April 20, Monday.
Having just spent Easter with his family, before eight in the morning, Peter Sanders received a call and hurried to the Fox lot.
Leonard Goldberg's assistant had sounded very rushed on the phone, hanging up abruptly without details. Peter Sanders knew it must be related to The Butterfly Effect's second weekend box office.
Entering a conference room in the studio's administrative building, Peter Sanders found five or six people already waiting—mostly marketing executives. Leonard Goldberg hadn't arrived yet.
Before he could even sit at the conference table, Peter Sanders keenly caught a number amid the murmurs.
"...11.86 million..."
11.86 million?!
Strongly suspecting he might have misheard, Peter Sanders snatched the folder from the meeting secretary's hand and flipped it open right there.
The first page was the latest three-day weekend box office data report.
The Butterfly Effect, $11.86 million, -17%.
It really was $11.86 million!
Moreover, compared to the opening weekend's $14.31 million, The Butterfly Effect's second-week drop far exceeded everyone's expectations—at just 17%.
Peter Sanders couldn't help but quickly calculate mentally.
A 17% second-weekend drop—if this trajectory held, breaking $100 million total domestic was absolutely possible.
The question now was, what exactly had happened?
Peter Sanders stood there in a daze when Leonard Goldberg bustled in with a few people, taking the head of the table. Seeing Peter Sanders' expression, Goldberg said amiably, "Peter, what are you standing there for? Sit down."
Peter Sanders snapped back, smiling and nodding at him before taking a seat at the table.
The meeting secretary began distributing another document.
Once everyone was seated, Leonard Goldberg got straight to the point: "You've all seen it—yes, $11.86 million, with only a 17% drop in the second week. As for what happened? I've had a quick summary pulled from the marketing department's recent audience surveys; it should explain things. But that's not the most important now. The key is how to maintain this box office momentum and push The Butterfly Effect past the $100 million threshold."
Having helmed Fox Pictures for years, the company was finally on the verge of a potential $100 million domestic grosser. Leonard Goldberg's tone carried undisguised excitement.
Peter Sanders listened as Leonard Goldberg discussed with everyone about quickly expanding The Butterfly Effect's screen count and adjusting marketing strategies, while he flipped open the new document, multitasking as he read Fox's marketing department analysis of The Butterfly Effect's second-week performance reasons.
In the report summary, several sets of data from audience surveys for The Butterfly Effect across North America were highlighted.
"18-26 age group audience proportion: 43%."
"Audience score on a 10-point scale: 7.7."
"Proportion of viewers choosing to watch due to Run Lola Run influence: 81%."
"Proportion of viewers unaffected by reviews: 33%."
"Proportion of viewers believing the film received unfair media criticism: 76%."
"Proportion of viewers planning to recommend to friends after watching: 69%."
In the conference room.
Just from this set of data, Peter Sanders already roughly understood why The Butterfly Effect's second-week performance had defied all expectations.
The survey report also clearly noted that, contrary to the overwhelming media negativity, The Butterfly Effect's word-of-mouth among audiences was far higher—a 7.7 audience score basically qualified it as an excellent film.
At the same time, since The Butterfly Effect's audience skewed young, this demographic rarely read newspapers and tended to choose films based on friends' recommendations. Thus, the media's one-sided bad reviews had far less impact on the film's box office than Fox had estimated.
The report speculated that Run Lola Run's popularity had created a massive potential audience base for The Butterfly Effect. Some viewers, initially deterred by the first-week media negativity, reconsidered and entered theaters once audience word-of-mouth spread—this also greatly contributed to the film's mere 17% slight drop in the second weekend.
Major Hollywood studios routinely conducted similar audience surveys for key releases. These data for The Butterfly Effect existed before the second-weekend box office emerged.
However, the media's bombardment of negativity toward The Butterfly Effect had been so intense that everyone at Fox, top to bottom, hadn't felt much reassurance from the numbers.
Now, with the film's box office results out, deducing the reasons from the data became straightforward.
In the end.
Film was ultimately a high-risk business as unpredictable as the weather.
Peter Sanders finished the report and looked up; a marketing executive was sharing his view.
