Chapter 597: Returns Brought by Controversy

During the third weekend of Iron Man's North American release, a film Duke actually recognized finally arrived: Charlotte's Web, produced by Paramount Pictures and featuring the voice of Oscar-winning actress Julia Roberts, who had recently given birth to twins.

Adapted from the great American author E. B. White's classic novel Charlotte's Web, the film was a story of friendship and hardship.

Targeted at audiences under seventeen, it shared a massive demographic overlap with Iron Man.

Iron Man undoubtedly leaned toward a fun, entertaining style, and its PG-13 rating ensured teenagers could walk into theaters without any hurdles.

Charlotte's Web enjoyed excellent word of mouth. It boasted Julia Roberts's voice acting and starred the highly popular child actress Dakota Fanning, but even that wasn't enough to guarantee a victory over Iron Man.

With a production budget of 85 million dollars, the film rolled out across 3,566 North American theaters. Yet in its first three days, it failed to hit the studio's minimum projection of 25 million dollars, scraping together just 11.12 million dollars—falling far short of Paramount Pictures' expectations.

In contrast, Iron Man's numbers in its third weekend were far more dazzling.

Its weekend box office dropped only forty percent from the previous week, raking in 35.1 million dollars over three days and easily securing its third consecutive week atop the North American box office charts.

Combined with the 17.26 million dollars earned over the previous four weekdays, Iron Man's cumulative North American box office reached 295.35 million dollars. Breaking the 300-million-dollar mark was just around the corner.

Meanwhile, the film expanded into more overseas markets. Though its international box office performance wasn't quite as dominant as in North America—partly due to Tony Stark's lower profile abroad—it still amassed a cumulative 175.6 million dollars after two overseas weekends.

After three weeks in North American theaters, Iron Man's global box office totaled a staggering 470.95 million dollars!

Setting aside the fact that its theatrical run was far from over, this figure alone was enough for Marvel Pictures to greenlight their subsequent plans.

As everyone knew, box office returns made up only a fraction of a Hollywood film's revenue, and for superhero movies, that percentage was even smaller. Iron Man had far too many profit avenues to count. Comic books alone were a massive draw; thanks to the hype and attention brought by the film, Marvel Comics' Iron Man series sold millions of copies entering May, generating nearly 20 million dollars in sales.

Traditional merchandise like action figures, dolls, and stationery saw equally staggering sales. According to the compiled data, merchandise sales in North America alone had already easily surpassed 100 million dollars, and fans donning Iron Man masks could be seen wandering around just about anywhere across the country.

As the new week began, Iron Man's weekday box office finally saw a significant drop. It took in just 3.85 million dollars in North America on Monday, and it wasn't until Tuesday that the film's domestic box office officially crossed the 300-million-dollar threshold.

This made it the first Hollywood film of 2006 to surpass 300 million dollars in North America.

After Taken and Batman Begins both finished their North American runs in the 200-million-dollar range, Duke had officially returned to the 300-million-dollar club.

However, this was the summer season. Even though most films had steered clear of Duke and Iron Man, that didn't mean the movie could stay red-hot forever.

The film's popcorn nature was one factor; the arrival of a strong new release for the weekend was another.

Produced and distributed by Sony Columbia Pictures, directed by Ron Howard, and starring Tom Hanks, the film adaptation of The Da Vinci Code—a novel that had once sparked a massive sensation and immense controversy across North America—was about to hit the big screen for its official North American release.

Duke also accepted Tom Hanks's invitation and attended the film's North American premiere in Los Angeles.

"Hello, Tom."

Arriving at the premiere theater, Duke hugged Tom Hanks, who had stepped forward to greet him.

"You look a lot fatter than you did in the movie," he teased deliberately.

"Can't be helped," Tom Hanks said, looking somewhat helpless. "I've reached the age where people put on weight."

In recent years, Tom Hanks had begun transitioning behind the scenes, co-investing in and producing Band of Brothers. His production company also boasted highly successful, low-budget, high-return hits like My Big Fat Greek Wedding. With his life and career going so smoothly, a relaxed mind inevitably led to a heavier body.

After he finished greeting Tom Hanks and Ron Howard, a tall young woman walked over.

"Hi, Duke, long time no see," she said.

"Hello, Dallas," Duke said, gently shaking her outstretched hand.

The woman had natural long red hair and emerald-green eyes, her exquisite features bearing some resemblance to Grace Kelly, the Princess of Monaco.

Though they weren't particularly close, they had crossed paths at numerous events, so Duke casually chatted with her for a bit.

"I just wrapped up filming for Spider-Man 3," she said.

