Since its global release, The Avengers has continuously set various impressive box office records, and even now, as it ends its theatrical run, it’s no exception. After nearly a year in theaters, the only film ahead of The Avengers in North American and global box office earnings remains Avatar.
In its North American stronghold, the film received strong reactions and unsurprisingly clinched last year’s North American box office champion title. Surpassing the milestone set by Titanic, it earned $725.86 million, second only to Avatar’s $749.76 million, becoming the runner-up on the North American total box office list.
Meanwhile, The Avengers’ global box office has reached $2.26784 billion, surpassing Titanic’s $2.18766 billion after its re-release, and trailing Avatar’s $2.78796 billion, also ranking second on the global total box office chart.
At this point, the pinnacle of world film box office is entirely occupied by Duke and James Cameron.
Media outlets believe that only Duke could surpass Avatar’s single-film box office, while Duke’s total box office achievements are beyond Cameron’s reach.
Before Iron Man 1 released in 2006, even in North America, many people had no idea who Marvel was. But now, even street wanderers probably know of America’s young hero carrying a shield.
As a major player in the American comic industry, alongside DC, Marvel began its cinematic conquest after Duke became the largest shareholder. Years of planning and execution have turned Marvel into a dominating force in film.
The Avengers is undoubtedly the culmination and beneficiary of this plan. Even after leaving theaters, there are still many ways to monetize it.
With the theatrical release over, DVD sets priced at $19.9 and $39.9 are sure to be launched.
However, today’s DVD market no longer sees blockbuster films easily selling over $100 million in the first week. Still, Duke, Marvel Studios, and Warner Brothers made full preparations.
A set titled Marvel Universe: Phase One Blu-ray collection officially began distribution in late April.
It includes Iron Man 1, Iron Man 2, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America, and The Avengers, with three films containing both 2D/3D versions, plus a bonus disc of Phase One behind-the-scenes footage, forming a luxurious 10-disc set. A matching booklet is included, all packaged in a stylish carrying case—perfect for home use, travel, gifting, or collecting.
The set is priced at $129.99. The exterior mimics an aluminum case, highly reproducing S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Nick Fury’s carrying case for the Tesseract in The Avengers.
The case’s handle features the Avengers logo and can be pressed. Pressing it illuminates S.H.I.E.L.D.’s eagle emblem on top. Opening the collection reveals a faithful reconstruction of the movie case’s interior, including the Tesseract in the center and a keypad lock in the lower-right corner. The BD discs are slotted diagonally, with exquisite attention to detail inside.
In addition to the replica crystal Tesseract and movie discs, it contains many Avengers-related materials.
First, Captain Steve Rogers includes a commission refusal visa, application form, physical exam report, registration card, one pencil drawing, three collectible cards summoning Captain America, a half-body photo of pre-muscular "Chicken Cap," and a photo of his first girlfriend, Agent Carter, inside his pocket watch.
Next is Tony Stark/Iron Man, including Arc Reactor blueprints, Iron Man news clippings, a three-fold Stark Expo brochure, MK1 leather design sketches, Expo VIP tickets, a napkin with Pepper’s coffee mark, and Tony’s notes on the Tesseract.
Then comes Hulk/Bruce Banner, including Stark Industries’ specifications for a sonic armored vehicle to combat Hulk, S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Hulk reports, academic reports, experimental accident clippings, supermarket labels, and an aluminum Stark Industries plaque.
Every Avenger’s items are included. In addition to six highly accurate personal archive volumes, a black S.H.I.E.L.D. classified envelope is included, containing a security card to access the S.H.I.E.L.D. internal website. There’s also a semi-transparent data sheet with clips and previews, plus an evaluation report showing the "Battle of New York" website.
Upon release, the set was snapped up by fans, selling over $80 million in North America in just five days. Its popularity was undeniable.
"Last month’s statistics show The Avengers merchandise revenue already exceeded $2.5 billion!"
In the conference room of Sky Film Studio, David Ellison yelled at the executives, "Fast & Furious 5? Even counting DVD, online, and TV rights, its merchandise revenue hasn’t reached $250 million!"
Fast & Furious 5 earned over $285.6 million in North America and over $750 million globally. Even with sharing a large cut with Universal and the late Vin Diesel, making substantial profit wouldn’t be an issue.
But compared to The Avengers released in the same period, it simply fell short.
Still, any profit is good. Fast & Furious 5 vindicated David Ellison, especially appeasing his father, Larry Ellison. The problem is, the poorly performing Battleship released in July last year almost wiped out Fast & Furious 5’s profits.
With such give-and-take, Sky Film Studio not only didn’t profit but, after covering operational costs, even suffered a loss.
How could David Ellison tolerate such anger?
Moreover, the Universal executives, just from copyright revenue, took a huge portion from Fast & Furious 5, further reducing Sky Film Studio’s gains, explaining why there was still a loss.
After the meeting dispersed, David Ellison returned to his office and immediately called in his assistant. "How’s the contact with Universal? Can we get the rights?"
"Still at a deadlock stage," the assistant adjusted his glasses and said. "Universal isn’t willing to give up the rights to this franchise."
The massive success of Fast & Furious 5 also made David Ellison see the potential of the series. If they could secure the rights, even losing Vin Diesel wouldn’t be a problem for future profits.
He very much wanted to acquire the franchise rights, but Universal’s unwillingness to let go was the biggest obstacle.
After thinking for a few minutes, he instructed his assistant, "Keep raising the offer. I’ll also apply pressure through other channels. We must secure the rights to this franchise."
"Also," he continued, "what’s the progress with Paramount?"
Currently, Paramount’s situation wasn’t good. In recent years, they had no notable releases, basically relying on the Star Trek series, and cash flow issues constantly troubled them. Even the production of the Star Trek series required financing.
"Basically reached a consensus," the assistant replied quickly. "If nothing unexpected occurs, we’ll soon sign a formal contract with Paramount, investing in the next three Star Trek films."
This was good news. David Ellison’s tense expression relaxed slightly.
After the assistant left, David Ellison immersed himself in work. This summer season was crucial for Sky Film Studio. They held over sixty percent of investment shares in John Carter, which was also set to release. However, the distributor, Walt Disney, had obvious concerns about Duke Rosenberg and The Dark Knight Rises, placing this film in June.
The production cost of John Carter was as high as $270 million. Including marketing, the total investment nearly reached a terrifying $500 million, with Sky Film Studio contributing $300 million. Although most of this funding came through financing, David Ellison still felt immense pressure.
If John Carter failed, he and Sky Film Studio would shoulder enormous debt.
Two years ago, David Ellison would have been fully confident in the films he invested in, even daring to compete directly with Duke Rosenberg’s summer blockbusters. But after the successive failures of Robin Hood, Tron: Legacy, and Battleship, even the proud and audacious him was filled with doubts about John Carter.
Looking back, when he acquired shares in these four films, he got information from within Duke’s studio. Because Duke Rosenberg seemed optimistic, he couldn’t wait to snatch the four projects from them...
However, three of the four projects had already failed. Even if David Ellison had been slow to realize, he gradually understood he had likely been misled. Duke Rosenberg must not have been confident in these projects, deliberately leaking information so that Ellison would become a miserable successor...
But he realized all this too late. By then, John Carter was already in the final stages of post-production. Recovering the investment was impossible. He could only grit his teeth and complete the film, intensify promotion, and strive for good sales.
Moreover, David Ellison still held some hope. Duke Rosenberg’s judgment might not necessarily be correct.
It’s just... just in case it fails, what then?
This worry climbed onto David Ellison’s mind. If it failed, he would face an extremely severe situation.
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