Chapter 158: Reverse Drop

In this era, film critics’ income mainly came from two sources: public relations fees from film companies and remuneration from newspapers and magazines for publishing reviews. Of course, the top-tier critics also had other forms of income, such as publishing books or appearing on television programs.

George Nosen clearly was not among that top tier. Otherwise, after Premiere magazine came under pressure from Columbia, they would not have so easily fired him.

Because of the blacklist, when film companies prepared to release new movies in the future, George Nosen would not only fail to receive a single cent in public relations fees, he would also never again receive invitations to screenings or premieres. Without attending screenings or premieres, he could no longer obtain firsthand viewing material ahead of ordinary audiences. Newspapers and magazines were not especially enthusiastic about reviews of films that had already been released, so even his income from review publication fees would decrease drastically. Adding both sides together, the income he lost exceeded eighty percent of his previous earnings.

Therefore, being blacklisted by the Big Six film companies meant George Nosen could no longer remain in the film critic circle. The reputation he had painstakingly built over many years in the industry also vanished ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠like smoke.

Actually, as an old hand who had been mixing in the circle for many years, George Nosen clearly understood the rules of the game in this industry. Many lines could not be crossed, so he had never done anything excessive before. After many years of hard work, he had gained considerable fame in the industry, and all kinds of yearly income combined had even reached an enviable six-figure amount.

Perhaps it was precisely because so many years of smooth success made George Nosen somewhat self-righteous and forgetful of his place that he continuously published several articles attacking Running Out of Time. Originally, he only felt that Nicole had toyed with him, and he wanted to vent his anger and get a little revenge against her. He never expected that he had vastly underestimated the “influence” of that highly professional article. By the time he reacted, it was already too late, and his career had been completely destroyed.

After the first week ended, perhaps because of that controversy, or perhaps because Eric’s appearance on The Sophia Talk Show had promotional effects, Running Out of Time earned more than sixteen million dollars during the first week’s four weekdays. Its total first-week box office exceeded forty-three million dollars, at least three million higher than Columbia’s estimates after the opening weekend results were released. This figure filled Columbia with confidence.

At the same time, as the ghost director controversy surrounding Running Out of Time was clarified, the previously discussed “topic marketing” plan also began. The incident started when several entertainment newspapers aggressively criticized the product placements in Running Out of Time.

“More Than Thirty Product Placements — Are We Really Watching a Movie?”

“The Two Toms Join Forces in a Giant Commercial — We Aren’t Watching Running Out of Time, We’re Watching Advertisement War”

“Eric Williams’s Road of No Return with Product Placement!”

A series of extremely eye-catching headlines directly pushed discussion of Running Out of Time onto the center of attention. After the previous controversy, media opinion exploded once again. Before their competitors could react, Columbia took advantage of the situation and began heavily steering public opinion, shifting most media commentary on the matter into ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a teasing tone.

Very quickly, the Los Angeles Times published an audience survey report. The survey had been prepared in advance by Columbia. The target group consisted of viewers who had just exited screenings of Running Out of Time, and the content concerned the audience’s opinions regarding the film’s advertisements.

Among a random sample of one thousand people, seventy-six percent of viewers did not feel the existence of advertisements in the movie at all. Fifteen percent noticed the advertisements but did not particularly care. Seven percent said they minded the advertisements somewhat, while only a mere two percent selected that they strongly disliked the advertisements.

To ensure its credibility, the Los Angeles Times even published photographs of the entire stack of survey reports on its pages.

This report almost completely established the tone of the Running Out of Time product placement incident.

Whenever people mentioned this matter, many felt that since most viewers had not even noticed the advertisements, then it really was not a big deal. Coupled with Columbia’s other teasing-style planted articles, public thinking gradually began shifting direction.

Soon afterward, Columbia also stepped forward to clarify matters, admitting that the film indeed contained some product placement advertisements, but not nearly as exaggerated as those “irresponsible” media outlets claimed. Columbia then brought up the recently resolved ghost director controversy, stating that this was malicious slander against Running Out of Time from competitors.

As the guidance of public opinion continued, more and more people became curious about exactly what advertisements existed in Running Out of Time. Just as the survey had shown, a large portion of people had not even realized the existence of advertisements during their first viewing.

By the time Columbia’s competitors reacted and began manipulating their own media outlets to reverse the direction of public opinion and guide audiences into disliking the product placements in Running Out of Time, Columbia directly threw out another bombshell.

On the second weekend after the film’s release, early Saturday morning, newspapers such as the Los Angeles Times, New York Times, and Washington Post simultaneously published a statement from Columbia.

