Monday, April 8, 1996
The first weekend numbers for Static were in, and they were amazing.
As Zane had guessed, the big, expensive movie Primal Fear took the number one spot. But way down the list, at a very good number twelve, was Static.
Zane's little movie had made $1.82 million from just 355 theaters!
"We did it," Zane said, a huge, happy smile on his face. He was looking at the numbers with his CEO, Victor. "We've already made back all the money we spent to make the movie, and more!"
For a small horror movie with no big stars, this was a fantastic start. Their bet had already paid off.
Just then, Victor burst back into the office, his face beaming with excitement. "Boss, I have great news!" he cheered. "The theaters are calling. They want more!"
Zane's smile got even wider. "They want to add more screens?"
"That's right!" Victor said, practically bouncing. "A bunch of theater chains were so impressed. They're ready to give us 300 more screens for next weekend."
That meant they would be in over 650 theaters!
"It's the word-of-mouth," Victor went on, handing Zane a paper with reviews from the internet. "People love the movie. It has a 92% 'fresh' score on Rotten Tomatoes. The good buzz is building!"
Zane felt a huge rush of pride. This felt even better than a stock tip. This was a victory he had built himself, with his team. He hadn't just gotten lucky; he'd made this happen.
A few days later, on Friday, April 12th, the numbers for the whole first week were in. Static had made a total of $4.25 million. People were now guessing it would make $13 to $15 million in total.
It was a total success.
Zane leaned back in his chair, feeling that wonderful, happy rush of winning. My first movie as a producer, he thought, and it's a real hit! He felt like he could do anything.
But the movie was just the appetizer. Today was the main course.
Today, Yahoo was going on the stock market.
People were in a frenzy over new internet companies. They were pouring money into them, even if the companies weren't making a profit. Zane, however, wasn't guessing. He knew this was a winner.
He had put every spare dollar he had into it. He put in his own money and took out a big loan. It was a total of ten million dollars, with ten-times leverage. It was a very big, daring bet.
When the stock market closed that day, Zane's bet had paid off in an amazing way. He had made a profit of $8.2 million. In one day. His spending money now stood at over eighteen million dollars.
He didn't even stop to celebrate. He started phase two.
He took ten million of his new money and bought more Yahoo stock. This time, no leverage. This was his long-term play. He would hold these shares for a few years, until the year 2000. He knew that by then, they would be worth over one hundred million dollars.
The good news just kept coming.
The next weekend, Static was in over 650 theaters. It had an even bigger weekend, making another $2.1 million. Its total was now over $6.3 million and still climbing.
At the same time, he got a message from England. The BBC wanted to talk. They were, as Zane had hoped, very interested in his Teletubbies idea.
With a happy smile, Zane booked three first-class tickets to London for himself, Victor, and his negotiator, Condy.
As the plane flew over the ocean, Zane looked out the window. His mind was already working, connecting the dots. They were flying to the United Kingdom, the home of the BBC. What other giant, billion-dollar story was just starting in England right now?
A new, brilliant idea began to form in his mind.
Harry Potter. The first book was probably being shown to publishers right now.
He had just found his next gold mine.
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