Domination in America, Starting from being a Boxing Champion-Chapter 661 - 476: New Movie Release

The film was exclusively produced by Palm Beach Films with a production cost of 25 million US dollars, and it was distributed by Lionsgate Films with a publicity budget of 8 million US dollars.

The movie starred Emma Stone, Viola Davis, and Jessica Chastain.

It tells the story of a college girl in Mississippi in the 1960s, named Skeeter (played by Emma Stone) who, disliking the unfair treatment of black maids in American society, decides to write a book to help these women escape from adversity. She faces many obstacles during the writing process, but with the support of the black maids, she completes her book, which causes a significant impact upon publication.

The plot aligns with the mainstream values of American society and is a very positive and uplifting narrative film.

After watching it, Link and Ivanka felt it was pretty good.

"Dear, the media say you are good at predicting box office revenues; how much do you think this film will earn?"

After the theater let out, Ivanka asked while linking arms with him.

"I only guessed right once, the 'Bridesmaids' incident doesn't count as a correct guess; why does everyone say I can predict box office revenues?"

Link said helplessly.

"Just give it a try, I guess it will make over a hundred million worldwide; what's your guess?"

"Around a hundred million then, I guess $101 million."

"You're guessing nearly the same as me, you're just playing along!"

Ivanka glared at him playfully.

Link looked at her as if she were coquettishly joking, found it very amusing, and laughed, "This is called unity of minds."

Ivanka smiled slightly, hugging his arm tightly.

"The Help" was released on Friday, October 21st, alongside Paramount Pictures' "Paranormal Activity 3," Summit Entertainment's "The Three Musketeers," Universal's "Johnny English Reborn," and "Margin Call" starring Kevin Spacey and the art film "Martha Marcy May Marlene" starring Elizabeth Olsen.

In addition to these, last week's science fiction blockbuster "Real Steel" and the musical "Body Language," as well as Weinstein Company's "My Week with Marilyn," were also strong competitors at the box office.

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"The Help" earned 27.05 million US dollars in 2834 theaters over the weekend, ranking second on the weekly box office chart; the first place was secured by "Paranormal Activity 3," which earned 47.5 million US dollars in 3341 theaters.

Last week's box office champion "Real Steel" came in third with 20.24 million US dollars, "The Three Musketeers" ranked fourth with 8.63 million, and "My Week with Marilyn" was tenth with 627 thousand US dollars.

Other films' box office performances were quite ordinary.

"The Help," only three days after release, exceeded its production costs, drawing significant attention in the industry; many media predicted the North American box office for the film would exceed 100 million US dollars.

Although a hundred million box office is not significant in the yearly rankings, there have already been 21 movies this year with North American box office earnings exceeding a hundred million.

But this film was the third production by Palm Beach Films; the first made over twenty times the investment, the second had a global box office of 360 million, and the third broke even in just three days, presenting itself as a dark horse of the year, making many peers envious.

Since last year's big hit "Scandal Plan," many peers had been anticipating a flop from Palm Beach Films' next film, but when the second movie was released, they found it performed even better at the box office, and then came the third, still with good box office earnings.

Everyone was watching eagerly but ultimately left disappointed.

Besides the box office, "The Help" also received good reviews, with a media composite score of 81. Publications like the Chicago Tribune, The Washington Post, and The New York Times among 22 newspapers scored it over 85, whereas other outlets including the Los Angeles Times, Variety, Complete Movie, and the Baltimore Sun rated it above 75.

Rotten Tomatoes freshness stands at 78% with 32 people in favor and 12 against, while Yahoo audiences graded it a B+.

Overall, the evaluations were very favorable.

The New York Times commended Palm Beach Films for producing another high-quality movie, describing it as "not just a classic exposé of the times' ugliness but should also be hailed as a stunning, warm, and sweet song of hope"... giving them reason to deem it one of the must-watch films of the year.

The Washington Post commented that the film excellently fleshed out its three female characters, stating in a sense, these characters made the movie... Emma Stone and other actors also delivered outstanding and unique performances, adding many bright spots to the film.... Several leads were also strong contenders for the Oscars acting awards.

