System in Hollywood

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Over the next two days, just like Eva Green and Zhang Ziyi before her, Martina stayed mostly in her hotel room, even ordering room service for breakfast and lunch. She had no choice—enduring Wayne's intense pressure alone was utterly exhausting.

Unlike Wayne, who was riding high on the thrill of acquiring another unique beauty, Harvey Weinstein was nearly losing his hair from the anxiety over *Gifted's* release.

Finally, December 24th arrived, and *Gifted* was officially released worldwide.

Although the North American box office numbers wouldn't be tallied until the following morning, Harvey was too stressed to do anything else. He shut himself in his study like a prisoner awaiting final judgment, drinking coffee and smoking as he anxiously awaited *Gifted's* first-day numbers.

If *Gifted* bombed at the box office, he wouldn't go bankrupt, but it would definitely hurt him significantly.

Most importantly, he had been battling Disney for years to maintain control over Miramax, even hoping to spin the company off independently. If *Gifted*, a high-cost project, failed, he'd be lucky not to be kicked out of Miramax, let alone maintain control.

What good would his wealth do him then? Without Miramax, he'd just be an ordinary millionaire, and his influence in Hollywood would plummet.

"No! *Gifted* won't fail! I, Harvey Weinstein, won't fail!"

Harvey muttered to himself, his vacant eyes staring out at the darkening sky, his expression gradually turning manic.

Finally, as the first rays of sunlight streamed into his smoke-filled study, the phone he had kept by his side began to ring.

"Boss—"

"Damn it! Just tell me the box office numbers!" Harvey almost shouted, his voice hoarse.

His female assistant, who had also stayed up all night at the office, was startled by his tone and quickly skipped the formalities, saying, "6.43 million! Boss, our North American first-day box office is 6.43 million dollars!"

Harvey quickly did the math and then jumped up from the sofa in excitement.

Although 6.43 million couldn't compare to *Accepted's* 11.81 million or *Happy Death Day's* staggering 17.40 million opening day, it was important to consider the different starting points.

Compared to *Accepted* and *Happy Death Day*, *Gifted*, released alongside *Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon*, *What Women Want*, and *Cast Away*, was facing a hellish opening!

Based on the 6.73 million North American opening, *Gifted* could potentially earn over 40 million dollars during the Christmas week. With international sales, the global box office would likely exceed 70 million dollars.

With that, Miramax could break even just from the box office.

"Based on these numbers, by the time the movie finishes its run, *Gifted* should gross around 130 million dollars worldwide. Even after deducting the theater and Hemera Films' share, Miramax should net over 10 million dollars from the box office alone. With home video sales, total profits could reach 30 million dollars!"

As he thought about this, a look of wild joy spread across Harvey's face, which had turned pale from staying up all night.

Miramax rarely dealt with big-budget films, so making over 30 million dollars from one movie was a rarity.

The last time they earned this much was back in 1998 with *Shakespeare in Love*, the film that won Gwyneth Paltrow her Oscar.

Though Paltrow's Oscar win was widely criticized, dragging the reputation of *Shakespeare in Love* down with it, the film still grossed 289 million dollars worldwide on a 25 million dollar production budget and about 20 million in marketing costs.

However, since it was a co-production, Miramax's final profit was around 30 million dollars, most of which went to Disney, since they had acquired Miramax back in 1993.

Thinking of this, Harvey's excitement dimmed, and his expression turned grim.

"I need to speed up the process of breaking away from Disney," Harvey thought to himself.

"Also, since *Gifted* managed to achieve this box office under the shadow of *Cast Away* and *What Women Want*, it shows that audiences appreciate its quality. Should I invest more in marketing?"

After some consideration, Harvey decided against additional marketing spending. It wasn't that he didn't want to, but he felt that even without it, *Gifted's* daily box office, surpassing *What Women Want* and second only to *Cast Away*, would garner enough media coverage.

These reports would suffice for the next phase of promotion.

A wave of exhaustion and drowsiness washed over Harvey, and he let out a long yawn, heading towards his bedroom.

Now that *Gifted's* box office was looking good, he could finally get some rest.

But Harvey wasn't the only one keeping an eye on *Gifted's* performance. Mike and Sarah also quickly learned about the first-day numbers through their respective channels.

Realizing that Hemera Films' final profit from this movie could exceed 35 million dollars, Sarah happily picked up the phone to call Wayne.

Meanwhile, Mike shared the news with Naomi Watts, who had become his client, and another client across the ocean, Liu Shishi.

When Liu Shishi heard that *Gifted* could gross 130 million dollars globally, she was so excited that she couldn't sleep, despite having only a few lines in the film.

But the biggest winner from this movie wasn't Hemera Films, Wayne, or even Naomi Watts, the lead actress. It was Dakota Fanning, who, despite being billed third, played the second female lead.

(End of Chapter)