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When the cool November winds carry the aroma of pumpkin pie into North America, the North American film market enters one of the most important periods of the year, kicking off the annual box office frenzy.

The Thanksgiving season and the Christmas and New Year season that follow closely behind, along with the summer season, are considered the twin stars of the North American film market, accounting for more than 7% of the year's box office revenue.

Since the beginning of November, major film and television companies have been gearing up for a series of thrilling box office battles during this prime time.

Thanksgiving is the third Thursday of November each year. This year's Thanksgiving is the latest Thanksgiving, delayed until the 27th.

However, the Thanksgiving holiday period, or the Thanksgiving holiday, does not start from the 27th. North America enters the Thanksgiving holiday a week in advance, and some companies even start ten days or more in advance.

On November 15th, "The English Patient," directed by Anthony Minghella and starring Ralph Fiennes, Juliette Binoche, and Willem Dafoe, opened its doors, firing the first shot of the Thanksgiving season.

Both its premiere and the number of screenings were much more grand and powerful than those of "The Man from Earth".

The premiere was a star-studded event, and Miramax prepared 2188 opening screens for the film.

However, despite receiving positive reviews from many film critics, this film still couldn't stop the strong performance of "The Man from Earth".

"We've made another enemy."

"Robert Iger's office," Ernst quipped.

I heard that because of "The Man from Earth", Miramax had to reduce the number of screens that Miramax had agreed upon with the theaters, which was 2640.

Another issue is the release date. The preview screenings that were originally planned a week ago have been changed to a full release on the 15th due to the strong performance of "The Man from Earth" on the first day.

"That's how Hollywood is. They wish all their rivals were dead, but when it's time to cooperate, they'll still come together for the sake of profit."

Over its opening weekend, "The Man from Earth" easily raked in $3688 million at the box office, taking the top spot at the weekly box office.

The following week, from Monday to Thursday, "The Man from Earth" grossed $786 million, $598 million, $602 million, and $564 million respectively.

In a single week, it raked in a staggering $6238 million at the box office, leaving the entire Hollywood industry stunned and making major film studios extremely envious.

On Friday, The English Patient arrived, but this critically acclaimed film did not stop The Man from Earth from taking over the box office.

Over the following weekend, "The Man from Earth" grossed $1127 million, $1285 million, and $10.1 million respectively, surpassing "The English Patient" with $3522 million to retain its top spot for the week, and is just one step away from breaking the $100 million mark at the box office.

"It is undeniable that 'The English Patient' is a film full of artistic merit, but it is different from 'The Man from Earth,' so the two will not significantly affect each other's box office performance."

"In comparison, Space Jam is the real threat to us. Michael Jordan's influence is astonishing, and he has a huge fan base among young audiences."

Ernst is here today to attend a high-level meeting at MGM and is listening to the market department's analysis.

On the 15th, in addition to "The English Patient", "Space Jam", starring Michael Jordan, was also released on the same day.

Although the film was heavily criticized by critics, with some even calling it a pure popcorn movie without a theme, Michael Jordan's influence was undeniable.

In just three days, Space Jam raked in $3241 million, only $26 less than The English Patient.

"According to the data agency we hired, over 67% of the viewers of 'The Man from Earth' are under 30 years old, which is a significant overlap with 'Space Jam'. Therefore, our competitor should be 'Space Jam'."

"And let's not forget that Space Jam only had 1598 screens when it opened."

At the preview screenings, theaters weren't very optimistic about "Space Jam." The biggest selling point of the movie is Michael Jordan, but putting aside the basketball legend, the plot is actually a bit awkward.

However, everyone underestimated the influence of the basketball god. "The Man from Earth" has entered its third week of screening, and the number of screens will definitely be reduced.

Given the shockingly low box office performance of "Space Jam," theaters will definitely allocate these extra screenings to it.

Iger chimed in, "I think we can increase our advertising budget again, and with 'The Man from Earth' going to be released overseas in two days, the positive box office performance in North America will help us reap the rewards in overseas markets."

"How much do you think is an appropriate increase in advertising spending?" Ernst asked.

"Five million dollars".

With this additional five million dollars, the publicity cost for "The Man from Earth" has reached ten million dollars, ten times the film's production cost.

However, for a film that almost grossed over $100 million at the North American box office in just two weeks, a promotional budget of $10 million is really not much.

"Tell me about the filming progress of 'There's Something About Mary'."

Iger can make the decision about increasing advertising costs on his own; asking Ernst is simply a matter of respect.

"Filming was originally scheduled to finish in mid-January, but now it seems it needs to be postponed. The filming budget also needs to be increased, but it won't delay the release during next summer's movie season."

Ernst frowned. "What's going on?"

A few days ago, when Connery sneaked back to have fun with Ernst, he said that filming was going smoothly. Now, why does it need to be postponed and production costs have increased?

The executives present exchanged glances and smiled.

"This is mainly thanks to you."

"Me?" Ernst was even more confused by what Egger said.

"Because of the success of 'The Man from Earth,' many sponsors have expressed their optimism about your script. 'There's Something About Mary' recently secured sponsorship from Toyota and Wrigley, with both parties contributing $360 million, so many scenes need to be reshot."

I see, that's a good thing.

In Hollywood film production, sponsors getting killed in the movie is one source of revenue.

In this era, things aren't as crazy as they were later, where a big-budget production can recoup its costs just by relying on sponsors, but it has already attracted the attention of major industry giants.

The sponsorship fee from GG was only $200 million before "There's Something About Mary," but now with an additional $360 million, it's equivalent to indirectly reducing production costs.

"We must pay attention to GG sponsorships for movies; revenue from this area will definitely increase in the future."

Iger nodded. "I admit that too, which is why we expanded the marketing department—we intend to delve deeper into this area."