Dreams of Stardom (Hollywood SI)

[The Sixth Sense] opened in 2,161 theaters across the United States and Canada on August 6, 1999, alongside two new movies: [The Thomas Crown Affair], an R-rated romantic film starring Pierce Brosnan and Rene Russo, and [Mystery Men], a superhero movie starring Ben Stiller.

Of the three films, [The Sixth Sense] was made on the smallest budget at $40 million, while the others were made for $48 million and $68 million respectively. However, [The Sixth Sense] had the highest marketing budget at $25 million. Not to mention, the star power of Bruce Willis, who had been a major draw ever since the release of the first [Die Hard].

Then there was all the buzz in the media about Troy Armitage being one of the youngest Golden Globe winners and his exceptional acting talent. While millions of people watched [Sex Education], it was his interview with Oprah that instantly catapulted Troy to super fame.

The interview showcasing Troy's multiple talents was watched by more than 20 million people across the US (including reruns and on-demand). People loved the song that Troy wrote. Even Oprah Winfrey was surprised to learn that fact. With the hint of more of Troy's singing in the film, there was great buzz surrounding the movie.

Reading the room, Disney released the video of Troy Armitage's song, "Count on Me," on August 5th, just a day before the movie's release. The song was an instant hit, especially among children, due to its simple and catchy lyrics. Every radio station and music channel started playing the song, thanks to a gentle push from Disney, making it even more popular.

Then came the major game changer for any movie's opening and subsequent success.

Reviews.

Critics adored the film, especially Troy's performance, which they called the 'real star' of the movie.

"Bruce Willis is quite good, but the 10-year-old Troy Armitage steals the show with his chilling performance and beautiful vocals." – Jeffrey Miller, Culture Magazine

"If you haven't seen the trailer, don't. Armitage's Cole is such an intelligent, tortured child, who easily gives the best kid performance of the year, if not the decade. In fact, if he were to get an Oscar nomination, it would be both historic and just." – John Anderson, L.A. Times

"It is impossible to take your eyes off Armitage, who vividly conveys the hopelessness of a sensitive, intelligent child who bears burdens beyond all telling. Armitage performs with such sustained and concentrated intensity you feel his terror as your own. It's as virtuoso a major film debut as any since Edward Norton freaked audiences out and launched his brilliant career in [Primal Fear]." – Rod Meyer, NY Post

"Armitage has one of those child faces that looks like it has experienced adult woes, and he has a wise-beyond-his-years way of delivering lines. One of the finest performances of the year." – Mark Cahill, Chicago Tribune

"Troy Armitage gives the best rendition of one of the most difficult songs in the history of musical theater with utmost sincerity and superb acting. We can easily predict that the superstar of the coming decades is here." – Tom Chapman, The WSJ

On the review aggregator site, Rotten Tomatoes, of the three movies released that day, [Mystery Men] received the worst rating, with 61% positive reviews and a score of 5.7/10.

[The Thomas Crown Affair] fared slightly better with a rating of 70% and a score of 6.4/10.

[The Sixth Sense] exceeded all expectations, receiving 93% positive reviews with an astonishing score of 8/10, making it the clear winner in the critics' opinions.

All these factors combined spelled a massive summer blockbuster. Then there was Troy's song 'Count on Me' which was super popular with the audiences. Disney had released two videos of the song, one which was adored by the audiences for showing a touching story of two kids growing up together, while the other was basically a commercial for the film where the audio of the song is the same, but the video contains scenes from the movie. It was technically wrong advertising because the song wasn't even in the movie, but no one cared. Gullible audiences didn't know that and many came in spades to see the film because of that.

This was reflected in the movie's first-day sales: $12.5 million worth of movie tickets were sold on Friday, August 6th.

That number even increased the following day, with a smashing $14.7 million on Saturday, before dipping slightly on Sunday to $13.3 million.

With that, [The Sixth Sense] had one of the best opening weekends of the year, grossing $40.5 million, and achieving the highest opening for August. Surprisingly, it recouped all of its production budget within the first three days of its opening.

It opened at number one, defeating the second-place film, [The Blair Witch Project], which earned a total of $22.4 million, and the third-place film, [Runaway Bride], which earned $20.7 million.

More importantly, audiences loved the movie. Troy Armitage's performance was praised unanimously, especially for the song sequence "Bring Him Home."

