Chapter 1081 1081 Tricky Problems

Columbia Pictures purchased the global distribution rights of "Before Sunrise" for $1 million, which attracted a lot of media attention. There are a lot of topics gathered, and it is naturally fermented at this time.

With this move of Columbia Pictures, all the news media immediately became lively, and everyone was discussing: How high can the box office of "Before Sunrise" reach?

It's a tricky question, and even box-office forecasters are hesitant.

The origin of "Before Sunrise" at the Sundance Film Festival and the attributes of independent films are all precursors to box office decline.

Although the "Pulp Fiction" being released has created miracles one after another, objectively speaking, apart from "Pulp Fiction", independent films are currently unpopular in the entire American film market. Still too niche and too limited. This is especially true when it comes to the Sundance Film Festival. Sundance has entered its eleventh year since its establishment. The most successful work is last year's "Clerks".

"Crazy Clerk" is a work written, directed and acted by unknown Kevin Smith (Kevin. Smith), and it is also his debut as a screenwriter, actor and director. This independent film, which cost only $27,000, became one of the most important works in American Cult film history, and two decades later, it is often seen in the top ten and top twenty of the classic Cult film list. to its figure.

"Crazy Clerk" landed at the Sundance Film Festival last year and won the Filmmaker's Trophy, and then won the Mercedes-Benz Award and the Best Overseas Film Award at the Cannes Film Festival. If it weren't for "Pulp Fiction", it was too popular , this work will have better prospects. But even so, two decades later, "Crazy Clerk" and "Pulp Fiction" became the representative works of independent films in this special year of 1994.

The total box office revenue of "Crazy Clerk" after its release was $3.2 million. Although it is not high, compared to its ultra-low cost of $27,000, the profit is very considerable. What's more, the work performed very well in the videotape market, and it remained popular until the turn of the millennium.

So far, the $3.2 million created by "Crazy Clerk" is the highest-grossing of all works from the Sundance Film Festival. Quentin Tarantino, who also came out of the Sundance Film Festival The debut film "Reservoir Dogs" grossed only $2.8 million in North America, while Steven Soderbergh's "Sex, Lies, and Videotape" hit at Sundance made $2.4 million. Dollar.

It is worth mentioning that "Sex, Lies and Videotape" was released after winning the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, but unfortunately the box office was still unsatisfactory.

From this point of view, the box office prospects of "Before Sunrise" are really not optimistic. It is difficult for "Before Sunrise" to gain too much advantage in the box office competition for the independent film masterpiece that came out of the Sundance Film Festival. On the contrary, it may become a factor that prevents audiences from entering the cinema: because people will preconceive that This movie is too niche, too special, too weird, and I probably won't like it.

So, can "Before Sunrise" get a box office of more than 2.5 million on the cost line? This seems like a question that doesn't require much thought.

But from another point of view, Hugo has won many battles in the past three years, and the winning rate of his works is 100%. From "Smell the Fragrance and Know a Woman", every movie has been a box office success, although the box office of "Pulp Fiction" finally stopped at the With 172 million US dollars, the title of "Mr. 400 million" has not been further developed into "Mr. 600 million". However, since "The Hero of the Sea of ​​Righteousness", Hugo has made five consecutive works that have broken the box office of 100 million in North America. The momentum completely confirmed what it means to be in the middle of the sky.

Will "Before Sunrise" be Hugo's screenwriting debut, and won a lot of praise from audiences and professional film critics at the Sundance Film Festival. Will this be the decisive factor for the film's excellent box office success?

No one will forget that "Before Sunrise" is a love movie, and another love movie "Sleepless in Seattle" in 1992 was a counterattack in one fell swoop under the circumstances that everyone was not optimistic, not only replacing "Sleepless in Seattle" "Pretty Woman", won the No. 1 box office in the history of romantic comedies; and also created a box office of 189 million US dollars that is almost unattainable for romantic movies.

Imagine that Julia Roberts and Richard Gere went straight to the top thanks to the chick movie "Pretty Moon", especially Julia; it can be speculated that Hugo and Meg Ryan because of this the status gained by the film. After that, Hugo was named the world's sexiest man by "People" magazine for two consecutive years, and became the representative of the most perfect lover in the eyes of countless women.

Now, "Before Sunrise" is another love movie, and it has been praised by countless film critics as exploring the true meaning of love. Coupled with the two golden boys and girls of Hugo and Charlize, people have reason to this work. Expect more. Then the box office of the movie is certainly worth looking forward to.

