Early reviews from critics and audiences suggested that the movie, which had received a lot of doubt and criticism at the start, was heading for mild success.
Saying it like that might feel underwhelming, but it was a project that wasn't meant to gain a lot of profit in the first place. Just by breaking even, it would already meet expectations. Since it received favourable reviews from the people the movie was aimed at, they were pretty satisfied. If people they deemed problematic ended up hating it, wasn't it actually another win?
Still, as someone who led the company, Ashley could no longer only care about idealistic principles. Of course, she didn't expect much; once again, a break-even was enough to justify the production. However, she would be lying if she said she didn't want it to be a success and generate money.
That was why, no matter how favourable the initial review was, if the real audience number wasn't good, Ashley wouldn't be able to sleep well at night.
