Chapter 598: Consummate Mastery

Over its three-day opening weekend, The Da Vinci Code pulled in a dazzling 77.07 million dollars in North America, claiming the top spot at the box office with absolute dominance. Meanwhile, heading into its fourth week, Iron Man maintained a steady, healthy drop, snatching up 17.82 million dollars this weekend to take second place.

However, the two films saw a massive disparity in word of mouth. The Da Vinci Code landed a theater audience approval rating of just seventy-seven percent and an audience score of B. On the other hand, even four weeks into its run, Iron Man retained a staggering eighty-seven percent approval rating, keeping its audience score firmly locked at an A+.

Such divergent audience reception usually heralded vastly different theatrical legs.

Although Iron Man was past its hottest phase, its performance remained rock solid. With its North American box office now totaling 323.2 million dollars, it was already a massive winner of the summer season, regardless of what happened next.

After burning through the initial enthusiasm of the original novel's fanbase, The Da Vinci Code saw its weekday box office plummet on Monday, taking in just over 5 million dollars for the day. This was definitely not good news for Sony Columbia Pictures.

Still, the film would not have much trouble recovering its costs at the box office. Following the Spider-Man franchise, the long-struggling Sony Columbia Pictures had finally found a new profit driver.

Naturally, Sony Columbia Pictures would not easily give up on such a rare success. They immediately turned their sights to Angels and Demons, known as the prequel to The Da Vinci Code, intending to invite Tom Hanks to continue starring in the franchise.

Soon after, a rumor began circulating through Hollywood: Tom Hanks's team had quoted Sony Columbia Pictures an astronomical price. Big Tom was demanding a forty percent cut of the film's total profit backend.

It was an exorbitant demand. In the history of Hollywood—counting every director, actor, and producer—there had never been a contract with such astronomical figures. If Sony Entertainment actually signed Tom Hanks on these terms, it would undoubtedly turn a new page in Hollywood history.

Everyone knew, of course, that Tom Hanks and Eno Martin were just throwing out a wild initial offer, but even so, the quoted price left jaws on the floor.

No matter how Sony Columbia Pictures negotiated with Tom Hanks and CAA's Eno Martin, nothing could change the fact that The Da Vinci Code was beginning to show relatively weak legs at the North American box office after its opening weekend.

By the end of its first full week in theaters, the film's North American gross had just broken the 100 million dollar mark. While this was a figure worth celebrating for any ordinary movie, it felt somewhat lackluster given The Da Vinci Code's status as the bestselling novel in America, and it fell short of Sony Entertainment's expectations.

That first week of release had been crucial for The Da Vinci Code. Iron Man had passed its peak, and with no other major blockbusters opening at the same time, those seven days were its best window to dominate the market. The following week, however, would bring a critical North American release window: Memorial Day.

The final chapter of an already successful superhero franchise was set to premiere during that period.

Produced and distributed by Twentieth Century Fox, the X-Men series was bringing out the concluding film of its trilogy.

Of course, to someone like Duke, who had relatively close ties to Twentieth Century Fox and News Group, this so-called conclusion was merely the end of a single phase.

Twentieth Century Fox had seen the shortcomings of X-Men. Not only were they preparing to produce a standalone Wolverine movie, but they also planned to reboot the main series, replacing veterans like Ian McKellen with a much younger cast.

At the same time, influenced by Marvel's grand scheme, they were gearing up to spin off major characters from X-Men into solo films before bringing them back together.

For Marvel Comics, this was definitively bad news. It meant they could forget about reclaiming the film rights to the X-Men franchise for a very long time.

Duke knew this perfectly well. Although he was the largest shareholder in Marvel Comics, he also understood that not every good thing in the world rightfully belonged to him.

Of all the superheroes whose rights Marvel Comics had sold off, aside from characters like Hulk who struggled to find favor on the big screen, reclaiming the rights for heavy hitters like Spider-Man, X-Men, and Fantastic Four was basically impossible unless the other party voluntarily breached their contract.

This was especially true for X-Men, which was nothing short of a cash cow for Twentieth Century Fox.

With its first two installments paving the way, X-Men 3: The Last Stand raked in 102.75 million dollars in North America over its opening weekend. Counting the Memorial Day holiday on Monday, the film scored a total of 122.86 million dollars over the long weekend.

The massive success of X-Men 3: The Last Stand also squeezed the life out of other films, especially The Da Vinci Code. Sony Columbia Pictures' major release suffered a direct fifty-eight percent drop in its second weekend, taking in a mere 32.37 million dollars.

