In the new week, Speed continued its fierce competition with Cliffhanger. Despite being affected by various public opinions, Speed still managed to triumph over Cliffhanger due to its rating advantage and slightly superior quality. Over four weekdays, Speed earned $22.694 million, while Cliffhanger took in $15.243 million.
It's worth noting that Cliffhanger being an R-rated film significantly impacted its box office performance. In the North American film market, PG-13 films always have an advantage over R-rated ones. Therefore, with the quality of the two films being close, Speed's victory over Cliffhanger was not surprising.
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In the highly competitive summer season, new films are released every weekend. For Speed's second weekend, Warner Bros. released the comedy Dave, but this film didn't affect Speed's second-weekend box office. Over the three days of the second weekend, Speed once again raked in $24.558 million. After ten days in theaters, the film had already grossed $84.066 million, securing the weekly box office championship once more.
Caught between Speed and Dave, Cliffhanger's box office plummeted in its second weekend, earning only $14.506 million, bringing its total box office to $65.384 million. Honestly, this box office figure actually met CAA's previous expectations. After all, only a few R-rated films manage to reach this box office, let alone surpass $100 million, with the exception of Basic Instinct.
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Although Sharon Stone had a sharp tongue and was unrestrained, later even offending audiences, in the early nineties, she was a star who could contend with Hollywood actresses like Julia Roberts and Jodie Foster. Janine Turner, the female lead of Cliffhanger, wasn't as daring as Sharon Stone, so it was natural for its box office to be lower than Basic Instinct. However, without Speed, Cliffhanger's box office would certainly have satisfied CAA. But with Speed's impressive $80-million-plus box office after just ten days, it was truly outstanding. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, Speed's North American box office was set to cross the $100 million mark.
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Although Hollywood had marvelled at Gilbert Jr.'s magic before, they were still stunned this time. His third film, directed at under twenty-three years old, crossing $100 million at the North American box office? What did that even mean? It meant that Gilbert Jr. had entered the ranks of A-list directors and become a highly sought-after figure by major film companies. No one would want to get in the way of a cash cow. Gilbert Jr. would become a darling of Hollywood, making Hollywood stars clamor for roles in his film projects.
This is no exaggeration. In fact, after the second weekend's box office numbers were released, Gilbert Jr. received calls from many people he hadn't known before. There were film company CEOs, producers, and even A-list Hollywood stars. The most memorable was Julia Roberts, who hadn't even given him a second glance when Gilbert Jr. was an executive director on Hook. But this time, when Gilbert Jr. received her call, her attitude was noticeably much better, and she even "reminisced" with Gilbert Jr. about the good old days of Hook. In reality, they had no real relationship; it was purely because Gilbert Jr. was now worth Julia Roberts lowering her stature to connect with.
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However, this was not what angered CAA the most. What was most infuriating was that Cliffhanger's production cost was $65 million, while Speed's production cost was only $20 million. Why was Speed so cheap? Primarily because Keanu Reeves' salary was low, only $400,000. Stallone's salary, on the other hand, was dozens of times that of Keanu Reeves. The combined salaries of the male and female leads in Cliffhanger alone would have been enough to make 1.5 Speed movies.
But there was nothing they could do; not everyone was Gilbert Jr., capable of creating box office miracles with unknown actors. This was also one reason why film companies loved Gilbert Jr.: low cost, high box office, meaning a high return on investment. With just its North American box office, Speed had already recouped its costs and was making a profit.
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Compared to CAA's Michael Ovitz, Gilbert Jr.'s agent, Sheena Boon, was truly basking in success lately. No matter which film company she visited, the once-haughty executives would always politely greet her with "Miss Boon." It also became much easier for Sheena Boon to secure projects and roles for her artists; film companies were now considering her clients.
Sheena Boon was well aware of who brought all this about, so the first sentence on the title page of her work journal read: "Gilbert Jr.'s matters are always the top priority." She could not lose this client, so maintaining a good relationship was essential.
While promoting the film in New York, Sheena Boon specifically went to New York to discuss future work with Gilbert Jr.
"Gilbert Jr., Touchstone Pictures is talking to me about a sequel to Final Destination. They want to buy out the sequel rights."
Gilbert Jr. asked, "How much is Robert Iger willing to offer?"
"One million dollars."
"One million dollars?" Gilbert Jr. shook his head. "How is that possible? They won't get the sequel rights from me for anything less than twenty million dollars." He owned one-tenth of the rights, so demanding a high price was a must. Moreover, Final Destination had grossed over $100 million worldwide, so his demand for a $20 million buyout fee for the rights was quite reasonable. His main reason was not wanting to invest further; rather than let it sit unused, he preferred to seize this opportunity to extract a large sum from Disney.
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Sheena Boon indicated her understanding, then asked, "What do you plan to do after the film's promotion ends?"
"Let me think, I might take a vacation. Ellie has been bugging me to go to China, so I'll take her on a trip," Gilbert Jr. said. Sheena Boon understood. Gilbert Jr. had always been interested in culture, so a vacation there was not surprising.
"What about a new project?"
"Let's talk about it when I get back from China. I can't always be thinking about new projects."
"I understand..."
While Gilbert Jr. was discussing work, Naomi Watts remained silent, not wanting to interfere with his work. In fact, Gilbert Jr. had already hinted to her about a new project idea: a sci-fi action film about boxing. He had even promised that there was a role in it perfect for her, and he would cast her. Naomi Watts was very happy to receive this promise and rewarded Gilbert Jr. with several "workout sessions."
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Discussions about a new project were still early, as Speed was still in theaters, which was undoubtedly the most important task at hand. As the third week of the summer season arrived, the Speed crew concluded their nationwide promotional tour in Philadelphia. This week, Speed was defeated by a new release and failed to secure the weekly box office championship, but it still managed to pull in $20.577 million, bringing its North American box office to $104 million.
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Although it was long anticipated that the film's North American box office would cross $100 million, Hollywood was still shocked when the news broke. Not just Hollywood, but even political circles and Wall Street were paying close attention. The Wall Street Journal reported Speed's $100 million box office milestone on its front page, specifically naming director Gilbert Jr. and emphasizing his age.
The impressive box office performance created by Gilbert Jr. even reached the ears of the person living in Washington D.C. At a dinner party, the person in Washington D.C. even introduced Gilbert Jr., this young film genius from Hollywood, to a friendly dignitary. A genius with a Hollywood calling card—it clearly had plenty of talking points.
As the fourth week of the summer season began, Speed's North American box office reached $119 million, and the film also began its international rollout.
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