"They actually ignore the importance of the success of the Lord of the Rings trilogy."

Sitting in the little bar of the Spielberg house, George? Lucas sipped his wine and said to his old friend, "The importance of direct communication with the audience. ”

Spielberg shook his glass slightly, recalling the various marketing tactics used in the trilogy, and couldn't help but nod, "There's no denying that Duke's personal website played an important role. ”

Then he thought of something else, "and the social networking site he used before 'The Return of the King', the messages posted by the Lord of the Rings Studios in his name, and the frequent interaction with supporters. ”

"The Internet is no longer for anyone to ignore." George? Lucas put down his glass, stood up and paced a few steps, "Amateur video bloggers are just getting a little bit of influence, Duke and Donald? Trump's daughter, however, has created an increasingly powerful propaganda tool that instantly closes the gap between Hollywood and movie fans, and can easily win the support of large audiences. ”

George, whom Spielberg fully approves? Lucas's opinion, "The Lord of the Rings trilogy is not only a success in Duke's directorial career, but also an all-round success in film marketing!" ”

George? Lucas sighed, "He's changing Hollywood!" ”

"That's right!" Spielberg chimed in, "Duke is changing the way Hollywood is marketing. ”

Speaking of this, Spielberg suddenly showed a look of great interest, "The Return of the King" far surpassed the success of "The Two Towers", and with the credit of that website, it seems that I also want to register a user to see how amazing it is." ”

Times have changed, and the Internet is bringing everyone closer together, even to any person's point of view. As the Internet spread across the United States, Duke has not neglected the role of online propaganda since the original "Fellowship of the Ring", and he and the Lord of the Rings Studios have been a major driving force in online news coverage.

As the new Monday begins, Duke leaves exotic Brazil and flies to Wellington, the capital of New Zealand. The data for the second weekend of the release of "The Return of the King" is also freshly released.

In North America, "The Return of the King" drew a god-like weekend box office chart, and the box office of the next weekend only fell by 35% from the first week, earning $82.33 million, and won the top spot in the North American box office list without any suspense.

The second place was Paramount Pictures' "Memory Rift", which opened in more than 2,700 theaters, but the three-day box office figure was only $13.12 million, which could not pose any threat to "The Return of the King" at all.

Overseas, although the number of regions in which the film is released has increased to 90, the market volume of the newly increased regions can only be said to be average. The weekend box office slipped to $162.33 million, still maintaining its leading position in the world.

"The Return of the King" was released for ten days, and the North American box office exceeded the $300 million mark in one fell swoop, reaching as much as $304 million, and the global box office accumulated as high as $846.35 million!

"According to our marketing department and CinemaScore, the global box office of "Return of the King" is very likely to exceed the $1.5 billion mark!"

In Warner Bros. CEO's office, Jamie? Johnson looked at Doug with excitement on his face? Walter, "All the theater chains in North America are like us assuring. Before the Memorial Day weekend arrives, the number of theaters and the scheduling rate of "Return of the King" will not be reduced! ”

"When Jeff and I were driving the project. Expect Duke to be successful," Doug? Walter sighed with emotion, "But I never thought that the trilogy would be so successful!" ”

To be honest, compared to the investment of the Lord of the Rings Studios, the profit at the box office is not very high, but the profit generated by the surrounding area is too amazing. The first two DVDs alone, before the release of "Return of the King", brought a total of more than $300 million in net profits to investors from all over the world, if you add other peripheral ......

Doug? Walter naturally thought of the merchandise that would be released in the global market at the same time as "Return of the King", in ten days. Roughly speaking, sales are as high as nearly 400 million US dollars!

For Warner and the Duke's studios, this trilogy is a complete gold-making machine.

Thinking of this, Doug? Walter's eyes drooped and fell on the four scripts in front of him, one is a small production and the investment will not be very high, and the other three are the Batman trilogy related to the fate of DC movies.

The script for this trilogy has been discussed at Warners for a round, and there are many disagreements within it, and the biggest reason for opposition is too dark, Doug? Walter actually agrees with the view, and the plot doesn't seem to be very friendly to the audience, and if it wasn't a script that Duke had taken, he and Warner would have vetoed it.

But thinking of the hugely successful Lord of the Rings trilogy, Doug? Walter suppressed all these thoughts, before the Lord of the Rings were made, how many people in Hollywood dared to touch Tolkien's masterpiece? Known as the most difficult literary work to be adapted into a movie, in the hands of Duke, it became a model of commercial success!

"Jamie ......" Doug? Walter made up his mind, "Submit these four scripts to the review committee, and no matter what method I use, I will definitely push them to succeed!" ”

Perhaps, only Duke can save DC's superheroes! Doug? Walter decided to take a chance.

