From Flower Vase to Film Emperor in Hollywood

When the "Flash Surprise Event" came to a glamorous end in Washington Square, more than one person speculated whether the event would continue to explore further.

Canada? England? Germany? France?

And so on and so forth.

However, it did not.

There was no boy who cried wolf; Anson meant it when he said it was over, and the event regrettably remained confined to the North American continent.

As a result, the promotion of "Catch Me If You Can" in overseas markets was lackluster, not to mention comparing it with North America; it was simply not on the same level. The weak promotion by the production company DreamWorks and the distribution company Universal Pictures led to a lack of strong momentum for the film's international distribution.

This also meant that the film could only rely on the appeal of Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks to drive box office revenue.

However, surprises did occur.

Firstly, the success of "Spider-Man" laid the groundwork, and Anson, who reappeared within a short six months, was no longer an unknown nobody.

Secondly, the extensive promotional activities in North America continued to spread through newspapers, television, and the internet. During this holiday and winter season, "Catch Me If You Can" emerged as a dark horse, becoming second only to "Harry Potter" and "The Lord of the Rings" in popularity, with discussion indices soaring all the way up.

Thirdly, the real-life Frank William Abagnale Jr. actually appeared, which became another gimmick to stimulate audience curiosity.

Little by little, the heat picked up.

It is worth mentioning that after "Spider-Man" landed in the Chinese market, "Catch Me If You Can" also landed in China again.

In 2002 and 2003, the Chinese film market was still in a stage of continuous opening and slow rise. The number of cinemas was not large, and the market capacity was not yet among the top in the world, and the box office data was not eye-catching; however, everything was developing, and the potential was being explored.

DreamWorks welcomed them with open arms.

Thanks to this, "Catch Me If You Can" met audiences in small markets such as Kenya, Peru, and Cambodia, unexpectedly opening up new ground for Anson.

Globally, "Catch Me If You Can" topped the charts in forty-five countries and regions, winning at least one weekend box office champion, a gratifying achievement.

Among them, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, and Japan were the top four box office markets for the film overseas.

France?

Not surprisingly, the film itself was closely related to France. Steven even went to Paris himself for auditions, and choosing a famous French actress like Nathalie Baye to play a character who was originally French showed sincerity and was recognized by the market.

Japan?

Also not surprising. Rather than saying that Anson drove the box office, it would be better to say that Steven Spielberg has always had a strong appeal in the Japanese market, and the fans accumulated since the "Jurassic Park" era are still loyal.

On the contrary, the fact that the United Kingdom and Germany were able to stand out brought a pleasant surprise.

In the UK, "Catch Me If You Can" naturally could not compete with "Harry Potter", and was even inferior to "The Lord of the Rings." The two fantasy works that encountered comprehensive suppression in the North American market finally ushered in a triumphant turnaround in the British Isles; despite this, "Catch Me If You Can" still performed well.

After taking in a cumulative total of 50 million US dollars at the box office, "Catch Me If You Can" successfully occupied a place in the top ten of the British year-end box office charts, surrounded by opponents such as "Spider-Man", "007", "Harry Potter", "The Lord of the Rings 2", "Men in Black 2", and "Ocean's Eleven."

As for Germany, no one knows what happened there—

They are not enthusiastic about "Spider-Man", they are not enthusiastic about Steven Spielberg, and they are not enthusiastic about commercial genre films.

However, "Catch Me If You Can" unexpectedly grossed 44 million US dollars at the box office, causing Hollywood media to exclaim in astonishment and admiration.

Perhaps the "Bild" newspaper, which has consistently led in circulation in Germany for many years, revealed some truth.

"Anson Wood: Witnessing the Rise of a New Star."

In short, one surprise after another allowed the overseas box office of "Catch Me If You Can" to easily exceed 200 million US dollars, finally settling at 265 million US dollars.

Compared with the North American box office, the overseas box office was clearly different.

From this, it can be seen that the "Flash Surprise Event" played a crucial role in the North American market, and was also the key to promoting the film's box office transformation.

Of course, the basis of everything is still the quality of the film and the cast. In the right promotion method and the right screening time, a chemical reaction is completed, which creates the amazing performance of the film's box office writing miracles, once again attracting the attention of all Hollywood media.

The screening cycle of "Catch Me If You Can" was particularly long. From its release in North America during Christmas 2002, it continued vigorously until the end of the last overseas market screening in Christmas 2003, ending this film's magical journey and drawing a perfect conclusion.

North America: 377 million US dollars. Overseas: 265 million US dollars.

Global: 642 million US dollars.

Numbers do not lie, and are self-explanatory.

If the success of "Spider-Man" was what everyone expected, then the surprise of "Catch Me If You Can" was like Cinderella's debut. The two works left their mark on the film market in 2002 in different ways, and in one fell swoop, Anson Wood broke through numerous constraints, rising from the eighteenth tier to the first tier.

Perhaps the "20 Million Club" still needs to wait and see. After all, the success of the two films has more or less other factors. Anson has not yet proven his ability to single-handedly carry the box office. Once he enters the 20 Million Club, it means that the production cost will skyrocket, and the risk will naturally be different—

The case of Jim Carrey's historical first 20 million US dollar salary for the film "The Cable Guy" which resulted in a box office failure, causing Sony Columbia Pictures to lose more than 50 million US dollars, is still a warning to Hollywood.

However, without a doubt, Anson has already pushed open the gate of the top of the pyramid and is entering another world.