Chapter 1590 1590 Transcending the Moat

August 9th is destined to be a day that will be engraved in the history of movies!

On Saturday, August 10th, the North American Cinema Chain Alliance released box office news in advance for the first time on this day. Although it was not detailed box office data, the exhibitor relationship gave a confirmed answer, "The accumulation of 'Independence Day' The box office officially crossed the 400 million threshold on August 9, creating history! Detailed box office data will be officially announced next Monday."

On August 9th, only thirty-seven days have passed since the release of "Independence Day"-according to the day of the premiere, this mythical film has won a strong box office of 400 million US dollars, refreshing the entire film. A new record in the long history, which makes the film not only the first film in film history to earn 20 million US dollars, but also the first film in film history to earn over 400 million in its first round of screenings.

This is indeed a myth!

It took 67 days for "Jurassic Park" to break through 300 million at the box office, which is a record in film history; but "Independence Day" took only 37 days to break through 400 million at the box office. This is not a myth, what is it?

What does a $400 million box office mean in North America? As of August 9, 1996, a total of 22 works in North American film history have exceeded 200 million at the box office, and only 22 works have reached this height in the long history - of course, this. It's not the data that calculates inflation. If inflation is included, then "Gone with the Wind" has achieved a box office record of 1.63 billion US dollars in North America, and I'm afraid it will never be surpassed.

Of these twenty-two titles, only five films made it to the 300 million club. 300 million, which has always been regarded by the news media as an unreachable height, and is also generally regarded as a natural moat. Any work that can reach such a height is second to none in the annals of history-even in North America twenty years later The same goes for the movie market.

Five, only five, what a rare existence, "Alien E.T", "Jurassic Park", "Forrest Gump", "Star Wars", "The Lion King". This is the only 300 million members of the club, and the rarity is comparable to that of the 20 million club.

And among these, no work can bring the box office over the 400 million threshold in the first round of box office screenings, whether it is the oldest "Star Wars" released in 1977, or the most modern "Ah" Gan Zhengzhuan" and "The Lion King" - released in 1994, failed to create this miracle.

Only "Alien E.T", which relied on the 1985 re-release, barely touched this height, $400.2 million.

The North American box office of 400 million US dollars is recognized by all media as an insurmountable gap. Maybe the North American film market will break this record one day, but it will definitely not be in the near future - most media believe that five years or even ten years It is impossible to reach such a high level within a year, which is also an important reason why supporters and opponents of high investment and high returns can confront each other: when the North American box office is generally unable to break through further, this means that profits are always limited, even if Relying on film peripherals to plunder more profits, but still cannot create more profits, so raising costs is a high-risk thing.

Four hundred million, that is, the bright stars hanging high in the night sky. They look so close but so far away, as if they can never be touched. Perhaps only by waiting for an opportunity like the first human landing on the moon, can the North American movie box office reach the level of 400 million US dollars.

In fact, although Hugo is a leader in North America, he has never approached the threshold of 300 million US dollars. At present, Hugo's box office has the best "Life and Death", and the North American box office is only 239 million, a distance of 300 million US dollars. There is still a long way to go.

This is also the reason why people think that Hugo must take on real commercial films. Although Hugo has appeared in small-budget and small-production films, he has repeatedly created box office miracles-this is enough for film companies to save costs and win benefits. This is their Glad to see it happen; but from the perspective of making a breakthrough, Hugo must challenge the big commercial film production before it is possible to create a new box office record: for example, a work that has a box office of 300 million US dollars.

Don't see "Schindler's List" applauded and popular, but after all, the box office is still no better than a simple and rude "Speed ​​of Life and Death", which is iron proof.

When Hugo took over the filming of "Independence Day", some people joked, "The box office exceeds 300 million, and this is Hugo's mission." As for the 400 million, that is a distant goal that is daydreaming and not even thinking about, and there is no possibility of realizing it.

But now what?

After the release of "Independence Day", the momentum was like breaking bamboo, destroying the dead and sweeping away thousands of troops, showing a powerful momentum that no one can match. It is setting records almost every week, from the single-day box office of Independence Day to the sturdy box office of the first week weekend. , to the domineering of winning the championship for five consecutive weeks, every footprint of "Independence Day" has left a deep imprint on the North American continent. Thirty-seven days later, the world has changed its appearance completely.

