Chapter 395: Things Are Not Looking Good

"From now on, the people of the world will be divided into two kinds: those who have seen The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, and those who are about to."

This praise from the latest issue of the New York Times served as the perfect footnote to the viewing frenzy The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring had ignited across North America.

"This fantasy epic, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, has burst onto the scene with unprecedented momentum. It crosses the boundaries of race, language, and age, drawing in every American moviegoer with an ounce of imagination."

Even the Washington Post, which usually found itself at odds with Duke, was full of praise for the film.

"There is a miracle-making film right now called The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, and there is a group capable of drawing all eyes wherever they go—they are The Fellowship of the Ring!"

From the moment the film premiered, the Los Angeles Times had not held back its acclaim.

All of this acted as rocket fuel to attract audiences. Over the following days, Duke led the cast and crew across North America for press tours. The moment The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring secured an additional 200 premiere theaters, his paid online shills ceased their attacks on Pearl Harbor, shifting all their energy into building hype for their own film.

At the same time, certain protests directed at the film were gradually coming to an end.

In Los Angeles's Nokia Square, Chrissy looked listlessly at the sparse handful of people behind him. He could not even muster the energy to hold up his sign. With numbers this low, how much attention could they realistically draw even if they held their protest banners high?

Ever since Brad Miller backed out, the protest group Chrissy led had steadily shrunk. Quite a few members had walked into a theater out of sheer curiosity, and over ninety-nine percent of those who actually watched the movie ended up quitting the protest. In less than a week, the crowd standing behind him had plummeted from over 500 to fewer than 40.

A young Black kid walked over. He glanced back at the dispirited protest members and bared his teeth.

"Boss, are we still protesting?" he asked. "Nobody's heart is in it anymore..."

Chrissy did not answer. The protest he was leading was hardly a grassroots movement.

Even though they had not yet reached the peak of summer, the Los Angeles sun was scorching. The kid shielded his head with a newspaper, but it could not stop the bead-sized drops of sweat from continuously rolling down his face.

He thought about the movie he had sneaked out to watch last night. It had been so staggeringly epic, so breathtakingly brilliant that he just wanted to scream, "Holy shit!" Then he looked at how they were currently being roasted alive under the blazing sun. Was it worth it?

To wage such a pointless protest against such an amazing movie—was it really worth it?

He might have been a bit simple-minded, but that did not mean he was incapable of thought.

He lowered the newspaper shielding his head.

"Boss..." he told Chrissy. "I quit!"

Chrissy shot him a look of disbelief.

"Why?"

"Why are we protesting?" The kid's logic was straightforward. "Because we love The Lord of the Rings! We were worried the movie would butcher the adaptation! But Duke Rosenberg's film is clearly brilliant. It's beyond incredible. Why are we still out here?"

His voice was loud, drawing the attention of the few remaining protesters.

"You actually went and saw it!" Chrissy felt a deep sense of betrayal.

"I did!" The kid did not deny it in the slightest. "In fact, I watched it twice back-to-back, and I'm planning to go for a third time tonight!"

He turned his head to look at the rest of the protesters. "Sorry, everyone. I'm out!"

With that, he left Nokia Square without looking back.

Watching his receding back, the sparse crowd of remaining protesters broke into murmurs.

"Our numbers keep dropping."

"I think he has a point. There's really no reason for us to keep this up."

"Did you go see it too?"

"I advise everyone to just go watch it. If the movie really is a disaster, we can always come back out here..."

Amidst the chatter, many people tossed aside their protest signs and banners, gave Chrissy a casual wave goodbye, and broke away from the group.

By sundown, Chrissy had exactly three people left standing behind him.

After dismissing those final three, he pulled a bottle of mineral water from his backpack and chugged half of it in one breath. He cast a cautious look around, then headed toward the AMG Cinema on his left. Once inside, he picked up his ticket from the reservation counter. Seeing that it was still early, he pulled on a baseball cap he had prepared in advance and hid himself in a corner of the lobby.

Sitting bored on a lounge chair, Chrissy pulled out the ticket he had just collected and glanced at it. Clearly printed across it was The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring!

He pulled the brim of his hat down a little lower.

"Even if God Himself came down, He couldn't stop me from watching The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring for the fourth time!" he muttered to himself.

To be precise, the audience for The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring was not as broad as Titanic once that juggernaut had unleashed its full potential. However, there were an enormous number of people like Chrissy—people who said one thing but secretly bought tickets for repeat viewings.