Without a doubt, X-Men 3: The Last Stand and The Da Vinci Code occupied the top two spots on the North American box office charts, while third place belonged to Iron Man.

According to outside projections, Iron Man was bound to drop below the 10 million dollar mark as it entered its fifth weekend. But the film's excellent word of mouth worked its magic, allowing it to march steadily onward with a 10.51 million dollar haul.

By the time the sizzling May release window came to a close, Iron Man was indisputably the biggest winner so far. With a cumulative North American gross of 347.55 million dollars and a global box office smoothly crossing the 500 million dollar mark, it was an absolute phenomenon of a film.

Right on the heels of Iron Man, as soon as June rolled in, another co-production between Warner Brothers and Duke Studio officially hit theaters. Directed by Zack Snyder, 300 Spartans held a massive premiere in Los Angeles.

Duke's former assistant had already been tested by the two sequels to The Matrix. If 300 Spartans proved to be a major success, he would undoubtedly cement his place among Hollywood's A-list directors.

This distinctively stylized film didn't use a single outdoor location shot. It was filmed entirely in front of green screens on a soundstage over a mere 60-day schedule. However, the complex post-production visual effects meant the film was only fully completed early this year.

And those three hundred warriors in red briefs absolutely delivered a staggering audiovisual journey.

On the day of the premiere, a massive poster of "Leonidas at Thermopylae" hung over the main entrance of Chandler Hall. Unlike the famous painting housed in the Louvre Museum, this poster radiated a distinctly murderous aura. Gerard Butler's portrayal of the Spartan King Leonidas—with his sheer bulging muscles alone—was enough to catch anyone's eye.

"Zack is an outstanding director, and he will be a great one."

In the interview area, facing the reporters' camera lenses, Duke praised the film's director without reservation. "The latter two films of The Matrix have already proven this. I believe 300 Spartans will pioneer a new style of epic film."

Today's main character was someone else, so Duke only said a few words before heading over to the waiting area in front of the theater.

"Hi, Zack."

Duke found his old friend. The two exchanged a brief hug, and Duke said, "I've already seen the final cut, man. What you pulled off is completely beyond expectations."

"Can I take that as a compliment?" Zack Snyder said deliberately. "Getting you to feel surprised is no easy feat."

The film's style, however, was truly unconventional. Its thick, oil-painting-like palette easily generated a massive visual impact. In particular, Zack Snyder's use of high-speed slow motion could only be described as having reached a level of consummate mastery.

Since Duke still held a title as a producer, he posed for a group photo with the cast and crew before finally walking into Chandler Hall alongside Zack Snyder.

The two chatted quietly about recent developments as they walked.

"So the folks from Warner Brothers and DC Comics have approached you?" Duke asked softly.

Zack Snyder nodded. "They want me to direct the new Superman."

"What do you think?" Duke knew that this kind of thing couldn't be forced in the slightest.

"I'm still very interested in Superman."

Having said that, Zack Snyder abruptly shifted the topic. "But I'm even more interested in another one of DC's comics."

Not waiting for Duke to ask, he offered, "I want to direct Watchmen first. I just don't know if DC Comics and Warner Brothers are willing to hand one of their crown jewels over to me."

Within the DC universe, Watchmen might not have been as loud a name as the Justice Big Three—Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman—but its societal impact was enormous. Warner Brothers and DC Comics had considered bringing the comic to the big screen several times. Most notably, back in the early-to-mid nineties when Duke first started working with Warner Brothers, an adaptation had nearly been officially greenlit.

At the time, word out of Warner was that Robin Williams was going to play Rorschach, Jamie Lee Curtis would play Silk Spectre, and Gary Busey would play The Comedian, with Richard Gere and Kevin Costner also attached to participate. But after the script went through multiple rewrites, Warner Brothers ultimately shelved the filming plans.

Rumor had it that Michael Bay had also once been interested in the film, but Warner Brothers had vetoed him due to issues with his personal style.

What the comic sought to express was also far too complex. In reality, it exceeded the boundaries of what comics and comic-book movie adaptations could typically shoulder.

Duke knew perfectly well that as long as 300 Spartans succeeded, Zack Snyder wouldn't have much trouble getting the adaptation rights to Watchmen.

Every director had their own ideals, and Zack Snyder was no exception. Naturally, Duke wasn't foolish enough to make choices on Zack's behalf.

Duke merely said, "Zack, I personally support you completely. As long as you understand our goals and the style behind the films we make, that's enough."

"I understand," Zack Snyder said solemnly. "This will definitely be a commercial film."