After the premiere, Matthew had just returned to the Horner Estate when he received a call from Helen Herman. Walt Disney had already compiled the early screening box office numbers for *Twilight*. In its early release across 3,150 theaters in North America, the film grossed $13.2 million.
This is an outstanding early box office performance, easily surpassing *Iron Man* and *Hancock*, which were released earlier this summer.
Among the films released in 2008, it ranks second only to *The Dark Knight*, which had an early box office of $18.5 million.
The latter, by now, has accumulated over $500 million at the North American box office!
The good news came so suddenly that within just a few minutes, Matthew received calls from David Ellison, Lily Collins, and Sofia Coppola.
Despite being a self-proclaimed art-house director, Sofia Coppola is well aware of the importance of box office success for a director. She doesn't shy away from venturing into the commercial domain; *Marie Antoinette* was one such attempt. However, the success rate of female directors in the commercial film industry is relatively low, making it seem that they are better suited to the art-house realm.
When Sofia Coppola called, she was a bit emotional and wanted to come over to Matthew's place for a long talk.
But Nina Dobrev was at his place practicing rhythmic gymnastics. As a very professional and "artistically" inclined viewer, Matthew subtly hinted to Sofia Coppola that if she wanted to join in the viewing, he wouldn't refuse.
Unfortunately, Sofia Coppola quickly calmed down and gave up on the idea.
On Friday morning, as many theaters just opened, they were greeted by a flood of moviegoers. Countless young girls flocked in, almost all of them aiming to buy tickets for *Twilight*.
This teen idol film, cloaked in a fantasy exterior, was a massive hit.
"The film tells the story of unconditional love between a human and a vampire. To put it simply, it's the vampire version of *Romeo and Juliet*. While it mainly focuses on romance, it cleverly integrates elements like vampires and werewolves, enhancing the appeal of the story. Faced with such a story, many girls naturally yearn for it. Love has always been able to ignite people's passion and madness. Moreover, the film's visuals are beautifully melancholic, and the music production is excellent."
On social media, young girls who had seen the movie eagerly shared their love for it.
Even some relatively young female critics seemed to really like this film.
"As a typical female-oriented film, *Twilight* is both spectacular and successful. It combines love and fantasy in a modern setting, constructing a fantasy world that fulfills the light and shadow dreams of young girls, making the film irresistibly charming. Under the beautiful, youthful pure love lies a handsome, super-powered vampire and a kind, beautiful girl. Their love, which overcomes many obstacles, is so romantically sincere…"
"The characters in *Twilight* are all so delicately beautiful, even the fights between vampires are not that gory. This film fulfills young girls' dreams and fantasies about love; it's a beautifully romantic love story."
As the film officially opened in over 3,600 theaters across North America, more and more viewers were captivated by *Twilight*. Book fans and young girls were swept off their feet by the film, praising it unanimously.
"I love movies like this. I'm totally obsessed with the handsome male lead, and the actors' performances were spot on."
"The lead actors' looks alone are enough to keep me watching the entire series, not to mention the beautiful cinematography."
"This film fulfilled my expectations of a beautiful, romantic, and extraordinary relationship, making it a must-see for all girls."
Fans are always passionate about what they love, and young girls often fantasize about being the heroine in a Mary Sue story, so they inevitably lack enough rationality when it comes to this film.
A widely shared tweet from a young girl perfectly encapsulates this sentiment.
"I also want to find a responsible man who can fly and has a family! My favorite part was the blood-sucking scene; it was so romantic! Anyone who gives a bad review is just a jealous man, an overstepping older woman, or a pretentious snob. The ones who give good reviews are young, immature girls and boys living in a fantasy."
With the fervent support of such fans, *Twilight* grossed a staggering $41.2 million in North America on its opening day!
In just one day, this film's North American box office exceeded its production cost!
"$41.2 million in one day!"
Inside a newly decorated mansion in Beverly Hills, Natalie Portman looked at this figure in the newspaper, shocked. "At this rate, *Twilight*'s opening weekend could easily surpass $100 million!"
Her previous thoughts suddenly resurfaced. Her throat tightened, and she realized she had been overthinking it. Matthew Horner was still the same Matthew Horner who could accurately grasp the film market.
Success! Success! And more success! Matthew Horner is practically a machine that manufactures success!
