Chapter 479: Honorary Citizen

"They're actually overlooking an important factor in the success of The Lord of the Rings Trilogy," George Lucas said to his old friend, sipping red wine as he sat at the small bar in Spielberg's home. "The emphasis on direct communication with the audience."

Spielberg gently swirled his wine glass, recalling the various marketing tactics used for the trilogy, and nodded. "Undeniably, Duke's personal website played an important role."

He thought of something else. "There's also that social media site he used before Return of the King. All the information The Lord of the Rings Studio released in his name, and the frequent interactions with his supporters—that was key too."

"No one can afford to ignore the internet anymore." George Lucas set down his glass, stood up, and paced a few steps. "Amateur video blogs are only just starting to gain a little influence, yet Duke and Donald Trump's daughter have already created an increasingly powerful promotional tool. It instantly bridges the gap between Hollywood and filmgoers, easily winning the support of massive audiences."

Spielberg completely agreed with George Lucas. "The Lord of the Rings Trilogy isn't just a success for Duke's directing career; it's a total triumph in film marketing!"

George Lucas sighed. "He's changing Hollywood!"

"Exactly!" Spielberg echoed. "Duke is changing Hollywood's inherent marketing model."

Spielberg suddenly looked extremely intrigued. "The success of Return of the King far exceeding The Two Towers is partly thanks to that website. It seems I should register an account myself and see just how magical it is."

Times had changed. The internet was bridging the distance between everyone, even allowing any random person's opinions to spread across the entire country. From the very beginning with The Fellowship of the Ring, Duke had never ignored the power of online promotion. He and The Lord of the Rings Studio had consistently been a major driving force behind internet news coverage.

When the new Monday arrived and Duke left the exotic flair of Brazil to fly to Wellington, the capital of New Zealand, the data for the second weekend of Return of the King was freshly released.

In North America, Return of the King charted a godlike weekend box office trajectory. The second weekend's box office only dropped thirty-five percent from its opening, raking in 82.33 million dollars and easily holding onto the North American box office crown without any suspense.

Taking second place was Paramount Pictures' Paycheck, which opened in over 2,700 theaters, but its three-day box office figure was only 13.12 million dollars. It couldn't pose the slightest threat to Return of the King.

Overseas, although the film's release expanded to 90 regions, the market capacity of the newly added areas could only be considered average. The weekend box office dropped to 162.33 million dollars, but it still maintained a leading position worldwide.

A full ten days into its release, the North American box office for Return of the King broke the 300-million-dollar mark in one fell swoop, reaching an impressive 304 million dollars, while the global cumulative box office soared to 846.35 million dollars!

"According to estimates from our marketing department and CinemaScore, the global box office of Return of the King is highly likely to break the 1.5-billion-dollar mark!"

Inside the Warner Brothers CEO's office, Jamie Jensen looked at Doug Walter with a face full of excitement. "All the North American theater chains have assured us that before Memorial Day weekend arrives, the theater count and screen share for Return of the King will not be reduced!"

"Back when Jeff and I pushed this project forward, we anticipated that Duke would succeed," Doug Walter said with a sigh of deep emotion. "But I never imagined the trilogy would be this successful!"

To be honest, compared to The Lord of the Rings Studio's investment, the box office margins weren't exceptionally high. But the profits generated by merchandise were staggering. Before Return of the King even premiered, DVD sales of the first two films alone had brought the investors a total of over 300 million dollars in pure profit globally. If other merchandise were added in...

Doug Walter naturally thought of the merchandise released globally alongside Return of the King. In just ten days, rough statistics showed that sales had reached nearly 400 million dollars!

For Warner and Duke Studio, this trilogy was simply a money-making machine.

At this thought, Doug Walter lowered his gaze to the four scripts in front of him. One was a small production that wouldn't require a high investment, but the other three were the Batman Trilogy, which would determine the fate of DC films.

The scripts for this trilogy had already gone through a round of discussions at Warner, and there were many differing opinions internally. The biggest point of contention was that they were far too dark. Doug Walter actually agreed with this viewpoint; the plot didn't seem very audience-friendly. If these weren't scripts brought in by Duke, he and Warner would have undoubtedly vetoed them.

But thinking of the hugely successful Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Doug Walter suppressed all those doubts. Before The Lord of the Rings went into production, how many people in all of Hollywood dared to touch Tolkien's epic? Hailed as the most difficult literary work to adapt to film, it had become a paragon of commercial success in Duke's hands!

"Jamie..." Doug Walter made up his mind. "Submit these four scripts to the review committee. I don't care what methods you use, you must push for them to be successfully greenlit!"

Perhaps only Duke could save DC's superheroes! Doug Walter decided to take the risk.

While screenings and promotions continued in North America, Duke walked into the Wellington city hall on his second day after arriving in New Zealand.

