After entering the workweek, the box office of the Batman: Begins inevitably declined, grossing $8.929 million on Monday, while Kingdom of Heaven only made $930,000.
By Tuesday, thanks to half-price movie ticket day, Batman Begins's box office rose to $12.112 million.
Kingdom of Heaven also saw a rebound, earning $1.59 million that day.
After that, on Wednesday and Thursday, Batman: Begins made $8.33 million and $7.24 million respectively. After seven days of release in North America, the film's box office reached $163.75 million.
A seven-day gross exceeding $100 million was no longer rare in this era.
The current movie market was nothing like the 1990s, when box office performance could maintain a smooth, steady curve. If you observed carefully, you would find that today's box office curves all peak during the first week, then drop off a cliff.
Even films with good word of mouth experienced nearly the same trend.
Therefore, movies now tend to earn their box office very quickly but decline just as rapidly. Ten years ago, this $160 million figure might have taken the Batman Begins two weeks to reach.
Now it only needed seven days but the decline rate was much faster, and the number of screening weeks had also decreased.
Kingdom of Heaven fared far worse. After seven days, its total box office had barely surpassed $20 million. 20th Century Fox had basically given up on the film, not even bothering with further promotion.
The originally planned promotional tour was completely canceled. This week, the studio would simply observe how the overseas market performed. If it didn't go well, 20th Century Fox wouldn't invest another cent.
That was a wise "cut-loss" decision, but for Ridley Scott and lead actor Orlando Bloom, it wasn't good news at all.
Especially for Orlando Bloom after The Lord of the Rings series and Pirates of the Caribbean, his salary had once reached nearly $20 million, firmly placing him in the A-list tier.
But after several consecutive box office failures, Kingdom of Heaven's flop caused his market value to plummet.
Thus, in the upcoming Pirates of the Caribbean 2, being prepared by Gilbert's studio, Orlando Bloom's salary was only $6 million.
There was no helping it. Although it was a sequel, Johnny Depp's role was obviously much more crucial than Bloom's.
To balance production costs, with Johnny Depp's $20 million salary on the books, Orlando Bloom had no choice but to take a pay cut.
He had to accept it — there was no other option.
Johnny Depp, on the other hand, was doing great. His $20 million paycheck was one thing, but more importantly, he had successfully maintained his status as a top-tier superstar — something truly rare.
This year, he also had another film with Tim Burton Charlie and the Chocolate Factory produced and distributed by Warner Bros., set to release on July 15.
Due to the special nature of Gilbert's studio, Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest was still a joint investment between Warner Bros. and Disney, with Gilbert as producer and Stephen Sommers as director.
Another film the studio had in production was The Fast and the Furious 3. The story picked up after the second film — Brian returned to being a cop and went separate ways with Dom.
However, when a Canadian crime syndicate became a serious headache for law enforcement, Brian tracked down Dom in Mexico and asked for his help.
Stories like this were usually very straightforward. What mattered were the stunt-driving and action scenes, along with luxury cars and beautiful women in short, the essence of a fun blockbuster.
Series regulars Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Liv Tyler, and Jessica Alba were all returning.
In Gilbert's vision, The Fast and the Furious series would differ greatly from the version in his past life — Tokyo Drift's storyline was completely scrapped.
After the third film, the series would transition directly to what was once the fourth installment, gradually evolving into the version Gilbert was familiar with.
Of course, Dwayne Johnson the bald muscleman would join the series at the right moment. Without him, the Fast & Furious franchise would just feel incomplete.
In addition, Gilbert had another idea: he thought casting Dwayne Johnson as the villain Bane in Batman 3 would be a brilliant choice.
The original actor, Tom Hardy, was indeed a talented performer, but having him play a physically imposing brute like Bane had always been a stretch.
Height was another issue — he simply lacked the intimidating presence.
Dwayne Johnson, however, would be perfect. His massive build exuded raw power the kind of opponent you could instantly tell Batman would struggle to defeat.
But of course, it was still too early to talk about that the Joker of the second film hadn't even appeared yet!
The third project the studio was preparing that year was Zack Snyder's 300: Rise of Sparta. With a hefty $70 million budget, Snyder planned to employ a bold and highly stylized visual approach to the film.
After briefly participating in the U.S. promotional work, Gilbert returned to Fox Studios in Los Angeles to visit the set of 300: Rise of Sparta.
Inside, a group of muscular men were drenched in sweat as they trained. Any woman who had a thing for muscles would probably faint from excitement the moment she stepped into that training hall.
Even Ivanka, who was usually calm and composed, couldn't help but glance a few more times — it was quite a sight to behold.
Zack Snyder introduced from the front, "All actors must meet the physique requirements of the production team; otherwise, they won't be allowed to participate in filming. In this movie, muscles will be the biggest selling point."
Watching the actors sweat through their training, Gilbert nodded in satisfaction and said, "Good, very good work."
Directing a $70 million film for the first time, Zack Snyder was under tremendous pressure. He confessed to Gilbert, "I've been suffering from insomnia lately. I'm afraid the film might fail — I can't sleep well at all."
Gilbert understood and said, "That's the price we have to pay. Being a director is like that — pressure is also motivation. I believe in you, Zack."
Aside from the three films Gilbert was producing, another movie that he would personally direct, The Last of Us, had also begun pre-production.
With an investment of $120 million, The Last of Us would, according to Gilbert's requirements, feature large-scale sets designed in a post-apocalyptic wasteland style — run-down and desolate.
Due to North America's high labor and land costs, The Last of Us would be filmed in Australia.
Charles Roven had already reached an agreement with local authorities. Two abandoned aircraft hangars were available and could be converted into sound stages. Australia and New Zealand also offered a variety of natural landscapes ideal for filming.
Gilbert had long discussed this project with Tom Cruise, so after finishing his visit to 300: Rise of Sparta, he brought the script straight to Cruise's estate.
Tom Cruise welcomed him warmly, and Gilbert also got to see his godson and goddaughter.
"Godfather…" Suri called out sweetly.
Having inherited the genes of Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, it was easy to see that Suri had definitely inherited beauty in her DNA.
Gilbert took out a gift, handed it to Suri, and gently patted her on the head.
"Thank you, Godfather," Suri said politely before running off to unwrap her present.
Tom Cruise embraced Gilbert warmly. "Long time no see. How have you been lately?"
"Not bad," Gilbert replied with a smile. "I just finished the promotional campaign for the Batman Begins. Didn't even get a break before coming to see you." As he spoke, he took a script from Ivanka's hands and handed it to Tom Cruise.
....
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