From Flower Vase to Film Emperor in Hollywood

The release schedules were in complete chaos.

According to sources within New Line Cinema's distribution department, not only the holiday season but also the fall season of September and October saw major film companies scrambling their strategies.

They were testing, testing the market reaction to the fall and holiday seasons, testing the market response to different types of films.

For example, "The Haunted Mansion" landed in the Thanksgiving slot, while "Kill Bill" avoided the Halloween slot, and inexplicably, everything avoided Halloween weekend altogether.

Bizarre scheduling arrangements were everywhere, but the ultimate goal was that major film companies needed to disrupt the existing格局, break the fixed patterns, and try to redefine the rules and reorganize their thinking, to see who could be the first to break through the encirclement and gain an advantage in the chaotic battle for dominance.

New Line Cinema was not a top-tier player in Hollywood, but as a subsidiary of Warner Bros., they obviously played an important role.

According to feedback from New Line Cinema, the focus was now entirely on the big players with investment costs of over one hundred million dollars, but the real danger during this year's holiday season was actually the smaller players:

“Gothika,” starring newly crowned Oscar winner Halle Berry; "Bad Santa," with Billy Bob Thornton targeting the crime comedy market; and "Honey," starring Jessica Alba, transitioning from television to film.

Richard Donner, the director who once made the "Lethal Weapon" series, brought "Timeline" to life with Paul Walker, who rose to prominence through the "Fast and Furious" series.

And so on, including "Elf" and "The Butterfly Effect."

These small-to-medium budget films all disrupted conventions, haphazardly inserting themselves into the schedule between Halloween and Thanksgiving, completely disrupting market rules.

Precisely because of this, New Line Cinema, after careful consideration, chose a strategy to break through the chaos—

"Elf" directly confronted "The Matrix Revolutions," and "The Butterfly Effect" directly collided with "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World." In reality, they were all the same, using the dislocation of genre films to latch onto the wave of big productions and big promotions, using small investments to achieve big gains and attract attention.

In this way, it was more cost-effective than spending lavishly and engaging in a chaotic battle with a group of small-to-medium budget productions, while still being unable to ensure victory.

After all, New Line Cinema's distribution, publicity, and marketing costs could not compare with those of the top-tier companies.

20th Century Fox spent a fortune to promote "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World," with a publicity budget as high as twenty million dollars, because the internal screenings of the film received rave reviews, and with the unexpected emergence of "Pirates of the Caribbean" during this year's summer season, sea battle movies returned to the public eye, and they could be said to be full of confidence.

Other film projects were in similar situations.

Therefore, no matter where "The Butterfly Effect" was placed, it would face the same predicament, so it was better to simply charge directly under the enemy's nose.

A head-on confrontation?

No, no, no, it was borrowing arrows with straw boats.

But thinking carefully, changing the release schedule might not necessarily improve the situation; moreover, New Line Cinema's choice of the holiday season still indicated their ambition and confidence in Anson.

In any case, Edgar was not a professional in matters such as release schedules and publicity, so he should trust the judgment of professionals—

At least, from the current perspective, this year's holiday season does present a completely new picture, and after major film companies have disrupted their strategies, the audience also appears to be more active.

There were indeed many surprises.

"Kill Bill" grossed twenty-two million dollars on its opening weekend and has accumulated sixty-seven million dollars to date. Although box office performance was slightly below expectations, Quentin was originally an eccentric genius who took unconventional paths, so no one expected the film's box office to explode.

"The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" grossed twenty-nine million dollars on its opening weekend and has accumulated seventy-seven million dollars to date. Compared to its ultra-low production cost of nine and a half million dollars, the production and distribution company, New Line Cinema, has already made a fortune, and Jessica Biel became famous overnight thanks to this work—

New Line Cinema had won the first round. Now it seems that the professionals really had some tricks up their sleeves.

"Scary Movie 3" grossed forty-nine million dollars on its opening weekend and has just broken one hundred million dollars in cumulative box office revenue, continuing the excellent performance of the series.

One wave after another, climbing steadily and reaching a small peak in the second week of November.

"The Matrix Revolutions" chose to release comprehensively ahead of schedule on Wednesday, successfully diverting traffic from the recently concluded Halloween weekend, summoning the audience back to the cinemas.

Forty-eight million dollars in the opening weekend for three days, and eighty-three million dollars in the first five days!

The result was slightly below expectations.

In the third week of May this year, "The Matrix Reloaded" landed in the summer season, also releasing comprehensively ahead of schedule on Wednesday, grossing ninety-one million dollars in the opening weekend for three days and one hundred and thirty-four million dollars in the first five days, becoming one of the best-performing works of this summer at the box office.

However, six months later, the final installment of the series failed to further ignite the box office based on its predecessor.

A faint sense of unease permeated the air.

But from another perspective, this year's holiday season was originally a chaotic dance of demons, with major film companies all trying and making mistakes, and the publicity and layout were full of variables. The box office continued to rise in the first three weeks, and when it came to "The Matrix Revolutions," there was a fluctuation and a decline, which did not seem surprising.

Moreover, "Elf" performed far beyond expectations, taking in thirty-two million dollars on its opening weekend, causing the entire market to collectively gasp.

What was going on!

Following "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre," New Line Cinema's layout was actually successful again!

Although "Elf" received average reviews, with a media score of only 66 points, family audiences flocked to the cinemas in the festive atmosphere, which also allowed the film to snatch a lot of viewers from the torrent of "The Matrix Revolutions."

Who knew, maybe New Line Cinema could really become the biggest winner of this year's holiday season?

It was against this backdrop that Anson returned to Los Angeles, and the premiere of "The Butterfly Effect" was about to take place.

On the one hand, the Los Angeles media were all excited and excited, curious about the development of the story next, and whether New Line Cinema and Anson could bring surprises again.

On the other hand, the general public and Anson's fans and other outsiders were slightly uneasy, truly feeling the pressure from the overwhelming publicity of "The Matrix Revolutions" and "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World." In the dense wave of publicity, they could hardly see much news about "The Butterfly Effect."

Moreover, to make matters worse, on Wednesday, November 12th, "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World" and "The Butterfly Effect" actually chose to hold their premieres in Los Angeles on the same day.

This… was a head-on collision.

So, whose fault was this after all?

Outsiders generally blamed 20th Century Fox for bullying others, while insiders remained on the sidelines, and they could not confirm whether New Line Cinema was deliberately crashing into the muzzle of a gun.

But in any case, amidst all the speculations, this scene finally played out.

The same day, the same city, the same time, two premieres, how should one choose?