When they were filming that car-jumping scene in The Fast and the Furious, someone on set had exclaimed, "Once this hits the big screen, it'll boost the box office by at least 30 million dollars!"
Looking back now, Luke's impact turned out to be even bigger than anyone had imagined.
The Fast and the Furious didn't just score a phenomenal box office; the audience response online was also great. Its IMDB rating hit 7.1.
That might not sound like much, but IMDB ratings are notoriously harsher than sites like Douban in later years.
In Luke's previous life, The Fast and the Furious had scored 6.8 on IMDB, while Douban rated it 7.8.
Because of Paul Walker's tragic passing, Fast & Furious 7 earned a sky-high 8.5 on Douban, but even then, it only got a 7.1 on IMDB—the same rating as the first Fast & Furious movie after Luke's involvement.
That says a lot: for a blockbuster action movie focused on visual thrills, getting a 7.1 on IMDB is already a huge accomplishment.
With The Fast and the Furious performing even better than in Luke's previous life, Universal Pictures would definitely treat the franchise as a top priority. The sequels would be fast-tracked for production.
But that thought brought a bit of unease to Luke's mind. In the original timeline, director Rob Cohen didn't return for the sequel—he lost control over the very series he created.
Vin Diesel was also written out of the sequel completely. His character didn't even appear.
The next two films, 2 Fast 2 Furious and Tokyo Drift, both marked a steep decline for the franchise, nearly killing it off.
2 Fast 2 Furious grossed $220 million worldwide, with a $75 million production budget and $40 million in marketing. Universal barely broke even. It got a 5.9 on IMDB.
Tokyo Drift was worse—$150 million worldwide, $85 million to make, and $50 million to promote. A total flop, with the same 5.9 rating.
It wasn't until Fast & Furious 4 that Vin Diesel made his triumphant return, teaming up with Paul Walker as dual leads, reigniting the franchise's spark.
This time, Luke didn't want to see Rob Cohen and Vin Diesel pushed out of their own creation again.
In the original timeline, the two "exiles" ended up teaming up with Columbia Pictures to make xXx instead.
Luke didn't want to see The Fast and the Furious take such a detour again, wasting years and potential.
He knew that internal battles at Universal over the direction of the franchise were inevitable, so he had already started preparing for that.
But for now, he put aside the glory and shadows of Fast & Furious. What really mattered for his Hollywood journey was Jurassic Park III.
After all, this was the film where he carried the heaviest screen time—its success or failure would fall entirely on him.
He recalled the numbers he'd just seen:
Jurassic Park III grossed $80 million in its opening weekend, with projected totals of $260 million domestically and $460 million worldwide.
In the original timeline, it earned $180 million in North America and $368 million globally—not bad, but with a $100 million production budget and $60 million in marketing, the profits were thin.
It had barely broken even, recouping about $170 million against $160 million in total costs.
This time, thanks to Luke's performance and influence, the domestic box office soared to $260 million, pushing it to the #4 spot of the year—just behind Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, and Shrek.
Globally, it climbed to #4 as well, overtaking Spirited Away by Hayao Miyazaki, which had originally been #8 with $383 million.
In this new timeline, Luke managed to cut the marketing budget down to $30 million, keeping total costs to $130 million.
With $276 million in global revenue, Universal earned about $146 million in profit.
The only downside was the film's foundation—it wasn't exactly strong material to begin with. Despite Luke's best efforts, the IMDB rating landed at 6.4. Still, that was better than before.
At this point, the results of Luke's first two Hollywood films were locked in.
He'd added polish to a proven hit with Fast & Furious and turned around a struggling production with Jurassic Park III.
That performance far exceeded the expectations of director Rob Cohen and the others.
So when Vin Diesel tried to surprise him with the results, Luke's calm reaction completely threw him off.
To outsiders, box office numbers might just be figures on a page—higher or lower, who really cares?
But for Luke, those numbers meant fame and fortune flooding his way.
Bigger paychecks, brand endorsements, TV appearances, new film offers—these were tangible rewards that would instantly change his life.
Even though he had appeared in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, he'd been mostly invisible in Hollywood circles.
Now, he could finally be considered a mid-tier star, commanding paychecks in the high six figures or low millions, depending on negotiations.
Unfortunately, being Asian meant the media wouldn't hype him up much.
Every step forward would be an uphill battle.
Ahead of him stood two major walls: the "$20 Million Club" of Hollywood's top-earning superstars, and the league of A-list celebrities.
Among Asian actors, only Jackie Chan had ever made it into the "$20 Million Club," and that was after years of building his name. Luke still had a long road ahead.
But that wasn't what he was focused on right now.
He cared more about one thing—had he completed his mission?
After The Mummy Returns opened strong with $120 million, its poor word-of-mouth and attendance quickly dragged it down, with Shrek and Harry Potter eating up its screens.
Even with director Sommers pouring his own money into promotion, he couldn't stop the decline.
The final numbers were locked: $190 million domestic, $340 million worldwide—worse than in Luke's past life.
Universal had poured $200 million into production and marketing combined, earning back $190 million after box office splits—a $10 million loss, not counting the director's personal investment.
By contrast, Luke's two massive hits had crushed it. He'd clearly won the wager—and completed the first stage of his system mission.
When Vin Diesel dragged him to the after-party and he finally returned to his apartment afterward, golden text shimmered before his eyes:
[Mission Stage One: Star in a Hollywood film and surpass The Mummy Returns in global box office.] [Stage One Complete. Reward: 11 Assignable Attribute Points.]