Thanks to the influence of Iron Man, Captain America also received considerable attention.
Most viewers who watched it said it was good; the movie completely showcased Captain America's growth trajectory without dwelling on minor details.
The extensive, exhilarating war scenes and explosive action sequences were incredibly satisfying to watch.
Although it lacked the depth of Iron Man, it was still an excellent commercial blockbuster.
More importantly, many viewers realized that Marvel seemed to be planning something big.
Iron Man planted an Easter egg for Captain America, and Captain America planted an Easter egg for Thor, continuously introducing the next superhero.
They were brought together in the same era and even the same city, unlike DC's superheroes who each managed their own cities with no intersection.
As everyone knows, Marvel's superheroes are all active in New York City.
Who knows why a single New York can attract so many villains and heroes, constantly staging robberies, murders, violence, and crime every day?
Theoretically, Marvel's New York is the most chaotic city in the world, much darker than DC's Gotham.
And when Marvel gathers these superheroes, it will be enough to build a complete universe and open up a grander narrative.
Thinking about it, that must be a wonderful thing, not only for fans but for all audiences.
The course of events unfolded exactly as many moviegoers had predicted.
With the release of the new week's box office, captain america unsurprisingly crushed mr. & mrs. smith and Hitch.
Will Smith?
Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie?
No good, utterly useless!
What's more, the scandal between Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie had been making headlines recently, with all sorts of tabloid rumors flying around.
Things like Angelina Jolie being the third party, actively seducing Brad Pitt.
Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston breaking up, with the two already separated.
Jennifer Aniston causing a scene on set, clashing with Angelina Jolie.
You have to know that friends had just ended half a year ago, and Jennifer Aniston also starred in the hit movie marley & me; her popularity was soaring, and she was the goddess sweetheart in many people's hearts.
As a result, their reputations plummeted, many people disliked them, and some even launched a boycott of mr. & mrs. smith online.
If Fox hadn't gotten involved in this mess and had delayed the release for half a year until the cold treatment had mostly worked, it wouldn't have been a problem to achieve a decent box office with the movie's quality.
But who told you to be so muddled and insist on following Mickey Mouse? The audience's resentment was high, and you were directly competing with captain america. If you didn't die, who would?
The result was captain america raking in a whopping $125 million in a week, claiming the top spot.
Even in its third week, Iron Man still took in about $60 million, securing two weekly box office championships and one runner-up.
Will Smith's Hitch put up a bit of a fight, earning $41 million.
This movie cost $70 million, and at this rate, a small profit should be achievable.
mr. & mrs. smith only came in 4th, grossing a mere $22.6 million, a massive flop just like the chronicles of narnia.
In 5th place was Disney's only decent film, the incredibles, with $19.3 million.
Then came wanted, with $16.6 million, not a big difference.
In between were small companies like New Line Cinema, Dimension Films, Summit Entertainment, and New Regency.
Inception and Spider-Man 2 still hadn't dropped out of the top 20 after more than a month.
Inception hung at 12th place on the charts with $8.8 million, while Spider-Man 2 only had $4.9 million left, barely holding onto 19th place.
As for Kung Fu Hustle and napoleon dynamite, facing such fierce competition, their release scope had already narrowed.
The former had over 600 theaters left, and the latter was similar, both concentrated in first and second-tier major cities.
Among them, Kung Fu Hustle's North American box office had already reached over $52 million, closing in on Hero's $55 million.
Surpassing the opponent was not a big problem, but it was certainly impossible to surpass Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, because Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon's box office was $120 million.
Unless one situation, which is that Kung Fu Hustle also wins the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, but the possibility is slim.
Another great victory, so there was no hesitation.
Marvel Studios and MGM jointly announced that the Thor and Ant-Man projects would be launched as soon as possible.
At the same time, the scripts for Iron Man 2 and captain america 2 would also be put on the agenda as soon as possible.
The announcement made many fans incredibly happy, indicating that their speculation was correct and a grand cinematic universe was being built.
