After the party, Matthew got into Helen Herman's car, and they returned to Burbank together, inevitably followed by paparazzi. With the film in its release period and the lingering effects of previous scandal hype, he had been receiving a lot of media attention recently. The paparazzi were once again helping him keep vigil outside his house.
"Just drop me off at home," Matthew said to Helen Herman, not bothering with pleasantries.
Helen Herman didn't respond to his words, instead asking, "Why aren't you taking your rental car?"
Matthew bluffed, "It's not as comfortable as your car."
Helen Herman glanced at him quickly. Matthew told the truth, "The engine of that car had a problem when it arrived, so I sent it away early."
He then reminded Helen Herman, "Don't forget to negotiate with them tomorrow. The rental fee should be at least half off."
"You need a personal assistant," Helen Herman said indifferently. "This kind of thing should be handled by your personal assistant."
Matthew had almost forgotten about it and said, "I know. I'll post a job ad later."
Helen Herman knew Matthew didn't want to use her people, otherwise Angel Agency had many suitable candidates. She added, "You need to expedite this. I can handle some things for a while, but not for too long. I can't put my energy into these trivial matters."
Matthew nodded, "Don't worry, I remember."
Indeed, having Helen Herman handle such small matters was a waste of her talent and time, and in some ways, it reduced his opportunities.
The car stopped in front of Matthew's house. Matthew pushed the door open and got out. Before closing the door, he turned and asked, "Want to come in for a bit?"
He didn't mean anything else, just being polite.
Helen Herman knew this and waved her hand casually, "No, I feel eerie whenever I step into your house."
Matthew closed the car door, waved, and waited until Helen Herman started the car and drove away. He opened the door and went back inside. As soon as he entered, he sat in front of the computer and first logged into several movie review websites to see the reactions to "Dawn of the Dead."
He had returned from the party, and it had been some time since the premiere and early screenings ended.
It was already close to midnight. In this era of rapid internet development, reviews of "Dawn of the Dead" were almost ubiquitous on movie websites.
Rotten Tomatoes had long since lifted the freshness embargo on "Dawn of the Dead." Currently, its freshness rating was 78%, a slight decrease from when he last checked.
"The only improvement in this remake of 'Dawn of the Dead' is the quality of the fake blood!"
This was the latest professional film review collected by the website, and it clearly didn't think much of Zack Snyder's version.
But there were more positive reviews.
"Both this remake of 'Dawn of the Dead' and the 1978 film are horror movies filled with gore, zombies, and death. But Zack Snyder was not content with merely remaking it; he broke out of the disgusting rut of zombie films and found a new path. Especially the scene where Matthew Horner's male lead plays chess with a friend remotely, and then is forced to personally kill his friend who has turned into a zombie, is very moving."
There were many similar positive reviews.
"A good zombie film, with a tight rhythm. Faced with a city full of zombies, the few uninfected survivors cooperate, and the good and greedy sides of human nature are suddenly amplified. Matthew Horner's performance is very eye-catching, recommended."
Although the freshness rating on Rotten Tomatoes doesn't have a particularly large impact on a commercial film's opening weekend box office, a wave of positive reviews will affect the film's trajectory after its opening weekend.
Of course, expecting a zombie film to have a super stable run like "Pirates of the Caribbean" is unrealistic.
This type of film typically has a very short theatrical run, often exhausting its box office potential within a few weeks, making the opening weekend box office even more crucial.
Matthew closed Rotten Tomatoes and then checked IMDB, where he found that due to the increased number of reviewers, IMDB's score was also out, with a rating of 7.8.
This was definitely in the high-score category for horror and zombie films.
Fan comments in the review section below also confirmed this.
"As a debut film, Zack Snyder's remake is more advanced, higher-end, more visually appealing, flashier, more exciting, and more enjoyable than Romero's version. In short, I just want to exclaim that it's been a long time since I've seen such a good zombie movie!"
"The plot is smooth, and the male lead's character is very distinct. Will Turner can not only fight pirates but also kill zombies without hesitation. His final sacrifice almost made me cry."
"The visuals are good, the makeup is good, the actors are good, the scenes are good, the sound effects are good. It's a very good zombie movie. The scene in the middle where Matthew Horner plays chess is quite heartwarming."
"This is a rather excellent zombie film, belonging to the light horror, heavy action genre. The entire film focuses on highlighting the male lead played by Matthew Horner, and Matthew Horner did not disappoint, still incredibly powerful! Matthew Horner is very manly! The male lead is also very manly!"
The overall reaction was also good. Closing this website, Matthew went to his blog, inserted a USB drive, and updated a new blog post.
