June 28, 1996, friday.
In the film industry, studios typically release new films around midnight on Thursday, which, in terms of timing, is not significantly different from a friday release.
As soon as a new film is released, box office data from the midnight showing quickly becomes available, and studios must use this data to plan their subsequent promotional strategies without delay. After all, in today's fiercely competitive film market, promotion plays a crucial, even dominant, role in a film's success.
Take the blair witch project, for example; that film had a very rough production style.
However, the production team managed to generate immense buzz for the film through a series of brilliant promotional tactics.
In the world of promotion, the blair witch project is considered a textbook marketing case study, one that many studios try to emulate but cannot, leaving them to watch on with envy and frustration.
However, that is not the current focus.
Warner Bros. followed Kazir's advice this time, cleverly leveraging his scandal to create hype for the hangover.
Unexpectedly, this strategy proved incredibly effective, with theaters packed and box office numbers soaring on opening night.
A single midnight showing alone brought in $7.86 million, a truly astonishing figure that shocked the entire film industry.
Soon, other studios also received this news.
In the Universal Pictures office, Ronald Meyer was anxiously awaiting the box office data for the nutty professor. This film was Universal Pictures' major release for the year, with a production cost of $55 million.
As CEO of Universal Pictures, Ronald Meyer knew better than anyone the significance and importance of this film to the company.
It was precisely for this reason that he had unhesitatingly chosen to collaborate with Disney to smear and suppress Kazir; ultimately, it was all about money, about gaining greater profits in the film market.
Like the hangover, the nutty professor also premiered with a midnight showing.
"Sir, the results are in."
The secretary carefully handed over the report.
Ronald Meyer took the report and quickly scanned the data—he knew this was just preliminary data, and there would be some fluctuations later.
"4.23 million."
"Congratulations, sir," the secretary quickly said.
Ronald Meyer breathed a slight sigh of relief; for a midnight showing, this was already a good result.
To be honest, he hadn't held very high expectations for the midnight box office.
"What about the hangover?"
Ronald Meyer had not forgotten the film he had maliciously slandered, and he was eager to know its box office performance.
"Sir… this is the data for the hangover. I'll step out now."
The secretary knew very well that her boss would be furious after seeing this number, so she quickly dropped the report and slipped away.
Ronald Meyer picked up the report, and when he saw the number on it, his eyes instantly widened, and he nearly sprang out of his chair.
"It can't be real, can it? $7.86 million?!"
He muttered in disbelief.
He was actually very familiar with the hangover's plot, as Salvatore Barlo had previously submitted the script for this film to Universal Pictures.
"This kind of vulgar comedy full of profanity actually sold $7.86 million? What a joke!" Ronald Meyer roared in anger; he simply couldn't accept this reality.
But reality is often this cruel, frustrating yet unavoidable.
The show for the hangover had just begun.
Ronald Meyer rubbed his forehead in frustration, feeling that all his elaborate efforts to bring down Kazir had been utterly in vain, all his hard work for naught.
"I heard he has a script to sell…"
Thinking of this, he immediately called his secretary: "Bring me the script for ted."
In fact, he originally wasn't very interested in the ted script—after all, if they were to make this film, they would have to resolve patent issues with the ted company, and unless Universal Pictures planned to create its own ted toy brand, this would be a considerable hassle.
"Yes, sir."
Although it was late at night, the secretary dared not show any slack and immediately contacted the script library to find the script.
Ronald Meyer didn't care about these potential troubles; in his view, as long as the final profit could cover the costs, he would absolutely not hesitate to take on this project.
Not just Universal Pictures, but other studios too, upon hearing the hangover's box office performance, were all stunned and at a loss for what to do.
"Alas, next week we're probably going to clash head-on with independence day."
Tom Rothman leaned back in his chair, sighing helplessly.
As CEO of 20th Century Fox, he had been closely monitoring Kazir's every move, not daring to relax for a moment.
Kazir was the director of napoleon dynamite, and Tom Rothman was still hoping to collaborate with him again!
As for Kazir's scandal, with News Corporation backing him, he had enough confidence to suppress those negative news stories.
"I really should have agreed to his terms back then."
Tom Rothman muttered to himself, his tone full of regret.
Just as he regretted not collaborating with Kazir after Se7en became a hit, he felt the same now.
But fortunately, he felt there would always be a second chance, especially now that Kazir had successfully cleared his name.
"If he doesn't want to make a sequel to the hangover, maybe we can collaborate on other projects," Tom Rothman secretly mused.
After the hangover's midnight box office results were released, time quickly moved to the next day, June 28, friday.
On this day, the hangover demonstrated astonishing box office appeal, with a single-day gross of $16.73 million;
By Saturday, the box office remained strong, taking in another $15.05 million.
On Sunday, the box office slightly declined but still brought in $13.18 million, totaling $44.97 million for the hangover in just three days.
This was the immense power brought by topic-driven hype; many people were curious about this film and eager to go to the cinema to find out, plus the film itself was light, humorous, and very entertaining, naturally receiving enthusiastic acclaim from audiences, with box office numbers soaring.
In contrast, Universal Pictures' the nutty professor had a first-weekend box office of $25.41 million, which, from a data perspective, was also a certain success.
However, due to the hangover's overwhelming performance, it could only settle for second place in the weekly box office.
Undoubtedly, this week's box office champion was none other than the hangover.
"Congratulations, Kazir."
At the twister celebration party, many actors approached Kazir to greet him.
A few days ago, Kazir was still embroiled in the "domestic abuser" scandal, and no one wanted to deal with him, the "troublemaker."
But now, with the hangover's explosion, that bit of stigma instantly vanished, as if it had never existed.
Now, every actor seemed eager to talk to Kazir, especially the young actresses who wanted to make a name for themselves in the entertainment industry, showing him even more enthusiasm.
"…Isn't that Angelina Jolie? Even Julia Roberts is here, and Halle Berry."
Kazir scanned the ballroom and saw several familiar faces—some of these actors weren't famous yet, but Kazir knew that in ten years, they would all become top stars.
"What are you looking at?" Reese Witherspoon leaned over and asked curiously.
"Nothing, just wondering how much the special effects for twister must have cost," Kazir replied casually.
He was perfectly clear in his mind about when to speak the truth and when to feign ignorance in the complex world of entertainment; after all, the fewer troubles, the better, and he didn't want to get into any more unnecessary trouble.
"Oh, by the way… when are you going to help me with a scene? I have an audition," Reese Witherspoon suddenly said.
"Later?" Kazir asked, somewhat surprised.
"Hehe, alright! Let's have fun for a bit first," Reese said with a smile, pinching his arm.