As 2003 came to a close, the year-end North American box office rankings were freshly released. It was only at this moment that Lyman, who had been busy with his filming work, was once again remembered by people.
In the just-concluded year of 2003, he might not have been the most dominant or the most eye-catching director, but he was undoubtedly the director with the most rapid rise, almost declaring his arrival on the stage of fame and fortune in Hollywood in an extremely assertive manner.
Throughout the entire year, he had made a significant impact on the North American market.
"The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" continued the strong performance of its predecessors, and director Peter Jackson was undoubtedly the brightest star of the year. As of now, its North American box office had reached $350.36M, firmly securing the top spot on the year-end rankings. However, this was not the end. Although the market had experienced a significant decline after some time in release, it was estimated that it could easily earn over $10M more.
Even so, it had already secured its position as the absolute champion.
This achievement was only second to "Titanic" ($650M), "Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace" ($470M), and "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" ($430M) in the history of cinema, ranking fourth.
In other words, the revenue generated by the entire "Lord of the Rings" trilogy was enough to make every investor's eyes shine. It could be foreseen that the era of big-budget filmmaking would become increasingly fierce.
Following that, Pixar Animation Studios' "Finding Nemo" secured second place with a North American box office performance of over $330.9M.
Of course, there was nothing particularly exciting about this for Pixar. Their animated films had consistently ranked in the top three in recent years, never falling behind.
As for third place, it was "Miscreant", with a North American box office performance of over $330.4M. This instantly reminded countless industry insiders of him.
This was the only French director in film history to make it onto the year-end North American rankings, which was somewhat unbelievable.
People were amazed that a crime film like this could achieve such great results. At the same time, they were surprised by the completeness of the work. This was only the director's fourth feature-length film, and it already required people to look up to him.
Back then, a film like "3 Idiots" had made a name for itself at the Sundance Film Festival. Even though it eventually won an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, most people believed that the film industry had produced another talented independent director. Such talents emerged every three to five years, and it was no longer considered rare.
Looking back, there were the Coen Brothers, and more recently, Quentin Tarantino. Just when people speculated that he might be the next Tarantino, a year later, his name appeared in the top three of the North American year-end box office rankings. To be honest, this was not a realm that an independent director could easily reach, making it even more incredible that he had won an Oscar for Best Director without even receiving a nomination.
However, the rapid transformation was too incredible to believe if it hadn't happened right before their eyes.
First, there was a war film, "Fury", which slapped countless critics in the face. The casting of Nicolas Cage was a hot topic at the time, attracting a lot of attention and ridicule.
The final result was enough to leave people speechless. It was only then that he truly began his transition from an independent director to a commercial director.
Although all the major film companies in Hollywood saw his potential and bright future in the industry, his next film, "Miscreant", seemed to immediately complete this transformation, adopting a mature and commercial rhythm that made people couldn't help but be amazed.
Especially in the character development of Tom Cruise's role, it was a refreshing sight. This made people have to reevaluate Lyman's directing abilities, and from this point on, Barry Meyer's determination to recruit him became firm.
Following "Miscreant" was another pleasant surprise from the summer of last year, "Pirates of the Caribbean". The long-forgotten pirate theme unexpectedly earned $306M, and its high fourth-place ranking at the end of the year delighted Disney, which was not known for producing live-action films.
However, it's worth mentioning that this list seemed to be another battle between Disney and Warner Bros. In the top four, Disney held two seats including the work from Pixar, while Warner Bros. secured the fifth, ninth, and tenth places with "The Matrix Reloaded", "The Matrix Revolutions" along with "Terminator 3" respectively. Overall, when it came to total box office revenue, Warner Bros. was still leading the way.
However, what slightly disappointed Warner Bros. was that the sequels of "The Matrix" had declining box office numbers. The third film did not surpass the second film, and the second film did not surpass the first film. This was completely contrary to the market performance of "The Lord of the Rings" series, which was surprising. Was this what they called drive high and go low?
As for the sixth, seventh, and eighth places, they were occupied by "X2: X-Men United" from 20th Century Fox, "Elf" from New Line Cinema, and "Bad Boys II" from Columbia Pictures, respectively.
Superhero-themed films were red-hot, and 20th Century Fox, which held the rights to the X-Men, was secretly pleased with the results. A box office of $220M was entirely expected. "Elf" was a family comedy film, particularly focused on the Christmas atmosphere and the joyous family audience during the holiday season, earning $173M at the end of the year. "Bad Boys II", starring the emerging A-list actor Will Smith, had remarkable market appeal. Even in a genre that was nearly played out in Hollywood, it still achieved impressive results, earning $158.8M and further confirming that Will was worth his high salary.
Additionally, Lyman's other work, "Fury", smoothly made it onto the list with a North American box office of $154M. Although it didn't make it into the top ten, its position at number eleven was not at all unworthy, and it remained a dark horse with a vigorous stance.
Looking at it this way, Paramount had a decent year. It occupied a place in the top ten with both of its films. Considering the production budgets of these two films compared to their performance, they were both big earners. Paramount's top management could release their annual report with a smile.
Finally, Universal Pictures was left feeling a bit dissatisfied.
Among the big six in Hollywood, the two at the bottom suddenly climbed up, making them feel quite uncomfortable. Moreover, let alone not making it into the top ten, even when expanded to the top twenty, they only had three films.
The embarrassing part was that "The Hulk", despite its significant losses, made it to the list, ranking fifteenth. As for "Bruce Almighty" and "2 Fast 2 Furious", they ranked thirteenth and sixteenth, respectively. While they made some profit, they still had to watch others feast while they could barely afford soup. Now, a large number of top executives were facing the risk of being laid off.
Ah, at the end of each year, it was always so difficult. It was tough.