Chapter 379 The best-grossing movie series in history
Let’s pay attention to the situation of “The Return of the King”. From the beginning of May to the beginning of August, “The Return of the King” maintained a healthy trend.
"The Return of the King" is basically among the top ten in the North American weekly box office rankings.
At present, the North American box office of "Return of the King" has officially exceeded 600 million US dollars, reaching a box office of 609 million US dollars. The film became the second film in North America to gross over $600 million, after Titanic.
Globally, the film's popularity has gradually faded, and its global box office now totals US$1.689 billion, ranking second in film history.
However, Gilbert Jr. personally feels that the film has little hope of surpassing "Titanic".
Although "The Return of the King" has grabbed the box office at a rate that is rare in film history, it is also the fastest movie to break through the box office of one billion and 1.5 billion US dollars.
But what cannot be ignored is the fact that "Titanic" has a long standby time and a long screen time.
After all, "Titanic" can still reach the top ten of the box office rankings from time to time more than half a year after its release, and the North American screening cycle has lasted for more than a year.
Since entering the new century, a characteristic of the film market is that the first week has become more and more important, and the screening cycle will continue to shorten.
In the past, a movie could stay in theaters for more than a year as long as the box office curve was good. But now a movie can stay in theaters for three or four months, which is already a long wait.
For example, "Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones" was released two weeks later than "The Return of the King", but it was released on the first weekend of early August.
"Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones" currently has a box office of 310 million US dollars in North America. The Star Wars culture in North America is still stronger, and it is also the basic base of Star Wars movies.
The global box office is only US$623 million. Although it is still being released in other overseas places, it is difficult to visually exceed US$650 million.
Today's Hollywood commercial blockbusters, such as "The Return of the King", usually have one to three times higher overseas box office than North American box office.
However, the overseas box office of "Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones" is basically the same as the North American box office. It can be said that without the support of the North American market, this Star Wars movie would have been considered a blockbuster.
It is also because of its insufficient quality that after consuming the enthusiasm of Star Wars fans, it is difficult to attract casual movie fans who are not interested in Star Wars.
As a result, the film's box office dropped rapidly, and it was finally canceled in early August.
Although 20th Century Fox has done a lot of work in theaters, the North American box office cannot meet the requirements for continued screening, so it was forced to withdraw.
To be honest, Gilbert himself was a little surprised that "Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones" actually had a box office of US$310 million in North America.
Although he didn't go to the premiere, he saw the movie in the cinema.
To be honest, he feels that even if there is a fan base, the North American box office of this movie will only be 180 million to 200 million US dollars. But I really didn’t expect that North America could actually reach more than 300 million US dollars.
It can only be said that there are still many fans of "Star Wars" in North America, so much that even if the overseas box office is not ideal, "Attack of the Clones" can achieve good results.
However, the box office is not the focus of the profit of "Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones", but the peripherals are.
Every time a "Star Wars" movie is released, it can set off a frenzy of peripheral sales, and it's the same this time. Although the film did not do well at the box office, the sales of peripheral products were good.
In a way, the "Star Wars" movies are more like commercials for peripheral products such as lightsabers and BB8s.
This time, "Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones" has generated more than $400 million in peripheral sales worldwide.
However, "Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones" is not actually the highest-selling peripheral movie this year. The highest-selling movie is actually "The Return of the King."
As a movie that has caused a huge sensation in the film market for three consecutive years, the "Lord of the Rings" series has formed a super IP effect.
In terms of the momentum of the "Lord of the Rings" series in the past two years, "Lord of the Rings" is no weaker or even stronger than the "Star Wars" series in North America.
Not to mention those overseas markets where Star Wars culture is not popular, "Lord of the Rings" is unimpeded in these areas.
Perhaps due to factors such as piracy in some areas, the surrounding areas of the "Lord of the Rings" series have been greatly affected. But so far, the three "Lord of the Rings" peripherals combined have generated sales of US$2 billion. Today, the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy series has created a box office of 4.5 billion US dollars, becoming the highest-grossing trilogy film series in history.
As for peripherals, as time goes by, it will slowly exceed box office revenue.
Therefore, the peripherals and the box office, even using the most conservative estimate, will directly create a revenue of tens of billions of dollars, which can be called a huge profit.
Not to mention, because of the hidden value brought by the direct performance increase.
For example, China, where "The Lord of the Rings" was filmed, has received hundreds of thousands of tourists traveling to China every year in the past two years. Most of them are interested because of "The Lord of the Rings".
Another example is that because a movie is a hit, the movie company's financial report is outstanding, which makes the stock market more confident in the movie company, causing the stock price to rise.
The development of other theme parks and series of IPs will be part of the subsequent revenue.
Gilbert Jr. made it clear in a meeting with Disney and Warner executives that there is still a lot of room for development in the "Lord of the Rings" series.
For example, "The Hobbit" can also be developed into a trilogy series.
Gilbert Jr. recommended Peter Jackson to Disney and Warner to take over, but Peter Jackson planned to finish working on the "King Kong" project before starting work on "The Hobbit."
In return for Gilbert Jr.'s recommendation, Peter Jackson recommended Naomi Watts to Universal Pictures to star in "King Kong", and Universal Pictures agreed.
In addition, after "The Return of the King" ends in theaters, little Gilbert can also release a DVD of the trilogy, a director's extended version, and earn another sum of money.
In addition, after the 3D projection technology matures, the film can also be converted into a 3D version, just like "Titanic 3D", to make another round of money.
In short, a popular movie series can develop many business directions without having to worry about revenue.
When it comes to series development, we have to mention the "Harry Potter" series.
The film's post-production has been completed and it has entered the official publicity stage. The first trailer has been cut.
In terms of commercial potential, the "Harry Potter" series is only stronger than "The Lord of the Rings". The previous life of the Little Wizard has been studied as a model for Hollywood commercial film development.
Of course, Warner's subsequent series of scandalous actions, as well as some radical remarks by Rowling and starring Emma Watson, cast a certain shadow on the "Harry Potter" series.
Now as a member of Time Warner's board of directors, Gilbert Jr. will of course intervene in the operations of Warner's top management to ensure that the works go in the direction he wants.
As for Ms. Rowling, she has a good personal relationship with him, and little Gilbert will try his best to communicate.
Emma Watson was not like that at the beginning. She was affected by the environment to a certain extent. This aspect can be clarified in her actor contract during her starring role in "Harry Potter".
Or, little Gilbert needs to educate and bring Emma Watson back.
Children are easy to educate.
The previous chapter could not be released after review, so I coded another chapter.
In addition, I would like to thank Tianchong Lamao, Wei Tiantang, Looking for Love and Waiting for Love, and Big Lao Wang next door for their rewards. I also thank everyone for their subscription recommendations and monthly passes.
Regarding the Emma Watson mentioned by the book friend Tianchong Lamao, I can only say that I should try my best to give her some roles.
The main reason is that she is too young and her interaction with the protagonist is not strong. She can't really imitate the people on the island, right?
I'll try my best to add some drama to her...
(End of this chapter)