First Thursday After Release
By noon, the studio offices were pandemonium.
Fax machines coughed, phones screamed, and a hastily convened call between Touchstone and Disney's distribution head ended with one order: add another $5 million to marketing.
Five million more for television spots, outdoor billboards, and a second round of front-page promotion on LetterBox.com.
Cindy received the authorization letter before breakfast — a curt, two-sentence memo that might as well have been a confession:
> "Your digital strategy worked. Expand immediately."
The campaign team in LA called it "the biggest late-summer pivot in studio history."
The additional budget meant they would plaster the red-door poster across every major theater in North America and push the ad carousel on LetterBox to the top of every user's personal watch list for the next four weeks.
Neil read the memo over orange juice and smiled faintly.
"A $250k bribe to the ghosts on the Internet," he said.
Cindy only nodded. "And every one of them your fan," she added, pointing to the overwhelming recognition and acclaim Neil was getting in the comments.
The comment section on The Sixth Sense's page looked like an electrical storm — hundreds of new posts every minute, fans writing as if the film had personally haunted them.
---
@FilmGuru89:> "I've seen a lot of child actors, but Neil Dunphy's eyes? Unreal. The way he looks at empty space — you start checking your own room for ghosts."
@ElliotNYC:> "That kid didn't act scared. He was scared. Either the director hypnotized him or he really saw something on set. No six-year-old stares like that unless they've seen the other side."
@Mia_Reviews:> "Everyone's talking about the twist, but no one's talking about that quiet scene where he just listens. Those eyes. Dead calm. I swear my theater went silent like we were in church."
@CinemaLover:> "I think the movie isn't over. I think it's based on Neil Dunphy's real life. He's definitely seeing real ghosts. There's no way a kid acts like that."
@AnalogHeart:> "Idk whether he acted, but his eyes pulled me in. I almost peed my pants when I heard "I see dead people.". I was so focused on his face I forgot to breathe. And what is wrong with that post-credit. Cole said, "They are everywhere". Is that about the sequel, was that Cole in the post-credit. I want to see the sequel RIGHT NOW!!!!"
@CelluloidDreamer:> "That post-credit moment — the single shot of him turning toward the mirror with only his eyes visible — that's what everyone's missing. The reflection moves before he does. It's not just a movie about ghosts. It's about being one."
@ReelAddict:(spoiler)> "People in my theater screamed at the end. Then nobody left. We just sat there. Even when the credits ended. It felt like the movie didn't let go. I'm thankful I stuck around, otherwise I would have to watch it again for the post-credit that people are discussing everywhere. Although I would have seen the movie again regardless. I need to definitely "Re-Watch" it for all the hints of Malcolm's death."
@FiloFan:> "I re-watched the final seconds frame by frame. The mirror, the card, Malcolm's photo, the news cutting, the light shift — they are about the future; but Malcolm doesn't die in that. It loops. The story's a circle. No wonder everyone keeps saying they'll watch again."
By dawn, the post-credit theories were spreading like folklore — whispers of "Cole's possession," "secret organization," and "Neil's eyes changing color between shots."
Even the verified critics couldn't decide whether it was cinematic illusion or something else.
The word acting felt too small for what they had seen.
---
But not everyone at Touchstone was smiling.
The producers who had negotiated the $1 million one-time payout bonus for Neil months ago — a condescending token for a child actor with no back-end points — were watching the weekend receipts in silence.
Their phones buzzed with congratulations they couldn't enjoy.
Somewhere else in the large LA office. A high-level meeting was going on.
'That little devil, he really had us. I guess we need to pay attention next time. $1 million is no small amount; especially for a new comer; not to mention he is a child-star.'
'You are right. Although, its fine. His post-credit idea has already created a buzz for the Sequel. He already gave us a new blockbuster even before the screenplay has been written.'
'That's true. Although, I'm not sure about the sequel. According to Shyamalan it was just a teaser of his next movie "Unbreakable", but because of fan theories it has built up into something totally alien and new'
'Hmph! That Shyamalan. Doesn't know what is good for him. He should adapt the audience's expectation and force-adopt Cole's role into the screenplay if he has to. Anyway, we should talk to Neil's agent. He was the one to suggest the original idea of the sequel, maybe he can be a co-writer in the next movie.'
'But that's preposterous. A child actor cannot have a main credit. Putting his name as a special credit was already stretching the law too far.'
---
Every news anchor reminded the executives of the Touchstone and Disney how historic the opening was, how the film's profitability had been locked in by Saturday night; only on its second day of release.
One executive reportedly muttered, "We just signed away a fortune for a child's antics. That's a million less in net income."
They had thought they were buying a decent horror script, saving $50,000 on a child actor by sticking to base pay. Instead, they'd bought into a cultural avalanche — and capped their payout before the first ticket was sold.
By contrast, Neil showed no sign of gloating. When Claire and Phil decided to throw a small party to celebrate his success, he only sighed, "They'll learn not to give me much leverage next time."
Claire laughed nervously. "You sound like Dad."
"Grandpa doesn't care about a million," Neil said. "He drives a Porsche Carrera for groceries. I have to."
Phil raised his glass. "Hey, don't knock groceries, buddy. Those Tuesday sales bought your first PC."
Claire groaned. "Phil, please don't compare computers and groceries again."
He grinned. "Hey, both keep the family connected."
