Hunting in Hollywood

Facing the unstoppable force of "Batman: The Dark Knight," all other films released during the same summer session paled in comparison and became mere background noise.

After setting a record on its opening day, countless people in and outside Hollywood closely monitored the daily box office figures of this blockbuster.

$23.76 million on the opening day.

$24.33 million on Saturday.

$20.39 million on Sunday.

Just over the opening weekend, "Batman: The Dark Knight" quickly soared to a high of $68.38 million in cumulative box office receipts.

As the weekdays began, the momentum of the film did not wane.

Finally, from June 7th to June 13th, the first week ended with "Batman: The Dark Knight" undoubtedly setting a new weekly box office record and achieving an unprecedented milestone with over $100 million in its first week.

$102.07 million.

That was the seven-day box office take for "Batman: The Dark Knight."

In just seven days, "Batman: The Dark Knight" had already jumped to the second position on the 1991 North American box office leaderboard, only behind the early Valentine's Day release "Wise Guys" which was nearing the end of its run with $118 million.

Faced with the astonishing box office of over $100 million in its first week, most filmmakers in Hollywood felt a profound sense of helplessness.

There was a time when a film breaking $100 million in total domestic box office was enough for a grand celebration. Yet, seemingly overnight, breaking $100 million seemed almost too easy.

Most understood that this was an illusion.

By the middle of the 1991 season, the North American cinema market had only produced two films with box office takings exceeding $100 million: "Wise Guys" and "Batman: The Dark Knight."

However, the momentum of "Batman: The Dark Knight" felt nearly unattainable to many.

Some had fantasized that the "Batman" series or the DC movie universe might fail after the stunning start of "Batman: Beginnings." The entire project had an investment of $160 million, a figure that was unimaginable just a few years ago.

Even with the popularity of the first film as a foundation, the sequel had no problem recouping its substantial cost through all channels. However, if the film's operational cycle was too long, the project was doomed to fail.

Now, all those harboring any hopes were left with disappointment.

With $102 million in the first week, the domestic box office for "Batman: The Dark Knight" was almost guaranteed to exceed $300 million.

$300 million was precisely the cost line to recover the entire budget through domestic box office sales alone.

Based on the first week's box office data, few doubted that the project would not only recoup all its costs through North American screenings but also generate a profit.

At the same time, various merchandise related to "Batman: The Dark Knight," including toys, posters, records, and video games, also hit the shelves simultaneously.

From the beginning car chase to the final scene with the dirty bomb being carried away from the city, the sequel managed to destroy Batman's motorcycle, Batmobile, and Batjet, much to the dismay of many fans.

Yet, the film also introduced other specially designed props for merchandise development.

Even Cindy Crawford, who had a cameo, saw her character's figurines sell out in retail channels just two days after the film's release due to underestimating her popularity in the movie.

A rough estimate showed that in just the first week of release, sales of various "Batman: The Dark Knight" related merchandise totaled $170 million.

Compared to "Batman: Beginnings," which had merchandise sales of $130 million in the same period, there was a more than 30% increase.

Additionally, in the 21 overseas countries and regions where it was simultaneously released, covering major overseas markets like the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Japan, Italy, Spain, and Australia, the first week's box office reached $130 million.

Thus, in just the first week of release, the global box office for "Batman: The Dark Knight" reached $230 million.

In the early 1990s, before the establishment of the World Trade Organization, film markets in various overseas countries were relatively isolated.

However, on average, a blockbuster like "Batman: The Dark Knight," which was eagerly sought after by overseas cinemas, could maintain approximately a 35% share of the box office returns.

Based on the step-ladder profit-sharing agreement signed between the U.S. distributors and cinemas, the general profit ratio from merchandise sales, and the average share from overseas box office returns, it was estimated that "Batman: The Dark Knight" could recoup $140 million from various channels in just one week of release.

Despite a significant drop in box office in the second week, the project was already on a rapid path to profitability.

Casual observers were only focused on the box office data

 of "Batman: The Dark Knight," but industry professionals could clearly see that this movie, with an investment of $160 million, had shown a potential for massive profits in just a little over a week.

