Made In Hollywood

Chapter 306: The Stinging Sales Data

"Is there anything I can help you with?"

Inside the Santa Clara cinema, as Friday's workday was about to end, Zhou Xin welcomed another batch of customers. "What do you need?"

"Neo's coat, sunglasses, and boots," the customer immediately replied. "And a backpack and keychain... Oh, yes, a set of Neo and Trinity figures as well."

After completing this transaction, Zhou Xin barely had time to catch his breath when another customer said, "I also want some 'The Matrix' merchandise."

The final evening show had just ended, and as usual, a considerable number of people who had just watched The Matrix came over to select some merchandise. Coats, sunglasses, figures, backpacks, keychains, and even Nokia flip phones were all bestsellers.

After serving over a dozen customers purchasing The Matrix merchandise, Zhou Xin exhaled slightly. The sales boom over the past week had been overwhelming.

"Can you show me the Godzilla model?"

Finally, after serving over ten customers, someone inquired about Godzilla merchandise. Zhou Xin chatted with the customer briefly and managed to close the sale.

The sales of these merchandise items were directly tied to Zhou Xin's income. Originally, he thought that with the arrival of the new weekend and the powerful release of Godzilla, having both Godzilla and The Matrix merchandise would surely boost sales significantly, earning him more commission.

However, reality often diverges greatly from one's optimistic expectations.

After seeing off another customer purchasing The Matrix merchandise, Zhou Xin glanced toward the sales counter he was responsible for. The shelves for The Matrix merchandise were almost empty, while those for Godzilla were still full.

"Hey, George, time to clock out."

A boy from the popcorn sales counter approached with a friendly smile. "Need help with inventory?"

"Sure, Peter."

The two were good friends, and Zhou Xin saw no reason to decline. "You handle The Matrix, and I'll take care of Godzilla merchandise."

"The Matrix stuff even needs cleaning up?"

Glancing at the merchandise area, Peter complained, "It's practically empty! And your side is still full. I remember those Godzilla items were stocked this morning. Can't sell them?"

Zhou Xin could only shrug helplessly. The Godzilla merchandise was just too disappointing.

A dark night enveloped the North American continent. When the sun rose again from the horizon, Saturday quietly arrived.

At Sony Columbia Pictures headquarters on West Washington Avenue in Culver City, the atmosphere had been tense since the workday began. Especially when the secretary delivered coffee to the office of Executive President Michael Ovitz, she didn't dare breathe loudly, as if the two men in the room, Ovitz and Daiga Shin, were as terrifying as Godzilla on the silver screen.

After delivering the coffee, the secretary quickly left the office. Both men sat in silence on their respective sofas, staring at the statistical report in their hands.

Michael Ovitz, in particular, showed subtle signs of unease, with the corners of his eyes twitching slightly if one observed closely.

He had anticipated a Godzilla opening day gross of $13-15 million and considered this a conservative estimate. However, after receiving yesterday's statistics, his eye twitching hadn't stopped.

This wasn't excitement but disbelief, unwillingness, and disappointment after realizing the numbers were real.

Having worked in the industry for so many years, Ovitz knew well that statistical data was more truthful and reliable than anything else in Hollywood.

But this truth, much like Neo's struggle to accept the harsh reality revealed by Morpheus, was too much to bear.

Godzilla opened in 3,310 theaters across North America but only managed $8.42 million on its first day!

"This is far below expectations!"

Looking at the numbers on the report, Ovitz couldn't help but think, "Even if it doesn't meet expectations, at least breaking $10 million would've been better."

With a production cost of $130 million and nearly $30 million already spent on marketing, such an opening-day gross was crushing.

This was Ovitz's first major project since returning to the entertainment industry. How could he face the consequences of failure?

"Why?" Daiga Shin suddenly broke the silence. "Why did this happen?"

Why? Why indeed? Ovitz could only offer a bitter smile, unable to provide a definitive answer.

Their disappointment stemmed not just from the opening day failure but also from the movie's poor audience reception.

