Chapter 937: King of North America

In the final weekend of 2014, five wide-release films joined the North American Christmas box office battlefield. But against the surging momentum of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, they were no more than the faint glow of fireflies. These new releases did absolutely nothing to slow Star Wars: The Force Awakens as it shattered even more records.

Although it had already been in theaters for a week, after setting a new Christmas Day record of $59.34 million on Friday—shattering the $24.6 million record set by Sherlock Holmes upon its 2009 premiere—the film pulled in another $68.92 million and $58.17 million on Saturday and Sunday in the North American market. Its second-weekend North American box office reached a staggering $186.43 million, easily breaking the highest second-weekend box office record and elevating the $111.77 million record of The Avengers by two whole tiers.

In fact, excluding films previously directed by Duke himself, such as The Dark Knight and The Avengers, there wasn't a single non-Duke Rosenberg film in the world whose North American opening weekend could beat the second-weekend haul of Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

"The only opponent left for Duke Rosenberg is himself!"

Many media outlets across North America and Europe couldn't wait to publish this headline.

Ten days after its release, the cumulative North American box office for Star Wars: The Force Awakens climbed to $729.41 million, surpassing the final $725.86 million haul of The Avengers to seize second place on the all-time North American box office chart!

Sitting in the champion's seat on the all-time North American chart was Avatar with $749.76 million. It was already a certainty that Star Wars: The Force Awakens would surpass it; the biggest remaining suspense was undoubtedly whether it could achieve the same feat at the global box office.

Over the course of the seven-day week, including the three-day weekend, Star Wars: The Force Awakens opened in theaters across even more countries and regions. Even though it had not yet opened in China—the world's second-largest film market—it still raked in another $385.2 million from overseas markets, pushing the film's global box office to $1.66921 billion.

Without a doubt, this was the fastest a film had ever broken the $1.5 billion mark at the global box office since the medium's birth and evolution into a cultural commodity.

Heading into the new week, with the New Year holiday approaching, the industry remained highly optimistic about the box office trajectory of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and the film did not disappoint. Even on Monday, a workday, the box office dropped by only 25 percent compared to Sunday, pulling in $43.63 million.

This figure also guaranteed that the film's North American box office reached $773.03 million, thereby surpassing the $749.76 million North American haul of Avatar to take first place on the all-time North American box office chart.

"A new King of North America is born; will the King of the World change hands?"

This was the front-page headline for numerous North American media outlets on Tuesday. The frenzy sparked by Star Wars: The Force Awakens had long since transcended the realm of cinema, becoming a social and cultural phenomenon.

Compared to other outlets, Hollywood Reporter, which focused more closely on Hollywood trends, pointed out, "Within the next two to three months, Duke Rosenberg will become the first director to have a single film surpass $1 billion at the North American box office!"

No one argued with this perspective.

Duke himself was well aware that the North American box office for Star Wars: The Force Awakens would not be a problem. The most important thing now was the global box office. Only by relying on the strength of overseas markets could they push the global box office of Star Wars: The Force Awakens past the $2 billion mark as quickly as possible.

North America had a limited population. America and Canada combined had a total population of just over 350 million. Even counting immigrants and undocumented residents who might buy movie tickets, it was a market of 400 million people at most. A box office of $1 billion practically hit the ceiling. After all, it was impossible for every single person in North America to like Duke and Star Wars: The Force Awakens; no film could achieve that.

Therefore, Duke simply led the cast and crew out of North America, starting with Europe. They traveled to every major market, doing everything possible to grab eyeballs and attention, stimulate the audience's interest, and drive them to buy tickets and walk into theaters.

In the mainstream media of every country, news related to Star Wars: The Force Awakens could be seen everywhere.

"Star Wars: The Force Awakens and its director, Duke Rosenberg, are launching an assault on the records. This film has become the box office champion in every country it has been released in, gradually forming a unique phenomenon. Parents are taking their children to see it, and younger generations are bringing their elders. It is a cross-generational shared experience. It has broken down the barriers of language, culture, and religion, setting off a movie-going frenzy around the world, and this wave shows no signs of receding..."

"Just sitting on the subway, you can hear the people around you talking about this movie. They're talking about BB-8, the Millennium Falcon, and the Jedi Knights, discussing the various possibilities of Duke Rosenberg's background setting for the female lead, Rey..."

During the transition between 2014 and 2015, Duke, Katherine Kennedy, and Charles Roven led the crew on a non-stop flying promotional tour. Starting with London as the first city of their European itinerary, they passed through major European capitals like Dublin, Paris, Berlin, Milan, and Madrid. Wherever they went, they sparked an unprecedented craze.

