From Flower Vase to Film Emperor in Hollywood

Twitch, twitch, twitch.

Hayden's gaze remained fixed on Carter's constantly twitching right leg:

Twitching on his toes when supporting himself on the ground, twitching while cradling his ankle when his leg was propped on his knee, twitching with his right leg pulling his left leg along when lying flat on the sofa.

Twitching constantly, unable to stop.

Originally, Hayden wasn't nervous, but watching Carter's incessant leg twitching, the whole world seemed to vibrate along with it, inexplicably making him agitated.

Actually, Hayden had prepared himself—at least, he thought he had—that "Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones" box office might be slightly lower than expected.

Twentieth Century Fox also realized that the "Spider-Man" opening weekend box office explosion was a special case. The right timing, location, and people created a miracle. They missed a good opportunity. It might be difficult to replicate such a miracle for "Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones" opening weekend. They should look at the subsequent performance—

"Titanic" and "Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace" both had opening box offices lower than expected but relied on long-term performance to rewrite box office history.

Therefore.

Twentieth Century Fox changed its strategy, releasing it nationwide one day early. Generally speaking, the opening weekend is Friday to Sunday, three days. Now "Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones" landed in theaters on Thursday. The opening weekend was still three days, but the cumulative box office cycle for the first week was four days. The situation changed slightly, so the media naturally couldn't directly compare the two films side by side.

Thursday, the single-day box office data was released early—

Thirty million dollars.

A very, very excellent number, once again proving the appeal of "Star Wars". Even if the premiere received terrible reviews, even if it encountered a head-on collision with "Spider-Man", hardcore fans still flocked to the cinemas at the first opportunity to show their support with practical actions, offering George Lucas the highest respect.

By the way, "Spider-Man"'s single-day box office on Friday of its opening weekend was as high as $47 million, easily breaking the North American film history record for the highest single-day opening, directly elevating the $32 million premiere day box office record of "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" by more than one level.

Comparing horizontally, the opening day performance of "Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones" was not only lower than "Spider-Man", but even lower than "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone", ranking only third in film history.

But it needs to be considered that Thursday is a weekday, and people still need to go to work tomorrow, which is completely different from the other two works released on Friday. Under such circumstances, "Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones" still achieved a box office of $30 million, which is worthy of respect and celebration.

There was no way around it, the overwhelming negative reviews and undisguised attacks after the premiere severely hit Hayden's confidence. This was definitely not the scene he had imagined.

So, he convinced himself that he should be prepared, and now, seeing Carter's tension and anxiety, his stomach also started to burn.

Bang.

Suddenly, Carter stood up, the chair fell backward, the sound exploded, Hayden was startled and quickly looked up.

At this time, they had no mind to pay attention to the pitiful chair. Carter answered the phone, put the phone next to his ear, and asked repeatedly.

"Has the number come out yet?"

They didn't need to wait for the "Los Angeles Times". Agents have their own internal channels, and they can often grasp accurate inside information as soon as possible.

Hayden looked up at Carter, carefully observing Carter's expression. Those voices and those smiles quietly lingered in his ears and disappeared into nothingness. He couldn't help but be stunned. For some reason, the focus of his vision slowly collapsed, and his mind was surging with thoughts that he couldn't even distinguish.

Sadness? Joy? Regret? Annoyance? Anger?

Hayden couldn't distinguish it clearly, perhaps more of it was a kind of confusion and emptiness, as if bungee jumping down, but suspended in mid-air, unable to go up or down.

"Hayden, Hayden…"

Carter's voice went from far to near, exploding in Hayden's ears, pulling him back to the ground, startling him into a cold sweat.

Third week of May 2002, the North American weekend box office chart was released—

Champion, "Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones".

Runner-up, "Spider-Man".

Third place, "Unfaithful".

The ranking is clear at a glance.

As far as the list is concerned, no accident occurred, everything went according to plan, "Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones" undoubtedly topped the champion, ending "Spider-Man"'s two-week reign over the North American box office market; but "Spider-Man" did not collapse, it just fell back to second place, continuing to maintain competitiveness.

However, the ranking is not important, there is no surprise in this; what is really important is the number, the specific box office performance.

"Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones" once again proved that it is still the number one traffic driver in North America, sweeping $80 million in three days of the weekend, causing an uproar—

Scolding is scolding, but when it is time to take action, fanatic fans and hardcore moviegoers are still not sloppy.

In the situation where there had already been an outbreak on Thursday, "Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones" still took such a box office number on its opening weekend, second only to "Spider-Man" and "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone", ranking third in film history. Under such a situation and such circumstances, it still handed over a perfect answer sheet.

In the end, "Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones" accumulated a box office of $110 million in its first week of release, four days.

Beautiful!

Twentieth Century Fox, from top to bottom, could finally breathe a sigh of relief. Although it was not able to break the opening box office record just created by "Spider-Man"; the film still withstood heavy pressure and sounded the victory horn. All worries and tensions could finally be slightly relaxed after the opening data was released.

Next, it depends on the long run.

From any point of view, the box office data of "Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones" is worth celebrating, but this is only the first step of a long journey. If the film wants to replicate the box office performance of its predecessor, $400 million in North America and $900 million worldwide, it still needs to look at the stamina—

Its own stamina and the performance of subsequent competitors.

For example, "Spider-Man".

When Twentieth Century Fox saw the opening box office data, they cheered, but the joy was only temporary, and their eyes immediately turned to "Spider-Man", and the smiles on their faces stayed only at the corners of their mouths.

Sixty-four million dollars, a drop of 33%.

The above is the weekend box office number for the third week of "Spider-Man"'s release.

This number can still easily benchmark the opening weekend box office of other summer blockbuster movies.

This number, after writing film history records in the first two weeks, the drop unexpectedly continued to be controlled below 35%, recreating a "Titanic"-style miracle.

This number unreasonably broke all the professional's understanding of the laws of the North American box office market, pushing open a door to a new world.

Shocked?

No, far more than that.

At this time, looking back at the North American weekend box office chart for the third week of May, you can more clearly feel the impact.

Champion, "Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones", $80 million.

Runner-up, "Spider-Man", $64 million.

This, is this certain?

It can be imagined that one is the premiere and the other is the third week, but they are still competing at the same level?

Did "Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones" win? It doesn't seem so.

Did "Spider-Man" lose? It doesn't seem so either.