"So, Hugo, what do you think the opening weekend box office will be?" Alex asked in a low voice, sipping his coffee."Oh, my god." Joseph and Karl groaned simultaneously, clearly disapproving of Alex's suggestion, while Hugo chuckled and shook his head. "I'm not playing that game. I'm not one of those boring media types."At this moment, Hugo and four others were sitting in a coffee shop on the third floor of the General Cinema in the city center, waiting for the 4:30 PM showing of "A Few Good Men."The American film exhibition industry is controlled by several major cinema chains, including General Cinema, United Artists, AMC, Carmike, Marcus, and others. Currently, there are approximately 20,000 screens in the United States, and 45% of them are controlled by these chains, which account for over 80% of the total box office revenue.Of course, in addition to large commercial chain cinemas, there have always been independent and art house cinemas in the American film industry. These art house cinemas provide strong support for film studies courses offered by American universities. Currently, the top-ranked art house chain in the United States is Landmark Theatres, a Canadian chain founded in 1965. Although it has fewer than 30 cinemas in North America, its support for art films is undeniable.However, the location of cinemas in the United States is somewhat unique; they are generally situated far from the city center. This is mainly because the area around the cinema develops into a commercial zone with Supporting facilities facilities like parking lots and shopping centers, forming a large entertainment complex. A family only needs to drive to the cinema to enjoy a full day of leisure and entertainment. Therefore, cinemas are rarely located in the city center.The situation in Los Angeles is slightly different. In fact, there is no such thing as a "city center" in Los Angeles. Wealthy people live in the suburbs, and the city center is merely a place for work or errands. Only ordinary old residents choose to live near the city center. The "city center" here refers only to its geographical meaning, an area radiating from the City Hall.In fact, Los Angeles is a typical polycentric urban cluster. From a formal perspective, Los Angeles has various systems of city and county establishments; but from an urban form perspective, Los Angeles is a metropolis composed of nearly a hundred polycentric cities. These cities are compactly and orderly arranged on a rectangular landmass of nearly 10,000 square kilometers, with distinct outlines. The City Hall serves as a dominant central point, bearing the mission of an administrative region.So when Hugo and his group wanted to choose a place to watch a movie, they opted for the relatively less crowded city center. Here, there was a General Cinema, with complete surrounding facilities, and it was also the most prosperous area of the old city. Driving half an hour from Sunset Plaza, they arrived at the General Cinema in the financial district of the city center, where they could overlook Little Tokyo and Chinatown not far away. The surrounding high-rise buildings were also significantly more numerous than those near Beverly Hills, but compared to Manhattan in downtown New York, it was like the difference between Shanghai and Shaoxing, completely incomparable."Come on, just guess, pick a number," Alex still wouldn't give up. This was the greatest fun before a movie's official release."Stop scaring him, Alex," Charlize teased with a mischievous smile, which made Hugo frown. "When was I ever scared?" Hugo said with a defiant smile, "I know the opening weekend will be a success; it's an expected and inevitable outcome."Hugo didn't forget to remind Charlize, "Don't forget, the premiere two days ago received rave reviews! I'm not worried at all.""Then just pick a number," Alex relentlessly pursued, making Karl and Charlize chuckle across from them, while Joseph's facial expression was very stiff, looking even more nervous than Hugo.Hugo looked at Alex's smile, shook his head to express his helplessness, "Alright." Then he thought carefully, but when it came to the box office, Hugo really couldn't recall too many details. He remembered "Avatar" grossed 2.78 billion globally, but he couldn't recall the specific numbers for each weekend. Moreover, his memory of "A Few Good Men" was already very blurry, so Hugo thought for a moment, "Ten million, hmm?"Hugo remembered the "Los Angeles Times" predicted 12 million before the movie's release, so he chose a safer number and then looked at the extremely nervous Joseph, "Is that good enough?"Joseph shrugged, "Maybe, maybe not." His expression was already not very varied, and today, due to nervousness, his facial lines appeared even stiffer. "If the opening box office is 10 million, then we'll have to look at the subsequent box office drop. You know, an investment of 40 million isn't a small sum.""Then how much do we need?" Hugo knew that Joseph had been in close communication with Columbia Pictures these past two days, clearly discussing this matter."Twelve million, and the