From Flower Vase to Film Emperor in Hollywood

“Ansen-Wood's box office myth continues…”

“…The North American film market is going crazy for Ansen-Wood…”

“‘Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind’ illuminates the March spring season…”

“…A dark horse emerges, rewriting history…”

“Yes, Ansen-Wood has done it again and again…”

“A historical moment, witness it together!”

“A full-scale explosion, ‘Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind’ brings surprises…”

“‘Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind’, the trendsetter of March, missing it means you're outdated…”

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The clamor is incessant.

Indeed, “Dawn of the Dead” experienced a small explosion in single-day ticket sales on Friday. Achieving box office success despite poor media reviews is enough to make Universal Pictures beam with joy and provides a solid step for Zack Snyder's directing career. However, this is still not enough.

Headlines and even front-page positions of major entertainment sections are dominated by “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”. The film has rarely garnered such media attention outside of the summer blockbuster season, leading to a full-scale surge in traffic.

The reason is very straightforward—

“Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” ignited market enthusiasm in an unbelievable way.

And, it's writing a new historical record.

A horizontal comparison makes it clear:

“Dawn of the Dead” grossed $10.08 million in single-day ticket sales across 3,200 theaters.

“Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” grossed $9.6 million in single-day ticket sales across 307 theaters.

The superiority is clear at a glance.

The former has more than ten times the number of screens as the latter, yet its single-day ticket sales are only $1.2 million more.

There is no harm without comparison, and this is a fatal blow.

How unbelievable is the per-screen average of “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”, that it can deliver box office numbers comparable to “Dawn of the Dead” with only 300 theaters?

Answer: $31,700.

History is made.

Currently, there is a list for per-screen average for limited releases and another list for wide releases, with the dividing line being 300 theaters.

Below 300, it is classified as a limited release; above 300, it is classified as a wide release.

But in reality, the ambiguous number of 300 theaters is in an awkward position. Compared to limited releases, they are almost impossible to generate per-screen revenue of $50,000 and have no competitiveness on the list. Compared to wide releases, their per-screen average performance is not bad, but their promotional efforts and audience traffic cannot match top commercial productions, making it difficult to create any buzz.

Therefore, overall, films released in a small range of three to five hundred theaters are mostly independent or art films with vague positioning that drift on the edge. Although they yearn for a wide release, they lack promotion funds, and the distribution companies understand that this scale of release is the most suitable.

“Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” is just like that.

However, a surprise has appeared just like that.

“Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” created history with a per-screen average of $31,700, breaking the wide release per-screen average record currently held by “Spider-Man”—

Yes, you read that right, Ansen surpassed Ansen's own historical record.

Two years ago, “Spider-Man” was released on a grand scale, creating a series of records in a destructive manner, including the per-screen average for wide releases, becoming a milestone work in North American film history.

Two years later, “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” was released on a small scale, breaking through the shackles and writing a miracle with an unbelievable frenzy, becoming the second film in North American film history to be screened in more than 300 theaters and still break $30,000 in per-screen average.

Of course, it is currently only Friday's single-day ticket sales, and whether “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” can maintain such momentum on Saturday and Sunday remains unknown.

However, the shock and impact have still spread completely.

Then, “Dawn of the Dead” became a sacrifice, being sacrificed again.

News media are overwhelmingly and enthusiastically focusing on “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”. The fact that only 300 theaters can achieve similar box office performance to its competitor easily ignited the frenzy in the film market—

Has spring really arrived?

Moreover, the real focus that has driven the media into a frenzy lies with Charlie Kaufman.

It has been mentioned more than once before that Charlie Kaufman, this genius, has always been out of sync with the mainstream market, and people have difficulty keeping up with the speed of his brain.

As of 2004, there were a total of four works written by Charlie Kaufman that were officially released:

“Being John Malkovich”, $22 million in North American box office, $23 million in global box office.

“Human Nature”, $700,000 in North American box office, $15 million in global box office.

“Confessions of a Dangerous Mind”, $16 million in North American box office, $33 million in global box office.

“Adaptation”, $22 million in North American box office, $32 million in global box office.

In other words, the highest-grossing work in Charlie Kaufman's career is “Confessions of a Dangerous Mind”, a work widely known because George Clooney directed it for the first time in his career. It premiered at the Berlin Film Festival in 2003 and won the Silver Bear for Best Actor for the male lead, Sam Rockwell.

However, that’s just saying it.

The so-called “highest box office” is actually that the box office numbers of Charlie Kaufman's four works are all similar, and strictly speaking, there is not much difference.

Charlie Kaufman's reputation spread more through DVD market sales and rentals. Only a small number of veteran film fans and art youths gradually recognized this genius screenwriter through word-of-mouth from film discs. However, even among enthusiastic fans, this screenwriter's works have not been widely spread because of their strangeness and mind-bending nature.

But now?

“Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” has unbelievably approached $10 million in box office revenue with just one day on Friday—

This achievement has already surpassed the final North American box office of “Human Nature”, the last collaboration between Michel Gondry and Charlie Kaufman.

How could they not be shocked? How could they not be surprised?

In such shock, not to mention “Dawn of the Dead”, even “The Passion of the Christ” paled in comparison, and all the media collectively exclaimed in surprise.

This is definitely something they have never seen before. One or two of them are like Grandma Liu entering the Grand View Garden, completely unable to control their expressions, and the focus is completely gathered.

However, after calming down and thinking seriously, someone immediately exclaimed a completely different view:

I've seen this episode before!