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Chapter 403: Terrifying
🕑 Added 2025-03-26 17:51:42 +0000 UTCAs the sun rose, the new summer weekend box office season began. Whether mainstream media or professional entertainment newspapers, none would let any attention-grabbing news slip by. "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring," which opened in North America with an unprecedented number of theaters, was undoubtedly the focus of their intensive coverage.
However, as is often the case, the media holds different stances.
"The Fellowship of the Ring Faces Widespread Protests from Fans of the Original Novel, Who Believe the Film's Adaptation Strays Too Far from the Spirit of the Source Material."
While the San Francisco Chronicle was busy sensationalizing negative news, The Los Angeles Times was highly praising the film, "The Fellowship of the Ring Conquers Fans with Its Premiere, Fans Fight Protesters to Defend the Film!"
It's quite normal for media to both praise and criticize a major film release, since a big hit typically involves many different interests, and media outlets naturally hold their own positions.
However, from the moment The Fellowship of the Ring was released, Duke's online team stopped focusing on Pearl Harbor and started promoting their own film. Even though sites like IMDb have been improving their rating systems, they will never be able to completely eliminate the influence of online armies, especially when facing such a massive one.
There was no suspense. The IMDb score for The Fellowship of the Ring on Friday reached 9.7, with 1,566 participants, many of whom rated the film a perfect 10.
On Rotten Tomatoes, despite its low freshness rating of 76%, the "audience score" — which is closely related to regular viewers' ratings — hit an astonishing 98%.
While some of these numbers may be artificially inflated by online armies, another statistic showed the film's true popularity.
"Cinema Audience Statistics Show 17,805 People Participated in the Cinema Audience Rating!"
Doug Walter, sitting across from Duke in the Duke Studios office, couldn't hide his excitement. "The approval rating is 95%, with an overall grade of A+!"
Before Duke could speak, Doug added, "The accurate midnight show box office stats have also come in."
Duke raised an eyebrow, clearly interested in this aspect.
Given the huge investment, even the biggest optimist would be concerned about the film's box office numbers.
Doug wasted no time, "The exact midnight show box office is 9.47 million dollars! Duke, you've broken your own record!"
He looked at Duke with an almost adoring gaze, as if Duke was his future.
Duke nodded slightly, feeling a bit relieved. With such a massive investment, it was impossible not to feel anxious, but the midnight box office results proved that no disaster had struck, and at least the film wouldn't flop.
"Warner will increase the film's promotional efforts!" Doug swore. "We'll invest most of our summer resources into The Fellowship of the Ring!"
"Mm…" Duke nodded. "Duke Studios will fully cooperate with you."
Doug stayed for just a few minutes before rushing off, but his excitement was evident to anyone who saw him.
When Duke Studios' staff heard about the midnight box office numbers and other statistics, they, too, were thrilled. A successful film meant bigger bonuses for everyone.
As the sun moved to its peak, more and more fans poured into the theaters. At a theater on Long Island in New York, operator Tetrue's phone kept ringing with bookings for three films he was responsible for.
"Hello, this is Long Island AMG Sazz Cinema!" he answered as he jotted down on his notebook, "You want tickets for tomorrow's noon show? The Fellowship of the Ring is at 12:15. Two tickets? Sure, please come by twenty minutes before showtime to pick them up…"
Just after hanging up, he picked up another call. "Hello, this is… Sorry, sir, the tickets for the Fellowship of the Ring tomorrow night are sold out, but there are still afternoon tickets. 3 PM? I'll reserve three for you, no problem…"
And then, one after another, more reservation calls came in.
"One ticket for The Fellowship of the Ring at 9 AM…"
"Three tickets for Shrek at 10:30 AM…"
"Two tickets for The Fellowship of the Ring at 3:15 PM…"
After nearly twenty reservation calls, Tetrue took a quick breath and scanned his notes. Over 60% of the reservations were for The Fellowship of the Ring, while Shrek took up about 25%. Previous hits like The Mummy Returns and Pearl Harbor barely had any inquiries…
When his shift ended, he didn't leave immediately. He decided to take advantage of the less crowded Friday afternoon to watch The Fellowship of the Ring in the theater. He had already heard so many good reviews from the audience.
