The Best Actor in the Vase of Meiyu

Chapter 1164 Perfect Ending
2003, Thanksgiving long weekend, North American weekend box office rankings.

First, the “butterfly effect”, $30 million.

Second, "The Cat in the Hat," $24.4 million.

Third, "Haunted Mansion," $24.2 million.

When the list came out, it was overwhelming.

There are so many focuses that people don’t know which one to focus on first.

Perhaps it was the "butterfly effect" that topped the list for three consecutive weeks, and the weekend box office in the third week was still over 30 million. The drop in the weekend box office was incredible.

Rather than saying that the "butterfly effect" is strong, it is better to say that it is all due to the contrast with its peers. The fact that there is no competitor that can compete with Anson highlights its excellence.

Maybe it’s because there’s only a slight difference of less than $200,000 between “The Cat in the Hat” and “Haunted Mansion”. I don’t know whether I should be amazed that the former didn’t collapse completely, or surprised at the latter’s inability to explode.

Perhaps it is the continued weakness of "Master and Commander", which not only lags behind "Elf" but also lags behind "Ghost in the Shell". This weekend's box office has slipped to 10 million US dollars, and the cumulative box office so far is 66 million US dollars. Russell Crowe's dream of the 20 million club has been temporarily shelved.

Topics, one after another.

Accidents come one after another.

This year's holiday season presents an experimental posture of all-out melee, with major film companies frantically disrupting the rules and throwing out $100 million blockbusters in a mess, trying to find a new model between holidays and stand out from the fierce competition to seize the initiative.

However, it was never expected that New Line Cinema would be the biggest winner, with "Elf" and "The Butterfly Effect" undoubtedly becoming the biggest dark horses of this year's holiday season.

Similarly, although the success of "Catch Me If You Can" last year was the starting point for this year's chaos, people still did not expect Anson's rise to come so soon. With a work that cost only 10 million US dollars to produce, it turned the entire holiday season upside down for the second consecutive year.

What's even more surprising is that the disaster still couldn't be stopped -

The following week, Tom Cruise's ambitious film "The Last Samurai" was released, which is the highlight of Warner Bros.' layout for this year's holiday season.

During this year's holiday season, Warner Bros. brought three films: "Ghost Runner", "The Matrix 3" and "The Last Samurai", and cooperated with New Line Cinema's layout. The latter's "Elf", "The Butterfly Effect" and "The Lord of the Rings 3" were all launched in full force. The schedule arrangements and planning were mutually beneficial, and the undercurrent was surging.

Although there is no "Harry Potter" series in this year's holiday season, Warner Bros. still has a comprehensive layout. It is undoubtedly the most confident and experienced one among the top large companies in the Hollywood pyramid. They have already seized the initiative in the battle for the holiday season and are slightly ahead by half a body position.

"The Last Samurai", a film with an investment of 3 million US dollars, is a work that can compete with "Master and Commander" and "Lord of the Rings ", continuing Hollywood's strong interest in Eastern culture in the past two years.

"Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," "Memoirs of a Geisha," "Kill Bill."

Warner Bros. is confident about "The Last Samurai", not only in terms of box office performance but also in the film's prospects during this year's awards season, and has started promoting it early.

The result... failed.

It attacked with great vigor.

Judging from the list, "The Last Samurai" ended the "Butterfly Effect" three consecutive championships and topped the North American weekend box office rankings in the first week of December.

As expected, Tom Cruise is at the peak of his powers, and if anyone can resist Anson’s momentum, it’s definitely Tom.

But judging from the data, the box office of "The Last Samurai" in its opening weekend was only... 24 million US dollars, which is almost the same as the performance of "Haunted Mansion" in the previous week.

A month ago, people were exclaiming that the opening weekend box office of "Master and Commander" was terrible; but now, looking back, the box office data of subsequent films has been worse and worse, and among the short ones, the data of "Master and Commander" is barely acceptable. It's really amazing.

Strictly speaking, it’s not that “Master and Commander” is too bad, but that “The Butterfly Effect” is too good.

Although the result is the same, at least 20th Century Fox can feel a little relieved. They should focus on the upcoming awards season.

As for whether Russell Crowe and Tom Cruise can maintain such a calm state of mind, it is unknown.

However, these are no longer important. For the "Butterfly Effect", the out-of-circle effect has been achieved, the box office achievement has been achieved, and the annual dark horse has also been achieved. After easily becoming the biggest winner of this year's holiday season, every subsequent step is a feat of surpassing oneself.

One step, one step after another——

After giving up the throne of North American weekend box office champion, the backlash of the "butterfly effect" gradually became apparent, and the subsequent box office explosiveness declined significantly.

However, competitors did not put enough pressure on it, especially since there were basically no rivals to films of the same type. The "Butterfly Effect" relied on the enduring topic effect to continue its momentum, and it still stood out amid the sluggish box office data, ranking either second or third. Its performance was incredible.

I'm afraid Anson himself didn't expect this scene, let alone others.

In the end, "The Butterfly Effect" miraculously stayed in theaters for a full twenty-four weeks, or six months, until the summer season began next year, when it was announced to be taken off the shelves. Its extremely long standby period was definitely a great spectacle.

The news media checked the North American box office charts every now and then, and then discovered that "The Butterfly Effect" was still in theaters, and their heads exploded one after another.

When "The Butterfly Effect" came to an end, the film's cumulative box office in North America reached 230 million US dollars, which once again set off the media and attracted exclamations.

So, 230 million US dollars in North America, what is this level?
One piece of data can be used for horizontal comparison. "The Lord of the Rings 3", the final film in the series, was released after "The Butterfly Effect" and grossed million US dollars in North America.

At this point, it should not be difficult to understand the storm caused by the "butterfly effect" -

It's not just amazing, it's the perfect ending.

A film that cost only 10 million U.S. dollars to produce created a box office miracle, and eventually the North American box office exceeded 200 million, which stunned the entire Hollywood.

No one saw this coming. No one!

According to analysis by industry professionals, New Line Cinema achieved a profit of more than $100 million just from "The Butterfly Effect".

boom! Boom boom boom!
Total shock.

Not to mention 2003, even since the millennium, "The Butterfly Effect" has undoubtedly become one of the most profitable works, a model of making a small profit with a big investment.

Whether it is production costs or publicity and distribution, the success of the "Butterfly Effect" is like a breeze, blowing silently and calmly, but creating huge waves, setting off a tsunami across the entire North American continent, and finally making history with a grand scale, subverting the holiday season once again.

Industry insiders exclaimed again and again, “I don’t understand it.”

"Master and Commander" flopped, "The Last Samurai" flopped, and a series of super-genre blockbusters all flopped, but the result is that "Butterfly Effect" emerges as a dark horse?
So, what does this mean?
There is no pattern, no context, no reason. Perhaps, the only explanation for all this is -

Anson Wood?

(End of this chapter)