Monday, April 13th.
Under the close attention of countless people, the box office data for the past three-day weekend was officially released.
Despite overwhelming negative media reviews, 'The Butterfly Effect' still strongly grossed $14.31 million at the box office over its opening three-day weekend, undoubtedly securing the top spot at the North American box office for the weekend.
With the popularity of 'Run Lola Run' as a boost, many people had already anticipated that the opening weekend box office for 'The Butterfly Effect' would not be too bad, but even with the media's barrage of negative reviews, the film's $14.31 million box office over its opening three-day weekend still turned heads.
A brief comparison makes it clear how astonishing this box office figure is.
Michael J. Fox's new film 'The Road to Riches' had a significantly larger marketing campaign and screening scale than 'The Butterfly Effect' during the same period. While its media reviews were not exceptionally high, they were still far better than those for 'The Butterfly Effect'.
However, 'The Road to Riches' only grossed $7.76 million over its opening three-day weekend, which was only half of 'The Butterfly Effect'.
After 'The Road to Riches', despite the renewed increase in box office decline due to the two new films, 'Run Lola Run', now in its ninth week of release, still grossed a high of $7.19 million over the weekend, with its cumulative box office officially surpassing $150 million.
Looking at the unstoppable, incredible data of this phenomenal 'event film,' many people instantly understood why 'The Butterfly Effect' could double the box office of the second-place film in its opening weekend.
'Run Lola Run', from its plot to its props, from its dialogue to its cinematography, relentlessly instilled the concept of the butterfly effect into the audience through countless details. Even director Simon Westeros admitted on NBC's "Late Night Show" that his purpose in making 'Run Lola Run' was to explain and set the stage for 'The Butterfly Effect'.
'Run Lola Run' achieved unexpected and immense success, and tens of millions of viewers who watched the film were naturally more curious about 'The Butterfly Effect'. Therefore, the opening weekend box office for 'The Butterfly Effect' was clearly a reduced figure, affected by strong negative reviews.
But even so, according to the box office trend of the opening three-day weekend, Fox still only needs one week to recoup all its production costs. The question now is how the subsequent box office curve for 'The Butterfly Effect' will trend.
It's worth noting that an opening weekend box office of $14.31 million in this era definitely makes a film a contender for over $100 million at the North American box office.
If this goal can be achieved, Fox, whose performance has been consistently sluggish for several years, will finally have another film grossing over $100 million at the North American box office. But with the current media reception, if the subsequent box office trend drops sharply, breaking $100 million will naturally become impossible.
Thus, Ronald Goldberg, president of Fox Pictures, who had been worried that 'The Butterfly Effect' would utterly fail at the box office due to strong negative reviews, not only didn't relax after seeing the opening weekend box office data but instead became even more anxious and hesitant.
On the other side.
In the new week, news of the breakup between Hollywood's talented director Simon Westeros and Janette Johnston, daughter of an Australian mining magnate, quickly made headlines in major media outlets.
Although Simon's public relations manager, Pat Kingsley, immediately issued a statement saying that the two were only temporarily separated due to some emotional confusion, the media clearly scoffed at such 'official rhetoric'.
Within a few short days, all sorts of speculation filled the newspapers.
"According to insiders, the reason for Simon Westeros and Janette Johnston's breakup is an uneven distribution of profits from 'Run Lola Run.' Roughly estimated, 'Run Lola Run' is expected to bring in $110 million in net revenue for the production company, with Janette Johnston receiving 61.5% of that, approximately $67 million, far exceeding Simon West's share".
"Simon Westeros moved out of the Palisades mansion on Monday morning".
"Rumour has it that Simon Westeros transferred the profits from 'Run Lola Run' to Westeros Company, potentially leading to a legal battle with his ex-girlfriend".
"Janette Johnston unaffected by breakup, meets with famous Los Angeles art dealer".
"Westeros' untitled new film officially greenlit, Daenerys Pictures President Amy Pascal declines to comment on the breakup".
"'Cougar' enthusiast Simon West seen dating 'Blade Runner' star Sean Young, the two have a nine-year age difference".
"John Travolta confirmed to join Westeros' new film".
"Janette Johnston dines with Kathryn Bigelow, two women appear close, dispelling rumours of Kathryn's involvement in the relationship's demise".
"..."
"..."
Compared to Hollywood couples who make headlines every other day, Simon and Janette had been truly low-key before this.
So, when the rumours of their breakup were confirmed, and potentially involved hundreds of millions of dollars in financial disputes, the entire North American media instantly went wild. Suddenly, their comings and goings were once again surrounded by a horde of paparazzi, and every action was subjected to all sorts of messy interpretations.
Simon had anticipated this situation and left the rather private cliffside mansion in Palisades to Janette, while he himself subsequently moved to the Century Towers, right next to Fox Studios.
