The franchise had spanned a decade, accumulating countless fans and sky-high popularity. When the final Chapter arrived, all of it erupted.

Over ten years, three adorable children had grown into dashing young men and a beautiful young woman. The premiere of the final installment signaled the end of a ten-year magical journey for Harry Potter fans around the world. To those fans, the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 was described as a "breakup."

The finale was packed with tear-jerking moments, and combined with the emotion of saying goodbye, many viewers walked out of theaters with their eyes red from crying.

The franchise had spanned a decade, accumulating countless fans and sky-high popularity. When the final chapter arrived, all of it erupted.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 became a record-breaking machine, successively shattering a slew of previous North American box office records.

These records had previously belonged to the super-fan movie Twilight: New Moon. Many people mocked the film, but that did not stop it from using the power of its fanbase to turn the series of box office records Duke had set with The Dark Knight into ancient history.

In this era, fan movies were becoming impossible to ignore, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 was no exception.

The original North American midnight screening record was the 30 million dollars held by Twilight: New Moon. However, with a midnight screening haul of 43.5 million dollars, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 pushed that record up by a massive 13.5 million dollars!

The North American opening day record had also belonged to Twilight: New Moon, which used its 72.7 million dollars in 2009 to surpass The Dark Knight's previous record of 68.36 million dollars, fully displaying the might of a fan movie. But the Harry Potter franchise's fans were far more numerous and fanatical. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 easily overtook it with 92.1 million dollars.

The biggest problem with fan movies was their lack of endurance, and the box office trajectory of Twilight: New Moon was the best proof of that. However, the quality of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 was outstanding enough. Its box office was far more stable than Twilight: New Moon's, although when compared to the steadily rising opening week trajectory of The Dark Knight, the North American opening weekend of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 could only concede defeat.

In its three-day opening weekend in North America, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 raked in a staggering 169.15 million dollars, claiming the second-highest opening weekend box office in history, right behind The Dark Knight.

This was enough to keep Duke and Warner Brothers grinning from ear to ear. The film's box office revenue was secondary; the merchandising income was the main prize. Ever since the massive promotional campaign for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 began, all kinds of Harry Potter-related products had been selling like crazy.

According to Warner Brothers' estimates, the sales of Harry Potter merchandise this year would be no less than 3 billion dollars.

A franchise like Harry Potter filming eight installments back-to-back was rare in global film history, both in terms of investment and influence. As the series finale, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 boasted a storyline and visual effects that made it arguably the most popular film in the entire franchise. Overseas media unanimously praised it as the "Best Picture of the Year."

British media also reported that Warner Bros. Pictures, the distribution company for the Harry Potter series, would once again make a run at the Oscars with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, striving to push this franchise finale onto the Best Picture throne.

The previous seven films in the Harry Potter series had received a total of nine Oscar nominations, including Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 being shortlisted for Best Visual Effects and Best Art Direction at the previous Oscars. Yet, to this day, the series had not won any actual glory.

Warner Brothers had indeed submitted the film for various Oscar nominations.

However, just like Duke, they were well aware that securing a Best Picture nomination would not be difficult, given that the Best Picture category had expanded to nine nominees. But getting their hands on the Best Picture Golden Statuette? Unless Joanne Rowling suffered an accident before the final Oscar voting and kicked the bucket like Tolkien, it was basically impossible.

Just as Duke had said, and as Hollywood had proven with facts, no one could ignore the sensational effect and sympathy points that death brought.

Warner Brothers' objective was actually very simple: when the new awards season arrived, they would use the momentum of the Oscars to secure even higher revenue for the film's box office and merchandise sales.

Fan movies and sequels were far more popular than original films, which was a major reason why Hollywood heavily prioritized adaptations and sequels while showing little interest in original works.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 was also proving this rule. Relying on its advantage as the series finale, the film surpassed the global box office of Duke's Inception—which had been screening for over half a year—in a mere twenty-four days. By mid-December, the cumulative global box office for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 had reached over 1.133 billion dollars, while Duke's Inception had not yet touched the 1.1 billion dollar threshold, stalling out at 1.0766 billion dollars.

Breaking past the 1.1 billion dollar mark for its final box office would be exceedingly difficult, as the film had already ended its theatrical run in North America.