The morning sun was exceptionally bright. Hundreds of reporters, including some from North America, gathered in front of the city hall. Wielding their long-lensed cameras, they took aim at Duke and the mayor of Wellington standing at the top of the steps.

"I am delighted that Director Rosenberg has come to New Zealand once again. He has left deep footprints in this country."

Standing before the microphone, Wellington's mayor Claremont spoke in a cadenced tone. "Wherever there are people, the great art of film spreads; wherever there is a silver screen, Director Rosenberg's films are showing! Today, the city of Wellington welcomes a citizen who has made a major contribution to the art of film..."

At this point, Claremont gestured to Duke beside him. "The New Zealand Government and the Wellington city hall have unanimously decided to make Mr. Duke Rosenberg an Honorary Citizen of Wellington!"

A round of applause rang out in front of the city hall.

Amid the applause, Duke accepted the certificate and the Golden Key from Claremont's hands, then stepped up to the microphone. "Thank you," he said appropriately. "Thank you to New Zealand for recognizing me. I am incredibly happy to become an Honorary Citizen of Wellington. I love this beautiful country!"

This was more than just the simple awarding of an Honorary Citizen title. Both Duke and the New Zealand side intended to use this for promotion. Thanks to excellent communication between the two parties, a press conference had been prepared well in advance.

As Wellington's newly minted Honorary Citizen, Duke was naturally the star of the press conference.

The venue shifted to the press room next to the city hall, where Duke accepted exclusive interviews from Warner and the New Zealand media.

The interviews from the New Zealand side were, of course, closely centered around tourism.

"Director Rosenberg, if fans of The Lord of the Rings travel to New Zealand and want to see the film's shooting locations, which spot or experience here do you think is a must-see for them?"

In truth, many of the outdoor sets initially constructed by the crew were made using materials like Polystyrene, which was completely unsuitable for tourism and couldn't be left out in the natural environment for long periods. After filming wrapped, the crew had immediately dismantled them.

But with the massive popularity of The Fellowship of the Ring, the New Zealand Government quickly spotted the business opportunity. Tourism New Zealand reached an agreement with The Lord of the Rings Studio, acquiring most of the design blueprints. Under the guidance of the crew's specialists, they worked at top speed to restore the scenes and locations from the shoot.

These had all now become popular attractions for New Zealand tours.

"New Zealand has many breathtakingly beautiful sights, but for fans of The Lord of the Rings, being able to walk around and see Hobbiton is definitely as good as it gets," Duke replied. "This place was originally the film's set and construction area. Now, it has become a genuine Hobbiton in every sense of the word."

This was a win-win promotional event, and Duke would certainly talk it up. "I specifically went to see the Hobbiton location from our filming yesterday. I'm delighted to see that the place has returned to nature. The grass and shrubs have grown back. I remember it was exactly like this when we first came here to shoot. After so many years have passed, it's no longer just a fictional set, but has transformed into a real Hobbit farm, complete with flocks of sheep and cattle."

As for the media reporters from Warner, they were more focused on the film and Duke himself. The questions they asked had little to do with New Zealand.

"Duke, now that The Lord of the Rings Trilogy is completely finished, how do you feel right now? Are there any memorable moments worth recalling?"

"Finishing the production of a film is incredibly stressful; it's the same for any movie. I've been doing post-production work for the past few months, constantly looking forward to the film being completed and released."

Pausing briefly, Duke added, "I'm still in a state of working over ten hours a day, so I haven't had time to reminisce yet. I just want to see the light at the end of the tunnel and step out of it as soon as possible. But I'm sure that six months from now, when I look back on these past few years, my heart will inevitably be filled with all sorts of emotions."

According to the agreement between the two parties, the next question fell to the New Zealand media again.

"Why did you choose New Zealand as the shooting location for a massive production like The Lord of the Rings Trilogy?"

Why? To keep things simple and convenient, of course, as well as to save costs.

However, Duke wasn't going to say that out loud. He thought for a few seconds and answered earnestly, "What Tolkien created in the original books was the landscape of Europe in a prehistoric era. According to his setting, it's roughly six or seven thousand years ago—a fictional era even earlier than Ancient Greece and Ancient Egypt. Everything that happened in that era has now been forgotten."

"I was hoping to find a place that had a European landscape but was sparsely populated and full of primitive charm. Therefore, New Zealand was my only choice. It has an immense primitive appeal, and you can distinctly feel the utter desolation of the filming locations. That description is no exaggeration at all."

"New Zealand has a population of four million, whereas Britain has a population of sixty million, yet the two countries are roughly the same size. So in New Zealand, you can go to many places without encountering a single person. Undoubtedly, when shooting a film, you don't want television antennas, highways, or houses appearing in the frame; you just want boundless natural scenery. Therefore, this is the absolute best filming location. Sparsely populated and stunningly beautiful—it's the most ideal place to shoot."