 

(Break)

 

Zach was your average teenager in Los Angeles. As the summer holidays were soon coming to an end, he decided with his friends to go to the movies for the last one of the season.

So Zach and three of his friends went to the local theater, but they were still undecided about the movie they wanted to watch. Of all the movies available, the one they were most hyped about was [Mystery Men]. It was all about superheroes and it even had Ben Stiller, one of Zach's favorite actors.

To be honest, if he had the choice, he'd have gone for [The Thomas Crown Affair] because of the sex scenes alone, but it was rated R and they wouldn't get entry to the theater without an adult. The theater they had to go to was very strict on this policy.

"~Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh

Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh

Ooh, yeah, yeah~"

Zach looked up at his best friend Tim, who was humming that annoying tune for the last two days.

"Will you stop that?" Zach asked irritatedly. "Rather than singing that song, help us decide which film to watch."

"Let's go for [The Sixth Sense]," Tim didn't even have to think twice, "The newspaper says it's the best film out there. And I just can't get this song out of my head! ~You can count on me, like 1,2,3, I'll be there!~~." He sang the line from the song out loud. "Man, that kid is something."

"You want to watch a kiddie movie?" Zach asked angrily, "A fucking kiddie movie?"

"Hey! It has Bruce Willis in it! And I think it's about ghosts! I saw the trailer." Tim defended himself.

This resulted in a small argument between them about which movie to watch.

"Guys! Stop!" Annie, another of his friends, butted in, "I read the paper too. [Mystery Men] is very bad. Let's go for [Runaway Bride]. It has Julia Roberts and Richard Gere. Looks like a Pretty Woman sequel."

"I'd rather kill myself than watch Julia Roberts and Richard Gere," Zach deadpanned.

Their arguments continued for minutes before the fourth person of their group, Lauren stepped in, "Let's do a vote. I vote for [The Sixth Sense]."

Tim smiled as he also was in favor of [The Sixth Sense]. Annie voted for [Runaway Bride]. That left Zach alone. He'd rather watch [The Sixth Sense] than go for a chick-flick, so he acquiesced to others and also voted for [The Sixth Sense].

They got in the ticket counter line which was pretty big. Thankfully their number came within 10 minutes of waiting. They got four tickets to the earliest show of the movie and went inside the hall.

 

(After a few hours)

 

"Holy shit! Bruce Willis was dead the whole time!" Zach exclaimed loudly, "I can't believe it! It was the super-best movie ever!"

Tim shook his head dramatically, "And to think this man didn't even want to watch it in the first place."

Zach just ignored him, "I'll tell my parents, sister, and even grandparents to go as well. They'll love it. I know. I'll post it on my online forum. Such a masterpiece must be watched by all."

Annie looked at him skeptically, "I think he's gone crazy."

"Nah," Tim waved her off, "he just loves thriller movies with plot twists. He didn't know it was a thriller or he wouldn't have complained so much in the beginning."

That night, Zach logged on to his system and opened his usual forum where he used to discuss comic books and other stories.

'Guys! Has anyone seen [The Sixth Sense]? If you haven't, go watch it. One of the greatest movies, has a lot of suspense and a big plot twist! If you have watched it already, come to this chatbox. Let's discuss the film!' ~Zakrum

'Oh? It's that good? Thought Bruce Willis was a 'has-been' now.' ~ClemenG

'He is a has-been and not even the real hero of the film. Don't make me spoil it if you haven't watched it yet, but the real hero of the story is the little boy who sang that song on Oprah's show.' ~Zakrum

'I have seen the film, and Zakrum is right. It is sooooo good! I'll rewatch it.' ~ElNina

'I will go tomorrow!' ~ClemenG

 

(Break)

 

Whenever people witness something they perceive to be amazing, they don't want to keep it to themselves, unless it is limited in nature. And since anyone can watch a movie, the recommendations for it flowed freely like water. Everyone was telling everyone to go watch the film called [The Sixth Sense].

So over the coming weeks, the box office performance of the film didn't slow down in the least. In its second weekend, it earned $39.2 million, followed by $35.1 million, $31.9 million, $36.3 million, and $20.2 million in the third to sixth weekends, remaining in the number one spot for six consecutive weeks. While it wasn't Titanic, which held the number one spot for 17 weeks, for a movie made on a fifth of the budget of Titanic and without the presence of James Cameron, it was a phenomenal success.

