Chapter 402: Breaking Records Again

Perhaps pure popcorn racing flicks simply exhausted their momentum too quickly, or perhaps Jessica Alba's scandal kept prospective viewers away. Whatever the case, as the new week began, the box office for Fast & Furious took a massive dive. Monday's daily haul plummeted to $3.65 million, a steep drop of sixty percent.

The Fellowship of the Ring didn't fare much better. After three consecutive weeks of explosive popularity, its box office trajectory inevitably began to soften, following standard market trends.

Compared to Sunday's $11.62 million, Monday's box office fell by fifty-five percent, taking in $5.23 million for the day.

Throughout the week, Fast & Furious and The Fellowship of the Ring remained at the forefront of the market. The former was slipping for a variety of reasons, while the latter was dropping simply due to how long it had been in theaters. Both were on a downward trajectory, but The Fellowship of the Ring firmly suppressed Fast & Furious at every turn, and the gap between them was glaring.

Over the remaining three weekdays, The Fellowship of the Ring raked in $5.1 million, $4.89 million, and $4.62 million respectively, whereas Fast & Furious brought in $3.42 million, $3.21 million, and $3.01 million.

The gap in audience word-of-mouth was just as vast as the gap in box office returns.

The former maintained a theatrical audience approval rating of around ninety percent, holding onto an overall A+ score, with an average rating of 89 from 66 media outlets.

The latter sat at only a seventy-five percent approval rating, an overall A- grade, and an average score of 65 from 45 media outlets.

Over the following weekend, another Warner Brothers release, Swordfish, made a wide landing in the North American market. Produced by Australia's Village Roadshow Film Company, this film was practically Warner's stepchild—it couldn't even compare to a golden child like The Fellowship of the Ring. The resources Warner Brothers poured into it were relatively limited, best exemplified by its opening theater count of just over 2,600 locations.

Under these circumstances, even though The Fellowship of the Ring was entering its fourth weekend, Swordfish remained completely powerless to challenge it.

"There's no suspense at all."

In the post-production room of The Lord of the Rings Studio, Weta Workshop's Richard Taylor couldn't suppress the excitement on his face, his eyebrows practically flying up into his hairline.

He looked at Duke, who had just finished editing a sequence for The Two Towers, and said, "Even though The Fellowship of the Ring dropped by more than fifty percent last weekend, its $20.19 million box office haul is more than enough to crush the $18.14 million from Swordfish and the $17.25 million from Fast & Furious!"

Wallace Lee, who had recently joined the crew, chimed in, "Does that mean we've taken the top spot on the weekly box office charts for the fourth week in a row?"

"That's right!"

If he hadn't been sitting at the break table with Duke and the others, Richard Taylor would have undoubtedly jumped up and roared. His voice boomed, completely failing to mask his thrill.

"We've secured a four-week streak! And a four-week streak during the Summer Season at that!"

He clenched one hand into a tight fist, using every ounce of his strength to suppress his racing, exhilarated heart and keep from punching the air.

Weta Workshop was famous!

Over the past few weeks, Weta Workshop had been frequently mentioned in the media alongside Duke and The Fellowship of the Ring, and countless industry insiders were poking around for more details.

Richard Taylor had every reason to be excited. Even though Weta Workshop didn't enjoy a single cent of backend profit-sharing, their brand had well and truly been established. Lately, the number of people inquiring about their services was practically uncountable!

He turned to look at Duke, a fiery intensity in his eyes. This young director had brought them all of it!

"Hey, Richard, don't look at me like that." Duke set down his coffee cup and pointed toward the door, deliberately joking. "You look a little too excited. If you can't hold it in, feel free to step outside and scream for a bit."

Everyone, including Richard Taylor, burst into laughter.

"Richard, you really ought to get used to this kind of thing."

Mary Victoria, the head of the computer graphics team, said, "Don't forget, The Fellowship of the Ring is just the beginning. Think about all those epic scenes we're currently rendering. The next two movies are going to drive the fans crazy."

"I don't want to get used to it," Richard Taylor said earnestly. "I just want success to hit me with an even harder impact."

The group let out another hearty round of laughter.

Anna Printz picked up the carafe to refill their coffee cups. Sitting back down, she said, "As long as you're working with us, you'll get used to it."

Richard Taylor's eyes shifted back to Duke. Working with him, success would inevitably become a habit.

He remembered it perfectly clearly: The Fellowship of the Ring had been in theaters for less than a month, yet its North American box office had already soared to $330.6 million! What kind of terrifying box office figure was that?

And he had just reviewed the overseas statistics from the previous weekend. The Fellowship of the Ring had made a massive landing in the Asian, Latin American, and Australian markets. Including the European regions where it was already playing, it had pulled in $221 million overseas in just three days.

If his memory served him right, the global box office for The Fellowship of the Ring was already closing in on $700 million!

