Who is More Rotten

April 4th, a Thursday.

Today is a good day; the debut film of Hollywood "big" director Zucker, Run Lola Run, is officially hitting theaters. Of course, the time is 10:00 PM, which counts as a preview screening; tomorrow is the actual opening day.

You say there's no premiere ceremony?!

Buddy, you're overthinking it!

Do you really think there would be a premiere for a film with a budget of only $800,000, made by a rookie director, rookie actors, and a brand-new company? Besides, even if there were a premiere, no one would show up.

Zucker and Wald Pictures have no fame!

Of course, even without a premiere, Zucker gritted his teeth and paid out of pocket to rent a screening hall, inviting the entire staff of Wald Pictures and SpongeBob House, including the main crew members, to watch the film. Oh, and some of Zucker's friends came to show their support as well.

Such as: the negotiation expert Candy, the high-profile lawyer Zhang Wei, and John Lasseter, the head of the Pixar Five.

"Zucker, I didn't expect there to be five reporters here."

Charlize pouted, looking quite happy. Even with such a low budget, Run Lola Run was her first film as a lead actress.

The young Professor X didn't seem to care much, laughing, "Charlize, stay calm. You have to remember, you're the lead actress!"

Don't let James McAvoy's young age fool you; he had a good upbringing, and he carried himself with a sense of poise and maturity.

There are five reporters?

Heh!

Zucker and Victor exchanged a smile.

Those five reporters were hired by Victor himself. Yes, this is called a promotional expense.

Otherwise, how would any reporters show up for a film from a "three-no" company?

"Zucker, congratulations. Your first film as a director has finally been released. I believe it will be a success, just like our Pixar's Toy Story was back then."

John Lasseter was also dressed to the nines today, looking much better than he did during the release of Toy Story. That's right, he has money now; he's a millionaire.

"Thank you for coming, my friend."

Zucker was very grateful to John Lasseter.

It wasn't just because he showed up today, but because he had put in a great deal of effort regarding the distribution and theater chain connections for Run Lola Run. Otherwise, the theater chain managers wouldn't have paid any attention to Wald Pictures. With a budget of only $800,000, do you really think the theaters would have given you many screens?

"Buddy, if you keep saying things like that, I'm going to get arrogant."

Lasseter laughed heartily.

Strictly speaking, for Run Lola Run to secure 355 screens on its opening day across California and Utah was already an incredible start for Wald Pictures. Of course, this was mainly because it was April, a time dominated by low-budget films or the bottom-tier releases of major studios.

Otherwise, look at the summer, Thanksgiving, or Christmas seasons; if the current Zucker tried to get 100 screens from the major studios, it would be considered a miracle.

The movie started soon after.

The Wald Pictures logo, "SpongeBob," appeared on the screen first.

In a certain theater in Los Angeles.

The film currently playing was indeed Run Lola Run, and there weren't many people in this screening—only 12.

"Hey, I'm telling you, man, you're not sleeping, not playing games, not hitting the bars, and you invite me to watch a movie? Buddy, we're two grown men! And what kind of crappy movie is this Run Lola Run? There isn't a single familiar star, and I've never even heard of the production company, Wald Pictures."

A young black man kept grumbling to his white companion.

Hearing this, the white guy didn't seem to mind, instead saying, "Tom, you're right, the director and actors of this film aren't famous, but didn't you look at the producer credit for Run Lola Run?"

The producer credit?

Tom, the young black man, was stunned and immediately looked at the information on his movie ticket.

Run Lola Run Producer: John Lasseter!

"Oh my god, the producer of this movie is actually the director of Toy Story!"

Suddenly, Tom was clearly interested.

Bullshit producer!

In truth, Zucker was employing the "clout-chasing" and "name-dropping" tactics from his past life.

Because Toy Story was very popular, Zucker had found John Lasseter and asked him to be credited as the producer of Run Lola Run to increase the film's fame and popularity. This kind of "guest credit" tactic was a played-out trope in 21st-century China, and ordinary audiences understood it well. However, the American audience in the 90s hadn't been exposed to this kind of thing very often.

Yes, Zucker even paid 2% of the box office profits to Lasseter for this.

That's right, this is Hollywood; even brothers have to settle accounts clearly. Even if you're helping, you can't skimp on the money I'm owed.

Zucker had gritted his teeth over this, but that was just how the market worked, and it wasn't something he could change.

The next morning.

Zucker woke up early and drove to Wald Pictures.

At this moment, inside Wald Pictures, all the employees who could make it—except for those working off-site—had arrived at the company early. Run Lola Run was the company's first theatrical film, and it was directed by the new boss himself; they couldn't help but take it seriously.

10:00 AM.

"Boss, the box office results for the preview and midnight screenings are in. They totaled $92,000, ranking ninth among films released in the same period," Victor reported.

Yesterday, Run Lola Run was shown an average of two times across various theaters on 355 screens, meaning each screen contributed an average of $259; per screening per screen, that's about $130.

This figure doesn't sound like much.

At the very least, it is a far cry from the four or five million dollars in midnight box office revenue for Toy Story.

However, the average movie ticket price is currently $7, which means there were about 18 viewers per screening, and that's during the midnight slot, which isn't even peak viewing time. When you convert that, for a "three-no" film like Run Lola Run, it's actually a pretty decent start.

Is it a success?!

"Boss, that's right, our Run Lola Run can be considered a success. If word-of-mouth spreads later on and we expand the number of screenings, we can reach at least $3 million at the box office."

In truth, Victor didn't finish his sentence; this was under the assumption that no other films would threaten Run Lola Run.

"Heh!"

Hearing this, Zucker wasn't worried at all, thinking to himself, I'm a transmigrator, after all. I've already seen the data for the other films released during this period. Aside from Primal Fear produced by Paramount, which ranked 28th on the North American annual box office chart, the other movies are just competing to see who is worse.

Are there no bad films in Hollywood?

No!

When it comes to the annual output of bad films, Hollywood is arguably number one in the world, even surpassing the Great Celestial Empire.

Seeing the midnight results for Run Lola Run, the worry in Zucker's heart eased significantly. The 8.1 rating that Run Lola Run would eventually receive on Douban meant it was the highest in terms of quality among the films released in North America that April. In a competition to see who is worse, he could at least guarantee he wouldn't lose money.

He might even make a decent profit; the only question was by how much it would exceed the $3 million target.