The third episode of Band of Brothers had just aired, and viewership was picking up compared to last weekend. The average audience climbed to 11.09 million—still a far cry from the premiere's glory days, but a step in the right direction.
Thankfully, it'd been over two weeks since the "9/11 incident." According to Comcast's projections, starting this week, the TA network's buzz should start heating back up.
Dunn had also gotten his hands on the box office numbers for A Beautiful Mind. The results? Expected, yet surprising!
The "expected" part was the film pulling in $27 million over its opening weekend. With the "Dunn Walker" brand and the tagline "Heal your wounded heart," that kind of haul made sense.
The surprise? It snagged the top spot on last week's box office chart!
Even more shocking, the runner-up was Never Sinking, a film that'd been out for over four months, raking in $24.76 million. Sure, a big chunk of that came from Dunn Pictures' donations, but numbers are numbers.
Never Sinking officially crossed the $1 billion mark globally, making it the fourth movie ever to hit that milestone.
As for the slew of new releases… honestly, their box office was underwhelming.
Twentieth Century Fox's Silent Trigger, an R-rated crime thriller, had Oscar-winner Michael Douglas in the lead, but the timing was off. It only managed $15 million over the weekend.
Warner Bros.' Hearts in Atlantis was just too bland. It lacked the gripping moments to hook audiences, plodded along at a slow pace, and ended without any real punch. No major flaws, but nothing brilliant either. Anthony Hopkins and Penelope Cruz delivered solid performances, but the lackluster story couldn't win over viewers. It limped to $9 million in its first three days—pretty dismal.
Dunn, as expected, claimed the title of champion director on the weekly box office chart again. But the unexpected twist? It was A Beautiful Mind that carried him there.
The film's strong opening shattered doubts from theater chains. In just three days, it went from 1,200 screens to 2,800, thanks to that number-one spot.
Universal's forecast said it all: right now, A Beautiful Mind had no real competition at the box office. Never Sinking's $50 million donation boost was tapped out, and it'd likely drop off the charts next week.
Starting this week, A Beautiful Mind would stand alone as North America's box office king!
Even in this off-season lull, the unicorn glow around the film would keep its numbers solid.
Maybe it'd hold strong until November 2, when Pixar's Monsters, Inc. dropped, or November 16, when Warner Bros. and Dunn Pictures teamed up for The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Those might finally slow its roll.
That's still over a month away!
Dunn's reaction was pretty chill. His focus was on a fax from New Line Cinema.
…
Bob Shaye's face was dark as thunder. He'd already snapped at his secretary, shooing her out, and slammed the papers in his hand onto his desk.
"Jerk! That jerk! Jerk!"
He couldn't stop muttering curses under his breath.
Hard to tell if he was mad at the guy who started this mess or the outrageous details in the document.
It was a fax straight from Dunn Pictures, listing accusations from no less than 16 actresses!
They all claimed that while filming Rush Hour 2, they'd faced harassment and gender discrimination from director Brett Ratner.
Dunn didn't even mention the blacklist. His stance was lofty—he called himself a feminist, fighting for justice!
One actress said she'd barely arrived on set when she was told to deliver food to Ratner's trailer. When she got there, she was floored. She set the food down, ready to bolt, but Ratner begged her to stay.
"He waddled out with his big belly, no pants on. One hand holding a cocktail shrimp, the other going wild on himself. Before I could figure out where to hide or look, he finished."
Even Bob Shaye, who'd been defending Ratner, couldn't help but mutter, "Shameless!" after reading that.
Then there were the background actresses, claiming Ratner would pull them aside during shoots, demanding they flash him or perform other favors.
Bob had been in the game for 30 years—one glance, and he knew what was legit.
Even if you argued it was all made up, with over a dozen actresses pointing fingers, if this went public, Ratner's career was toast. And it could drag New Line down with him!
Rush Hour 2 was still in theaters, after all!
Sure, its weekly box office was fading, but ticket sales only make up 20-30% of a movie's total revenue. The real money's in ancillary streams.
If this blew up, Ratner's ruined rep would be the least of it. The real damage would hit Rush Hour 2's future earnings!
This had to be dealt with—now!
Last time Dunn called, Bob hadn't given him any face.
Was begging for peace an option now?
Bob's face was grim as iron. After a long silence, he decided to head to Warner Bros.' headquarters.
Dunn had the moral high ground locked down and wasn't backing off. Bob didn't have the confidence to sway him.
At this point, bringing in Warner Bros.' big boss, Barry Meyer, seemed like the smarter move.
…
At the hillside estate, two pairs of four stunning women lived it up.
Rose Byrne and Abbie Cornish were one duo; Penelope Cruz and Charlize Theron were the other.
Dunn usually rotated nights, living the high life.
Now, Penelope had left to film Daredevil, and Charlize was on her way out too. She'd passed on Red Dragon, but with Never Sinking blowing up at the box office, her star was rising fast. Offers were pouring in, and she'd just signed on for The Italian Job.
Dunn wasn't about to let his bed sit empty. Finally, he remembered a certain beauty—Anne Hathaway.
Truth is, this had been in the works since last year during The Princess Diaries. He'd even lined up the lead role for her in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.
The Princess Diaries had been out for two months now, and Dunn finally found time to bring Anne into the fold.
"Everything squared away at home?"
Dunn had held off on moving Anne in, mostly out of caution.
Her mom was a small-time singer and actress—someone who'd know the ins and outs of the industry.
Dunn didn't want his personal entanglements spilling over to parents.
Anne sat primly on the sofa in his office, dressed in a tight black mini-dress. Her skin was snowy white, her lips fiery red, and her hair cascaded casually over her shoulders. She bit her lip and gave a soft, "Mm-hmm."
"No issues with your parents?"
"I'm an adult now, aren't I?" Anne blinked, a flicker of confusion crossing her face.
Dunn rubbed his forehead and chuckled. "Fair enough. So, you're moving in tonight—no problem?"
Anne's cheeks flushed faintly, her voice barely a whisper. "No problem."
Dunn grinned, standing up. "Come on, let's go meet a big shot."
"A big shot?" Anne's mind was quick. She flashed a sweet smile. "To me, you're the biggest shot around."
Dunn didn't argue. He stepped over, slid an arm around her slim waist, and said casually, "Either way, when Barry Meyer personally invites you, you've got to give him some face."
"Barry Meyer?"
Anne paused, the name ringing a bell, like she'd heard it somewhere.
Dunn nodded. "Yep. Warner Bros.' new chairman and CEO."
"Oh!" Anne gasped as it clicked, then tensed up. "Sir, is it… okay for me to go?"
"Why wouldn't it be?"
"I… I'm not wearing a gown…" Anne sounded nervous, clearly intimidated by the legendary name.
Dunn laughed, his hand slipping down from her waist to give her full, round hip a light pat. "Relax, it's just Barry Meyer—nothing crazy. Stick with me, and you don't need to fear anyone or anything!"
"Even Disney?"
"Disney?" Dunn's lips curled into a smirk, followed by a cold huff.
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