As a theater worker, Tetrue's standard for judging a film's quality was simple: the feedback from the audience in the theater. If most of them thought a film was bad, even if critics were praising it, he wouldn't bother watching, even for free!
Before entering the theater, he first went to the ticket office to check the sales, and the information matched his reservations — nearly 60% of the customer flow was for The Fellowship of the Ring.
It was really sad to have a film from Duke Rosenberg's production released at the same time.
With that thought, Tetrue walked into the theater, ready to experience that magical journey for himself!
While various statistics were showing that The Fellowship of the Ring was met with strong market response, Warner Brothers didn't slow down its aggressive promotional efforts. More and more methods of promotion flooded the public.
CNN's live interview vans rolled up to famous cinemas in several cities, and the news regularly aired interviews with ordinary viewers.
Of course, those who appeared on TV were all praising the film!
At the same time, they 'ran into' several celebrities who had watched The Fellowship of the Ring and also sang its praises.
For example, George Lucas was interviewed in front of the Santa Clara Theater in San Francisco. This famous director, often praised by Duke, certainly had no hesitation in praising the film, especially since it was indeed an outstanding work that wouldn't damage his reputation.
"The Fellowship of the Ring" was produced by Duke to near perfection, a truly jaw-dropping, tense, and intense movie epic that remains faithful to the character portrayal!"
As one of the members of Weta Workshop, Peter Jackson was also interviewed, saying, "Duke's film stays true to every detail of Tolkien's work, but it also has its own vitality—grand, magnificent, with strong moral concepts, and deep emotions. This is a rare masterpiece. As a fan of The Lord of the Rings, I believe no one can do it better than him!"
At a cinema in Beverly Hills, Tom Cruise had just exited when he was blocked by reporters, who asked for his thoughts on the film, "The movie was gorgeous from start to finish and kept me excited throughout. It's definitely the best film of the year, and I strongly recommend everyone go see it. You'll be hugely surprised. Duke did an outstanding job!"
Duke and Warner have utilized every possible means to arouse the audience's curiosity and drive them into theaters, encouraging repeat viewings.
On his personal website, Duke released many behind-the-scenes images from his motion capture sessions. The motion capture technique, still very new at the time, looked intriguing and even funny. This also marked Duke's first official film role, a fact already announced by Warner Brothers.
The internet age has begun, and everything is changing. While directors are still partly behind the scenes, top-tier directors like Cameron, Spielberg, and Duke now have large followings. Their influence, though not on the level of top stars like Tom Cruise, has created a strong fanbase, some of whom could be called hardcore fans.
Duke never minds being a promotional tool himself. He clearly remembers a certain director who had so many hardcore fans that even James Cameron would be jealous. Some films, which were clearly bad, avoided flopping because of the support from these diehard fans.
The role of the director in a film's promotion has silently been changing with the information revolution brought on by the internet.
As someone who understands the future of the internet, Duke has never rejected such changes.
As long as it benefits the film, he is willing to step up as the frontman for promotion!
Soon after the release of these motion capture images on the website, they sparked many discussions. After all, this technology was not often seen publicly.
"So that's how the Orcs were made. I thought Duke wore a helmet and special outfit…"
"Look at Duke's facial expressions during motion capture, then think about the Orcs in the film. It's hilarious!"
"Uh... I haven't seen the movie yet..."
"Then hurry up and watch it! Just seeing Duke play an Orc is worth the price of admission!"
The power of hardcore fans is immense, some of whom become active promoters online, recommending the film to everyone and eagerly sharing their enthusiasm.
Through various channels, they recommend the films they like, a common mentality among movie fans.
In short, word-of-mouth, overwhelming promotion, celebrity endorsements, and the fame and influence Duke has built up over ten years all led large crowds to the theater to buy tickets for "The Fellowship of the Ring"!
And the quality of the film will make most people feel it was worth their time!
In this situation, even though the film's length reduced the number of screenings, the first day's box office on Saturday was still terrifying.
