Made In Hollywood-Chapter 932: Buying the Box Office

The film had been in theaters for only one weekend, yet Star Wars: The Force Awakens had already created a string of box office records.

"Midnight premiere record: 72 million dollars; Friday and single-day box office record: 165 million dollars; the first film to surpass 150 million dollars in a single day; fastest to reach 100 million, 150 million, and 200 million dollars; December opening weekend record—four times that of the previous record holder, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, which made 84.6 million dollars; IMAX midnight record, IMAX single-day record of 34 million dollars, and IMAX opening weekend record of 70.1 million dollars."

"Wide-release opening weekend per-theater average record: 75,000 dollars; broke opening weekend records in the United Kingdom, Australia, Russia, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Austria, Poland, Denmark, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, Croatia, Ukraine, Iceland, Serbia, and New Zealand; ranked second in opening weekend history in France, Belgium, Israel, and Chile; global IMAX premiere record: 98 million dollars; North American opening weekend record: 344.51 million dollars; global opening weekend record: 595.15 million dollars..."

Ivanka Trump then looked through the North American movie release schedules for January and February. In those two months, there were no heavyweight films scheduled for release, meaning there would be nothing capable of posing a real threat to Star Wars: The Force Awakens. How high could its final box office go?

She would continue to keep an eye on the film’s performance.

No one could say for certain how far the movie would ultimately go, or whether it could surpass Avatar’s 2.7 billion dollars in global box office.

But Duke knew very well that if he wanted to achieve truly massive box office results—even with the film’s current heat—he still needed to intensify the marketing push.

After Star Wars: The Force Awakens shattered both The Avengers’ North American and global opening weekend records, another of Duke’s companies immediately sent their congratulations.

Marvel Studios posted on its official Twitter, Instant Share, and several websites a new poster. In it, the Avengers’ brains and commander, Captain America, hung a golden medal around BB-8’s neck.

This was also a long-standing Hollywood tradition, one that actually originated from George Lucas and Steven Spielberg.

Back then, when Star Wars surpassed Jaws at the box office, Jaws director Steven Spielberg sent an illustration congratulating Star Wars director George Lucas; later, when Jurassic Park surpassed Star Wars, Lucas sent a similar congratulatory image to Spielberg.

Meanwhile, Duke also posted an image on his official Twitter and Instant Share—linking together The Avengers’ Black Widow Natasha Romanoff and Captain America Steve Rogers—to formally invite Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ Rey and the adorable BB-8 to join the Avengers...

North American fans’ imaginations immediately went wild.

"Could it be that the Marvel Universe and the Star Wars Universe are going to merge?"

"The Skywalker family joining the Avengers, fighting side by side with Cap and Iron Man? Oh. My..."

Obviously, Duke was doing this for publicity and to stir up discussion—not just for Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Avengers: Age of Ultron, directed by Joe and Anthony Russo, was scheduled to be released the following May, and this was also serving as advance promotion for that film.

Undoubtedly, beginning with Marvel’s Phase Two, Captain America Steve Rogers had become extraordinarily important, with many upcoming films planned around him.

Thus, Duke’s personal bio on Instant Share became somewhat unusual.

Under each of his posts, there appeared a special tag:

"He is regarded as a symbol of the American spirit."

"His strength, speed, and endurance far exceed those of ordinary people."

"He earned great military achievements for America and the world during World War II." 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

"He was granted a shield of alloy as unbreakable as his will by the government."

"He has led the Avengers through countless battles, winning victory after victory."

"He was not born a hero, nor does he possess an indestructible body of iron; he is simply stronger, braver, and wiser than most."

"He risks his life for the people, sacrifices everything for freedom, and believes that as long as everyone stands together, no enemy is unbeatable."

"He is Captain America—Steve Rogers!"

While the North American promotion was already blazing hot, Duke did not relax the push for Star Wars: The Force Awakens in the Chinese market. Although the release across the Pacific would be more than half a month later than the global premiere, in some ways, that was actually beneficial. After all, "follow-the-trend viewing" was not unique to North America or the Western world—it existed just as much across the Pacific.

"Tina..."

Aboard the private jet flying to New York for press events, Duke closed the file in front of him and said seriously, "Tell Warner Bros. and Phil, the head of Warner Greater China, that I disagree with this plan."

Sitting opposite him, Tina Fey nodded and immediately opened her laptop to send the email.