Perhaps one day in the future, they would truly see The Avengers brought to the big screen... Unbeknownst to them, time had arrived in February.
The quartet went to China to participate in this year's Spring Festival Gala, performing a 5-minute song medley and gaining a large following.
When many Chinese viewers learned that Taylor Swift was only 16, they couldn't help but exclaim that Westerners developed too quickly.
A sixteen-year-old girl looked like she was eighteen or nineteen.
However, this also depends on the person; Elizabeth Olsen is the same age as Taylor Swift, and she is still the petite and delicate type, even after being cultivated by Eric for so long, she has not fully developed yet.
During this time, Eric was busy attending various events and filming Dragon Ball.
He only rested for a week during the Chinese New Year because he wanted to give Little Liu a vacation, and everyone else benefited from it.
Usually, film crews would rather work non-stop every day, because stopping for one day wastes a day's worth of money.
Including venue fees, equipment fees, maintenance fees, prop fees, and so on.
But none of these costs were an issue for the Dragon Ball crew.
Everything belonged to MGM; Eric could start and stop filming whenever he pleased, as long as he was happy.
During this period, he attended this year's Golden Globe Awards ceremony, where MGM was nominated for multiple awards.
Million Dollar Baby won five major awards: Best Original Score, Best Supporting Actor, Best Actress, Best Motion Picture – Drama, and Best Director.
frozen won Best Original Song.
You ask why there was no Best Animated Feature Film?
Because the Golden Globe Awards did not even have this category; otherwise, frozen would certainly have won it.
the hunger games also won Best Original Song.
Inception won six major awards: Best Original Score, Best Screenplay, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Director, and Best Motion Picture – Drama.
la vie en rose also won three major awards: Best Actress, Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, and Best Director.
This was just for films; the Golden Globe Awards also include the television field, where MGM and HBO were equally matched in the drama categories.
With so many nominations, the result was that you could always see MGM's logo, always see Eric Cooper on camera, and every now and then, you'd hear acceptance speeches thanking Eric, thanking Mr. Cooper.
Ultimately, Nicole, with her divine performance in la vie en rose, clinched the Best Actress award, with her strongest competitor, Hilary Swank, unfortunately losing out.
In fact, both of their acting skills had reached their peak, and it would have been normal to choose either of them for Best Actress.
But who told la vie en rose to be in theaters? And for many judges, the memories of Million Dollar Baby had already faded somewhat.
Coupled with Eric spending a lot of money on promotion, it was hard for Nicole not to win Best Actress.
However, perhaps to compensate, Old Man Dongmu took home Best Director; by rights, Ron Howard was also excellent.
It was just a pity for Martin Scorsese, who received a nomination and was once again a runner-up, with bleak prospects for the upcoming Oscar.
Eric, relying on Inception, won Best Screenplay for who knows how many times, but he already had too many of these, so it was nothing new.
Fortunately, he also won Best Picture, and although he lost Best Director, it was still a commendation for the entire crew.
Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright, following their Emmy Awards wins, were once again crowned Best Actor and Best Actress, leaving shows like the sopranos and six feet under with no fight left.
At one Golden Globe Awards ceremony, MGM monopolized a little over half of the time.
If the quality of their works hadn't been genuinely high, they would certainly have been investigated for bribing judges.
After winning Best Actress at the Golden Globe, la vie en rose, which had maintained a screening scale of several hundred theaters, began to gain momentum, with the number of theaters suddenly increasing to over 1,300, continuing to build buzz.
In contrast, films like Inception and wanted had completely exhausted their potential over two months.
Iron Man was also in its final stages, its position pushed back by new films.
Ultimately, Inception took $227 million at the North American box office, with a global cumulative of $705 million.
The results were somewhat different from what Eric had envisioned; he had thought that after so much effort, with even better effects, even after five years, it could reach the original's over $800 million, but unfortunately, it did not.
wanted grossed $121 million at the North American box office and $237 million globally, also a difference of over $100 million compared to the original.
