The word of mouth for [Billy Elliot] was extremely strong. Not to mention, Troy's Golden Globe win and the subsequent interviews put him in a lot of positive limelight. People loved him. Despite being a small-budget R-rated British indie film, it received a very strong opening because of the involvement of a movie giant like Universal.
The film had already grossed $52m in the UK by the time Troy won his Golden Globe, which was a marketing point used by Universal to attract American audiences. Combined with Troy's fame from [Harry Potter], the film was off to a decent start, collecting $3.4m on the first day of its wide release. This amount increased on Saturday due to Golden Globe publicity, bringing in a further $6.7m. It finished its weekend with a collection of $5.3m on Sunday, bringing the weekend total to a staggering $15.4m. Additionally, the film had already been running successfully in a limited release, collecting $3.7m, bringing the total to date to $19.1m.
In the second week of its release, the collection went up from $15.4m to $24.3m, an anomaly of sorts for an R-rated film. In the third week, the film collected another $18.5m. In its fourth weekend since the wide release, something magical happened. The Oscar nominations came out.
The most nominated film of the year was [Gladiator] with 12 nominations. It was followed by [Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon] with 10 nominations. In third place, with 9 nominations, was [Billy Elliot], bagging nominations in the categories of Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Sound, Best Sound Mixing, Best Supporting Actor (for Gary Lewis), Best Supporting Actress (for Julie Walters), and Best Actor (for Troy Armitage).
Seeing that the Best Picture Award was just within their grasp, Universal launched a massive FYC (For Your Consideration) campaign, rivaling the intensity of Miramax and DreamWorks from the previous year. This increased advertisements for the film, leading to another surge in audiences. The fourth-week collection, instead of falling, increased to $18.7m.
Owing to strong reception in the US and the UK, the distributors released the film in the international market as well. France became the film's biggest non-English market, closely followed by Germany, Italy, and Spain. Even Asian markets like South Korea and Japan embraced the film due to the popularity of Troy and the reputation of the Oscar nominations.
By the time the award season was ending, the film had grossed a massive $295m internationally, making it a bonafide blockbuster, earning more than 50 times its budget. A report by the Hollywood Enquirer listed the most profitable films of the year. At the top of the list was [Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone] with estimated profits of $465m. In second place was [Billy Elliot] with estimated profits of $120m, which was more than what [Gladiator] and [Mission Impossible 2] made.
The same report also issued the list of highest-earning actors in the world. On top of the list was Tom Cruise with earnings of $75m from [MI2]. In second place was Tom Hanks, for his participation in [Cast Away]. The third place, to everyone's surprise, was bagged by a 12-year-old Troy Armitage, who earned an eye-popping $44m from his three films (one of which was yet to be released), and his investments in Yahoo derivatives.
This was the first time that a kid had appeared in the list of the highest-earning actors of the year. If anyone had any doubts about Troy's superstardom, they were all quashed with the release of that report.
(Break)
(Troy POV)
Sometimes I feel like all my efforts in the stock market were for naught. Sure, I earned a significant amount from my investments there, but what was the point of it all when I ended up making much more money from a small-budget indie film like [Billy Elliot]? It's crazy how people change when they know how much money you have. I hadn't even thought about it until now. And now, with the article about my earnings made public, I couldn't help but think I need to add a clause of salary confidentiality to all my future contracts.
"It won't matter," Mum said when I voiced my opinion to her. "In the UK, where your company is registered, anyone can get financial information. So everyone would know how much money you have."
"That's bad," I muttered. "Can we shift the company to the US?"
"The British won't like that," she commented. "They think of you as theirs. If you shift your funds to the US, it could be seen as...betrayal."
"Let them see it however they want," I waved off. "We can't please everyone."
"True," Dad agreed with me. "So you want all your future funds from [Harry Potter] in dollars?"
"Yes," I nodded. Although I knew that the Pound is a strong currency at the moment, and will remain so for years to come, I also knew of many American companies where I could invest my money. I didn't know exactly how much in numerical terms those companies would profit in the future, but because of my meta knowledge, I knew of many that were safe bets to put my money in.
We had arrived back in London after our extended stay in the States for [Billy Elliot's] Oscar campaign. Meanwhile, the crew of [Harry Potter] had finished all the scenes that didn't require me, and now I could focus on the remainder of my scenes, which were dialogue-heavy or required practical effects because most of the CGI scenes had already been done.
