November saw Hollywood usher in a blockbuster feast, with many exciting films premiering in quick succession.
On November 10th, "Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls," starring Jim Carrey, made a dazzling debut.
It's worth noting that in the 1990s, Jim Carrey was a box office powerhouse; his films almost always easily surpassed 100 million in the North America market, so his new work was naturally highly anticipated.
Following closely, on November 17th, "GoldenEye" made a powerful impact.
The classic character of James Bond, after decades, still retains his charm and boasts a massive global fanbase. With Pierce Brosnan in the lead role, moviegoers were especially eager to see it.
Then, on November 22nd, a monumental moment in film history arrived with the release of the first-ever fully computer-animated feature film, "Toy Story." This film, with its unique creativity and exquisite production, directly rewrote the history of animated cinema.
Pixar Animation Studios also, with this film, instantly became one of Hollywood's most respected animation companies, cementing its solid position in the animation field.
This month, these three films achieved both critical acclaim and box office success, creating a sensation in the film industry.
However, unexpectedly, just when everyone thought these three blockbusters would dominate the market, a low-budget film with a cost of only 500,000 emerged like a dark horse, stealing all the limelight.
"106 million!"
Robert Shaye, his face filled with shock and anger, slammed the newspaper he was holding onto the table and exclaimed, "It's only been over eighty days since "napoleon dynamite" was released, and its box office is already 106 million!"
He stared intently at the figures in the newspaper, his face as dark as the bottom of a pot.
For a low-budget film to achieve such astonishing box office results was completely beyond everyone's expectations—it was utterly preposterous!
He instinctively tugged at his tie, trying to catch his breath, but his heart felt like it was blocked by a large stone, making him uncomfortably stifled.
It was known that this film, which should have been distributed by New Line Cinema, had now caused the company to miss out on enormous profits.
He closed his eyes, his teeth grinding, filled with regret and resentment.
"…"
After a moment of silence, he reached out and pressed the phone button, instructing his secretary to have Manager Klante come to his office immediately.
At the same time, another film, "Se7en," continued to perform strongly in the film industry.
Since its release three months ago, by December 8th, its North America box office had already surpassed 129.6 million, steadily crossing the 100-million mark.
Not only that, the film also performed astonishingly in overseas markets, raking in 81.22 million in its first month!
The total global box office reached 210.82 million! For a film with a budget of only 35 million, such box office performance was undoubtedly an astronomical figure, enough to make the entire film industry take notice.
Initially, seeing the box office numbers for "Se7en" soaring, Robert Shaye was quite pleased, as it was a work to be proud of.
But as soon as he thought of "napoleon dynamite" also steadily raking in money at the box office with strong momentum, he felt very uneasy.
He couldn't help but secretly regret: if he had known that "napoleon dynamite" had such market potential, he should have tried his best to secure its distribution rights.
Unfortunately, at the time, he underestimated Kazir's directing ability, although he recognized his screenwriting talent, but now, this judgment seemed incredibly wrong!
Watching "napoleon dynamite" making a fortune in the market, he could only fret helplessly.
"Sir…"
Soon after, Manager Klante walked into the office, looking nervous.
He didn't need to guess; Robert must have called him in about "napoleon dynamite."
It was Klante who had watched the film's preview and, on behalf of the company, offered Kazir 2.3 million, attempting to buy out all rights to the film.
However, to his surprise, Kazir ultimately did not accept the offer but instead signed a contract with Fox Searchlight Pictures, and their terms were even more favorable.
"Klante, you know why I called you!"
Robert Shaye's eyes blazed with fire as he stared intently at Klante. In his view, it was this "incompetent" person who failed to secure the film, causing the company to miss out on this excellent business opportunity.
"I'm sorry, sir." Klante lowered his head, his face full of remorse, and could only obediently admit his mistake. He knew in his heart that he couldn't avoid being scolded.
"Useless! Do you know how much loss this has caused the company?"
Robert Shaye could no longer control his anger and shouted loudly.
Klante silently endured Robert's fury, and when he left the office, his face was ashen, filled with grievances.
But he also understood in his heart that the workplace was just this cruel; the scapegoats were always the small fry, while those in power could still live carefree lives.
"Did I make a mistake?"
Coincidentally, like Robert Shaye, Warner Bros.'s CEO, Terry Semel, looked at the data reports in his hand, his brows tightly furrowed into a knot.
After two months of release, the box office momentum of "napoleon dynamite" was still very strong, showing no signs of slowing down.
With Christmas approaching, during this festive season, family audiences often prefer to watch comedies and heartwarming films, and this film happened to be rated PG-13, suitable for the whole family to watch together, undoubtedly possessing immense market appeal.
Terry Semel couldn't help but rub his forehead, lost in thought.
Warner Bros.'s biggest investment project this year was "batman forever," a film with a budget of 100 million, released in June.
By December, its global box office had reached 336 million.
At first glance, this box office performance seemed decent, but upon closer calculation, after deducting 100 million in production costs and roughly 100 million in publicity and distribution expenses, the profit was not as substantial as imagined.
At least, compared to the impressive results achieved by "napoleon dynamite" in just over eighty days, "batman forever" seemed somewhat dim.
Just then, the secretary walked into the office and softly said, "Mr. Terry, producer Enrico is here. He says he has something important to report to you."
"Let him in." Terry Semel straightened up slightly and said.
As soon as Enrico entered, he keenly noticed the worry on Terry's face.
In fact, he had already gathered important information through Kazir's agent, Salvatore Barlo: Kazir was currently working on two new screenplays, one of which was an original comedy, though the specific content was still confidential and unclear; the other was a sequel to "napoleon dynamite." To ensure the quality of the sequel, Kazir had even hired writers to help him create it.
Sequel!
When he heard the word "sequel," Terry Semel's eyes instantly lit up, as if he had seen a glimmer of light in the darkness.
In his opinion, since the first "napoleon dynamite" was so popular, the sequel undoubtedly still had huge market potential, and they could certainly make another fortune!
"Well done, Enrico. The news you brought this time is too important."
Terry Semel showed a rare smile and said to Enrico.
"Thank you for the compliment, sir." Enrico responded with a smile.
Missing out on the distribution rights for "napoleon dynamite" was already a very embarrassing matter for Warner Bros.
Now, upon hearing the news of a sequel, Terry Semel naturally didn't want to miss this opportunity again.
"If his new screenplay is reliable, you will be responsible for coordinating the relevant matters. Also, I want to secure all the overseas distribution rights, video distribution rights for that film, and the related rights for the sequel," Terry said with a serious expression and firm tone, "Fox Searchlight Pictures took the first bite; we need to get a bigger piece of the pie."
Everyone knows that in the film industry, a film company's major revenue often doesn't solely come from cinema box office but from subsequent markets like video sales.
Terry Semel was well aware of this, so he was determined to secure the maximum benefit for Warner Bros. in the subsequent development of "napoleon dynamite."