Chapter 162 - 162 The Power of Eight Crowns

In the second week of January, the San Francisco Chronicle reported, "Hugo Lancaster, during a recent interview on KQED radio, jokingly said that he had never received a single love letter, not even during his most handsome senior year of high school, and no woman had ever confessed her feelings to him. After the radio program aired live, within seventy-two hours, KQED radio received twenty-three thousand love letters for Hugo from all over the United States. The program team has repeatedly stated on air that they will personally deliver these letters to Hugo and will interview him for his reaction as soon as possible.""Clearly, the entire United States has fallen into a 'Hugo Lancaster' obsession virus, with countless young girls screaming that they want a handsome and domineering boyfriend like Hugo. At the same time, 'A Few Good Men,' the source of this craze, has managed to keep its box office decline to a very low level thanks to its excellent word-of-mouth, successfully defeating Disney's animated masterpiece 'Aladdin,' which was growing stronger with each passing week, and reclaiming the top spot on the North American box office charts for the fifth consecutive week."As the San Francisco Chronicle reported, after accumulating a total box office of 109 million US dollars in its first four weeks, "A Few Good Men" continued its strong performance, once again topping the charts with 14 million US dollars, bringing its total weeks at number one to five. In fact, in the quiet season of January, the only film that could challenge "A Few Good Men" for the box office crown was "Aladdin." This excellent animated film from Disney grew stronger with each passing week, consistently maintaining a certain box office increase, fiercely pursuing "A Few Good Men." However, "A Few Good Men's" robust performance also exceeded everyone's expectations.Although "A Few Good Men" saw a significant 42% drop in box office this week, "Aladdin," in its eighth week of release, still only managed 9 million US dollars, which was not enough to unseat "A Few Good Men." It could only watch as "A Few Good Men" rode the waves to achieve an astonishing five consecutive weeks at number one.In the third week of January, The Seattle Times published a report stating, "Hugo, who had just returned from a vacation in Malibu, was unexpectedly recognized by the public while shopping at a large supermarket. The growing crowd of onlookers resulted in nearly three hundred people surrounding him, causing a major disruption to the supermarket's safety and order.""Hugo clearly did not anticipate that after a three-week vacation, he would return to a completely new world. He didn't take many precautions when he arrived at the supermarket, so his hat was quickly knocked off by a fan, which triggered a disaster. In a chaotic scramble, Hugo was forced to hide in the men's restroom for forty-five minutes, until his agent, along with eight security guards, managed to restore order, finally rescuing Hugo from the 'miasma' of the restroom."On the same day, the Rocky Mountain News reported, "On his way back to Los Angeles from Malibu, Hugo pulled into a gas station to refuel, but was unexpectedly recognized by a gas station employee, which led to a crowd of gas station staff and customers surrounding him. The obstruction by over thirty people caused severe delays in the gas station's operations.""Subsequently, four more family cars arrived at the gas station. While waiting in line, they learned that Hugo was there and all got out of their cars to join the crowd. Hugo's car ended up in a predicament, blocked by cars both front and back, unable to move. When reporters arrived at the scene, the gas station was surrounded by as many as fourteen cars, while on the highway, a long queue of over twenty cars waited to enter the gas station to refuel.""This incident caused a three-hour traffic jam on the Pacific Coast Highway. Traffic police had no choice but to have Hugo leave the scene in a police car first, and then clear the chaotic traffic one by one.""It is worth mentioning that Hugo was accompanied by Uma Thurman—his publicly acknowledged girlfriend not long ago. It is not difficult to infer that Hugo and Uma must have had a wonderful time in Malibu, and their relationship is continuously warming up. However, neither of them anticipated that the journey back to the city would be much more difficult than for Billy and Wyatt in 'Easy Rider.'"With the Golden Globes approaching, the buzz around "A Few Good Men" grew even stronger. In the third week of January, "A Few Good Men" once again battled "Aladdin," ultimately defeating "Aladdin's" 11 million with 13 million, achieving an astonishing six consecutive weeks at number one, to everyone's amazement!In the fourth week of January, the Los Angeles Times published a report, "Over the past two months, the naval uniform craze has spread to every corner. According to incomplete statistics, the proportion of custom naval uniforms has continuously climbed by seven percentage points in two months. This is an unprecedented situation, and the military enlistment craze triggered by 'Top Gun' back then has once again landed on American soil due to the powerful arrival of 