March 31st.
The long-planned movie, "The Matrix," with the full backing of Warner Bros. Pictures and the strong promotional efforts of its parent company, Time Warner, debuted on North American screens, opening in a staggering 3,200 theaters.
It was the film with the most opening theaters since January 1999.
According to insiders at Warner, the studio prepared a whopping 50 million US dollars in promotional funds for "The Matrix." This amount is definitely not small.
Of course, "The Matrix" was worth Warner's heavy investment.
On its opening day, "The Matrix" raked in 21 million US dollars at the box office; its opening weekend grossed 54 million US dollars over three days, taking the number one spot on the weekend box office chart.
The reviews were exceptionally good!
On mainstream rating websites like IMDB, "The Matrix" scored above 9 points, hailed as a rare science fiction film.
I Love Eating Shrimp: "The best sci-fi movie in the past decade, bar none!"
Freud: "One word: great, absolutely great! Anyone who dares say 'The Matrix' isn't good, I'll slap them across the face."
Xiao Ma: "Just came out of the cinema, still buzzing with excitement. I heard 'The Matrix' is planned as a trilogy, and now I'm incredibly excited for the second and third films."
Black Cloak: "Neo is awesome!!!"
Big Shot Fran: "I firmly believe that even 20 years from now, 'The Matrix' will still be a wonderfully exciting sci-fi film."
On various rating websites and "The Matrix" official website, countless movie fans were passionately discussing the film.
The box office potential of "The Matrix" was astonishing!
Warner Bros. Pictures.
Vice President Barry Meyer personally gave instructions: "I don't care what methods you use, I want the entire United States to have only one voice in the near future, and that is 'The Matrix'!"
"Yes!"
Everyone present at Warner immediately nodded in agreement.
With Warner Bros. Pictures President Ci'ora nearing retirement, everyone knew that Vice President Barry Meyer was highly likely to be promoted. In this situation, no one dared to outwardly comply but inwardly defy. Well, to be precise, they were too busy trying to curry favor.
"Mr. Meyer, when our media department is promoting, can we attack other concurrent films?"
At this moment, a media department head raised a question.
"Huh?"
Barry Meyer was genuinely surprised.
"Promoting our own film while attacking other concurrent films, isn't that our usual practice? What do you have to worry about? Besides, apart from the other five of the Hollywood Big Six, we don't need to worry about anyone else!"
Barry Meyer's words exuded strong confidence.
"But… what about Page Pictures' upcoming new film, 'Sparta'?" the media department head said in a low voice.
Page Pictures' new film?
It should be noted that there were less than 4 days left until the release of "300," placing it in the competitor category.
The media department head said again: "Sir, a month and a half ago, we had a clash with Page's 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding' over the film 'Message in a Bottle.' If we rashly start another battle now, who can guarantee that America Online won't intervene again?"
"…"
Involving a struggle between two major media giants, all the Warner executives present hesitated.
Even a big shot like Barry Meyer didn't dare to casually declare war.
"The issue with Page Pictures, I need to report to the chairman. For now, let's not touch them. As for other concurrent films, proceed as usual!" Barry Meyer pondered.
"Yes, sir."
Not long after.
The news reached the ears of Time Warner Chairman Steve Ross.
Bang!!!
Ross laughed and slammed the table, ordering: "Go for it! We are Time Warner Group, the world's largest media giant. Kyle Page is still far behind. Why should I be afraid of him?!"
Barry Meyer immediately understood.
However, Ross also subtly conveyed a message to Meyer.
Control the level of confrontation within a reasonable range.
To be honest, even a big shot like Steve Ross had to consider the influence of America Online, after all, if both sides went to war, the other shareholders on Warner's board would be the first to object…
Golden Dawn Entertainment Group.
Chairman Kyle, CEO Victor, President of the TV Group Ms. Donna, Head of the Music Company Domino, President of Page Pictures Old Bill, Vice President Kevin Feige, and others gathered together.
"Gentlemen, the purpose of gathering everyone here today, I believe you all might have guessed."
Kyle scanned the crowd and said loudly: "That's right! It's to fully promote '300' and counter Warner Group's 'The Matrix'!"
Immediately, Victor and the others present were invigorated.
Kyle said solemnly: "Warner is indeed incredibly powerful, but we are not pushovers. With America Online's involvement in the previous round, Warner will inevitably exercise some control in this media battle and will definitely not dare to play dirty. Therefore, we are not without a chance to win!"
As his voice fell.
CEO Victor nodded: "Boss is right, as long as Warner doesn't play dirty, we have a chance to win. 'The Matrix' is excellent, that's true, but our '300' is also incredibly excellent. Putting everything else aside, this time we will let the movie speak for itself!"
"Understood!"
Ms. Donna said: "Our TV Group's UPN network and WB network will fully cooperate with the promotion of 'Sparta'."
Domino echoed: "My music company will definitely fully cooperate. You know, the theme song and episode for 'Sparta' were all handled by our artists like Eminem, Beyoncé, and Britney. We are duty-bound to cooperate with the promotion."
Kyle's clear stance received unanimous support from the group's senior executives!
Golden Dawn Entertainment Group, with its subsidiaries in television, film, animation, toys, merchandise, book publishing, sporting goods, and more, is an emerging media company. Although it hasn't been established for long, its strength should not be underestimated. Even if it's not as powerful as media groups like Warner, Columbia, or Paramount, it's not something any Tom, Dick, or Harry can bully.
So what if they're a big company?
If you dare to come at me, I'll smash your steel teeth!
In addition, besides owning Golden Dawn Entertainment Group, Kyle also owns numerous companies such as LinkedIn and California Standard Bank, and is a shareholder in first-tier giant companies like Apple, Yahoo, and Amazon.
Kyle was completely unafraid of Time Warner!
This second confrontation between the two companies in terms of promotion was not about low-budget romance films, but both were undeniably high-budget films.
"300," production cost 60 million US dollars;
"The Matrix," production cost 63 million US dollars;
The production costs of these two films did not exceed 100 million, so they were not considered Hollywood A-list commercial blockbusters, but they were definitely top-tier productions, as evidenced by the promotional budgets prepared by both companies.
The next day, early morning.
After seeing the overwhelming media news, other film companies in Hollywood all shook their heads, realizing one thing: Warner and Page Pictures were at odds again!
"When giants fight, it's a real pain in the ass." New Line Cinema boss Shay was annoyed.