Chapter 364

As the following weekend arrived, with no strong competitors in the market, The Return of the King continued to slash its way through the North American box office, pulling in another $88.956 million and successfully securing the weekend box office crown once again.

As for the international market, over seventy overseas markets released the film this weekend.

These mainly included Australia and New Zealand, a dozen or so non-EU Central and Eastern European countries, as well as the largest box office regions in South America, such as Brazil, Argentina, and Chile.

In Asia, China, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, and more than a dozen other regions also saw the release of The Return of the King this weekend.

Without exception, The Return of the King dominated wherever it went, taking the top spot in nearly every national movie market.

The only exception was Japan. It wasn't because Japanese moviegoers disliked The Return of the King.

Japan's market, apart from the UK, is the largest single-country overseas market for the Lord of the Rings series.

It was just an unfortunate coincidence that this year, at the same time The Return of the King was released, The Cat Returns a project by Japan's renowned animation master Hayao Miyazaki also hit theaters.

Although the Japanese are often seen as America's moviegoer, they possess a strange sense of pride. Faced with a choice between their own animated films and Hollywood blockbusters, they still chose the animated film.

Of course, the bigger reason is that animated films in Japan are indeed more popular than Hollywood blockbusters.

Even so, The Return of the King still managed to pull in $38.296 million in its opening weekend in Japan the highest first-weekend box office of any Asian market.

What's even more astonishing is the merchandise. Japanese fans were even more fanatical about collectibles than North American ones. Legolas and Arwen figurines sold out completely, and the local distributors kept requesting restocks.

Additionally, Japan's Asahi Shimbun reported a curious incident. Outside a movie theater in a bustling district of Tokyo, there was a huge Legolas poster.

The poster was clean and intact when the cinema closed for the night.

But the next morning, staff discovered several stains of unknown fluid on the poster. There were also love declarations written in both English and Japanese.

It seemed this was the work of a male superfan, which surprised the staff. If you're going to confess your love, shouldn't it be to Princess Arwen instead?

Yet, the love notes clearly targeted Legolas.

Since the poster was dirty, they replaced it. But the very next night, similar marks were found again.

At this point, the cinema had no choice but to call the police.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Police staked out the location and eventually caught a shady-looking man fiddling with the Legolas poster.

When arrested, he was still shouting declarations of love, confessing to the poster of Legolas to the amazement of the officers who caught him.

Later, the Lord of the Rings crew heard about the incident, and it became a running joke among them at the expense of Orlando Bloom.

Orlando Bloom himself was pretty speechless. "If it were a female fan, fine or even if it were Arwen's poster, that would make sense.

But getting turned on by my poster? Isn't that a bit too perverted?"

When it comes to idol worship, the obsession levels in Japan and South Korea where pop culture is even crazier than in North America result in far more bizarre fan behavior than their Western counterparts.

In South Korea, The Return of the King raked in $22.56 million. Koreans weren't as "principled" as the Japanese, and Korean cinema at the time hadn't fully developed.

With no real competition in Korea, The Return of the King easily claimed the top spot.

As for China, there was no question. Whether on the island of Taiwan or Hong Kong, The Return of the King topped the box office. The two regions combined brought in $10.536 million during the first weekend.

Mainland China also saw a movie-watching frenzy. In just three days over the first weekend, it pulled in 36.8 million RMB roughly $4.65 million USD.

Although that may not seem like much, for a market that hadn't undergone large-scale development yet, this box office result was record-breaking.

At that time, many domestic Chinese films didn't even gross 30 million RMB in total let alone making that much in just three days.

Other international markets also had strong results: $22.635 million in Australia, $5.637 million in regretful New Zealand, $9.642 million in Brazil, and $7.725 million and $4.233 million respectively in Argentina and Chile.

Adding in the second weekend North American earnings and the $179 million from earlier European releases, The Return of the King ended its second weekend with a total of $475 million in global revenue, securing the global weekend box office crown once again.

At this point, the North American box office had reached $325 million, while global box office had climbed to $630 million.

