Under the anticipation of countless Americans, "fahrenheit 9" finally premiered. Of course, the rating was not changed to PG-13, and it was still released as an R-rated film.
Previously, "fahrenheit 9" had broken the single-theater box office record in many cinemas during its sneak previews, and its New York premiere received support from many Hollywood stars, singers, and media personalities.
It opened in 868 theaters on its first weekend, becoming the weekly box office champion with $24 million in North America. For a documentary with a budget of only $6 million, this was a remarkable achievement.
In the second week, with Sony's blockbuster "Spider-Man 2" released, "fahrenheit 9" certainly couldn't compete. In fact, there were almost no major films released within half a month of "Spider-Man 2"'s premiere.
Even more exciting, Greece beat France 1-0 in the quarterfinals, advancing to the semifinals. Now Donna is even concerned about Greece's next opponents.
"Boss, Greece will play the Czech Republic in the semifinals, and Portugal will play the Netherlands. The two winners will play in the final on the 4th," Donna Williams said, her face flushed with excitement, as she came to Charles's office to deliver the good news.
"Hmm, Donna, keep it down. It's already the 29th today, I know all about it. Tomorrow, Portugal plays the Netherlands first, and the day after tomorrow, July 1st, will be Greece's match against the Czech Republic," Charles said with a smile, stroking his non-existent beard.
"Listen to me, for the Greece vs. Czech Republic match, bet directly on Greece to win. I feel like your boss has been kissed by Jesus this time!"
Donna Williams, however, couldn't bring herself to be happy and said with a bitter face, "Boss, it would have been great if you had taken me to France back then. 81 times the odds!"
"Hahaha," Charles waved for the Lady to come and sit on his lap, his mouth close to her neck, and his hand reaching into her shirt, he said with a smile, "Don't worry, how could I treat you badly?"
"However, you can buy some. Greece has a very high chance of winning the championship. These past few nights, I keep dreaming of Jesus, and he told me!"
Donna Williams nodded; this was indeed something to consider.
"Oh, right, Boss, Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon will be here this afternoon to sign the contract. The production budget for 'walk the line' is $28 million!"
"Producer Cathy Konrad will start shooting the movie in mid-October."
Upon hearing this, Charles realized that Cathy Konrad and her director husband had indeed been preparing for a long time. As long as the funds were in place, starting production would save a lot of time.
Then, Charles released Donna, patted her waist, and instructed, "Go get some of the recently organized scripts or ideas that the company received. Maybe there's a good idea there!"
"Okay!"
In the afternoon, Charles Capet, along with "walk the line" producers Cathy Konrad and James Keach, director James Mangold, and lead actors Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon, held a film discussion in the company's small conference room.
As the executive producer, Charles certainly wouldn't be as hands-on as before. The company would send people to the set to manage finance, logistics, and assist in recruiting and managing crew members.
Of course, if he had time, Charles would also visit the set to check on the crew's situation.
In the afternoon, he received another call from the head of Mubao Pictures, hoping that Charles could launch the sequel "underworld: evolution" as soon as possible.
"Mr. Schlessel, the script for 'underworld: evolution' was prepared by Wiseman a long time ago. If the funding is sufficient, the crew can be assembled very quickly!" Charles wasn't too keen on managing "underworld," but he was deeply involved in the first film, which brought in over ninety million dollars worldwide with a production cost of $23 million.
Mubao Pictures was happy with the profit, so developing a sequel now was certainly no problem, and the budget wouldn't be an issue!
"Don't worry, Charles, the budget for 'underworld: evolution' will definitely not be comparable to the first one. I'm waiting for your proposal!" Peter Schlessel said confidently over the phone.
After hanging up the phone, Charles found a script on his desk that seemed interesting: a prison break story.
"Isn't this 'prison break'?" Charles slapped his head. "prison break"'s first season should have aired in 2005. Why hasn't it started being prepared now?
After Paul Scheuring wrote the script, he submitted it to television stations seeking broadcast contracts and some financial support for filming.
Fox had shown interest in 2003 but eventually passed. Paul Scheuring was seeking both cooperation with television stations and support from television production companies.
The US had long adopted a separation of production and broadcasting. Generally, producers would present ideas to TV stations for selection. If a station liked an idea, it would fund 70% to 85% of the cost to shoot a pilot episode for audience research.
If the results were good and ratings were high, a whole season would be developed; otherwise, it would be dropped.
TV stations funded a large portion of TV production to secure the first broadcast rights, or at most, one rerun right.
Of course, all TV stations are now part of media groups, and various TV production studios are certainly not lacking.
Moreover, TV stations themselves now also produce some TV series, while commercial pay-TV stations mainly produce their own content.
"Donna!"
"Boss, what's wrong?" Donna came to Charles's office and asked.
"Paul Scheuring's script, 'prison break,' I think it's excellent. Cape Television Production Company can develop it ourselves!" Charles wasn't too concerned about whether or not a broadcast contract had been signed with a TV station in advance. Producing it himself would fetch a higher price and a larger share of TV advertising revenue.
Of course, if a TV station was willing to pre-order, Charles would welcome it, as it would at least eliminate worries.
Although Charles knew that "prison break"'s ratings in the US weren't considered great, its overseas ratings were high!
"So, should we inform Paul Scheuring to start preparations?" Donna asked.
"We can start preparations, and then submit a proposal to the TV stations. If no TV station is interested, then we'll fund the pilot episode ourselves!" Charles didn't believe it. The "prison break" series had several seasons in his previous life. How could no TV station be interested?
Donna nodded, realizing that her boss intended to make "prison break" the first series for Cape Television Production Company.
After Donna left, Charles pondered that it was time to expedite the "underworld: evolution" project. Apart from director Len Wiseman, the most important person in this film series was the female lead, Kate Beckinsale.