Do you want to drag Pixar Studios into Sony Entertainment's muddy waters?
After understanding Michael Ovitz's intentions, Steve Jobs had no goodwill toward him, "No one will believe your guarantees, Michael."
"Steve, Sony Entertainment is very sincere," Michael Ovitz seemed not to notice Jobs' expression and continued shamelessly, "And I will be part of this cooperation, with the addition of the Artist Management Company…"
"Cooperate with you and your company?" Jobs interrupted Ovitz again, "Duke's people are also talking to me about cooperation. Why should I choose you? Because your responsibility for Godzilla was defeated by The Matrix? Or because Pearl Harbor was beaten miserably by The Lord of the Rings? Or because your sharp vision wisely abandoned talents like Duke Rosenberg?"
Steve Jobs shook his head, "If your packaged films can earn $126.67 million in their North American opening weekend and $237.55 million overseas, then you can use your involvement as a condition to attract Pixar's cooperation!"
He coldly stared at Michael Ovitz and said bluntly, "Right now, you're not qualified to join this game!"
For Jobs, these words didn't need to be whispered; many people around turned to look. This super genius, who had risen and fallen multiple times, completely ignored the surrounding gazes and even more so ignored Michael Ovitz in front of him.
As he said, in the face of Return of the King's $370.83 million global opening weekend, Michael Ovitz's so-called involvement in Pixar's cooperation was nothing but a joke.
Michael Ovitz stood there, being stared at by countless eyes. Even if his face was thick-skinned, it began to turn red. He wanted to say something but didn't know how to start.
Every word that Steve Jobs had said felt like a knife stabbing him. The more successful Duke Rosenberg became, the more Ovitz and Martin Bob became a laughingstock in Hollywood.
Jobs was arrogant and indifferent to what Michael Ovitz thought. He asked a waiter for a glass of water, drank a big gulp, and had his secretary greet the Sony Entertainment people before directly leaving the banquet hall.
Pixar Studios indeed needed distributors and partners, but Sony Entertainment and Michael Ovitz weren't qualified enough!
Since Jobs had seen through Sony Entertainment's intentions, he certainly wouldn't continue staying. As for what Sony Entertainment would think, did he need to care?
North America was already a mature film market, and maturity meant that the market was essentially divided. Even though Sony Entertainment had acquired Columbia Pictures and worked for many years, it still couldn't change its embarrassing position at the bottom of the six major studios. If the six majors hadn't been suppressing DreamWorks, DreamWorks might have surpassed them.
Unlike Sony-Columbia, Warner Bros. had already established a mature operational mechanism in North America. Now that Return of the King was a huge success in North America, Duke's attention inevitably shifted overseas. Starting Monday, he and important crew members embarked on an intense overseas publicity tour.
On Monday, they arrived in Mexico City. The entire city, the most crowded in the world, was nearly set ablaze as over 100,000 passionate movie fans surrounded the crew at the Zócalo Plaza theater. Although the Mexican police quickly intervened, the crew was surrounded for the entire afternoon and didn't escape until the evening to return to the hotel.
This was not only due to the passionate nature of Latin Americans but also a true reflection of the film's widespread fervor.
"Doing this again would really drive me crazy."
Back at the hotel, Duke immediately collapsed on the sofa. While his body might not have been too tired, his spirit had drained from the crowd encircling them in the theater. Could he not be worried?
"This shows how much they love your film," Tina Fey brought him a cup of water and said, "That's why they're so enthusiastic."
After Duke took a sip, she continued, "The overseas box office is out."
"How much?" Duke asked immediately.
Return of the King was his first movie to be released worldwide simultaneously.
"$237.55 million!" Tina Fey said. "The global opening weekend was $370.83 million!"
Duke nodded. "Not bad."
"Not bad?" Tina Fey raised an eyebrow. This was a result that would make countless people envious. Ninety-nine percent of Hollywood films would never reach such a global total.
For Duke, this result was just as expected, and in his memory, there had been some global simultaneous releases that earned $400 million or even $500 million in their opening weekends.
