"Do you remember this?"
Judy glanced at Eric lightly with her beautiful eyes, but there was some strange feeling in her heart. .:. She still clearly remembered a certain meeting last year, when she unceremoniously rejected the invitation of the little man in front of her to invite her to dinner under the pretext of honoring her bet. I didn't expect that after a year, I still couldn't escape this guy's clutches.
"Of course," Eric nodded, and said with a righteous face: "I am such an upright person, how could I deliberately owe others something and not pay it back. Now, please have dinner tonight."
"You're really not creative," Judy teased slightly, "Is it just for eating?"
"How about we eat at Angle Manor?" Eric said with a smile on his face, "After dinner, what do you want to do, can I still resist?"
Judy spat lightly, did not agree, but did not refuse, said: "Stop being so unruly, let's talk about the novel, it will be published next month."
Eric also put away his laughing expression, turned his attention to the manuscript in front of him again, and said: "The idea of an open ending is very good, but it is not appropriate for the ending to stay on Ryan's successful return to Earth. It doesn’t need to be too long to continue with some plots, but it should give readers more room for imagination.”
Chatting like this, the afternoon passed quietly without knowing it.
In the evening, Eric mentioned the afternoon invitation again, Judy hesitated a little, and returned to the Angle Manor with Eric.
When I woke up the next morning, Eric was no longer by my side, but Judy didn't feel any little girl's hesitation.
I have always been very interested in this shell villa, which has become a landmark building in Los Angeles, so after dressing and washing, I left the exaggeratedly large bedroom and walked around the villa curiously.
Occasionally she stopped to look at the artwork on the walls, she didn't know much about it, but she recognized that some of them should have been painted by the guy himself, but they were taken out to hang with the famous ones.
She laughed at him a little in her heart, but then realized that that guy already has this qualification now, and she still keeps his script of the scene carefully.
His thoughts were always inseparable from a certain little man, and somehow he remembered the bet he mentioned yesterday, as well as some things he had planned recently.
She already wanted a child last year, but it was only postponed for a year because of something.
perhaps.
It seems that no special protective measures were taken last night.
She asked for it, and lied to him that she was in a safe period. Thinking about it now, I also have certain expectations in my subconscious mind.
After all, she has quite a few friends of the opposite sex, but he is the only one who can make her have some feelings that should exist between the opposite sex.
However, she was still a little hesitant about his identity. She didn't want to be suspected of having any plans for the astonishingly huge assets under his name, and she even hoped that her children would stay away from them in the future.
Having become famous as a teenager, she has never been troubled by things like livelihood, so she looks down on things like money.
If he could conceive, then, since he still owed himself a bet, then he could request to raise the child alone. He has no shortage of 'women', and he already has three children, so he wouldn't refuse even if he thought about it.
Thinking about these things, I walked downstairs to the kitchen without knowing it.
He was busy at the kitchen counter, wearing a light gray turtleneck wool sweater with the cuffs rolled up, and khaki casual trousers underneath, with a tall and straight figure, The sharp-edged side face made her stop and take a few more glances, and she felt a certain heartbeat again.
The man smiled at her when he found out, so he walked over, lay down beside the kitchen counter to watch him skillfully slice an apple, and then noticed the bite mark on his right arm again.
Bitten crookedly.
The thought came to her inexplicably, and she couldn't help laughing.
Eric turned his head and looked at the 'woman', and said, "What happy things did you think of?"
"No," Judy pointed to Eric's right hand: "Well, what's going on?"
Eric raised his right hand and looked at his watch for a few times, his eyes showed doubts, as if he had just discovered it, and turned to the woman: "Did you secretly bite me last night?"
Judy rolled her eyes immediately, with a look of disdain to talk nonsense with him.
Eric was just joking. He put the cut apples into a glass bowl, mixed them with salad dressing, and said with a smile, "I met a girl and thought I was bullying her, so she rushed over and bit me." .”
Judy showed a look of disbelief, and grabbed a certain word: "Think?"
