Chapter 391: Evenstar Sleepwear

As the sun rose, a new Summer Season weekend kicked off. Neither the major mainstream media nor the dedicated entertainment papers were going to let any headline-grabbing news slip by. Opening in North America in an unprecedented number of theaters, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring was undoubtedly the primary target of their saturation publicity.

However, as usual, the media took different stances.

"The Fellowship of the Ring faces widespread protests from fans of the books, who believe the film adaptation severely violates the spirit of the original."

While the San Francisco Chronicle frantically hyped the negative news, the Los Angeles Times highly praised the film: "The Fellowship of the Ring conquers fans with a single Premiere; fans go to war with protesters to defend the film!"

Media praise and criticism were perfectly normal. After all, the release of a massive blockbuster often involved various competing interests, and news outlets naturally held their own stances.

However, the moment The Fellowship of the Ring hit theaters, the paid online shills under Duke stopped targeting Pearl Harbor and pivoted to building hype for their own film. Although websites like IMDB were constantly improving their rating systems, they would never completely eliminate the influence of paid online shills, even in the future—let alone now, against an unusually massive army of them.

There was no suspense whatsoever. On Friday, The Fellowship of the Ring boasted an IMDB rating of 9.7, with many of the 1,566 participating users giving it a perfect ten.

On Rotten Tomatoes, although the Freshness rating—which had little impact on the box office—sat at just 76 percent, the Popcorn Index, reflecting the ordinary audience's score, was as high as 98 percent!

These numbers inevitably included some inflation from the paid online shills, but another statistic accurately reflected the film's true popularity.

"For the cinema audience statistics, 17,805 people participated in the theater audience ratings!"

In the office at Duke Studio, Doug Walter sat across from Duke, entirely unable to suppress the excitement on his face.

"The positive rating is at ninety-five percent, and the overall grade is an A+!"

Before Duke could say a word, he continued, "The exact midnight screening box office numbers are out too."

Duke raised an eyebrow, clearly very invested in this aspect.

Shouldering such a massive investment, even a pig would care about the film's box office numbers.

Doug Walter didn't keep him waiting.

"The exact midnight screening box office is 9.47 million dollars!" he said directly. "Duke, you broke your own record!"

He was looking at Duke almost as if looking at a lover; it seemed the man sitting across from him was his very future!

Giving a slight nod, Duke breathed a sigh of relief inwardly. With such an enormous investment, it was impossible not to be a little nervous. The performance of the midnight screening proved that no accidents had occurred; at the very least, the film would not flop.

"Warner will ramp up the film's promotional efforts!" Doug Walter vowed. "We will pour the vast majority of our Summer Season resources into The Fellowship of the Ring!"

"Mhm..." Duke nodded. "Duke Studio will fully cooperate with you."

Doug Walter only stayed for a few minutes, rushing in and rushing out just as quickly. However, anyone could see the excitement etched on his face.

The staff at Duke Studio were equally thrilled when they learned the midnight screening box office figures and the various statistics. To them, a blockbuster film meant bigger bonuses.

The sun gradually shifted to its peak, and more and more moviegoers flooded into the theaters. In a cinema in New York Long Island, the three phones the ticket clerk Teteru manned rang incessantly, not giving him a moment's rest.

"Hello, this is the Long Island AMG Saz Cinema!" he said, jotting notes in a notebook as he answered the phone. "A screening around noon tomorrow? There is a showing of The Fellowship of the Ring at 12:15. You need two tickets? Alright, please arrive twenty minutes before the screening to pick them up..."

Just as he set the receiver down, he picked up another line.

"Hello, this is... I'm very sorry, sir, but the tickets for tomorrow evening's The Fellowship of the Ring are sold out. We still have tickets for the daytime. 3:00 PM? Yes, I can reserve three for you, no problem..."

After that, he answered one ringing phone after another, recording even more reservation details.

"One ticket for The Fellowship of the Ring at 9:00 AM..."

"Three tickets for Shrek at 10:30 AM..."

"Two tickets for The Fellowship of the Ring at 3:15 PM..."

After taking nearly twenty reservation calls, Teteru took a slight breather, his eyes scanning the recorded information. The Fellowship of the Ring accounted for over sixty percent of the reservations, Shrek held a little over twenty-five percent, while the previously popular The Mummy Returns and Pearl Harbor saw almost no interest...

Soon after, it was time for his shift change, but he didn't leave the cinema immediately. Instead, he planned to take advantage of the relatively light Friday crowd to enter a theater and watch The Fellowship of the Ring. Working in the cinema, he had heard too many glowing reviews from audiences all day long.