'A Few Good Men.'""Hugo Lancaster's naval uniform look in 'A Few Good Men' has been hailed as the most fashionable and handsome men's style of 1992, making even Batman's sophisticated gear seem inferior. And Hugo's portrayal of a military officer and a baseball youth have deeply resonated with people, becoming the most fashionable attire in the streets and alleys of Los Angeles. The baseball jacket Hugo wore in the movie is now a must-have fashion item for young people.""It is foreseeable that the effects brought by the 'A Few Good Men' craze are only just beginning."In the fourth week of January, driven by the surrounding craze, "A Few Good Men" once again defeated "Aladdin's" 8 million weekend box office with 10 million, achieving a staggering seven consecutive weeks at number one, while "Aladdin" remained firmly in the runner-up position."Who can stop 'A Few Good Men' from continuing its winning streak?"This was the headline of an article written by The New York Times on Monday of the fifth week of January. "Despite the overwhelming public opinion that did not favor the film's prospects, 'A Few Good Men' erupted with astonishing energy that left everyone speechless. Currently, 'A Few Good Men,' with seven consecutive weeks at number one, has become the film with the most consecutive weeks at number one since 'Home Alone's' twelve-week streak in 1990. Even on the historical charts, its consecutive weeks at number one have record-breakingly entered the top ten. This is a result no one anticipated!""So now, who can stop 'A Few Good Men' from continuing its reign at the top? 'Aladdin,' which continues to unleash tremendous energy, always seems to lack the crucial power, without a highlight that can contend with the infinitely charming Lancaster, making this classic animated film tragically run alongside 'A Few Good Men' in second place.""'A Few Good Men,' breaking records with unstoppable momentum, has, under Hugo's leadership, attracted countless audiences to repeatedly go to cinemas to support the film. So will there be a challenger in the North American film market this week? Perhaps this new film called'Sniper' is willing to take a shot!""Sniper" starred Tom Berenger, who gained fame through works such as "Platoon" and "Born on the Fourth of July." In the quiet spring season, it was a highly anticipated film, and everyone hoped it would achieve good results and see if it could challenge "A Few Good Men's" winning streak.But wishes are beautiful, and reality is "cruel." "Sniper" failed in its attempt to dethrone, and "A Few Good Men" extended its consecutive winning streak to eight weeks with a weekend box office of seven million US dollars. The tragically fated "Aladdin" continued to struggle in the runner-up position with 6.4 million, while "Sniper" took the third spot with a weekend box office of 5.7 million.The New York Times' wish ultimately fell through. All American news media witnessed the glorious rise of "A Few Good Men" and the sudden emergence of Hugo!It is worth noting that "Scent of a Woman" once again made a comeback to the fourth position with a box office of four million US dollars. Out of the top five films, Hugo alone starred in two of them. This is truly an incredible achievement and also shows the storm of popularity Hugo unleashed starting in late 1992!After entering the first week of February, the media finally welcomed a new face at the top. As many as thirty-three media outlets reported the news immediately: "'A Few Good Men's' eight-week reign ends, 'Loaded Weapon 1' becomes the dragon slayer!"Instantly, "Loaded Weapon 1" became the most-watched new release in February. "A Few Good Men's" two-month dominance finally came to an end. This week, "Loaded Weapon 1" broke the pattern with a weekend box office of nine million US dollars, reigning as champion! Meanwhile, the strong-finishing "Aladdin" surprisingly saw its box office increase by another twenty percent this week, finally surpassing "A Few Good Men" and taking the third position on this week's box office charts; "A Few Good Men," showing a three percent box office increase, finally showed signs of fatigue, dropping straight to fourth place.Despite this, "A Few Good Men's" eight-week winning streak still became the most glorious record since the 1990s. Its consecutive weeks at number one were second only to "Home Alone," which was released at the end of 1990, and it successfully secured a tie for seventh place on the historical charts for consecutive weeks at number one! This, is history!Eight weeks at number one brought "A Few Good Men" a cumulative box office of 149 million US dollars, and this was not the end for "A Few Good Men." Clearly, excellent word-of-mouth and undiminished popularity allowed Columbia Pictures to extend the film's theatrical run as much as possible. After this, the film continued to play until the end of May, extending its run to twenty-three weeks, and finally ended its box office journey with a box office of 170 million US dollars.In addition, it is worth mentioning that "A Few Good Men" also grossed 120 million US dollars after landing in overseas markets, bringing the film's global cumulative box office to 290 million! The impressive figures truly gave Hugo a major box office hit!