Everyone knew The Return of the King's box office would be terrifying but no one expected it to be this terrifying. $325 million in ten days in North America the fastest film to ever cross $300 million.

Even scarier was the global total: $630 million.

When has Hollywood ever had a movie that, just ten days after its North American release, crossed $600 million worldwide? Probably never.

The Return of the King did just that, and the shock it brought to filmmakers worldwide was beyond imagination. It was downright terrifying and immensely intimidating.

Yes, Titanic had huge box office numbers, but its immediate impact wasn't as forceful as The Return of the King.

It's fair to say that this year, except in a few markets like Japan, The Return of the King swept the global film industry without opposition.

If The Return of the King could sing, it would probably belt out, "Invincible — how lonely it is!"

Gilbert, however, wasn't blinded by success. When attending a joint high-level meeting between Warner and Disney regarding The Return of the King, he remained very calm in the face of the executives' god-like admiration.

"I think this is normal," Gilbert said. "The first two Lord of the Rings films built a solid reputation, so their popularity is only natural.

Also, we should recognize that with the expansion of the overseas market in recent years, global screen counts and audience bases have steadily increased.

Only with sufficient screen numbers and audience size can we achieve such high box office numbers."

What Gilbert said made perfect sense, and the executives didn't deny it.

But would The Lord of the Rings have achieved such phenomenal success without Gilbert? The executives were doubtful.

Doug Walter spoke up: "Gilbert, you're being too modest. You created a great film series you've made all of us your believers."

Doug Walter's face was practically wrinkling from smiling, he couldn't help it.

The box office was one thing. But during the meeting just now, a report showed that North American merchandise sales had already reached $321.3 million.

Merchandise figures overseas were harder to tally, but in the markets with available data, sales had already reached $225.65 million.

And remember as the film continues to screen, the proportion of merchandise sales will only increase.

Generally speaking, a commercial film's box office accounts for about 30% of its total revenue. If The Return of the King grosses $1.8 billion, then the merchandise could generate at least $4.2 billion in profit.

And don't forget that's just a general estimate. For a franchise like The Lord of the Rings, box office could account for less than 20% of the total revenue.

So far, the first two Lord of the Rings films have already generated $7 billion in merchandise revenue.

If we include Return of the King, the short-term merchandise revenue of the Lord of the Rings series will exceed $12 billion.

And that's still the short-term estimate. For long-term revenue, the potential profits are immeasurable. Even a conservative estimate puts it above $20 billion.

And this is just the income from merchandise and box office. Keep in mind that as Return of the King keeps breaking records, the stock prices of Disney, Warner Theaters, and Warner Bros.' parent company Time Warner are also steadily climbing.

That's the power of a blockbuster film one moment can lead to heaven, another to ruin. The profits movie companies earn from rising stock prices can far surpass their box office take.

Of course, that's not to say the box office doesn't matter. The two are positively correlated.

Why did MGM go bankrupt because Windtalkers flopped? After all, it was only a $70 million investment. In today's Hollywood, where productions routinely exceed $100 million, it's not even considered a major production.

MGM could afford that $70 million loss. At worst, it would just be a financial hit.

But the real fatal blow came from their stock price. Because the movie flopped at the box office, the resulting chain reaction caused the stock to plummet, leading to a snowball effect.

Then again, if a movie studio's fate hinges on the success or failure of a single film, its days in Hollywood are essentially numbered.

Why are the giants considered giants? It's because they have the capacity to withstand risks.

When a giant flops on a film with a nine-figure budget, it's not a big deal. That's because they don't rely on just one film a year they have many other projects.

A certain famous film producer once publicly stated that even if a studio invests in a dozen films a year, and only two or three make money while the rest lose money, the company will still end up with massive profits.

This is also why Disney and Warner place such great importance on Gilbert. In the eyes of the top executives at both companies, Gilbert is their insurance policy in the stock market.

As long as there's a Gilbert project every summer, Disney and Warner Bros. will remain invincible.

If Doug Walter and Robert Iger were familiar with modern internet slang, they would probably say this right now: "Gilbert, forever the GOAT…"

A new week has begun. After two weeks of intense performance, Return of the King saw a Monday weekday box office dip to $10.236 million.

On Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, it pulled in $15.36 million, $11.218 million, and $12.604 million respectively. Combined with Monday, the third week's four weekdays brought in another $49.418 million.

This week's new release in North America is The Sum of All Fears, distributed by Paramount Pictures a film that doesn't stand a chance against Return of the King.

Paramount didn't put much effort into it, either. The release was arranged hastily, and they didn't try to avoid competing with the juggernaut.

The result? The Sum of All Fears earned $31.05 million in its opening weekend less than the $50.165 million Return of the King pulled in during its second weekend allowing Return of the King to secure its third consecutive weekend crown in North America.

By the end of its third week in North America, Return of the King had earned $424 million, temporarily ranking as the year's number one film in the North American box office.

Overseas performance remained strong as well. More than a dozen additional markets began screenings. Though individually small, their combined box office was still impressive.

This week, the overseas market brought in another $193 million. With the prior overseas and North American totals combined, the film's global box office had reached $922 million.

It's a sure thing that in its fourth weekend of North American release, the global box office will break $1 billion setting a remarkable record and becoming the fastest film to reach the billion-dollar mark.

However, next week won't be as smooth for Return of the King, because George Lucas's latest film, Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones, is about to hit theaters.

Even though each Star Wars film seems worse than the last, the franchise remains Star Wars, and hardcore fans will always show up for a new release.

George Lucas even invited Gilbert to attend the premiere of Episode II, but Gilbert politely declined he truly had no time.

Though he didn't take part in the North American or Central and South American promotional campaigns, when the team split into groups for promotion in Europe and Asia, Gilbert went with them.

The global theatrical journey of Return of the King continued, and Gilbert arrived in London with the crew. After a promotional event in Georgia Square, he stepped into Buckingham Palace.

By then, reporters had already set up their long-lens cameras at Buckingham Palace, and members of British high society each with their own noble title were coming and going.

Everyone was gathered here because Queen Elizabeth was about to confer the title of knight on Gilbert.

The setting sun bathed Buckingham Palace in a golden glow, making the palace look resplendent and luxurious. Gilbert, led by Prince Charles as an enthusiastic tour guide, toured Buckingham Palace.

Pointing at a few porcelain pieces and scrolls, Prince Charles proudly told Gilbert, "These are all cultural artifacts from China. We took them from the Old Summer Palace. Aren't they exquisite?"

Prince Charles knew Gilbert was fascinated with Chinese culture, so he made a point of introducing these items, successfully capturing Gilbert's interest.

After seeing these items, Gilbert felt quite speechless. If punching Prince Charles wouldn't cause an international incident, he would've already landed a solid one on the prince's face.

Acting like a thief and still feeling smug about it how are there so many shameless scoundrels in this world?

To be fair, they don't see themselves as thieves or criminals. On the contrary, they're quite proud. If anyone is to blame, it's the Qing Dynasty for being too weak to protect its own cultural treasures.

Prince Charles then said, "Take a look and see if there's something you like. I can make the decision to give you one as a gift."

Looking around the grand treasure hall, Gilbert's eyes fell on the bronze heads of the twelve zodiac animals. In his past life, the whereabouts of the rooster, goat, and snake heads had remained unknown, and the authenticity of the dog head was still debated.

He didn't expect to find the rooster and goat heads in the British royal collection, treasured like prized possessions.

Gilbert thought for a moment. Asking for both would surely be rejected, so he said, "I'd like the goat head, if Your Highness would be willing to part with it."

Prince Charles was surprised: "I thought you'd ask for a painting or some porcelain. I didn't expect you to want a bronze head."

He pondered for a moment and said, "Since I promised you could choose a gift, I'll keep my word. Alright, you can have the goat head."

Gilbert pushed his luck: "Then can I take the rooster head too? It feels kind of lonely without its companion."

Prince Charles didn't respond, but his expression clearly meant no, so Gilbert didn't press the issue.

After receiving the goat head, Gilbert officially attended the investiture ceremony, where Queen Elizabeth personally conferred the title of Knight upon him.

.....

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