A Hollywood movie might make tons of money, but whether it’s seen as a success or depends on whether the project beat expectations about it. “The process is similar to evaluating a football team’s performance not on the outcome of the game but on whether it beat the point spread set by oddsmakers. An amorphous group of Hollywood executives and box-office pundits mulls over how much a film should gross. Hollywood buzz then sets a line of demarcation defining success.”