This meant that even on weekdays, the box office drop for The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring was not particularly steep.

May was already in its final days. On Tuesday, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring faced its first post-holiday workday. Compared to the $24.26 million it hauled in on Monday for Memorial Day, it only grossed $14.55 million that day. But a drop of only forty percent was an absolutely rock-solid trend for a Summer Season release.

Not a single film playing in the same window could compare to The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, not even Shrek with its equally stable run.

On that same day, Shrek earned $3.93 million, The Mummy Returns took $2.05 million, and Pearl Harbor reported $2.15 million...

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring was utterly dominating the field alone.

Come Wednesday, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring experienced another minor dip, capturing $13.52 million for the day. But on Thursday, it saw a small rebound, with its daily box office climbing back above the $14 million mark to take in $14.09 million!

With that, after exactly one week in North American theaters, the film's cumulative box office reached $150.99 million!

This set yet another record: it was the highest seven-day box office total for any film in North American cinema history!

"The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring has broken every record there is to break. Duke Rosenberg's new film proves once again that he truly deserves the title of King of the Summer Season!"

Warner Brothers certainly was not going to pass up a chance to build momentum, and their various affiliated media outlets continued to heavily hype the film.

"Fans are pouring in with rave reviews for The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. On IMDB, the renowned movie rating site, the film's score has held steady at 9.4. Word-of-mouth among audiences is absolutely explosive!"

There was another reason Warner Brothers launched such a ferocious promotional offensive on Thursday. Heading into its second weekend, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring was about to face the impact of a massive-budget competitor: Tomb Raider, distributed by Paramount Pictures, directed by Simon West, starring Angelina Jolie, and boasting a colossal production budget of $115 million.

It was the most expensive live-action video game adaptation ever made.

"Nancy and I went to see Paramount's test screening."

Sitting in his suite at the Chicago Metropolitan Holiday Hotel, Duke watched the TV broadcast of the program his cast and crew had recorded on Monday, chatting casually with Tina Fey as she scrolled through emails on her computer. "A very impressive film."

Tina Fey turned to look at him, her curiosity piqued. In all the years they had worked together, the number of films he had called impressive could be counted on one hand.

"Is the movie that good?" she asked.

Duke shook his head. "All the plotlines and action sequences put together aren't half as appealing as Angelina Jolie."

Opening Google, Tina Fey typed the name Laura Croft into the search bar and lightly tapped the enter key. A breathtakingly hot woman in a tight T-shirt instantly appeared on the monitor.

A woman's thirst for gossip knows no bounds. Tina Fey suddenly remembered some rumors about the actress.

"I heard Jolie is having an incestuous affair with her brother. Is that true?" she asked.

That particular rumor was widely circulated within the industry, and Duke had heard it too. As for whether it was true, he had no idea.

"Tina..." he suggested pointedly, "if you ever get the chance, you can ask Angelina Jolie yourself."

Although he could not remember the exact box office trajectory for Tomb Raider, Duke knew very well that even if it was the most successful video game movie in history, it still would not be a massive blockbuster. Besides, video game adaptations had never been the mainstream market anyway.

On Friday morning, as Duke led his crew out of Illinois and headed for Pittsburgh, the numbers on the previous day's box office flash report took him slightly by surprise.

Thanks to a sizable fanbase of gamers and its marketing as a female Indiana Jones, Tomb Raider's opening day box office utterly crushed the media's $12 million projections. Across 3,308 North American theaters, it raked in $18.06 million on its first day.

However, faced against The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, it still was not enough. As the weekend arrived, the fantasy blockbuster saw a powerful resurgence at the box office. On Friday, it surged right back into the $20 million bracket, hauling in $20.97 million in a single swoop!

It was an unusual weekend, a rare instance in past Summer Seasons where the overall market sustained such powerful momentum. Although The Mummy Returns and Pearl Harbor continued to slump, Shrek maintained a rock-solid weekend trajectory as it entered its third week.

Also on that Friday, DreamWorks Animation Studio's masterpiece raked in a massive $12.65 million!

The three films locked horns in fierce competition over the weekend window.

For The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Tomb Raider was entirely different from Shrek. Shrek's audience had a clear demographic separation, whereas Tomb Raider's magic-tinged adventure inherently guaranteed an overlap in their target viewers.

Inevitably, a fierce rivalry formed between The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring and Tomb Raider.

In the brutally competitive Summer Season market, the moment a rivalry forms, a whole series of targeted maneuvers instantly begin—without anyone ever needing to give the order.