Thirty-seven days, only thirty-seven days, only thirty-seven days, but thirty-seven days... "Independence Day" has reached a height that has not been touched in the history of the film industry for nearly a century, not only four The record of $100 million is so appalling, and even more appalling is the way Independence Day set it, making any compliments dull.

Even the "New York Post" and "USA Today" can't say anything at this time, and even those conservatives who oppose high investment and high returns can't say anything, "Commercial movies have no meaning, this is It is a persecution of the film industry, and it is an insult to the art of film.” These words are simply vulnerable in the face of the 400 million box office.

Even the noblest of art lovers know well that no one appreciates their art, no one supports their art, no one consumes their art, and their art simply cannot survive and be found. Bosom friend, it is even more impossible for them to have enough food and clothing.

As a commercial film, "Independence Day" has reached unprecedented heights, creating a new history of North American cinema, and even fans of art films have to sigh that the moment for world change has come. Perhaps in the future commercial films will gradually erode the field of art films, perhaps in the future film art will become a means of making money for Wall Street, and perhaps in the future cinemas will no longer find audiences who truly appreciate films attentively... But that is the future, out of reach The future, the unpredictable future. At least for the moment, at least for this moment, they should be cheering for Independence Day, everyone.

Because "Independence Day" not only crossed the moat, but also surpassed the moat, and became the leader who pioneered the world. He worked hard to explore the unknown world at the other end of the moat, and created a brand new world, so that the entire Hollywood film practitioners All of a sudden, perhaps, from now on, the world's film industry will undergo earth-shaking changes.

Hugo made history. Hugo led the "Independence Day" crew to make history. Hugo represented the club with a salary of 20 million and made history. Hugo stood at the highest point of history and looked at the mountains and small mountains. He not only had The first work with a box office of 300 million, and it also has the first work with a box office of 400 million, leaving all competitors far behind.

Tom Cruise won a big victory through "Mission Impossible", and once again stood on the same level as Hugo, but the momentum of the "Independence Day" king's landing made the gap between them once again widened. Big, no one can beat it. As a competitor and a friend at the same time, Tom gave Hugo his thumbs up and was convinced.

In the first week of August, "Home With Jack" made $11 million at the weekend box office, "Killing Hour" made another $10 million, and "Get Out of Los Angeles" only made $9 million...but these works None of the performances attracted any media interest, not even the film distribution companies of these works, because during the week, "Independence Day" was the only focus, unique.

After "Independence Day" entered the sixth week of its release, it surrendered a 20% box office drop, once again grabbed the weekend box office of 18 million US dollars, once again broke all suspense, and increased its number of consecutive championship weeks to six week. Although the continuous breakthrough of 20 million at the weekend box office has finally stopped, it still broke the sixth week of the $16 million weekend box office record set by "Skinny Daddy" in 1993, and continues to brush the North American film history record.

The weekend box office performance was strong, and the mid-week box office performance was not inferior. In the end, the cumulative box office of "Independence Day" not only broke through the threshold of 400 million US dollars, but also directly reached the height of 412 million. This also marks A series of historical records of North American films have been rewritten, and the North American box office has truly entered the era of 400 million, marking that the top box office has been raised a notch. This is absolutely immeasurable for the turbulence of the entire film market.

The stunning performance of "Independence Day" created a myth that could not be caught up, and illuminated the entire summer of 1996. More than 260 media in North America all reported the incident, and it even widely affected society, politics and other fields. In addition, more than 530 media in overseas regions have reported the hurricane-like breakthrough of Hollywood. The sensation of "Independence Day" is sweeping the world with an unstoppable attitude, setting off a stormy sea - enough to match the aliens in the movie. The grand scene of visiting the earth is comparable.

After witnessing the terrible performance of "Independence Day", the media were surprised to find that "Independence Day" still did not understand at this time, with a 20% drop in the sixth week of its release and a weekend box office of 18 million US dollars. It is still extremely strong, and it even exploded most of the premiere works. Could it be... Could it be that "Independence Day" is really going to hit $500 million at the box office? No way……

Leonardo DiCaprio's joke on the premiere red carpet seems to have what it takes to become a reality.