Chasing Stars in Hollywood

After instructing A-girl to keep an eye on the follow-up for "Warcraft: Orcs & Humans," Simon discussed a few other matters. Allison then left the study, and Simon turned his attention to the past week's box office data report.

From July 15 to July 21, "Forrest Gump," in its third week of release, continued to show only an 18% drop in box office revenue, maintaining its position as the top film on the weekly box office chart. It grossed $38.97 million in the past week, bringing its cumulative box office to $139.95 million.

In second place was "True Lies," in its second week of release.

Since there were no strong new releases on July 15, "True Lies" also maintained a very good second-week drop of only 25%, earning another $30.59 million, with a cumulative box office of $71.42 million. Reaching $100 million domestically would be very easy.

Quentin Tarantino's "Bloody Romeo" was third on the chart.

This film's first-week box office exceeded the expectations of Highgate Films' distribution department and the media. Thanks to Quentin's unique style and Highgate Films' excellent promotion, the film had an average of nearly $12,000 per theater, grossing $23.97 million in its first seven days.

As an R-rated crime drama deviating from mainstream commercial films, it opened in 2,031 theaters. Based on initial reviews and audience feedback, the promotional team initially predicted an average of $8,000 to $10,000 per theater, with a first-week box office expectation of around $18 million and a North American total box office expectation of $50 million.

Now, with a first-week box office of $23.97 million, it exceeded the initial prediction by $6 million. If it could maintain a gentle downward trend in box office revenue, "Bloody Romeo" could even challenge the $100 million box office club threshold.

In comparison, "Bloody Romeo" had a production cost of $15 million and a promotional budget of only $10 million, with a total investment of $25 million.

With a first-week box office income of $23.97 million, according to the tiered revenue-sharing rule of theaters, the first two weeks alone would be enough for Danilisi Entertainment to recoup all costs and make a profit.

In Simon's memory, there was no information about the original "Bloody Romeo," indicating that the film did not make any waves in the original timeline.

This time, with a different director, a revised script, an upgraded production, and a star-studded cast, it aimed to become a classic.

Originally, Quentin should have risen to fame with "Pulp Fiction" this year. Now, although "Pulp Fiction" was taken by Simon in advance, "Bloody Romeo," whether it reaches $100 million or not, its box office success will elevate Tarantino to the ranks of Hollywood's top directors.

In fourth place on the chart was "The Dark Knight Rises," in its seventh week of release.

In the past week, this blockbuster had only a 13% drop in box office revenue, earning another $16.19 million, with a cumulative box office of $332.47 million.

After more than a month, "The Dark Knight Rises" still maintained such vitality, making it very likely to reach $400 million in domestic total box office revenue. If successful, it would become the second film in the DC Cinematic Universe, after the opening work "Batman Begins," to break the $400 million domestic box office mark.

In fifth place was "The Conjuring," with a fifth-week drop of 23%, earning $9.35 million, crossing the $100 million mark with a cumulative box office of $105.66 million.

At the same time, "The Conjuring" became Danilisi Entertainment's fourth film this year to break the $100 million mark, following "Four Weddings and a Funeral," "Stargate," and "Forrest Gump." Of the six films that have crossed the $100 million mark in 1994, two others, "The Dark Knight Rises" and "Speed," were also closely linked to Danilisi Entertainment.

Not only that, but looking at this week's chart:

First place: "Forrest Gump." Second place: "True Lies." Third place: "Bloody Romeo." Fourth place: "The Dark Knight Rises." Fifth place: "The Conjuring."

Five films, either directly released by Danilisi Entertainment or co-produced with other studios.

Basically, Danilisi Entertainment dominated the top five spots on the weekly box office chart.

Even though Danilisi Entertainment had been strong in recent years, this was the first time it had directly dominated the top five spots.

Films like "I Love Trouble," "Wolf," and "The Shadow" suffered significantly from the impact of Danilisi Entertainment's films.

Last week's fourth place, "I Love Trouble," fell to sixth place this week with a 39% drop and $7.43 million in box office revenue.

Jack Nicholson's "Wolf" also saw a significant 41% drop, earning only $6.75 million this week, ranking seventh with a three-week cumulative box office of just $43.11 million, still not breaking even with its $50 million production budget.

Paramount's new release "Little Big League," which opened the same week as "Bloody Romeo" on July 15, only managed $5.63 million in its first week, ranking eighth and making no waves.