"Yeah," Eric nodded, and said, "I didn't know her before, and she hadn't seen me, the first time we met, and then things happened."
Judy realized that Eric was telling the truth, and wanted to laugh at him, but then remembered another thing: "Then what happened next?"
"Later, the prince and princess lived happily together. Look, what a good man I am, the worst beginning of a story can turn into a fairy tale in my hands."
"I've never seen you boasting about yourself like this."
Judy gave the man a blank look again, not wanting him to think that she cared too much about his 'private' life, so she stopped asking and stepped forward to help prepare breakfast together.
Get ready for breakfast and come to the restaurant together.
There was a laptop on the dining table, and a page of emails full of data was opened, and he glanced curiously, probably movie box office information.
Without taking a closer look, Judy sat down and ate a fruit salad before asking Eric on the opposite side: "How was the box office on the first day?"
Eric handed Judy a glass of milk, sat down and said, "$24.29 million."
Judy paused, although Eric had explained some things to her yesterday, the woman was still puzzled and said, "It seems to be lower, right?"
If it is any other film, with $24.29 million on the first day, it can definitely be said to be a success.
But for Eric, this result is obviously already low.
Eric shook his head and explained in detail: "2,000 3D screens, 82% attendance, box office of 20.65 million US dollars. 100 Imax screens, 100% attendance, box office of 3.64 million US dollars. A total of 24.29 million US dollars, so, you still Do you feel low?"
Judy has lived in Hollywood since she was a child. When Eric explained this, she immediately understood.
Judy wasn't too surprised that Eric said yesterday that the zero-point field was almost full. Many popular movies can do this. But after the large-scale opening of the painting throughout the day, the attendance rate can still exceed 80%, which is a bit surprising.
"It's so high, it's a pity, it would be great if there were more auditoriums."
The two were discussing this matter in the restaurant of the Angle Manor, and the outside world about the box office on the first day has also spread rapidly.
The first day was 24.29 million U.S. dollars. Although the super high attendance has attracted the attention of many media, the overall single-day box office of less than 30 million U.S. dollars is still not qualified for Eric.
As a result, more and more voices of ridicule and ridicule appeared in the media for a while.
Of course, there is absolutely no lack of understanding people.
According to the author, according to the current box office trend, if a zero decline can be achieved next week, Eric's new film is still very hopeful to break through the US$300 million box office in North America.
It's just that if you want to reach a higher level, you must increase the number of 3D and Imax screening halls. However, since Firefly Group has no relevant plans, this is obviously impossible in the short term.
Moreover, limited by the source of 3D films, it is impossible for even a cinema operator to rashly increase the number of 3D screens.
At the same time, since 2,000 screens accounted for only 5.5% of the total size of 36,000 screens in North America at this time.
Although the Firefly Group tried its best to cover the whole country, it could only take care of the mainstream key ticket warehouse cities after all, which inevitably led to a large number of movie fans not being able to watch this movie at all.
As a result, related complaints soon appeared on the Internet, and traditional media began to follow up keenly. In the blink of an eye, this incident has been identified as a major mistake in the distribution strategy of the Firefly Group.
Immediately afterwards, some media also took the initiative to propose that the Firefly Group open the 2D version, and even some high-level executives of the Firefly system had similar ideas.
While it's definitely a classic even in 2D, it's ultimately impossible to match the viewing experience of a 3D movie.
Eric's production was mainly to promote 3D and Imax movie formats in advance, and naturally he would not give up this goal for short-term benefits, so he rejected the relevant proposal without hesitation.
Subsequently, in the two days of the weekend, the 3D theaters again reaped $22.35 million and $19.36 million at the box office, and the Imax screening hall was still completely full.
In fact, the 100 Imax theaters in North America have basically sold out movie tickets within a week, and scalpers have even appeared in the market at high prices.
Taken together, the final three-day box office in the first weekend was 76.78 million US dollars.
Between Eric, who has already set a global box office record of one billion, this result is only about 5 million higher than the opening weekend of more than 71 million US dollars six years ago.
