After a weekend of buzz, Legally Blonde's box office at 1,200 theaters had soared to $17.96 million, far surpassing its production costs and successfully claiming a spot in the top three films of the week.
MGM's executives were practically grinning from ear to ear. Anyone could see the film had a bright future.
With expanded promotion and distribution, Legally Blonde had grown to 2,210 theaters by the end of its second weekend. It had not only reclaimed the theaters Eyes Wide Shut had taken from it but had easily doubled its reach. By then, the film's name had spread across all of North America.
The cast and crew began making promotional appearances in major cities across North America. Wherever they went, Reese Witherspoon's name rang out the loudest. She was easily the most talked-about new actress of the summer.
A successful actress knew how to work a room. Although Irene rarely joined them on their promotional tour, not wanting to steal the actors' spotlight, Reese mentioned her in every interview, praising the director as talented and hardworking and practically putting her on a pedestal.
In truth, word had inevitably gotten out that Irene was working on her second screenplay. Reese knew full well that her chances of landing the lead again were next to none, but it cost her nothing to flatter the director. You never knew.
The day before Julia Roberts's new film, Runaway Bride, officially opened,
"Are the latest box office figures in?" Julia Roberts and the rest of the Runaway Bride team were gathered in Paramount's offices, keeping a close eye on everything happening with Legally Blonde.
"Legally Blonde is in first place right now, with $62.43 million in North American box office revenue. It's been out for exactly two weeks, and its final total is expected to top $100 million," a Paramount representative replied.
Julia Roberts paused mid-cigarette and raised an eyebrow at her agent. "Will it affect our movie?"
"I hate to admit it, but Legally Blonde has the same kind of word-of-mouth that Pretty Woman had back in the day. It's really popular with young people right now, and our audiences overlap quite a bit. I'm afraid it could cause some problems for our film."
"Then get rid of the problem before it starts!" Julia's voice rose as she ground her cigarette butt hard into the ashtray.
"Julia... They're both signed with CAA—the director and the leading lady. I'm afraid we can't go too far."
"So we're just supposed to watch a bunch of nobodies climb over me? I don't care what you do—push them down. I want to see my movie in first place!"
Starting the next day, negative stories began to appear about Legally Blonde, which had been receiving glowing reviews until then.
"Legally Blonde is nothing but a shoddy imitation of Pretty Woman. It's not worth a second look."
"The lead actress in Legally Blonde, Reese Witherspoon, isn't even a natural blonde. She dyes her hair!"
"Legally Blonde is a shallow, brainless, low-quality comedy."
Although the newspapers tore Legally Blonde to shreds, everyone in the industry could see who was behind it.
On the day of the Runaway Bride premiere, Julia Roberts appeared with her trademark smile, and a swarm of reporters rushed toward her.
A microphone was thrust right up to her mouth. "Hey, Julia, some people say Reese Witherspoon is just like you were when you were young, with a bright future ahead of her. What do you think?"
Julia Roberts's eyes sharpened slightly, but her smile remained—and widened. "I'm glad to see new faces in Hollywood. We all eventually fade, and only fresh blood can keep Hollywood from growing stale. Reese is a very talented actress, and I have high hopes for her."
After saying that, she smiled and walked away.
Back in the dressing room, she immediately dropped her smile and asked her assistant, "Which paper was that reporter from?"
"The Chicago Sun-Times," the assistant replied at once.
"From now on, turn down every interview with the Chicago Sun-Times. Doesn't that reporter know the business? Why would he ask me something like that?"
"But... Roger Ebert from the Chicago Sun-Times is one of our invited critics this time..."
Julia Roberts closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Her words came through clenched teeth. "Then remember that reporter's face. Don't let him anywhere near me again."
Meanwhile, Legally Blonde was also in the middle of a series of promotional events. Reese Witherspoon remained the focus of most interviews, leaving James Franco and the others green with envy.
"Looks like all those negative stories haven't affected Reese much," James Franco remarked with an ambiguous chuckle.
Edward Nelson saw that no one else was responding. Not wanting to leave James hanging, he said, "We all know those stories are just part of the publicity campaign. No one's taking them seriously."
"I hear you've been spending a lot of time with Britney. She's even taking you to walk the red carpet soon. Anything going on?" James Franco nudged him with his elbow like an old pal, since Edward was the only one who'd answered him.
Edward quickly denied it. "The boss keeps telling me to look after her. But Britney really is a nice person."
"You're tight-lipped, huh? Fine, let's talk about something else. I hear the director's working on a new project?" James Franco saw that Edward didn't want to say much about the young singer and guessed the two of them weren't officially together yet, so he changed the subject.
But Edward was even less willing to talk about that. "You're the leading man and you don't know anything. How would a bit-part actor like me know? The boss is here today, so why don't you ask her?"
No way. Plenty of actors would want to be in Irene Coppola's next movie. He'd finally gotten the boss to save him a spot. If anyone else found out, someone might snatch it from him. Keeping quiet and reaping the benefits was his way of life.
"You're so close to Britney, and she hasn't let anything slip?" James Franco asked, suspecting Edward Nelson was hiding something from him.
"Come on, I'm just her little sidekick. Why would she tell me something like that?" Edward Nelson waved a hand. "Besides, you know what the boss is like. She doesn't like people using connections. I'd love to get in her good graces, but she won't give me the chance."
James Franco thought Edward was useless, but said, "Fair enough. Don't say I never gave you a heads-up. My agent says Director Irene is planning her second film. If you can sweet-talk Britney into putting in a good word for you, you've got a decent chance of being cast again."
Edward could only nod quickly, promising to do his best and thanking James for the tip.
After James Franco left, Edward started wondering whether he should find himself a reliable agent too. Irene and Britney were both with CAA. Maybe he could sign with the same agent, and then the three of them would be an iron triangle.
The more Edward thought about it, the better the idea seemed. He began scanning the room for Shelly Ovitz, wondering if he'd come today.
As it happened, Shelly Ovitz was indeed there.
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