Chapter 131: Sony's Hope
As the sun rose on Friday, another fiercely competitive weekend kicked off. Just as they had collectively slammed Independence Day the previous weekend, professional film critics spoke out in unison again to shower The Shawshank Redemption with praise. They heaped almost all the year's best reviews onto the film, stopping just short of crowning it the greatest in cinematic history.
Much like the backlash from the week before, the critics' glowing praise failed to ignite any massive chain reaction at the box office.
Perhaps the cast lacked box-office appeal, or the slightly religious title turned people away. Perhaps the genre itself was a bad fit, or the audience was simply experiencing the aftereffects of last week's disconnect, where critics slammed Independence Day while moviegoers loved it. Whatever the reason, the market response to The Shawshank Redemption could only be described as unusually flat.
Friday night typically marked the first peak of weekend moviegoing. Parker, a market investigator for MXEB Company, walked into a downtown commercial plaza theater early to observe the frontline market reaction to The Shawshank Redemption.
After 7:30 PM, the crowds entering the theater noticeably swelled. Through lengthy exit interviews and data provided by the theater, Parker gradually formed an initial impression of the film he was tracking: things were not looking good.
It was painfully obvious. Even as Independence Day entered its second weekend, it remained a juggernaut, claiming nearly half of all moviegoers!
This, of course, fell well within the expectations of both the distributor and his company. The data feedback for Independence Day was clear for all to see. Nobody was foolish enough to believe The Shawshank Redemption could compete with it at the box office.
It made sense that the film could not rival Independence Day, but why was its audience share only matching The Lion King and Forrest Gump? Those two had been out for weeks, while The Shawshank Redemption was barely in its first weekend!
Just as Parker was wondering about this, a screening of The Shawshank Redemption let out. A sparse crowd trickled out of the auditorium. He quickly walked over and began his routine exit interviews.