Before long, July 22 arrived.
Hard Candy had already completed its opening weekend in theaters. Zack and the others had worked hard on promotion and poured in a great deal of money, but there was only so much they could do without enough screens. With just 300 theaters, no matter what they tried, they couldn't bring in a huge box office.
A Time to Kill topped the weekend box office charts. Produced and distributed by Time Warner, it had opened alongside Hard Candy and earned $28.5 million in its first weekend.
Even after nearly 20 days in theaters, Independence Day still had plenty of box-office potential as this year's North American box-office champion. It earned another $27.35 million over the weekend, taking second place.
Courage Under Fire, produced and distributed by 20th Century Fox, brought in $25 million over the weekend, placing third.
The Spitfire Grill, The Nutty Professor, Eraser, and The Hunchback of Notre Dame took fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh place, respectively. Each earned more than $15 million over the weekend. Other movies, such as The Frighteners, White Squall, and Sunset Park, also performed well.
"Fuck!"
"Damn, every one of these movies is among this year's top 40 North American box-office hits. How the hell am I supposed to compete with them?"
Zack gritted his teeth as he stared at the box-office figures.
$1.327 million!
That was right—Hard Candy's opening-weekend box office!
"Boss, with so many blockbusters out right now, our Hard Candy doesn't stand a chance. We expected as much," Victor said.
Zack nodded and smiled. "It's fine. I'm just venting. At least we're almost at the break-even point."
Director Zack Snyder let out a sigh of relief, too. "As long as the movie doesn't lose money, I can consider my job done."
"Hahaha!"
Zack patted Zack Snyder on the shoulder and laughed. "Congratulations, Zack. Your first movie was a success. Well, leaving the box office aside, we can still make a bit from the DVD and VHS rights."
Hard Candy's box office was certainly low, but when you thought about it, it wasn't all that bad.
Come on, it was the summer blockbuster season!
Even though many blockbusters had already been in theaters for a week or even two, they were still far more appealing to audiences than niche films like Hard Candy. Bringing in over a million dollars was already quite an achievement.
Besides, Hard Candy had cost very little to make!
Production and promotion, plus the cost of the film prints, had come to less than $1.6 million in total. The movie was expected to earn around $5 million at the box office, and its share of those receipts alone would be enough to break even. The licensing and rights sales on top of that would all be profit.
Even if the profit wasn't much, at least it was still profit.
Of the three films that had begun development around the same time, Hard Candy had now been released. That left only Wrong Turn and Juno.
Wrong Turn was a bloody horror movie, so of course it would be released during the Halloween season.
Juno was a family-friendly teen comedy. It hadn't finished filming yet and was expected to come out during the Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons.
"Boss, I have another piece of good news for you," Victor suddenly said.
"Oh? What is it? Out with it," Zack urged.
Zack Snyder also looked interested.
Victor continued, "Boss, remember how we secured the online merchandise rights for Independence Day a while ago? That's the good news."
Zack immediately replied, "Of course I remember. Those bloodsuckers at 20th Century Fox charged me a million dollars. Heh, I bet they regret it now."
"Exactly!" Victor said with a grin. "They definitely regret it. In less than 20 days, we've sold more than $5.5 million worth of Independence Day merchandise through the Amazon Store."
Smack!
Zack slapped his thigh and cried, "Those bastards at Fox must be kicking themselves! They thought they could take advantage of me, but it won't be that easy."
Zack Snyder couldn't help asking, "So we're going to make a lot of money, then?"
Victor nodded with a smile. "It's not just a lot—we'll make a fortune. By the end of this month, the online Independence Day merchandise should bring the company at least $2 million in profit."
Even Zack Snyder, who knew little about the business side of things, could tell that Wald Pictures was about to make a fortune.
The first month alone would bring in as much as $2 million in profit. Independence Day's popularity would gradually fade, but with a two-year licensing period, Wald Pictures would still collect plenty of dollars.
Zack was going to be rich!
The ancients had said, "Good things never come in pairs, and bad things never come singly." Zack thought they had a point.
Because the global rights to Got Talent had finally been registered!
That meant Zack had struck another gold mine.
"Victor, arrange for someone to go to the United Kingdom right away. Have them meet with the BBC and negotiate the rights to Got Talent," Zack said at once.
"Sure thing, boss."
Victor answered and left the office to arrange for someone to head to the United Kingdom.
Zack Snyder asked curiously, "Mr. Wald, what do you mean by the rights to Got Talent? Is it a new movie?"
Zack shook his head and smiled. "Zack, how many times do I have to tell you? Just call me Zack. As for Got Talent, it's not a movie. It's a variety show I came up with, and I'm planning to sell it to the BBC."
"Oh..."
Zack Snyder said he understood, but tactfully refrained from asking any more questions.
Damn it!
His silence nearly made Zack choke on his own frustration.
Come on, man, why didn't you ask me more? I hadn't even had a chance to show off!
How am I supposed to brag if you do that?
Clearly, Zack Snyder had no idea just how much Got Talent would earn Zack.
Hundreds of millions of dollars!
Meanwhile.
In an office at 20th Century Fox, two people were gritting their teeth and cursing Zack for being underhanded.
"Independence Day merchandise made nearly $6 million in sales in just 20 days?!"
"Based on the revenue split, Wald Pictures will make at least $2 million this month!"
"Damn it! We got screwed!"
"Yeah, we never should have settled for a million dollars in licensing fees. We should've charged several times as much—or better yet, not sold the rights at all. We're 20th Century Fox! If we'd handled it ourselves, Independence Day merchandise would've brought in far more than $6 million!"
They regretted it!
But they'd realized their mistake far too late!
With a $30 million penalty clause, they had no way to break the contract. Watching Zack devour a huge slice of their own pie left them seething with frustration.
They hated Zack!
If Zack had been there, he would have told them, "Give me a break, guys. This is Independence Day, the year's North American box-office champion. Try selling merchandise online for some other movie and see how well it does.
"Dream on!
"With any other movie, it wouldn't work."
Of course, they weren't thinking that way at the moment. They thought Zack had taken advantage of them!
Time passed slowly.
Before long, a week had gone by.
The employee who had traveled to the United Kingdom to negotiate the rights to Got Talent returned to Los Angeles with a message that was neither good nor bad.
"So you're saying the people at the BBC are interested in Got Talent, but they don't want to pay much?" Zack asked, looking at Martha, who stood before him.
Martha nodded. "That's right. They're adamant: a share of the advertising revenue is out of the question. And even if they buy the rights, they won't pay more than £3 million."
£3 million?!
Were they trying to pay her peanuts?
"If I remember correctly, the British sold the rights to Got Talent to the American network NBC for a whopping $70 million," Zack cursed under his breath, disgusted by the BBC's shamelessness.
How could he break the deadlock?
Zack fell into deep thought.
Delivered: the first update.
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