Chapter 356.A Masterpiece

A day before the release of [The Black Saint], the movie was still trending on social media platforms, especially Sparrow. Out of nowhere, the movie had managed to get a lot of interest. 

A lack of other movie releases also contributed to it but it was no lie to say that the marketing strategy had been a huge hit for the marketing team. 

Granite films were fully expecting that the movie would make good returns. Though, it was safe to assume that the number of 500 million dollars wasn't in their mind. 

They have now started seeing it as Aiden's plan to promote the movie instead of something he said seriously. 

It was strange but Aiden didn't try to clarify it and let them think whatever they wanted. 

After all, the time for results was finally here. 

On Sparrow, all the latest tweets about [The Black Saint] were about who was going to watch the movie. And a lot of people were talking positively about going to the theatres. 

[Can I be Sparrow CEO: Who's going to go watch [The Black Saint] tomorrow. My wife heard that the movie has a bit of horror elements and got tickets. I'm hoping it's a good theater experience.]

[Hanging with my gnomies: I wasn't sold out on the movie until I watched last week's episode of 'The Rory Chambers show'. Man, I want to see more of Aiden as a villain. It was bone chilling in a good way.]

[Chris What's my Worth: I decided to get a ticket after that episode too. It was probably very effective as a high percentage of people came across it on TV and it later went viral on the internet.]

[Ray Hardy's girlfriend: Heh, I'm going because Ray is in it. I'm still unhappy he's not the focus of the sequel of his own franchise though but he's big hearted and had no problems. So, I will support the movie.]

[Chad Putin: I have made a special booking in the cinema with the generals to watch it. Kai is scary. The generals need to learn how to be scary just like me.]

[Puppy issues: I wanted to catch it on a streaming platform. My Zetflix account is very useless these days anyway but everyone around me is going to the theatre to watch it. So, I need to go too. Sad how human relationships work.]

[Video game leaker: I loved the first part and am just excited to go for Kai. I hope they go a bit comedic route with him when he's killing people as he always seems to talk very random things before killing others. I imagine him saying 'A heterosexual guy is gay because he likes someone who likes guys'.]

***

"What is the expected opening day figure for the movie?"

"Around 27-30 million dollars. It's going to rake in 100 million dollars in three days due to the weekend if the word of mouth is positive. Even if the movie falls hard on the second week, we are looking at 250-300 million dollars gross worldwide."

"We have a huge winner in our hands!"

Anthony McCarthy, the CEO of Granite films, shouted with a very excited tone in his voice. He found it hard to control himself and not dance on the spot.

Only because he felt like his respect among his employees would diminish if he showed that kind of behaviour, he calmed down. 

"We should get gifts for the cast and the crew. And Aiden, who came up with the marketing strategy, I'm going to give him a great car. Do you know what kind of cars he likes? Lamborghini or Porsche?"

The CEO asked his assistant who quickly tried to tell him to wait a week more. 

"CEO, you should wait till the movie is out of the theatres. A lot of the money would be taken by the theatre chains, you know." The female assistant shook her head. 

"I know that well but we never had this kind of movie before. It's a gem. None of our movies have made this much before. After the success of [The Black Saint], we could try to expand more."

Granite films came to existence over ten years ago and it had been fairly successful but even then, it was not huge and there was risk of falling hard if they went for a big project. 

[The Black Saint] was a big risk in the hands of the company but they were optimistic because it was a sequel. After its success, they could branch out more. 

"CEO, how about we host a party after the movie's run is over. We could invite other bigshots too."

A bespectacled man said, looking at him. He hoped that the movie would really be a huge success and then, they could ask for bonuses. 

"Yes, yes. Let's do that." Anthony said. "A 300 million dollar movie is something to show off. Give the first invitation to Arno Laurent. We have used his name a lot to promote the movie in a way."

"Yeah, we should definitely do it."

"He's been a lot of help indirectly."

"I always liked him as a director too."

Everyone nodded when they heard that. A lot of reporters had asked Arno about the bet and he had acted out like they had expected. 

Due to his interviews, the movie was promoted a lot. 

There were even rumours that Granite films had paid a lot for Arno to do the promotion for them. They were fake but many people in the industry actually believed it. 

As Granite films employees were already in a celebratory mood while deciding who to send the invitations to and where to host the party, one of the employees said. 

"What if he loses the bet though? I heard he had a lot of pride and would only come to the party if he won the bet."

At those words, few people laughed. 

"Nah, the bet has been one-sided since it began."

"I know right. There's no way it will cross the 500 million dollar mark."

"The highest earning R-rated movie is 468 million dollars and that was the adaptation of one of the highest selling horror novels, so it's a bit far-fetched to believe that it could top that."

Even though it was their movie, the employees were being realistic and practical about its prospects. 

It was then that the employee countered. 

"No one expected it to even touch 200 million dollars a month ago. What I'm saying is that the box office is fickle and Aiden's luck on it has been superb."

Everyone quieted down hearing that. Gazes were exchanged between them as they thought about it. 

Although it looked impossible, box office was truly fickle. 

There was no doubt about it. 

The only reason they were confident about 300 million dollars box office potential were the reviews from the private screening and advanced bookings that gave them confidence. But if the movie could earn 300 million, then 500 was still not out of reality. 

Stranger things had happened at the box office before. 

"If that actually happened, then we would make history."

Anthony said after a while, licking his lips. He was now actually thinking whether it would be the case or not. 

"We will know what will be the conclusion soon."

***

<[The Black Saint] is an upgrade on the first movie by all stretch. It's a piece of art that is hard to top. Although it took a different approach from the first movie, it was worth it as the movie was able to give a great character a great origin story. It truly makes you think about life and the society we live in.

[email protected]>

<Kai August is the best character of the year. The man's journey to sacrifice everything to reach the place of godhood told a strange tale about society and humans. It's hard to ignore the movie and although many people might think that it's too violent and dark, the movie would be very different without it.

-LA Times.>

<[The Black Saint] is one such movie that's going to be studied for years. It might not be the greatest movie ever but it's very close to perfection in what it tries to be. A movie that people need in the times that we live in. It explores the dark side of humanity perfectly and doesn't try to hide anything. Kai August is a very complex character portrayed with such nuance that it's hard to match. Aiden Silverye deserves a few awards for his portrayal. The man is truly left out of so many of them when he's one of the best actors in the world. 

-The Hollywood Reporter.>

Normally, reviews would come out a day or two before the release but for [The Black Saint], there were hardly any critic screenings or premiers. 

The only screening was the private screening that Zavier hosted. It was because he wanted everyone, including the critics to watch it at the same time, in a packed theatre. 

And it was safe to say that it was a good decision.