The Soul-Shifting Girl is a pure art film through and through. It's nothing like A Beautiful Mind, which wears the skin of an art film but secretly panders to mainstream values with its feel-good healing vibe.
This movie is steeped in a heavy, oppressive atmosphere and packed with deep meaning. Unless you're a hardcore cinephile, it's tough to muster the energy to sit through it. Even with the prestigious Palme d'Or under its belt, it struggles to grab widespread attention from movie fans.
That's why, back in May, the film had its global premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. But its official North American release was pushed to mid-August, and the worldwide rollout won't happen until after September. The goal? To sidestep the sizzling summer box office, delay the release, and ride the awards season wave to lure in a niche crowd of film buffs.
What nobody saw coming, though, was that this summer, Dunn's name would be everywhere—shining brighter than the sun!
The buzz—both positive and negative—catapulted Dunn into the ruler of the summer box office. Thanks to the unstoppable juggernaut that was Spider-Man, he'd practically built a personal brand. "If it's from Dunn, it's gotta be good!"
Under this dazzling halo effect, even an art film like The Soul-Shifting Girl, where Dunn served as producer, managed to pull off a surprising box office win. Sure, it couldn't go toe-to-toe with the biggest mainstream blockbusters, but against a swarm of random small-fry films, it crushed them all with ease.
In its opening week, it raked in $15.8 million—good enough for second place, just behind New Line Cinema's The Cell.
Now, heading into its second week, three new contenders were hitting theaters: Universal's Bring It On, Warner's The Art of War, and Disney's Coyote Ugly. All had some competitive juice.
The box office fates of Bring It On and The Art of War didn't matter much to Dunn. His eyes were locked on one film: Disney's Coyote Ugly.
This was a pivotal moment in the showdown between Dunn Films and Disney. With Dunn Films still the underdog, they had to seize every chance to boost morale, starting small and building up bit by bit until they could finally flip the table on Disney.
The Soul-Shifting Girl was saddled with a tough mission: to dominate Coyote Ugly at the box office!
Let's be real—Coyote Ugly was a total flop. No question about it. Even though The Soul-Shifting Girl was an art film, under normal box office trends, beating it should've been a breeze.
But Dunn's biggest worry? What if Disney played dirty at this critical juncture?
Disney's films had been getting steamrolled by Dunn Films all summer long. Since June, they'd been living in Dunn's shadow. Back then, it didn't catch Michael Eisner's attention—fair enough. But now? Eisner was in the game, personally squaring off against Dunn. And when Eisner moved, he didn't mess around—his tactics were sharp and ruthless.
What if Eisner pulled some strings and "bought" box office numbers through the theater chains?
At this point, it was all about pride!
Eisner had already gone so far as to issue a "ban" on Dunn Films—breaking industry norms. If he could do that, what's to stop him from rigging ticket sales?
Dunn decided to get Michael Ovitz's take on it.
Ovitz was in Manhattan, New York, at the time, wielding Dunn's $100 million investment to negotiate with Merrill Lynch, trying to convince Wall Street capital to back a packaged investment project.
When he heard Dunn's concerns, Ovitz burst out laughing. "Dunn, this is Eisner we're talking about—Disney's big boss. You're underestimating him a little too much!"
Dunn raised an eyebrow, puzzled. "What's underestimating got to do with it?"
Ovitz explained, "Dunn, Eisner's the chairman of Disney's board, sure, but that doesn't mean he is Disney. If his personal image starts dragging down Disney's interests, the shareholders' meeting will kick him out faster than you can blink."
Dunn's eyes narrowed, his heart suddenly pounding.
Ovitz continued slowly, "A while back, Tom Cruise 'bought' $5 million in ticket sales for Mission: Impossible 2. It blew up in his face—everyone found out, and he became a laughingstock. With that kind of precedent, Eisner's not dumb enough to try the same stunt, no matter how desperate he gets. Don't underestimate the media's power!"
"He dared to break industry rules with that ban on Dunn Films because he kept it low-key, dodging the press in a slick, 'legal' way. It's like he's doing something shady but leaving no evidence to pin on him. But if he actually bought ticket sales to crush a competitor? His reputation would be toast."
"Look at Tom Cruise—he's a mess right now. The fallout from that 'ticket-buying' scandal has tainted the whole Mission: Impossible franchise. Sure, Mission: Impossible 2 was the second-biggest hit of the year behind Spider-Man, but if they want to reboot that series, they'll be waiting at least five years!"