Suddenly, she had a thought: was it a mistake to introduce Brad Pitt to the Wachowski siblings just for the money? Would her chances of success have been higher if she had collaborated with Matthew Horner?
But that thought quickly passed. Natalie Portman isn't the type to waver. If it weren't for her partnership with Brad Pitt and Plan B, she wouldn't have been able to buy this mansion.
Now *Cloud Atlas* is in post-production, and *John Carter* is about to start filming. She's already on Brad Pitt and Plan B's ship and can't get off anytime soon.
As the first-day box office results came out, most of the media outlets that had been skeptical about *Twilight* before its release changed their tune, at least acknowledging the film's commercial success.
"Matthew Horner knows how to make money. *Twilight* is a textbook example of a successful investment. He knows that the audience for this kind of film is mostly women, and even if there are men, it's usually because they're taking women to see it. So, by pleasing women, he's essentially pleasing all demographics."
*The Sun* first acknowledged *Twilight*'s commercial success, but then continued in its usual style, saying, "But by pleasing women, he's clashed with men! How many men got nauseous watching this film with their girlfriends? They're probably all cursing Matthew Horner!"
It didn't forget to add a sarcastic comment, "With these vampires hitting the market, skin whitening products will be marketed to men. Those cosmetics companies should hire Matthew Horner as their marketing director."
*Twilight*'s commercial success stems from its precise targeting of the film's niche market. However, behind that $41.2 million opening-day box office are countless male viewers who were "harmed" by the film.
Although calling it harm might be inaccurate, since most of these men were there to please their female companions, *Twilight* is indeed not a movie suited for mature-minded men.
Inevitably, *Twilight*'s reputation became highly polarized.
"It was so bad it made me want to cry."
"Total chick flick!"
"I couldn't stand this movie; I couldn't get into it at all."
"How can anyone like this? The plot is dumb, the romance makes no sense, and the designs are ridiculous… even giving it one star is too generous…"
"The male lead isn't even good-looking, and he's not manly at all. You get used to it after a while, but the female lead's acting is unbearable. From start to finish, she has this slightly scared, slightly incredulous look, like she's stuck in that dumbfounded expression, showing no emotional change. And how did they even fall in love? I don't get it; the relationship develops so nonsensically!"
These were the milder reactions. Some male viewers, disgusted to the point of no return, couldn't hold back and directly cursed online.
"I can't stand the female lead's almost-dead expression throughout the film! Who can tell they're supposed to be madly in love? The pacing is so slow. Worst movie ever! Total waste of time!"
"The plot is old and stale, the story is boring, the designs are stupid and laughable. The worst vampire movie I've ever seen!"
"A pile of crap… It felt like watching a really bad shojo manga!"
"Bella might as well feed her monthly period blood to Edward. Otherwise, it's just a waste."
One must admit, some genius viewers have such wild imaginations that even the original author, Stephenie Meyer, would be driven to madness.
With *Twilight*, male and female audiences are starkly divided. In the past, popular female films like *Enchanted* or *Juno* had a predominantly female audience, but they never generated such vastly different opinions.
Immersed in romance and Mary Sue fantasies, young girls naturally wouldn't stand by when someone criticizes their beautiful dreams.
A super Mary Sue girl from Disney's ranks stepped up.
Miley Cyrus, who played Hannah Montana, responded as a *Twilight* fan to the male audience's criticism.
"When it comes to this movie, it seems most of the fans are girls, while most of the haters are jerks. If you see yourself as a girl, there's no reason why such pure love shouldn't appeal to you; if you see yourself as a jerk, you'll definitely curl your lip in contempt and say, 'whatever.'"
"It's like when you were an innocent boy or girl, you looked down on those wild men and women, thinking they were shameless, immoral, dirty, and filthy. When you
heard them tell crude, violent jokes, you couldn't help but turn away, your eyes blazing with righteous anger."
"When you finally grow into a wild man or woman yourself, you'll look down on those innocent kids, thinking they're ignorant, inexperienced, and brain-dead."
"From a jerk's perspective, these pretty boys and girls are utterly ridiculous. Especially when you think about how the author made so much money from a love story like this, your jealousy floods your heart."
"From a girl's perspective, even though I know that tall, handsome, strong men with red lips and white teeth who can fly, have cars and houses, live forever, have a seductive gaze, are gentle, loyal, and protective while also controlling their desires don't exist, I can't help but fantasize…"
Disney even brought out its hottest teen idol to help market the film.
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