“Although according to surveys, the product placements in Running Out of Time did not affect the viewing experience of movie fans, in order to thank audiences for their support, after discussions among the film’s production and distribution parties, we have decided to return the two million dollars in product placement fees received from Running Out of Time back to movie fans. Starting from the publication date of this statement, viewers may mail letters containing guesses of all twelve product placements to the following address. During a live television broadcast, we will randomly draw two hundred lucky viewers whose answers are entirely correct, and each will receive ten thousand dollars in cash.”

Following this, the statement listed the mailing address, deadline, and anti-cheating restrictions such as one letter per citizen ID and repeated submissions being invalid.

In an instant, the entire American media exploded once again. Even many viewers could not help realizing that this was blatant hype.

But even after realizing this, it still could not stop many viewers’ enthusiasm. After all, this was the late 1980s, and for many American families, ten thousand dollars was a huge sum. During vacation season, everyone already had the habit of watching movies anyway. No matter what they watched, it was still a movie. If, after watching the film, they spent a few dozen cents on an envelope and mailed in their guesses, they might win ten thousand dollars. Why not? Moreover, with two hundred winners, the odds seemed fairly high.

The day after this statement was released, many theaters showing Running Out of Time were immediately packed to full capacity. On the day the statement was published, Running Out of Time earned thirteen million dollars in a single day. Sunday’s box office also reached eleven million. Adding Friday’s more than eight million dollars, Running Out of Time achieved a total second weekend box office of thirty-two million dollars over three days. Miraculously, in the fiercely competitive summer season, it achieved a nearly twenty percent reverse drop in box office and became the only film that summer to accomplish a reverse drop.

After the second seven-day week ended, Running Out of Time once again earned more than forty-nine million dollars in its second week, bringing its total box office to ninety-two million.

In comparison, after five weeks in theaters, Ghostbusters II, whose box office had already begun weakening, had only just surpassed ninety million dollars. Meanwhile, Batman was affected by the Running Out of Time craze. Its fourth-week box office fell another forty-four percent and only earned sixteen million dollars. Although its cumulative box office had reached one hundred sixty-eight million, if Batman continued suffering around forty percent drops in the coming weeks, its weekly earnings would only remain within the ten-million range. Meanwhile, judging by Running Out of Time’s momentum, weekly box office figures in the tens of millions could still continue for another three or four weeks. In the end, it was genuinely difficult to say who would become the box office champion of that summer season.

This result left many film companies dumbfounded. Even many Columbia executives felt an unreal sense of happiness arriving too quickly to process. Columbia’s stock price rose rapidly again, and its total market value surpassed 4.5 billion dollars within a few weeks. Sony, which had already reached a preliminary acquisition agreement, became anxious. Originally, the plan had been to complete the acquisition by the end of September, but Sony’s representatives repeatedly requested that the final agreement be signed in August. They had also realized that if Running Out of Time overtook Batman and seized the summer box office championship, the rise in stock prices would definitely not stop.

When Running Out of Time’s third-week box office dropped only twenty-six percent and still earned more than thirty-eight million dollars, the puzzled media could only attribute this trend to people’s desire for unexpected wealth.

Although many film companies also wanted to imitate Columbia’s lottery-style promotional model, unfortunately, the summer release wave had already ended. Running Out of Time could be said to be the last major production released during that period. Similar promotions for previously ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠released films no longer held much meaning.

As for the films released after Running Out of Time, they were basically works not especially favored, entering theaters at the tail end of the summer season to make whatever money they could. Therefore, other film companies simply did not dare throw out two million dollars. Even one million was something few were willing to spend. After all, the risk was too great. Even if a film earned one hundred million dollars at the box office, after theater revenue splits, the remaining half still needed to be divided among investors, producers, and distributors. After taxes, the final profits were usually only in the millions. Eric’s Home Alone earning over one hundred million in shares was absolutely unique within the industry. Even the currently acknowledged most ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠profitable Star Wars series did not allow Lucas to earn profits that high from box office revenue alone.

And Columbia’s use of product placement hype this time to achieve a massive box office reversal was destined to become a classic marketing case studied by major film companies.

Eric was not worried about others learning this method, because this operation had completely taken an unconventional path. To put it plainly, once or twice was fine. Audiences would still feel that guessing product placements was fairly fresh and interesting. But once it was used too many times, audiences would definitely develop the rebellious mentality of “I came to watch movies for entertainment, not to count advertisements.” If people kept doing it after that, it would only backfire.