Dunn wasn't fully tuned into Ovitz's spiel—his mind was racing from that earlier spark.
Michael Eisner… yeah, he's Disney's chairman and CEO, no doubt. But behind him? There's the Disney shareholders' meeting!
If Eisner's image took a hit and dragged Disney down with it, his near-emperor-like grip on the company could be ripped away by the shareholders!
Suddenly, a bold, thrilling idea popped into Dunn's head—
After Vivendi's massive losses, Dunn would definitely make a move to acquire Universal Pictures. Money wasn't the issue. With his fame and influence, he could easily secure funding from Wall Street to seal the deal. Heck, he might not even need to borrow a dime—his own cash could cover it.
The real hurdle? Dunn Films didn't have the clout to pull off an acquisition like Universal Pictures!
Right now, Hollywood—and all of North America—could see it: the rivalry between Dunn Films and Disney was out in the open, heating up fast.
If Dunn Films came out on top in this fight, and Dunn single-handedly took down Michael Eisner—forcing Disney's shareholders to oust him—who'd dare question Dunn's chops then?
Even the DreamWorks trio couldn't pull that off, but if Dunn did?
Once Dunn Films toppled Disney, it'd be like a nuclear bomb going off in Hollywood, the shockwaves hitting every corner. When that happened, would Universal Pictures have any reason to turn down Dunn Films' acquisition offer?
Heck, Universal's execs and shareholders would probably be begging Dunn to step in and save them from their mess!
Dunn took a deep breath, his gaze steady and resolute.
Before this, folks like Bill Mechanic and Wes Cotton had tossed around ideas to help Dunn Films boost its influence fast. But Dunn always felt those plans were too slow—and even if they worked, they wouldn't guarantee the kind of recognition he needed from Hollywood's inner circle.
Going head-to-head with Disney, though? That was a different beast—a full-on test of strength!
Michael Eisner had been a Hollywood titan for two decades, calling the shots and shaping the industry—a living legend.
If Dunn could take him down in one fell swoop, he wouldn't just be some hotshot director anymore—he'd be a bona fide heavyweight!
Directors, actors—they're all just pieces on Hollywood's chessboard.
But beating Michael Eisner? That'd be Dunn going from pawn to player!
That's what real power looked like!
A bright light flared in Dunn's mind—he could finally see the path ahead.
…
August 25, Friday—Disney's crime comedy Coyote Ugly hit theaters, opening in 1,510 locations with a screen share of just 7%. That was weaker than its same-week rivals, Bring It On and The Art of War.
You could tell the theater chains weren't betting big on this 88-minute flick.
On its opening day, Bring It On pulled in $60,000, and The Art of War cleared over $4 million. Coyote Ugly? A measly $1.03 million—lagging behind holdovers like Space Cowboys, The Cell, The King of Comedy, Scary Movie, The Soul-Shifting Girl, and The Perfect Storm. It landed at a pitiful ninth place on the daily chart.
Just one day in, and this film—with a $35 million budget and $8 million in marketing—was already doomed to lose money!
Seeing the numbers, Joe Roth, head of Disney's production department, wiped the cold sweat off his brow and let out a relieved sigh.
Good thing he hadn't made any promises to Michael Eisner—he'd have been sunk otherwise.
Still, it was weird. Did Dunn… did he really have some kind of magic touch?
How could an art film like The Soul-Shifting Girl rake in decent box office cash?
Three days later, the weekend totals came in.
Universal's new release Bring It On took the crown with $17.36 million, no surprise there.
Warner's The Art of War snagged second place with $10.4 million.
Third? The Soul-Shifting Girl, pulling in $9.4 million. Add that to its $15.8 million opening week, and its North American total was already past $24 million.
Hitting $50 million in North America suddenly didn't seem so far-fetched.
Meanwhile, Disney's Coyote Ugly was a total sob story—its opening weekend scraped together just $4 million!
After getting crushed all summer by Dunn Films' hits like Gone in 60 Seconds, Scary Movie, and The Girls' Club, Disney's latest, Coyote Ugly, couldn't escape the same fate.
And it was worse this time. If those earlier films could at least say they got flattened by the commercial titan Spider-Man and save some face, Coyote Ugly getting outperformed by an art film was a straight-up slap in the face.
Disney's movies were looking downright pitiful—pathetic, miserable, and oh-so-sad!