Complete Movie magazine's review focused on Palm Beach Films.

"The Help" is the third film from Palm Beach Films following "Scandal Plan" and "Bridesmaids," all three of which, despite their different themes, share a common focus on female roles.

The first movie dealt with women facing discrimination and prejudice within a group, the second addressed women's struggles in everyday life, and the third film integrated a discussion on racial issues, giving it a deeper theme than its predecessors.

Complete Movie believed that Palm Beach Films was at the forefront of exploring women-themed stories, setting a benchmark worth learning from.

In its second week of release, the number of theaters showing "The Help" increased to 3,141, and rather than dropping, box office earnings rose to 42.17 million US Dollars in North America, surpassing "Paranormal Activity 3" to become the box office champion of the week.

The movie had a production cost of 25 million and a marketing cost of 12 million US Dollars, earning 69.22 million US Dollars at the North American box office in ten days. Media predictions for the North American box office climbed to over 150 million US Dollars.

Without a doubt, it was another blockbuster.

The massive success of "The Help" once again put Palm Beach Films in the spotlight.

More movie companies, waving their checkbooks, hoped to collaborate with Palm Beach Films. Some even proposed that Palm Beach Films handle the preparation and production of movies while they would invest and afterwards give Palm Beach Films no less than 20% of the box office share.

Catherine said she received hundreds of calls every day, from film companies, directors and screenwriters skilled in women-themed subjects, as well as many actresses, all eager to work with Palm Beach Films.

Link also received many calls.

Some were from industry peers, like Leon Cavano of Relativity Media, inviting him to parties to discuss film collaboration, and actresses, both acquainted and not, were using various methods to curry favor with him.

If Link were a careless man, he could wake up beside a different woman every day.

Comparatively speaking, the greatest beneficiary of the film's success was Emma Stone.

Starting from "Scandal Plan" last year, all of Emma's starring films had passed the hundred-million threshold; "Bridesmaids" grossed 360 million globally, "Crazy Stupid Love" released in July earned 140 million worldwide, and this film "The Help" had a forecasted North American gross of 150 million.

Four consecutive box-office hits also made Emma Stone one of the most standout young actresses.

Although not yet as famous as Christine Stewart, her acting abilities displayed in films garnered much recognition, positioning her as a promising actress likely to be one of the new generation to win an Oscar soon.

For this, Emma Stone had even called specially to inquire about the chances of making an Oscars run.

Link said there were chances, and the company would handle the PR, but she was still young and shouldn't set her expectations too high.

Emma Stone happily acknowledged she knew and would be satisfied just to get nominated.

Link smiled lightly, telling her to remember that statement.

In October, Director Zhang Yimou called to say that after finishing post-production on "The Flowers of War," he wanted to discuss North American distribution issues with Lionsgate Films.

Link arranged for Jamie Jones, the head of International Operations, to lead a team to Huaxia to assess the film's quality and its commercial value, aiming to secure the North American distribution rights at the lowest price possible.

After Jamie Jones and his team had visited Huaxia, they reported back that the work team rated the movie a B-.

Its strengths were its high artistic level and Link's involvement, which guaranteed a certain box office potential.

The drawbacks were the limited prospects for Chinese anti-Japanese war movies in the North American market, and the war film's focus on a group of prostitutes due to cultural differences, which might be incomprehensible to North Americans.

The overall evaluation was that it was worth a try, but the box office might not be very high.

When acquiring the North American distribution rights, Jamie Jones presented the production side with two options: either a 3 million US Dollar licensing fee or a 25% share of the North American box office.

After careful deliberation, the producers of "The Flowers of War" chose the second option, eager to take a chance.

But concerned about possible box office underreporting in the United States, Director Zhang made several calls to Link to catch up, asking when he would come to Huaxia to have a drink, also mentioning that the movie was expected to premiere in mid-November in Huaxia and wanted him to help promote it.

Link didn't decline but assured Director Zhang not to worry about the box office sharing with Lionsgate Films, promising that whatever the box office earnings were, that's what they would report.