It was more like coming back to reality after taking a long diverging break. To be honest, I hate Oscar campaigns. This was the first one that I actively participated in, and I already felt dishonest asking the Academy members to vote for me. Had I not won for [The Sixth Sense], I wouldn't have had to participate in this one either. My win solidified Universal's belief that I could get a nomination at the very least. Each Oscar nomination increases the film's collection and further home sales as well. As much as I despise this mechanism of awards, I can't exactly wash my hands of it completely. People who refuse to participate in campaigns are silently blacklisted by producers. Sure, it may not happen to me because of my age, but it does happen to older actors. Moreover, there may come a time when I'm in a film that needs awards consideration to become a hit, but award voters ignore it because I was dismissive of them earlier.
I'm still in awe that I won my second Golden Globe for [Billy Elliot]. Dad had given me his theory as to why I won.
"The Globes tend to overcompensate for the past," he had theorized. "I talked to a few friends of mine, and we all agreed that this award is basically for your performance in [The Sixth Sense], which was last year's best performance. But because the Globes didn't acknowledge that, they are compensating with this award for [Billy Elliot]."
I didn't fully believe him. I still felt as if someone read the wrong name on the envelope and sooner or later they would come to take back my trophy. But then I realized that this was just a Golden Globe, and no one really cared about it that much. And now that [Billy Elliot] is already a hit, I couldn't care less about it either.
So I ignored all this award news and focused on the shooting of [The Chamber of Secrets].
(Break)
"Lockhart's memory charm backfired!" Jamie cried hysterically in his Ron Weasley getup. "He hasn't got a clue who he is!" His acting had improved tremendously from the last film.
"What an odd sort of place it is," Kenneth Branagh, who played Gilderoy Lockhart, noted idly with a dopey grin on his face as he tossed a rock in the air. "Do you live here?"
"Nope," Jamie noted before taking the rock from him and hitting him upside the head with it. Then he turned to me, "What do I do now?"
"You wait here and try and clear some rocks so we can get out. I'll try and find Ginny inside."
Saying that I walked back over to the other side of the cave while gripping my wand tightly. A nervous tremble rocked my body as I moved forward. I had to do this for my best friend's sister. There was no way around it. As I reached my mark with determination, a cry of "Cut" rang out on the set.
"Terrific job, everyone," Chris announced loudly over a loudspeaker. "Take ten before we set the next scene."
I was getting tired of this scene a little. It's good that we cleared it when we did.
"How was I?" Jamie asked me hesitantly as he walked up to me.
I looked at him in disbelief, "Really? Kenneth Branagh was right there with you, and you came all the way here to ask me?"
"Yeah, but he hasn't won an Oscar," Jamie said matter-of-factly. "You have."
I sighed, "These awards don't matter that much, Jamie. Mr. Branagh is a much better actor than me. I was just lucky to get nominated in a year where they liked my performance more than others. Don't ever say this to anyone else, or they may get offended."
Jamie nodded resolutely as my words sank in for him.
"You did great, by the way," I smiled at him. "Have you been taking acting classes?"
"Yes," Jamie agreed enthusiastically. "I thought, I'm getting paid enough now that I can afford to take some classes. Tell me honestly, was I really good, or are you just saying that?"
I understood why Jamie was so insistent to know about it. While most of the reviewers were pretty positive about everyone, a few pointed out that Emma and I outshined Jamie in the first movie. Ever since then, he has grown a little complex about his performance and has been trying to outdo himself. I had told him to ignore all these reviews, but he wouldn't listen to me.
"Come here," I motioned for him to follow me, which he did. I walked straight up to Kenneth Branagh, who was talking to an Assistant Director.
"Mr. Branagh?" I called out. "Can we talk for a moment?"
He turned to me with a smile, "How many times have I told you to call me Ken, Troy? Or should I call you Mr. Armitage?"
I laughed at the idea. Anyone calling me by my last name sounded so funny to me.
"Alright, Ken," I conceded. "Jamie, here, had a question for you. He is trying to improve his acting, so he needed your feedback on the last scene we did. What do you think?"
Ken made a thinking face before answering, "It was as perfect a performance as I could expect from someone your age."
"That's the thing!" Jamie blurted out. "I don't want to be good for my age, I want to be good for someone your age. Troy won an Oscar, and may win his second because he was good in general, not for his 'own age'."
Now I understood what was troubling Jamie. Comparison with me. I thought we buried the hatchet about me bagging [Billy Elliot] when I got him the audition for Ron Weasley, but somewhere deep down he must be second-guessing himself and trying to be as good as me. I felt a little bad about it. Yet, I didn't know what to do to make him forget all about it and move on.
