Director in Hollywood

At Century City International Artists Management Company, Michael Ovitz was talking with a young man in his twenties David Ellison, the son of the Larry Ellison.

David Ellison was currently studying at the USC School of Cinematic Arts, technically making him Gilbert's junior.

The Sky Studios he had founded was, at this stage, just an empty shell. Larry Ellison had not yet handed over operational control of the studio to him. David Ellison needed to graduate from USC first.

However, through Michael Ovitz, a seasoned Hollywood agent, David Ellison was beginning to familiarize himself with every aspect of Hollywood.

In his eyes, if Gilbert could become a director at the age of twenty-one, then he could achieve results equal to or even greater than Gilbert's at the same age.

Though arrogant, the Larry still respected Gilbert's abilities and wasn't moved by his son's bold declarations. For now, David Ellison still had to obediently finish his studies.

"What's the first-day box office for Return of the King?" David Ellison asked.

"Excluding midnight and preview screenings, the film has already grossed $40.216 million and broken the first-day box office record," Michael Ovitz said with a hint of helplessness.

"On Saturday alone, reportedly over eight million people went to the theaters. It's the largest moviegoing turnout in North American cinema history."

David Ellison frowned. "I went to see Return of the King. I didn't think it was any good. Why do so many people like it?"

Michael Ovitz was speechless. David Ellison was clearly biased and couldn't give an objective evaluation.

Having worked in the industry for many years, Michael Ovitz had to admit that the Lord of the Rings series was a truly great film franchise.

Not only did it achieve huge commercial success, but few films could compare with its exploration of filmmaking techniques and its artistic accomplishments.

"David, I'll make a bet with you. Return of the King will definitely gross over $150 million in its first weekend," Michael Ovitz said.

"$150 million?" Although David Ellison had inherited his father's arrogance, he wasn't a fool.

Even with the slightest thought, he could tell that $150 million was just a starting point. It definitely wouldn't fall below that figure.

So David Ellison shook his head and said, "Michael, I wouldn't take that bet. $150 million is the baseline expectation."

Not far away, the president of 20th Century Fox was also on the phone with Rupert Murdoch, the owner of News Corporation.

"Yes, at the moment it looks like Return of the King's first-weekend box office might exceed $150 million."

On the other end of the line, Rupert Murdoch seemed to fall into silence. After a long pause, he said, "Is there any chance we can lure Gilbert over to our camp?"

Tom Rothman shook his head. "Absolutely impossible, sir. Gilbert is already a board member at both Warner Bros. and Disney. He has no reason to switch."

Rupert Murdoch could only express his regret. "What a pity. Why didn't we think of poaching him from Universal back then?"

Indeed, Universal Pictures was now the one who regretted it the most.

Universal regretted it every year for missing out on a future superstar director like Gilbert.

The main problem was that no one had expected that the young Gilbert, who once needed Steven Spielberg's support, would grow to such heights.

After Robert Iger paid a heavy price to lure Gilbert away, the top brass at Universal had laughed at Touchstone Pictures for losing their minds.

But now reality had proven that Robert Iger had both vision and decisiveness.

Nowadays, every time one of Gilbert's films hit it big, Universal would be dragged out for a public flogging.

If Spielberg were still around, Universal could at least console itself. But now Spielberg was aging and had gone off to create DreamWorks.

Paramount and Sony-Columbia could only envy him. They had absolutely no chance to participate in any of Gilbert's projects.

As for MGM-UA, once a Hollywood giant, it had now fallen into a severe debt crisis and was counting on this summer's Windtalkers, directed by John Woo, to bring in revenue.

At the time, Jackie Chan had even asked Gilbert what he thought of Windtalkers' prospects.

Gilbert's exact words were: "Unless it reaches the level of Saving Private Ryan, I don't have high hopes for it."

Later, Jakie relayed Gilbert's comment to John Woo. Who would have thought—John Woo reacted with disdain. He didn't believe for a second that the film would flop.

There was no need to say more. The outcome would be revealed this summer.

Due to the time zone differences, the global simultaneous release of The Return of the King occurred at different times in different places. But without exception, the film sparked a moviegoing frenzy in every country and region where it premiered.

When The Return of the King landed in the UK, The Times ran a front-page headline reporting that Prince Charles had gone to the cinema to watch the film with members of the royal family.

The film also won over British moviegoers. The Daily Telegraph reported: "The Return of the King has hit the UK and sparked a moviegoing frenzy.

According to statistics, foot traffic on the streets dropped noticeably during the film's release.

All those people who vanished from the streets were gathering in cinemas to witness the final chapter of this great series."

Although it was an American-made adaptation of a British literary classic, the UK and the US have always been close. British media didn't dig in their heels like the French media did and were quick to rally behind The Return of the King.

The Guardian wrote: "After grossing $11.574 million on its opening day, The Return of the King followed up with $15.57 million on its second day. The film is very likely to break the 50-million mark in its first week in the UK."

The domestic market in the UK is relatively small. For a movie to break 50 million in its first week in the UK, that means it drew no fewer than five million viewers.

But that wasn't the end. Having conquered British audiences, The Return of the King also swept across France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and other major European markets.

This was especially true in France and Germany, where moviegoers have even stronger spending power than those in the UK.

In France, despite the wailing of local filmmakers, The Return of the King dominated the market, crushing domestic films that opened during the same period.

Although French filmmakers repeatedly called on the public to boycott this Hollywood production, French audiences responded with tickets in hand. They'd long had enough of the so-called New Wave films.

The French newspaper Le Figaro reported: "The Return of the King is without question a masterpiece among epic films. Director Gilbert has delivered a timeless work to the entire world."

A French moviegoer who had just exited the cinema told a reporter with excitement: "I've never seen any of the Lord of the Rings films before, but The Return of the King has won me over completely.

I plan to buy the DVDs of the first two movies as soon as I get home, and then come back to the cinema to see The Return of the King again."

Germany's reaction was just as strong. The renowned German director Werner Herzog said that The Return of the King was the grandest, most majestic, and most thematically profound film he had ever seen.

He also heaped praise on Gilbert, saying that Gilbert had created an unbelievable masterpiece that deserved to go down in film history.

Other countries and regions where the movie had premiered responded similarly, while places where the film had not yet opened could only wait their turn.

In the second week, the film would gradually debut in other global markets. At the moment, only North America and EU countries had hosted premieres.

Because only North America and the UK had fully implemented the latest electronic ticketing systems, only these two regions had immediate box office statistics available. Others would have to wait a bit longer.

On Saturday alone, The Return of the King broke new records again, raking in $51.598 million in a single day, setting a new single-day box office record in North America.

Adding in advance screenings and midnight shows, the film's North American total had reached $112.094 million after just two days, making it the fastest film in North America to cross the $100 million mark.

With that figure released, even the most shortsighted critics had to admit—The Return of the King was unstoppable.

Since last year, all other films had cleared their release schedules to stay out of its way.

Spider-Man in particular had moved from early May to June, not wanting to compete with The Return of the King.

Perhaps due to the previous two days exhausting much of the audience's enthusiasm, Sunday saw a drop in ticket sales, with the film pulling in $43.202 million that day.

Combined with its earlier earnings, the film's North American box office stood at $155.296 million, crossing the $150 million mark in just three days.

Faced with the box office numbers reported by the media, many film companies, filmmakers, and directors were already numb.

They were drained. Let the world end—such noise has nothing to do with me.

Indeed, in the face of these box office results, everyone who had ever doubted Gilbert had nothing left to say but silence.

....

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