The credits rolled to the end, the lights came up, and the auditorium still buzzed with stunned murmurs and sudden realizations.
No one had expected that ending.
Yet everything felt perfectly logical in retrospect. A quick mental rewind revealed how many clues the film had scattered along the way.
But still.
What a shock!
Lisa Collins rose with a faint smile, listening to the excited chatter around her as she and her boyfriend left the theater. Because of her distant connection to a certain someone, a quiet pride welled up inside her. She decided she would definitely see it again soon, there were so many details worth savoring.
The nine o'clock showing ended just past eleven on the East Coast.
Walking through the lobby, Lisa noticed several people who had just left heading straight back to the ticket counter.
At this hour, they clearly weren't rushing to another film. They simply couldn't wait to revisit all the planted clues.
Most twist films felt abrupt because the groundwork was thin. The Sixth Sense suffered no such flaw. Countless details blatantly pointed to the final revelation, yet without knowing the destination, they were almost impossible to interpret. Once the truth hit, everything clicked into place.
Most crucially, every clue and setup was woven seamlessly into the story, never forced, never detachable.
That was the mark of genius.
Lisa couldn't help thinking of the media outlets that had dismissed the film in recent weeks. Daenerys Entertainment had just delivered another classic. And box office? Judging by the people already lining up for a second viewing at midnight, money would be the least of its worries.
It was only eight o'clock on the West Coast.
Not late at all.
She decided to call Jennifer the moment she got home and congratulate her. If he happened to be there too, maybe she'd even get to exchange a few words.
While Lisa left her screening, countless professional and amateur critics across North America were finishing their reviews of The Sixth Sense.
Compared to other films, it had a natural advantage: the only wide release this weekend, and one headlined by Simon Westeros and Robert De Niro. Most papers had no real choice but to cover it. If every entertainment section tomorrow gushed about The Sixth Sense and theirs stayed silent, readers would wonder if the paper had fallen off the face of the earth.
Publishers hated that.
So, Saturday morning, the entertainment pages of newspapers across the continent led with The Sixth Sense.
That alone was the equivalent of a massive, blanket marketing campaign.
It was why big directors and stars so often succeeded: they effortlessly commanded attention. Even mediocre work from them rarely bombed outright because of sheer visibility. When the work was excellent, the results were explosive.
That was what people meant by "box-office draw."
North America's long-established critical ecosystem meant reviewers rarely resorted to spoilers for clicks. Under Amy's explicit instructions, Daenerys's distribution team had doubled down on PR to protect the secret. As a result, Saturday's reviews showered praise on the film while almost universally guarding its central twist.
They weren't as restrained as the marketing had been, however.
Stephen Hunter of The Washington Post practically itched to spill: "Pay even a little attention and The Sixth Sense will hook you completely. This bleak, chilling film builds to an ending you absolutely will not see coming. I desperately want to tell you what happens, but I can't, you'd hate me for it. All I can say is: do not miss this movie this year."
The Los Angeles Times was less coy yet still teasing: "Another meticulously crafted script from Simon Westeros. The Sixth Sense boasts what is easily the most satisfying conclusion I've seen in its genre."
Major outlets, The Hollywood Reporter, Variety, Chicago Sun-Times, San Francisco Chronicle all ran lengthy pieces hinting, to varying degrees, at the film's staggering final revelation.
Beyond the twist, the reviews delved deeply into the film's themes of redemption, while carefully avoiding spoilers. De Niro and the young actor playing Cole earned unanimous acclaim.
Cole's performer was a newcomer plucked from countless child auditions; most acting praise naturally centered on veteran De Niro.
Unlike Bruce Willis, De Niro had thrown himself into the role. He studied volumes of child-psychology material and spent a full month shadowing therapists at a clinic.
Onscreen, his every gesture and mannerism rang true to the profession.
The New York Post's critic openly declared that, after Dead Poets Society, De Niro had once again created an entirely fresh screen persona. The review even urged him to skip the upcoming Goodfellas to avoid being typecast again as a mobster.
Across all aggregated data, The Sixth Sense earned an 8.5, the highest media score of the summer so far.
Before it, only Spielberg's Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade had managed an 8.
