With the release of Batman: Begins, some of Duke's attention inevitably shifted to the soon-to-be-launched Iron Man project. However, since it was a crucial period for promoting the Batman film, he still cooperated with the production team and Warner Bros, attending press events across North America. He only kept in close contact with producer Kevin Feige by phone to finalize the story direction of the entire script.
Although Kevin Feige was the producer, Duke's authority on this project was beyond question. As usual, the final cut rights would undoubtedly belong to him.
But Duke was never the kind of person who couldn't take others' suggestions. As long as someone's input truly benefited the film, he wouldn't insist on having his own way.
Perhaps due to underestimating Kingdom of Heaven, which was financed through pre-sales and other methods, or perhaps because the film's reception was too poor, when Duke returned to Los Angeles to promote Batman:Begins together with Warner Bros. via television, radio, the internet, and print media, Kingdom of Heaven's publicity was much more subdued. Especially on the internet, which heavily influences teenagers, the number and volume of negative reviews were so overwhelming that even the entire army of PR firms in Hollywood couldn't suppress them.
The disparity between audience and critic reception for Kingdom of Heaven, the war epic, set a new low since Ridley Scott's Alien undoubtedly a career trough for the director.
The final cut rights did play a role, but in Hollywood, directors who secured final cut rights were very few and far between.
Starting from the weekdays, the difference in market performance between Batman: Begins and Kingdom of Heaven far exceeded that of the previous weekend. Describing it as a gap between heaven and earth would not be an exaggeration.
In terms of screenings, Kingdom of Heaven's showtime rate in commercial chain theaters plummeted below 20%, with some theaters even dropping below 15%. For a big-budget film with an investment of over $100 million, this essentially meant the theaters had given up on the film and were only screening it at the contractual minimum.
In contrast, Batman: Begin's screening rate soared past 60%. After the nearly $70 million opening weekend box office haul, the theaters' concerns were completely dispelled.
"Duke Rosenberg truly lives up to his name!"
Standing in front of a massive floor-to-ceiling window in his office, Emperor Entertainment Group CEO Robert Carlow spoke with his back to several high-level executives behind him. "He can so easily revive a movie franchise that was considered dead."
One of the executives chimed in, "Our early scheduling and release strategy were still a bit too conservative."
"Being conservative isn't wrong," Robert Carlow said softly.
Although he hadn't been CEO of Emperor Entertainment Group for long, he had always worked in the film industry and knew very well that even the most successful directors have their missteps. Not to mention, Duke Rosenberg had picked a comic book series that Joel Schumacher had nearly destroyed in terms of reputation and popularity.
By adopting a relatively conservative strategy, the theater companies minimized their risk.
The best example was Kingdom of Heaven. Director Ridley Scott was world-renowned, but had the company relied solely on his fame and allocated a massive number of screens, the losses from the previous weekend might have been astronomical.
Though it only takes six to ten viewers in a small theater to break even, Kingdom of Heaven's opening weekend brought in only $10.29 million from nearly 3,300 theaters. Averaged out, even small screening rooms likely didn't have six people per showing.
For box office failures, theaters always had just one strategy.
"Starting tomorrow, continue to reduce the number of screens for Kingdom of Heaven."
Hardly hesitating, Robert Carlow made the decision based on the opinions of the other executives. "By Thursday, bring the number of theaters and the screening rate for Kingdom of Heaven down to the contractual minimum."
No one objected—this was the standard treatment for failed films.
Robert Carlow turned around and added, "As for the vacated screens and theaters…"
He was just about to habitually suggest allocating them to Duke Rosenberg's film when someone reminded him, "Flyboys will begin its wide release in North America starting Friday. Walt Disney has invested heavily in its promotion. According to screening feedback, the film has strong commercial appeal. Michael Ovitz and Michael Eisner have each called several times to check on the film's release preparations."
"Hmm…" Robert Carlow nodded thoughtfully and said, "The screens vacated by Kingdom of Heaven will be divided between Flyboys and Batman:Begins. As for the screening ratios of the two films…"
Another person suddenly spoke up to remind, "Duke Rosenberg's films have consistently shown strong legs. Batman:Begins is no exception. After the opening weekend, the CinemaScore audience approval rate is still above 86%, and the IMDb rating is 8.8. Online praise completely outweighs any negative buzz."
