SF Chapter 62: New York
On Friday, Daniel went to New York accompanied by Jay and Gloria. Manny ended up staying at the Dunphys' house.
It was already past 11 p.m., and they were in a suite that Jay had reserved for himself and his wife.
Daniel was pacing back and forth in a rare moment of restlessness.
"Daniel, just sit down," Jay said grumpily, though he himself was far more tense than usual. "They already told us earlier that 'it's looking strong'."
"Why are they taking so long, ahn?" Gloria echoed her stepson's impatience. "Can we not call them?" she asked in her usual strong accent, loudly.
Jay took a deep breath. "Gloria, that's not how it works. Even if we call now, they won't have the final numbers. They'll call as soon as they do."
"It's already 11:31 p.m., Dad," Daniel complained.
Jay ignored him and lifted his whisky glass, but just as he was about to take a sip, the phone rang, making him spill it.
"Oh, damn it!" He cursed.
"Jaaay," Gloria urged him, tapping his arm.
"I'm answering, calm down," Jay replied, even more gruffly.
He pressed the speaker button, and the voice on the other end - a Paramount executive - got straight to the point.
"We're at 11.3M for Friday. If Saturday holds, you're looking at high twenties, possibly low thirties for the weekend. Congratulations."
Daniel collapsed into the armchair, relieved by the number. Jay also let out a deeper breath, taking a generous sip of his whisky. $30 million opening is an incredible success.
Gloria, on the other hand, was beside herself. "Jaay, Danii," she yelled, "is that a good thing? Don't leave me hanging here!" she scolded angrily.
"It was good. We still need to wait until tomorrow to see if it holds, but it was damn good," Jay replied, keeping the expectations conservative.
But Daniel had already jumped up and moved closer to his stepmom. "It was great. If we keep going like this, it's goodbye Swarovski in this family. Only Tiffany or Cartier from now on," he said, making a pompous gesture.
The Latina let out an excited laugh and pulled him into a hug. "Congratulations, Dani!"
"Now I'll leave you two alone," he said with a smile and walked out of the couple's bedroom.
Out in the hallway, Daniel spoke into his phone, "Hey, Sis, we did it!"
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The following night, Jay, Daniel, and Gloria went to the Ziegfeld Theatre, where the New York premiere was being held.
Unlike what had happened in Los Angeles, this one was smaller in scale and glamour, and there was no after-party following the screening.
But in contrast to the week before, more executives came over to speak with Jay and Daniel. The preliminary Saturday numbers showed that the film was still holding strong.
"Hey, Lindsay, good to see you again," Daniel said as he approached the lead actress.
"You too, Dani," she replied, giving him a hug.
"It's looking good for us," he smirked.
She turned to him, slightly playful and teasing. "Can I expect a bonus?"
"No..." he answered in the same playful tone. "But I can buy you dinner," he offered.
"Yeah, maybe if you write another good one for me to star in," she continued in a bold tone.
Daniel grew thoughtful but shook his head. "Too bad. I'm writing one right now, but the main character is more of a normal girl, kind of awkward and slightly out of place. Maybe the movie will be more of an indie."
"Oh," Lindsay looked at him curiously. "Can I know what it's about?"
He explained succinctly. "The title is Juno. It's about a smart, sarcastic teenage girl. After a casual relationship with her friend, she discovers she's pregnant."
"Hmm," she muttered, probably realizing she wasn't much of a fit for the role. Then she asked, "And what about a sequel to Mean Girls?"
"Well, I'm not very inspired for that right now," Daniel confessed. "My idea would be them in college. But the thing is, I never went to college, and I don't intend to."
A few paparazzi shouted Lindsay's name, asking for some photos.
"Want to take a few together?" she teased.
"Sure, maybe I can finally show up in a newspaper," he joked self-deprecatingly.
She giggled, and they stepped into the sea of flashing cameras.
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On Sunday night, a scene similar to Friday's was unfolding, with the family waiting for the call with the final numbers that would close the weekend.
But this time, the mood was far more relaxed, the three of them enjoying a fine bottle of wine.
The phone was answered, and the same executive from Friday spoke on the other end of the line. "Film tracking toward $31.7M weekend. We have a hit!" he announced with restrained excitement.
Jay gave his son a firm pat on the back, holding back a proud smile.
"I'll continue the report," another Paramount employee said. "Based on the holds we're seeing, we're projecting a three to three-and-a-half multiple. That puts us in the $100M domestic range."
"International pre-sales are strong. We're expecting $150M - $175M worldwide."
And the call ended after the congratulations.
"Ay, Dios mio, it's a lot of money!" Gloria widened her eyes.
"Gloria, it's not like that," Jay explained. "Around half of this money goes to the theaters. Even more internationally. There's Paramount's percentage, the production costs, and, finally, taxes."
"Ay, it feels like we're being robbed," she said angrily.
Jay just patted his wife's hand and looked at his son. "So, you're going to stay a few more days in New York, Daniel?"
"Yeah, I'll be staying at Monica's place, but I'll still keep my hotel room just in case," his son revealed as he opened a bottle of champagne.
"Now, a toast before I head out," he proposed, handing the glasses to both of them.
[Jay commentary]
Now much more relaxed, Jay was sitting in the hotel armchair. "I won't lie, I was feeling a little nervous," he began.
"We put a lot of money into this movie. Normally, I wouldn't take a risk this big, committing that kind of capital."
He explained why he did it. "Maybe because I knew Daniel would do this one way or another, since he inherited my stubbornness."
"Or maybe because the challenge of launching a new company rekindled an old flame in me." He confessed.
"Well, it seems everything went well. We still need to wait a few more months for the final numbers, but it looks like Mean Girls will pay for both movies and still leave us with a very healthy profit."
"In November, we're releasing Superbad," he said.
He heard his wife shout, "Jay, are you coming to bed?"
"Yeah, in a minute!" he yelled back.
"Well, now I need to find someone to take care of the company. I have better things to do," he looked straight ahead, then turned with a spark of excitement, since his wife was wearing very sexy lingerie.
[Commentary ends]
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