By the end of the sixth week, the gross total was $287 million, excluding international ticket sales. Due to different release times in various countries, it wasn't easy to determine the actual figure at this point, but it would become clear in a few months.

One thing was obvious to anyone in the know: Bruce Willis was going to be super rich from this movie alone and could easily live the rest of his days in comfort if he desired to retire today. With his cut set at 17% of the global box office, he had already made upwards of $48 million, and more would follow as more international figures were reported.

The producers were very happy with the results, though they were cursing the fact that Bruce would earn so much. M. Night Shyamalan was thrilled about his big break, and everyone involved in the making of the movie was super excited about the film's performance at the box office. Well, almost everyone.

 

(Break)

 

"Why the fuck won't these reporters leave me alone!?" I shouted as I peeked out of my apartment building window and saw three 'reporters' with cameras hanging around their necks.

"Calm down, Troy," Dad said absentmindedly while reading some documents on his new laptop, "We're only here for a few days anyway. After the Emmys, it's back to London for us. It's time to announce the cast of [Harry Potter]."

I think that one sentence had more exposition than any other in this story. To begin with, Dad had basically stopped correcting my foul language. He only did it in case Mum was listening.

Then, the Primetime Emmy Nominations came out a few weeks ago. As you might have guessed by now, [Sex Education] received a bunch of them. Outstanding Made for Television Movie for Mum and Dad, Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie for yours truly, Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie for Michelle Williams, Outstanding Directing for a Movie for Dad, Outstanding Writing for a Movie, again for Dad.

That's a total of five nominations, almost all the categories where a TV movie could be nominated were there. (All except Lead Actress and Supporting Actor.)

And finally, Warner Bros gave in to casting me as Harry Potter. After the super success of [The Sixth Sense], they decided to enter contract negotiations directly and forgo anything else. Because Dad had a conflict of interest, as they liked to say, he couldn't negotiate my salary or working conditions, so that responsibility went to Mum.

Thankfully, Mum was more than competent in naming our terms.

 

(Flashback)

 

"Mum, would it be possible to get a percentage share rather than a fixed remuneration?" I asked the big question that I had been mulling over for a long time.

"We could instead ask for a big fee upfront," Mum pointed out, "Wouldn't that be better? We don't know if the movie would even work. These types of deals usually give out returns only if the movie makes more than thrice the money of the investment. Do you even know how much that is?"

"$100 million?" I asked, feigning ignorance.

"$125 million," Mum corrected, "You can get a maximum salary of $2 million after the success of [The Sixth Sense] and your Golden Globe and Emmy nods."

"Come on, don't joke like that," I scoffed. "Who would pay me $2 million?"

The deadpan look Mum was giving me made me pause for a moment before slowly asking, "Really?"

"Yes," She nodded. "You need to accept that you are worth much more than that. $2 million is the least amount of money that you would get for a non-franchise film because of the success of [The Sixth Sense]. Given how Warner want you to sign multiple films, two seems like a reasonable number for them to settle on. Worst case scenario, they'll adjust the money out of your father's final settlement, but that shouldn't be your concern."

That was too much information received all at once. My brain was still not functioning properly enough to accept the information. I knew that Daniel Radcliffe and the other actors made tens of millions of dollars for the franchise, but that was mostly in the later films.

"What if they don't pay me anything?" I asked after a few more seconds.

When her incredulous stare was directed at me, I explained, "Just like in 'Dancer', but different. You ask for $2 million, but instead of taking it in cash, we invest the money in the movie itself. In exchange, I want a share from the gross receipts, not the profits. I will be the name and the face of a big franchise, after all."

Mum gave me a calculating look for a moment before nodding slowly, "Okay. I will ask, but it is unlikely that they will agree to it. If they give you the deal, it would mean no money if the movie doesn't do well. This is essentially a risk-return payoff. They get to spend less now to reduce any potential losses. And if the movie does well, they'll have to pay you more than they would have otherwise."

"Yeah, I understand all that," I waved off her concerns. This was [Harry Potter] for God's sake. "Just make sure that there is a clause for an increase in base remuneration and that I have the option of reinvesting my future salaries in all the films. I have a feeling that if the first film did really well, they'd cut me out of profits from the second film onwards."

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