Everything else lagged: The Bodyguard had been savaged, Ghostbusters II barely passed, Paramount's Star Trek V fared even worse than The Bodyguard. Among last week's newcomers, the well-liked Honey, I Shrunk the Kids scored 7.5, The Karate Kid Part III was branded a cash-grab, and Great Balls of Fire passed but tanked anyway.
Countless examples proved box office and critical acclaim weren't directly correlated, timing, screen count, hype, and countless other factors mattered. Still, The Sixth Sense not only claimed the summer's best reviews; word-of-mouth spread like wildfire.
With critics teasing the brilliance of the plot and audiences mysteriously urging friends and family to see "this movie with the insane ending," a rare viral phenomenon took hold.
Add Daenerys's relentless all-ages marketing and the prime lone-wide-release slot, and the result was staggering: on just 1,673 screens, The Sixth Sense easily claimed the weekend crown with $23.15 million in three days.
For context, The Bodyguard's seven-day opening had been only $23.63 million.
In the busy summer season, weekend totals typically accounted for 60–70% of a film's opening week.
Based on that ratio, analysts, media, and even Daenerys internally projected a full-week haul of $33–38 million already third-best of the summer behind Indiana Jones and Ghostbusters II.
At that level, the tiered theater deals meant the film would recoup its entire production and marketing budget in seven days.
Yet everyone had still underestimated the explosive potential of a movie blessed with perfect timing, placement, and momentum.
Fueled by relentless buzz, the actual seven-day total came in at a jaw-dropping $41.35 million, far beyond any forecast.
While every other summer release stayed within the usual 60–70% weekend-to-week ratio, The Sixth Sense's three-day take represented just 56% of its opening frame. Word-of-mouth drove massive weekday turnout well above average.
It also became the summer's first film to average over $20,000 per screen in its debut week: $24,716 across 1,673 locations.
By comparison, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade's first full week averaged $19,773 per screen. Ghostbusters II, on more screens, opened to $44.91 million but averaged only $18,635.
Both Indiana Jones and Ghostbusters II had already maxed out their screen counts weeks ago.
The Sixth Sense, starting on just 1,673, had left itself enormous room to grow. With per-screen averages nearing $25,000 and a full-blown cultural moment underway, Daenerys had every reason to expand.
Recent data pegged Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade's final North American total around $200 million.
Many had once thought it might end Daenerys's streak, claiming the year-end crown for the first time since 1987's Run Lola Run and 1988's Rain Man. Few mentioned that possibility now. Attention had shifted entirely to envy and curiosity: just how far could The Sixth Sense go?
July 7 marked the start of its second week.
Summer screens were scarce. After urgent talks with exhibitors, Daenerys managed only 256 additional screens, bringing the total to 1,929.
Meanwhile, three new films arrived: Warner Bros.' Lethal Weapon 2, Fox's Weekend at Bernie's, and Columbia's Sex, Lies, and Videotape.
The original Lethal Weapon had surprised everyone with a strong March release two years earlier, Warner's top earner that year, though short of $100 million. The sequel's confidence was tempered; it opened on 1,803 screens.
Fox's Weekend at Bernie's a comedy Simon had never heard of, debuted on 1,134.
Columbia clearly understood Sex, Lies, and Videotape's niche appeal. Despite probable enthusiasm from Westeros himself, they kept expectations grounded with just 517 screens, a generous platform release for an arthouse title.
Daenerys refused to take chances. They launched a fresh marketing wave for The Sixth Sense and coordinated with the Goodfellas crew to delay De Niro's scenes so he could continue promoting. The rest of the cast crisscrossed the country relentlessly.
Perhaps hoping for a dark horse to slow The Sixth Sense's roll, media coverage of the three newcomers spiked.
Friday arrived, early reviews poured in.
Lethal Weapon 2 successfully carried the torch from the original, earning an 8.3, topping May's Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and trailing The Sixth Sense by just 0.2.
Sex, Lies, and Videotape perhaps resonating with its exploration of dysfunction or simply hitting critics' arthouse sweet spot, received near-universal raves and a stunning 9.6.
Weekend at Bernie's, by contrast, slipped quietly under the radar with a failing 5.3. Still, as a goofy crime comedy, it had its built-in audience.
Three newcomers, plus a slate of holdovers with legs, the week of July 7–13 promised the fiercest competition of the summer so far.