As 2004 drew to a close, the box office earnings of several films invested in by Meyers Pictures during the latter half of the year were finally revealed.
The Hangover: $298 million domestically, $479 million worldwide.
The Matrix Revolutions: $452 million domestically, $647 million worldwide.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban: $272 million domestically, $793 million worldwide.
Saw: $93 million domestically, $186 million worldwide.
Such numbers would bring even the "Big Six" to tears!
The New York Times published a summary report:
"If there is one word to describe Hollywood's 2004 film industry, 'storm' seems the most fitting.
On March 10, 2004, Martin Meyers stepped onto the Oscar stage to receive widespread acclaim for The Lord of the Rings trilogy. However, that applause truly belonged to 2003.
Even without the support of the Hobbits (the Lord of the Rings series), Hollywood's total box office for 2004 remained astonishing. Even excluding the 'Little Wizard' (the Harry Potter series), Hollywood still shone brightly.
This year, in addition to seeking ways to curb illegal online movie downloads, Hollywood produced a diverse array of films, continuously delivering classics—aside from sequels like Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, The Bourne Supremacy, The Matrix Revolutions, and Spider-Man 2, standalone hits like Ready Player One, High School Musical, The Hangover, and Saw also secured impressive box office returns.
But has anyone noticed a pattern? All these standout films were either invested in or co-invested by Meyers Pictures.
Well, except for Shrek 2.
Excluding these films, Hollywood's primary weapons for global box office dominance became more singular, largely relying on action-packed blockbusters, particularly those in the superhero genre.
In 2004, Hollywood leaned increasingly on the 'superhero formula' and adapted numerous comics and video games, including Spider-Man 2, Van Helsing, Catwoman, Alien vs. Predator, and Resident Evil: Apocalypse.
Yet, aside from Spider-Man 2—which starred Martin and was co-financed by Meyers Pictures, earning a 'decent' reputation—every other superhero film of the year was met with overwhelming criticism.
Among the top 20 highest-grossing films, excluding those backed by Meyers Pictures, Shrek 2 reigned supreme with over $430 million, followed by The Passion of the Christ at over $370 million.
A noteworthy trend among these 20 blockbusters: six were sequels— Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, The Matrix Revolutions, Shrek 2, Spider-Man 2, The Bourne Supremacy, and The Princess Diaries 2. Four of these even secured the first, second, fifth, and seventh spots on the box office chart, proving the strong audience appeal of sequels.
However, this also raises concerns about Hollywood's future strategy. Will the industry simply keep recycling old successes? Besides sequels, remakes of past hits and foreign films might become the next big trend.
Meanwhile, the performances of two epic films— Troy and Alexander—were nothing short of disappointing, with the latter grossing a mere $33 million.
*The Passion of the Christ and Fahrenheit 9/11 sparked enormous controversy upon release, making them major talking points of 2004 Hollywood.
*The Passion of the Christ, depicting Jesus' final 12 hours in an intensely graphic and realistic manner, was criticized for excessive violence under the guise of religion and was even accused of being anti-Semitic. Religious groups protested on opening day with banners, but their efforts seemingly backfired, fueling "reverse marketing" that led the film to break records for the highest pre-sale tickets and become the highest-grossing R-rated film of all time, raking in $370 million domestically and ranking third for the year.
*Fahrenheit 9/11 stirred just as much controversy. After winning the Palme d'Or at Cannes in May—the second documentary in history to do so—director Michael Moore announced that Disney had refused to distribute the film.
However, Disney's withdrawal did little to hinder its success. The documentary, a scathing critique of President Bush, shattered multiple records upon its June release: it became the first documentary to gross over $100 million, had the widest theatrical release for a documentary, and topped all-time DVD sales for the genre.
The film's overwhelming popularity suggested President Bush's approval ratings were not high among the public—how John Kerry still managed to lose the election remains a mystery.
From this analysis, it's clear that Meyers Pictures is on a meteoric rise, even showing signs of surpassing DreamWorks.
This trend was already evident last year.
Films such as Mean Girls, The Matrix Reloaded, Step Up, Pirates of the Caribbean, Bruce Almighty, and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King all ranked in the top ten at the 2003 box office.
And this year, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets was the top-grossing film, The Matrix Revolutions was second, Ready Player One ranked third—Meyers Pictures claimed all three of the top spots in 2004.
And it doesn't stop there— High School Musical was fourth, Spider-Man 2 seventh, The Hangover eighth, The Bourne Supremacy tenth.
Meyers Pictures accounted for seven of the top ten highest-grossing films worldwide in 2004—an astonishing feat.
If Meyers Pictures continues this trajectory, it might truly become Hollywood's seventh major studio.
Let's wait and see!"
This New York Times report sent shockwaves through America.
Only now did people realize that, almost imperceptibly, Meyers Pictures had claimed a dominant share of Hollywood—perhaps even surpassing the Big Six.
Of course, DreamWorks had also experienced a similar meteoric rise in its early days.
So, while some speculated that Meyers Pictures could become the "Seventh Major," most remained skeptical.
Martin, however, had no particular attachment to the idea of Meyers Pictures joining Hollywood's elite. After all, filmmaking was merely a means for him to acquire magic. The wealth and power were just convenient side effects.
But Drew was deeply invested in the prospect.
"Expanding into distribution?" Martin looked at Drew and said, "That won't be easy. Just look at what happened to DreamWorks. Hollywood's resources are already tightly controlled by the Big Six—they won't let anyone else in to share the pie."
"Not even you?" Drew countered.