Hollywood What If

Chapter 120

The audience started clapping as soon as the credits rolled. They stood up, thinking the movie was over.

However, they didn't expect that after the first minute of the credits, a post-credits scene would appear.

The post-credits scene was not a new thing, some movies have had post-credits scenes since the 1980s. However, this method became famous in the 2000s to hype the sequels of movies. Marvel Studios used this method to hype the audience for their next movies.

'My favorite post-credit scene is not from the MCU. It's actually from Fast And The Furious 6. The scene where Jason Statham crashed into Han Lue's car and killed him. For me, it's a relevant scene because it connects Fast And The Furious 3 to the plot. I was so excited because Jason Statham was going to be the villain.'

Fast And The Furious 3 didn't have a strong connection to the franchise, and Kazir felt it was pointless. But that post-credits scene made it a little more important... A little bit.

Anyway, the audience went back to their seats when they realized there was a post-credits scene.

[The scene was about an Arab man sitting on a golden chair, representing his status. He received a phone call that his brother had died. He hung up the phone and was silent for a second before he said. "The High Table will never forget."]

It was only a few seconds after the credits, but the audience became interested in this "High Table" that the Arabic man said.

Then they started clapping again. The movie was fun and it quenched their thirst. All of North America was angry at sex/human traffickers right now, so watching Taken soothed their anger.

Since Kazir and the cast had a premiere night, their theater was a little special. The cast, director, and producer came on stage and bowed their heads. They had an hour of interviews after the show.

The reporters naturally asked Liam Neeson and Kazir Grey. The two were the most famous people in the project and they have a reasonable number of fans.

"Mr. Neeson, can we know the reason why you chose the role of Bryan Mills?"

Paramount made sure there would be no hurtful questions, so most of the reporters were from Paramount and Viacom.

"When I read the script, I was interested because I can relate with Bryan Mills. I'm also a father and I will do my best to protect my children. The movie has the motive of spreading awareness about kidnapping and I want to be a part of such a noble act".

Even the women's organizations promoted the film, which was good free publicity.

Kazir Grey was not left out, the reporters started asking him about his reason for writing the script and making the movie. Kazir answered their questions without any problem.

Although there was one reporter who asked him something unexpected.

"Director, your ex-wife was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Do you have an opinion on this?"

"No comment."

Kazir replied. Fortunately, the reporters inundated him with questions, and the particular reporter didn't have a chance to cause trouble again. He was immediately escorted to the exit.

Overall, the premiere night of the movie had a positive reaction. Kazir knew their movie was hot right now because of the sex trafficking incident.

'I won't lie, this news helps us a lot.'

The premiere ended and the cast left the theater. After the premiere, people could start watching the movie again with no problem. The screening of Taken would continue.

Paramount fought Sony-Columbia over the number of theaters. They talked to the Cinema Alliance to make sure that the number of theaters would not be reduced.

Air Force One had 2,919 theaters on opening day. As for Taken, it got 3,603 theaters because of the current situation.

The Cinema Alliance had a limited number of theaters. The United States has only 7,000 theaters in 1997.

Note that North America includes Canada, the United States, Bermuda, Mexico, the countries of Central America, the Caribbean Islands and Greenland. Although Cinema Alliance's main source of revenue came from the United States and Canada.

Taken had the upper hand in terms of theaters, which meant it could earn more than Air Force One. This fact alone made Sony-Columbia angry and squirm.

Feeling confident about his movie, Kazir decided to go to his apartment and get some sleep. He planned to surprise himself tomorrow.

July 25, 1997. Two big movies were released at the same time. Paramount distributed Taken, which was produced by Grey Pictures. The movie grossed $17.80 million on its first day.

As for Air Force One, because it was overtaken by Taken, the movie made $11.98 million. It was not a bad result. In that era, such a result was already a good start.

July 26, 1997. Taken's second day was stronger. It grossed $26.53 million.

On the same day, Air Force One grossed $14 million.

July 27, 1997. Sunday. Taken dropped slightly to $18.24 million. So far, the film has grossed $62.57 million in its first weekend. Paramount and Grey Pictures believe that the movie will definitely be one of the top 10 movies of the year. Just like everyone else expected, Taken became the box office champ of the week.

As for Air Force One, it earned another $11.14 million. The first weekend for Air Force One was $37.13 million. Sony-Columbia was happy because the box office was within their expectations. The only thing they are struggling with is the next step of promotion.

Should they increase the advertising budget or decrease it? In the end, they decided to promote the movie with a slightly increased budget.

Since Taken and Air Force One were released on the same day, people could not help but compare the two.

In the end, everyone believed that Taken beat Air Force One. Both movies were action genres and their protagonists were two veterans, but this time Liam Neeson got the upper hand.

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