During its first week of wide international release, Inception raked in $183.04 million in overseas box office revenue, while in North America it earned $62.23 million over the second weekend.
While retaining the North American weekly box office crown, it also claimed the global weekly box office championship.
North American box office reached $229.41 million, and the global box office totaled $412.45 million, all achieved with ease.
At this time, some media outlets suggested that Inception could follow in the footsteps of Avatar and become the second film to surpass $2 billion in box office revenue.
However, Gilbert considered this impossible. The two films were of different types, and a film like Inception would have difficulty continually attracting new audiences.
In fact, theater survey results indicated that approximately 24% of first-time viewers returned for a second viewing.
This was undoubtedly due to the film's own merit for repeated viewing, but on the other hand, it was also the result of effective promotional strategies, which sparked audience interest in exploring the film further.
"Our goal is to surpass $1 billion," Gilbert told the creative team during a promotional tour in London.
"For an original, non-sequel action sci-fi film, $1 billion in box office revenue is already an extremely impressive figure."
Not just impressive—it was an explosive level of success.
It should be noted that, aside from Avatar, no original non-sequel film had ever surpassed $1 billion at the box office, not even Gilbert's previous films.
Generally, when a film achieves widespread success, it tends to inspire imitations. After Avatar's success, countless 3D films were produced.
Following Inception's success, the New York Post commented: "The success of Inception will prompt directors to bring out long-forgotten original stories, transforming film companies into creators of original films. The emergence of original films is beneficial both for audiences and for Hollywood."
However, reality disappointed the New York Post. While many directors did bring out original scripts, very few made it to the production approval stage.
The reason was simple: over the past decade, original films had increasingly declined, with adaptations dominating Hollywood's mainstream.
Not everyone is called Gilbert; other directors simply do not have Gilbert's prestige, and they cannot make whatever films they wish.
In terms of merchandising, Inception also performed very well.
The dream machines featured in the film, which included various dream manuals and posters, sold 180,000 sets of the standard version at $198 each in North America, generating over $36 million in revenue.
The deluxe version, priced at $248, sold 60,000 sets, and the commemorative edition at $298 sold 10,000 sets, also achieving strong sales.
The totem tops used by Dom Cobb in the film were also a major seller, with total revenue exceeding $25 million.
In terms of merchandising, Inception was not the absolute leader; the current standard for merchandise revenue remained the Harry Potter series. Every time a new Harry Potter film was released, it would drive tens of billions of dollars in merchandise sales.
The direct or indirect industry scale associated with Harry Potter reached hundreds of billions of dollars, a veritable gold mine.
Therefore, Warner was absolutely unwilling to give up the Harry Potter rights—it was simply too profitable. Consequently, the process of decoupling the franchise has dragged on for years.
Warner even tried to bypass Melon Studios and Gilbert, seeking direct contact with J.K. Rowling to wrest control of the rights.
Of course, J.K. Rowling refused and informed Gilbert of Warner's plans, prompting Gilbert to warn Warner in turn.
At Gilbert's level, the most dangerous thing in such struggles is to burn bridges. Once bridges are burned, there is no room for maneuver.
Gilbert and the people of Wall Street, as well as the medical-industrial complex, ended up with no possibility of harmonious relations precisely because bridges had been burned.
Although it is unclear what kind of benefits Wall Street promised Warner, even after separating from Gilbert for several years, Warner's stock price remained stable, and even rose, indicating some behind-the-scenes deal.
But none of this mattered; Gilbert would never suffer a loss, and anyone attempting to scheme against him would have to pay a price.
In a capitalist society, no one can make you pay unconditionally under the banner of responsibility, sacrifice, or patriotism. Every action must come with a corresponding cost and consequence.
Of course, one also gains corresponding benefits, thus controlling power and shaping events.
Inception's massive success also triggered a chain reaction. First, a famous production company in the San Fernando Valley quickly announced they would produce an adult version of Inception.
The adult stars, of course, were excited; in terms of beauty, the San Fernando Valley's performers surpassed Hollywood actresses.
Additionally, Matthew Vaughn, director of X-Men: First Class, said in an interview: "After watching Inception, I tore up my original script. Compared to Inception, my previous script is just a pile of garbage."
Matthew Vaughn was clearly trying to ride the hype. He then announced that X-Men: First Class would focus on the young Professor X and Magneto story.
It wasn't just X-Men: First Class taking this approach—Marvel Studios was also unwilling to be outdone. Against the backdrop of Inception's massive success, Marvel Studios announced their new film, The Avengers.
The film would bring together superheroes who had previously starred in solo movies to jointly face a powerful enemy, with Gilbert set to personally direct.
Even Watermelon Video did not miss the opportunity to capitalize on the hype. They announced plans for their first self-produced series, adapting the novel House of Cards into a TV series, with Gilbert directing some episodes and serving as a producer.
There was no way around it—Gilbert's name carried immense influence, so much so that any association with him seemed to guarantee box office success.
However, these rumors were not entirely baseless; Gilbert did indeed have such plans. Other reports claiming Gilbert would personally direct certain projects were entirely attempts to ride the hype.
For example, 20th Century Fox circulated rumors that they planned to offer Gilbert a $40 million fee to direct Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.
This film depicted a period before Lincoln became president, portraying him as a vampire hunter. It was doubtful that even Lincoln himself would know he had fought vampires, or who the genius was that conceived the idea.
Paramount Pictures also announced that they were attempting to invite Gilbert to direct G.I. Joe.
G.I. Joe and Transformers were both toy brands under Hasbro. With the massive success of Transformers, Paramount naturally desired to replicate that achievement with G.I. Joe.
Still, the rumors of inviting Gilbert to direct were just that—rumors. Gilbert's schedule was already packed for the next several years.
He was busy with Marvel's The Avengers, Warner's final film collaboration The Dark Knight Rises, Anne Hathaway's Oscar-bait project, and the Cyberpunk series.
With such a workload, there was simply no time to direct other people's films.
These were mostly rumors, but there was one other project that truly secured Gilbert's involvement.
This project was called Interstellar, and the driving force behind it was none other than theoretical physicist Kip Thorne.
...
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