The screenings and publicity in North America continued, and Duke walked into Wellington City Hall the day after he arrived in New Zealand.

The morning sun was unusually bright, and hundreds of journalists, including those from North America, gathered in front of New Zealand City Hall, armed with long guns and short guns, aimed at Duke and the mayor of Wellington standing at the top of the steps.

"It's a pleasure that director Rosenberg is here again in New Zealand, and he has already left a deep footprint in this country."

Wellington's Mayor Claremont stood in front of the microphone and said in a low voice, "Wherever there are people, there is great cinematic art; Wherever there is a screen, there is a Rosenberg film being screened! Today, the city of Wellington welcomes a citizen who has made a significant contribution to the art of cinema......

Speaking of this, Claremont stretched out his hand and motioned to Duke next to him, "The New Zealand government and Wellington City Hall have unanimously decided to let Duke? Mr Rosenberg becomes an Honorary Citizen of Wellington! ”

There was a round of applause in front of the town hall.

In the midst of applause, Duke took the certificate and golden key from Claremont and stood in front of the microphone. "Thank you, thank you New Zealand for recognizing me, I'm very happy to be an honorary citizen of Wellington, I love this beautiful country!" ”

It's not just about awarding honorary citizenship, both Duke and New Zealand have the intention to promote it. With good communication, the two sides have prepared a press conference for a long time.

As the new Honorary Citizen of Wellington, Duke was the natural protagonist of the launch.

The venue moved to the press room next to City Hall, where Duke was interviewed by Warner and New Zealand media.

The interview with the New Zealand side, of course, is closely focused on tourism.

"Director Rosenberg, if a Lord of the Rings fans come to New Zealand and want to see where the film was filmed, which place or experience do you think fans should not miss?"

In fact, many of the locations built by the crew at the beginning used polystyrene. This is not suitable for tourism at all, and it is impossible to put it in the natural environment for a long time, and after the filming ended, the crew dismantled it as soon as possible.

But with the popularity of "The Fellowship of the Ring", the New Zealand government quickly discovered the business opportunities, and Tourism New Zealand reached an agreement with the Lord of the Rings Studios to get most of the design drawings, under the guidance of the crew. With the fastest speed, the scenes and locations in the shooting were restored.

These have become popular attractions in New Zealand now.

"There are so many beautiful places to visit in New Zealand. But for fans of the Lord of the Rings, it's a great place to be able to take a walk around Hobbiton, which was originally the set and building area for the movie, but now lives up to its name. ”

It's a win-win campaign, and Duke will definitely sell well," I went to see Hobbiton at the time of the shoot yesterday. I'm glad that it's back to nature, and the grass and bushes are back, and I remember the first time we came here to shoot. After all these years, it is no longer a fictional set, but a real hobbit farm. Herds of cattle and sheep. ”

For Warner's reporters, they were more focused on the film and Duke himself, and asked questions that had little to do with New Zealand.

"Duke, now that the Lord of the Rings trilogy is complete, how does it feel now, and what are some memories?"

"It's stressful to end a film, no matter what the film. I've been working on post-production for the past few months and I've been looking forward to the release of the film. ”

After a slight pause, Duke added, "I'm still working more than a dozen hours a day, so I haven't had time to remember yet, I just want to see the light at the end of the tunnel and get out as soon as possible." But I'm sure six months from now, when I look back on the past few years, I'm bound to have a lot of feelings. ”

According to the agreement between the two sides, the next question came to the New Zealand media.

"Why did you choose New Zealand as the location for a blockbuster like The Lord of the Rings?"

Why? Of course, it is for simplicity and cost savings.

However, Duke would not say that, he thought for a few seconds, and replied seriously, "Tolkien created a European landscape in prehistoric times in the original book, according to his setting, probably six or seven thousand years ago, a fictional era that predates ancient Greece and Egypt, and everything that happened in that era has now been forgotten. ”

"I wanted to find a place with a European flair, yet off the beaten track and full of pristine atmosphere. That's why New Zealand is the place to be, it's so pristine that you can clearly feel the location of the filming, and that's not an exaggeration. ”

"New Zealand has a population of 4 million and the UK has a population of 60 million, and the two countries are about the same size, so you can go to a lot of places in New Zealand without meeting a single person. There's no doubt that when you're shooting a movie, you don't want TV antennas, roads, houses, and so on, but you just want the endless natural scenery, so this is the perfect place to shoot it. Sparsely populated but with a pleasant view, this is the perfect place to shoot. (To be continued......)

PS: I've been very busy lately, hey, I've been on leave for several days in a row......