Chapter 73

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After signing his name on the notebook, watching the brown-haired girl leave with frequent glances back, Cary Mulligan had never felt as good as he did now. This feeling was not just intoxication; it was almost addictive, making him want more.

"Pity, fans in this era aren't too interested in directors."

Murphy silently thought to himself, then patted the still intoxicated Cary Mulligan on the shoulder and walked toward the car. To be honest, he also wanted to be recognized by fans, to have them ask for autographs with surprised faces, and then look at him with admiration, treating him like a god.

Just like how many people viewed James Cameron.

Such things could only be imagined now. A low-budget film like Hard Candy couldn't possibly have such a significant impact.

First, he sent Cary Mulligan to Julian Fellowes, then returned home to continue watching gory horror films, preparing for the new movie project. The only difference was that he frequently contacted Jones Butler to get the first-hand data on Hard Candy.

Starting from this Monday, Hard Candy expanded to 160 theaters in North America. For a film with a production cost of $300,000 and no major marketing, this number of theaters was already quite good.

Even with Miramax's capabilities, to further expand the screenings, Hard Candy needed to achieve solid box office results in this week.

But Hard Candy was destined to be a niche film. Even though Murphy had made it more B-movie-like, it couldn't change its niche nature.

In fact, the attendance rate Murphy and Cary Mulligan saw was a reflection of Hard Candy's overall attendance.

No one could expect such a film to have a packed audience, with a weekly box office of over $1 million. Even Murphy, the director, had never thought this way. He wasn't that naive and lacked basic understanding of films.

On Monday, with the number of theaters doubling, Hard Candy didn't see a significant surge in box office. It earned nearly $40,000 in 160 theaters across the U.S. On Tuesday, a traditional discount day in North American theaters, the box office slightly increased, reaching nearly $45,000.

By Friday, Hard Candy had earned $210,000 in five days in North America.

Adding the $100,000 from the previous weekend, the cumulative North American box office reached $330,000, exceeding Murphy's production cost.

The weekend was the golden period for theater markets. In the second weekend, Hard Candy earned another $320,000 in three days, bringing the total box office to over $600,000.

However, the per-theater box office after the expansion was only around $2,000, which was just average. Hard Candy had no chance of further large-scale expansion.

Under Miramax's operation, the film appeared in more theaters, with the number slightly increasing to 180 in the third week.

Hard Candy's box office trend remained relatively stable, earning $160,000 in five working days and another $250,000 in the weekend, gradually approaching the $1 million mark in North America.

However, after two weeks of relatively stable screenings, most of the potential theater audience had been exhausted. From the new week, Hard Candy's box office plummeted, with daily earnings dropping below $10,000, and only $50,000 in five working days.

With the arrival of a new weekend, such results inevitably led to a significant reduction in the number of theaters showing Hard Candy, with only about 100 theaters remaining. The box office trend continued to decline, earning $60,000 in the weekend, clearly entering the late stages of its theatrical run.

In North America, a blockbuster can screen for over six months, but these are usually mainstream commercial blockbusters or critically acclaimed films. For a niche film like Hard Candy to maintain a certain attendance rate for a long time is just a dream.

After four weekends of screening, Hard Candy's North American box office barely exceeded $1 million, reaching Miramax's purchase cost line.

Of course, Miramax wouldn't get that much in box office revenue, and it was still far from recouping the costs.

After watching a large number of horror films, Murphy began writing the outline for the new script. He also visited Miramax's office in Burbank, leaving his email address for Jones Butler to send him the latest updates on Hard Candy.

Jones Butler's attitude toward him was noticeably better, mainly because Hard Candy had met Miramax's expected $1 million North American box office and had some room for further growth.

The number of theaters showing Hard Candy continued to decline, quickly dropping to 80, and the North American box office naturally followed, with $70,000 earned in the new seven days.

By the time Murphy completed the first draft of the script, the number of theaters showing Hard Candy had dropped below 30, with daily earnings below $2,000.

However, as Jones Butler had told him, the North American box office had already exceeded Miramax's expected $1 million, making it a film that exceeded expectations.

By mid-March, while Murphy was still revising the script, Hard Candy, after seven weeks of screening, finally left the North American theaters, with the final North American box office at $1.48 million.

Although he didn't know the details of the box office revenue sharing agreement between Miramax and the theaters, after deducting various expenses, Murphy believed that the distributor's final share would not exceed $750,000.

In this case, Miramax undoubtedly made a loss.

However, the North American box office was just one part of the revenue. There were also overseas screening rights, and if managed well, video and television rights would bring in a significant amount of money.

According to Murphy's inquiries, Miramax had sold the overseas screening rights of Hard Candy to some international distributors, earning over $1 million.

Including the video and television rights, Miramax could not only break even but also make a profit of over $1 million.

Through Hard Candy, Murphy also realized that distribution companies were at the top of the Hollywood food chain.

Although this had little to do with him, with the screening of Hard Candy, Murphy also gained practical benefits. He had met the entry standards for the Writers Guild, Directors Guild, and Cinematographers Guild, registering with all three guilds in one day, officially becoming a member of an organization.

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