From Flower Vase to Film Emperor in Hollywood

In 1991, "The Silence of the Lambs" was released, achieving all-around success in terms of critical acclaim, box office revenue, and awards.

Among them, Anthony Hopkins' portrayal of Professor Hannibal Lecter became a classic on-screen image. The following year at the Academy Awards, he won the Best Actor Oscar for this role, setting an Oscar record:

In the movie, Professor Hannibal only appeared for sixteen minutes. However, the character was still nominated for Best Actor and won the Oscar, making it the shortest performance to ever win the Best Actor award in Oscar history.

Undoubtedly, the king of scene-stealing.

Now, Anson seems to be replicating the same miracle—

In "The Princess Diaries," despite limited screen time, Anson still found a way to leave a deep impression, even appearing in the minds of film critics.

"Dr. Hannibal Lecter? I like it." Anson shrugged lightly, "Maybe, next step, the Oscars?"

A playful remark that successfully made James burst into laughter.

Even Brad couldn't help but smile.

However, Brad's smile quickly faded, still worried about the shocking negative reviews above, "...I wonder if it will affect the box office."

This time, James had no answer either—

The nightmare of "Freaks and Geeks" being canceled still lingered.

Compared to reputation, reviews, and trends, what they really needed to worry about was the box office. Accurately speaking, focusing on reputation was also focusing on the box office.

After all, in Hollywood, the only thing that's truly convincing is the numbers. The movie industry is ultimately a Wall Street money game.

James was feeling anxious, but then he saw Anson's calm expression and couldn't help but roll his eyes, complaining to Brad.

"Look, the person involved isn't worried at all, so we don't need to fret."

Anson didn't mind, remaining relaxed and composed, "Take it easy, take it easy. Things are out of our control now. Instead of sitting here being anxious and driving ourselves crazy, we should shift our attention."

He paused for a moment, "Like going to see a movie. Friday, my treat?"

Friday, the day "Rush Hour 2" and "The Princess Diaries" officially hit theaters, so Anson's subtext was...

James and Brad exchanged glances, and they both smiled, "Looks like that guy isn't as calm as he says he is."

"Good actor, that means he's a good actor, he got us all wrapped up in it."

Amidst the laughter and chatter, the atmosphere became cheerful again.

Actually, Anson was serious.

Partly because they couldn't manipulate the box office, so they might as well be more open-minded.

Partly because the reviews for "The Princess Diaries" weren't that bad.

Clicking through and reading the reviews, from negative to mixed to positive, was indeed alarming, and it was easy to be drawn in by the hard-hitting negative reviews; but after calming down, it became apparent that things weren't so bad.

"The Princess Diaries" had thirty-one professional reviews compiled by media outlets. In 2001, when websites were just emerging, this number was already excellent. In comparison, "Rush Hour 2" only had thirty-three reviews, and "Ghost World" had twenty-one. The level of attention was obvious.

Ultimately, the media consensus settled at 65 points, with a middling, so-so, average rating being the most common, but it was still passing grade.

In horizontal comparison, "Rush Hour 2" only had a media consensus of 40 points. Behind the bustling premiere, the movie was met with negative reviews, continuing the curse that sequels often fail to surpass their predecessors.

In vertical comparison, "Pretty Woman" had a media consensus of only 51 points back then, and "Runaway Bride" had an even worse 39 points. The terrible media reviews didn't stop them from achieving great results.

No comparison, no pain. Originally, it was thought that "The Princess Diaries" had fallen to rock bottom and was hanging by a thread, but now it seemed that the movie's reviews were actually standing out:

Not only was it the better movie among the premieres of the same period, but it was also a new high for Garry Marshall's personal filmography.

Of course, judging solely from the scores, "The Princess Diaries" and "Pretty Woman" were in the same range, with little difference, and both had mostly mixed reviews. Even though one movie passed and the other failed, overall, they could still be seen as similar works with similar reviews.

From this perspective, Garry Marshall was still Garry Marshall, continuing his consistent performance. "The Princess Diaries" could even be considered a small surprise. Looking back at those shocking negative reviews, one could completely calm down and face the situation with equanimity.

Boom!

Literally, a full-scale explosion.

Just when people generally believed that the summer season, after three months of bombardment, was slowly entering a period of aesthetic fatigue and might fall into a state of weakness, this week's North American weekend box office chart brought a surprise.

And not just any small surprise, but a super big surprise that completely ignited discussion.

Champion, "Rush Hour 2," sixty-seven million dollars.

Runner-up, "The Princess Diaries," thirty-five million dollars.

Third place, "Planet of the Apes," twenty-seven million dollars.

Fourth place, "Jurassic Park III," twelve million dollars.

Boom, boom, boom!

This week, the North American weekend box office market was not only not sluggish or deserted, but also showed a rare vitality in this year's summer season, creating a new high—

Literally, this was the second-highest weekend in total box office numbers for the 2001 summer season, second only to the premiere weekend of "Pearl Harbor."

From Friday to Sunday, audiences of different ages, different types, and different categories flocked to theaters. Action, campus, science fiction, adventure, and other different types of movies bloomed on the big screen, which became the biggest reason for audiences to re-enter theaters. This was still the most popular outdoor activity in the summer.

Surprise, absolute surprise.

This also won applause from media outlets large and small.

The weekend box office market did not experience "squeeze" or "trampling." Instead, different types of movies joined hands to summon more audiences, ultimately achieving a win-win situation.

This situation was completely unexpected.

The healthy competition between "Rush Hour 2" and "The Princess Diaries" contributed greatly, ultimately leading to this scene.

Among them, "Rush Hour 2," despite mediocre, even terrible, reviews, relied on the popularity accumulated by its predecessor and New Line Cinema's overwhelming publicity to explode with an incredible opening box office, topping this week's North American weekend box office chart with absolute strength.