Ninety-nine point nine percent of Hollywood directors have no say during a film’s marketing and distribution process, but Duke was, of course, an exception. As long as he strongly objected, Warner Bros. and its Greater China branch would definitely not proceed.

What Duke opposed was actually quite simple. Phil, the head of Warner Greater China, had suggested that when Star Wars: The Force Awakens was released in China, it should adopt the same covert box office–buying tactics commonly used by many top-selling Chinese films during their opening week—so that the box office numbers would appear dazzling, thereby attracting more casual moviegoers.

In China’s film market, this was indeed an effective marketing and distribution strategy. Duke was not the kind of man obsessed with moral purity—if a certain shady method could significantly boost a movie’s commercial success, he usually wouldn’t mind using it.

The problem was, such a strategy might suit domestic films across the Pacific, but it was absolutely unsuitable for a Hollywood production entering as a foreign competitor.

Such things could never be kept completely secret. Once exposed, the media and film companies across the Pacific would unite against them, turning it into a scandal that everyone would condemn.

Simply put, this strategy was only suitable for local films, not outsiders.

Local film crews and production companies, though fierce competitors, were still closely interconnected. Even if such tactics were exposed, no one would pursue them relentlessly, because most domestic blockbuster films did the same thing. If you exposed someone else today, the same treatment would fall upon you next time.

But when it came to Hollywood films, they naturally had no such scruples.

The release period of Star Wars: The Force Awakens was not ideal—Duke knew that very well. First, December was the so-called "Domestic Protection Month" that the other side of the Pacific never admitted existed but in reality always did. Second, Duke and Lucasfilm had rejected the investment proposal from the China Film Group.

Unless Duke and the executives of Lucasfilm had completely lost their minds, they would never accept external investment for a Star Wars project, not even if it only involved a share of the box office.

While Tina Fey quietly typed her email, Duke was still thinking about the matter. Judging from the experiences of his former self in those final years, the other side of the Pacific was undoubtedly in an era when such marketing tactics were widespread. It wasn’t entirely Phil’s fault, the head of Warner Greater China, for coming up with such a dubious idea.

When everyone else did it and you didn’t, you would obviously fall behind.

Duke couldn’t help but recall the final year of his former self’s life. He vaguely remembered it was a Saturday when the third installment of a certain film about Bruce Lee’s master was released, putting on what might have been the most spectacular distribution performance in Chinese film history. He, along with everyone else in the industry, had the privilege of witnessing that day—one that might be recorded in history.

Late that night, in theaters showing the film, several auditoriums had their front two rows completely sold out even though the middle rows—clearly the best seats—had hardly any tickets sold. And the late-night tickets, which were usually discounted, astonishingly cost 111 and 203 yuan.

Anyone who had ever been to a cinema knew that the front two rows were the worst seats for watching a movie. Yet somehow, they were almost entirely purchased, and in several theaters where ticket prices exceeded 100 yuan. Even though better seats in the middle were still available, such an abnormal buying spree of poorly positioned seats could only mean these "audience members" were doing a "good deed."

And that wasn’t all—soon afterward, in even more theaters, all morning show tickets on Monday were reportedly sold out in advance. And that was a weekday!

If one or two auditoriums had this situation, it might be explained as coincidence. But what if so many theaters suddenly experienced it at the same time?

That weekend could truly be called a miracle.

Naturally, such circumstances could not escape the notice of sharp-eyed observers. Numerous voices of protest appeared online, and the "Big Scissors" summoned the film’s related companies and responsible parties for questioning. Yet when the punishment finally came down, it was light as a feather—the official explanation claimed that "this was merely the individual behavior of certain cinemas trying to secure third-party ticket subsidies..."

Whether it was truly an "individual act," no one could say. Perhaps only insiders really knew the truth.

Duke, however, understood that the fact domestic films across the Pacific could use such tactics did not mean Warner Bros. or Star Wars: The Force Awakens could do the same. In fact, such methods, the investigation by the "Big Scissors," and the almost meaningless penalties were all quite normal. Every region and market practiced some degree of local protectionism. Even North America, which claimed to be the most open, was no exception.

If you knew local protection existed and still insisted on crashing headfirst into it, that was nothing short of courting death.

Indeed, according to the data sent by Warner Greater China, the domestic box office manipulation across the Pacific had already become utterly insane.

Some well-known directors had even said, "Is there any domestic film nowadays that can gross over 100 million yuan in a single day without buying at least 50 million yuan worth of tickets on opening day?"

....

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