"Which role did you play?" Duke asked with interest.

"Gwen Stacy, Peter Parker's first girlfriend in the comics." She shrugged. "But Sam Raimi leaked to me that he's planning to step down from the franchise. There's basically no chance of my character continuing. I'm going to be unemployed again."

"Will you ever be short on roles, Dallas?" Duke chuckled, shaking his head.

If Ron Howard's daughter couldn't find a role, then Hollywood truly wouldn't be Hollywood anymore.

The woman's name was Bryce Howard, and she came from a genuine acting dynasty. Her father was Oscar Best Director winner Ron Howard, her mother was an actress, and her uncle was the renowned Clint Eastwood!

Although she wasn't particularly famous right now, Duke knew very well that with an image American audiences found appealing, decent acting skills, and the backing of her family's extensive resources, it wouldn't take long for Bryce Howard to join the ranks of Hollywood's hottest stars.

She wouldn't even have to put in that much effort.

Of course, she was also a very smart woman, which was evident from how she consistently stayed by Duke's side in place of her father, Ron Howard.

Duke also remembered a conversation between her and producer Spielberg that had circulated after Jurassic World became a massive hit. Speaking as a junior and teasing him, she had exposed another side of Spielberg: if Jurassic World was a huge hit, it was all thanks to his great eye; but if it bombed, he would still be the master who never missed, while the director would simply vanish from the face of the earth.

Because Iron Man's momentum was gradually cooling off, the competition between the two films wasn't too pronounced. Duke had read the original novel but had never seen this Tom Hanks movie, which had abysmal reviews and audience reception. Taking his seat in the theater, he chatted idly with Bryce Howard for a bit, then shifted his attention to the big screen once the film began.

Written by American author Dan Brown, The Da Vinci Code broke American fiction sales records with 7.5 million copies in print and a cumulative global sales volume exceeding 65 million copies. It sat at the number one spot on the New York Times Best Seller list for 76 weeks and was translated into 42 languages. It had become the best-selling American novel of all time, its sales rivaling even the wildly popular British bestseller series, Harry Potter.

All this was enough to guarantee the film a substantial amount of attention and a solid audience base.

In fact, Ron Howard's film largely stayed true to the novel.

Just like the book, the film offered "subversive" interpretations of Da Vinci's artworks, such as the Mona Lisa, Da Vinci's Self-Portrait, and The Last Supper.

First, through the mouths of various characters, it questioned the gender of the figure in the Mona Lisa, subsequently pointing out that the Mona Lisa was actually Da Vinci himself, and that the artist's portrait in Da Vinci's Self-Portrait was, in fact, an "androgynous" figure.

These two paintings were no longer viewed as simple, independent entities, but as interconnected pieces with mutual referential significance. The most interesting aspect was the annotation of The Last Supper. Setting aside the claim that the thirteen figures traditionally believed to all be male were actually twelve men and one woman, even Jesus Christ, long revered by the world as an ethereal figure beyond mortal desires, was reduced from a "god" to a "man," with the assertion that he had married and left behind descendants.

And Jesus's wife was none other than the woman he had redeemed: Mary Magdalene.

These vividly asserted interpretations were undoubtedly a challenge, alteration, and subversion of history and traditional culture, serving to "confuse the public" to a certain extent.

Naturally, the controversy sparked by such a work was immense.

Catholic and other Christian organizations, historians, art historians, and many audience members fiercely attacked both the film and the novel. Many even believed that Dan Brown and The Da Vinci Code distorted—and sometimes entirely fabricated—history.

However, controversy was often not a bad thing for a movie; in fact, controversy represented appeal.

Just as Duke had said, being argued over was always far better than not being argued over at all.

The Da Vinci Code sparked controversy and drew fierce criticism from many religious conservatives, but both the original author and the filmmakers were smart enough to ensure that these disputes didn't cross the bottom line of mainstream society. Driven by the associated hype, they easily lured a considerable number of people into theaters.

The massive sales of the original novel, in particular, were enough to guarantee the film's box office success.

Claiming that Christ was a man rather than a god wasn't actually an invention of The Da Vinci Code. Since entering the scientific age, humanity had long begun shattering the myths of gods, seeking instead to speak with the authenticity of "man." If Christ were ever completely stripped of his "divinity" by humanity one day, it wouldn't be particularly strange.

There was absolutely no need to debate how much of The Da Vinci Code was true; from the author to the film, using such content to spark controversy was clearly just a ploy for attention.

The subsequently released North American box office chart, where The Da Vinci Code ended Iron Man's consecutive championship streak, proved that controversy did indeed bring returns.