Faced with the overwhelming momentum of "The Dark Knight," all other films in this summer's release have been reduced to complete foils that are not worth mentioning.
After the record-breaking first day, countless people inside and outside Hollywood are closely watching the box office figures of this super blockbuster every day.
US$23.76 million on the first day.
$24.33 million on Saturday.
$20.39 million on Sunday.
In just three days of its first weekend, the cumulative box office of "The Dark Knight" quickly reached a high of $68.38 million.
On working days, the film's box office momentum has not diminished at all.
Finally, when the first week from June 7th to June 13th ended, "The Dark Knight" undoubtedly set a new weekly box office record and achieved an unprecedented first-week break of 100 million.
$102.07 million.
This is the first seven-day box office of "The Dark Knight."
Within seven days, "The Dark Knight" jumped to the second place in the 1991 North American box office rankings, second only to the US$118 million of the Valentine's Day film "The Dark Knight" at the beginning of the year, which was already on the verge of being dropped.
Faced with the astonishing box office of this super blockbuster, which exceeded 100 million in its first week, most filmmakers in Hollywood felt a strong sense of powerlessness.
Once upon a time, as long as a movie could achieve a total box office of over 100 million in North America, it would be enough for everyone to celebrate. However, it seems that in the blink of an eye, it is so easy for a movie to exceed 100 million at the box office.
Most people actually understand that this is just an illusion.
The 1991 schedule is nearly halfway through, and North American theaters have only produced two films, "The Dark Knight" and "The Dark Knight," that have grossed over 100 million in North American box office.
However, the box office momentum of "The Dark Knight" really makes too many people feel that it is out of reach.
It's not that no one has imagined that the "Batman" series or the DC movie universe will fail after the amazing opening of "Batman Begins." The entire project invested US$160 million, which was simply unimaginable a few years ago.
Even with the popularity of the first film, the sequel will have no problem recovering huge costs through omni-channel operations. However, if the film's production cycle is too long, the project is destined to be a failure.
Now, all those who had certain expectations are left disappointed.
With $102 million in its first week, the local box office of "The Dark Knight" is almost impossible to be less than $300 million.
US$300 million is exactly the cost line for this super blockbuster to recoup its entire budget through local box office.
Based on first-week box office numbers, not many people would doubt that the project would be able to not only recoup its entire budget, but also make a partial profit through a North American theatrical release.
At the same time, various types of toys, posters, records, and video games related to "The Dark Knight" were also put on sale at the same time.
This sequel, from the car chase at the beginning to the final hoisting of dirty bombs away from the city, can be said to have destroyed Batman's Bat-Motorcycle, Batmobile and Bat-Fighter, which made many movie fans feel distressed.
However, other character props specifically used for the development of derivatives also appeared in the film.
Even Cindy Crawford, who guest-starred in the film, released figures of the same character in the film. Because the popularity of this supermodel in the film was not predicted in advance, the news came to various retail channels two days after the film started. Out of stock news.
According to rough statistics, in just one week since the release of "The Dark Knight", the total sales of various types of peripheral products of "Batman: The Dark Knight" reached 170 million US dollars.
Compared with the US$130 million of "Batman Begins" in the same period, sales increased by more than 30%.
In addition, the 21 overseas countries and regions that were released simultaneously covered major overseas ticket warehouses such as the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Japan, Italy, Spain, and Australia. After some statistics, the box office in the first week also reached 130 million US dollars.
As a result, in just its first week, the global box office of "The Dark Knight" reached US$230 million.
In the early 1990s, the World Trade Organization had not yet been established, and the film markets in various overseas countries were relatively closed.
However, on average, for a blockbuster like "The Dark Knight" that overseas theaters are eager to introduce, the box office share recovered through overseas markets can be maintained at around 35%.
Based on the tiered sharing rules signed between domestic distributors and theaters in the United States, the approximate profit ratio of peripheral derivatives sales, and the average sharing ratio of overseas box office, based on comprehensive calculation, "The Dark Knight" will only be released for one week, and it is expected to be profitable from various sources. The funds recovered through the channel have reached 140 million US dollars.
US$140 million was recovered in seven days. Although the box office dropped significantly after the film entered its second week, the project was destined to quickly turn profitable.
The spectators who joined in the fun were just keeping an eye on the box office data of "The Dark Knight". Professionals who are familiar with the details of the operation of Hollywood film projects can clearly see that this movie, which invested a huge investment of 160 million US dollars, in just over a week, It has already shown the momentum of making huge profits.
