Monday, April 8
10 a.m.
The initial weekend box office figures for "Run Lola Run" have been released.
As Kyle anticipated, Paramount's "Primal Fear" took the top spot in the North American box office, earning $23.8 million in its debut weekend.
Colombia's "Monchi" came in second with $18.2 million during its opening weekend; "The Beautiful Parrot" and "An Old Man's Day" followed in third and fourth places, bringing in $14.903 million and $10.8 million respectively over the weekend.
All other films fell below the $10 million mark for the three days.
"Run Lola Run" made $1.82 million over the weekend, landing in twelfth place.
"Hey, our film's box office performance is pretty solid." Kyle felt very cheerful.
While a box office total of $1.82 million is certainly modest, it's remarkable given the production cost of just $800,000.
The expenses have been recouped; what more could one desire?!
"Boss, I've got some great news!"
"This morning, I received multiple calls from various theatres."
At that moment, Victor entered the office with a beaming expression.
"Are you planning to increase the screen count for Run Lola Run?" Kyle inquired.
"Exactly."
Victor replied enthusiastically: "Although we aren't one of the three major North American cinema chains like AMC, Emperor Entertainment, and Seaman, the theatre groups that reached out to us are still quite significant. We're looking at the potential for around 300 additional screens."
With 300 new screens combined with the original 355, that gives a total of over 650.
"This is truly fantastic news."
Indeed, this is excellent news for Kyle, as it suggests that Run Lola Run will have the opportunity to generate greater box office income.
The more than 650 screens showing films like "Jurassic Park," "X-Men," and "Avengers" can't compete with their hundreds or thousands of openings, primarily because these are high-budget blockbusters backed by major Hollywood studios such as Universal, 20th Century Fox, and Disney.
Page Films, what's that all about?
Among the multitude of film and television production companies in Hollywood, it leads a relatively unremarkable existence and doesn't stand out much. Securing over 650 screens is already a significant achievement.
"Boss, it seems we need to elevate our expectations for Run Lola Run."
Victor suddenly felt a surge of confidence.
This newfound assurance came not only from the box office results during the first three days of the weekend but also from the film's strong reputation.
Indeed, "Run Lola Run" holds an excellent reputation!
On IMDb, it has a score of 8.4;
a popcorn index of 75%;
And a freshness rating of 92% on Rotten Tomatoes.
While the number of internet users in North America in 1996 pales in comparison to the 21st century, it still surpassed 40 million. Such a strong reputation is bound to attract some viewers.
"Victor, since our movie has a solid reputation, let's amp up our efforts to secure even more screens."
Kyle enthusiastically gestured in the air.
The box office performance of "Run Lola Run" exceeded Kyle's expectations.
"I recall that in the original timeline, Run Lola Run only grossed around 7.5 million dollars in North America."
"Additionally, the original Run Lola Run was in German.
As a foreign-language film in the U.S., it was naturally less popular and made 7.5 million dollars; there is no reason my English version can't do better in the North American market."
Though Run Lola Run wasn't a breakout hit in North America, it was celebrated as the "saviour of European cinema" across Europe, particularly in Germany, France, and Italy, where it grossed over 100 million dollars.
....
Fast forward a few days, and Friday rolled around once more.
"Run Lola Run" made $690,000 on Monday, along with $730,000, $520,000, and $490,000 on the other days; the total box office for these four days combined with the first weekend reached $4.25 million.
It's projected that the North American box office take for "Run Lola Run" will land between 13 to 15 million dollars.
Even though this box office figure won't place it among the top 50 in this year's North American box office rankings, it is still a commendable result for the newly established World Pictures.
"I, Kyle, truly deserve the title of genius director. A director with box office earnings in the tens of millions. Well, that title sounds quite fitting."
Kyle felt a swell of pride.
I feel like I'm about to explode!
This isn't due to the box office performance of "Run Lola Run," but rather because Yahoo has gone public today!
Filo and Jerry Yang, the two founders, started Yahoo in the United States.
On April 12, 1996, it was officially listed on the New York Stock Exchange. The total market capitalisation on its first trading day reached $500 million. However, Yahoo's revenue in 1995 was just $1.3 million, and it suffered a loss of $630,000. It wasn't until the end of 1996 that it made a scant profit of $90,000.
But really, who cares?!
Investors in America during this time believed: "The Internet isn't about immediate profits, but future earnings. As long as we have a substantial user base, we'll make a lot of money!"
Investors and shareholders were ecstatic;
Kyle was just as enthusiastic, or perhaps, reckless!
Kyle invested all of his working capital in one go, which included money acquired from mortgaging a building in Silicon Valley, totalling $10 million up to this point.
And this was leveraged tenfold!
Kyle, who took a bold risk, earned $8.2 million after the market closed. Although this profit wasn't as extraordinary as when Pixar went public, it was still remarkable. Over $18 million in assets ended up in Kyle's account.
Naturally, the amount exceeding tens of millions of dollars didn't stay in the account for long.
After the weekend, when trading resumed on Monday, Kyle reinvested in Yahoo stock, putting in another $10 million.
This time, Kyle opted against using leverage because he intended to hold the stock long-term. After all, this was Yahoo! In January 2000, before Yahoo's stock price peaked at $475, Kyle sold off all his shares, making at least $130 to $140 million.
A return exceeding ten times—such astounding returns could only be achieved in the wild Internet era of the 1990s.
....
Good news tends to follow good news!
During the three days of the next weekend, "Run Lola Run" was shown on more screens, earning $2.127 million, surpassing the initial box office of the first three days of the weekend.
The total box office reached $6.377 million!
The flow of good news also came from the UK.
Currently, the BBC and a doll production company are keen on securing the rights to "Teletubbies." The only question remaining is how much it will cost.
Thus, Kyle, CEO Victor, and negotiation expert Brandon all grinned as they boarded a flight to London.
During the flight, Kyle suddenly conceived an audacious idea: "J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series seems to have wrapped up around 1996-1997. If the opportunity arises, I might uncover another gold mine."