The year-end global box office rankings for 2002 differed slightly from those in North America.
Although the differences weren't vast, they still highlighted the varying preferences across different countries and regions.
The champion was Spider-Man, with $1.27 billion.
The runner-up was The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, with $936 million.
In third place was Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, earning $878 million.
Here, Warner Bros. triumphed with both The Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter remaining their ace franchises, despite the second films in both series seeing declines in their box office performances. The challenge for them was to innovate in future films and reverse the downward trend, but they still managed to gain a slight advantage in the fierce competition at the top of Hollywood's pyramid.
Similarly, Sony Columbia needed to learn from this experience. How to produce Spider-Man 2 was undoubtedly a huge challenge.
However, what was both unexpected yet unsurprising was that Star Wars: Episode II was pushed out of the top three.
The competition was incredibly fierce.
At the same time, this confirmed once again that Star Wars might only be a nostalgic favorite for North American audiences, with little special appeal for other regions.
Or more accurately, audiences in every region have their own cultural traditions, and naturally, their fanaticism differs.
Nevertheless, for Hayden Christensen, it was a difficult situation to digest, again proving the adage, "The higher the expectations, the greater the disappointment."
Originally, joining Star Wars was supposed to be a major turning point in his career, possibly leading to smooth sailing in the future. But instead, he hit a wall, and had to watch as Anson surpassed him.
Losing to Spider-Man in a direct battle was bad enough, but then Catch Me If You Can also slightly outperformed it, landing a heavy punch right on the throat.
It was a hard pill to swallow.
Reality is indeed cruel.
However, the so-called disappointment is only relative to the high expectations. In fact, Star Wars: Episode II performed well in overseas markets.
In fourth place was Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones, with $645 million.
Fifth place went to Catch Me If You Can, with $642 million.
The former narrowly won by a mere $3 million.
This created a somewhat ironic situation. Although Star Wars: Episode II performed better than Catch Me If You Can in the global box office, it didn't feel like something worth celebrating—
A strange situation where winning still felt like losing.
Observers, however, would calmly say, "A win is a win," at least there's something to talk about. Otherwise, just look at the films that ranked lower.
In sixth place was Men in Black II, with $440 million.
Seventh was Die Another Day, with $430 million.
Eighth was Signs, with $408 million.
Ninth was Ice Age, with $380 million.
Tenth was My Big Fat Greek Wedding, with $368 million.
The rankings shifted slightly, though these changes were still significant.
The James Bond series continued to maintain its strong appeal in overseas markets, securing a top ten spot.
Meanwhile, Ice Age and My Big Fat Greek Wedding emerged as surprise dark horses, relying on word-of-mouth to gain moderate success in overseas markets. Like Catch Me If You Can, they managed to stay in the top ten.
Surprise after surprise after surprise!
With two films performing exceptionally well, Anson managed to secure spots in the global year-end box office top ten. The rare feat of having two films make the list made him a hot topic worldwide.
According to incomplete statistics, in January alone, 77 media outlets worldwide published exclusive interviews with Anson, and 31 of them featured him on their covers.
And not just in North America.
From Europe to Asia, from Oceania to South America, and even in Africa, Anson's face and name were appearing everywhere, dominating the spotlight.
Rising!
At the top!
It was hard to tell whether he was still on the rise or had already reached the summit. The only certainty was that Anson's momentum was still climbing.
His appearance on the cover of People was just the tip of the iceberg.
There was no doubt that 2002 belonged to Anson.
Of course, Anson's achievements were only part of the story. When people looked back on the past year, and when they browsed the North American and global year-end box office rankings, there were other highlights as well.
The biggest surprise in the global rankings wasn't Catch Me If You Can or My Big Fat Greek Wedding, but a film just outside the top ten.
In eleventh place was Minority Report.
This film, directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Tom Cruise, performed mediocrely during North America's summer box office season, falling far below expectations. But with the star power of both Spielberg and Cruise, it managed to stage a comeback overseas.
Globally, it earned $358 million—a solid performance.
However…
Tom Cruise's exorbitant $20 million salary, even with Spielberg opting for a share of the box office revenue to lower costs, still pushed the film's production budget over $100 million.
After deducting the high distribution and marketing costs, 20th Century Fox barely broke even, and might even incur a small loss. They could only hope for a boost from future DVD sales and rentals.
From this perspective, the media's widespread declaration that Steven and Tom had hit a stumbling block wasn't without reason. Their performance indeed left much to be desired.
But that's the nature of risk—
The $20 million club!
High expenses and high costs mean the box office results must be exceptional; otherwise, all the risk falls on the film studio, essentially turning them into employees for the actors and directors, which they naturally dislike.
This is why, even though Anson is now flying high at the top of the pyramid, Hollywood studios are still cautious about offering him a $20 million salary.
However!
The $20 million club is one thing, but value for money is another.
As of now, Anson's meteoric rise has created a very brief window of opportunity before he wises up and demands a $20 million salary. If studios can strike a deal with him within this small window, it would be the perfect scenario.
It's clear that more than a few producers and studios share this clever idea. In fact, half of Hollywood's attention is now focused on Anson, which is the true treatment of a superstar.
Then, the following scene unfolded—
In January, while Catch Me If You Can was still in theaters, with its box office performing well but not yet having reached the number two spot on the North American year-end charts, and with most overseas markets yet to release the film, the savvy veterans of the industry who are always watching for opportunities made their move, racing against time.
Right in front of them, they were seizing a window of opportunity.
Project after project was being sent to William Morris Agency. Script after script piled up on Edgar's desk. Voicemail after voicemail filled up Edgar's inbox. "Coincidental encounters" were happening all over Los Angeles.
"It's all your fault."
Edgar, sweating and flushed, couldn't even finish a sentence before gulping down a glass of iced tea, then continued.
"You went on vacation in Napa Valley and turned off your phone, so I became the target of everyone. God, where did they learn these coincidental encounter scenes from? Don't they know you should never trust the movies?"
"Professionalism. Please, stay professional!"