Hollywood never lacks followers.
Faced with the success of the DC Cinematic Universe, other studios subconsciously began to look for similar projects.
Then, everyone discovered once again that the two major comic book giants in North America, whether DC or Marvel, were no longer within their reach.
Marvel Comics is completely regarded as a gold mine by Simon Westeros. Not only does he not intend to 'mine' it, he also has no intention of letting other studios do it for him.
DC Comics, which lost the three giants of Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman, and almost sold out its business in the 1980s, showed a tight guard against its own superhero copyrights and tried to contact Time Warner to control the copyrights. Without exception, film producers all ended up hitting a brick wall.
Due to the long-term slump in the comics industry, apart from Marvel and DC, there are really no other large-scale comic companies in the United States in this era. Dark Horse Comics and Image Comics, which followed Marvel and DC many years later, were either still in their early stages of development or had not yet been established.
Although many people also understand that the key to the success of the DC movie universe does not lie in 'DC', but in the 'universe'.
Moreover, Daenerys Entertainment is far ahead of the film production technology and concepts of this era, and is also the key to the success of the DC movie universe.
However, after various Hollywood studios contacted Marvel and DC to no avail, they began to look for some small comic companies, intending to personally support some original comic content.
When the first-week box office results for "The Dark Knight" were released, the third installment in the series, "The Dark Knight Rises," was officially launched and preparations began.
In fact, Simon had already planned and completed the plot of the trilogy when the project began.
Now, Jane de Bont has proven that he is enough to support the production of this series. The male and female protagonists of the film and other main creatives have also signed long-term contracts, and there is no need to pay more for the film's box office success. Bullshit. Therefore, the launch of the third part basically begins with the actual process of supporting actors, casting, and filming.
In just two short films, "Batman" has already made a large number of actors who were originally unknown or tepid actors famous. With the start of the third film, any role in the plan has become a big deal for major Hollywood agencies. strive for goals.
Of course, plans can never keep up with changes. It is necessary to make certain changes in the third part to adapt to the accumulation of the first two parts, but the main line will not change.
Compared to the Easter eggs in the second film, "The Dark Knight" will officially become a crossover set.
Batman and Wonder Woman crossover set.
The villain of the film adopts a pattern similar to that of the first two films, with one main BOSS and one or two other minor BOSSs.
In addition to the Joker, the third film will also feature the series' first female supervillain, Poison Ivy.
Of course, Simon will not make Poison Ivy like Tim Burton's version of Uma Thurman, who looks cheap dressed like a cosplayer. Instead, he plans to make the same character design as Catwoman, using the same reference. I remember the setting of Poison Ivy in the game version of "Batman: Arkham Knight": a red shirt with only one button on, bare feet, long legs, and green skin that was really covered with tiny vines.
With a weird yet irresistible sense of wonder.
Poison Ivy in "Batman: Arkham Knight" almost saved Gotham City in the end, purifying the nerve agent released by Scarecrow by triggering plants.
In Nolan's version of "The Dark Knight," the focus is on the Joker's manipulation of people's hearts, but in the comic setting, the Joker is actually a poison expert level that surpasses the Scarecrow.
According to Simon's setting from small to large in the first part of the trilogy, where he fights against gangs, the second part saves the city, and the third part saves the world, in the planned "Batman: The Dark Knight", the Joker will be a An existence that seeks to destroy the world.
Batman will join forces with Wonder Woman and Catwoman, who come to Gotham to find the Mother Box, and Poison Ivy, who finally wakes up, to fight against the Joker's conspiracy.
Compared with the unplanned and hasty launch of the DC movie universe in memory, this time, the three mother boxes will become the key to connect the entire DC movie universe in advance.
At the same time, in the planned third film, due to the participation of Poison Ivy, a real superpower who can control plants, and the clown's final transformation influenced by the mother box, the use of special effects will be taken to a new level.
Batman's own equipment will also be upgraded again, and the powerful Bat Armor will appear.
The CG technology of Daenerys's special effects is much beyond the original time and space. However, in order to realize these planned special effects as perfectly as possible, Simon plans to set aside three years for the third part.
After three years of continuous research and development, the CG technology sufficient for Daenerys’ special effects has reached a new level.
Of course, this means that "The Dark Knight" will be released in the summer of 1994.
