Perhaps the purely popcorn nature of car-racing movies like The Fast and the Furious quickly exhausts the audience's enthusiasm, or perhaps Jessica Alba's scandal deterred further viewers. Either way, as the new week began, the box office for The Fast and the Furious dropped sharply. Monday's daily box office fell to $3.65 million, a decline of 60%.
The Fellowship of the Ring didn't fare much better. After three consecutive weeks of release, its box office performance inevitably began to show fatigue, which was entirely in line with market trends.
Compared to Sunday's $11.62 million, Monday's box office dropped 55%, taking in $5.23 million for the day.
Throughout the week, the market's leaders remained The Fast and the Furious and The Fellowship of the Ring. The former faced many issues, while the latter, due to its release duration, experienced a gradual decline. However, The Fellowship of the Ring consistently outperformed The Fast and the Furious by a significant margin.
In the remaining three weekdays, The Fellowship of the Ring recorded $5.10 million, $4.89 million, and $4.62 million, respectively. Meanwhile, The Fast and the Furious managed $3.42 million, $3.21 million, and $3.01 million.
The gap extended to audience reception as well.
The Fellowship of the Ring maintained a cinema audience approval rating of about 90%, with an overall grade of A+ and an average score of 89 from 66 media outlets.
In contrast, The Fast and the Furious held only a 75% approval rating, with an overall grade of A– and an average score of 65 from 45 media outlets.
Over the subsequent weekend, Warner Bros. released another film, Swordfish, to the North American market. Produced by Australia's Village Roadshow Pictures, this film could only be considered Warner's "godson," nowhere near the same level as The Fellowship of the Ring, their "biological child." Warner's investment in it was also relatively modest, as evidenced by its limited release across just over 2,600 theaters.
Under such circumstances, even though The Fellowship of the Ring was in its fourth weekend, it remained unshaken by Swordfish.
"No suspense at all."
Inside the post-production studio of Magic Studio, Richard Taylor of Weta Workshop couldn't hide his excitement. His eyebrows practically flew off his face as he said to Duke, who had just finished editing a segment of The Two Towers, "Even though The Fellowship of the Ring saw a weekend drop of over 50%, its $20.19 million box office still outperformed Swordfish's $18.14 million and The Fast and the Furious's $17.25 million!"
Wallace Lee, who had just joined the team, chimed in, "Does this mean we've secured our fourth consecutive weekly box office crown?"
"Exactly!"
If he weren't sitting at a break table with Duke and the others, Richard Taylor would've jumped up and shouted. His loud voice couldn't conceal his excitement, as he exclaimed, "We've achieved four consecutive wins! This is the summer box office crown four weeks in a row!"
He clenched his fist tightly, using all his strength to suppress the excitement and elation in his heart, preventing himself from punching the air.
Weta Workshop had become famous!
Over the past few weeks, Weta Workshop had been frequently mentioned in the media alongside Duke and The Fellowship of the Ring. Numerous industry insiders were inquiring about their work.
Richard Taylor had every reason to feel excited. While Weta Workshop wouldn't receive any profit shares, their reputation had undeniably skyrocketed, and the number of inquiries for their services had grown beyond count!
He turned to Duke, his eyes burning with admiration. All of this was brought by him!
"Hey, Richard, don't look at me like that." Duke put down his coffee cup and pointed toward the door, jokingly saying, "You seem very excited. If you can't hold it in, feel free to go outside and shout a few times."
Everyone, including Richard Taylor, burst into laughter.
"Richard, you should get used to this," said Mary Victoria, head of the computer effects team. "Don't forget, The Fellowship of the Ring is just the beginning. Think about the epic scenes we're rendering—fans will go crazy over the next two installments."
"I don't want to get used to this," Richard Taylor said seriously. "I only want success to hit me with even greater intensity."
The group burst into hearty laughter once again.
Anna Prinz refilled everyone's coffee and said as she sat down, "As long as you keep working with us, you'll get used to it."
Richard Taylor's gaze once again turned to Duke. Success would indeed become a habit if he continued working with him.
He remembered clearly that The Fellowship of the Ring, after less than a month in theaters, had already grossed $330.6 million in North America. What an astounding figure!
Moreover, he had just seen last weekend's overseas statistics. With its wide release in Asia, Latin America, and Australia, alongside previously opened markets in Europe, the film grossed $221 million overseas over three days.