Hollywood is never short of imitators.

With the success of the DC movie universe, other studios began scouting for similar projects.

Then, everyone realized again that the two giants of American comics, DC and Marvel, were no longer accessible targets.

Marvel Comics was tightly held by Simon Westeros as a gold mine, not only unwilling to "mine" it himself but also not allowing other studios to do so on his behalf.

Having lost access to Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman, DC Comics, which had nearly sold itself in the 1980s, guarded its superhero rights even more stringently. Attempts by producers to negotiate with Time Warner for rights invariably ended in failure.

Due to the prolonged downturn in the comic book industry, aside from Marvel and DC, there were no other sizable comic book companies in the United States. Companies like Dark Horse Comics and Image Comics, which would follow Marvel and DC years later, were either still in their early stages or not yet established.

Although many understood that the key to the success of the DC movie universe was not the 'DC' but the 'universe' itself.

Moreover, the fact that Daenerys Entertainment was far ahead of its time in terms of film production technology and concepts was also crucial to the success of the DC movie universe.

Nevertheless, after failing to secure rights from Marvel and DC, Hollywood studios began scouting smaller comic companies, planning to nurture some original comic content themselves.

When the first week's box office figures for "Batman: The Dark Knight" were released, the third installment, "Batman: The Dark Knight Rises," was officially green-lit and began its preliminary preparations.

In fact, Simon had already planned the trilogy's storyline from the start.

Now, with Jane DeBont proven capable of handling the series production, and the male and female leads among other key creators already signed to long-term contracts, the third installment's preparation mainly involved casting for supporting roles and scouting for film locations.

The first two "Batman" films had already made stars out of many previously unknown or underappreciated actors. As the third installment began, any role in the planned film became a target aggressively pursued by major Hollywood agencies.

Of course, plans always change faster than one can keep up, and adapting the third installment based on the accumulation of the first two was necessary, though the main plotline would not change.

Compared to the easter eggs of the second installment, "Batman: The Dark Knight" would officially become a crossover film.

A crossover between Batman and Wonder Woman.

The antagonists in the film would follow a pattern similar to the first two installments, featuring one main boss and a couple of minor bosses.

In addition to the Joker, the third part would also introduce the series' first female supervillain, Poison Ivy.

Simon would not opt for a Tim Burton-esque production with Uma Thurman wearing a costume that looked cheaply like a cosplayer's version of Poison Ivy. Instead, he planned to adapt a character setup similar to Catwoman's, drawing from the game version of Poison Ivy in "Batman: Arkham Knight": wearing a red shirt fastened with a single button, barefoot, long legs, and truly covered in tiny green vines.

With a bizarre yet irresistibly captivating allure.

In "Batman: Arkham Knight," Poison Ivy ultimately becomes a savior of Gotham City, using her plants to purify the Scarecrow's released neurotoxin.

In Christopher Nolan's "Batman: The Dark Knight," the focus was on the Joker's manipulation of the human psyche, but in comic settings, the Joker is actually a poison expert surpassing even the Scarecrow.

According to Simon's plan for the trilogy, starting with a rise against gangsters, saving the city in the second, and saving the world in the third, the Joker in the planned "Batman: The Dark Knight" would be a character attempting to destroy the world.

Batman, along with Wonder Woman who arrives in Gotham to find the Mother Box, and Catwoman, would team up with Poison Ivy, who has a last-moment change of heart, to thwart the Joker's scheme.

Compared to the hasty setup of the DC movie universe in memory, this time, the three Mother Boxes would early on become the key to connecting the entire DC movie universe.

Moreover, the planned third part, with Poison Ivy, a real super-powered being who can control plants, participating, and the Joker's transformation influenced by the Mother Box, would take the special effects to another level.

Batman's gear would also be upgraded again, with powerful Bat armor making an appearance.

Daenerys Effects' CG technology was already beyond what many in the original timeline could achieve, but to perfectly realize the planned effects, Simon planned to reserve three years for the third installment.

Three years of continuous development was enough for Daenery

s Effects' CG technology to advance another step.

