That night, Dunn didn't get the chance to dive deep into management and strategy talks with Jack Welch about Dunn Films. The setting just wasn't right.
Thankfully, Jack Welch's feedback was positive. He mentioned he'd be heading to Silicon Valley in a few days for a chip industry seminar and would swing by LA afterward. That's when they could sit down for a proper chat.
Dunn was really looking forward to that second meeting with Jack Welch.
For now, though, his focus was on movies.
Once Dunn and Universal Pictures shifted their marketing strategy for The Unsinking, it was like a seismic shake-up hit the film market.
Pearl Harbor, which had been constantly compared to Titanic, saw its reputation take a nosedive!
Dunn never said it outright, and Universal avoided mentioning it in their promos, but the undeniable truth was this: the movie tied to Titanic was The Unsinking, not the loudly hyped Pearl Harbor!
This left moviegoers feeling duped.
Pearl Harbor had zero connection to Titanic—so why had Disney dared to market it that way?
Wasn't it just a trick to fool fans into buying tickets?
If Dunn hadn't done that one interview, the whole country might still be in the dark!
Critics had already been tearing Pearl Harbor apart, and now with this "fraud scandal" piling on, its reputation tanked even harder—like a landslide with no end in sight.
Disney issued multiple statements, and Michael Bay went public, swearing he'd never meant to deceive anyone. But that kind of damage-control PR? It was useless at this point.
Pearl Harbor's box office outlook took a sharp turn for the worse.
Meanwhile, The Unsinking, which had been flying under the radar with a steady, low-key approach, suddenly rode the wave of being "the second Titanic" and became the hottest topic in America!
Produced by Dunn Walker and directed by James Cameron—a dream team!
These two had created the Titanic miracle together. Now, four years later, they were back with The Unsinking. How could it not be amazing?
On top of that, The Unsinking championed an upbeat, all-American heroism vibe. It showcased the bravery of Coast Guard rescuers and the greatness of human spirit in life-or-death moments.
It was a disaster flick, sure—but also an optimistic, inspiring story!
The past couple of years had been rough, with the Nasdaq bubble bursting and the U.S. economy sliding. The Bush administration had rolled out big tax cuts, and right now, the country needed everyone to come together to push through this economic mess.
The Unsinking was the perfect morale boost for the nation!
Heavyweight outlets like The New York Times, Time Magazine, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, and The Wall Street Journal—the biggest names in American media—all ran stories on the latest film, The Unsinking.
Even at Wednesday's presidential press conference, when answering a question about tax reform, President Bush quoted Charlize Theron's rallying cry to the crew in The Unsinking: "In tough times, we might not always make the perfect choice, but we've got to show the strongest resolve!"
So, with Disney's "second Titanic" marketing push, Dunn's personal charisma, Universal's promotional muscle, the president's endorsement, and a flood of media coverage, James Cameron's new film The Unsinking blew up!
The second week of its release, The Unsinking hadn't exactly started strong.
Monday: $7.57 million. Tuesday: $4.67 million. Wednesday: $4.81 million.
But then Thursday hit, and it was like a tiny spark meeting a gallon of gasoline—whoosh! A massive blaze erupted!
Thursday alone, The Unsinking raked in $16.89 million!
By the weekend, the momentum was scorching—reminiscent of Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace from a couple years back or Spider-Man from last year. It was unstoppable!
NBC's Movie Watch segment ran another market survey, this time at 3:30 p.m.
"Hello, sir, ma'am…"
The show's gorgeous host, Hannah, spotted some moviegoers leaving the theater and hurried over. After introducing herself and handing out a small gift, she got straight to it: "Did you just watch The Unsinking?"
The tide had turned—The Unsinking was officially the hottest movie around.
"Yeah, it was awesome! Great story, killer effects! A Walker-Cameron collab—it's just good!"
Hannah smiled. "If A is the top score, what would you give it?"
"A, no question! The early marketing wasn't great, so we saw Pearl Harbor last weekend. Big mistake."
The guy finished, and the woman jumped in, "But it's all good now. Thing is, The Unsinking is so popular—this is just the afternoon, and we almost couldn't get tickets!"
"No way, really?"
"For real! The ticket lines were insane! I'd bet tomorrow every screening of The Unsinking will be packed!"
…
That day—Friday—The Unsinking pulled in $26.58 million!
Saturday, it hit a 79% daily attendance rate and scored $38.78 million, setting a new record for Hollywood's highest single-day box office haul ever!
Sunday, it kept the heat on with $32.43 million!
The first week, The Unsinking had only managed $43.69 million in North America. But in its second week? A total comeback—$101.15 million, snagging the weekly box office crown with zero competition!
Its North American total climbed to $166.84 million!
Compare that to last week's champ, Pearl Harbor. Its second-week numbers crashed hard: $13.42 million, $4.39 million, $3.28 million, $2.21 million, $5.47 million, $6.98 million, $4.67 million. A measly $40.42 million for the week.
Two weeks in, it hadn't even cracked $100 million—just $94.05 million!
Both films were only 10 days into their runs, but the winner was crystal clear.
Disney's Pearl Harbor, with its $140 million budget and $70 million marketing spend, was a colossal flop!
Sure, its theatrical run still had months to go, but analysts had already bumped up their projections again—for the worse. North American box office for Pearl Harbor? Now pegged at just $125 million!
That meant, over the next six months, they figured it'd scrape together maybe $30 million more in the U.S.
Brutal.
And with those updated forecasts hitting the news, Disney took another blow.
Thanks to the "fraud scandal" and Pearl Harbor's dismal performance, Disney's stock plummeted 7%, wiping out $3.1 billion in market value!
…
After months of waiting, Dunn finally got a call from Disney's number-two guy, Roy Disney.
He wanted to talk.
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