A $12.45 million opening weekend?
"Okay, I see," Zane said into the phone, trying to keep his voice calm. "Send me the full report later. That's it."
He hung up. He was lounging in his big villa bedroom, feeling incredibly pleased. The box office numbers for Wrong Turn were amazing!
Lying beside him, Jessica Chastain turned over. "Was that the box office numbers for Wrong Turn?" she asked.
"Yep," Zane nodded, a huge, happy, and proud smile spreading across his face. "It pulled in $12.45 million in just three days. It came in third place for the weekend!"
Jessica couldn't help but gasp. "That much?! That's amazing!"
"Heh, of course," Zane said, trying to act cool, but he was totally basking in the success.
The opening weekend had been way better than he had even hoped. He and Victor had been guessing it would make maybe $6 or $7 million.
But audiences were tired of all the ghost movies. They were hungry for a really good, scary slasher film. Plus, all the other new movies that weekend were pretty weak. So, moviegoers chose Wrong Turn, and the theaters quickly gave it even more screens.
"So, the word-of-mouth must be pretty good, then?" Jessica asked, impressed.
Zane nodded again. "It is. It has a 7.5 on IMDb and an 83% 'fresh' rating on Rotten Tomatoes. People really like it."
"That's a fantastic start," Jessica said, looking at him with real admiration.
"Of course!" Zane puffed out his chest, being playful. "I mean, look who wrote the script, right?!"
He knew the Wrong Turn movies wouldn't win any awards, but that wasn't the point. They were fun, and they made money! It was a low-cost movie, so as long as it made money, they could keep making sequels. Why wouldn't they?
"Oh, by the way, Jessica," Zane asked, "the Juno movie is finishing up soon. What are your plans after that?"
She could either keep acting or go back to school.
Jessica mused, "I... I haven't decided yet."
Hearing this, Zane said, "Well, you have time to think. But if you want my advice, I'd recommend sticking with acting. You're amazing at it. You should find a good acting school to study at. It definitely can't hurt."
"I'll think about it," Jessica nodded, smiling.
Thanks to her role in Juno, Jessica's career was starting much faster than it had in Zane's old life. Back then, she didn't get her first real part until 2004!
Zane just smiled, looking at her. He was genuinely happy for her. He knew she had the talent to be a huge, huge star, and he was excited that he could be there to see her journey start.
Suddenly, another name popped into his head. —Ellen Page.
Oh, darn, he thought, a small frown on his face. I wonder if this will mess up her career? In his old life, Juno and Hard Candy were her big movies. By making them first, had he accidentally taken away her big break?
He felt a small pang of guilt.
But... he quickly shook it off. It's not like I did it on purpose, he thought. It's just... how things worked out. I can't worry about every single what-if. Besides, I don't even know her.
Feeling much better, Zane's gaze returned to Jessica. He gave her a playful, charming smile. "Alright, honey," he said, "now that we're both wide awake... how about we..."
A Few Days Later...
Thanks to all the good word-of-mouth, Wrong Turn kept making good money, even on the weekdays.
Monday: $2.15 million
Tuesday: $2.03 million
Wednesday: $1.78 million
Thursday: $1.42 million
After ten days in theaters, Wrong Turn had made a total of $25.83 million!
Of course, as a horror movie, it would probably fade fast. Zane guessed it would end up making around $30 million. For such a low-cost movie, that was a massive profit for Wald Pictures.
...
Meanwhile, at Time Warner's Office...
Richard Kidman, a big boss at Warner, smiled at his young assistant. "Rhett, did you see the ten-day numbers for Wrong Turn?"
"Yes, boss," Rhett exclaimed, his voice full of admiration for his boss. "Just like you predicted! Wald Pictures is a studio with amazing potential."
A few months ago, Richard had made the brave move to pay $2 million—more than the market price—for the overseas rights to Hard Candy. He did it just to build a good relationship with Zane's new company.
Richard nodded. "We have to think long-term, Rhett. I want you to contact Wald Pictures again. This time, I want you to get the overseas distribution rights for Wrong Turn."
"Right away, sir!"
This was how the major studios worked. They loved to make "friends" with the smaller, talented companies... and then, one day... acquire (or buy) them.
Zane, of course, was happy to build good relationships with the major studios. He knew his company was still growing and needed good, strong partners to help it succeed. He was just happy that, for the first time, the big studios were coming to him.
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