Ninth place was "The Shadow," and tenth was "Beverly Hills Cop III," with weekly box office revenues of $4.93 million and $3.13 million, respectively. Both films were nearing the end of their runs.

Meanwhile, this week marked the final peak of the summer season.

Two new films, "Heat" and "Clear and Present Danger," were both heavyweight releases.

The crime action film "Heat," starring Robert De Niro and Al Pacino, along with Val Kilmer, Jon Voight, and William Fichtner, received an 8.6 rating on its first day of wide release, comparable to last week's 8.7 for "Bloody Romeo."

Additionally, "Heat" had a production budget of $60 million, a heavyweight status.

Due to its 171-minute runtime, nearly three hours, Danilisi Films' promotional team did not use the usual full-scale release mode but gave it a similar 2,105-screen release as "Bloody Romeo," compared to the current heavyweights' nearly 3,000-screen release.

Harrison Ford's "Clear and Present Danger," the final installment of Tom Clancy's Cold War anti-terror trilogy, had a production budget of $65 million, with Paramount Pictures giving it a 2,963-screen release.

In the front cabin study of the Boeing 767.

After reading through the materials, Simon's first reaction was concern about Danilisi Entertainment's box office performance so far.

Not because it was too poor.

But because it was too good.

From the beginning of 1994 to now, all films that entered the $100 million box office club were related to Danilisi Entertainment, making it seem like Hollywood's other studios had no chance.

Not only that, but an unexpected hit like "Bloody Romeo" also emerged. If this film also reached $100 million, considering the upcoming "The Haunting," "Toy Story 2," "The Mask," and "Suicide Squad," Danilisi Entertainment could potentially dominate the top ten box office charts this year.

This was definitely not a good thing.

Simon could only hope that "Clear and Present Danger," opening today, would perform well, or that other studios would have a few box office hits in the latter half of the year.

As for "Bloody Romeo" and this week's "Heat," Simon quickly decided not to add any more promotional budgets. It would be best if "Bloody Romeo" remained under the $100 million threshold. As for "Heat," a film Simon personally liked, it too could potentially reach $100 million with the right promotional strategy, but certain ideas had to be abandoned.

In fact, for this reason, Simon had initially only approved a $20 million promotional budget for "Heat."

With a total budget of $80 million, if "Heat" couldn't break the $100 million mark, it wouldn't recoup its costs in the domestic market. However, in Simon's memory, the film had excellent overseas box office performance, and combined global box office revenue could likely cover the production and promotional budget.

As for profits, they would come from subsequent video sales and other peripherals.

A classic three-hour crime action film was more suited for home viewing via video.

However, plans often couldn't keep up with changes.

The second morning saw a change.

Early Saturday morning, a critic from the Los Angeles Times suddenly published an article titled "1994, the Year God Wanted to Watch Movies."

The title was very familiar to Simon.

In the original timeline, 1994 was dubbed the year God wanted to watch movies, featuring a series of classic films such as "Forrest Gump," "The Shawshank Redemption," "Pulp Fiction," and "True Lies." Outside Hollywood, films like "Four Weddings and a Funeral," "Three Colors: Red," "Ashes of Time," and "In the Heat of the Sun" also shone in their respective fields.

However, this time, the Los Angeles Times article was no coincidence.

After "Forrest Gump" was released, Simon casually mentioned this saying during a high-level gathering at Danilisi Entertainment with Amy Pascal, Ella Deutschman, and others. Although only half of 1994 had passed, there were already enough classic films produced in Hollywood and beyond.

Moreover, regarding the idea of reducing the number of films entering the $100 million club,

 Simon had hinted to Amy and others that it would be best to let the media publish some articles to slightly reduce expectations for films like "Bloody Romeo" and "Heat," preventing their box office from continuing to soar.

Hollywood was more afraid of box office hits than flops.

When a film flops, it only affects that film's team.

When a film becomes a hit, it inevitably puts pressure on other studios, forcing them to increase production and promotional budgets to ensure their own films perform well.

In Simon's case, the best outcome would be for the entire industry to maintain a state of balance.

Whether his films were hits or flops, they wouldn't change the trajectory of his industry.

Therefore, the balance needed to be maintained by others.

The Los Angeles Times' sudden article, titled "1994, the Year God Wanted to Watch Movies," mentioned the classic films released this year, highlighting the uniqueness of 1994.

Following the article's publication, the media took notice, immediately finding the saying very fitting, and widely reprinted and discussed it, increasing the influence of this phenomenon.

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