Titanic's Sweep
At the end of 1997, the departure date of the Titanic was postponed again and again. It was originally scheduled for the Summer Vacation season, but unfortunately, there was still not enough time for production.
However, with a production cost of 200 million, no one dares to choose an unpopular release date. After all, what is considered unpopular or popular is related to the size of the market.
What If...? the main movie-going demographic is at work or school and doesn't have much free time to watch movies, this will likely worsen the box office situation.
Therefore, the best time to release movies is during the Christmas season at the end of the year. They can't possibly go for Halloween and compete with horror movies for viewership. Even though the number of Deadman in those horror movies is negligible compared to the Titanic sinking at sea.
Although the Christmas season will have to compete with James Bond's "Tomorrow Never Dies" and Steven Spielberg's DreamWorks film "Mouse Hunt," there is no more suitable time.
20th Century Fox, as the production company, only held the overseas distribution rights. The North America distribution rights were taken by Stark Studios, which was also an investor. Naturally, Volkswagen would focus its efforts on the overseas market.
They wanted to hold the premiere in London, United Kingdom, a country with strong English roots. To this end, they coordinated a royal film performance and invited Prince Charles, the perpetual heir to the throne, to attend.
From Stark Studios ' perspective, North America is their source of profit, and it's also Hollywood's home base. There's no Reason to premiere it overseas.
However, the decision not to premiere in North America was also made by director James Cameron. Ever since the production costs of the Titanic were revealed, the media has been consistently pessimistic, which has dampened the confidence of this director who once gained a good reputation with the Terminator series.
He prefers to gain exposure in markets outside North America first, win a good reputation, and then make a comeback in the United States, where he has never said a good word about him. It has a kind of arrogant attitude of "you look down on me today, but you will be unable to reach me tomorrow".
Considering the impact of piracy on box office revenue, Henry was naturally unwilling to easily agree to a plan for the film to be released overseas first. Ultimately, a compromise was reached, with the premiere scheduled for November 1st at the Tokyo International Film Festival, thus avoiding the disagreement over domestic and international premieres.
Holding film festival premieres as a marketing tactic is nothing new in Hollywood. They generally don't choose specific film festivals, but rather international film festivals with suitable timing.
The overseas screenings also received positive reviews. This gradually improved the reputation of the Titanic, and the previous malicious comments actually made people want to see what it was all about.
The release date was actually pushed back so late partly because of Henry. During internal screenings, he pointed out more than one continuity error. How could Cameron, a perfectionist when it comes to details, tolerate that!
Reshooting was out of the question, so the only option was to use computer-generated imagery (CGI) to fix it. Then the boomerang hit Stark Studios, and the CEO had to work overtime again...
Ah~!
In short, the official Hollywood premiere of "Titanic" was held on December 14th, hosted by Stark Studios.
Meanwhile, 20th Century Fox also held a similarly lavish premiere in London to welcome the Titanic's departure.
It finally premiered on F.R.I.D.A.Y., December 19th, and then created a Hollywood myth.
On its opening day, the film grossed $8,658,814 in North America, and over its opening weekend, it earned $28,638,131 in 2,674 theaters across North America, ranking first at the box office.
By New Year's Day, the box office had exceeded 120 million yuan; after 44 days of release, the box office had surpassed 300 million yuan; and after 66 days, it reached 400 million yuan. The highest single-day box office was on Saturday, February 14th, 1998, when it grossed 13,048,711 yuan.
On March 14th, it surpassed Star Wars to become the highest-grossing film of all time. It also held the number one spot at the North America box office for 15 consecutive weeks and remained in theaters for nearly 10 months.
Ultimately, it grossed $600 million in North America and $1.2 billion internationally, for a total of $1.8 billion worldwide, poised to dominate Hollywood for a decade.
This is why, even before the film finished its theatrical run, it swept the 70th Academy Awards in 1998, receiving 14 nominations and winning 11 awards, including well-deserved major awards such as Best Picture and Best Director.
The Devil's Advocate cast, who didn't even receive a nomination, had Charlize Theron filming the Matrix in Sydney, Australia on the day of the awards ceremony.
Since the awards ceremony was held at 11 a. m. Sydney time, the crew, who were filming on set, naturally couldn't pay attention to what was happening in Los Angeles.
As an unofficial member, the CEO of Stark Studios led the computer effects department, providing advice on filmmaking from the perspective of creating computer effects.
Henry, of course, didn't need to oversee the filming, wait for performances, or assist with other tasks. He stayed in the hotel, watched the Oscars broadcast, and witnessed director James Cameron shout that line on the awards stage, solidifying his god-like status.
In fact, since he invested in this doomed Titanic, a considerable portion of the negative reviews surrounding James Cameron seem to have shifted to him, an outsider to the Hollywood industry.
Numerous comments have emerged, such as "This guy is only suited for scientific research," "He should just focus on doing image digitization work," and "What does he know about movies?" These comments appear in newspapers and magazines, as well as in private conversations.
Because the funds involved Stark Industries, even Tony Stark was viciously mocked by the media, who jokingly called him "yet another Angel investor from Wall Street who will lose everything in Hollywood."
Ultimately, it turned out that it wasn't them who capsized, but rather the group of media outlets that had previously been so assertive.
So these uncrowned kings, as if trying to get revenge, kept chasing after Henry. Even though they didn't know what kind of news they could use to overshadow the previous one.
To avoid these troublemakers, especially at a time when Cameron is achieving legendary status, Henry came to Australia to visit the set and lay low for a while.
He's not a celebrity, and his work isn't something he can achieve through fame alone; he doesn't need to curry favor with reporters. So, it's best to stay out of the way for now.
However, while she could shake off the reporters, she couldn't shake off her girlfriend. The first thing Charlize Theron did upon returning to her hotel after a day of filming was to inquire about the Oscars.
No Hollywood actor is indifferent to this award, which is considered the highest honor. So when she heard about the success of "Titanic," she couldn't help but complain to Henry in private.
"Ah, such a great movie! You invested in it, so I should do everything I can to get a role!" Charlize complained as she rolled around on the bed.
Henry, who had just pulled the girl onto the bed and was beginning his massage, said, "Judging from the number of awards won, Titanic is undoubtedly the big winner. But did you see a single acting award?"
Charlize tried to get up to speak, but Henry pushed her back down, continuing to press on her tense muscles. She could only ask, still lying down, "Really? What happened?"
Henry explained, "This film is a success solely for director James Cameron. The reason there were no acting awards can be attributed to the jealousy of those Old Bai men."
"Or perhaps they believe that regardless of who the actors are, with a director like Cameron, the film can achieve the same success. Actors who are made famous by films don't deserve an award."
"Such a negative reputation may hold them back for a long time. The only way to change this is to start with low-budget independent productions. This means lower pay."
"Or you could accept the constant stream of similar film scripts from film studios until you lose your box office appeal. By then, forget about reinventing yourself; you might just be abandoned by Hollywood altogether. Neither of that is what you want, is it?"
Lying prone while receiving a massage, Charlize Theron said helplessly, "If you put it that way, Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet are in trouble."
Henry said, "Undeniably, this movie has generated a lot of buzz for them. As long as they can endure the discrimination from those Old Bai men and go against the grain, it's a shortcut to success. Perhaps it's even easier than following the usual path."
"But for you, the most important thing is to do your best in the present. That ship is a thing of the past for you as an actor. Filming with wires must have been tough."
"And what about you? You also have your own 'immediate tasks' to take care of, right?" The girl, who understood the art of making choices, let go of her resentment towards the Titanic. She turned to the side, bending her thigh, and teasingly hinted.