Throughout the working week, "The Dark City" maintained a very stable box office trend. On Thursday alone, it garnered another $21.56 million from North American theaters, bringing its cumulative North American box office to $340.24 million, just shy of the $350 million mark.
Anyone with some understanding of the industry knew that with the new weekend approaching, "The Dark City" was bound to surpass the $400 million threshold in North America.
In contrast, Vin Diesel's "Fast & Furious 6" saw a steep decline in its North American box office, earning less than $6 million over four weekdays. Multiple Hollywood forecasting agencies predicted that this film's final North American box office would not exceed $180 million.
With the arrival of the new weekend, each summer weekend in North America is a festival for moviegoers.
Since schools in North America hadn't started summer break yet, Friday was still a workday. During the day, the occupancy rate in theaters across North America was only slightly higher than the previous four weekdays and didn't see a significant increase. But once night fell, large crowds of people who were off work and out of school flooded into theaters, free to watch their favorite movies without worrying about work or school the next day.
At a theater in Long Island, New York, night shift manager Fernandez had just finished handing over his shift with a colleague and came to the ticket counter. A large crowd of moviegoers had already poured into the theater, with many lining up at the ticket counters. Due to the shift change, only two ticket windows were open, leading to long lines in the theater lobby.
Fernandez checked the time and went to an unopened ticket window, removing the "temporarily closed" sign. The long lines quickly moved towards him, forming another queue.
A girl who looked no older than sixteen or seventeen was at the front, with a boy standing behind her. From their close demeanor, they seemed to be a couple.
Having worked in theaters for a long time and dealt with all kinds of people, Fernandez prided himself on his people-reading skills.
"Hello..." Fernandez put on a professional smile and asked, "How can I help you?"
The young girl handed over a hundred-dollar bill and said, "I need two tickets."
"For which movie?" Fernandez asked patiently.
"'The Dark City'!" The girl answered without hesitation, "Two tickets for 'The Dark City'!"
Fernandez tapped on the ticket machine, and two "The Dark City" tickets were quickly printed. He took the girl's money and efficiently completed the transaction.
The girl took the change and tickets, pulling her boyfriend along happily.
Next in line was a middle-aged man with glasses who said directly to Fernandez, "One ticket for 'The Dark City,' please!"
As Fernandez waited for the ticket to print, he heard the man muttering to himself, "I saw it once last week, need to see it again this week. Such a good movie deserves at least two viewings."
After serving the bespectacled man, a brown-haired boy approached the counter, stating simply, "'The Dark City,' five tickets, please."
Fernandez, adept at his job, quickly sold several more "The Dark City" tickets.
"Murphy Stanton's movie is in its second week of release," Fernandez thought to himself, "and there's still such a high demand for tickets. This weekend's box office should be impressive too."
"Hello..."
A woman in her thirties approached, saying, "I need two tickets for 'The Great...'"
Before she could finish, the man behind her interjected with a troubled expression, "Honey, let's watch 'The Dark City' instead."
Fernandez didn't issue the tickets immediately, as he had seen too many cases of differing opinions like this.
"What's so good about that dark movie?"
It was clear the woman was the decision-maker in their relationship. "Leonardo DiCaprio is my idol!"
Ignoring the man's objection, she turned back to Fernandez, saying, "Two tickets for 'The Great Gatsby,' please."
Hearing this, Fernandez quickly printed the tickets, as there were many others waiting in line.
Subsequently, a few more people came to buy tickets for "The Great Gatsby," mainly women in their thirties and older viewers.
As the night shift manager, Fernandez quickly realized the pattern: women in their thirties were likely Leonardo DiCaprio fans, and older viewers were drawn to the name "The Great Gatsby." This film had been remade several times, and older fans likely had a nostalgic connection to it.
However, compared to "The Dark City," which appealed to a wide audience ranging from sixteen to fifty years old, "The Great Gatsby" clearly had a more niche audience.
Of course, Fernandez knew that as a Hollywood superstar, Leonardo DiCaprio's drawing power shouldn't be underestimated.
After half an hour at the counter, Fernandez noticed that the audience for "The Great Gatsby" consisted mainly of DiCaprio fans. However, ticket sales for this film were relatively modest.
At his counter alone, he sold about twelve tickets for "The Great Gatsby" in thirty minutes—a decent number, but starkly contrasted with the fifty-five tickets sold for "The Dark City."
Fernandez didn't overthink it, as the disparity in popularity was evident.
Another employee took over the counter, and Fernandez made rounds at the concession stand to ensure everything was running smoothly before returning to his office. Just as he sat down, someone knocked on the door and entered.
It was a theater surveyor, someone Fernandez was familiar with as he visited every weekend. Fernandez asked, "Strange, you're working efficiently today?"
"It's not every film that has the terrifying number of viewers 'The Dark City' had in its first weekend."
The surveyor, named Strange, got a cup of water from the dispenser and sat opposite Fernandez, saying, "The latest showing of 'The Great Gatsby' had about twenty viewers. According to our company's 5-10% sampling rule, I only needed to survey two people."
Speaking of which, Strange couldn't help but complain, "Last weekend, I had to survey over ten viewers per showing. It was maddening! I'm just one person. How can I stop so many people? That damned movie, that damned Murphy Stanton! They're driving us surveyors crazy!"
Fernandez consoled him, "Fortunately, he only makes one movie a year!"
"Yes, yes!" Strange nodded repeatedly, looking like someone who had escaped death. "If he made two movies a year, I'd definitely quit. This job is inhuman!"
Fernandez could see that Strange still harbored resentment over last weekend's workload.
"By the way, Strange," he changed the topic appropriately, "how's the feedback on 'The Great Gatsby'? Based on your field survey today."
Strange shook his head, "Just average. I think once Leonardo DiCaprio exhausts his fanbase and those of previous remakes, the box office will drop sharply."
"Can you give some details?" Fernandez asked, "The specific ratings."
"According to my statistics," Strange thought for a moment and said, "'The Great Gatsby's' on-site composite score is at best a B+. That's for today. Over the weekend, it might drop to a B."
Fernandez nodded, "Audience feedback is lukewarm."
"Very lukewarm," Strange shook his head again, "In the face of 'The Dark City,' it has little competitiveness. Besides Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire, it lacks strong selling points."
"Isn't the leading actress supposedly Murphy Stanton's first love?" Fernandez was curious about gossip.
"That was many years ago. How many people care?" Strange, acting like an expert, said, "An ex-girlfriend can't compare to a current girlfriend. After Carey Mulligan revealed it, Gal Gadot announced in London that 'The Dark City' would be contending for the Oscars, swiftly drawing media and fan attention away."
Fernandez asked curiously, "This Israeli woman is said to be quite formidable, very shrewd."
"Do you think..." Strange asked back, "Without certain skills, could she keep Murphy Stanton so firmly in check?"
Friday passed quickly. In today's highly intelligent and networked era, whether it's theater ticket sales or audience reviews, data is promptly compiled and delivered to relevant individuals or companies.
Early Saturday morning, while "The Great Gatsby" cast was waiting to board their flight in the VIP lounge at New York's Kennedy Airport, a statistical report was brought over.
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