The influence of Star Wars: The Force Awakens had already transcended the realm of cinema, becoming a cultural or, more accurately, a social phenomenon.

Even though those European directors, filled with envy, jealousy, and hate, tried every trick in the book to constantly bash Star Wars: The Force Awakens for having absolutely no artistic merit—claiming it was nothing but advanced computer technology and melodramatic plots designed solely to milk emotions—they couldn't do a thing to stop the film's forward momentum.

Their opinions couldn't affect the mainstream audience at all. What kind of movies did most people like? The answer to that question went without saying.

Even the mainstream European media, watching the ticket lines grow longer and facing increasingly terrifying box office numbers, had no choice but to offer words of praise, no matter how reluctant they were.

This was especially true of Fleet Street. As long as these people could grab attention, they didn't care at all about endlessly hyping someone up or tearing them down.

"Duke Rosenberg, Hollywood's number one director! The trendsetter of world pop culture!"

In order to cater to the audience's word of mouth and attract enough attention, Fleet Street did not hesitate to heap high praise upon Duke. The bold front-page headlines, paired with photos from the London promotional tour for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, were exceptionally striking.

"Even though 2015 has only just begun, we can already confirm that no one can match Duke Rosenberg's influence. Wherever he goes is simply the focus and center of the world! Any random sentence or gesture from him can easily catch the public's eye and land on the front pages of all major media outlets."

"Everyone knows how outstanding he is, but who could have expected that after the globally sensational Batman Trilogy and The Avengers, he would team up with the Star Wars franchise to bring the world such a massive surprise!"

"Although he does not have British citizenship, Duke Rosenberg has made immense contributions to the global dissemination of culture, and the royal family should consider bestowing upon him the honors he deserves!"

Even though the entire article was full of British self-importance, it spared no effort in flattering Duke.

Of course, in the eyes of Duke's fans, these were all simply basic facts.

As the crew rushed between major cities, they enjoyed treatment that even top world politicians would find hard to receive. Upon arriving at airports, there were always thousands, or even tens of thousands, of fans spontaneously gathering to welcome them. When they held fan meets, entire cities would be paralyzed, and when they left, thousands of loyal fans would cry and beg the crew to stay just a little longer.

Among them, Duke was the most popular target; countless Duke fanboys had come just for him!

Since the birth of the film industry, no director had ever built a commercial appeal far stronger than that of Hollywood superstars, just as Duke had.

Furthermore, hundreds of reporters, led by the North American media and Fleet Street, directly followed the crew's movements. Even when Duke and the others left the center of the entertainment industry for the Far East, they stuck close, swearing to dig up the private secrets of everyone on the crew!

In fact, after they arrived at their hotel in Hong Kong, a female paparazzo from The Sun bribed a waitress and nearly managed to sneak into Daisy Ridley's room...

Incidents like this happened endlessly throughout the promotional tour. Lucasfilm specifically hired a highly professional security team to protect the safety and privacy of the Force Awakens crew the entire time.

"Hollywood's most influential super director in the Far East!"

Star Wars: The Force Awakens had already been playing in Hong Kong for some time. The arrival of the cast and crew drove the city, which had just experienced some turmoil, into a frenzy, with the media scrambling to report on it.

"This is Duke Rosenberg's second time in Hong Kong. Those outstanding works have allowed us to thoroughly recognize this young super director. His influence has already radiated to every corner of the world..."

Perhaps the media's claims were slightly exaggerated, but in the Far East's several dumping grounds for Hollywood culture, through one massive mainstream blockbuster after another, the name Duke Rosenberg had been engraved in the hearts of many!

The sensation the crew caused in the Far East region was no less than in North America. Cities like Hong Kong, Taipei, Seoul, Tokyo, and Manila were utterly conquered by Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Among these incidents, when the crew left Tokyo and prepared to head to Sydney, a few female fans who had heard the news actually slit their wrists in public in an attempt to make Daniel Wu stay. It truly left people not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

More than ten days later, after a long and arduous trek, the physically and mentally exhausted crew finally arrived at the last stop of this promotional tour, which was also the only mainstream market where Star Wars: The Force Awakens had not yet been released—China.

Although the traditional New Year release season and New Year's Day holiday in the Chinese region had just passed, and logically the market should have entered a relatively slow period, Duke leading the entire crew there still triggered a massive sensational effect.