Century Towers, located in Century City, consists of two adjacent 28-story luxury apartment buildings with gated access. Many celebrities, including Michael Douglas, reside there, thus also providing protection from media harassment.
The paparazzi in Los Angeles might not be as crazy as those in London, but their numbers are definitely the highest. Due to the intense anticipation of Simon and Janette's 'legal battle,' their surroundings remained exceptionally lively for an entire week afterward.
Simon's attitude towards the paparazzi was one of almost cold indifference, and he had always confidently entrusted media handling and image maintenance to Pat Kingsley. Therefore, regardless of the number of paparazzi around him, this matter never caused him any trouble.
In comparison, it was the sudden separation from Janette that caused a small disruption in Simon's life.
For over half a year, perhaps ever since she first helped Simon rent the villa in the Montana district, Janette had unknowingly taken over Simon's daily life. From large appliances and furniture in his residence to Simon's towels and toothbrushes, the woman would unknowingly take care of everything for him.
Now, suddenly single again, Simon found his life skills had regressed considerably.
What a schemer.
She must have done it on purpose.
When Simon called Janette to ask about the brand of coffee he had grown accustomed to over the past six months, he casually 'questioned' her, and the woman then very proudly admitted it, looking like a mischievous little witch whose plot had succeeded.
Aside from these minor details, Simon's work was completely unaffected.
Daenerys Pictures' brand new headquarters is located on 4th Street, not far from the beach in downtown Santa Monica.
Compared to the original three simple offices, the company now completely occupies a two-story white building. Everyone's offices, screening rooms, audition rooms, and even the film's post-production studio are all fully equipped.
The release date for 'Final Destination' is set for October 23rd, and the company is currently fully focused on casting.
As a teen horror film, 'Final Destination' doesn't have high demands for its cast. To save on budget, Simon doesn't plan to use overly famous young actors. Plus, there are many roles in the film. So, these days, the Daenerys Pictures headquarters is definitely a gathering place for handsome men and beautiful women.
This is already the second to last round of auditions.
Although Simon would prefer to make the final decision himself in the last round, to avoid Fox questioning whether the compensation he received was worth the money, he still participated in the casting process as much as possible.
"Thank you for coming today, Ms. Clark. We will notify you of the audition results as soon as possible".
Inside the audition room.
Another tall girl with short blonde hair finished her performance. Linda Vargas, the casting director Simon had worked with on 'Run Lola Run', formally dismissed her. Just as she was about to call the next person, Susan Landis, the company's first employee who was now Simon's office secretary, pushed open the door and whispered something in Simon's ear.
"I'll be right there".
Simon nodded after listening, greeted Wes Craven and Ron McMillan, and then got up and left the audition room.
Wes Craven and the others knew that Simon's focus was more on his own film 'Pulp Fiction', and he had also been looking for roles for that film in the past few days, so they were not surprised by Simon's temporary departure.
As Simon left the audition room, the waiting area outside, which extended into the hallway, was filled with over a dozen beautiful girls, all with absolutely top-notch figures and looks.
Seeing Simon appear, all the girls' eyes instantly lit up. They all stood up and enthusiastically greeted him with "Simon" and "Mr. Westeros." Some bolder girls even came closer and secretly slipped notes into Simon's pocket.
The girls clearly all knew that Simon had recently become single, and some of them had even come to this audition specifically for him.
If they could snag a boyfriend like him, even without considering the help he could provide for their acting careers, Simon Westeros' current wealth alone was already the dream husband for many girls.
It's worth noting that Steven Spielberg, Hollywood's hottest director, has only accumulated just over $200 million in wealth over all these years. Simon Westeros, through just one film, 'Run Lola Run', earned over $40 million.
A millionaire under 20 years old, this is extremely rare worldwide.
Simon simply smiled and silently walked through the crowd. If he were to say he didn't enjoy the feeling of being pursued and surrounded by a group of beautiful women, that would be a lie. However, deep down, Simon didn't really feel like he had broken up with Janette. Having lived two lives, he also possessed the mental fortitude to resist such simple temptations.
Casually tossing the few cards from his pocket into the hallway trash can, Simon arrived outside his office, where a man and a woman waiting in the secretary's office both stood up.
"Mr. Lieberman, Ms. Ryan, hello," Simon said with a smile, shaking hands with both of them, then added, "Come with me".
Saying this, and instructing Susan to make coffee, Simon pushed open the door and entered his office. Moving to the reception area, the three sat down together, and only then did Simon carefully examine the woman opposite him on the sofa.
Meg Ryan.
One of America's most famous sweethearts, the original female lead of 'When Harry Met Sally'.
At this time, Meg Ryan was still an fairly unknown actress who had only appeared in a few films, her most famous role being a small part as a pilot's wife in last year's 'Top Gun'.
Simon had originally thought that Meg Ryan's appearance in 'Top Gun' was likely the result of offending the makeup artist. But now, seeing her in person, he couldn't help but feel even more disappointed.