The USB drive contained some unofficial photos taken by the official premiere team today, and he uploaded all of them to his blog.
His blog had long become a gathering place for movie fans, and the comment section was filled with discussions about "Dawn of the Dead."
"Matthew and his sharpshooter buddy playing chess on the rooftop is so romantic. I want to ask why Johnny Depp didn't play the sharpshooter?"
"A pretty good zombie film. The scene where Matthew plays chess remotely on the rooftop is truly romantic. I enjoy this kind of confident tension. Same question, why wasn't Depp the sharpshooter? Wouldn't that have felt even better?"
Someone below replied, "Because the crew couldn't afford Johnny Depp's salary!"
After a quick look, Matthew closed his blog and checked the time. It was already past midnight, and he estimated that the box office statistics for the early screenings would be out soon.
He specifically opened his email and checked, there were no new emails. After waiting for about ten minutes, a new email notification popped up.
Matthew clicked it open and went straight to the last number: 5.56 million dollars!
Then, Helen Herman called.
"Did you see the email I sent you?" she asked directly.
"I saw it," Matthew replied. "It's not bad, 5.56 million dollars."
Helen Herman on the other end of the phone then said, "Barring any surprises, the first day's box office should exceed 15 million dollars, and the opening weekend box office will definitely reach the anticipated 25 million dollars, perhaps even exceeding 30 million dollars."
Hearing the number 30 million dollars, Matthew felt a small thrill and asked, "30 million dollars for the opening weekend, is there hope for the North American box office to exceed 100 million?"
"Hard to say," Helen Herman's voice was as calm as ever. "For this type of film, staying power is often an issue."
Matthew leaned back in his chair and said, "Let's not worry about that for now. It's getting late, let's rest." He stretched, "I'm going to bed."
After hanging up the phone, Matthew temporarily stopped thinking about movie-related matters and went to wash up and sleep.
The midnight box office for "Dawn of the Dead" had already reassured him.
An early screening performance of over 5 million dollars might not be much for a summer blockbuster, but for a zombie film with a production cost of less than 30 million dollars, it was very impressive.
From the film's current word-of-mouth and midnight box office, Matthew confidently concluded that "Dawn of the Dead" would exceed its production cost line by its opening weekend.
Once the North American box office exceeded the production cost line, he would start receiving box office share.
The salary agreement Matthew signed with the crew, in addition to a basic salary of 5 million dollars, stipulated that 28 million dollars, the film's production cost line, would be the trigger point for the revenue sharing clause. If "Dawn of the Dead"'s North American box office reached 28 million dollars, he, as the absolute male lead, would receive one percent of the North American box office as a bonus. This would increase to two percent at 50 million dollars, three percent at 70 million dollars, four percent at 90 million dollars, and five percent at 100 million dollars.
Five percent was also the capped percentage.
From a purely financial perspective, Matthew also hoped the film's North American box office would exceed 100 million, which would mean 5 million dollars just from box office share.
Of course, this possibility was very small; otherwise, the crew wouldn't have signed such a box office sharing agreement.
Under normal circumstances, a North American box office exceeding 100 million would only be a fond hope.
Friday quickly arrived. The latest status of "Dawn of the Dead" was continuously relayed back from the crew. March was traditionally a slow season for the North American film market, and the film didn't face any strong competitors. Overall, the attendance was quite good.
By late afternoon, the North American box office was approaching 10 million dollars.
After all, Friday daytime is a workday, and Friday's box office surge usually concentrates in the evening.
On Friday evening, the screening rate and attendance rate for "Dawn of the Dead" in theaters both increased. Some theaters in popular areas even saw attendance rates exceeding fifty percent.
By early Saturday morning, Matthew received the first-day box office statistics for "Dawn of the Dead," and his heart completely settled.
15.2 million dollars!
On its opening day, the film's North American box office reached more than half of its production cost line.
Since the film's word-of-mouth was decent, there were no extremely strong competitors in the same period, and the lingering effects of previous promotional hype were still present, the attendance rate continued to climb on Saturday. Major commercial theater chains also successively increased the screening rate for "Dawn of the Dead." More screenings meant more showtimes, and the most direct result was more box office revenue.
"Dawn of the Dead"'s Saturday box office, compared to Friday's which excluded the 5.56 million dollars from early screenings, showed a significant increase, reaching 11.8 million dollars.
Adding the two days' box office, "Dawn of the Dead"'s North American box office was about to break even with its cost line.
It was already inevitable that the film would be a huge success relative to its cost; anyone could see that.