Since Harry Potter had stable fans all over North America, it was obvious that many people wanted to watch the sequel. Especially when the first movie was a huge success, grossing $974 million at the box office.
After realizing the potential of this franchise, Warner Bros decided to help J.K. Rowling expand the influence of Harry Potter. The novels were published in many countries, always in front of many bookstores, being promoted.
This was one of the methods to make sure that the Harry Potter franchise would be successful at the box office. Warner Bros was not even cheap regarding investing in the second movie.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets cost $100 million.
The date of release arrived and many theaters were filled with movie watchers. Most of them were young people who watched the first movie or read the novels.
At this time(2002), J.K. Rowling already wrote 4 novels and this was the foundation of the success of the franchise, a complete source material to use... Unlike some authors who could not finish their novels.
George R. R. Martin failed to finish the Song of Ice and Fire before Game Of Thrones Season 8 ended... Probably one of the reasons why the last season was disappointing because there was no source material to use.
So for the authors who were struggling to finish their novels, they must stop procrastinating and keep writing, no matter how shitty the writing was. Because that was the only way to end their novel, to keep writing.
On November 15, 2002, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets grossed $29.63 million in just 24 hours of screening.
The audience didn't leave the theaters disappointed, the second movie delivered well. There were a lot of cut-outs since the movie could not include all of the content of the book, but it was still entertaining.
Word of mouth was influential because many people recommended their friends and relatives to watch the movie.
The first weekend of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets ended up with $88.35 million. An amazing feat. As expected of Harry Potter, one of the biggest movie franchises in the history of cinema.
Even the first weekend of The Revenant could not compared to Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. The first weekend of The Revenant only grossed $41 million.
Hehe, some articles made fun of Kazir Grey because of this outcome. His movie this year was nothing compared to Harry Potter.
Kazir's last two movies made over $1 billion at the box and the expectations for his next movie were stronger.
However, Kazir Grey decided to deliver a biopic movie. The movie had its highlights but it was mediocre compared to Wanted and Spider-Man.
For some people, art was important. While for others, the box office was more important.
In this situation, Kazir decided to focus more on art since his target for The Revenant was to win at the Academy Awards. As long as The Revenant was not a box office flop, then it was fine.
As of now, The Revenant already grossed $115.57 million. The overall budget of The Revenant was $135 million, the promotion budget was already added to that.
Even though the box office still hasn't surpassed the budget, The Revenant already had a good performance, and only fools would believe that The Revenant was a flop.
If some newspapers berated Kazir, most movie critics praised the director instead.
The Revenant was different from the usual movies that Kazir filmed. It was inspiring to see someone as talented as Kazir to step away from mainstream genres.
Biopic movies are based on real people and real events, sometimes not historically accurate but it still sends the message.
A week after the release of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, 007: Die Another Day by MGM had its turn. The movie grossed $47.07 on its first weekend.
Unfortunately, the box office champion that week was still Harry Potter because the movie grossed $148.35 million after ten days of screening.
No promising movies were released after 007: Die Another Day and days passed by until December arrived.
Grey Pictures already prepared most of the props related to Kazir's next project. Kazir Grey, Tom Cruise, and the cast of The Revenant were out of the country since they were promoting the movie internationally. Harold Witsend was responsible for the preparation of Pirates Of The Caribbean while Kazir was gone.
They spent almost three weeks flying around and promoting the movie.
Of course, Kazir and Tom would return to Los Angeles on December 19 since the Golden Globes would announce the nominations for the 60th Golden Globes Awards.
In the industry, the Academy Awards and Golden Globes Awards were highly respected.
On December 18, a day before the announcement of Golden Globes nominations, the last most anticipated this year was released. It was none other than The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.
Just like Harry Potter, this franchise gathered so many fans after the success of the first movie.
Both Harry Potter and Lord Of The Rings were movie adaptations of novels. In this case, it shows that novels should be taken seriously. Because they could be a major source of income.
The first 24-hour box office of The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers grossed $26.15 million. New Line Cinema and Warner Bros were clearly winning this year.
While the first-day result of Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers was happening, the Beverly Hilton Hotel, in Beverly Hills, California was packed with people and these people were mostly celebrities and people who worked in Hollywood.
Kazir and Tom were sitting at one table, chuckling and having a conversation. The two looked professional in their tuxedo.
They were all waiting for the announcement.