"Leonard, beyond that, I think we can fully leverage public opinion to amplify the stark contrast between media negativity and the film's box office, making people believe The Butterfly Effect has been treated very unfairly. We could even hint that someone's deliberately smearing the movie—this would maximize audience sympathy and contrarian psychology, drawing more people into theaters."
Leonard Goldberg listened and nodded approvingly. "Nick, get a detailed execution plan together soon; I'll have New York coordinate. That's it for now—everyone get to work. Remember, by this Friday, I want The Butterfly Effect's screens up to over 1,700."
It was just a marketing strategy adjustment meeting; Peter Sanders had been called solely as the production VP directly overseeing The Butterfly Effect and hadn't voiced any opinions throughout.
Hearing Leonard announce adjournment, Peter Sanders rose with the others, about to leave together Leonard Goldberg called him back.
"Peter, The Butterfly Effect's ongoing promotion still needs Simon Westeros's cooperation—you handle contacting him. Also, I recall Daenerys Films is prepping a rom-com; have someone redo an evaluation report for me."
Peter Sanders nodded in agreement, waiting until Leonard Goldberg left before glancing at his watch—it was just past nine in the morning.
Meanwhile.
As the new workweek began, The Butterfly Effect's second-weekend box office data quickly spread through all of Hollywood.
Compared to Run Lola Run's somewhat traceable box office curve, The Butterfly Effect's second weekend came as a huge surprise to many—until Fox's internal report gradually leaked, finally convincing people of the fact.
First week: $21.69 million; second weekend: $11.85 million.
In just ten days, The Butterfly Effect's total gross had reached $33.55 million. Undoubtedly, even if it didn't break $100 million, this film would definitely crack the annual top ten.
Thinking this, many suddenly realized.
Including the still-in-theaters Run Lola Run, a young man who'd burst onto the Hollywood scene less than a year ago had unwittingly created two films poised to enter North America's annual top ten.
Even Steven Spielberg had never achieved such a miracle.
Realizing this, Daenerys Films, housed in a Santa Monica office building, suddenly drew intense attention from all of Hollywood once more.
In Hollywood, one success might be dismissed as luck, but two proved far too much.
Now, having created two miracles, Simon Westeros's good fortune might not end here.
At Daenerys Films headquarters.
It was already afternoon.
In Simon's office, a heavyweight visitor had arrived: CAA president Michael Ovitz.
Due to last year's internal turmoil at WMA, CAA had poached a slew of top stars. Combined with the company's mature packaging system, Michael Ovitz was absolutely one of Hollywood's most powerful figures.
However, on the other hand, Michael Ovitz was an extremely low-key person.
In his memory, it wasn't until the late 1980s, as CAA's influence grew overwhelmingly, that relentless media digging finally surfaced this "giant crocodile" lurking in Hollywood, propelling him to the top of Premiere magazine's Hollywood Power List multiple times.
On the reception area sofas, Simon and Ovitz sat across from each other.
Michael Ovitz had a naturally approachable, affable demeanor, yet his words were direct: "Simon, these days, you've extended collaboration invites to several CAA clients like John Travolta, Robert Redford, Meg Ryan, and more. So, for smoother cooperation between us, how about joining CAA?"
Just opening his mouth, Simon sensed this CAA boss's strong desire for control.
However, he just shook his head lightly, smiling: "Sorry, Michael—I already have an agent. And even if I joined CAA, I wouldn't sign a percentage deal with you."
"Of course, our company is actually very flexible on that. Spielberg's a client too, and we have a flat-fee contract with him," Michael Ovitz smiled back, adding pointedly: "Just like you at WMA."
"In that case," Simon shrugged: "Michael, you should know I wouldn't easily break with Joe. If not for him, I might still be a cashier at some supermarket. So, let's talk about Bob's salary instead."
Michael Ovitz nodded, not pursuing aggressively as rumored—or perhaps not yet manifesting it. He shifted topics crisply: "Bob called me; he wants a cameo in your new film. I've read the script—honestly, I don't think it's a great choice. But you know, we always strive to fulfill clients' every request. So, Simon—$1 million. Bob's absolutely worth that price."