Iron Man, however, surpassed the original's $580 million, achieving a terrifying global box office of $830 million, with North America accounting for 44%, a truly outrageous marketing effect.
At MGM headquarters, in the office, Eric looked at the latest analysis report.
"Eric, this combines data from various analysis agencies, box office figures, our internal market research data, and so on."
"It provides a comprehensive summary of the past year's situation. $1 billion, we lost at least $1 billion in box office revenue."
"That's a terrifying number. Although the money has to be shared and won't all go into our pockets, it's still a terrifying number."
Slam!
Throwing the report on the table, Eric looked at Judy: "What about The Big Six? I lost $1 billion, they can't be doing well either."
"Hmm, this is a game with no winners. The more you invest, the more you lose."
"Like Paramount, who were just cheering from behind, they lost five or six hundred million dollars."
"Universal, Sony, and Fox also lost at least seven or eight hundred million dollars."
"Disney and Warner Bros. were the most active in targeting us, and their losses were also the greatest, already heading towards $1 billion."
"The most direct reflection is the total annual box office. Last year, North America was $11.56 billion; this year, it's $12.38 billion."
"However, the corresponding number of films was 25 fewer than last year, as DreamWorks, Lionsgate, and other companies extensively withdrew their releases."
"Given the release of so many big productions, the difference should not have been only $800 million."
"This number should reasonably be at least $3 billion, but it isn't. Where did the lost box office go? We all know."
Hearing this, Eric crossed his legs: "That sounds truly terrifying, but I don't care."
"Anyway, Lionheart Network has already made back the lost money, not only enough but with plenty to spare."
"But Lionheart Network is your personal asset, and MGM is a public company, the asset of countless people. What you're doing is equivalent to harming others for your own benefit."
"Then what do you want me to do? Give up?"
"Of course not. Am I that kind of person? I showed you this report to make you realize that everyone is suffering."
Knock, knock, knock.
Carol pushed open the door, a joyful expression on her face.
"What's wrong? By the look of you, something good seems to have happened."
"Boss, Nasdaq just opened, and our market value has officially surpassed Disney, making us the largest film and television company in Hollywood."
"Ah? Really?" Judy asked, surprised.
"Really, we've already surpassed Disney by a significant margin, leading them by over $2 billion."
"That's great! Wait... no one's playing tricks, are they?"
Eric stood up; he wasn't surprised by this result.
If The Big Six hadn't ganged up on him this year, this goal might have been achieved half a year ago, when the summer box office ended.
The film industry is about telling stories, and MGM told its story beautifully.
Especially this big counterattack during the Christmas season, which showed the market the lion's fangs and claws.
I'm using a future cheat, and you think I can't beat you guys?
"No tricks, this was bound to happen."
He suddenly laughed, saying, "Carol, issue an internal announcement: all MGM employees will receive an additional $10,000 bonus this month."
"This is an encouragement to everyone; regaining our position would not have been possible without everyone's collective effort."
"Yeah! Thank you, Boss, you're getting more and more handsome!"
"You can flatter me when there are more people around. Also, draft another public announcement, focusing on this matter. We have to annoy those old geezers!"
"Understood, executing immediately!"
As soon as Carol left, Judy suddenly pounced on him, pinning him to the desk.
"Ouch, what are you doing! Good thing I always exercise my obliques."
Smooch!
"Hmm?"
Mmm.
After a passionate kiss, his mouth filled with Judy's saliva, she suddenly pushed Eric away, blurting out, "I got a little excited," and turned to leave.
"Damn it, what the hell is she doing?!"
Ptooey, ptooey!
So wet.
Ring!!!
Eric's private phone rang; the caller ID showed a familiar yet unfamiliar number.
Familiar because he knew the person, unfamiliar because they hadn't had direct contact for a year.
"What's up, Grey? It's rare for you to call."
Silence for a moment on the other end: "Eric, we want to talk to you."