From Flower Vase to Film Emperor in Hollywood

Expectation was always there.

After "Harry Potter" and "The Lord of the Rings" regrettably failed to replicate the summer blockbuster miracle and fully open up the holiday season market, all eyes were on "Catch Me If You Can," or more precisely, on Anson.

But at the same time, doubt was also always there.

No one could be 100% certain what would happen during the holiday season. If "Harry Potter" and "The Lord of the Rings" couldn't overturn market rules in one fell swoop, it would be even more difficult for any other work to break through the bottleneck.

It was against this backdrop of anxiety and contradiction that things happened.

Thirteen million dollars.

"Catch Me If You Can," with its sudden emergence, wrote a new chapter in the history of Christmas Day premiere box office, increasing by a full 30% on the foundation of last year's "Ali," pushing the historical record to a new height in one go, igniting this year's holiday season with a bang.

Here it comes, it's finally here—

A wave of jubilation.

Of course, Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks' brands are beyond doubt, and the market appeal of these two industry giants is absolutely top-notch; but Hollywood couldn't help but focus its attention on Anson.

After all, Anson is the core protagonist.

After all, following the summer season, the holiday season has also ushered in a breakthrough again.

After all, one "Spider-Man" could be said to be luck, and adding one "Catch Me If You Can" could be said to be a coincidence, but when such feats happen to the same actor twice in a row, professionals must be vigilant. Intuition is fully activated, and the facts cannot be easily ignored.

The voices of doubt still lingered in his ears, whispering things like "Spider-Man" relied on the mass base of the original comic, and "Catch Me If You Can" relied on the market appeal of the two giants. Rather than saying that Anson has become a superstar with appeal, it's better to say that his agent picked good works and let Anson ride the wave and soar to the sky. But for Anson himself, a twenty-year-old young man with only three film works, where does the appeal come from? Don't even compare Anson to Leonardo DiCaprio, it's simply laughable.

Sourness, ridicule, jealousy, contempt,吐槽, disdain.

Etc., etc., etc.

However, even these voices had to admit that Anson was once again catching a "free ride," and his recognition and popularity were skyrocketing on a rocket. Involuntarily, all eyes were on the movie box office.

Undoubtedly, encompassing thirteen million dollars in box office on Christmas Day, and sweeping through to refresh a series of historical records, its debut immediately grabbed the headlines of major news media, completely igniting the festive season.

In 1998, Robin Williams' "Patch Adams" took in eight million dollars at the Christmas Day box office, breaking the historical record.

In 2001, Will Smith's "Ali" went a step further, raking in ten million dollars on Christmas Day, setting a new historical high.

Then, there's this year.

From eight million to ten million to thirteen million, one step at a time, but also one leap at a time, "Catch Me If You Can" elevated the historical record to a new height in a short period of time.

Wait, this episode seems familiar—

During the summer season, "Spider-Man" was also like this, emerging with unstoppable momentum, raising the historical record by several levels in one go.

Could it be… is "Catch Me If You Can" about to stage such a feat again?

This scene is all people's expectations for Anson.

However, things are not that simple—

The holiday season is really unpredictable, and that's not just lip service.

"Patch Adams," $25 million on its opening weekend, with a final North American gross of $135 million.

"Ali," $10 million on its opening weekend, with a final North American gross of $58 million.

The two films both created box office records on Christmas Day, but their subsequent box office trends were completely different, even drastically different.

Reason?

The reason is certainly not that simple, from the subject matter to the type to the subsequent promotional strategies and the film's own style and the echo of the festive atmosphere, etc., but from here, it can be seen that the holiday season is difficult to grasp.

Both "Harry Potter" films were released in November, targeting the Thanksgiving holiday season.

The holder of the December opening weekend box office record is "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers," which just created $62 million last week; the second in history is "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring," which was released at the same time last year, with $47 million, also an excellent performance.

This is Warner Bros.' confidence in continuously cultivating the holiday season and trying to open up the situation.

In fact, the performance of "Harry Potter 2" and "The Lord of the Rings 2" has been very good, among which the latter has increased the December opening weekend box office record by nearly 32%, and even under the circumstances that it was fully released on Wednesday, the box office of the first five days strongly broke through the 100 million dollar threshold, which is absolutely worth writing about in the media.

It's just that Warner Bros. and the media have even higher expectations for them.

Now, it is also like this.

Thousands upon thousands of eyes are all focused on "Catch Me If You Can," and amidst the heated discussions and doubts, the pursuit and observation, the expectations are rising steadily—

Wednesday, thirteen million dollars on the opening day.

Thursday, ten million dollars.

Huh.

A burst of exclamations!

The box office numbers regrettably failed to continue to rise or remain stable, but showed a clear decline. The curse of the holiday season seemed to appear again, the enthusiasm of expectations cooled slightly, and hesitation and worry began to emerge.

In fact, the single-day box office number on Thursday still exceeded ten million dollars, which is gratifying; but placed behind the Christmas Day single-day box office historical record, it suddenly does not look good enough.

Suddenly, people realized a key point. Last week, it had strong competitors such as "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers," "Die Another Day," and "Gangs of New York." This week, audiences have countless choices when going to the cinema, and they may be dazzled. After entering the weekend, "Catch Me If You Can" is surrounded—

Difficult, it's really too difficult.

Amidst the whispers of anxiety and hesitation, the sun rose as usual, and the weekend box office battle slowly kicked off, and the battle situation was finally revealed.

"Catch Me If You Can," leading the way.

Friday, twenty-seven million dollars.

Shock!

What, what's going on?

Strong rebound, counterattack!

The storm caused by the decline in single-day box office on Thursday came to an abrupt end, and Hollywood was plunged into a new storm all at once.

As Anson's flash mob activities penetrated into the central regions of North America, a hurricane was quietly brewing and then ushered in an explosion.

Saturday, thirty million dollars.

Huh, wh… what?

Sunday, twenty-five million dollars.

Stunned, a scorched earth.