章 824: Chapter 825: The Controversy of the Golden Globe Awards
[Chapter 825: The Controversy of the Golden Globe Awards]
Initially, when it was reported that Titanic earned less than $30 million during its opening weekend, many in the media were quick to mock the film. Almost every forecasting agency believed that this massive production, which had a total investment of $265 million, wouldn't even cross $90 million in North America.
However, in reality, just ten days later, Titanic had raked in $89.69 million, a mere step away from the anticipated $90 million mark. This left the predictions made by the majority of media just a week prior looking foolish. The film's second weekend performance, which netted $35.44 million, silenced all the critics who had once derided it.
As the second week rolled around, thanks to the New Year holiday and the growing word-of-mouth about Titanic, the film's box office didn't experience the expected sharp decline. The single-day ticket sales during the weekdays of that week plummeted by less than 30%, and during the two days surrounding the New Year, earnings returned to the $10 million range.
Following the second week, Firefly Group promptly announced that Titanic had grossed $73.52 million that week. With such outstanding weekday performances, the film's box office raised by 35% from the first week, which was remarkable.
In the North American market, if a film's second-week "drop" remained around 35% after a major release, it was considered a significant achievement. This indicated that the film's reputation and box office performance were both excellent, showing it was commercially successful. Films that managed to match or slightly exceed box office numbers from their opening weekends were often regarded as major cinematic hits, and such films might not come around to a studio for years.
But now, Titanic's box office trend shattered everyone's traditional understanding of movie ticket sales. Regardless of whether you were inside or outside Hollywood, most people who saw the second-week revenue were filled with a strong sense of confusion: "Shouldn't it have dropped by 35%?"
No matter how many questions filled people's minds, it couldn't change one fact: Titanic did achieve a 35% box office raise, with a weekly take of $73.52 million, bringing its total to $127 million over two weeks.
However, everything was just getting started.
On January 3, a Friday, the new year began, marking the first week of 1997 in North America's film market. After two weeks of holidays, Titanic's weekly box office fell to $45.01 million, down 38%.
Everyone assumed the film's box office curve had begun to return to "normal." But in the fourth week, Titanic's drop shrank significantly to just 16%, generating $37.56 million. By this point, Titanic's total box office had reached $210.34 million. In comparison, one month earlier, Mission: Impossible 2, which opened with a strong $82.70 million, had pulled in only $181.30 million after four weeks, and its earnings had dwindled to around $20 million at the same point.
Despite the confusion and doubts that lasted for half a month, once Titanic surpassed $200 million, North American media began to speak out, altering their initial negativity and mockery. They started analyzing the reasons behind Titanic's massive box office success. With over $200 million in just four weeks, the film was showing immense potential for future earnings. Although there was still great cost pressure, no one dared to claim anymore that Titanic would fail to recoup its production costs.
...
On the other hand, while many critics who panned Titanic stubbornly clung to their views, the growing number of reviews in newspapers and magazines across the U.S. meant that the film's overall reception was flipping drastically.
One of the earliest champions of Titanic, The New York Times, published another rave review after the film hit the landmark of $200 million in box office receipts.
"Lavish sets, stunning shipwreck effects, beautiful musical score, deeply moving love story... all of this calls to mind the sensational Gone with the Wind.
The two films undoubtedly share numerous similarities. Gone with the Wind perfectly recaptured the rise and fall of the Southern plantation life more than a century ago, while Titanic impeccably depicted the terrifying tragedy of the luxurious, believed-to-be unsinkable ship sinking on its maiden voyage. Though Gone with the Wind was not the first color film, it ushered Hollywood into the golden age of color cinema. Similarly, Titanic is not the first CGI blockbuster -- before it, we had Twister, Terminator, Jurassic Park, and Men in Black -- but without a doubt, Titanic will usher in a new era for Hollywood: the era of special effects films."
...
As the critical reception for Titanic flipped, by the end of January, with the approach of the Golden Globe Awards, a controversy arose regarding its mere nomination for Best Screenplay, which sparked intense backlash.
Everyone could see that even if Titanic was a commercial film that the Golden Globe judges often disregarded, the film certainly deserved nominations for Best Original Score and Best Original Song. The serene sound of the Scottish pipes, the haunting melodies sung by the female vocalist, and the transcendent My Heart Will Go On resonated with anyone who heard them.
Yet, the Golden Globe Awards gave nominations for those categories to films like Shakespeare in Love, Evita, and Shine --movies that lacked any standout score or song -- while ignoring Titanic. Furthermore, when someone like Madonna, who had notably won three Golden Raspberries for Worst Actress, received a nomination for Best Actress, and Rachel Weisz, who delivered stunning performances in Titanic, was omitted, media outlets took note.
"It is undeniable that Hollywood gave us a wealth of excellent films last year. Commercially, we had hits like The Matrix, The Mummy 2, Pocahontas, and Charlie's Angels 2. Art-wise, we could see achievements in films like Shakespeare in Love, The Thin Red Line, Fargo, and Shine. But while those films achieved great artistic feats, that is no reason for Titanic to be overlooked. Perhaps the Golden Globe judges should examine their selection strategies."
This comment in The Hollywood Reporter was one of the most temperate critiques, not mentioning that the Golden Globe Awards might have been compromised. However, many other outlets were less kind.
