"Compared to Fury Road, Fast & Furious 4, which was released earlier, is just a bunch of sissies..."
In the spacious living room, a movie commentary program was playing on the TV, filled with viewers' comments. Similar voices and remarks had appeared far too frequently—it was impossible not to notice them.
A bald, mixed-race man sat on the sofa opposite the television, his eyes coldly fixed on the screen. He had a powerful build, strong muscles, towering stature, and carried a rebellious, devil-may-care attitude.
This was one of Hollywood's most iconic tough guys. Even while sitting on the sofa, he still looked like a heavy-duty motorcycle.
No one liked seeing their most iconic film constantly belittled Vin Diesel was no exception, especially when they were calling him... a sissy!
If he hadn't gone through so many ups and downs over the years and mellowed out a bit, he would've smashed the TV long ago.
But the word "sissy" was simply too grating!
It was as if in those people's eyes, Fast & Furious 4 was worthless compared to Fury Road, and Vin Diesel himself was nothing but a piece of crap in front of Duke Rosenberg...
Had they all forgotten that Fast & Furious 4 made $70.9 million in its opening weekend in North America?
Fury Road a slightly upscale B-movie—even if it was a Duke Rosenberg film, could its opening weekend box office really surpass Fast & Furious 4?
Just as Vin Diesel was thinking this, the movie program on the TV switched to a segment on the weekend box office report, presenting last weekend's North American box office trends.
"Fury Road officially opened in North American theaters at midnight on Friday, pulling in $6.7 million in midnight screenings. The film expanded to 4,050 theaters across North America early Friday morning and earned a strong $24.35 million on its opening day, including midnight screenings ranking first for the day."
"On Saturday, the film saw a slight increase in box office revenue, which is quite rare for an R-rated movie, bringing in $25.37 million. Sunday saw a normal decline, with $24.11 million collected. The film ended its opening weekend with a three-day North American total of $74.83 million."
"This opening performance has set a new record for the highest North American debut by an original R-rated film. Given its stellar word-of-mouth, the film is expected to maintain a steady run and could ultimately challenge a domestic box office of $250 million!"
Vin Diesel's face turned sour, but the program continued.
"Another major release this week underperformed. Distributed by Sky Film Studios and directed by Steven Spielberg, The Adventures of Tintin suffered a box office flop. With poor reviews, its North American debut day brought in only $4.05 million. Revenue continued to decline over the next two days, and it only managed to collect $11.48 million over its three-day opening weekend..."
Picking up the remote, Vin Diesel switched off the TV, stood up, and walked to the floor-to-ceiling window of his apartment, gazing out at the distant City of Angels.
Despite his tough exterior, he was actually quite sharp-minded. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to become the producer of Fast & Furious 4.
Thinking of Fast & Furious 4 filled Vin Diesel with frustration, and the word "sissy" kept popping into his mind unbidden.
After seeing that box office report, even though he disliked Fury Road, he had to admit that Fast & Furious 4 might not hold up against Duke Rosenberg's film.
The Fast & Furious series had gained a lot of fans in North America through its first three films as well as DVDs and video rentals. That was the main reason Fast & Furious 4 had such a strong $70 million opening weekend. But the film's poor reception caused its second weekend box office to drop by over 60%. Though it hadn't been pulled from theaters yet, it was already nearing the end of its run. Even Vin Diesel had to admit that Fast & Furious 4 would probably top out at around $150 million domestically.
That number just didn't stack up against Fury Road! Vin Diesel was sure of it.
But no one wanted to be labeled a sissy especially when public opinion was raging and that label was now being pinned directly on them!
Vin Diesel knew very well how fickle public opinion could be. Right now, Fast & Furious was his only reliable franchise in Hollywood his career insurance. He absolutely couldn't let the series become synonymous with being sissies, or else the weight of public consensus would eventually affect the franchise's future.
To shake off the "sissy" label, the best way would be to make a Fast & Furious film that was explosive and intense one that could dominate Fury Road both in box office numbers and action sequences!
This idea became clearer and clearer in Vin Diesel's mind, but making it happen wouldn't be easy.
For starters, take investment. To create a Fast & Furious movie that's hot, explosive, and cool enough, an investment of over $100 million would be absolutely necessary.