As a cinema worker, Teteru's standard for judging whether a film was good or bad was simple: the evaluations of the frontline theater audiences. If the vast majority of moviegoers thought it was bad, he wouldn't step foot inside to watch it, even if the film critics praised it to the heavens—and even if he didn't have to pay!

Before entering the theater, he followed routine and first went to the box office to register. At the same time, he inquired about the daytime ticket sales. It was largely the same as the reservations he had recorded: people watching The Fellowship of the Ring accounted for nearly sixty percent of the multiplex's foot traffic.

Screening a movie during the same period as a Duke Rosenberg film truly was a tragedy.

Harboring these thoughts, Teteru walked into the theater to personally experience that wondrous journey!

Although the feedback from various statistical data proved that The Fellowship of the Ring was getting a massive market response, Warner Brothers did not weaken their fierce promotional momentum in the slightest. All kinds of marketing tactics emerged one after another.

Live television broadcast trucks pulled up in front of famous cinemas in several cities, and top-of-the-hour news broadcasts aired numerous clips of interviews with ordinary viewers.

Naturally, the ones that made it onto television were undoubtedly all positive reviews!

At the same time, they also "coincidentally encountered" a few celebrities who had watched The Fellowship of the Ring, and these people were equally full of praise for the film.

For instance, outside the Santa Clara Theater in San Francisco, George Lucas accepted an interview. This legendary director, whom Duke frequently praised, certainly would not skimp on his own commendations. Besides, the film truly was exceptional; praising it would absolutely not tarnish his reputation.

"The Fellowship of the Ring was produced by Duke to a state of near perfection. It is a truly jaw-dropping cinematic epic—intense, gripping, and deeply faithful to its characters!"

As one of the owners of Weta Studio, Peter Jackson also accepted an interview.

"Duke's film is faithful to every detail of Tolkien's work, but it also possesses its own life and vitality—magnificent, morally resonant, and emotionally profound. It is a rare masterpiece. In the eyes of a Lord of the Rings fan like me, no one could have done it better!"

At a cinema in Beverly Hills, Tom Cruise had just walked out when he was conveniently cornered by reporters. He also spoke of his thoughts on the film.

"The film is gorgeous from beginning to end, and it is frequently breathtaking," he said. "This is undoubtedly the best movie of the year so far. I highly recommend everyone go see it. It will absolutely be a massive, pleasant surprise. Duke did an outstanding job!"

Duke and Warner were deploying every possible means to pique the audience's curiosity, driving them into the theaters—and the more times they went, the better.

Many behind-the-scenes photos of Duke doing Motion Capture were also posted on his personal website. In this era, Motion Capture filming was still a highly novel technology; it looked quite fascinating, and some of it was rather hilarious. Moreover, the news that this was Duke's first official film role had long been released by Warner Brothers.

The internet age had already begun, and everything from the past was changing. Although directors still had half a foot planted behind the scenes, top-tier directors like Cameron, Spielberg, and Duke had amassed vast numbers of supporters. While their box office draw couldn't quite rival top superstars like Tom Cruise, it was no exaggeration to say they had hardcore, fanatic fans of their own.

Duke never minded using himself as a promotional focal point. Furthermore, he remembered quite clearly that a certain director from his past life possessed so many diehard fans that it could even put James Cameron to shame. Some clearly terrible films had managed to avoid flopping entirely through the support of these fanatic fans.

The status of a director—and their promotional role in a movie—was quietly undergoing a transformation along with the information revolution brought by the internet.

As someone who understood the future of the internet, Duke never rejected this shift, just as he never rejected digital technology.

As long as it benefited the film, he would not hesitate to lead the charge during promotions!

Not long after this series of Motion Capture images appeared on the website, it sparked widespread discussion. After all, this was a technology that had rarely been shown to the public.

"So that's how the cave troll was made. I thought Duke wore a mask and a special suit..."

"Look at Duke's expressions during the Motion Capture, then think about the troll in the movie. It's just too funny!"

"Uh... I haven't seen the movie yet..."

"Then hurry up and go see it! Duke playing a troll is worth the price of admission alone!"

The power of diehard fans was mighty. Some could even transform into organic fans, going everywhere on the internet to applaud the film, wishing they could share their favorite movie with everyone in the world.

Recommending a beloved film to others through various channels was arguably the most common mindset of any moviegoer.

In short, the word-of-mouth reputation, the overwhelming promotional bombardment, the flag-waving endorsements from celebrities, and the prestige and drawing power Duke had accumulated over ten years all attracted massive crowds into the theaters to pay for The Fellowship of the Ring!

Moreover, the quality of the film would leave the vast majority of people feeling it had been an incredibly worthwhile trip!

Under these circumstances, even though the film's extreme length led to a reduced number of daily screenings, the first-day box office figures released on Saturday were still terrifyingly high.