A journalist from the San Francisco Chronicle openly revealed the scars of the Golden Globe Awards: "I'm sure everyone remembers Pia Zadora from 1982, right? I'm just very curious, which sponsor paid the judges to completely overlook the excellent film that is Titanic this time around?"
In 1982, the incident involving Pia Zadora winning Best Newcomer was one of the biggest scandals in Golden Globe history. Following the revelation that her millionaire husband poured money into the awards for her to win, the credibility of the Golden Globes plummeted, leading CBS to cease broadcasting the awards entirely. Subsequently, in an attempt to erase the scandal from people's memories, the Golden Globes even eliminated the Best Newcomer award altogether.
...
With Titanic's impressive reputation and box office performance, its many fans felt a sense of elation. Viewers felt keenly aware of the film's initial cold reception and ridicule prior to its release. After weeks of strong performance and reputation turnaround, Titanic fans felt a mix of excitement and pride, becoming increasingly invested in any news about the film.
When the controversy surrounding Titanic's Golden Globe nominations erupted, fans quickly took to the internet to provide their direct and frank feedback.
"It's hard to believe that the Golden Globe judging panel, composed of over ninety members, could ignore all of Titanic's strengths completely. I can only guess that those old geezers fell asleep before the film even started. Since they're clearly too old to sit through a movie, what's the point of the Golden Globes anymore?"
"No matter what, the excellence of Titanic cannot be hidden. The film has surpassed $200 million at the North American box office and, reportedly, performed well overseas. So why should we care about this irrelevant award? Choosing to ignore it might be the best way to 'respect' the Golden Globes. Let's hope everyone avoids NBC on January 19."
"Golden Globes? Ha, who cares? Anyone from Queens, New York, here? Maybe we can all buy tickets and watch Titanic again tonight. Right now, I only care about Titanic's box office."
"From the start, this was a scheme. Some want Titanic to fail, which is why they targeted the film concerning the Golden Globes. But Titanic proved once again that what's golden will shine; clearly, it's not just gold but a diamond -- the most dazzling, that 'Heart of the Ocean.'"
"The campaign to boycott the Golden Globes has begun. We hope all fans supporting Titanic will actively participate. Our website for the campaign is..."
As the questioning and condemnation became one-sided in media and online discussions, the Golden Globe organizers had no choice but to release a statement before the awards ceremony, firmly denying all accusations from "unscrupulous" media that questioned the judgment of the Golden Globe's committee. They insisted the award selection process was entirely fair and that Titanic did not receive nominations simply because this year featured too many excellent films, and Titanic's artistry did not stand out.
...
In preparation for the Super Bowl teaser of Casino Royale, Eric returned to Los Angeles after the New Year.
With a casual laugh, Eric dismissed the Golden Globe judges' ridiculous claim. Recent media buzz revealed that Firefly Group hadn't stoked the flames; Yahoo even deleted some of the more extreme comments regarding the Golden Globes.
Although Titanic didn't secure a nomination, Kathryn Bigelow's The Thin Red Line and Fox's Shakespeare in Love remained the two frontrunners of the awards season. Both films belonged to the slowly blooming art film genre, sharing similar release strategies and currently screening in several hundred theaters. Their scale was expected to expand to over a thousand after the Golden Globes. Both films, categorized as drama and musical, respectively, held no conflict in main nominations, and earning awards would significantly support their post-release box office.
Since Titanic had become an established fact, Eric wouldn't allow temporary feelings of anger to alter the release rhythm of these two films.
Of course, Firefly could not ignore Titanic's unfair treatment. Although the Titanic crew received an invitation from the Golden Globes organizers to attend the ceremony, and the judging committee even called Eric personally with an invitation, he respectfully declined due to being busy. As for Titanic's principal creative team, none were planning to attend the ceremony. Cameron's grievances with the Golden Globes surpassed those of anyone else in the crew, making it clear he wouldn't show up.
During his time back in Los Angeles, aside from restarting the post-production of Casino Royale, Eric placed considerable effort into the marketing of Titanic's continued release.
Given the industry's initial negativity toward Titanic, at the time of the film's North American premiere, there were only nine countries where it had achieved simultaneous release -- just the U.K., Australia, and a few key European markets, like Germany, France, and Italy, had yet to screen.
If Firefly had forcibly released it, based on the company's strong distribution power, Titanic could have seized a January or February release window in overseas markets. But that wasn't what Eric desired.
For the major foreign markets -- Europe, East Asia, and Latin America -- the first two months following the New Year were considered a slow period, just after the holiday rush. While this would not halt Titanic's inevitable rise, these periods wouldn't permit the film to fully exploit its box office potential.
Based on Titanic's current box office trajectory, Eric anticipated that the film would break North American box office records, surpassing the $500 million mark sometime in late March. Additionally, March held an essential event for Hollywood: the Oscars.
It was reasonable to predict that, if managed well, March would be Titanic's time of peak glory.
Therefore, Eric planned to focus Titanic's next phase of overseas distribution around the Easter period in March. By that time, buoyed by breaking box office records and securing Oscars, Titanic would undoubtedly achieve extraordinary global box office figures, exceeding the previous record of $1.8 billion.
With Titanic's North American box office trajectory on solid ground, Firefly's next move was to ensure Titanic garnered a sufficient number of Oscars.
*****
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