However, during this period, Daenerys and Warner Bros. will team up to launch "The Flash", "Wonder Woman" and the rebooted version of "Superman".
Therefore, although it will take three years to wait, the progress of the DC movie universe will not stop.
Taking advantage of the commercial potential demonstrated by the "Batman" series, slowing down and crafting each installment in the series more carefully would be better than rushing to release more films that continuously squeeze the market potential and even cause aesthetic fatigue among the audience. many.
After the first week, the second week of screenings from June 14th to June 20th also ended quickly.
The number of new films opening this week has been reduced to one, Disney's youth comedy "Holiday Girls," which tells the stories of a group of girls who concealed the accidental death of their elderly nanny during the holidays in order to avoid the constraints of their parents.
Compared with the two new films of Universal Pictures' "Jungle Fever" and Fox's comedy "The Fool", which opened on less than 1,300 screens last week, "Holiday Girl" opened on 1,806 screens. Compared with Disney's Despite the conservative distribution strategy in the past, the number of screens has also increased significantly this time.
Hollywood as a whole is probably increasingly realizing the benefits of full release and even saturated release.
However, just like the two new films last week, even if the box office of "The Dark Knight" dropped significantly the next week, "Holiday Girl" is still just a foil under the general trend.
In the end, the second week after "The Dark Knight" was released, the box office dropped by 41%, earning another US$60.18 million.
Within two weeks of its release, the film's cumulative box office reached US$162.25 million.
Although it is not as good as the box office decline the following week when "Batman Begins", this is what everyone expected.
It exceeded 100 million in the first week. If there is not a big drop in the next week, then this series will be completely unparalleled.
In fact, compared with the saturated commercial blockbusters that were fully released in memory, which usually suffered a drop of more than 50% in the second week, the drop of "Batman: The Dark Knight" in the second week was controlled at 41%, which is still very rare.
The total box office figure of US$162.25 million in two weeks is basically the same as the box office figure of the first film that reversed the decline the next week.
As long as the subsequent box office decline trend is narrowed again, it is not impossible for this sequel to once again hit the US$400 million box office mark in North America.
For two weeks in a row, Time Warner's stock price has been rising steadily, driven by the commercial success of "The Dark Knight."
In order to build momentum for the upcoming stock issuance, as "The Dark Knight" ends its second week of release, Time Warner can't wait to announce that it will hold a grand celebration party on June 22.
The time is actually the Saturday of the third week of the release of "The Dark Knight."
These days, the film business of Daenerys Entertainment and the integration of Daenerys and MCA companies keep Simon busy from morning to night almost every day.
However, as the founder of the DC movie universe and the super signature of the series, "The Dark Knight" will hold a celebration party, and Simon will naturally not be absent, otherwise there will definitely be an uneven distribution of interests between Daenerys and Time Warner DC There are rumors that the movie universe plan may encounter changes as it progresses.
In fact, similar arguments have never disappeared.
After all, the interests involved in the DC movie universe are too huge. The expected net profit of a "Batman Begins" film exceeds US$1 billion, which is equivalent to the net profit of a Fortune 500 corporate giant for a year.
Judging from various public data, the profit scale of "Batman: The Dark Knight" will not be much lower than that of the first film.
Even if Time Warner can take away half of the revenue this time, in the eyes of many people, the IP of "Batman" originally belongs to Warner. Time Warner has always suffered a big loss in this business with Daenerys. .
In fact, if there is no rift between Daenerys and Time Warner regarding the cooperation in the DC movie universe, it is lying with open eyes.
However, Simon has managed to keep this feud from getting worse by properly distributing interests, including working with Warner on projects outside of the DC Cinematic Universe.
The benefits are certainly attractive.
However, if you fall out, the price is likely to be high. If you don't fall out, you will still get a very good harvest. People with a little sense will probably choose to stay still instead of moving.
As the absolute controller of Daenerys Entertainment, Simon could have directly chosen a lose-lose confrontation method because Alistar Records concealed the sales of the "Bodyguard" soundtrack.
As a listed company, Time Warner, coupled with the fact that Steve Ross was under heavy pressure from external shareholders and senior executives of other internal factions at this time, it was impossible for him to make too drastic a break.
Because Simon has proven in the original "Bodyguard" soundtrack incident that Daenerys Entertainment will only get tougher if its partners don't abide by the rules.