If you calculate the inflation factor, the first weekend box office of the film is definitely the lowest among several films.
Although the 25th is Thanksgiving, most people still have to work until the 24th to take a four-day holiday.
So, on Monday, November 22, the working day came as usual.
According to the normal box office law of most films, the box office on weekdays tends to drop by 60% to 70% compared to weekends. Due to the overall downward trend, the box office on four days on weekdays is usually only 30% of the box office on three days on weekends.
Based on this calculation, the theoretical box office for the first four working days may only be US$23.03 million, and the box office for the first week is expected to be US$99.81 million, which is barely close to the US$100 million mark.
Although based on word of mouth, the decline is likely not to be that exaggerated, but the outside world generally does not believe that this film can break through the conventional box office decline limit.
Moreover, the media also has a very clear factual basis for the possible drop in the box office on weekdays.
After all, the 2,000 3D theaters in North America are too concentrated, most of them are distributed in mainstream cities, and the number is not enough. Since theaters are ultimately in the hands of theater operators, it was impossible for Firefly to flexibly set the distribution of 3D theaters evenly according to the size of the audience.
This already excludes a large part of the remote audience.
If it is a weekend, many viewers may drive to nearby cities to watch movies in order to experience the effect of 3D visual wonders. But entering the working day, there will undoubtedly be many fewer people willing to do so.
However, subsequent facts proved that many people still underestimated the box office appeal and the appeal of the new 3D and Imax movie modes to the audience after all.
On the early morning of Tuesday, November 23, when the box office of the first day of the working day was released, it caught everyone's attention instantly.
All day on Monday, 2,000 3D theaters in North America took in another US$14.13 million at the box office, a drop of only 27% from the US$19.36 million box office on Sunday. In addition, the 100 Imax theaters are still full without any suspense.
Therefore, even the media who were very optimistic about the box office before felt a little incredible at this time.
In such a state of shock and bewilderment, the box office momentum remained undiminished in the following days.
On Tuesday, the box office of the 3D theater was 13.99 million US dollars, and the Imax theater was full.
On Wednesday, the box office of the 3D theater was 14.53 million US dollars, and the Imax theater was full.
On Thursday, the box office of the 3D theater was 12.27 million US dollars, and the Imax theater was full.
In the four days, except for Thursday's Thanksgiving Day, when there was an obvious drop, the attendance rate of 2,000 3D theaters in North America has reached a terrifying 50% or more.
In the end, only 2,000 3D theaters earned US$120.33 million in the first week, and the other 100 Imax theaters, starting from the midnight show last week, were almost all sold out, contributing another US$25.74 million to the film.
According to comprehensive statistics, the box office in the first week reached 146.07 million US dollars, far exceeding the expectations of all box office forecasting agencies including the distribution department of Firefly Group.
There is no doubt that a phenomenon-level movie-watching frenzy has formed that surpassed Eric's previous three films.
When the final box office was released, all parties who were still waiting and watching could no longer sit still.
Even if it can maintain an attendance rate of more than 50% on weekdays, the prospect of 3D movies is clearly very clear.
The major theater chains in North America completely abandoned the 3D theater promotion plan given by Firefly Group, and immediately contacted Firefly Group’s senior management, hoping to increase the number of 3D theaters immediately.
On the other hand, the brilliant market performance of Imax theaters has also attracted the attention of theaters and Hollywood, which has even surpassed 3D movies.
After all, just 100 Imax theaters in North America contributed 25.74 million US dollars to the box office in a week.
This means that, under ideal conditions, just these 100 Imax theaters will have an annual box office of more than $1 billion. This is already one-seventh of the current North American annual box office. But the number of 100 Imax theaters is only three-thousandths of the total 36,000 movie screens in North America.
Of course, no one expects that the Imax auditorium will always remain 100% full, but even if the attendance rate of the Imax auditorium is reduced by 70% under normal conditions, when the number of Imax theaters continues to expand, compared to North America The ratio of the total screen to the Imax box office share, and the commercial return of the Imax screening hall are still crazy.