These are two different angles, and there will be two completely different answers. It may be a big box office success, or it may be a bleak box office. This kind of contradictory speculation is really embarrassing for experts.

In addition, it is interesting that before the "Sunrise", Hugo has created the first five consecutive box office hits of 100 million US dollars in Hollywood film history, becoming the first person in history. Everyone is curious: Hugo is continuing to create The myth of the 100 million box office, how about advancing his continuous box office break of 100 million to the sixth and seventh films? Or does the record come to an abrupt end, and the two-year high-speed development state that began with "Yihai Xiongfeng" is temporarily higher?

Objectively speaking, reporters look forward to the first possibility, but prefer to see the second possibility. It's not schadenfreude--of course, this mentality also occupies a large part, but Hugo's long-term strength has become a kind of fatigue, so that people will look forward to this situation being broken.

This is human nature, just like in sports. When a dynasty is established, people are happy, but more people will want to see the collapse of the dynasty. Because a winning general will make the game lose the suspense and reduce the charm of the competition, and the fierce competition and the contention of a hundred schools of thought will make the game more exciting - only fans who like players and teams other than the winning generals can bloom.

Since 1992, Hugo's career has continued to rise for three consecutive years. It can almost be described as a "sweeping" posture. It seems that every time Hugo works is launched, it means success. This is actually a kind of aesthetic fatigue for reporters and audiences.

Journalists can't help but start thinking: failure, when will it come? Or not a failure, at least a pause or slowdown, when will it come?

Under such circumstances, "Before the Sunrise" such a work has become Hugo's latest work, which is really a very interesting thing. It is not a commercial blockbuster with an investment of 100 million US dollars, nor is it an art film with the potential to sweep the awards, but an independent film full of personality and experimental nature. It seems that the momentum of Hugo's continuous rise for three consecutive years is in jeopardy, and it will be disillusioned at any time. .

So, in an instant, the reporters were all excited, like a shark smelling blood. Not targeting Hugo, but simply "unpopular psychology".

In this way, "Before the Sunrise", a work that was originally difficult to make a difference at the box office, its box office performance has become the focus of countless media discussions, which is really a very interesting phenomenon. Of course, this issue has also become a thorny issue that is difficult for experts to judge and predict. Do you continue to believe in Hugo's box office appeal, or do you believe in the obstacles of the entire independent film environment?

Apparently, more experts believe in the latter. It is difficult for Hugo alone to compete against the entire environment. What's more, film critics who have watched "Before Sunrise" in Park City also know that this is not a work that can conquer the city at the box office. The success lines of "Pulp Fiction" are not so easy to replicate.

After Columbia Pictures announced that "Before Sunrise" will be officially screened in seven theaters on February 3, eight media outlets have made predictions about "Before Sunrise" at the box office.

Since "Before Sunrise" is only a point screening, it is meaningless to predict the weekend box office. These eight media are all forecasting the box office of a single venue. But these eight media did not see the big media such as "Los Angeles Times" and "New York Times", which is really intriguing.

Obviously, it can't be that the LA Times isn't paying attention, so what's the reason? Is it because the box office is too tricky for them to make an accurate judgment, or is it because even Nicholas McKellen is soft-mouthed and can't say with confidence that "Before Sunrise" will still be a big hit this time around?

But whatever the reason, the big newspapers really didn't make any predictions. Of the eight media outlets, three were national, USA Today, the Chicago Tribune and the New York Post—all not so friendly to Hugo.

"USA Today" believes that "$3,000 at the box office in a single hall is their highest expectation, which is also the best compliment to Hugo Lancaster - it is very difficult for his screenwriting debut to reach such a level." Obviously, they are not optimistic that "before sunrise" can create miracles.

The "Chicago Tribune" comment maintained its usual sarcastic and humorous style, "Maybe the single-house box office in the first week of screening can get the level of 18,000 US dollars, but the total box office of this film will get Lancashire. A fraction of the special salary is not an easy task.”

They are very confident in the single-hall box office of "Before Sunrise", and they mainly bet on Hugo's appeal. Of course, when the movie is screened in art theaters, the independent attribute of "Before Sunrise" is on the contrary. It will become an advantage, so the results during the screening period are optimistic, which is normal.

Clearly, though, they remain pessimistic about the final gross of "Before Sunrise," expressing this view in a sarcastic way.

As for the New York Post, Colin Myler has no reason to support Hugo.