However, he was satisfied. The overseas film market of this era couldn't compare to the future.
For instance, a massive Hollywood box office market in the future could easily disregard the earnings of the next few years.
During the remaining weekdays of this week, Duke and half of the Lord of the Rings crew were busy with events in Latin America, especially in Brazil and Argentina, the two largest markets in Latin America. These were the key focuses of the publicity tour, and as time passed, more and more countries and regions joined in releasing Return of the King. By Friday, apart from North America, the film was already showing in theaters in 84 countries and regions worldwide.
However, North America remained Return of the King's largest box office market.
Box office declines on weekdays were inevitable in all global film markets. Return of the King's box office in North America dropped by 48% on Monday, from $42.11 million on Sunday to $21.89 million, and the next three days showed a steady decline, earning $21.15 million, $20.47 million, and $19.88 million, with a total of $83.39 million over the four weekdays.
Overseas, with the addition of new markets, the overseas box office also declined, but the trend remained relatively stable, earning $142.47 million over four days.
After one week of release, Return of the King's North American box office reached $221.67 million, with a global box office of $610.69 million!
The speed at which the film was advancing in the box office was unprecedented in film history.
Of course, Duke was aware that this was inseparable from the audience and reputation foundation built by the previous two films, as well as the recent development of the global cinema market.
As always, without enough theaters and screening screens, even the highest-quality and most well-received films couldn't achieve high box office earnings.
The new weekend began, and Return of the King didn't face any worthy competitors in the overseas markets. In North America, the only big release this weekend was Paycheck from Paramount Pictures, directed by John Woo, continuing his usual style.
However, audience and cinema feedback during the film's test screenings had been poor. The repeated style inevitably led to viewer fatigue, and Paramount didn't invest enough in marketing and promotion. Before release, many viewers hadn't even heard of the film.
No one believed that John Woo's film could challenge Duke's Return of the King.
Warner Bros. barely paid attention to this newly released film. In the eyes of the distributors, the only competitor Return of the King had was itself!
Although the film had become a sensation, the promotional efforts showed no signs of slowing. From online to traditional media, a variety of commentaries and reports were flooding in, all aimed at enticing as many viewers as possible to enter theaters, even encouraging repeat viewings.
Not only were there media reports and enthusiastic fans, but many people in the industry were also analyzing The Lord of the Rings trilogy's success, as some of its factors were worth learning from.
In the latest issue of Premiere magazine, an article appeared with a similar title.
"How Duke Rosenberg and the Lord of the Rings trilogy changed the entire film industry!"
This was the headline on the magazine cover, with Duke and Return of the King's poster as the featured image.
"Anyone who has watched the Lord of the Rings trilogy knows how unforgettable this series is. Duke Rosenberg's masterpiece will have a lasting influence on Hollywood. Apart from unforgettable characters like Gandalf and Legolas, we also get to witness the evolution of cinema!"
"First, it paved the way for the development of epic fantasy films. Duke and his Lord of the Rings series' massive success marked the grand return of epic fantasy blockbusters to the big screen, and fantasy films came back in a grand fashion. Suddenly, you could see orcs in Vogue, and wizards in the major newspapers; it felt like the entire world of fantasy characters was alive and well these years."
"Second, it made motion capture the mainstream technology in film production. The character Gollum revolutionized motion capture, even innovating modern digital effects. Over the past two years, motion capture has evolved into performance capture, capturing actors' full performances in a realistic way."
"Third, Duke demonstrated that all types of special effects can work. This is an irrefutable argument: Are CG effects better than real-world effects? Can they surpass the real? Duke Rosenberg's Lord of the Rings series proved that all kinds of visual effects methods work in the film industry. He combined New Zealand's Weta Workshop's advanced digital effects, models, prosthetics, and traditional visual illusions to create a balanced visual effects event."
"Fourth, Duke made Hollywood realize that any genre can be filmed. For many years, Hollywood producers feared adapting Tolkien's classic fantasy works because they believed it would be impossible. But Duke and his team proved them wrong. Their success proved to the world that Hollywood can produce films of any genre."