The North American box office for Inception ultimately came to a halt at 368.97 million dollars.

Originally, Warner Brothers had planned to keep the film in theaters straight through to the final round of Oscar voting. But Duke vetoed the idea. He believed Warner Brothers should focus their resources on the upcoming limited release of Gravity instead; that film was their real operational priority moving forward.

These operations were not just about theatrical distribution, but also the Oscars.

Duke's goal for the Oscars was crystal clear. In fact, he only had one—Best Actress.

To fight for that award, the first step was finishing the film's post-production. Right before late December arrived, Duke basically completed the movie and held a small-scale test screening internally at Warner Brothers. To Duke's surprise, upon hearing the news, James Cameron specifically hurried over to watch the screening.

In truth, this was not hard to understand. Duke had previously stood up for Avatar and put a lot of effort into its promotional campaign, and James Cameron did not want to owe him a favor.

Just as he thought, during an exclusive interview two days after the test screening, James Cameron made a point to mention Duke's new film.

James Cameron stated that during the ninety minutes he watched Gravity, he kept his hands over his mouth the entire time, constantly having to remind himself to breathe.

Cameron was especially lavish in his praise for the film's 3D effects, believing it elevated filmmaking technology to a whole new height and pioneered new ground in visual effects and 3D technology. It flawlessly utilized CG and live-action filming without a single blemish.

During this television interview, James Cameron even felt at one point that his descriptions fell far short. He continually remarked, "To call this film a tense and thrilling suspense movie would be an understatement," "That doesn't even begin to cover how good it is," and "This film is far more than that."

Obviously, James Cameron was not just returning Duke's favor; he had genuinely been captivated by the film itself.

Because of this, he specifically wrote a related article on his Instant Sharing account, which was instantly shared like crazy by hundreds of thousands of moviegoers, making it one of the most high-profile online stories leading up to Christmas.

"I think Gravity is the best space movie ever made. I grew up watching space movies; they are my great love. I was once a member of the NASA Advisory Council, holding that position for three years. I've always longed to go to outer space, and after watching Gravity, I feel my wish has come true."

"The most successful thing Director Duke Rosenberg did was authentically depicting the state of weightlessness. He will take you into outer space, where you will feel the grandeur of the cosmos and see the beauty of Earth. That sensation of floating in zero gravity, along with that loneliness, fear, and beauty... I felt like I had actually been to outer space. If you go see this movie, it is hard not to feel that same profound realism I did."

"Another thing I loved about this film is that it elevates filmmaking technology to a whole new level. I know it is extremely difficult to film when actors are in continuous motion, but they pulled it off, and they did an amazing job. I know they utilized a lot of robotics and the latest lighting equipment. These were all brand-new experiments, and the results are fantastic. This is not like what you are used to seeing with actors flying around on wirework; this movie is much more authentic. You feel the weightlessness, and you can sense the intense physical training the astronauts underwent. You truly feel it alongside them."

"Gravity also pioneers new ground in visual effects and 3D technology. It perfectly blends CG and live-action filming without a single flaw. To call this film a tense and thrilling suspense movie would be an understatement. During the ninety minutes I watched this film, I kept my hands over my mouth, constantly having to remind myself to breathe—and even that isn't enough to explain just how good this movie is."

"This is truly a powerful, deeply human, and profoundly moving film."

"Some might say Duke Rosenberg made a space thriller, but this movie is far more than that. This is a story about survival, about how a woman confronts herself and figures out a way to stay alive. Scarlett Johansson's performance is impeccable. If I were you, I would absolutely go to the theater to watch this movie. Don't miss it."

Even though James Cameron was partly returning a favor, this endorsement really did help the film. Duke even called him specifically to talk, and with Cameron's personal permission, Warner Brothers would use these quotes in the film's actual promotional campaign.

Scarlett Johansson's performance in Gravity was undoubtedly outstanding, and James Cameron's praise was not an exaggeration. Duke shared his opinion. But if they wanted to snag an Oscar nomination and secure a ticket to next year's awards ceremony, relying solely on the character and the performance was far from enough.

Aside from Scarlett Johansson frequently attending various events to increase her exposure, Duke, Penny Kalis, and Warner Brothers had started laying the groundwork long ago.