box office drop in the second week cannot be higher than twenty percent," Joseph said with worry. "If it goes over fifteen million, then the situation might be a bit easier.""Fifteen million?" Karl, being an industry insider, couldn't help but curl his lip at this figure. Since September, only three films had surpassed the ten-million-dollar opening weekend threshold: "Under Siege," "Bram Stoker's Dracula," and "Home Alone 2." In a span of fourteen weeks, only three films broke ten million in their opening weekend. For a drama film like "A Few Good Men," with no action, no explosions, and no special effects, to achieve this result would undoubtedly be an extremely arduous task."To hell with 15 million, I did my own prediction," Alex said triumphantly. "31,126,883 dollars."It was specific down to the dollar, which was unexpected. "How did you get that?" Joseph looked over with a surprised expression."One dollar more than 'Home Alone 2's opening weekend box office," Alex immediately laughed. "'A Few Good Men' will be the opening weekend box office champion of the autumn and holiday seasons!""Are you serious?" Hugo was amused by Alex's words. "'Home Alone 2' is a sequel; the first one was very popular, and this one relies on its established fan base to reach that box office number. I think Columbia Pictures' 15 million is more realistic."That was indeed true. "Home Alone," which swept 280 million dollars nationwide two years ago, only had an opening weekend of 17 million. This time, "Home Alone 2" leveraged its sequel advantage to achieve an opening box office of over 30 million, which "A Few Good Men" naturally couldn't compare to."Don't think about surpassing Kevin; it's more realistic to aim for 12 million dollars." Kevin, here, refers to the name of the male protagonist in "Home Alone." Joseph said this because he didn't want to continue to exert box office pressure, neither on Hugo nor on himself.Box office is not like a movie; a movie can be controlled by producers and directors, but the box office is in the hands of the audience, completely uncontrollable. Many times, film companies confidently release a work, only for it to flop. Who can predict that?"I think no matter what your predictions are, it's time for us to find out the results." Charlize pointed to the clock on the wall. "At least all five of us contributed to the box office, didn't we?""That's true. Seeing five people sitting in the cinema certainly makes me feel much more at ease; at least it won't be completely empty," Hugo said, nodding seriously, which immediately angered Charlize. She raised her foot to give Hugo a kick, but after spending half a year together, Hugo had learned to be smart and reflexively dodged.Charlize looked at Hugo's smiling face, gritted her teeth, stood up, and chased after him. Hugo quickly took off running, and the two of them sprinted towards the cinema entrance. Watching the two of them playfully bickering, the remaining three shrugged simultaneously. Karl didn't forget to add, "Kids are always naughty…"After the five of them entered the cinema, Hugo began to look around, then whispered to Joseph, "There are so many people in the cinema today. That's a good sign, isn't it?" At this moment, the cinema was bustling with people, and the screening room they entered was already almost full. With five minutes left until the movie started, it meant no one was late, and the attendance rate was very high. This news was truly wonderful.Joseph nodded, "I even asked Rick to help me buy tickets because I heard that several major cinema chains had started queuing for tickets." Joseph had initially thought Rick Rosen was joking, but after seeing it with his own eyes, he felt much more relieved."I just saw it, all the tickets for the 4:30 PM show are sold out," Charlize patted Hugo's arm and whispered.Although Hugo had been feigning composure earlier, only he knew the tension within him. Now, after witnessing an attendance rate of over ninety percent, his surging emotions finally settled down. But Hugo still couldn't help but wipe away some sweat. So this is what box office pressure felt like—invisible, intangible, yet as heavy as a thousand pounds, suffocating one.He used to think that actors becoming movie leads was glamorous, but now he finally understood the hardships behind it. Actors who couldn't become leads had their sorrows, and actors who took on lead roles also had their own troubles.Hugo pulled at the corner of his mouth towards Charlize, "I hope this situation isn't deliberately created because they knew I was coming to this cinema." Hugo recalled how, in the past, when leaders visited the countryside in China, local governments would specifically gather and arrange a beautiful scene for the leaders to inspect to create an illusion of prosperity. That's why Hugo made that teasing remark.Charlize, in response, rolled her eyes. "If you think you have too much money and nowhere to spend it, I wouldn't mind helping.""Me too." Alex's voice suddenly came from Charlize's left, accompanied by a wide smile, causing Hugo's smile to freeze on his lips.
