Chapter 436: Release Date Must Be Changed

In this era, achieving over $1 billion in global box office revenue for a film is extremely rare. As of now, only two films in the world have accomplished this feat: James Cameron's Titanic and Duke's The Fellowship of the Ring.

However, due to factors such as the 9/11 attacks and audience preferences, The Fellowship of the Ring failed to maintain its momentum after three months of screening. By the time Duke returned to Los Angeles, the film was only being shown in fewer than 500 theaters in North America. When the world stepped into 2002, its daily box office earnings had dwindled to nearly negligible amounts. Its continued screening in theaters was mainly for the purpose of securing Oscar nominations.

Duke and Warner Bros. were fully aware that, even if the Academy were to lose its mind, it would not award any major prizes to the first installment of a trilogy. Therefore, their public relations efforts were minimal, focusing only on ensuring key nominations.

The North American box office for The Fellowship of the Ring reached $470.15 million, but progress essentially stalled afterward. Daily earnings in North America dropped below six figures, and although its global box office totaled an impressive $1.11866 billion, further breakthroughs seemed unattainable.

In early January, the Lord of the Rings music concert, jointly organized by Middle-earth Studios and the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, kicked off at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in the Los Angeles Music Center. The concert series would run until May, serving both as a prelude to The Two Towers and a means to generate continued buzz for The Fellowship of the Ring in the lead-up to the Oscar nominations.

The Fellowship of the Ring was already recognized as an epic masterpiece, and its score was equally regarded as epic. The concert series attracted countless movie fans, maintaining an attendance rate of over 90% in its first two weeks. During the first two weeks, when Duke and members of the Lord of the Rings crew made appearances, tickets were nearly impossible to get.

This phenomenon wasn't limited to Los Angeles. Across North America and the Western world, various classical music groups collaborating with Middle-earth Studios also launched their own Lord of the Rings concerts, all achieving remarkably high attendance rates.

Riding this wave of renewed Lord of the Rings enthusiasm, Middle-earth Studios officially released the first trailer for The Two Towers, edited personally by Duke, in late January. They also confirmed the film's official release date: the first weekend of the summer season, May 3, 2002!

Duke's intention was clear: leveraging the foundation laid by The Fellowship of the Ring, he aimed to extend The Two Towers' popularity throughout the entire summer.

Simultaneously, Warner Bros. announced updates on The Matrix franchise, revealing that The Matrix Reloaded would debut during the Independence Day weekend.

Unsurprisingly, these two blockbusters immediately became the most anticipated films of the summer.

The trailers for both films were first posted on Duke's personal website. Despite upgrading to a new server, the website crashed again within two hours due to heavy traffic.

After the website was restored, within just three days, the trailers for The Two Towers and The Matrix Reloaded garnered over 1.56 million and 1.45 million views, respectively, with their comment sections flooded.

"I'm so excited for these two films. As a Lord of the Rings and Matrix fan, this will be the happiest summer of my life."

"Keanu Reeves and Charlize Theron still look so cool! But why do I feel like Gandalf and Galadriel had some chemistry at the beginning of The Two Towers trailer?"

"Gandalf and Galadriel gazing at each other? Does Celeborn know about this?"

"The epic scenes in The Two Towers are even more grand. Seeing Gandalf leading the charge on horseback gave me goosebumps…"

"I don't care if I go broke this summer. I'll watch both films at least twice!"

"Twice? That's not enough! I bet The Two Towers will surpass The Fellowship of the Ring in epicness. I'll watch it at least three times!"

"Can I just say I've been saving up my allowance for six months to watch it five times?"

Following the announcement of these release dates, audience anticipation surged, but many companies were disheartened, particularly those negotiating with theaters to avoid Memorial Day weekend and planning to release films at the start of the summer season.

"Why May 3rd?"

In an office at Sony Columbia Pictures, Nobuhiro Ohga suppressed his anger. "Didn't you say The Two Towers would be released around Memorial Day? Why announce the start of the summer season instead?"

As the executive in charge of distribution at Sony Columbia Pictures, Nobuhiro Ohga couldn't imagine what would happen if their $140 million blockbuster stuck to its original plan and went head-to-head with Duke Rosenberg's new film.

