Made In Hollywood

"How many times have you watched it? I saw it twice yesterday and plan to watch it again today."

On the TV screen, a young man outside the cinema was being interviewed by a reporter. "See this? I bought it especially for today. Cool, huh?"

The May sun seemed to have no effect on him. The young man was dressed exactly like Neo, wearing a black trench coat, the same Ray-Ban sunglasses, and solid black leather boots. He even carried a Nokia phone, as if Neo had stepped out of the movie screen.

"You really like The Matrix?"

"Absolutely, I love it!"

He looked at the reporter asking the question as if they were an idiot. Perhaps to show off, or to imitate, he picked up his Nokia phone, pressed a button, and the phone cover popped open. Then, mimicking Neo's mannerisms, he dialed a number.

Steven Spielberg grabbed the remote, turned off the TV, and leaned back on the sofa, his eyes once again falling on the North American box office statistics in his hand.

These were the figures for yesterday—Friday—and the top spot was no surprise, though the numbers were far beyond what Warner Bros. and the industry had anticipated.

The Matrix, 3,122 theaters, Friday gross: $18.67 million, North American total: $18.67 million.

Deep Impact, 2,014 theaters, Friday gross: $4.52 million, North American total: $41.11 million.

City of Angels, 1,522 theaters, Friday gross: $3.22 million, North American total: $45.87 million.

Titanic, 757 theaters, Friday gross: $2.41 million, North American total: $611.14 million.

Every film in theaters at the moment was clearly impacted by The Matrix, especially Deep Impact. Spielberg speculated that DreamWorks' blockbuster would see at least a 50% drop in its second weekend North American box office compared to its opening weekend. Its opening numbers weren't ideal, and the second week was looking even worse.

Fortunately, there was someone more unlucky in this list, giving Spielberg a sliver of comfort.

Taxi, a French film distributed by Lionsgate and successful in Europe, was released in North America alongside The Matrix. In 455 theaters, it only grossed a pathetic $82,156...

Spielberg shook his head, throwing that slight comfort away. Lionsgate clearly didn't have high expectations when they released Taxi during this period. European films rarely performed well in North America.

Barring any surprises, Taxi was destined for a quick exit from North American theaters.

Spielberg's focus returned to The Matrix and Deep Impact. By now, DreamWorks had no power to change the box office trajectory of these two films. He could only hope that Deep Impact would break even...

As for The Matrix, he had no idea how high its final box office might go. But from the feedback he received from last night to this morning, the film's merchandise was even hotter than Titanic and rivaled the Jurassic Park series.

If this trend continued, Warner Bros. and Duke Studios could probably recoup their production costs just from the merchandise collaborations with various manufacturers!

Why do films from Duke Studios always succeed, while DreamWorks struggles with every step forward?

Frowning deeply, Spielberg sighed. He knew the reasons all too well but wasn't ready to give up easily. However, some people had reached the point where they needed to quit.

Picking up the phone, he called David Geffen.

"David, I suggest..." His tone was extremely serious. "DreamWorks should never work with Martin Bob again in the future!"

The underwhelming performance of Deep Impact had many reasons, but the project's most direct leader was him and Martin Bob from CAA.

Spielberg didn't want this project to reduce his influence within DreamWorks, so Martin Bob was the best scapegoat. And he wasn't the only one who needed a fall guy—David Geffen and Jeffrey Katzenberg also needed someone or something to explain to shareholders and investors.

As Saturday arrived, the buzz surrounding The Matrix grew. Its single-screen occupancy rates further increased, particularly due to its post-release promotions where the internet became a key battleground for Warner Bros. and Duke Studios. News and discussion posts about the film were everywhere on major websites and forums.

In an era when online bots weren't rampant, this kind of promotion was highly effective. Especially Duke Studios' online PR team led by Panny Kallis, whose hired armies almost dominated important film discussion spaces like IMDb.

Though IMDb's voting system wasn't as simple as calculating averages, influencing it wasn't particularly hard, as proven by the many "vote wars" the site had experienced. For more than a day since its release, The Matrix had maintained a rating of 9.7, with audience reviews overwhelmingly positive.

To many, the film was profoundly philosophical. Critics like Kenneth Turan even praised its intellectual depth. However, its marketing focused on something entirely different, using the shallow but catchy tagline: "Cool, Stylish, Thrilling!"