However, Universal Pictures the rights holder of Fast & Furious wasn't in great financial shape due to last year's economic crisis.
When they were making Fast & Furious 4, Vin Diesel had proposed shooting two films back-to-back, but Universal rejected the idea all because of financial concerns.
Fast & Furious 4 didn't quite meet Universal's expectations, and getting them to invest over $100 million in the sequel would be very difficult…
Still, that wouldn't necessarily stop Vin Diesel. If he could find a suitable investor, he could approach Universal with funding in hand. Given how banks and Hollywood alike had tightened their purses, Universal probably wouldn't reject such a partnership model.
The question was where to find the right investor?
Having worked in Hollywood for many years, Vin Diesel was still influenced by certain industry norms for example, producers and directors typically don't invest in the movies they're making...
Besides, with his modest fortune, if something went wrong, he'd lose everything.
And then there was the cast. Gathering the original cast would be one of the best marketing hooks to draw audiences. Paul Walker, Tyrese Gibson, and Michelle Rodriguez were not a problem but the original female lead would take some digging.
After all, it had been years since anyone had heard anything about Jessica Alba.
Getting all the original lead actors from the first Fast & Furious wasn't going to be easy.
But Vin Diesel was a man of ideas and iron will. He had already decided to push this project into the implementation phase.
Just as he left Phoenix and arrived in Salt Lake City, Duke received the box office update from Warner Bros. for Fury Road, which included not only the North American opening weekend figures but also rough estimates of its global box office numbers.
This film was released simultaneously in 77 countries and regions. Excluding North America's opening weekend numbers, it grossed approximately $140 million over the three-day weekend.
A global box office exceeding $200 million in three days is already quite rare for a non-sequel R-rated film.
This also met the expectations Duke and Warner Bros. had for the film.
PG-13 and PG-rated films are often jokingly referred to as fairy tales for adults, but even Duke had to admit that the ones that truly perform well worldwide are precisely these types.
R-rated films like The Matrix trilogy that can become global hits are few and far between in all of Hollywood. Moreover, the first Matrix film's opening weekend didn't perform as well as Fury Road.
The film's first week can be considered a major success, and strong audience word-of-mouth is also a guarantee of subsequent revenue. Naturally, Warner Bros. wanted to maximize profits. They also submitted an initial plan to turn Fury Road into a series, with the first spin-off centered on Furiosa, played by Charlize Theron.
Although Duke had fairly balanced the screen time between Tom Cruise and Charlize Theron, a strong female character naturally attracts more attention than a male one.
Furiosa's level of attention undeniably surpassed that of the male lead played by Tom Cruise.
When Duke went to Beverly Hills last week to visit his goddaughter, Tom Cruise had even complained to him about this. However, now that he's a father, Cruise is much more clear-headed than in his younger days and only grumbled a bit. He understood well that cooperating with Duke was far more beneficial than falling out with him.
"Warner still wants Charlize to star?" In the living room of the hotel suite, Duke asked Tina Fey.
"She's the first choice," Tina Fey replied.
Duke took an apple slice handed to him by Scarlett Johansson, said thank you, and then told Tina Fey, "Let Warner Bros. talk to Charlize Theron themselves."
To be honest, Duke wasn't sure if Charlize Theron would reprise the role.
Thanks to Furiosa, Charlize Theron had received widespread acclaim, solidified her status, and even advancing her career further wasn't difficult. She might even have a shot at more awards during the awards season.
Getting her to return wouldn't just require real money it would also need a hefty share of the profits.
"There's one more piece of news…" Tina Fey also took an apple slice from Scarlett and said before putting it in her mouth, "Mel Gibson has returned to North America!"
"He's back?" Scarlett paused before putting another slice into her mouth. "Is someone actually willing to cast him in a movie?"
Tina Fey shook her head. "Not yet."
"Pat Kingsley's doing?" Duke asked.
"No…" Tina Fey thought for a moment and said, "It was a small agency called Leo that brought him back. This agency works with many small film studios, providing them with B-movie actors."
She asked Duke, "Should we do something?"
"No…" Duke raised his hand and waved it off. "We don't need to do anything right now. Some people will be more concerned about Mel Gibson than we are."
After all, Mel Gibson had attacked the entire Jewish community back then, and those old guys can really hold a grudge.