Chapter 478: Changing the Entire Film Industry

Did he really think he could just smooth-talk his way into dragging Pixar Studio into the muddy waters of Sony Entertainment?

Having seen through Michael Ovitz's intentions, Steve Jobs had absolutely zero goodwill left for him.

"No one will believe your guarantees, Michael."

"Steve, Sony Entertainment is very sincere," Michael Ovitz said. Seeming not to notice Jobs's expression, he brazenly continued, "Furthermore, I will also be joining this collaboration. With the Artists Management Company..."

"Collaborate with you and your company?" Jobs interrupted Ovitz once again. "Duke's people are also discussing a collaboration with me. Why should I choose you? Because the Godzilla you were responsible for was utterly defeated by The Matrix? Because Pearl Harbor was battered so miserably by The Fellowship of the Ring? Or is it because your foresight is so brilliant—so brilliant that you willingly gave up a talent like Duke Rosenberg?"

Steve Jobs shook his head. "If the movies you packaged could earn 126.67 million dollars in their opening weekend in North America and 237.55 million dollars overseas, then you could use your involvement as a condition to attract Pixar into a collaboration!"

He shot Michael Ovitz a cold look and said bluntly, "Right now, you don't even have the qualifications to join this game!"

For a man like Jobs, there was absolutely no need to keep his voice down. Many people around them turned to look. This super genius, who had experienced massive ups and downs, completely ignored the surrounding gazes—and cared even less about the Michael Ovitz standing right in front of him.

Just as he had said, in the face of Return of the King's staggering global opening weekend box office of 370.83 million dollars, Michael Ovitz's so-called participation in a collaboration with Pixar was simply a joke.

Michael Ovitz stood there, stared at by countless eyes. No matter how thick-skinned he was, his face slowly flushed a deep red. He wanted to say something but couldn't find the words.

Every word Steve Jobs had said felt like a knife twisting in his heart. The more successful Duke Rosenberg became, the more he and Martin Bob became the laughingstocks of Hollywood.

Jobs was arrogant and willful. He didn't care in the slightest about what Michael Ovitz was thinking. He asked a waiter for a glass of water, took a large gulp, had his secretary greet the people from Sony Entertainment, and took his leave straight from the banquet hall.

Pixar Studio indeed needed distributors and partners, but Sony Entertainment and Michael Ovitz were not qualified!

Having seen through the purpose of Sony Entertainment's invitation, Steve Jobs naturally wasn't going to stay any longer. As for what Sony Entertainment would think, did he need to care?

North America was already a mature film market, and maturity meant the market had basically been fully carved up. After Sony Entertainment acquired Columbia Pictures, despite years of effort, it still couldn't change its awkward position at the bottom of the Big Six. If the Big Six hadn't been constantly suppressing DreamWorks, Sony might have even been surpassed by them.

Unlike Sony Columbia, Warner Brothers already had a sufficiently mature operational mechanism in North America. Now that Return of the King was exploding in North America, Duke's attention inevitably shifted overseas. Starting on Monday, he took key members of the cast and crew and embarked on an intensive overseas promotional tour.

On Monday, they arrived in Mexico City. Their presence nearly ignited this most crowded city in the world. The crew was besieged by over a hundred thousand fanatic fans at a theater in Zócalo Square. Although the Mexican Police mobilized immediately, the crew was trapped for an entire afternoon, only managing to escape and return to their hotel in the evening.

This stemmed both from the naturally overflowing passion of Latin Americans and the genuine frenzy the film had triggered.

"Going through that one more time would really make someone break down."

Returning to the hotel, Duke immediately collapsed onto the sofa. Although his body wasn't necessarily that tired, his mental energy had been heavily drained. Being besieged by so many people in the theater—how could he not be worried?

"This shows they really like your movie," Tina Fey said, bringing over a glass of water. "That's why they're so fanatic."

After Duke picked up the glass and took a sip, she added, "The overseas box office numbers are out."

"How much?" Duke immediately asked.

Return of the King was his first film to be released simultaneously worldwide.

"237.55 million dollars!" Tina Fey said. "A global opening weekend of 370.83 million dollars!"

Duke nodded. "Not bad."

"Not bad?" Tina Fey pursed her lips slightly.

This was an achievement that would make countless people green with envy. Ninety-nine percent of movies in Hollywood would never reach such a number even in their final global box office.

To Duke, such an achievement was merely within expectations. Moreover, in his memory, there were once global simultaneous releases that could hit four or even five hundred million dollars in their opening weekends.

However, he was very content. The overseas film market of this era simply couldn't compare to the future.

For example, a certain massive future Hollywood box office market was completely negligible in these current few years.