"Troy!" A set assistant came running up to me. "The next scene is ready."
"Go," Ken said to me while draping an arm around Jamie's shoulders. "I'll talk to Jamie, and we'll hash out the best approach for his acting."
I gave a nod to the duo before walking over to the set of the inside of the chamber. Jamie and Kenneth were done for the day because the next scene involved Ginny Weasley and Tom Riddle.
(Break)
Ken looked at Jamie as Troy walked away to shoot his next scene.
"So?" Jamie asked hopefully.
"You will never be as good an actor as Troy," Ken said bluntly. Seeing the crestfallen expression on Jamie's face, Ken quickly explained, "As long as you compare yourself to anyone, be it Troy, me, Jack Nicholson, or even Laurence Olivier, you'll always be inferior to them. Not for anyone else, but for yourself. Try to be the best version of yourself, and stop reading the reviews they print. They are all bull crap."
Jamie was silent for a moment before asking, "Did Troy tell you about the reviews?"
Ken shook his head, "He didn't have to. I have worked in the industry long enough to guess reasons for an actor feeling inadequate. Don't. You are doing a phenomenal job. Not just today, even in the first film. But you won't for long if you doubt yourself. Be free. All your contemporaries and fellow actors are there for you to learn from, not compete against. As long as you remember that, you'll do good. Great even."
Kenneth's words brought a smile to Jamie's face, as he said, "Thanks, Ken."
"Don't worry about it," the older actor waved off his gratitude. "Come, let's see Troy's performance and see how he is doing in the next scene, and maybe you can get some inspiration from there."
Jamie accompanied Kenneth Branagh to the next set, which was the inside of the chamber. Jamie was awed by the set that had been intricately created by the set designers and the level of thought that went into creating each little detail of the scene. From the statues of snakes to Salazar Slytherin, to the wet floor, everything looked perfectly creepy, as it was meant to be.
As soon as Chris shouted 'Action', Troy, who was fitted to some wires, started climbing the statue of Slytherin with the sword of Gryffindor in his hands. A huge animatronic snake slithered up to him and attacked the place where Troy was just a moment ago. He ducked carefully, as a portion of the statue was blown up using some pre-installed mini explosives. They were so small that it was safe for actors to be near when they went off, so Troy remained mostly unharmed. He climbed to the top of the statue and continued fighting the animal that was being controlled by a full team of animators. They would employ some CGI later to make the snake more menacing, but for now, this was it.
As the snake attacked him one more time, Troy fell on his behind, before getting up and attacking it again with the sword. What followed was a full-blown action scene as Troy fought the beast valiantly and in the end killed it by driving the blade through the roof of its mouth, only to get a fang embedded in his arm.
In the following scene, Troy comes down the statue, stabs the evil diary of Tom Riddle, and wakes up Imogen Poots, the girl who was playing Ginny Weasley. Jamie thought that the girl was cute, but she was too reclusive. She barely talked to anyone on set whenever she was present. Luckily for her, she was a good actress.
"Oh, Harry!" Imogen sobbed as she saw Troy's bleeding arm. "It was me! It was me all along. Tom R-R-Riddle told me *hic* things. He taught me spells that I shouldn't know. About how to move around the school. I told him, I didn't need to move around undetected, but I would wake up suddenly, not knowing how I got there, or what I did a few hours ago."
She then went forward and hugged Troy, sobbing on his chest. "Please, don't die. I'll do anything. Please."
"It's alright, Ginny," Troy reassured the girl weakly. "You have to get out of here. Get Ron. He's just outside." His voice grew weaker and weaker as he talked, which made Ginny sob harder.
Just then, a bird came into view and settled beside Troy.
"Cut!" It would be perfectly normal to hear that word on a film set, but not so much when a perfect scene was going on and the words were uttered by someone who was not the director.
"Dad?" Troy asked hesitantly as he looked up at the producer and his father, who had yelled 'Cut' just now and was sporting a huge frown on his visage. Jamie probably shouldn't have, yet for some reason he walked towards Troy to know what was happening.
"We need to go home now, Troy," Steve Kloves said urgently.
Sensing the urgency in his father's tone, Troy asked in an equally grave tone, "What happened?"
Steve looked uncomfortable with all the attention on him, but eventually, he sighed, "It doesn't matter if everyone knows. It's out in the media already. Your birth mother has sued us for your custody, alleging your endangerment."
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