206 HWI 206
Hollywood What If Chapter 206
The theatre went dark for a second before the credits rolled.
The audience clapped, but didn't stand up. They already knew the routine. They remained in their seats, waiting for the post-credits scene.
The influence of Taken on the female population was quite good and the audience this time had many women, unlike John Wick and The Bourne Identity.
The Continental Cinematic Universe was heavily based on male audiences, but the effect of Taken on females gave the cinema a good male/female ratio.
If Taken 2 was well-received, then the next film in the Continental Cinematic Universe would also have a large female audience.
Well, this time Taken 2 leveled up and the audience could clearly feel the adrenaline. This film was great!
Then, a few seconds after the credits rolled, the post-credits scene appeared.
[Marcus was walking, limping as he moaned in pain. He was near the shore, where he had a yacht at the ready in case of a dangerous situation.]
[This time he realised the enemy was quite strong. Perhaps the retired agent could go head to head with his friend John Wick].
[Before Marcus could reach the shore, his feet stopped near the cliff. Beneath the cliff was a strong current of waves that could engulf anything.]
["Heh, I guess you guys have shown your true intentions." Marcus could not help but chuckle.]
[He looked at the two people, his remaining teammates for this mission. There were five, but two were killed by the retired agent.]
["Your relationship with the Fraternity is getting sour and Slone didn't like that."]
["Is it because I want to retire from this job?" Marcus grimaced. The wound in his left leg hurt.]
["That's one of the reasons."]
[The two Fraternity members raised their guns. Marcus was shot in the chest, but he could still move. Marcus, determined to survive, jumped down the treacherous cliff.]
[The post-credits scene ended with Marcus disappearing into the waves].
This scene was a bit of a shock as they thought Marcus' appearance in the film had already ended. Now the audience became interested in the Fraternity and how this organisation would affect the next films.
The audience clapped and people started to stand up and leave the cinema in excitement. Some of them were greeted by the people from CinemaScore to count up the film's ratings.
At the Paramount Theatre, the cast of Taken 2 stood up and received a standing ovation from the audience.
It was known that the cast and director of the film would be interviewed after the premiere.
Most of the questions were directed at Liam Neeson and Brianna Evans. These two actors had given good performances this year and their box office appeal was appreciated.
Of course, some reporters and film critics asked Willem Dafoe and Scarlett Johansson a few questions.
They were curious about Willem Dafoe's role in the next film, as the post-credits scene was about him.
Willem Dafoe was actually clueless about his role in the next film. Although he knew that his screen time in the next film would be a lot. Director Kazir Grey assured him.
As for Scarlett Johansson, the questions about her were quite mild as she was still a minor.
The other star of the film was none other than the director, Fremont Smith. This young director proved that he could handle the pressure and successfully make a big budget film.
"I just want to thank director Grey for giving me the chance to direct this film. God knows how happy I am right now. Of course, I want to thank my parents for believing in me. I believe that with strong determination and a lot of hard work I can do anything. I have to dream higher and bigger."
Fremont looked at his parents, who were at the premiere. His mother was crying, while his father was rubbing his wife's back, smiling and proud of his son.
Fremont Smith smiled and waved his hand, trying his best not to cry.
The premiere was over and the first hurdle had been taken.
Everything would be decided after the midnight and first day box office. On the basis of these data, the professionals would determine the film's forecast. Of course, the result might not be 70% or 80% correct.
The critics and even the industry professionals thought that Titanic was going to be a huge box office flop after the first week's data was collected.
But instead of falling, Titanic's box office went up.
Nobody knows the future.
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4 November 1999.
Two big-budget films were released at midnight. The first was Taken 2 from Grey Pictures, distributed by Paramount Pictures.
The second was The Bone Collector, distributed by Universal Pictures.
In its first 24 hours, The Bone Collector grossed $7 million. To make that amount of money in one day was impressive.
Unfortunately for The Bone Collector, it was up against a strong opponent.
The first day box office for Taken 2 was a whopping $17 million. That is how many people went to see the film on the first day alone. On top of that, the film's reputation was strong.
Based on this, they concluded that Taken 2's first-week box office would be huge, around $55-60 million. Only big movies with a lot of promotion could get the same treatment of $60 million in one week.
However, most of these big projects were released in the summer. Taken 2 did well despite the timing, even though it was not heavily promoted. It seemed that people just wanted to see the film.
