars, delivering a satisfactory report card.
After the overseas dividends arrived, Capet Pictures earned a total of approximately $3.1 million from underworld, which was sufficient.
More importantly, 'saw' achieved $48 million at the overseas box office, plus $55 million in the North American market, for a global total of hundreds of millions of dollars.
What was the budget for saw? Only $1.5 million, with $6 million for marketing and distribution.
In the overseas market, with a 35% box office split and a 12% distribution commission deducted, Capet Pictures still had $11 million. After paying Universal $6 million for marketing and distribution, $5 million in revenue remained.
However, Capet Pictures directly sold the overseas DVD market, television rights, and online on-demand and other downstream markets to Universal, in exchange for another $15 million in cash.
This way, saw alone earned $20 million from the overseas market, and the North American box office also brought in $22.5 million, with future revenues from North American DVDs, pay TV, and other downstream industries still to come.
Signing only the North American theatrical distribution rights with Capet Pictures despite the pressure—who could say that wasn't wise? It was extremely wise!
"Excluding the budget for wedding crashers, the company currently has $35 million in liquid funds. Of course, $15 million of that is a loan from Morgan Stanley," Donna Williams reported in Charles office.
"By the way, what's the Pacific Theatres' stance on our contact? Are they selling?" Charles hadn't forgotten his main business.
"The Pacific Theatres' representative is asking for over $30 million. They have a total of 16 self-operated theaters and 30 franchised theaters, with two-thirds of them concentrated in California, and the rest in major cities like Chicago, Boston, New York, and Washington," Donna explained.
"$30 million? But they only have just over 300 screens combined, don't they? Aren't their most important assets the Pacific Dome Theatre and ArcLight Cinemas in the Los Angeles area?" Charles was displeased. Even the largest Dome Theater could only accommodate five or six hundred people.
"Let Philip negotiate. $25 million is a price everyone can accept," Charles instructed. Philip Davis was the head of distribution hired by Capet Pictures.
"How are things with the male and female leads for mr. & mrs. smith now?" Charles asked again.
"Brad Pitt is interested in the project. As for Nicole Kidman, she's still considering. We suggested Angelina Jolie, but Universal seems to favor Nicole Kidman more!" Donna said helplessly.
"Donna didn't say I could decide the actress," Charles pouted. Nicole Kidman was an oscar best actress winner, and her currently released cold mountain also had good reviews.
Angelina Jolie's lara croft: tomb raider 2, however, suffered from both poor reviews and low box office. Even if Angelina Jolie was several million dollars cheaper than Nicole Kidman, did they still lack confidence in her?
If Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie hit it off during filming, the buzz would be incredible!
Reporters would surround them wherever they went, which would be a huge boost for the film's promotion. Otherwise, if Brad Pitt and Nicole Kidman collaborated, would the box office be as high as the original?
Angelina Jolie was already on her second divorce this year, and Brad Pitt's current wife was Jennifer Aniston.
If they weren't allowed to work together, would they still end up together?
"The female lead must be confirmed before the Academy Awards Ceremony!" Charles didn't care.
"Brad Pitt's side is also waiting for the choice of the female lead," Donna Williams added, then shrugged. Big stars generally have opinions on the collaborating director and co-starring actor.
"Never mind, let the director assemble the crew first; the male and female leads can come later, after all, it's an over hundred-million-dollar production budget!"
During the Christmas holiday, Charles didn't go on vacation anywhere else, but he did take some time to spend a few days with Camille and Megan Fox.
After all, neither 'underworld' nor 'saw' would receive Golden Globe Awards or Oscar recognition. As for the Saturn Awards and other V movie awards, Charles had no interest whatsoever.
However, Charlize Theron and Naomi Watts, under Evelyn's management, received high praise for their excellent performances in the films 'monster' and '21 Grams', respectively.
There was room for promotion and publicity for both the Golden Globe Awards and Oscar acting categories.
Before Christmas, Charles had already arrived in New York, Manhattan, and purchased a three-story, 5,500-square-foot residence by the Hudson River in the Tribeca District of Lower Manhattan.
It cost $3.5 million. While the decoration couldn't be called luxurious, Charles liked it because it was simple enough. The location was near the Manhattan Community College and Washington Square Park.
Lower Manhattan had fallen into economic decline due to the collapse of the 9/11 Twin Towers, and its development was somewhat slow, but Charles knew that in the future, the Tribeca District would be New York's top wealthy area.
In the future, real estate prices here would multiply several times. Charles would invest more in real estate here later, but it would be best to wait until after the 2007 Subprime Mortgage Crisis.
The New York Tribeca Independent Film Festival, established in 2002 by Robert De Niro and others, was also aimed at developing New York's economic situation.
Not only that, Charles spent another $460,000 to purchase a limited edition Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren luxury sports car, which was the most expensive car Charles had ever bought.
Charles stayed in his newly purchased lakeside villa until late January; New York's cold was much more severe than Los Angeles'.
The small living room next to the main hall, with its wood-burning fireplace, was Charles favorite place to be, as most city villas now had electric fireplaces.
Sitting in front of the fireplace, Charles held a book and drank coffee as Donna Williams walked over and sat down.
"There's one more month until the 'passion of the christ' is released. Does wedding crashers start filming at the end of next month?" Charles asked, putting down his Chinese version of romance of the three kingdoms.
"It can start filming. The main situation right now is with mr. & mrs. smith," Donna replied.
"Did Charlize Theron win Best actress in a Drama at the Golden Globe Awards?"
"Yes, Scarlett Johansson was also nominated for Best actress in a Drama for girl with a pearl earring!"
"Have the Oscar nominations been announced?"
"They have. Charlize Theron and Naomi Watts were both nominated for Best actress, but Scarlett wasn't!"
"Looks like my mother will be happy!" Charles smiled and then continued reading romance of the three kingdoms.