'The look on Florence's face was something I should have taken a photo of. What a pity. She was shell shocked when I told her that the morning shows were getting more and more people.'
Aiden thought as he drove his car. A grin was hanging from the corner of his mouth as he passed cars on the street.
He was currently heading to the theatre that Wade and Tom were at. He needed to see the occupancy rate for himself.
Though, it would be a lie if he said that he hadn't expected this.
Just he had not expected it to happen so soon. He thought that it would take at least two days but it was faster than his predictions.
Reaching the theatre and parking his car, he quickly walked inside. For safety, he wore a cap and a mask.
Finding Wade and Tom, he quickly asked.
"Is it really true?"
"Come! See for yourself."
Wade said as he dragged Aiden to the theatre room where [Action Hero] was screening. The whole room was almost half full with a lot of people sitting in groups.
A lot of them looked like teens. Friends who had come to watch the movie together.
A huge cheer went up as Ray slammed a guy's head on the wall on the screen.
"It looks like they are enjoying it."
"Yeah, it looks like the marketing worked. A lot of high school and college students watched on the first day. They probably spread the word around their campus and hence, we got such a great occupancy rate."
"Is it only for this cinema? Or the others too?"
As soon as Aiden asked that, Wade's phone rang. He just said 'Okay' several times on the phone before cutting it. A smile was on his face signifying that it was good news.
"Just got the information. Others are not as good as this one but they are getting more people. I saw a lot of posts online too. The movie is spreading. We could expect a good second day and if this keeps momentum…"
"We have another hit."
Aiden completed his sentence and just stood there, looking at the crowd enjoying the movie. It was still the morning show and the occupancy rate would just increase in the afternoon and evening shows.
'A hit. Finally.'
His last movie [Disconnected] was a flop at the box office, so [Action Hero] doing well felt nice.
He felt escastic.
He wouldn't feel like this even if [Agnas] became a huge hit. That movie and this movie was different. Stakes were different and this really felt more important.
'No, it's just the start. I need to wait till it finally becomes a hit.'
Aiden thought in his mind and looked at Tom and Wade.
"Let's go check out other theatres too. I feel like we would be doing this the entire day today."
***
<[Action Hero] gets a big jump on the second day. Almost unprecedented this was. It earned over 3 million dollars yesterday and seems to be growing bigger. We have not seen this much growth for any indie movie in recent times. Not even Oscar winners.>
<[Stars on the Ground] earns 5.8 million dollars on the second day. A small growth for the movie. The production team would be hoping for a big weekend otherwise the movie would be in trouble.>
<A dark horse has appeared on the box office. [Action Hero] has attracted a lot of teenagers to watch this action movie set in a a boys' high school.>
These articles were on Aiden's phone after the second day. In two days, the movie earned 3.5 million dollars at the box office but he knew this was just the start.
The next day, the numbers grew more.
From 3 million on the second day, it earned 4.7 million on the next, taking the total collection to 8.2 million dollars. It had recovered the production budget already.
One more thing happened on the third day of the release.
#ActionHero was trending on Sparrow with a lot of people asking about it. A lot of people had shared their views on the movie after watching it and it had made others notice it too.
The trend was just growing.
[Naughty N word: Have anyone watched [Action Hero]? The movie kicks hard and in a good way. It's extremely great and the action scenes are awesome. Just one dude plowing through everything and finally, some real manly movie.]
[Games are just remakes now: What is [Action Hero]? How is [Action Hero]? Why is [Action Hero]? Okay, jokes aside, what is this movie? Is it worth getting a babysitter and going to the theatres?]
[Movies lack soul: I watched this with my dog and baby. By the end of the movie, my dog was 'Dawg' and my baby was a man.]
[Pretty Girl: I'm a girl but I enjoyed [Action Hero]. It was very entertaining. There was introduction scenes for characters and in one scene, the main character just fights 30 people at once.]
[My Pronouns are legend and dary: I watched the movie with my homes and it was very amazing. I didn't have this much fun since long time ago. Don't watch it alone. Watch it with friends and get a good experience. Aiden, you got a fan!]
[Cheap haircut hulk: This movie is what superhero movies aspires to be.]
[Movies that feels like a movie: I really enjoyed this movie too and probably more than some superhero movies just because we don't have to discuss the post credit scene after the movie or discuss every small detail. It was a good entertaining movie and it didn't try to be more.]
***
"We need more screens for the movie. At least double it."
Ava said as he looked at Benny, the head of the distribution department.
"I am planning to."
He said without Ava needing to persuade him. It was a good thing and saved her time but she already had expected this as the results were out in the open.
With the movie's momentum, it would even give the studio a lot of profits depending upon on the deal with Green Finance.
"You do know that I have seen the box office reports too. I have gotten more than a few calls on how Titan studios got such a dark horse."
"People are quick to notice in Hollywood." Ava leaned against her seat and smiled.
On the first day of release, she had felt her heart clenching with worry all day. Alberto's taunts were the salt on her wounds.
But in two days, the situation has changed significantly. The movie got a lot of word of mouth.
Although she didn't knew, a lot of college students have talked about the movie on the official websites of their campuses, making it spread. Due to peer pressure, more and more people went to watch it.
A lot of teenagers were even tagging the movie as 'The story of the high school life we dreamt'.
"They are very quick." Benny muttered. "Alberto isn't in the company today. He probably would avoid you for sometime now."
"He should." Ava smirked. "But I want you to do something more than just adding more screens."
"What?"
Benny raised an eyebrow. Ava's requests were never easy, so he was a bit reserved.
But her words were a bit unexpected.
"You know [Stars on the Ground]?"
"Ah, yeah, the movie's in trouble since [Action Hero] is getting so much attention. I heard they are losing viewers to this. It only earned 3 million yesterday and lost too much momentum despite having so many screens."
Benny felt a bit pity on [Stars on the Ground] producers. Even though they were competitors, he always felt bad if a movie didn't work well. Hollywood always needed movies to work to strive.
"Yes, I want to crush it to the ground. So much so that the movie is a massive flop." Ava said in a ruthless manner.
"What?"
"Florence Levine hid such a big thing from me and ruined a lot of my plans. I know you are not the type to hold grudges, Benny but I'm. I don't want people like her."
Ava said and made a cold smile. Her intentions were set in stone and nothing could move her.
At this moment, Benny knew that he wouldn't be able to reject her.
After all, her stature was special in the company.
***
Couple of days later, news articles were enough to tell the story of North American box office. The week was something that a lot of people had never imagined and some people were still in disbelief.
<[Action Hero] earns 23.5 million dollars in the first week of release. Made on a budget of 7 million, the indie movie by Asano Mercer is an unprecedented success. It's just getting bigger.>
<Despite atrocitus reviews, [Action Hero] reigns supreme. Critics all over America aren't able to tell why the movie has suddenly became such a rage but one thing is clear — Aiden Silvereye and Asano Mercer has proved that reviews don't matter in making a hit movie.>
<[Stars on the Ground] only managed 18.9 million dollars at the first week. The movie lost all momentum and going by the production and marketing cost, the movie is flop. A major blow to the controversial career of Florence Levine!>
...
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