By noon, the early box office numbers for February 14th were sitting on the desks of the Hollywood bosses.
These weren't the final numbers, but they gave everyone a good idea of who was winning.
As of 11:30 AM, the rankings were:
Message in a Bottle (Warner Bros.) - $3.7 million (from 19.3% of screens).
Payback (Warner/Paramount) - $3.54 million (from 11.3% of screens).
She's All That (Miramax) - $2.17 million (from only 6% of screens).
And in fourth place?
My Big Fat Greek Wedding (Wald Pictures) - $1.78 million.
This was a huge disappointment. Zane's movie had the second-most screens (18.9%), but it was way down in fourth place.
Industry insiders started to mock him.
"Second-most screens, but only fourth-place money? And it's brand new?"
"Everyone calls Zane a genius, but it looks like he finally met his match."
"This movie is finished!"
Shirley Lansing, the president of Paramount, shook her head sadly. "It's an excellent film. But without our support, they have no defense against Warner's media machine."
She was right. Warner Bros. wasn't just a movie studio. It was part of Time Warner, the biggest media company in the world. They owned magazines, TV stations, and newspapers. And they were using all of them to attack Zane's movie.
[SCANDAL! The actors are terrible people!]
[Director Zack Snyder has a dark past!]
[SHOCKING! 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding' Script Stolen! Writers Sue!]
The news was everywhere. Was any of it true? Of course not! It was all fake news created by Warner to crush Zane's company. They wanted to show everyone what happens when a small studio tries to fight a giant.
"See?" people in Hollywood whispered. "This is the power of a major studio. Zane Blackwood is finally going to get what he deserves!"
Everyone thought Wald Pictures was doomed. How could they fight back against the biggest media company on Earth?
...
However...
Just when everyone thought Zane was defeated, a new player stepped onto the stage.
America Online (AOL)!
AOL was the king of the internet. Millions of people used AOL to get online every day. And every time they logged on, they saw AOL's news, finance, and sports pages.
If Time Warner was the king of old media (TV and newspapers), AOL was the king of new media (the internet).
Usually, these two giants wouldn't fight. But Zane had made a deal. AOL was now backing him!
Suddenly, nearly a hundred internet news sites started publishing articles supporting Zane's movie.
"Actor Scandals? ALL LIES!"
"Director Zack's Past? FAKE NEWS!"
"Script Stolen? TOTAL NONSENSE!"
AOL didn't stop there. They got famous film critics to change their minds.
One critic, Andre Koster, had written a terrible review just yesterday. But today?
"I must apologize," Andre wrote on AOL's front page. "I said this movie was bad. But after watching it again... I must say it is the best romantic comedy of the century!"
(Film critics, it turns out, can change their minds very quickly when a big company like AOL tells them to!)
The fight between Time Warner and AOL was huge. It was Old Media vs. New Media, all fighting over one little movie.
The public went crazy. "What is this movie?" everyone wondered. "Why is everyone fighting about it?"
Naturally, people got curious. They went to the theater to see for themselves.
Starting at 3 PM, the theaters showing My Big Fat Greek Wedding started to fill up. The attendance climbed higher and higher.
People came out of the movie smiling and laughing, telling their friends how great it was. And the box office numbers started to rise.
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