Just what number would this film's global box office finally stop at? Even though its momentum in North America had peaked, $1 billion was the most conservative estimate possible!

The sound of the door pushing open interrupted Richard Taylor's train of thought. Tina Fey walked over with a document in hand and sat down beside Duke.

Intrigued, Richard Taylor asked, "Tina, are those the merchandise statistics?"

Tina Fey glanced at Duke. Seeing him give a slight nod, she said, "Yes, the rough merchandise sales data from last weekend has been tallied."

"How much?"

Despite not having a cut of the profits, Richard Taylor cared deeply. Many of the merchandise prototypes originated from Weta Workshop's designs. When they signed the contract, Weta Workshop hadn't possessed the standing to demand backend points, but the success of The Fellowship of the Ring—especially if the merchandise sold well—would undoubtedly bolster their confidence to demand a cut in future projects!

"North America moved about $22.5 million in merchandise last weekend, and overseas sales were roughly $26 million."

Seeing that Duke had no intention of stopping her, Tina Fey continued, "The Lord of the Rings Studio has currently finalized various image licensing agreements with 36 manufacturers. The total licensing revenue comes to $136 million."

Wallace Lee's eyes widened, and he instinctively asked, "Do we know what the total merchandise sales are so far?"

Anna Printz, who was currently his direct supervisor, replied nonchalantly, "Global merchandise sales have accumulated to around $220 million, and total licensing revenue has surpassed $150 million."

Compared to a stunned Wallace Lee, Anna Printz was utterly calm, as if such merchandise figures were only to be expected.

Richard Taylor sighed inwardly. Everyone said film was a high-risk industry, but in the hands of Duke Rosenberg, massive profits seemed practically guaranteed.

Of course, having been involved in the project from the start, he also knew exactly how much hardship and effort this director and his team had poured into the past few years.

Glancing at his watch, Duke stood up and clapped his hands. "Alright, everyone. Break time is over. Back to work!"

Duke hadn't followed the cast and crew on their global promotional tour. He returned to Los Angeles not to take a vacation, but to dive straight into post-production for The Two Towers.

Los Angeles remained bustling even after nightfall. It wasn't until he finished the visual effects for Treebeard that Duke finally called it a day. As he drove toward Malibu, he passed by a hotel with a red carpet rolled out in front. Crowds of people jostled on either side of the carpet, and dense flashes of camera lights fired off continuously. It seemed some kind of event was taking place.

His car sped past. Meanwhile, a car approaching from the opposite direction turned in front of the hotel and stopped at the end of the red carpet. Michael Ovitz stepped out in high spirits and walked into the hotel.

This was a celebratory party hosted by Universal Pictures for Fast & Furious. Although the film's box office was slipping rather quickly, anyone could see that its North American gross was guaranteed to break $100 million. Compared to its $38 million production budget, this was already a victory worth celebrating.

Michael Ovitz had swept away all the lingering gloom from Pearl Harbor. From the moment he walked into the banquet hall, he was the center of flattery, almost as if his era dominating CAA had been reborn.

In a circle with such a heavy commercial atmosphere, numbers and profit margins were the most powerful tools of persuasion. Even Ron Meyer, who didn't exactly get along with Michael Ovitz, went over to exchange a few polite pleasantries.

After a brief greeting, Michael Ovitz asked directly, "Ron, when will the new project I submitted be approved?"

Hearing the utter confidence in his voice, Ron Meyer thought for a moment before replying, "I'll give you an answer next month."

Michael Ovitz waved his hand to the side, and a director who looked to be in his thirties walked over alongside a beautiful young woman.

The newcomers didn't need any introduction; Ron Meyer recognized both of them. The director was Stephen Sommers, whose collaboration with Universal Pictures on The Mummy Returns had been a massive success, and the woman was the female lead of Pearl Harbor, Kate Beckinsale, who now carried a fair bit of fame herself.

The group exchanged pleasantries before Michael Ovitz, seemingly trying to add weight to his next packaged project, deliberately said, "Ron, this is the director and the female lead I've lined up for the new project! Moreover, I've basically locked down Hugh Jackman. He has already agreed to play Van Helsing."

A director skilled in fantasy, a beautiful eye-candy female lead, a male lead with powerful box office draw, a cast of famous characters like Count Dracula, and an ample budget from Universal Pictures...

Ron Meyer had to admit that the project was incredibly appealing.

Once Stephen Sommers and Kate Beckinsale walked away, Michael Ovitz declared proudly, "I have the utmost confidence in this project. It has absolutely everything it needs to collide head-on with Duke Rosenberg's fantasy epic!"

While planning this project, an idea had always lingered in his mind: perhaps he could use Van Helsing to challenge Return of the King. If the final chapter of that trilogy received a mediocre market response, Duke Rosenberg would inevitably become a global laughingstock.

However, it was merely an idea for now. He wasn't going to jump to any rash decisions.