He turned and gave Neil a hug, his beard poking at his smooth skin "...My son — a movie star! This is huge! Your old man couldn't be prouder! Let's enjoy."
Claire: "Let's not make him too full of himself, Phil. We still need him to unload the dishwasher."
Neil (grinning): "Sorry, Mom. Celebrities don't do chores."
Laughter around the table. Then—tiny Alex speaks up, clutching her sippy cup.
Alex (age 2.5, frowning): "Movie big… Luke small."
Phil (chuckling): "Oh-ho! That's my little philosopher! Time for balloon party."
Alex: "Neil smart… Luke not... Papa Dumbh"
Luke (confused): "~glug ~glug"
Phil: "My daughter just called me Papa Dunphy! Where's the party poppers"
Claire (inner): "I think I'm having a deja-vu."
---
Last Week, August, 1999
In Los Angeles, the studio lot was celebrating.
In New York, Letter Box's servers were glowing hot.
And somewhere between the two, a six-year-old boy folded the newspaper, set it beside his untouched breakfast, and stared out the window toward the northern LA suburbs.
Claire whispered, "What do you think he's sighing about? He's a superstar now. I've never seen someone so bored after becoming a cultural phenomenon."
Phil shrugged. "Maybe fame comes with jet lag."
Neil just sat there, quiet, eyes half-closed.
'It's already mid-August,' he thought. 'Do I really have to go to school with a bunch of toddlers? ~sigh. Also, I need to start closing positions in the stock market... acquire a few companies... find a new agentas Cindy is already overworked.'
The game had only just begun — and Neil was already dreading school and the paparazzi.
---
Box Office Result
Opening Day (Friday): $17.5 million
Opening Weekend (Fri–Sun): $60 million
---
Week 2: "The Hold"
Weekend 2 Total: $48 million (–20%)
10-Day Domestic Total: $140 million
Cumulative Gross: Already the 5th highest of the year
No film that opened this high was supposed to increase weekday attendance, but The Sixth Sense broke that rule too. Theaters were still selling out their 10 p.m. shows. A few chains even reported 1 a.m. screenings "by community request."
---
Week 3: "The Expansion"
Weekend 3 (Aug 20–22): $36 million (–25%)
Domestic Total: $195 million
International Launches: UK and Australia open same weekend
The UK launch brought in $8 million opening weekend, a staggering figure for a supernatural drama with no British stars.
Australia added another $4 million across 250 screens — their biggest August opening ever for a non-blockbuster.
Letter Box's own analytics mirrored the theater data: re-watch clicks crossed the 1 million mark, with 97.8% positivity and over 150,000 user comments by the end of Week 3.
---
Week 4: "Takeover"
Weekend 4 (Aug 27–29): $25 million (–26%)
Domestic Total: $248 million
Worldwide: $280 million
The third weekend's international bump carried straight through. The Sixth Sense became the #1 film in over 20 markets simultaneously.
Even Japan — scheduled for late September — moved its release forward by a week.
Touchstone's internal memo, leaked to Variety, read simply:
"Film worldwide gross crossed $520M. Surpassing "The Exorcist" Projected final gross revised to $620M global. Word of mouth at record levels. No sign of fatigue."
Neil saw the news and smiled. 'Exactly as predicted.'
---
By the end of August, The Sixth Sense had crossed $520 million worldwide, and Neil's life turned into a headline.
His contract was simple—$1 million one-time bonus and base pay, signed when the studio still thought he was "just a kid." It cleared before week three.
That million looked generous until Touchstone realized the film was earning that much every few hours. One producer was overheard groaning, "We paid a child for lightning in a bottle."
Neil didn't care. His real fortune wasn't from acting—it was LetterBox and the upcoming Dotcom Crash.
Traffic tripled after release; Disney's million dollar marketing boost with original contract and renewal turned the startup from a ten-million experiment into a twenty-five-million property overnight. (IMDb is valued around $55M around the time.)
His seventy-percent stake made him a paper millionaire several times over. ($17.5 M to be exact)
Between the acting payout, ad deals, and leftover gains from previous CISCO cash-out, Neil's personal worth excluding the Options positions still in the market, hovered around twenty-two million dollars—more than the men who tried to underpay him. His bank alone had a $1.2 million.
AN: we will discuss his and his family's stocks in the final installment of the volume one: the wall street wizard.
At breakfast, Claire read the trades, shaking her head. "You're almost half as rich as your grandfather."
AN: as per one modern family article I read, the fan theorized net worth of Jay should be around $30-40 million. Jay said in the show that Dede's lawyer bought a Ferrari and a beach house from the divorce settlement (5-10% of total), so based on 50% split his total net worth is around $40M. In this AU, his business is doing even better because of advertisement exposure from Neil.
Phil grinned. "Buddy, if you decide to buy a mansion, let me pick the pool tiles. I'll get the widest pool for your training."
Neil sipped his juice. "You're still paying for the house cleaning though."
Outside, reporters waited.
Inside, the servers of LetterBox pulsed like living things on his computer screen, millions of visitors feeding the empire he'd built in silence.
A million from acting, twenty from the web, and a movie tearing through box-office history—Neil Dunphy was officially Hollywood's youngest tycoon.
He folded the newspaper, watching the LA sun climb higher.
Touchstone had capped his contract, but not his reach.
The game wasn't over. It had barely begun.
---