If he wasn't mistaken, the global box office for The Fellowship of the Ring was now approaching $700 million!
Where would the film's global box office ultimately land? Even though its North American momentum had peaked, $1 billion was the most conservative estimate!
The sound of the door opening interrupted Richard Taylor's thoughts. Tina Fey walked in holding a document and sat next to Duke.
Richard Taylor's curiosity was piqued. "Tina, are those the merchandise stats?"
Tina Fey glanced at Duke, who nodded slightly, and she said, "Yes, the rough sales data from last weekend is out."
"How much?"
Though Weta Workshop had no profit share, Richard Taylor was deeply interested. Many of the merchandise designs originated from Weta Workshop's concepts. Although their contract didn't include profit shares, the success of The Fellowship of the Ring, especially in merchandising, would undoubtedly strengthen their bargaining power for future projects.
"North American merchandise sales reached about $22.5 million last weekend, and overseas sales were around $26 million," Tina said, seeing no objection from Duke. "Currently, Magic Studio has secured licensing deals with 36 manufacturers, totaling $136 million in revenue."
Wallace Lee widened his eyes and couldn't help but ask, "Can we know the total merchandise revenue so far?"
Anna Prinz, who was Wallace Lee's immediate supervisor, answered casually, "Global merchandise sales have totaled approximately $220 million, with licensing revenue exceeding $150 million."
Compared to Wallace Lee's shock, Anna Prinz remained calm, as though such results were entirely expected.
Richard Taylor sighed inwardly. While the film industry was often described as high-risk, under Duke Rosenberg's direction, astronomical profits seemed effortless.
Of course, as someone involved in the project from start to finish, he also knew the immense effort Duke and his team had poured into it over the years.
Checking his watch, Duke stood up and clapped his hands. "Alright, everyone, break time is over. Back to work!"
Duke had chosen to return to Los Angeles instead of joining the promotional tour. It wasn't for a vacation but to oversee the post-production of The Two Towers.
Los Angeles remained bustling after dark. It wasn't until Duke finished the effects for the Ent scenes that he called it a day. Driving toward Malibu, he passed a hotel where red carpets were rolled out, crowds gathered on both sides, and camera flashes lit up the area, indicating an event was underway.
His car sped past, but another vehicle pulled up in front of the hotel, stopping at the red carpet's end. Michael Ovitz stepped out confidently and entered the hotel.
This was a celebration party hosted by Universal Pictures for The Fast and the Furious. Despite its declining box office, everyone could see that its North American earnings would surpass $100 million—a victory worth celebrating given its $38 million production budget.
Michael Ovitz, shedding the gloom left by Pearl Harbor, was now the center of attention at the party, reminiscent of his glory days at the helm of CAA.
In this commercially driven circle, data and profits were the ultimate convincers. Even Ron Meyer, who rarely saw eye to eye with Michael Ovitz, exchanged polite remarks with him.
After some small talk, Michael Ovitz asked confidently, "Ron, when will the new project I submitted be approved?"
After a moment of thought, Ron Meyer replied, "I'll let you know next month."
Michael Ovitz waved over a young director and a beautiful woman, who approached.
No introductions were needed—Ron Meyer recognized both. The director was Stephen Sommers, who had achieved great success with The Mummy Returns in collaboration with Universal, and the woman was Kate Beckinsale, the female lead of Pearl Harbor and now a rising star.
After some pleasantries, Michael Ovitz emphasized, "Ron, this is the director and lead actress I've prepared for the new project. Plus, I've almost secured Hugh Jackman, who has agreed to play Van Helsing."
A director skilled in fantasy, a stunning actress, a leading man with strong box office appeal, famous characters like Dracula, and Universal's ample budget—all of this painted an attractive picture.
After Stephen Sommers and Kate Beckinsale left, Michael Ovitz confidently declared, "I have great faith in this project. It has every potential to challenge Duke Rosenberg's fantasy masterpiece head-on!"
While planning this project, Michael Ovitz had an idea: perhaps Van Helsing could compete with The Return of the King. If the final installment of the trilogy underperformed, Duke Rosenberg would become a global laughingstock.
Of course, this was just a thought, and he wouldn't make such a decision recklessly.