Yes, Spider-Man is wildly popular in the U.S. and has a global fan base. Marvel's superheroes proved successful on the big screen with the X-Men series. However, superhero movies are not mainstream in the market. If it were any other blockbuster, Nobuhiro Ohga might have the confidence to compete, but this was Duke Rosenberg's work!

Sony's much-anticipated Godzilla was utterly overshadowed by his The Matrix. Last year, Disney's Pearl Harbor deliberately avoided his The Fellowship of the Ring by two weeks but was still left in tatters, failing to meet expectations in both box office and merchandise.

Could Peter Parker compete with Duke Rosenberg?

The mere thought made Nobuhiro Ohga shake his head. Sony Entertainment had placed immense expectations on Spider-Man. The company had repeatedly rejected Sam Raimi's edited versions, ordered reshoots, and removed sensitive scenes of Spider-Man climbing the Twin Towers.

They had done so much to ensure success, leaving no room for failure or unexpected factors that could lead to failure.

Waving his assistant away, Nobuhiro Ohga wanted to carefully weigh the pros and cons.

However, just as the assistant left, he returned with someone else—Spider-Man director Sam Raimi.

"I heard Columbia Pictures plans to change Spider-Man's release date?" Sam Raimi asked directly upon entering. "Is that true?"

"It is." Nobuhiro Ohga nodded. "Duke Rosenberg has joined the weekend we planned for release. Competing with his film is highly unwise."

"I disagree." Sam Raimi, true to his bold filmmaking style, said, "I think—"

Before Raimi could finish, the phone on the desk rang. Nobuhiro Ohga raised a hand to cut him off and answered the call. After a brief conversation, his expression turned serious.

The caller was Sony Entertainment's CEO, Howard Stringer, whose message was straightforward.

"Don't even think about defeating Duke Rosenberg in the summer season, Nobuhiro. Spider-Man must change its release date! The further away from that summer-season madman, the better!"

"I understand."

Nobuhiro Ohga made his final decision. Despite Sam Raimi's continued arguments for competing with The Two Towers, he remained unmoved.

Eventually, growing impatient, Nobuhiro Ohga had his assistant escort Raimi out of the office.

In Hollywood, 99% of directors have no say in distribution matters. Nobuhiro Ohga didn't care much about Raimi's opinions.

After all, you're not Duke Rosenberg.

Watching Raimi's figure disappear beyond the office door, Nobuhiro Ohga thought to himself.

He picked up his assistant's phone. "Gather the team for a meeting to discuss a new release date for Spider-Man!"

After the call, Nobuhiro Ohga made up his mind. Learning from past mistakes, he decided to move Spider-Man to June to steer clear of trouble.

"This will be the quietest May for major releases in years!"

Inside a car heading to the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel, Tina Fey glanced at a schedule for summer releases. "Based on the announced films, we won't face strong competition in the first half of May."

"What about Spider-Man?" Duke asked, turning his gaze from the car window.

Tina Fey handed him the schedule. "The latest news from yesterday: Sony Columbia Pictures has decided to move Spider-Man to June."

"Good news." Duke breathed a sigh of relief.

As a major Marvel shareholder, Duke had known that Sony originally planned to release Spider-Man in early May. His collaboration with Warner Bros. aimed to force Sony to change its release date.

Duke smirked. "Looks like the reputation of 'The Explosive Madman' still holds some weight."

"Not just some." Tina Fey replied frankly. "It directly scared off Sony Entertainment."

Initially, Duke had considered seeing how The Lord of the Rings would fare against Spider-Man and had even planned to undermine Sony by encouraging Marvel to release a new comic storyline depicting Peter Parker in an alternate universe as a villain...

However, the moment the idea crossed his mind, Duke realized the conflict. Peter Parker was one of Marvel's flagship characters. Even though Marvel couldn't reclaim the film and television rights, it enjoyed nearly 10% revenue from the film's box office and had opportunities to release new comics and merchandise.

As a Marvel shareholder, sabotaging Spider-Man would harm his own interests. He instead utilized The Lord of the Rings' momentum and his influence to pressure Sony into avoiding May.

As Tina Fey had said, this would be an unusually quiet May for major releases, with most blockbusters steering clear—not only due to The Two Towers' success but also Duke Rosenberg's reputation.

...

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