Of course, this meant that "Batman: The Dark Knight" would premiere in the summer of 1994.

However, during this period, Daenerys and Warner Bros would jointly launch "The Flash," "Wonder Woman," and a rebooted "Superman."

Thus, although waiting for three years, the progress of the DC movie universe would not stall.

With the commercial potential demonstrated by the "Batman" series, slowing down to refine each film was far better than hastily pushing out more films to continuously exploit market potential or even causing audience fatigue.

After the first week, the second week of screenings from June 14th to June 20th also quickly ended.

This week, only one new film was released, Disney's teen comedy "Holiday Girls," which tells the story of a group of girls who, after their elderly nanny unexpectedly passes away during a vacation, hide the death to avoid parental restrictions and the various events that ensue.

Compared to last week's total of fewer than 1300 screens for Universal's "Jungle Fever" and Fox's comedy "Faux Pas," "Holiday Girls" opened on 1806 screens, a noticeable increase from Disney's usually conservative distribution strategy.

Hollywood was increasingly realizing the benefits of wide and even saturated releases.

However, just like last week's two new films, even though "Batman: The Dark Knight" saw a significant drop in its second week, under the prevailing trend, "Holiday Girls" still merely played a supporting role.

Ultimately, "Batman: The Dark Knight" earned $60.18 million in its second week, a 41% drop, bringing the film's total to $162.25 million over two weeks.

Although not as strong as the counter-trend of "Batman: Beginnings" during its second week, this was still within everyone's expectations.

Breaking $100 million in the first week, if there hadn't been a significant drop in the second week, then the series would have been truly extraordinary.

In fact, compared to the usual 50% drop of saturation-released blockbusters in the second week, controlling the drop to 41% was still quite impressive for "Batman: The Dark Knight."

The total box office of $162.25 million over two weeks, roughly equivalent to the first installment's counter-trend in the second week, indicated a strong performance.

If the subsequent box office declines narrow again, it wouldn't be impossible for this sequel to hit another $400 million in domestic earnings.

For two consecutive weeks, influenced by the commercial success of "Batman: The Dark Knight," Time Warner's stock price steadily rose.

To boost the upcoming stock offering, "Batman: The Dark Knight" ended its second week with Time Warner eagerly announcing a grand celebration party to be held on June 22nd.

This date was actually the Saturday of the third week of the film's release.

These days, Simon was almost constantly busy from dawn to dusk with the film business of Daenerys Entertainment and the integration of Daenerys and MCA.

However, as the founder of the DC movie universe and the blockbuster's super brand, Simon naturally couldn't miss the celebration party for "Batman: The Dark Knight," otherwise rumors of 'Daenerys and Time Warner's uneven distribution of benefits with potential disruptions to the DC movie universe plans' would certainly spread.

In fact, similar discussions had never ceased.

After all, the interests involved in the DC movie universe were enormously large. One "Batman: Beginnings" with over $1 billion in expected net profits was already equivalent to the annual net profit income of a top Fortune 500 company.

From publicly available data, the profit scale of "Batman: The Dark Knight" wouldn't be much less than the first installment.

Even though this time Time Warner could take half of the earnings, many believed that since the "Batman" IP originally belonged to Warner, Time Warner was at a significant loss in this deal with Daenerys.

Actually, to say that there were no grievances between Daenerys and Time Warner in their collaboration on the DC movie universe would be a falsehood.

However, Simon managed to keep these grievances from worsening through appropriate profit-sharing, including cooperation with Warner on projects outside the DC movie universe.

Interest always drives action.

Yet, if the cost of turning hostile could potentially be disastrous, and not turning hostile still yields a decent harvest, most rational people would likely choose stability over risk.

As the absolute controller of Daenerys Entertainment, Simon had once chosen a mutually destructive approach in dealing with Alistair Records during the "Bodyguard" original soundtrack sales concealment.

Time Warner, as a publicly traded company, under significant pressure from external shareholders and internal factions, couldn't afford to take too drastic actions.

Because Simon had already demonstrated during the "Bodyguard" soundtrack incident that if a partner didn't play by the rules, Daenerys Entertainment would only respond more forcefully.

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