On its first day, Godzilla had an audience approval rating of only 64%! And this was just the first day; as more people watched the film, this rating was bound to drop, likely falling below passing levels.

A poorly received film typically struggled to maintain box office momentum.

More concerning was the report from Ovitz's young assistant, who mentioned that on IMDb, the largest film review site online, Godzilla had a score of only 5.3!

This indicated a particularly poor reception among the younger demographic.

Of course, as someone with a more traditional approach, Ovitz wasn't yet familiar with the concept of online "review bombing."

All he knew was that Godzilla was in trouble. Meanwhile, its biggest competitor, The Matrix, despite being embroiled in debates about violence, continued its steady march forward, much like its director—resolute and unwavering. Even with Columbia Pictures and Ovitz's agency pulling all the stops within legal bounds, they couldn't slow it down.

The Matrix, screening in 3,220 theaters, grossed $12.35 million in North America yesterday alone, solidifying its position as the weekend's leader.

Its audience approval rating, even after over a week of release, remained at a solid 90%!

Looking at the statistical report, Ovitz suddenly felt out of touch, as if he could no longer grasp the dynamics of the market.

Before the summer season began, both he and Spielberg had believed that Deep Impact and Godzilla would be strong contenders against The Matrix. But now?

Godzilla was faring better than Deep Impact, whose Friday gross was a mere $3.12 million—pitiful for a weekend. Spielberg's face was probably even harder to look at than his own.

Even in this situation, Ovitz couldn't help but console himself with others' misfortunes.

Seeing Daiga Shin's bitter expression, Ovitz realized he needed to act. After all, this was his project, and failure would strain relationships with Sony Entertainment and harm his agency's reputation.

"Daiga, box office revenue is only part of a film's earnings," Ovitz reminded. "Don't forget, Godzilla has merchandise. As long as merchandise sales soar, we can still achieve profitability."

"Yes," Daiga Shin nodded.

Just then, someone knocked on the office door, and an assistant walked in with a document.

"Mr. Shin, here's a rough estimate of yesterday's merchandise sales."

Hearing this, Shin immediately said, "Let me see!"

Taking the document, he glanced directly at the numbers, while Ovitz tried to sneak a peek, eager to see the results.

At some point, the assistant had left. Ovitz, unable to see the document, turned his gaze toward Shin's face.

Initially calm, Shin's face turned pale, then red, and then pale again.

"Daiga..." Ovitz couldn't help but speak.

Shin handed the document over directly. "See for yourself."

Taking the document, Ovitz's sharp eyes caught the data immediately, and he felt a sudden dizziness. Fortunately, his experience allowed him to quickly regain composure.

But the numbers seemed to stab at his eyes.

Yesterday's Godzilla merchandise sales totaled $570,000!

Although this was a rough estimate and typically conservative, even the final figures wouldn't likely exceed this by more than 20%. Less than $1 million in merchandise sales was a slap in the face to their massive investment in merchandising.

What's more, another data point turned Godzilla's merchandise sales into a mockery: The Matrix merchandise had an estimated daily sales total of $8.79 million!

Briefly recalling the figures, Ovitz realized that The Matrix not only earned $12.35 million on Friday, pushing its total North American gross to $110.97 million, but its merchandise sales in North America had also surpassed $60 million!

Was Duke Rosenberg truly unbeatable? Was his title of "King of the Summer Box Office" the truest reflection of reality?

Ovitz sighed inwardly but forced confidence into his voice. "Daiga, this is only the first day. We mustn't lose hope. Godzilla still has a chance to turn things around!"

Shin looked at Ovitz, then nodded gently. Sony Entertainment's plan was to make Godzilla as successful as Jurassic Park. No matter what, continuing to promote the film was their only option.

This weekend, Sony Columbia Pictures ramped up Godzilla's promotional efforts. The monster's image dominated media and advertisements everywhere.

"Godzilla, an unprecedentedly colossal monster! Its film is unbelievably magical and thrilling..."

Similar advertisements and hype campaigns flooded the market, while Warner Bros., as a competitor, wasn't idle either.

...

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