"I know."
Understanding what his subordinate meant, Robert Carlow said directly, "Compress Kingdom of Heaven's screening rate as much as possible."
There was no doubt that Kingdom of Heaven had become the sacrificial lamb.
Not just Emperor Entertainment Group, but other film companies made similar decisions.
With theater chains across the board making adjustments, the already uncompetitive Kingdom of Heaven became practically irrelevant during the weekdays compared to Batman: Begins.
Starting Monday, Duke led Liam Neeson, Anne Hathaway, Gary Oldman, Christian Bale, and other major cast members on a promotional tour across North America. The daily box office updates were promptly delivered to Tina Fey by Warner Bros.
On Monday, Kingdom of Heaven's daily box office fell below seven figures, taking in just $882,566. On the same day, Batman: Begins brought in more than ten times that amount in North America, raking in $8.92 million.
On Tuesday, Kingdom of Heaven experienced a slight rebound, with single-day earnings climbing back above the million-dollar line to $1.03 million. But Wednesday saw another decline, with only $810,000 in revenue.
Meanwhile, Batman Begins earned $9.15 million and $8.56 million over those two days, respectively.
As of its sixth day in theaters, Batman Begins had grossed $95.48 million in North America, while the simultaneously released Kingdom of Heaven had earned a pitiful $13.02 million.
Considering its production budget of over $100 million, Kingdom of Heaven was unlikely to recover its costs, even with additional income from television rights, DVD sales, and online distribution.
Films with mediocre box office performance can't sell those rights for high prices either — that's a simple rule of the market. TV networks and streaming platforms aren't foolish.
In today's world, it's very difficult for a film to be profitable purely through box office earnings. So why do studios still place such importance on box office numbers? Because box office is often the most fundamental measure of a film's commercial value.
Critically acclaimed, award-winning films still can't match the follow-up licensing revenue generated by box office blockbusters.
Perhaps in the future, the way films are released and distributed will undergo a dramatic transformation. But for now, the importance of box office results to any film goes without saying.
Before the second weekend arrived, Duke led the cast to New York. As one of the largest cities in the world, the Big Apple is a must-visit on every Hollywood press tour.
Although the events and appearances were largely similar in format and content, after a full day of work surrounded by far more fans than in other cities Duke felt exhausted. The Batman tour event at Times Square, co-hosted by Time Warner, attracted hundreds of thousands of spectators, almost turning the entire Manhattan Island into a parking lot.
Just after returning to his suite at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, Tina Fey informed Duke that someone had come to visit him.
Due to Leah living in New York, Duke had many acquaintances in the city but the visitor turned out to be a rather unexpected one.
"Long time no see, Bob."
The man Duke was shaking hands with was a roughly fifty-year-old Jewish acquaintance. "It's really great to see you. I didn't expect to run into you in New York."
Giving Duke a firm handshake, Robert Iger sat down on the couch across from him and said, "I think you forgot that I'm a New Yorker."
During Duke's honeymoon period working with Walt Disney, Robert Iger was the direct liaison between him and the company, and the two had built up a certain rapport.
Robert Iger had once climbed into the upper echelons of Disney's management. But as his talents became more evident and Michael Eisner's power grew, Iger's position gradually became more precarious. He was even removed from his post as president of Touchstone Pictures and reassigned to a relatively idle department.
"Michael's power is steadily increasing..."
Speaking of Disney, Robert Iger clearly had mixed feelings. "He won't tolerate anyone who poses a threat to his power. After your short collaboration with Disney ended, I became an unwelcome figure too."
"Why not just leave Disney?" Duke couldn't help but ask.
"I've thought about that too," Robert Iger replied after some consideration. "But I don't want to leave as a loser. If I'm going to leave Disney, it will be after Michael Eisner steps down."
No company is ever truly united. Wherever there are people, there will be conflicts. Clearly, Robert Iger was not favored by Michael Eisner.
Duke couldn't be sure whether, after Eisner was eventually ousted from Disney in disgrace, this future Disney leader had done anything behind the scenes to influence that outcome.