For the remaining workdays of the week, Duke led half of the Fellowship of the Ring cast on a tour through Latin America. The two largest box office markets in the region, Brazil and Argentina, were the primary focus of this promotional trip. As time passed, more and more overseas countries and regions joined the ranks of those screening Return of the King. By Friday, excluding the North American Region, theaters in 84 countries and territories worldwide were showing Return of the King.

However, North America remained the largest box office market for Return of the King.

A drop in weekday box office was an inevitable rule of film markets worldwide. On Monday, Return of the King's North American box office fell by forty-eight percent, dropping from 42.11 million dollars on Sunday to 21.89 million dollars. Over the following three days, it showed a steady downward trend, taking in 21.15 million, 20.47 million, and 19.88 million dollars respectively, accumulating 83.39 million dollars over the four workdays.

On the overseas front, due to the addition of over a dozen new markets, the box office—though also declining—maintained a basically stable momentum, raking in 142.47 million dollars over four days.

After a full week of release, Return of the King's cumulative North American box office reached 221.67 million dollars, with a global cumulative box office of 601.69 million dollars!

The speed at which the film was raking in box office revenue was unprecedented in cinematic history.

Of course, Duke knew very well that this was inseparable not only from the audience and word-of-mouth foundation established by the first two films but also from the development of the global theater market over the past two years.

As the saying goes, without enough theaters and screens, no matter how good a movie's quality and word-of-mouth were, it would be impossible to achieve a high box office.

As a new weekend began, Return of the King did not encounter any challengers in the overseas market. Meanwhile, in the North American market, the only movie opening on a large scale this weekend was Paramount Pictures's Paycheck. Directed by John Woo, the film continued his usual style.

However, both audience and theater word-of-mouth during the film's test screenings were poor. The continuous repetition of a single style brought about inevitable aesthetic fatigue. Paramount Pictures clearly hadn't invested enough promotional resources into the film; even before its release, many viewers had never heard of it.

Similarly, no one believed that John Woo's work could challenge Duke's Return of the King.

Warner Brothers hadn't paid much attention to this newly released film at all. In the eyes of the distributor, Return of the King currently had only one opponent: itself!

Although the film was already a massive hit, the promotional offensive didn't slow down in the slightest. From the internet to traditional media, all kinds of reviews and reports emerged one after another, determined to lure every possible viewer into the theater, and even compel people to buy tickets for repeat viewings.

It wasn't just media coverage and audience enthusiasm; many industry insiders were also analyzing the success of The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. After all, some of the factors behind its success could be learned from.

In the latest issue of Premiere film magazine, a similar article appeared.

"How Duke Rosenberg and The Lord of the Rings Trilogy Changed the Entire Film Industry!"

This was the headline featured on the magazine's cover, accompanied by a cover image of Duke alongside the poster for Return of the King.

"Everyone who has seen The Lord of the Rings Trilogy knows just how impressive this series is. Duke Rosenberg's masterpiece will have a lasting impact on Hollywood. Besides those unforgettable characters like Gandalf and Legolas, watching these three classic epic fantasy blockbusters also allows us to appreciate the evolution of cinema!"

"First, it paved the way for the development of fantasy blockbusters on the silver screen. The massive success achieved by Duke and his Lord of the Rings series marks the long-awaited return of grand epic fantasy blockbusters to the big screen, and they have returned to mainstream popularity in a tremendous way. Suddenly, you can see Orcs in Vogue fashion magazine and wizards in the Big Three Newspapers, as if all the fantasy characters in the world have sprung out over the past few years."

"Second, it made Motion Capture a mainstream production technology in the film industry. The character of Gollum brought revolutionary changes to Motion Capture, even innovating the entirety of modern digital effects. Over the past two years, Motion Capture has evolved into performance capture. Capturing an actor's performance is no longer just about wearing a jumpsuit plastered with ping-pong balls; it requires capturing the actor's full performance in a realistic manner."

"Third, Duke demonstrated a fact: all special effects are truly special. This is a highly debatable topic—are CG effects better than practical effects, and can they defeat the real thing? Duke Rosenberg's Lord of the Rings series proves that all kinds of cinematic effects work in the film and television industry. He applied the advanced digital effects of New Zealand Weta Studio alongside models, prosthetics, and traditional optical illusions, creating a visual effects event where every method had an equal opportunity."

"Fourth, Duke made Hollywood realize that any subject matter could be filmed. For many years, Hollywood producers were terrified of adapting Tolkien's classic fantasy work because they all believed this film would be too difficult to shoot. But Duke and his team proved everyone wrong; the film could indeed be made. Their success proved to the world that Hollywood can produce films of any genre."