Several days later.
After the film "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" expanded its theatrical release, it immediately received a positive response from the North American box office market, with ticket sales surging!
Before the expanded release, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" had been shown in North America for over 20 days, only achieving a box office of just over ten million US dollars.
However!
On the first day after the film expanded its release, even though it was a weekday and not a weekend, it still raked in an impressive 6.7 million US dollars in single-day box office, ranking first on the North American box office chart for that day.
Previously, "Traffic," which had consecutively won multiple single-day box office championships, regrettably took second place with 5.2 million US dollars in daily revenue.
As soon as the news broke, Hollywood peers immediately became restless.
"Look, just look!"
"I told you, before the Oscar nominations were announced, the outcome between 'Traffic' and 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon' was still unknown!"
"God! That's really something! I thought Page Pictures' Oscar journey was about to end this time, but I never expected that on the very first day after expanding its release, it would immediately surpass 'Traffic.' Tsk tsk tsk ~ There's a good show to watch!"
"Isn't that the truth?!"
"In the year 2000, Page Pictures truly rose!"
"Without saying anything else, 'The Butterfly Effect,''Spider-Man,' 'Wrong Turn 3,' 'The Purge 2,' 'Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone'... I didn't realize it until I counted, but Page Pictures went completely crazy last year!"
The vast majority of peers enthusiastically discussing the booming box office of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" came from second and third-tier Hollywood film companies.
In contrast, the Hollywood Big Six, as well as DreamWorks and MGM, were somewhat silent.
Few of their executives discussed it in private.
There was no way, they couldn't save face!
Soon after... on January 22, 2001, "Hollywood Weekly," a well-known American media outlet, released the 2000 North American Box Office Ranking.
As soon as this report was released, entertainment industry companies across the United States, as well as movie fans who loved and followed films, rushed to purchase this issue of "Hollywood Weekly" at the first opportunity.
Everything was for this 2000 North American Box Office Ranking list.
The results are as follows:
1. "Spider-Man 1," North American box office 330 million US dollars;
2. "Harry Potter," North American box office 271 million US dollars, currently still in hot release, and box office will further increase;
3. "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," North American box office 247 million US dollars;
...19. "The Purge 2," North American box office 107 million US dollars;
...43. "The Butterfly Effect," North American box office 60.75 million US dollars;
...50. "Wrong Turn 3," North American box office 49.30 million US dollars;
On the list of the top 50 box office rankings for the year 2000, Page Pictures was very prominent, occupying 5 spots.
At the same time, the most eye-catching were the top two positions!
"Spider-Man" and "Harry Potter" respectively occupied the top two spots on the list, directly causing a major earthquake in the entire industry.
"Absolutely incredible!"
Harvey Weinstein, president of Miramax Films, said bluntly when interviewed by reporters: "Since the reform of Hollywood film companies and cinema chains in 1988, it has been unheard of for films produced by the same film company to dominate the top two spots in the North American annual box office rankings."
"To date, this is the first time!"
"Undoubtedly, Page Pictures is the craziest film company in Hollywood in 2000!"
Shocking!
Extremely shocking!
New Line Cinema.
Owner Shay also said: "It's not that there haven't been instances where multiple films produced by one film company all entered the top 50 of the annual box office rankings, but to have 5 films in the top 50 at once, that's truly astonishing! What's more, the 1st and 2nd places are also from Page Pictures!"
Dimension Films.
Patrick, one of the three giants, sighed: "You're all talking about the first list; look at the second list. On the list of the 51st to 100th highest-grossing films in North America for the year 2000, Page Pictures is equally astonishing, occupying multiple spots, and three films from other companies that it distributed also entered this list."
"Tsk tsk tsk ~ Impressive!"
DreamWorks Animation.
Jeffrey Katzenberg said very seriously: "Don't forget the animated film 'Finding Nemo.' Released in 1999 by Waterworld Animation, 'Finding Nemo' grossed over 900 million US dollars worldwide."
"It was just in 2000 that Waterworld Animation didn't have any new animated films released, otherwise, the top three spots on that list might have been swept by that guy, Kyle Page."
For a time, the entire industry was astonished.
Especially the Hollywood Big Six companies, many executives gnashed their teeth.
Too humiliating!
If Page Pictures had only occupied one spot in the top 3, they would at most grumble a few words, not necessarily being too angry. However... Page Pictures directly occupied the 1st and 2nd spots, which made these high-and-mighty guys very difficult to accept.
"What can I say? What else can I say?"
"Disgrace!"
"Humiliating!"
"Be glad that Waterworld Animation's 'Finding Nemo' was released in 1999, and not also in 2000, otherwise all three would be his?"
Among the Hollywood Big Six, apart from Paramount Pictures and 20th Century Fox, which were on good terms with Kyle, the other four didn't have so many scruples. Plus, DreamWorks and MGM were already quite dissatisfied with Kyle himself and Kyle's film company, and were green with envy.
Now?
They were even angrier, stomping their feet, wishing they could just kill Page Pictures with one blow!
While the release of this list created a few more envious enemies for Kyle himself and Page Pictures, it also had positive aspects.
Indeed, the film "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" was directly and favorably affected.
January 29th.
The 73rd Academy Awards Organizing Committee announced the nominations for the films released in 2000.
The film "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," directed by Ang Lee and invested in and distributed by Page Pictures, received 10 nominations.
Best Picture, Best Director, Best Foreign Language Film, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Original Song, Best Original Score, and Best Makeup... absolutely astonishing!
"Even if it ultimately doesn't win so many awards, Page Pictures' Oscar journey this year is respectable enough," said Barry Meyer, CEO of Warner Bros. Pictures.
10 nominations made Page Pictures very happy.
At the same time, the box office also made Kyle very happy!
As of now, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" has already grossed over 60 million US dollars in North America alone, breaking the record for the highest-grossing North American foreign language film, previously held by "Life Is Beautiful," which was released in 1998 and grossed over 57 million US dollars.
Shocking!
One of Kyle's important cronies, the "Los Angeles Entertainment News," immediately wrote an article stating: "The film 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon' is expected to become the first foreign language film to exceed 100 million US dollars at the North American box office!"