No film can please everyone, and The Matrix had its share of criticism. Its R rating undoubtedly affected its appeal to some viewers, especially families with children, who wouldn't choose such a film. This also impacted the box office, preventing The Matrix from having the explosive daily numbers of a movie like Independence Day.

Fortunately, the merchandise sales were more than making up for it.

"We just got some rough statistics."

Robin Grand rushed into Duke's office, pulling over a chair and sitting down across from him. "Yesterday alone, The Matrix's North American merchandise sales reached approximately $7.8 million! Many retail outlets reported selling out!"

"What's our sales royalty agreement with the manufacturers?"

Exhausted from a poor night's sleep and managing the heavy workloads of both The Lord of the Rings and The Matrix, Duke's head felt foggy. "Why can't I remember clearly?"

"Thirty percent!" Tina Fey reminded him.

Duke nodded, sipping his strong coffee. "Looks like the merchandise revenue won't be an issue."

"Definitely not."

Taking the coffee Tina handed her, Robin Grand expressed her thanks and continued, "Normally, merchandise sales peak about a week after a film's release. Also, if the global box office exceeds $500 million, sponsors will add another ten percent to their contributions."

Feeling unwell, Duke stood up. "I didn't sleep well last night. I'll head home now. Robin, you and Tina handle things if anything comes up."

Leaving Duke Studios, Duke drove his newly purchased Bentley onto the crowded streets of Burbank, heading toward Malibu. Along the way, he purposely passed by two theater locations. While there weren't Titanic-style lines, the area around the theaters was filled with people cosplaying Neo. The black trench coat and sunglasses seemed to be spreading outward from the cinemas.

As his Bentley passed a theater in Burbank's western suburbs, leaving a trail of exhaust, several young people exiting the theater had no idea that the director of the movie they'd been discussing had just driven by. They were too engrossed in debating the film they'd just seen.

"Neo's fighting was so cool!"

A person in black trench coat and sunglasses exclaimed, "Especially his final showdown with Smith!"

Another, similarly dressed, replied, "Taylor, I think Trinity was even cooler. Her gun-fu style was so light and agile—simply unbelievable."

The only one dressed normally chimed in, "Taylor, James, all you noticed were those things? I think the coolest part was the director, Duke Rosenberg."

"But he wasn't even in the film, Jerry!" the first person retorted.

Jerry sneered, "Don't forget, Duke was both the director and screenwriter. He created this world. To make a film this cool—don't you think he's cool?"

After thinking it over, the others nodded in agreement.

Looking at his companions, Jerry added, "And the story isn't over. What's going to happen with Neo and the Matrix?"

"What about Zion..."

After a few more exchanges, they all suddenly stopped walking. Taylor said, "I was so focused on the action that I realized I missed a lot."

"Me too," James agreed.

Jerry was the first to turn around. "Let's watch it again!"

Not everyone was just there for the action. Over time, many people began deeply analyzing the story. Online discussions especially saw countless theories that even Duke, the director, found mind-blowing. But this wasn't a bad thing. Many fans, believing they'd overlooked details, often bought tickets to watch it again.

By early Sunday morning, when the Saturday box office figures came in, Duke had no choice but to stay home—he had fallen ill. It wasn't anything serious, just a common cold with a fever. But perhaps the accumulated fatigue of the past few years had finally caught up with him, or maybe it was just his weaker immune system. Regardless, the symptoms left him groggy and forced him to rest.

"Just give me the latest figures for the three most recently released films."

After taking his medication, Duke slumped on the sofa and said hoarsely to Tina Fey, "Stay a bit farther away—I don't want to pass this on to you."

Sitting on a sofa a good ten feet away, Tina replied, "The Matrix: $19.97 million, Deep Impact: $3.85 million, Taxi: $62,156."

She glanced at Duke, got up to bring him a cup of hot water, and added, "According to theater reports, Taxi will likely be pulled from North American cinemas tomorrow."

As for Taxi, produced by Luc Besson, Duke wasn't surprised. He vaguely remembered that this film, which was relatively successful in other regions, had grossed less than $300,000 in North America. Foreign films like this rarely made it big in the U.S.

"Deep Impact probably won't recoup its costs," Tina said.

Taking a sip of water, Duke lay back on the sofa. "We'll know for sure when the weekend box office numbers come out."

....

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